The description and specifications relate to the Pitts Special as this is an identical aircraft to the S1 and S2S.

 

The Pitts Special is a light aerobatic biplane designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts Special dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remains a potent competition aircraft and is a favourite for many an aerobatic pilot.

 

General characteristics

 

•Crew: Two

•Length: 18 ft 9 in (5.71 m)

•Wingspan: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)

•Height: 6 ft 7⅓ in (2.02 m)

•Wing area: 125 ft² (11.6 m²)

•Empty weight: 1,150 lb (521 kg)

•Max takeoff weight: 1,625 lb (737 kg)

•Powerplant: 1× Textron Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 flat-six air cooled piston engine, 260 hp (194 kW)

 

Performance

 

•Never exceed speed: 182 knots (210 mph, 338 km/h)

•Cruise speed: 152 knots (175 mph, 282 km/h) (max cruise)

•Stall speed: 52 knots (60 mph, 97 km/h)

•Range: 277 NM (319 mi, 513 km)

•Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)

•Rate of climb: 2,700 ft/min (13.7 m/s)

•Wing loading: 13.0 lb/ft² (63.6 kg/m²)

•Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.26 kW/kg)

 

Text and specifications based on Wikipedia article under the Creative Commons License for non-profit use.

Victorian glass in the lower south transept window, starkly spread in a jagged formation across the middle of three otherwise clear-glazed lights. They are of course collected pieces from windows shattered by the wartime bombing of the city and as such are a vivid testimony to the Blitz. Most of this glass (possibly by A.Gibbs) originates from other windows in the church as the traceries above retain their prewar glass, evidently by Burlison & Grylls, and only one of the heads amongst the fragments appears to relate to this. Probably also from this window, but currently in storage, are three panels of decorative patchworks, apparently also by Burlison & Grylls but incorporating a substantial amount of medieval glass, likely to be the only remains of the church's ancient glazing. The parish hopes to have these panels put back on display at some point in the future.

 

St John's sits at the entrance to Spon Street, that rare enclave of medieval architecture in Coventry's mostly post-war city centre. Being on the fringe of city's heart it generally gets less attention from visitors, thus one feels that in any other setting it would be far more celebrated, George Gilbert Scott, who restored the church in 1877, considered it 'one of the most beautiful churches in England'. The church luckily escaped major damage in the November 1940 Blitz that destroyed so much else in the city, beyond the loss of much (but not all) of it's Victorian stained glass.

 

The church was founded in 1342 by Queen Isabella, mother of Edward III, but most of what we see today is 15th century work, though evidently of different phases. The church sits on a relatively small site, but what it lacks in length and width it gains in height, and with it's tapering and unusually narrow clerestorey windows and central tower it gives the impression of a cathedral in miniature. The tower has oddly corbelled-out turrets at it's corners, an over-exaggeration of the original design by Scott; his main intervention on the exterior otherwise was the renewal of much of the stonework, since warm red sandstone is one of the least resistant to weathering.

 

The interior is surprisingly light for a sandstone church, the result of the large Perpendicular windows and extensive clerestorey that creates a 'glass cage' effect in the higher parts of the church. It is also rather narrow, which accentuates the proportions and sense of height further, a good example of architectural limitations and constraints turned to an advantage. There are some good medieval carvings surviving higher up, but otherwise aside from the fine Perpendicular architecture itself the impression is largely of early 20th century High Church Anglican worship, as most of the furnishings appear to date from this time, though they are nonetheless attractive and sympathetic to the building.

 

The lack of any relics of the Middle Ages in wood or glass or monuments of later periods is explained by the history of the church, since it actually ceased to be used for worship in the 1590s and for several centuries suffered various indignities of secular use, such as a prison for Scottish rebels captured after the Battle of Preston during the Civil War in 1648 (these rebels, loyal to the King, were shunned in the Parliamentarian held city, thus the phrase being 'Sent to Coventry' was born!). Other uses included as a stables, a market and a winding and dying house for cloth, before being eventually restored to church use in the 19th century. We should at least be glad that being put to other uses at least preserved the structure through it's centuries of hibernation.

 

The church posesses an interesting mixture of stained glass, from Victorian and Edwardian pieces that survived the bombing, to the more prominent and colourful windows installed in the 1950s. However it is interesting to note how the postwar glass here predates the nearby Cathedral's windows by only a few years, but is still highly figurative and traditional in approach, thus still a far cry from the revolutionary new works that Coventry became famous for less than a decade later.

 

St John's is open on saturday mornings but otherwise kept locked owing to concerns over security. Sadly it has suffered attacks from stone-throwing idiots on several occasions in recent years (I have repaired minor damage to several of the windows here) but the parishoners remain welcoming and friendly in spite of a difficult environment. It is a lovely church and well worth a visit.

 

For more detail and images see it's entry on the Warwickshire Churches website below:-

warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/coventry---st-john-the-ba...

PM Dr Ngirente presented before Rwanda parliament, Government of Rwanda achievements relating to ICT in the knowledge-based economy | Kigali, 2 December 2019

++++++++++ FROM WKIPEDIA +++++++++

 

The Indian Museum in Kolkata, also referred to as the Imperial Museum at Calcutta in British India era texts,[2] is the largest and oldest museum in India and has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. It was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1814. The founder curator was Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist.

 

Indian Museum, Kolkata

ভারতীয় জাদুঘর, কলকাতা

भारतीय संग्रहालय, कोलकाता

 

Courtyard

Established

1814

Location

Chowringhee - Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Type

Museum

Collection size

102,646 (as of March 31, 2004)[1]

Director

Shri Rajesh Purohit

Website

indianmuseumkolkata.org

 

It has six sections comprising thirty five galleries of cultural and scientific artifacts namely Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Economic Botany. Many rare and unique specimens, both Indian and trans-Indian, relating to humanities and natural sciences, are preserved and displayed in the galleries of these sections. the administrative control of the Cultural sections, viz. Art, Archaeology and Anthropology rests with the Board of Trustees under its Directorate, and that of the three other science sections is with the geological survey of India, the zoological survey of India and the Botanical survey of India. The museum Directorate has eight co-ordinating service units: Education, Preservation, publication, presentation, photography, medical, modelling and library. This multipurpose Institution with multidisciplinary activities is being included as an Institute of national importance in the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India.[3] It is one of oldest museums in the world. This is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The present Director of the Indian Museum is Rajesh Purohit.[4]The museum was closed to visitors due to massive restoration and upgrades from 1 September 2013 to 3 February 2014.[5][6]

HistoryEdit

 

The Indian Museum originated from the Asiatic Society of Bengal which was created by Sir William Jones in 1784. The concept of having a museum arose in 1796 from members of the Asiatic Society as a place where man-made and natural objects could be collected, cared for and displayed. The objective began to look achievable in 1808 when the Society was offered suitable accommodation by the Government of India in the Chowringhee-Park Street area.[7]

 

In February 2, 1814, Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist, who had been captured in the siege of Serampore but later released, wrote a letter supporting the formation of a museum in Calcutta which he said should have two sections - an archaeological, ethnological and technical section and a geological and zoological one.[8] The Museum was created, with Wallich named the Honorary Curator and then Superintendent of the Oriental Museum of the Asiatic Society. Wallich also donated a number of botanical specimens to the museum from his personal collection.[9]

View of the courtyard

 

After the resignation of Wallich, curators were paid salaries ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 200 a month. Until 1836 this salary was paid by the Asiatic Society but in that year its bankers, Palmer and Company became insolvent and the Government began to pay from its public funds. A temporary grant of Rs 200 per month was sanctioned for maintenance of the museum and library, and J. T. Pearson of the Bengal Medical Service was appointed curator followed shortly by John McClelland and after his resignation by Edward Blyth. In 1840, the Government took a keen interest in the geology and mineral resources and this led to an additional grant of Rs 250 per month for the geological section alone. A new building became a need and this was designed by Walter R Granville and completed in 1875 for the cost of Rs 1,40,000.[10] In 1879 it received a portion of the collection from the India Museum (South Kensington) when that collection was dispersed.[11]

 

The Zoological and Anthropological sections of the museum gave rise to the Zoological Survey of India in 1916, which in turn gave rise to the Anthropological Survey of India in 1945.[12]

 

The Scottish anatomist and zoologist John Anderson took up the position of curator in 1865, and catalogued the mammal and archaeology collections. The English zoologist James Wood-Mason worked at the museum from 1869 and succeeded Anderson as curator in 1887. [13]

Collection

 

Egyptian

It currently occupies a resplendent mansion, and exhibits among others: an Egyptian mummy. The mummy is being restored.[14][15][16][17]

Indian

 

Indian artifacts include the Buddhist stupa from Bharhut, the Buddha's ashes, the Ashoka pillar, whose four-lion symbol became the official emblem of the Republic of India, fossil skeletons of prehistoric animals, an art collection, rare antiques, and a collection of meteorites.

stone sculpture of Devi Durga in kolkata

 

The Indian Museum is also regarded as "the beginning of a significant epoch initiating the socio-cultural and scientific achievements of the country. It is otherwise considered as the beginning of the modernity and the end of medieval era" by UZER Places.[18]

Natural HistoryEdit

 

The museum has four galleries dedicated to natural history, namely the botanical, insect, mammal and bird galleries.[19]

 

Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtə/ ([kolkata] (About this soundlisten), also known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also nicknamed the "City of Joy".[1][2][3].According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city. the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[11][12][13]

 

In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[15] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.

 

As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.

 

Etymology

 

The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[16]

 

There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:

 

The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area of Goddess Kali").

Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[17]

Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat area".[18]

The name may have its origin in the words khal [ˈkʰal] (Bengali: খাল) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa [ˈkata] (Bengali: কাটা), which may mean "dug".[19]

According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun [ˈkɔlitɕun] (Bengali: কলি চুন) and coir or kata [ˈkat̪a] (Bengali: কাতা); hence, it was called Kolikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা).[18]

 

Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[20] (It should be noted that "Calcutt" is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.)

History

 

The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[21][22] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[23] In response to a public petition,[24] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[25] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[26]:1

  

In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[27] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[28] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[28] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[29] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[30] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[31] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[32]

  

By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[33] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[34] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[35]

Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.

  

The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[36][37] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[38] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[39][40] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[41] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[42][43][44] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[45]

 

During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[46] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[47] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes.[48] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[49][50][51] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[52]

 

Geography

 

Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[53] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[54] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[55] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[56] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[56] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[56] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[57] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[58]

Urban structure

Howrah Bridge from the western bank of the Ganges

 

The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[59]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[59]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[60] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[61]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[60] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[62] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.

 

North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan, and Dum Dum.[63]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Barasat, Birati, Khardah up to Barrackpur are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).

Central Kolkata

 

Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[64] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[65] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"[66] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[67] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Park Circus, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.

South Kolkata

 

South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni and Kudghat.[16] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Majerhat, Budge Budge, Behala, Sarsuna, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala and Joka. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Sonarpur, Subhashgram and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[68] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.

East Kolkata

 

East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc. Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[16][69] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[70][71] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[69]

Climate

  

Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[58]

Temperature

 

The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[72] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[72] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or "Nor'westers" in English.[73]

 

Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[74] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings live to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in March.[75] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[76][77]

  

Environmental issues

 

Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[80][81] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[82]

 

Economy

 

Kolkata is the main commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[61] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[83][84] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[52] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[52] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".[85] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[52]

 

Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[16] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 8,772 crore (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[86] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[61]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[87]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[87]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[88] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[89] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[90] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[52] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[91][92][93][94][95] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.

Panoramic view of the Down town Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, Godrej Waterside, TCS Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.

Demographics

See also: Ethnic communities in Kolkata

A skyline consisting of several high-rise buildings

Residential high-rise buildings in South City

A slum area of the city

 

The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan.[96][97] According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi), had a population of 4,486,679;[98] its population density was 24,252/km2 (62,810/sq mi).[98] This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average.[99] The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.[100] Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%[99] exceeds the national average of 74%.[101] The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.[8] The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.[9]

 

Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims compose large minorities.[102] Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Odias, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis, and Parsis.[26]:3 The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.[103] The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel;[104] by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.[105] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata;[103] once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 as of 2009[103] as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.[106] The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.[103][107]

Kolkata urban agglomeration population growth Census Total %±

1981 9,194,000 —

1991 11,021,900 19.9%

2001 13,114,700 19.0%

2011 14,112,536 7.6%

Source: Census of India[9]

Others include Sikhism, Buddhism & Other religions (0.03%)

Religion in Kolkata[108]

Religion Percent

Hinduism

 

76.51%

Islam

 

20.60%

Christianity

 

0.88%

Jainism

 

0.47%

Others

 

1.54%

 

Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.[109] English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority.[110][111] According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu, 20.60% Muslim, 0.88% Christian, and 0.47% Jain.[112] The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.[112] Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004.[113] The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.[114] In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.[115]

 

As of 2003, about one-third of the population, or 1.5 million people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums.[87]:4[116]:92 The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups—bustees, in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies, settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the Government.[116][87]:5 The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.[116]:92[87]:5 According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.[117]:23 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after".[118]

Government and public services

Civic administration

Main article: Civic administration of Kolkata

A red-and-yellow building with multiple arches and towers standing against a backdrop of blue sky and framed by trees

Calcutta High Court

 

Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 15 boroughs, which together encompass 141 wards.[109] Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.[119] As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.[120] The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.[119]

 

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.[121]

 

The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2012, the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim, while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.[122] The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.[123]

 

Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city";[124] and the Kolkata metropolitan area, which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata.[125]

 

As the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases.[126][127][128] The Kolkata Police, headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs.[129][130] The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly.[131]

Utility services

A telecommunications tower belonging to services provider Tata Communications

 

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River;[132] most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North 24 Parganas district.[133] Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa, which is east of the town.[134][135] To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.[136] Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.[75]

 

Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs.[137][138] Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service, a state agency.[139] As of 2012, the city had 16 fire stations.[140]

 

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Teleservices, Virgin Mobile, and MTS India, are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.[141]:25–26:179 with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage is extensive.[142][143] As of 2010, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.[144][145]

Military and diplomatic establishments

 

The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Srilanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The U.S Consulate in Kolkata is the US Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.[146]

 

Transport

 

Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.

 

According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport, in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.[147][148] The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.[149] It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of 25.1 km (16 mi).[150] As of 2009, five Metro rail lines were under construction.[151] Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest railway complex in India), Sealdah, Chitpur and Shalimar, which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.[152] The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the Indian Railways regional divisions—the Kolkata Metro Railways, Eastern Railway and the South-Eastern Railway.[153] Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[154][155][156]

 

Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.[157] Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[158] The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, can interrupt transportation networks.[159][160] Hired public conveyances include auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated Hindustan Ambassadors by make; newer air-conditioned radio taxis are in service as well.[161][162] In parts of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are patronised by the public for short trips.[163]

 

Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.[164] The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.[165] As of 2004, after adjusting for population density, the city's "road space" was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.[166] The Kolkata Metro has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and flyovers. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Babughat.[167] The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral, and National Highway 34 start from the city.[168]

 

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, located in Dum Dum some 16 km (9.9 mi) north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.[169][170]

 

The Port of Kolkata, established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.[171] The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and Haldia.[172] The port hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.[171][173] Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah, located across the Hooghly River.[174][175]

 

The route from North Bengal to Kolkata is set to become cheaper and more efficient for people travelling by bus. Through April 2017 to March 2018, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) will be introducing a fleet of rocket buses equipped with bio-toilets for the bus route.[176]

Healthcare

See also: Health care in Kolkata

A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico

Calcutta Medical College, the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine(after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')

IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata is the largest hospital in West Bengal and one of the oldest in Kolkata.

 

As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[177] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[177] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[178] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[179] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[180][181] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[182] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[183][184][185] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[117]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[117]:61

 

According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[117]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[117]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[117]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[117]:48

 

Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[117]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[117]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[117]:54–55

 

About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[117]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[117]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[117]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[186][187] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[188][189]

 

As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[190]

 

Education

  

Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[191][192] Schools in Kolkata follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[191] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[191] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[193]

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

 

As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[194] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[195] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[196] Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[197] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[198] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[199] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[200][201] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).

 

Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[202] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[203] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[202] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[202] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[202] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[204] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[205] C. V. Raman,[203] and Amartya Sen.[206]

 

Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.

 

Culture

  

Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[207] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"[208] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".[209][210] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[211] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[211] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[212][213] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[214][215]

 

Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";[216] others are in various stages of decay.[217][218] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[219] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[220]

 

The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[221]:99[222] Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[223] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[221]:99[224] Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[225][226] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[227] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[228]

 

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[229] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[230] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[231] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "... a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.[232]

 

Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[233] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[234] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[235][236] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[237][238] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[237] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.[221]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[239] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[240][241][242][243]

 

Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[244] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[245][246] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.

  

Media

See also: Kolkata in the media and List of Bengali-language television channels

A five storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front

Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned All India Radio, Kolkata

 

The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[247] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[248] The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[248] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[248][249] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[248][103] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[248] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[250][251]

 

All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[252] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[253] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[254] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[255][256][257] Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[258]

Sports

See also: Football in Kolkata, Kolkata Marathon, and Kolkata derby

Salt Lake Stadium during Indian Super League opening ceremony

 

The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[259] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[260][261] Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[262] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".[263][264] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[265]

A Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors during Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens

 

As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[266][267] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[211] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[268]

 

Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[269] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

 

The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-Final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[270] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[271][272]

 

Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[273][274] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[275] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[276][277][278] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[279][280] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[281][282] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[283][284]

 

The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[285][286][287] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[288][289] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[290][291] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[292][293] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya

Kyrgyz aretfacts relating to the Yurt which was based at the Earth Centre, Conisbrough, Doncaster Museum of Sustainability 1999-2004

Yurts

For over a thousand years tents like the yurt and ger have been homes for the nomads of Central Asia.

 

The yurt was used as a classroom yurt and housed a fascinating exhibition on the sustainable and nomadic lifestyle of the Kyrgyz people.

 

The felt yurt was made for Earth Centre by a Yurt Master in Kyrgyzstan. The roof is steeply sloped to protect against the rain and snow in the high mountain regions where the nomads lived. The felt covers are laid on a trellis frame usually made of willow. The yurt is light and easy to put up, to pull down and to carry from place to place. It would have taken two camels to transport a yurt this size. Inside, the damp wool smell of the felt is quite distinctive.

 

The Kyrgyz nomads depended on their animals; sheep, especially, provided their main diet of milk and meat, the hides and wool for their clothing and felt, bones to make into utensils and toys and dung for fuel. Nothing was wasted in the nomadic lifestyle.

 

The last several weeks have seen disclosures of information relating to two classified intelligence community programs conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). These programs – conducted with the approval of the FISA Court, authorized by Congress, and carefully overseen by Congress and the Executive Branch – seek to keep the U.S. and their allies safe from threats.

 

On July 19, the Brookings Institution hosted Robert S. Litt, General Counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, for an address on privacy, technology, and security. Litt discussed the laws that govern intelligence collection activities, how to ensure security while protecting privacy and constitutional rights, and how some of these laws are put into practice, in an era when personal data is increasingly handed off to third parties. In discussing the precautions that the intelligence community takes to protect citizens’ privacy, Litt explained the legality and limitations of traditional FISA collection, the FISA business records provision, and Section 702---the part of the statute that facilitates surveillance of non-U.S. persons believed to be abroad.

 

Wells C. Bennett, Fellow in National Security Law and Managing Editor of Lawfare, provided introductory remarks and moderated the discussion.©Paul Morigi Photography

Maker:

Born: USA

Active: USA

Medium: catalog

Size: 5 3/4 in x 9 in

Location:

 

Object No. 2020.369a

Shelf: E-43

 

Publication: List of the Photographs and Photographic Negatives Relating to the War for the Union, now in the War Department Library, Subject Catalogue No. 5, Washington, D. C. Government Printing Office, 1897

 

Other Collections:

 

Provenance:

 

Notes: Once part of the War Department Library and cataloged and published as "List of the Photographs and Photographic Negatives Relating to the War for the Union" (War Department Subject Catalogue No. 5, 1897, the records include photographs from the Matthew B. Brady collection, purchased for $27,840 by the War Department in 1874 and 1875, photographs from the Quartermaster's Department of the Corps of Engineers, and photographs private citizens donated to the War Department. The pictures are now in the Still Picture Branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

 

To view our archive organized by Collections, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS

 

For information about reproducing this image, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE

The word Endurance as an Adjective is defined as:

denoting or relating to a race or other sporting event that takes place over a long distance or otherwise demands great physical stamina.

 

However, I feel the best way to describe how this season has gone is to use the Noun definition of the word: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way

 

The 3rd and final race of the 2016 season was held at the postponed Bang Saen Festival of Speed. The championship standings showed the #36 Toyota with such a commanding lead from the first two races that only a small miracle would see TR-Motorsport crowned as champions. However unlikely it may be the scenario was Thomas and the DC5 to finish in first while the Toyota failed to cross the line at all, being the slowest car on the grid - this was tall order!

 

As with all the endurance races this season the team was beset by mechanical issues.During the extended practice period, gearbox and clutch problems arose resulting in a complete change out of the gearbox. Luckily this rectified the problems and the team were ready for qualifying. Tony Percy, longtime friend of the team and co-driver took the reins of the Honda Integra DC5, with the previous issues still fresh in his mind Tony gently eased the car through qualifying and into a respectable 9th place, which is was an outstanding achievement considering that there were 61 other cars on the track at the same time all vying for a clean lap.

 

As with all endurance races the 6 hours is split between drivers, for the first stint, Tony pushed the Integra into 7th before the first changeover. The safety car period eventually became a red flagged race and all cars returned to the pits resulting in the team losing any advantage they had gained. Seven cars had been involved in the on-track pileup and although this meant fewer cars in the race and more space on track it took several hours to remove the cars and fix the damaged barriers.

 

At the restart, Thomas powered his way into 2nd place overall and was somehow setting faster times than the leading Toyota. He consolidated his position up until the next driver change however the gremlins were back playing with the clutch again causing the car to struggle to change gear. Eventually, all the gears except 4th had failed with Tony limping around the circuit. The decision was then made to pit early and see if the issue could be solved. No fix could be applied so it was 4th gear all the way to the chequered flag for the final 1 hour 24 minutes. Ironically the leading Toyota crashed several times and finished dead last but this was still enough to win the championship. TR-Motorsport finished 4th in class,later promoted to 3rd as another team had received a 30 lap penalty for a jump start behind the safety car.

 

TR-Motorsports final position in the Enduring Endurance Championship was 3rd in class, with just a little bit more luck who knows what might have been……

 

Super Production Class

Race One

An eventful weekend of racing greeted TR-Motorsport at the final rounds of the Thailand Super Series held at the picturesque Bang Saen Beach Street Circuit. The final event had been postponed from November ’16 to February ’17 due to the passing of the late King. With the postponement came a long gap giving us the perfect opportunity to concentrate on some R & D in the hope of closing the gap to Championship Victor Hideharu Kuroki. After some minor tweaks to the car, a major redesign of the front Air Intake was undertaken which provided very encouraging results after completing several simulations on the Dyno equipment.

 

Simulations are all well and good, however, it’s on the track where it counts and Thomas fully obliged with the fastest lap around the circuit in official practice. When qualifying began both Thomas and Hideharu were setting fastest lap after fastest lap, nip and tuck all the way. Eventually, Thomas managed to claim a fantastic Pole Position by just one-tenth of a second from Hideharu, being Pole on a tight and twisty circuit is always vital so the race to the first corner could possibly decide the race.

 

Due to our first gear ratio being longer and the race to the first corner uphill we knew wewould be at a disadvantage. Thomas got off the line perfectly and stormed up the hill defending his line to the left to try and outwit Hideharu who was virtually alongside the ‘Blue Blur’, paint was traded several times before Hideharu backed out and slotted in behind to mount another challenge. The final corner of lap 1 caused a gasp from the TR-Motorsport team and fans as Hideharu once again tried a move, this time on the inside but again showed professionalism by backing off at the right time.

 

By the middle of lap 2 Thomas had pulled out a small lead and held on for the remainder of the race even breaking the lap record on several occasions, Hideharu pushed Thomas all the way to the chequered flag and saw his 100% record gone as Thomas, 10 years after his first win at Bang Saen came home with the spoils and a much needed 20 points, cementing his second place position in the championship.

 

Race 2

After the elation of the previous victory had faded, the team of mechanics led by Sven Thummel got to work on the car to check everything over and prepare for Race 2. The team soon spotted an issue with the wishbones as the bushings were damaged and as a precautionary measure these were duly replaced. As with all previous rounds, the top 5 finishers from Race 1 started in reverse order meaning Thomas would start from 5th. As the cars assembled on the grid all looked good and a top 3 position looked more than possible.

 

As the car left for the warm lap Thomas felt an issue with the steering although not terminal, Thomas made the wisest choice to visit the pits to try and ascertain what the issue was. The team of mechanics could not find anything obvious so the car headed back out on track. People reading this familiar with the rules and regulations of motorsport, will of course know that our little visit to the pits would mean starting at the back of the grid, this was only compounded by the fact that due to a miscommunication with the stewards we forced to wait at the pit lane exit some 600 meters away from the back of the grid!

 

Regular readers will know that we have had similar issues before and still come out on top. However, today was not going to be one of those days! The first 3 laps of the race went perfectly with Thomas making his way through the field from a lowly 19th to a respectable 10th. The racing gods were smiling on us as a safety car deployment bunched the whole pack back up and with 9 laps to go top 3 was still an outside possibility. In came the safety car down went the throttle and that's where the problems began, a massive loss of power resulted in cars streaming past a limping Thomas. On the pit to car radio turning the electrics on and off to reset the car,was suggested - it worked! But by now Thomas was once again at the back of the grid. For the remaining laps, a valiant Thomas fought back to a very respectful 8th place and again set the fastest lap and broke the track record for the Super Production Class.

 

After the race, the car was checked over by the official Thailand Super Series scrutineers and as with all races we have competed in this year,they found nothing to report. Although dejected the team were still in good spirits after another great week of motorsport at Bang Saen Beach and look forward to returning in July to compete in the GTC Supercar Class with the new Porsche 911 (997).

 

In next month’s Pattaya Trader we will have a big update for your regarding the upcoming season, in the meantime you can follow us through our website Tr-Motorosport.com, our Facebook page Facebook.com/TRMotorsportThailand and our Instagram account tmotorsport_thailand

立法會鐵路事宜小組委員會視察廣深港高速鐵路香港段西九龍總站的建築工地

立法会铁路事宜小组委员会视察广深港高速铁路香港段西九龙总站的建筑工地

LegCo Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways visits the construction site of the West Kowloon Terminus of the Hong Kong Section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (2014.04.28)

Relates to the UNDP-supported GCF-funded Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project www.adaptation-undp.org/projects/tuvalu-coastal-adaptatio...

Kyrgyz aretfacts relating to the Yurt which was based at the Earth Centre, Conisbrough, Doncaster Museum of Sustainability 1999-2004

Yurts

For over a thousand years tents like the yurt and ger have been homes for the nomads of Central Asia.

 

The yurt was used as a classroom yurt and housed a fascinating exhibition on the sustainable and nomadic lifestyle of the Kyrgyz people.

 

The felt yurt was made for Earth Centre by a Yurt Master in Kyrgyzstan. The roof is steeply sloped to protect against the rain and snow in the high mountain regions where the nomads lived. The felt covers are laid on a trellis frame usually made of willow. The yurt is light and easy to put up, to pull down and to carry from place to place. It would have taken two camels to transport a yurt this size. Inside, the damp wool smell of the felt is quite distinctive.

 

The Kyrgyz nomads depended on their animals; sheep, especially, provided their main diet of milk and meat, the hides and wool for their clothing and felt, bones to make into utensils and toys and dung for fuel. Nothing was wasted in the nomadic lifestyle.

 

A variety of light necklaces from Mexico relating to the Huichol ceremonies. The necklace on the right relates to corn and a stone representing the eye of a deer, two of the three parts of their Holy Trinity, peyote being the third part shown with the drum. The necklace on the left indicates their sacred mushrooms.

 

The colourful necklace:

A God's eye is a yarn weaving and a spiritual object. The Ojo de Dios (Eye of God in Spanish) is woven with yarn and wood, often with several colors. The weaving of an Ojo de Dios is an ancient contemplative and spiritual practice for many indigenous peoples in the Americas, and beliefs surrounding them vary with location and history. Some people believe they were originally part of the sophisticated religion of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples.

 

In many of the Pueblos of New Mexico (U.S.) Ojos de Dios have traditionally been created for celebration or blessing, presented as a gift or designed to bless a home. Often they reflect a confidence in all-seeing Providence. The spiritual eye has the power to see and understand things unknown to the physical eye. During Spanish colonial times in New Mexico, from the 1500s to the 1800s, Ojos de Dios were placed where people worked, or where they walked along a trail (Mager, 2012).

 

Traditional Ojos de Dios are frequently woven in solitude, as part of an extended meditation or prayer. In other settings, their construction is one aspect of longstanding communal engagement and connection. For centuries, young people in the mountains of New Mexico have made Ojos de Dios in learning circles (wisdom circles) with their elders. In other parts of the 'New World' they were used as ritual objects or for rites of passage. Today, artisans weave complicated or variegated versions of the traditional Ojo de Dios, selling them as decorations or religious objects. There has also been a huge increase in the use of Ojos de Dios as an easy and fun craft for children, but with the meditative and collaborative aspects removed.

 

The Ojo de Dios or God's eye is a ritual tool, magical object, and cultural symbol evoking the weaving motif and its spiritual associations for the Huichol and Tepehuan Indians of western Mexico. The God's Eye is symbolic of the power of seeing and understanding that which is unknown and unknowable, The Mystery. The four points represent the elemental processes: earth, fire, air, and water. The Huichol call their God's eyes Sikuli, which means "the power to see and understand things unknown." When a child is born, the central eye is woven by the father, then one eye is added for every year of the child's life until the child reaches the age of five. Original Tepehuan Crosses are extremely rare to come by. There are many that are being made for the tourist market, but they do not carry the same traditional and spiritual significance.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/2489621591/in/photolis...

 

On Oct. 18, 2020 1:40 AM. I was surprised to see this co. advertised on Canadian CTV.

numinus.ca/

 

Vitality relates to our sensation of power or aliveness. It correlates highly with satisfaction with life, happiness, and health. It indicates optimum human functioning. Discover the factors that help in higher degrees and how to boost your vitality. Have you ever before considered what vitality implies to you? Lots of people are familiar with the concept of "vitality", but extremely few recognize exactly how it is. This short article reveals you a method of examining your vitality and invites you to make a commitment to obtain your personal ideal.Visit our site www.z-factor.com/ for more information on Vitality

In a world sworn by the mannerisms of a status quo, the only way to break out would seem to lie in the hands of select individuals who strive to make a difference- a difference that we can all relate to. With an exciting new theme this year around on “Creating Collaboration”; TEDx Colombo takes you out from the norm and into a world of creative inspiration. With a speaker line-up that includes renowned individuals who have innovated in their respective fields- ranging from, economics and governance, fashion design, photography, advertising, development and the corporate sector.

I can very much relate to how Brendan is feeling in this photo - completely exhausted and burnt out. Anyway, I invaded Brendan's work today, catching him almost falling asleep after a long shift. This was even after a coffee.

 

I'm feeling very frustrated with how my photos have been turning out lately. I should have bumped up the Aperture here, and as a result the focus isn't great. I have to get my tripod fixed asap and keep on practicing with focus. I tend to really struggle with that, thinking it looks great on the camera's LCD, but not so much when I import it into my computer.

The word Endurance as an Adjective is defined as:

denoting or relating to a race or other sporting event that takes place over a long distance or otherwise demands great physical stamina.

 

However, I feel the best way to describe how this season has gone is to use the Noun definition of the word: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way

 

The 3rd and final race of the 2016 season was held at the postponed Bang Saen Festival of Speed. The championship standings showed the #36 Toyota with such a commanding lead from the first two races that only a small miracle would see TR-Motorsport crowned as champions. However unlikely it may be the scenario was Thomas and the DC5 to finish in first while the Toyota failed to cross the line at all, being the slowest car on the grid - this was tall order!

 

As with all the endurance races this season the team was beset by mechanical issues.During the extended practice period, gearbox and clutch problems arose resulting in a complete change out of the gearbox. Luckily this rectified the problems and the team were ready for qualifying. Tony Percy, longtime friend of the team and co-driver took the reins of the Honda Integra DC5, with the previous issues still fresh in his mind Tony gently eased the car through qualifying and into a respectable 9th place, which is was an outstanding achievement considering that there were 61 other cars on the track at the same time all vying for a clean lap.

 

As with all endurance races the 6 hours is split between drivers, for the first stint, Tony pushed the Integra into 7th before the first changeover. The safety car period eventually became a red flagged race and all cars returned to the pits resulting in the team losing any advantage they had gained. Seven cars had been involved in the on-track pileup and although this meant fewer cars in the race and more space on track it took several hours to remove the cars and fix the damaged barriers.

 

At the restart, Thomas powered his way into 2nd place overall and was somehow setting faster times than the leading Toyota. He consolidated his position up until the next driver change however the gremlins were back playing with the clutch again causing the car to struggle to change gear. Eventually, all the gears except 4th had failed with Tony limping around the circuit. The decision was then made to pit early and see if the issue could be solved. No fix could be applied so it was 4th gear all the way to the chequered flag for the final 1 hour 24 minutes. Ironically the leading Toyota crashed several times and finished dead last but this was still enough to win the championship. TR-Motorsport finished 4th in class,later promoted to 3rd as another team had received a 30 lap penalty for a jump start behind the safety car.

 

TR-Motorsports final position in the Enduring Endurance Championship was 3rd in class, with just a little bit more luck who knows what might have been……

 

Super Production Class

Race One

An eventful weekend of racing greeted TR-Motorsport at the final rounds of the Thailand Super Series held at the picturesque Bang Saen Beach Street Circuit. The final event had been postponed from November ’16 to February ’17 due to the passing of the late King. With the postponement came a long gap giving us the perfect opportunity to concentrate on some R & D in the hope of closing the gap to Championship Victor Hideharu Kuroki. After some minor tweaks to the car, a major redesign of the front Air Intake was undertaken which provided very encouraging results after completing several simulations on the Dyno equipment.

 

Simulations are all well and good, however, it’s on the track where it counts and Thomas fully obliged with the fastest lap around the circuit in official practice. When qualifying began both Thomas and Hideharu were setting fastest lap after fastest lap, nip and tuck all the way. Eventually, Thomas managed to claim a fantastic Pole Position by just one-tenth of a second from Hideharu, being Pole on a tight and twisty circuit is always vital so the race to the first corner could possibly decide the race.

 

Due to our first gear ratio being longer and the race to the first corner uphill we knew wewould be at a disadvantage. Thomas got off the line perfectly and stormed up the hill defending his line to the left to try and outwit Hideharu who was virtually alongside the ‘Blue Blur’, paint was traded several times before Hideharu backed out and slotted in behind to mount another challenge. The final corner of lap 1 caused a gasp from the TR-Motorsport team and fans as Hideharu once again tried a move, this time on the inside but again showed professionalism by backing off at the right time.

 

By the middle of lap 2 Thomas had pulled out a small lead and held on for the remainder of the race even breaking the lap record on several occasions, Hideharu pushed Thomas all the way to the chequered flag and saw his 100% record gone as Thomas, 10 years after his first win at Bang Saen came home with the spoils and a much needed 20 points, cementing his second place position in the championship.

 

Race 2

After the elation of the previous victory had faded, the team of mechanics led by Sven Thummel got to work on the car to check everything over and prepare for Race 2. The team soon spotted an issue with the wishbones as the bushings were damaged and as a precautionary measure these were duly replaced. As with all previous rounds, the top 5 finishers from Race 1 started in reverse order meaning Thomas would start from 5th. As the cars assembled on the grid all looked good and a top 3 position looked more than possible.

 

As the car left for the warm lap Thomas felt an issue with the steering although not terminal, Thomas made the wisest choice to visit the pits to try and ascertain what the issue was. The team of mechanics could not find anything obvious so the car headed back out on track. People reading this familiar with the rules and regulations of motorsport, will of course know that our little visit to the pits would mean starting at the back of the grid, this was only compounded by the fact that due to a miscommunication with the stewards we forced to wait at the pit lane exit some 600 meters away from the back of the grid!

 

Regular readers will know that we have had similar issues before and still come out on top. However, today was not going to be one of those days! The first 3 laps of the race went perfectly with Thomas making his way through the field from a lowly 19th to a respectable 10th. The racing gods were smiling on us as a safety car deployment bunched the whole pack back up and with 9 laps to go top 3 was still an outside possibility. In came the safety car down went the throttle and that's where the problems began, a massive loss of power resulted in cars streaming past a limping Thomas. On the pit to car radio turning the electrics on and off to reset the car,was suggested - it worked! But by now Thomas was once again at the back of the grid. For the remaining laps, a valiant Thomas fought back to a very respectful 8th place and again set the fastest lap and broke the track record for the Super Production Class.

 

After the race, the car was checked over by the official Thailand Super Series scrutineers and as with all races we have competed in this year,they found nothing to report. Although dejected the team were still in good spirits after another great week of motorsport at Bang Saen Beach and look forward to returning in July to compete in the GTC Supercar Class with the new Porsche 911 (997).

 

In next month’s Pattaya Trader we will have a big update for your regarding the upcoming season, in the meantime you can follow us through our website Tr-Motorosport.com, our Facebook page Facebook.com/TRMotorsportThailand and our Instagram account tmotorsport_thailand

Relates to the UNDP-supported GCF-funded Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project www.adaptation-undp.org/projects/tuvalu-coastal-adaptatio...

Marakoopa Cave is a wet cave and contains spectacular decoration, sediment deposits relating to past periods of glaciations and significant communities of cave fauna – including the largest glow-worm display in any public-access cave in Australia.

 

Typical of a wet cave, Marakoopa Cave displays signs of former stream activity in its upper levels, including stratified deposits of sand, clay and conglomerate.

 

Marakoopa Cave contains numerous attractively decorated chambers on different levels, extensive areas of flowstone and a variety of other interesting formations.

 

Marakoopa Cave has four surface openings associated with the entrance and exit of the two creeks which run through the cave, three of which are navigable. These two streams, known as Long Creek and Short Creek, begin as runoff from the slopes of Western Bluff, some 100 metres above the cave, and have created two independent cave passages.

 

A little background on the development of Marakoopa Cave

 

Like King Solomons Cave, Marakoopa Cave was first discovered in 1906 and it was initially known as Byards Cave. Two boys, James and Harry Byard, are believed to have originally entered the cave via its top entrance. The boys kept their discovery a secret, returning to the cave in 1910. James Byard obtained a land grant which included the cave area and its discovery became common knowledge in 1911, by which time a track had been cut to the river entrance, which is currently in use, and a heavy iron door covered the entrance.

 

In 1912 Marakoopa Cave was opened to the public, lit by 24 handheld carbide bicycle lamps which were carried by James, Harry and their younger siblings. In 1921 the cave was purchased from James Byard by the Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau, but Harry stayed on as a guide for a number of years and helped with the installation of the first electric lighting system, switched on in May 1940 by the then Premier of Tasmania.

Dundalk overwhelm Bangor in All Ireland Final

by Roger Corbett

Bangor’s amazing run in the All Ireland Junior Cup came to an abrupt end when they were comprehensively beaten by Dundalk, eventually losing by 55-5.

Where do you start when trying to relate and absorb the events of Saturday’s final at Chambers Park? Firstly, congratulations to worthy winners Dundalk who nullified the Bangor attack, then went on to produce some stunning plays which racked up no less than 8 tries, each by a different player. For Bangor’s part, they were unable to respond to the intensity of Dundalk’s game, and lacked the cutting edge which their opponents used to great effect.

The day started full of promise, as the strong support from North Down made their way to Chambers Park in Portadown, knowing Bangor would be fielding their best team. Once again, the pundits had Bangor as the underdogs – just as they had done so in the previous three rounds! In confounding the experts earlier, Bangor produced some awesome performances against top quality opposition to get to the final. Dundalk had produced some convincing wins in the early rounds of the competition, but had struggled to get past CIYMS in the semi-final, just managing to squeeze ahead at the second time of asking. However, with a number of key players returning to the side in time for this game, they were now back at full strength and would be a formidable force to contend with.

Having won the toss, captain Jamie Clegg elected to play into the stiff wind in the first half. For the first 5 minutes, Bangor doggedly retained possession and tried to play their way into Dundalk’s half through a series of determined forward moves. However, little ground was made and, when possession was finally lost, the Dundalk back line produced a burst that simply cut through the Bangor defence resulting in an easy touch down under Bangor’s posts for a 7-0 lead.

Bangor stuck to their plan and slowly, but patiently, got their attack moving forward, eventually winning a penalty to the left of Dundalk’s posts, but Mark Widdowson’s kick into the wind drifted just wide of the mark.

The contrast in play between the two teams was becoming clear, with Bangor trying to keep the ball close while Dundalk were throwing it wide. The latter strategy was proving to be the more effective as, with 20 minutes gone, a quick back line move with players looping around resulted in an overlap on the right wing which gave a clear run in to again, score under the posts. A further 9 minutes later, they did it again and, although the Bangor defence had sensed the danger and moved across to cover it, their tackling let them down allowing Dundalk to get over in the right hand corner, taking their lead to 19-0.

By now, Bangor were trying to hang on until half time when they could regroup and come out with the wind at their backs. Dundalk, on the other hand were anxious to press home their advantage and give them a more comfortable lead. To Bangor’s credit, although camped on their own line for lengthy spells, they dug in and managed to hold on until the referee’s half time whistle.

As the teams reappeared from the dressing rooms, it was obvious Bangor were ringing the changes, particularly in the backs. With the wind advantage having lessened considerably, Bangor got the second half underway. It was now Dundalk’s turn to adopt the slow, steady approach, just as Bangor had done earlier. However, their more confident off-loading and support play was, once again, taking play deep into Bangor’s territory. Frustration at not being able to gain possession and take play out of their danger area eventually resulted in a yellow card for Clegg after a succession of penalties. Dundalk kicked the penalty to touch, won their lineout and drove for the line. Although initially held up by the Bangor defence, Dundalk’s repeated drives were eventually rewarded with another converted score, extending their lead to 26-0.

From the touchline, the Bangor faithful had felt that if their players had managed to score first in the second half, they may have been able to mount a fight-back and close the gap to their opponents. As it was, this Dundalk score simply bolstered their confidence and pushed Bangor deeper into trouble. With Bangor still a man down, Dundalk added to the score with a penalty and then another score in the corner. Everything was now working for the Leinster men, as even the difficult touchline conversion into the biting wind successfully split the posts, bringing the score to 36-0.

As the game entered the final quarter, and with Dundalk all but holding the cup, Bangor were now on the ropes. By contrast, the Dundalk players were in almost total control, and were not going to slow down now. In a 10 minute spell, they ran in a further 3 tries, making the scoreline 55-0. By now, any sense of dejection the Bangor supporters may have been feeling was now moved to feelings of sympathy for their players. However, pride was at stake and once again Bangor rallied as the game entered its final minutes. At last, the forwards got within striking distance of the Dundalk line and, although their repeated attacks were repelled, they finally managed to do what their opponents had done so effectively, and quickly passed the ball wide to Davy Charles. Even though they were 55 points ahead, the Dundalk defence made Charles work hard to drive through the tackles and score Bangor’s consolation try, bringing the final score to 55-5.

From Bangor’s point of view, the final score doesn’t tell the whole story of this competition. While the final may have resulted in a sad anti-climax for Bangor, the remarkable journey to get there will be remembered for some time. On the day, Dundalk were by far the better side, and Bangor would have to concede that their game was not up to the usual standard. However, there is no doubt the experience of competing at this level is something to relish and the goal now will be to secure a top four place in the league and try again next year.

Everybody at the club has nothing but the highest respect and praise for what has been achieved this year by not just the 1sts, but all the senior teams, and one poor result isn’t going to change that – the welcome at Upritchard Park for the returning players is testament to that. With that in mind, the players now need to put this disappointment behind them and provide the best possible response against a struggling Portadown side at home in the league next Saturday.

Bangor side: J Leary, A Jackson, P Whyte, F Black, G Irvine, R Latimer, J Clegg, C Stewart, R Armstrong, K Rosson, D Charles, M Aspley, M Weir, M Widdowson, C Morgan

Subs: S Irvine, O McIlmurray, D Kelly, M Rodgers, C Harper, D Fusco, M Thompson

Bangor scores: D Charles (1T)

Dundalk Storm To Title Dundalk 55 v Bangor 5 from KnockOn.ie

Dundalk Scorers: Christopher Scully, Owen McNally, Jonathan Williams, John Smyth, Ultan Murphy, Tiernan Gonnelly, James McConnon and Stephen Murphy 1 try each. Ultan Murphy 6 cons, 1 pen.

Bangor Scorers: David Charles 1 try.

In front of a big crowd at Chambers Park on Saturday afternoon Dundalk delivered a stunning and ruthless display to see off the challenge of Bangor and capture the All Ireland Junior Cup title for the very first time.

Three first half tries had them firmly in control at 19-0 ahead having played with the elements at the Portadown venue during the first half and while the wind dropped somewhat after half time the Dundalk intensity most certainly didn’t as they cut loose scoring five more tries.

Dundalk returned to a heroes welcome at their Mill Road clubhouse on Saturday night after a display of pure brilliance throughout the afternoon.

Precision, pace and skill from the Louth men from start to finish left Bangor playing second fiddle for long periods.

Description: Collection of pamphlets relating to paper manufacturing industry by:- Woodhall paperboard mill; Witchampton paperboard mill; Lochmill, Caldwells Mill; St Cuthberts Mill; Culter Mills paper company; the Wiggins Teape Group; Wookey Hole Mill; Donald Murray (paper) Ltd; Inveresk Paper Merchants Ltd; Reed Paper and Board (UK) Ltd.

 

Accession Number: 4748/41 A - L/88

 

History: Used at Holmes McDougall, Edinburgh. Holmes McDougall were educational publishers based at 137 - 141 Leith Walk, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh City of Print is a joint project between City of Edinburgh Museums and the Scottish Archive of Print and Publishing History Records (SAPPHIRE). The project aims to catalogue and make accessible the wealth of printing collections held by City of Edinburgh Museums. For more information about the project please visit www.edinburghcityofprint.org

 

youtu.be/9rDd-yfZbQ0?t=1s

 

Title: It! The Terror From Beyond Space

Year Of Release: 1958

Running Time: 69 minutes

DVD Released By: MGM Home Entertainment

Directed By: Edward L. Cahn

Writing Credits: Jerome Bixby

Starring: Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, Dabbs Greer, Paul Langton, Robert Bice

Taglines:

1. It breathes, it hunts…It Kills!

2. IT!...Reaches through space!...Scoops up men and women!...Gorges on blood!

3. The revelation shocker of things to come!

Alternate Titles:

It! The Vampire from Beyond Space (1958)

The Terror from Beyond Space (1958).

Review Date: 12.12.04 (updated 1.1.10)

 

The film opens with a thundering musical theme and a title that threatens to bust out of the screen and into our third spatial dimension. After the credits end, we get a view of the Martian surface. In the distance we see the wreckage of a crashed rocket ship. A voice belonging to Colonel Edward Carruthers begins to narrate, relating how the ship he commanded cracked up on landing six months previously and how he is now the only survivor from that doomed expedition, the crew encountering some strange force on the Red planet they came to know only as death. The camera slowly pans over the landscape and a second rocket ship is revealed, albeit intact and standing erect. Carruthers says that he will now be going back to face his superiors on Earth and possibly another kind of death.

Now we see the capitol building in Washington D.C., which quickly fades to a door marked, “Science advisory committee. Division of interplanetary exploration.” No doubt down the hall are the offices for the division on Radiation-Enlarged Insects and Lizards. Inside this room a government official is conducting a press conference and releasing information on the second rocket ship sent to Mars. He talks about how Colonel Carruthers has been found alive, but is the only survivor from the initial expedition. The Colonel will be returned to Earth to face trial for the murders of the rest of the first ship’s crew.

Back on Mars, we see the Challenge-142 preparing to lift off. Before they can depart, Van Heusen notices an open compartment. It seems Lt. Calder was dumping some crates (littering) and forgot to close it. The open hatch is closed remotely, but as it slides shut, an ominous shadow moving about nearby alerts us to the fact that something has managed to get aboard while it was open. We hear a few growls and even get a close up of IT’s feet as it moves about. I gotta say, this guy needs some serious corrective footwear. Talk about a slewfoot! What is even more hilarious is that the shadow we see on the wall seems to be made by the actor in the monster suit, but not the monster mask. His facial features seem pretty clear in silhouette.

After a name check, Van Heusen begins the launch countdown at ten, while strapped into what appears to be a lawn chair! Where was the budget blown for this ship? No trash recycling systems and cheap chairs! The contractor must have spent it somewhere, but it obviously wasn’t on this ship!

Once in space and safely on the way home, Van Heusen (who will henceforth be referred to simply as Van – some of the characters did it, why not me) begins acting like an asshole, ridiculing Carruther’s story of a monster. He tells Carruthers (seemingly with great delight) that they have enough evidence to put him in front of a firing squad. They head up one level and Van shows him a human skull they found on the surface of Mars. Dental records revealed it to be a Frank Kenner, one of Carruther’s crew. The skull has an obvious bullet hole in it and Van says, “There’s only one kind of a monster that uses bullets.” There is an ominous musical cue. Carruthers walks away and the film fades out.

 

Sometime later the crew is cleaning up after a meal. Correction: the women are cleaning up after a meal. Yes, in this futuristic year of 1973, women – despite being doctors and presumably vital members of the crew – are still assigned the laborious task of cleaning up after meals and making sure all the lazy, fat-ass males have fresh, hot coffee in their cups and are supplied with cigarettes. I wonder if these guys made them cook the meal as well.

So this group has finished a meal and are relaxing. The usual light banter is exchanged before the topic of Colonel Carruthers and his monster comes up. Royce (the other Royce will always be referred to as Doctor Royce for purposes of this review) says that he doesn’t disbelieve or believe the story. Along about that time Carruthers arrives and is greeted with a smart-ass comment from Van. He gets some coffee from Ann and retreats back up one level. Van then states that before they reach Earth, he will have Carruthers’ confession on tape. What is he going to do, beat it out of him?

Some more time passes and Ann brings Carruthers a plate of food. She admits that she has only heard the story of what happened to the crew of the Challenge-141 from Van and would like to hear it straight from Carruthers. He relates to her how they landed, went out exploring and then got caught in a sandstorm. Something in the storm began taking the crew and in the confusion shots were fired, one apparently killing Kenner by mistake. Carruthers was the only one who made it back to the ship. Subsequent searches turned up no signs of his crew or the thing that took them.

Van continues to act like a dick. Ann - with whom he seems to have some sort of relationship beyond work - tells him that he owes it to Carruthers to treat him like a fellow officer and not an animal, and that it is not his place to decide whether he is guilty.

More time passes. Royce and Carruthers are playing chess while Van looks on, smoking a cigarette. Calder is nearby scribbling in a notebook – probably “I won’t leave outer hatches open before lift-off” a hundred times, enforced by Van for his lamebrain mistake. Elsewhere, Keinholz is sitting alone at a desk, looking bored. He hears their stowaway bumbling around the cargo hold. He goes to investigate and is killed, the attack shown as shadows on a wall. The monster lifts Keinholz over his head and brings him smashing to the floor, where he proceeds to pelt the unfortunate crewmen with a barrage of blows…or in this case, cartwheeling its arms and bitch-slapping the guy to death.

Above, Carruthers has heard the commotion and wonders what is going on. No one else seems to have heard anything. He still insists on performing a head count and when Keinholz comes up missing, everyone begins searching the ship for him. While everyone is split up, Gino Finelli is captured by the beast when he stops to pilfer some cigarettes from a storage locker.

 

Everyone convenes again and Van is in disbelief as there just isn’t a place on the ship a man could hide. Carruthers asks where Gino is and Bob says that he was right behind him. He looks back down the ladder to the deck below and calls out to Gino, but all is silent below. He, Van and Carruthers all go back down where they find Gino’s unused cigarette on the floor, but no Gino. Now everyone is calling out for Gino in addition to Keinholz. Soon after, Keinholz’s body is located in an air duct.

Everyone comes running and arrives as Keinholz is removed from the duct. Bob wonders if Gino is inside the duct, but Carruthers looks and sees nothing. Major Purdue volunteers to go in to look for Gino as he claims to know the layout. He crawls on in, but doesn’t see anything at first. Then he re-orients himself and sees Gino at the end of the passage. Gino is looking pretty bad, like he was in a fight with an Avon lady who applied her make-up samples to him. Purdue yells out that he found Gino and begins to crawl toward him. He shakes Gino, trying to rouse him but Gino just shakes his head limply. Then there is a shadowy movement nearby and IT arrives on the scene, no doubt pissed to find someone playing with his food. IT growls and claws at Purdue, who screams before pulling out a revolver and squeezing off a few shots. This makes the monster roar and outside in the storage room, Carruther’s face is one of dread – he knows that roar all too well, it seems.

Purdue comes barreling out of the duct and Carruthers sneaks a glance inside before he and Van replace the cover over the entrance. Bob, naturally has a fit, upset that his brother is being left behind. He is removed by Royce and Carruthers yells to the cowering women to run and get a head start. A head start for where? You’re on a spaceship, not the open plains of Iowa. Carruthers then spots a crate of grenades and suggests that they wire them up to the hatches, thus blowing IT up if it decides to leave the duct. So Van, Carruthers and Calder wire up these grenades, then gather up Keinholz’s body (which seemed to magically aid them in picking itself off the floor) and retreat to one of the upper levels.

Next we see a table loaded with guns, rifles and ammunition. It looks like a NRA convention! It is at this point that I must point out the sheer stupidity of these people. They are on a spaceship, which is traveling through the vacuum of space. Rupturing the hull of the ship in any way would be extraordinarily bad. I’d imagine that great pains would be taken to minimize the chances that such an event ever took place. Yet these fools insist on firing projectile weapons within the confines of the ship. Not only that, but they have grenades ready to detonate below. Now, what kind of tests did these people have to pass in order to be selected for this mission? Cuz smarts don’t seem to be a requisite. Not once does any one of them stop to consider the chances that such an explosion might actually harm the bloody ship! No, they just fire away. Either these people are colossal idiots, or they are confident in the construction and engineering of the ship – but given the lawn chairs adorning the place, I would not exactly be willing to bet my life on the latter possibility.

So the men are taking stock of the weapons while the ladies apply the most idiotic looking bandage to Purdue’s head. Royce tries to console Bob by telling him there was nothing they could have done for Gino, but Bob is pissed that they didn’t even try to rescue his brother.

Meanwhile, Van is asking Carruthers if he knows what IT is. This must have just galled the guy to no end. Here he was all ready to break Carruthers and get a confession, and now he must admit that the other man was right all along. Time passes and the gang is pacing up and down, waiting for IT to leave the ducts and trip the grenade trap. They all gather around the intercom and listen as IT busts through the grate covering the duct and sets off the grenades. All those grenades detonate and we are treated to an explosion that looks like it was made by a box of firecrackers.

 

They still hear the monster growling, so they know that the plan has failed. Without a word, they hoist their firearms, open the central stair hatch and head down to investigate further…well, all the guys do. The women stay up above, no doubt prepping coffee. The guys gather around the door to C and open it up. A lot of smoke passes through the doorway, obscuring their vision. Calder, who is carrying the biggest gun, goes in first. Well, actually Van was in the lead, but when he couldn’t get the lights activated, he motions for Calder to go first. Chickenshit bastard. Calder barely gets through the door when IT lunges out of the smoke, grabs his rifle and bends it, Superman-style, over its head. Calder, Royce and Bob then run like hell up the stairs while Van and Carruthers fire their pistols at the beast. They retreat up the stairs, firing all the way, while IT tears the door to C compartment open wide enough to get through. Once safely up the stairs, the crew closes the central stair hatch.

Next gas grenades are used in an attempt to kill the beast. This fails to work as well and Van comes out of the engagement with an injured foot, scraped up something bad when the monster grabbed him.

Dr. Royce has completed the autopsy on Keinholz, discovering that “there is not a molecule of oxygen or a drop of water” left in his body. Blood, bone marrow, glandular secretions – everything, is gone. She theorizes that since there are no puncture marks on the body, that this was accomplished through some type of osmosis process. Keep in mind that the Human body is sixty to seventy percent water. Now, we got a pretty good view of the dead Keinholz earlier. Sure, his body was shriveled, but if all the moisture in his body had been removed, then would not he have looked more like a dried up prune, and been the size of a cabbage patch doll? Van Heusen hasn’t joined the cadaver club yet, though his wound is infected and nothing Dr. Royce can do helps it any.

They open the central hatch and peer down. IT is two levels down, but they can see it breaking through the center hatch onto the level directly below them, which will grant it access to the next level. They realize that if IT can get through the center hatches, they are royally SCREWED. Ann approaches Carruthers and tells him that he was right and they were all wrong. They hold hands and share a Kodak moment.

 

Royce pipes in about now with an idea he and Bob have worked out. He proposes that two men exit through the control room airlock and then space walk down the side of the ship and re-enter through the airlock on the motor level – below the current location of the creature. This would enable them to surprise the monster, but they aren’t sure what to surprise it with. Carruthers says he’s been thinking and has an idea, so he and Calder suit up and make their way down the hull to the bottom of the ship. They reach the airlock on the motor level and the others above begin talking loud at the proper time, distracting the monster from what is occurring below it. Carruthers and Calder sneak out onto the motor level and set an electrical trap on the stairs that lead to the upper level where IT is located.

 

The two then take cover behind some induction pumps and open the center hatch, which is noticed by the creature. It begins to descend the stairs and when it gets to the appropriate spot – ZAP. Nothing. The monster is not affected. Carruthers is able to make it safely to the airlock, but Calder takes a blow to the head that tears his vinyl “helmet” and stumbles back, his foot getting caught and the fall breaking his leg. He fires up an acetylene torch and uses it to fend off the monster every time it gets to close to his hiding spot.

Carruthers returns to the others where they try and think of a way to rescue Calder, who can be heard over the radio. Meanwhile the Doctor approaches Royce and tells him that the alien bacteria are attacking bone marrow, resulting in a leukemia-type condition. The drugs she has been using are working too slowly and she needs fresh blood to keep Van and Purdue alive – but there is no more on this level. They will need to descend to the cargo level and retrieve some more.

Royce is preparing to make a run for the blood and Bob decides that it his “turn” now to go. What is this, a ride? I suppose he feels the need to do something in helping kill the monster that murdered his brother. Carruthers decides to accompany them. Calder promises to keep them apprised of the creature’s movements via the intercom. A shadow on the wall tells us that IT is still dragging dead Gino around, and has wandered into the reactor room. After Calder reports this, it gives Carruthers an idea. He remotely closes the reactor room door and asks Calder what the monster does. When no odd behavior is reported, the three men make their descent in search of the blood supply.

 

Meanwhile Van has awoken again and is trying to get up from his cot. The women try to restrain him but he yells and pushes past them. He has an idea – by unsealing the reactor, the radiation will kill the monster. He flips some controls while the ladies still try and talk sense into him. In the reactor room, the creature is banging on the door to get out when the reactor is unsealed and it gets a face full of radiation. The women call down to warn the men what has happened, inciting Carruthers and Royce to speed things up. Below, Bob is helping Calder up the stairs when IT breaks out of the reactor room. Calder dives back into his hiding spot and Bob fires off his pistol at the beast. He then tries to run up the stairs, but IT is too fast. The monster reaches up and grabs him, pulling him down to the floor and bitch-slapping him to death. Royce and Carruthers haul ass back up the stairs with the blood, having to leave Bob behind. They get back to the laboratory level and then everyone heads on up to the topmost level – the control room.

Everyone is now huddled on the highest level. For some IDIOTIC reason, Carruthers is carrying a bazooka. A bazooka! They pile some heavy crates over the hatch in the floor, hoping to keep IT from busting up through the opening. Nearby Ann and Van are talking and the ever more disconcerted Colonel is remarking on Ann is now “with” Carruthers and how it happened out of the blue. She tries to dismiss it and wants to talk about it later, but he insists that there may be no later considering how their situation is degenerating rapidly. She walks off to help Carruthers and Van continues to mutter to Dr. Royce.

  

They contact Calder down below, who is still alive. He can see the monster still bumbling around on the motor level. About now IT has decided to find out where everyone else has gone. IT ascends the stairs to the first storage level and begins banging around. Calder warns Carruthers that IT is on its way up. The gang up top makes ready, turning the lights off and preparing for the last fight. Carruthers tells Calder to make his way to the airlock now that IT is no longer nearby and hide there. Then Carruthers picks up the bazooka again and aims it at the hatch.

While waiting, Carruthers happens to glance at a dial on a nearby instrument panel and notices that the oxygen consumption on the ship is far in excess of what it should be. He points this out to Royce and the two theorize that it is due to the monster. With the thin air on Mars it would need a gigantic lung capacity and has thus been hogging all the oxygen on the ship with its Darth Vader breathing style. Carruthers suggest letting all the air out of the ship to kill it. Royce agrees, saying they can build it back up for themselves later.

 

A mad rush is on now, everyone trying to get into his or her space suit. The monster tears his way up onto the laboratory level, doesn’t even hesitate and then heads up the latter to the top level. IT bangs on the hatch, causing all the boxes sitting atop it to topple over, and then IT peels back the metal of the hatch like wrapping paper and pokes up through the opening like a jack-in-the-box. Everyone has their spacesuits on now, but Carruthers cannot reach the controls to release the air because the monster is in the way. He calls to Royce, who is now holding the bazooka, to drive it back down so he can make his way to the proper control panel. Royce fires the bazooka, but the rocket just bounces off the monster before bouncing around the floor some. No detonation at all! It must have been a dud. Carruthers is trying to reach the controls, but the monster is preventing him from getting too close. Van then jumps up, runs to the controls and hits the correct button. The airlock doors open and the air begins rushing out. The monster has grabbed Van and no doubt given him the squish treatment, as when next we see Van, he is stretched out on the floor.

The ship begins diving. Well, not really…but given that the emergency klaxon blaring away to warn everyone of decompression and air loss sounds just like the diving bell in some old WWII movie, and one can see why it seems like the ship is diving. Everyone hangs on for dear life. Papers start flying around the room, but very few actually get blown out the airlock. The monster growls, writhes around and finally stops moving as the last of the air is removed. Carruthers checks on both IT and Van, but both are still and quiet. I have to wonder how Van didn’t get blown out. Everyone was hanging on, but Van was out cold (or dead). It seems the monster is finally dead. Everyone seems relieved, and the camera zooms in on Ann and Carruthers as they hold hands before fading out…

…Into ANOTHER freakin’ shot of the ship flying through space (number nine). This fades into the room in Washington D.C. that we saw at the very beginning of the film. The same government official is conducting another press release. He has more information to add to the story he gave to the reporters the previous evening. He reads a message from the Challenge-142 received less than an hour ago:

“This is Eric Royce talking. Of the nineteen men and women who have set foot upon the planet Mars, six will return.”

Six? Let’s see…Carruthers, Ann, Royce, Dr. Royce, Purdue and…Calder, I suppose. Calder was hiding in the airlock on the motor level while Van Heusen got beat up by the monster and was laying there pretty still at the end, so I guess he was the one who died. The message continues:

“There is no longer a question of murder, but of an alien and elemental lifeforce. A planet so cruel, so hostile, that man may have to find it necessary to bypass it in his endeavor to explore and understand the universe.”

 

Well, at least Carruthers has been cleared, but Royce makes out like the planet Mars is so damn dangerous. Excuse me, but were not you guys all safe until you got back on the ship? The planet seemed pretty harmless. It is the native life that proved to be so deadly. Big difference. The message (and the movie) concludes:

“Another name for Mars…is death.”

Fade out. The End.

   

Structurally, this movie is most similar to The Thing From Another World in that it deals with a small group of people trapped struggling to prevail against a deadly organism from another planet bound and determined to make a snack of them all. Aside from the opening and closing segments set on Earth (which most people conclude were added in order to stretch out the film’s running time) the movie never leaves the crew of the Challenge-142. Once things get rolling, the movie rarely lets up and moves along at a brisk pace, rapidly pushing its characters through one bad situation and into another. While not as intense as later films would be, the approach taken works very well and the viewer begins to detect the sense of danger and desperation that builds as the film progresses.

Sadly, the character development that was so well executed in the Howard Hawk’s The Thing From Another World, is sorely and quite obviously lacking here. We are quickly introduced to a number of people, who for the most part, will be expanded upon very little and examined only long enough to form the vaguest of impressions. With the exception of Carruthers and Van Heusen, who these people are and what motivates them was just not important to the producers. Those two are plainly set up to be at odds with each other, though the conflict is really all on the part of Van Heusen, who is resolute in his belief of Carruther’s guilt. Yet, the film sets up this adversarial dynamic and goes no where with it. Early on during the monster’s rampage, Van Heusen takes a hit and is restricted to bed for the rest of the film, offering up only smartass remarks and a failed attempt at killing the creature thereafter. I suppose one could say that Van Heusen was shown to be in error when it came to the veracity of Carruthers’ story, and that he was pushed aside to make room for latter to take the lead and redeem himself. There could not be two leaders, so one was removed.

While the characters might not be the most fleshed out in film history, they certainly make up for it with their actions. After viewing this movie, one has to wonder what kind of idiots these people truly were. How they ever graduated from some type of training program and granted a position on a ship to Mars is beyond me. In fact, the entire organization seems lacking. There is just so much that betrays them as morons. Like smoking. These people are nicotine fiends who are lighting up non-stop. Someone missing? Have a smoke. The monster kills someone? Have a smoke. Time running out and death looking certain? Have a freaking smoke! I must say that the Challenge-142 must have one HELL of an air recycling system. These folks have the oxygen scrubbers working overtime with all the smoke they exhale.

On top of that, these guys are gun toting, trigger-happy morons who make the Montana militia groups look like the boy scouts. They start squeezing off rounds at the drop of a hat, no worries about ricocheting bullets or friendly fire. I guess the ship, on top of having a first rate air recycling system, also has the sturdiest hull ever manufactured by mankind. It must have, as these guys don’t give a single thought to accidentally rupturing the hull. And they don’t stop with guns! They haul out grenades by the dozen and detonate them and then move on up to firing a bazooka in their ship’s control room!

 

As far as visual FX are concerned, this film doesn’t have too many. What we do see is adequately done by the standards of the day. The most ambitious shot is the view of Carruthers and Calder walking down the side of the ship as it traverses the stars. Back then it might have looked awesome, but now it is very easy to notice that the actors don’t seem to be covering any ground, despite taking numerous steps as well as the obvious signs of matting them into the footage of the rocket. I’d venture to say that the best looking thing we see, though it is just for a few seconds at the film’s beginning, is the painting that represents the surface of Mars. Sure, it looks nothing like what Mars really looks like, but it is still executed pretty darn well.

 

Now we come to the one aspect that is both one of the best as well as one of the worst things about the movie: The monster. The monster costume is a glaring source of both potential embarrassment and possible fun. The costume is a rather bulky, rubber affair that bends in all the wrong places, heightening the “cheese” factor and lending a certain air of ridiculousness to the film. The way it lumbers, stumbles and plods around the ship is laughable considering the dire circumstances and danger it supposedly represents. The face is static, except for the tongue that is often protruding from the sizable mouth. This effect was produced by the actor’s chin pushing the “tongue” through the creature’s maw.

Since the movie was filmed on a mere handful of sets, with a single set used to represent the various central chambers of the ship – just re-dressed for each one, director Cahn makes good use of the limited space he has. Thanks to the camera work and the set dressing, the ship comes across as being fairly good sized. Another thing he does rather well in conjunction with cinematographer Kenneth Peach is to hide the monster and utilize shadows to create an atmosphere of dread and creepiness. Whether this was done for artistic reasons or to help hide the often silly-looking monster suit is open for debate, but since the creature is shown quite well on several occasions, and the suit holds up pretty darn well to scrutiny, I personally believe it was the former. There are numerous occasions where all we see is the beast’s shadow on the wall, or a foot moving across the floor. More than one assault on a Human is shown as nothing more than shadows on a wall, which, while lessening the onscreen violence, only makes the attacks more horrifying. This method really helps in firing the imagination, as what the mind conjures up is almost always more frightening than what we ultimately see on screen.

Still, despite all the apparent flaws...indeed, perhaps because of those very flaws, this film has a sizable “fun” quotient. Taking it too seriously will only lessen the enjoyment derived from the proceedings. An enormous grain of salt, along with a large suspension of disbelief will come in handy here, and will help transform the film from an “old 50’s monster movie” into a “classic B-Movie experience.”

 

"relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated therewith"

 

A creative outing with my photo club - Inland Empire Photo Club - where we played with light and motion and long exposures to create kinetic art. It was a wonderful, creative evening.

The word Endurance as an Adjective is defined as:

denoting or relating to a race or other sporting event that takes place over a long distance or otherwise demands great physical stamina.

 

However, I feel the best way to describe how this season has gone is to use the Noun definition of the word: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way

 

The 3rd and final race of the 2016 season was held at the postponed Bang Saen Festival of Speed. The championship standings showed the #36 Toyota with such a commanding lead from the first two races that only a small miracle would see TR-Motorsport crowned as champions. However unlikely it may be the scenario was Thomas and the DC5 to finish in first while the Toyota failed to cross the line at all, being the slowest car on the grid - this was tall order!

 

As with all the endurance races this season the team was beset by mechanical issues.During the extended practice period, gearbox and clutch problems arose resulting in a complete change out of the gearbox. Luckily this rectified the problems and the team were ready for qualifying. Tony Percy, longtime friend of the team and co-driver took the reins of the Honda Integra DC5, with the previous issues still fresh in his mind Tony gently eased the car through qualifying and into a respectable 9th place, which is was an outstanding achievement considering that there were 61 other cars on the track at the same time all vying for a clean lap.

 

As with all endurance races the 6 hours is split between drivers, for the first stint, Tony pushed the Integra into 7th before the first changeover. The safety car period eventually became a red flagged race and all cars returned to the pits resulting in the team losing any advantage they had gained. Seven cars had been involved in the on-track pileup and although this meant fewer cars in the race and more space on track it took several hours to remove the cars and fix the damaged barriers.

 

At the restart, Thomas powered his way into 2nd place overall and was somehow setting faster times than the leading Toyota. He consolidated his position up until the next driver change however the gremlins were back playing with the clutch again causing the car to struggle to change gear. Eventually, all the gears except 4th had failed with Tony limping around the circuit. The decision was then made to pit early and see if the issue could be solved. No fix could be applied so it was 4th gear all the way to the chequered flag for the final 1 hour 24 minutes. Ironically the leading Toyota crashed several times and finished dead last but this was still enough to win the championship. TR-Motorsport finished 4th in class,later promoted to 3rd as another team had received a 30 lap penalty for a jump start behind the safety car.

 

TR-Motorsports final position in the Enduring Endurance Championship was 3rd in class, with just a little bit more luck who knows what might have been……

 

Super Production Class

Race One

An eventful weekend of racing greeted TR-Motorsport at the final rounds of the Thailand Super Series held at the picturesque Bang Saen Beach Street Circuit. The final event had been postponed from November ’16 to February ’17 due to the passing of the late King. With the postponement came a long gap giving us the perfect opportunity to concentrate on some R & D in the hope of closing the gap to Championship Victor Hideharu Kuroki. After some minor tweaks to the car, a major redesign of the front Air Intake was undertaken which provided very encouraging results after completing several simulations on the Dyno equipment.

 

Simulations are all well and good, however, it’s on the track where it counts and Thomas fully obliged with the fastest lap around the circuit in official practice. When qualifying began both Thomas and Hideharu were setting fastest lap after fastest lap, nip and tuck all the way. Eventually, Thomas managed to claim a fantastic Pole Position by just one-tenth of a second from Hideharu, being Pole on a tight and twisty circuit is always vital so the race to the first corner could possibly decide the race.

 

Due to our first gear ratio being longer and the race to the first corner uphill we knew wewould be at a disadvantage. Thomas got off the line perfectly and stormed up the hill defending his line to the left to try and outwit Hideharu who was virtually alongside the ‘Blue Blur’, paint was traded several times before Hideharu backed out and slotted in behind to mount another challenge. The final corner of lap 1 caused a gasp from the TR-Motorsport team and fans as Hideharu once again tried a move, this time on the inside but again showed professionalism by backing off at the right time.

 

By the middle of lap 2 Thomas had pulled out a small lead and held on for the remainder of the race even breaking the lap record on several occasions, Hideharu pushed Thomas all the way to the chequered flag and saw his 100% record gone as Thomas, 10 years after his first win at Bang Saen came home with the spoils and a much needed 20 points, cementing his second place position in the championship.

 

Race 2

After the elation of the previous victory had faded, the team of mechanics led by Sven Thummel got to work on the car to check everything over and prepare for Race 2. The team soon spotted an issue with the wishbones as the bushings were damaged and as a precautionary measure these were duly replaced. As with all previous rounds, the top 5 finishers from Race 1 started in reverse order meaning Thomas would start from 5th. As the cars assembled on the grid all looked good and a top 3 position looked more than possible.

 

As the car left for the warm lap Thomas felt an issue with the steering although not terminal, Thomas made the wisest choice to visit the pits to try and ascertain what the issue was. The team of mechanics could not find anything obvious so the car headed back out on track. People reading this familiar with the rules and regulations of motorsport, will of course know that our little visit to the pits would mean starting at the back of the grid, this was only compounded by the fact that due to a miscommunication with the stewards we forced to wait at the pit lane exit some 600 meters away from the back of the grid!

 

Regular readers will know that we have had similar issues before and still come out on top. However, today was not going to be one of those days! The first 3 laps of the race went perfectly with Thomas making his way through the field from a lowly 19th to a respectable 10th. The racing gods were smiling on us as a safety car deployment bunched the whole pack back up and with 9 laps to go top 3 was still an outside possibility. In came the safety car down went the throttle and that's where the problems began, a massive loss of power resulted in cars streaming past a limping Thomas. On the pit to car radio turning the electrics on and off to reset the car,was suggested - it worked! But by now Thomas was once again at the back of the grid. For the remaining laps, a valiant Thomas fought back to a very respectful 8th place and again set the fastest lap and broke the track record for the Super Production Class.

 

After the race, the car was checked over by the official Thailand Super Series scrutineers and as with all races we have competed in this year,they found nothing to report. Although dejected the team were still in good spirits after another great week of motorsport at Bang Saen Beach and look forward to returning in July to compete in the GTC Supercar Class with the new Porsche 911 (997).

 

In next month’s Pattaya Trader we will have a big update for your regarding the upcoming season, in the meantime you can follow us through our website Tr-Motorosport.com, our Facebook page Facebook.com/TRMotorsportThailand and our Instagram account tmotorsport_thailand

Dundalk overwhelm Bangor in All Ireland Final

by Roger Corbett

Bangor’s amazing run in the All Ireland Junior Cup came to an abrupt end when they were comprehensively beaten by Dundalk, eventually losing by 55-5.

Where do you start when trying to relate and absorb the events of Saturday’s final at Chambers Park? Firstly, congratulations to worthy winners Dundalk who nullified the Bangor attack, then went on to produce some stunning plays which racked up no less than 8 tries, each by a different player. For Bangor’s part, they were unable to respond to the intensity of Dundalk’s game, and lacked the cutting edge which their opponents used to great effect.

The day started full of promise, as the strong support from North Down made their way to Chambers Park in Portadown, knowing Bangor would be fielding their best team. Once again, the pundits had Bangor as the underdogs – just as they had done so in the previous three rounds! In confounding the experts earlier, Bangor produced some awesome performances against top quality opposition to get to the final. Dundalk had produced some convincing wins in the early rounds of the competition, but had struggled to get past CIYMS in the semi-final, just managing to squeeze ahead at the second time of asking. However, with a number of key players returning to the side in time for this game, they were now back at full strength and would be a formidable force to contend with.

Having won the toss, captain Jamie Clegg elected to play into the stiff wind in the first half. For the first 5 minutes, Bangor doggedly retained possession and tried to play their way into Dundalk’s half through a series of determined forward moves. However, little ground was made and, when possession was finally lost, the Dundalk back line produced a burst that simply cut through the Bangor defence resulting in an easy touch down under Bangor’s posts for a 7-0 lead.

Bangor stuck to their plan and slowly, but patiently, got their attack moving forward, eventually winning a penalty to the left of Dundalk’s posts, but Mark Widdowson’s kick into the wind drifted just wide of the mark.

The contrast in play between the two teams was becoming clear, with Bangor trying to keep the ball close while Dundalk were throwing it wide. The latter strategy was proving to be the more effective as, with 20 minutes gone, a quick back line move with players looping around resulted in an overlap on the right wing which gave a clear run in to again, score under the posts. A further 9 minutes later, they did it again and, although the Bangor defence had sensed the danger and moved across to cover it, their tackling let them down allowing Dundalk to get over in the right hand corner, taking their lead to 19-0.

By now, Bangor were trying to hang on until half time when they could regroup and come out with the wind at their backs. Dundalk, on the other hand were anxious to press home their advantage and give them a more comfortable lead. To Bangor’s credit, although camped on their own line for lengthy spells, they dug in and managed to hold on until the referee’s half time whistle.

As the teams reappeared from the dressing rooms, it was obvious Bangor were ringing the changes, particularly in the backs. With the wind advantage having lessened considerably, Bangor got the second half underway. It was now Dundalk’s turn to adopt the slow, steady approach, just as Bangor had done earlier. However, their more confident off-loading and support play was, once again, taking play deep into Bangor’s territory. Frustration at not being able to gain possession and take play out of their danger area eventually resulted in a yellow card for Clegg after a succession of penalties. Dundalk kicked the penalty to touch, won their lineout and drove for the line. Although initially held up by the Bangor defence, Dundalk’s repeated drives were eventually rewarded with another converted score, extending their lead to 26-0.

From the touchline, the Bangor faithful had felt that if their players had managed to score first in the second half, they may have been able to mount a fight-back and close the gap to their opponents. As it was, this Dundalk score simply bolstered their confidence and pushed Bangor deeper into trouble. With Bangor still a man down, Dundalk added to the score with a penalty and then another score in the corner. Everything was now working for the Leinster men, as even the difficult touchline conversion into the biting wind successfully split the posts, bringing the score to 36-0.

As the game entered the final quarter, and with Dundalk all but holding the cup, Bangor were now on the ropes. By contrast, the Dundalk players were in almost total control, and were not going to slow down now. In a 10 minute spell, they ran in a further 3 tries, making the scoreline 55-0. By now, any sense of dejection the Bangor supporters may have been feeling was now moved to feelings of sympathy for their players. However, pride was at stake and once again Bangor rallied as the game entered its final minutes. At last, the forwards got within striking distance of the Dundalk line and, although their repeated attacks were repelled, they finally managed to do what their opponents had done so effectively, and quickly passed the ball wide to Davy Charles. Even though they were 55 points ahead, the Dundalk defence made Charles work hard to drive through the tackles and score Bangor’s consolation try, bringing the final score to 55-5.

From Bangor’s point of view, the final score doesn’t tell the whole story of this competition. While the final may have resulted in a sad anti-climax for Bangor, the remarkable journey to get there will be remembered for some time. On the day, Dundalk were by far the better side, and Bangor would have to concede that their game was not up to the usual standard. However, there is no doubt the experience of competing at this level is something to relish and the goal now will be to secure a top four place in the league and try again next year.

Everybody at the club has nothing but the highest respect and praise for what has been achieved this year by not just the 1sts, but all the senior teams, and one poor result isn’t going to change that – the welcome at Upritchard Park for the returning players is testament to that. With that in mind, the players now need to put this disappointment behind them and provide the best possible response against a struggling Portadown side at home in the league next Saturday.

Bangor side: J Leary, A Jackson, P Whyte, F Black, G Irvine, R Latimer, J Clegg, C Stewart, R Armstrong, K Rosson, D Charles, M Aspley, M Weir, M Widdowson, C Morgan

Subs: S Irvine, O McIlmurray, D Kelly, M Rodgers, C Harper, D Fusco, M Thompson

Bangor scores: D Charles (1T)

Dundalk Storm To Title Dundalk 55 v Bangor 5 from KnockOn.ie

Dundalk Scorers: Christopher Scully, Owen McNally, Jonathan Williams, John Smyth, Ultan Murphy, Tiernan Gonnelly, James McConnon and Stephen Murphy 1 try each. Ultan Murphy 6 cons, 1 pen.

Bangor Scorers: David Charles 1 try.

In front of a big crowd at Chambers Park on Saturday afternoon Dundalk delivered a stunning and ruthless display to see off the challenge of Bangor and capture the All Ireland Junior Cup title for the very first time.

Three first half tries had them firmly in control at 19-0 ahead having played with the elements at the Portadown venue during the first half and while the wind dropped somewhat after half time the Dundalk intensity most certainly didn’t as they cut loose scoring five more tries.

Dundalk returned to a heroes welcome at their Mill Road clubhouse on Saturday night after a display of pure brilliance throughout the afternoon.

Precision, pace and skill from the Louth men from start to finish left Bangor playing second fiddle for long periods.

Dundalk overwhelm Bangor in All Ireland Final

by Roger Corbett

Bangor’s amazing run in the All Ireland Junior Cup came to an abrupt end when they were comprehensively beaten by Dundalk, eventually losing by 55-5.

Where do you start when trying to relate and absorb the events of Saturday’s final at Chambers Park? Firstly, congratulations to worthy winners Dundalk who nullified the Bangor attack, then went on to produce some stunning plays which racked up no less than 8 tries, each by a different player. For Bangor’s part, they were unable to respond to the intensity of Dundalk’s game, and lacked the cutting edge which their opponents used to great effect.

The day started full of promise, as the strong support from North Down made their way to Chambers Park in Portadown, knowing Bangor would be fielding their best team. Once again, the pundits had Bangor as the underdogs – just as they had done so in the previous three rounds! In confounding the experts earlier, Bangor produced some awesome performances against top quality opposition to get to the final. Dundalk had produced some convincing wins in the early rounds of the competition, but had struggled to get past CIYMS in the semi-final, just managing to squeeze ahead at the second time of asking. However, with a number of key players returning to the side in time for this game, they were now back at full strength and would be a formidable force to contend with.

Having won the toss, captain Jamie Clegg elected to play into the stiff wind in the first half. For the first 5 minutes, Bangor doggedly retained possession and tried to play their way into Dundalk’s half through a series of determined forward moves. However, little ground was made and, when possession was finally lost, the Dundalk back line produced a burst that simply cut through the Bangor defence resulting in an easy touch down under Bangor’s posts for a 7-0 lead.

Bangor stuck to their plan and slowly, but patiently, got their attack moving forward, eventually winning a penalty to the left of Dundalk’s posts, but Mark Widdowson’s kick into the wind drifted just wide of the mark.

The contrast in play between the two teams was becoming clear, with Bangor trying to keep the ball close while Dundalk were throwing it wide. The latter strategy was proving to be the more effective as, with 20 minutes gone, a quick back line move with players looping around resulted in an overlap on the right wing which gave a clear run in to again, score under the posts. A further 9 minutes later, they did it again and, although the Bangor defence had sensed the danger and moved across to cover it, their tackling let them down allowing Dundalk to get over in the right hand corner, taking their lead to 19-0.

By now, Bangor were trying to hang on until half time when they could regroup and come out with the wind at their backs. Dundalk, on the other hand were anxious to press home their advantage and give them a more comfortable lead. To Bangor’s credit, although camped on their own line for lengthy spells, they dug in and managed to hold on until the referee’s half time whistle.

As the teams reappeared from the dressing rooms, it was obvious Bangor were ringing the changes, particularly in the backs. With the wind advantage having lessened considerably, Bangor got the second half underway. It was now Dundalk’s turn to adopt the slow, steady approach, just as Bangor had done earlier. However, their more confident off-loading and support play was, once again, taking play deep into Bangor’s territory. Frustration at not being able to gain possession and take play out of their danger area eventually resulted in a yellow card for Clegg after a succession of penalties. Dundalk kicked the penalty to touch, won their lineout and drove for the line. Although initially held up by the Bangor defence, Dundalk’s repeated drives were eventually rewarded with another converted score, extending their lead to 26-0.

From the touchline, the Bangor faithful had felt that if their players had managed to score first in the second half, they may have been able to mount a fight-back and close the gap to their opponents. As it was, this Dundalk score simply bolstered their confidence and pushed Bangor deeper into trouble. With Bangor still a man down, Dundalk added to the score with a penalty and then another score in the corner. Everything was now working for the Leinster men, as even the difficult touchline conversion into the biting wind successfully split the posts, bringing the score to 36-0.

As the game entered the final quarter, and with Dundalk all but holding the cup, Bangor were now on the ropes. By contrast, the Dundalk players were in almost total control, and were not going to slow down now. In a 10 minute spell, they ran in a further 3 tries, making the scoreline 55-0. By now, any sense of dejection the Bangor supporters may have been feeling was now moved to feelings of sympathy for their players. However, pride was at stake and once again Bangor rallied as the game entered its final minutes. At last, the forwards got within striking distance of the Dundalk line and, although their repeated attacks were repelled, they finally managed to do what their opponents had done so effectively, and quickly passed the ball wide to Davy Charles. Even though they were 55 points ahead, the Dundalk defence made Charles work hard to drive through the tackles and score Bangor’s consolation try, bringing the final score to 55-5.

From Bangor’s point of view, the final score doesn’t tell the whole story of this competition. While the final may have resulted in a sad anti-climax for Bangor, the remarkable journey to get there will be remembered for some time. On the day, Dundalk were by far the better side, and Bangor would have to concede that their game was not up to the usual standard. However, there is no doubt the experience of competing at this level is something to relish and the goal now will be to secure a top four place in the league and try again next year.

Everybody at the club has nothing but the highest respect and praise for what has been achieved this year by not just the 1sts, but all the senior teams, and one poor result isn’t going to change that – the welcome at Upritchard Park for the returning players is testament to that. With that in mind, the players now need to put this disappointment behind them and provide the best possible response against a struggling Portadown side at home in the league next Saturday.

Bangor side: J Leary, A Jackson, P Whyte, F Black, G Irvine, R Latimer, J Clegg, C Stewart, R Armstrong, K Rosson, D Charles, M Aspley, M Weir, M Widdowson, C Morgan

Subs: S Irvine, O McIlmurray, D Kelly, M Rodgers, C Harper, D Fusco, M Thompson

Bangor scores: D Charles (1T)

Dundalk Storm To Title Dundalk 55 v Bangor 5 from KnockOn.ie

Dundalk Scorers: Christopher Scully, Owen McNally, Jonathan Williams, John Smyth, Ultan Murphy, Tiernan Gonnelly, James McConnon and Stephen Murphy 1 try each. Ultan Murphy 6 cons, 1 pen.

Bangor Scorers: David Charles 1 try.

In front of a big crowd at Chambers Park on Saturday afternoon Dundalk delivered a stunning and ruthless display to see off the challenge of Bangor and capture the All Ireland Junior Cup title for the very first time.

Three first half tries had them firmly in control at 19-0 ahead having played with the elements at the Portadown venue during the first half and while the wind dropped somewhat after half time the Dundalk intensity most certainly didn’t as they cut loose scoring five more tries.

Dundalk returned to a heroes welcome at their Mill Road clubhouse on Saturday night after a display of pure brilliance throughout the afternoon.

Precision, pace and skill from the Louth men from start to finish left Bangor playing second fiddle for long periods.

 

Vitality relates to our sensation of power or aliveness. It correlates highly with satisfaction with life, happiness, and health. It indicates optimum human functioning. Discover the factors that help in higher degrees and how to boost your vitality. Have you ever before considered what vitality implies to you? Lots of people are familiar with the concept of "vitality", but extremely few recognize exactly how it is. This short article reveals you a method of examining your vitality and invites you to make a commitment to obtain your personal ideal.Visit our site www.z-factor.com/ for more information on Vitality

Framed collection of cuttings relating to Burns. Images comprise eight portraits of Burns, his birthplace, and

his funeral procession.

 

Captions:

1. Silhouette of Burns by J Miers, 1787 "Robert Burns 1787 / From a silhouette by J Miers in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery"

 

2. Portrait miniature of Burns by A Reid, 1790. "Robert Burns 1796 / From a miniature by Alexander Reid / in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery"

 

3. "Robert Burns / From a Silhouette in the possession of G Burns Begg Esq., Motherwell"

 

4. "Robert Burns / From a portrait by an unknown artist, now in the possession of P W / Swinton Esq., Gifford"

 

5. "Robert Burns 1759 - 1796 / From the painting by Alexander Nasmyth in the National Portrait Gallery"

 

6. "Robert Burns / From the full length painting by Alexander Nasmyth now in the / National Gallery of Scotland"

 

7. "Robert Burns, 1824 / From an original painting by Alexander Nasmyth in the possession of / Miss Cathcart, Auchendrane"

 

8. "The Birthplace of Robert Burns / from a painting by Sam Bough RSA

 

9. "The Funeral of Robert Burns / From a painting by W E Lockhart RSA"

 

10. "Robert Burns, 1786 / From the painting by Peter Taylor, kindly lent to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery by Mr W A Taylor."

 

Digital Number: BHBN144n

 

(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of the Attribution licence. Please cite ‘Dumfries & Galloway Museums’ when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email dumfries.museum@dumgal.gov.uk

立法會鐵路事宜小組委員會視察廣深港高速鐵路香港段西九龍總站的建築工地

立法会铁路事宜小组委员会视察广深港高速铁路香港段西九龙总站的建筑工地

LegCo Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways visits the construction site of the West Kowloon Terminus of the Hong Kong Section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (2014.04.28)

 

Vitality relates to our sensation of power or aliveness. It correlates highly with satisfaction with life, happiness, and health. It indicates optimum human functioning. Discover the factors that help in higher degrees and how to boost your vitality. Have you ever before considered what vitality implies to you? Lots of people are familiar with the concept of "vitality", but extremely few recognize exactly how it is. This short article reveals you a method of examining your vitality and invites you to make a commitment to obtain your personal ideal.Visit our site www.z-factor.com/ for more information on Vitality

Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).

 

Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions

 

"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".

 

The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.

 

The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.

 

Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.

 

Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:

 

Wet with cool dew drops

fragrant with perfume from the flowers

came the gentle breeze

jasmine and water lily

dance in the spring sunshine

side-long glances

of the golden-hued ladies

stab into my thoughts

heaven itself cannot take my mind

as it has been captivated by one lass

among the five hundred I have seen here.

 

Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.

 

Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.

 

There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.

 

Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.

 

The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.

 

In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:

 

During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".

 

Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.

 

While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’

 

Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.

 

An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.

 

Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983

 

Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture

Main article: Commercial graffiti

With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.

 

In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".

 

Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.

 

Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.

 

Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.

 

Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.

 

There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.

 

The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.

 

Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.

 

Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis

 

Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.

 

Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.

 

Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"

 

Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal

 

In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.

 

Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.

 

Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.

 

Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.

 

With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.

 

Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.

 

Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.

 

Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.

 

Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.

 

Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.

 

Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.

 

Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.

 

The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.

 

I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.

 

The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.

 

Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.

 

Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.

 

In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".

 

There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.

 

Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.

 

A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.

By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.

 

Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.

 

In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.

 

A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.

 

From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

 

In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.

 

Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.

 

Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.

 

Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.

  

In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.

 

Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.

 

In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.

 

In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."

 

In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.

 

In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.

 

In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.

 

In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.

 

In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.

 

The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.

 

To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."

 

In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.

 

In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.

 

Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".

 

Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)

In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.

 

Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.

 

Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.

 

In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.

 

Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.

 

Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.

 

To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.

 

When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.

- one my favourite composers!

 

Invited visit (*) to the Foundling Museum (10/12)

 

These are four of the eight china busts on display in the room devoted to exhibits relating to the composer, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) (part of the Gerald Coke Handel Collection). This is on the top floor of the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square in the Bloomsbury area of the centre of London.

 

The Foundling Museum is devoted to the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. The Hospital was founded in 1739 by Thomas Coram (1668-1751) to care for babies at risk of abandonment. He gained great support for his vision from the artist, William Hogarth (1697-1764, and from the composer, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The Hospital continues today as the children’s charity Coram.

 

The Foundling Museum is also an art museum, and Britain's first public art gallery, setting a precedent for how artists of all disciplines can support philanthropy, in this case, helping to improve children’s lives for over 275 years. The Museum is also home to the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, an internationally-important collection of material relating to Handel and his contemporaries. The top floor has an exhibit of Handel items including these busts.

 

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*A small group of us from the Natural History Museum in London had paid an invited visit to the Foundling Museum, especially to see the collections of objects which were left as tokens by mothers who had been able to leave their children to be cared for by the Foundling Hospital until they could return to claim and look after their children again (if they were in a position to do that).

 

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Photo

Brian Roy Rosen

Uploaded to Flickr April 25th, 2017

© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.

If you would like to use or refer to this image, please link or attribute.

ID: IMG_2793_v2

 

Because of recent news relating to the development [re-development] of Cherrywood in the South of County Dublin I decided to see if I had any relevant photograph but the earliest usable photographs were taken in July 2013. I do know that I did photograph the area in 2010 and possibly in 2009 but I cannot locate the original photographs.

 

This photograph was taken in 2013 but nothing really changed between 2010 and 2013,

 

Back in 2010 I made the following comment online:

 

“The New Luas Extension Has Been Criticised By Commuters Who Cannot Park.”

 

“When it comes to transport in Dublin there have been two success stories in recent years. The DublinBike scheme is one and the other is the Luas tram system. Last Monday was a beautiful sunny day and after photographing the Dublin Marathon I decided that it would be a good idea to get the Luas to Cherrywood to see if I could take a few photographs. It was explained to me, by a gentleman that I met on the tram, that the land is now tied up in NAMA and as a result it cannot be developed as a park and ride facility. Commuters were turned away from the new Cherrywood terminus on opening day as there were no parking facilities available.”

 

“Cherrywood is one of Dublin's newest suburbs and as can be seen from my photographs it is partly developed and there are some very large empty spaces and believe it or not there is a shortage of parking spaces. Some time ago a decision was made to extend the Sandyford (Green) Luas line to Cherrywood and construction started in February 2007 and the line became operational this month (October 2010) There are now two Luas stops in Cherrywood: Cherrywood and the terminus, Brides Glen.”

 

I would suggest that the tram stop at Laughanstown could be described as being in the area.

 

FRIDAY 10 FEB 2016:

 

Hines Ireland has officially started work on the first key phase of construction at Cherrywood in South County Dublin. If all goes well up to 30,000 people will live at Cherrywood by early in the next decade meaning that it will be as large as Bray and even larger than a town such as Athlone.

  

Brian Moran said, “The upfront delivery of the roads, cycle and pedestrian network and three wonderful parks is a pivotal moment for the Cherrywood project. These will be the green lungs for this modern new town and this not only strikes the right environmental note for Cherrywood to come but it also underpins our commitment to expedite the delivery of the 4,000 modern new homes within the Hines land holding."

 

"We are acutely aware of the enormous public demand for new housing stock and the submission of planning for the new €875 million Cherrywood Town Centre in the coming months will include 1300 new smart design apartments as part of this highly ambitious plan.”

 

In 2014, Hines acquired Cherrywood in South Dublin. The two components of this investment include an existing 52,000-square-meter office park and a 390-acre master-planned development site. The Cherrywood site has been acquired with approval for the construction of a new, retail-led mixed-use town center; up to 3,800 apartments and houses; and zoning capacity to expand the second largest office park in Dublin to three times its current size.

 

Mr. Moran is the Senior Managing Director responsible for developing Hines’ Ireland projects. He established the Hines platform in Ireland which currently has more than €1.2 billion of retail, office and residential assets under management, in addition to a major development pipeline which includes an additional €500 million of retail development and over 4,000 residential units. He rejoined the firm in 2011 having previously worked with Hines in Russia in the 1990's.

Il s’agirait de vestiges d’une très ancienne ville relatée par des textes historiographiques

· Ce serait «le vieux Mazigan» dont les activités seraient liées à un port naturel

 

C’est le Centre des études et de recherches du patrimoine maroco-lusitanien (CERPML) relevant du ministère de la Culture, qui a annoncé la découverte du site archéologique médiéval appelé «Maziren». Le site est situé non loin du phare de Sidi Misbah et des ruines de la ville des Moujahidines (combattants), à 4 km environ au nord d’El Jadida.

 

Au XVIe siècle, les Portugais avaient cité dans leurs textes historiographiques une ville très ancienne en ruine comme étant «Mazagao Velho» qui veut dire le vieux Mazagan. Il s’agirait d’un village dont les activités étaient reliées à une baie faisant office de port naturel. Maziren aurait été habitée par des populations berbères, des Masmoudas ou des Sanhaja.

La ville ancienne est actuellement complètement rasée du fait de son ancienneté. Les multiples travaux agricoles et de constructions ont aussi contribué à occulter ses repères. Néanmoins subsistent encore des traces de 3 anciens cimetières avec des mausolées délimités par des pierres sous forme de «Haouchs». Les pierres peintes à la chaux blanche auraient été retirées des fondations même de Maziren.

 

Des pratiques superstitieuses et religieuses se pratiquent encore maintenant par la population avoisinante. Des cierges s’allument autour des mausolées selon des rites entretenus par une tradition orale. Des zones archéologiques riches en matériels céramiques avec parfois présence de la pierre taillée ont été également mises à jour. Présence aussi de silos et de «Matfias» et qui sont des sortes de citerne. Et qui servaient à la conservation de céréales et de l’eau. La ville antique est actuellement en cours de délimitation. Mais la tâche n’est pas aisée. A part quelques parties des cimetières, le site est empiété sous formes de petites propriétés privées servant de champs pour les cultures.

 

Les chercheurs archéologues auront malgré tout à cœur de décoder une page de l’histoire de la région. Ils auront à se référer à des textes anciens pour leurs travaux. Il existe des textes ainsi que le fameux livre du géographe Chérif Al Idrissi, paru à la moitié du XIIe siècle (au moment où s’édifie la mosquée de Marrakech) et qui parle de la «Marça de Mazigan», c’est-à-dire le port de la mer. Il parle d’un port de Mazigan et donne toutes les dimensions de la Marça par rapport à Anfa (ancienne ville de Casablanca) et d’autres villes du Royaume. Ces explications confirmaient déjà l’existence d’un port de mer au milieu des XII et XIIIe siècles appelé Mazigan. Site où s’érigera par la suite Mazagan la portugaise, devenue l’actuelle ville d’El Jadida.

 

Des textes de Said Al Mourrakouchi parlent du Cap de Mazigan, de la ville de Breija et de son port qui exporte du blé. A citer aussi le livre de Hassan Al Wazzan dit aussi Léon l’Africain, qui a été capturé par les corsaires et vendu en Italie. Léon parle de Mazigan comme étant une très ancienne ville.

 

De notre correspondant,Mohamed RAMDANI

Source : L'économiste

 

Casafree.com le 25/1/2006

This relates to 'a Japanese Zen art concept that uses flowers and falling leaves as a metaphor for the transient beauty of life'. Pretty on occasion, one had to be close and at the right angle to see the Australian natives...

 

It's an eight-minute holographic light and laser show. Budget cuts having an effect this year. Possibly people will focus on the weekend's drone displays.

Pictured above (left to right): Music & Memory Book-to-Action Project Lead Organizers - Hayward Supervising Librarian Sally Thomas; Corey Gin, Director of the Leadership and Employee Enrichment Program (LEEP); Professor Nidhi Mahendra, Chair of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders; Professor Xeno Rasmusson, Department of Human Development; and Community Partnerships Coordinator Andrea Wells, Center for Community Engagement, CSU East Bay.

 

Cal State East Bay Collaborates in Music & Memory Book-to-Action Project

 

Cal State East Bay is collaborating with Hayward Public Library and other community agencies in the powerful Music & Memory Book-to-Action Project, which involves community members reading a book, seeing a film, and then engaging in a community service activity that relates to the subject of the book and film.

 

Similar to a traditional book club, the Book-to-Action project provides an opportunity to collectively read and discuss Dr. Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia: Tales of Music & the Brain. Sacks is a professor of neurology at the New York University School of Medicine and the author of several books.

 

Book-to-Action participants also see the movie “Alive Inside,” which follows Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, as he fights the healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a sense of self to those suffering from it.

 

Participants then put their new-found knowledge into action by engaging in community service. Locally, members of the Hayward community are invited to participate in community sing-a-longs and other musical events with seniors in places where they live and gather.

 

“The project is a true collaboration of many different CSUEB departments and community agencies and exemplifies how we can collectively contribute to the public good when we work together,” said Andrea Wells, community partnerships coordinator in the University’s Center for Community Engagement.

 

CSUEB got involved in the program in December 2014 when Sally Thomas, librarian at the Hayward Public Library, approached Wells to see how the University might participate. Shortly thereafter, two students in the Pioneers for Change program, supervised by Wells and Thomas, began contacting senior homes to set up music events and reaching out to faculty to ask for their help.

 

“We are seeing a rich interaction of CSUEB scholars and students, nonprofit agencies, and the public library and community members we serve in discussions related to developing a healthy framework for aging and support for those who are living with communication disorders like aphasia and age-related diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s,” Thomas said. “There’s an incredible amount of interest in the healing power of music and its ability to bring the young and old together.”

 

The University’s Leadership and Employee Enrichment Program (LEEP) bought 150 copies of Musicophilia: Tales of Music & the Brain and distributed them for free to members of the campus and local community who registered or attended at least one event. On May 7, CSUEB librarian Tom Bickley and Hayward librarian Thomas led a discussion of the book with faculty, staff, students, and community members.

 

In addition, Nidhi Mahendra, chair of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, spoke about the impact of memory impairments at the film screenings. She and her class organized a poster session on campus and a performance at Hayward City Hall by The Aphasia Tones, a Cal State East Bay chorus composed of persons learning to live with aphasia.

 

Several University partners are collaborating, including the Center for Community Engagement, LEEP, School of Arts and Multimedia, and the departments of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Music, and Human Development. Community partners are the Hayward Public Library, Alzheimer's Services of the East Bay, Eden Housing's Josephine Lum Lodge and Hayward High School.

 

On May 13, faculty, staff and community members participated in a campus-based screening of "Alive Inside" and educational poster session hosted by the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders in honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month and Older Americans Month. The event featured a performance by the CSUEB Singing Society directed by Department Chair Buddy James from the School of Arts and Media.

 

Following the film screening, CSUEB Assistant Professor of Human Development Xeno Rasmusson facilitated a Q&A with panelists, including Professor Nidhi Mahendra, LEEP director Corey Gin, and Hayward librarian Sally Thomas.

 

The CSUEB community is invited to participate in upcoming music-sharing events with local seniors, including an event on May 21 @ 3:30 pm at the Josephine Lum Lodge, 2747 Oliver Drive, Hayward.

 

For more information or to volunteer in a local civic engagement activity, register at:

 

haywardlibrary.wufoo.com/forms/music-memory-registration-...

A second photo album relating to the Valdes Scott Family. The first album can be viewed here www.flickr.com/photos/runninginsuffolk/albums/72157665423... This album also turned up at a car boot sale but a year later than the other in 2017. Seems to date from 1951 and the birth of Roselle in Chile.

Accession Number: spa.si.223

 

This image relates to the Ayr 2000 by-election where Jim Mather stood as the SNP candidate for Holyrood.

 

Jim Mather is currently MSP for Argyll and Bute. For biographical information about Jim Mather www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet/jimmathe...

 

This picture forms part of the Scots Independent donation to the Scottish Political Archive. The Scots Independent is a monthly Nationalist newspaper. The paper was founded in 1926 and is the longest surviving political newspaper in Scotland in the twentieth century. For further information about the Scots Independent please visit their website at www.scotsindependent.org

 

The Scottish Political Archive is housed at the University of Stirling. The archive is home to the oral interviews, personal papers and associated material from prominent Scottish politicians. For further information about the work of the archive please visit our website www.scottishpoliticalarchive.org.uk

The word Endurance as an Adjective is defined as:

denoting or relating to a race or other sporting event that takes place over a long distance or otherwise demands great physical stamina.

 

However, I feel the best way to describe how this season has gone is to use the Noun definition of the word: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way

 

The 3rd and final race of the 2016 season was held at the postponed Bang Saen Festival of Speed. The championship standings showed the #36 Toyota with such a commanding lead from the first two races that only a small miracle would see TR-Motorsport crowned as champions. However unlikely it may be the scenario was Thomas and the DC5 to finish in first while the Toyota failed to cross the line at all, being the slowest car on the grid - this was tall order!

 

As with all the endurance races this season the team was beset by mechanical issues.During the extended practice period, gearbox and clutch problems arose resulting in a complete change out of the gearbox. Luckily this rectified the problems and the team were ready for qualifying. Tony Percy, longtime friend of the team and co-driver took the reins of the Honda Integra DC5, with the previous issues still fresh in his mind Tony gently eased the car through qualifying and into a respectable 9th place, which is was an outstanding achievement considering that there were 61 other cars on the track at the same time all vying for a clean lap.

 

As with all endurance races the 6 hours is split between drivers, for the first stint, Tony pushed the Integra into 7th before the first changeover. The safety car period eventually became a red flagged race and all cars returned to the pits resulting in the team losing any advantage they had gained. Seven cars had been involved in the on-track pileup and although this meant fewer cars in the race and more space on track it took several hours to remove the cars and fix the damaged barriers.

 

At the restart, Thomas powered his way into 2nd place overall and was somehow setting faster times than the leading Toyota. He consolidated his position up until the next driver change however the gremlins were back playing with the clutch again causing the car to struggle to change gear. Eventually, all the gears except 4th had failed with Tony limping around the circuit. The decision was then made to pit early and see if the issue could be solved. No fix could be applied so it was 4th gear all the way to the chequered flag for the final 1 hour 24 minutes. Ironically the leading Toyota crashed several times and finished dead last but this was still enough to win the championship. TR-Motorsport finished 4th in class,later promoted to 3rd as another team had received a 30 lap penalty for a jump start behind the safety car.

 

TR-Motorsports final position in the Enduring Endurance Championship was 3rd in class, with just a little bit more luck who knows what might have been……

 

Super Production Class

Race One

An eventful weekend of racing greeted TR-Motorsport at the final rounds of the Thailand Super Series held at the picturesque Bang Saen Beach Street Circuit. The final event had been postponed from November ’16 to February ’17 due to the passing of the late King. With the postponement came a long gap giving us the perfect opportunity to concentrate on some R & D in the hope of closing the gap to Championship Victor Hideharu Kuroki. After some minor tweaks to the car, a major redesign of the front Air Intake was undertaken which provided very encouraging results after completing several simulations on the Dyno equipment.

 

Simulations are all well and good, however, it’s on the track where it counts and Thomas fully obliged with the fastest lap around the circuit in official practice. When qualifying began both Thomas and Hideharu were setting fastest lap after fastest lap, nip and tuck all the way. Eventually, Thomas managed to claim a fantastic Pole Position by just one-tenth of a second from Hideharu, being Pole on a tight and twisty circuit is always vital so the race to the first corner could possibly decide the race.

 

Due to our first gear ratio being longer and the race to the first corner uphill we knew wewould be at a disadvantage. Thomas got off the line perfectly and stormed up the hill defending his line to the left to try and outwit Hideharu who was virtually alongside the ‘Blue Blur’, paint was traded several times before Hideharu backed out and slotted in behind to mount another challenge. The final corner of lap 1 caused a gasp from the TR-Motorsport team and fans as Hideharu once again tried a move, this time on the inside but again showed professionalism by backing off at the right time.

 

By the middle of lap 2 Thomas had pulled out a small lead and held on for the remainder of the race even breaking the lap record on several occasions, Hideharu pushed Thomas all the way to the chequered flag and saw his 100% record gone as Thomas, 10 years after his first win at Bang Saen came home with the spoils and a much needed 20 points, cementing his second place position in the championship.

 

Race 2

After the elation of the previous victory had faded, the team of mechanics led by Sven Thummel got to work on the car to check everything over and prepare for Race 2. The team soon spotted an issue with the wishbones as the bushings were damaged and as a precautionary measure these were duly replaced. As with all previous rounds, the top 5 finishers from Race 1 started in reverse order meaning Thomas would start from 5th. As the cars assembled on the grid all looked good and a top 3 position looked more than possible.

 

As the car left for the warm lap Thomas felt an issue with the steering although not terminal, Thomas made the wisest choice to visit the pits to try and ascertain what the issue was. The team of mechanics could not find anything obvious so the car headed back out on track. People reading this familiar with the rules and regulations of motorsport, will of course know that our little visit to the pits would mean starting at the back of the grid, this was only compounded by the fact that due to a miscommunication with the stewards we forced to wait at the pit lane exit some 600 meters away from the back of the grid!

 

Regular readers will know that we have had similar issues before and still come out on top. However, today was not going to be one of those days! The first 3 laps of the race went perfectly with Thomas making his way through the field from a lowly 19th to a respectable 10th. The racing gods were smiling on us as a safety car deployment bunched the whole pack back up and with 9 laps to go top 3 was still an outside possibility. In came the safety car down went the throttle and that's where the problems began, a massive loss of power resulted in cars streaming past a limping Thomas. On the pit to car radio turning the electrics on and off to reset the car,was suggested - it worked! But by now Thomas was once again at the back of the grid. For the remaining laps, a valiant Thomas fought back to a very respectful 8th place and again set the fastest lap and broke the track record for the Super Production Class.

 

After the race, the car was checked over by the official Thailand Super Series scrutineers and as with all races we have competed in this year,they found nothing to report. Although dejected the team were still in good spirits after another great week of motorsport at Bang Saen Beach and look forward to returning in July to compete in the GTC Supercar Class with the new Porsche 911 (997).

 

In next month’s Pattaya Trader we will have a big update for your regarding the upcoming season, in the meantime you can follow us through our website Tr-Motorosport.com, our Facebook page Facebook.com/TRMotorsportThailand and our Instagram account tmotorsport_thailand

"Statutory Requirements Relating to Colliery Deputies. Programmed Text 10". Published in 1974 by NCB Industrial Training Branch. Pink and purple paperback book.

 

West Lothian Council Museums Service. http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/tourism/museumsgalleries/ums/information.

Copyright: West Lothian Council Museums Service.

If you would like more information about this object, please contact: museums@westlothian.gov.uk, quoting WLDCM1995.096.030.

 

Because of recent news relating to the development [re-development] of Cherrywood in the South of County Dublin I decided to see if I had any relevant photograph but the earliest usable photographs were taken in July 2013. I do know that I did photograph the area in 2010 and possibly in 2009 but I cannot locate the original photographs.

 

This photograph was taken in 2013 but nothing really changed between 2010 and 2013,

 

Back in 2010 I made the following comment online:

 

“The New Luas Extension Has Been Criticised By Commuters Who Cannot Park.”

 

“When it comes to transport in Dublin there have been two success stories in recent years. The DublinBike scheme is one and the other is the Luas tram system. Last Monday was a beautiful sunny day and after photographing the Dublin Marathon I decided that it would be a good idea to get the Luas to Cherrywood to see if I could take a few photographs. It was explained to me, by a gentleman that I met on the tram, that the land is now tied up in NAMA and as a result it cannot be developed as a park and ride facility. Commuters were turned away from the new Cherrywood terminus on opening day as there were no parking facilities available.”

 

“Cherrywood is one of Dublin's newest suburbs and as can be seen from my photographs it is partly developed and there are some very large empty spaces and believe it or not there is a shortage of parking spaces. Some time ago a decision was made to extend the Sandyford (Green) Luas line to Cherrywood and construction started in February 2007 and the line became operational this month (October 2010) There are now two Luas stops in Cherrywood: Cherrywood and the terminus, Brides Glen.”

 

I would suggest that the tram stop at Laughanstown could be described as being in the area.

 

FRIDAY 10 FEB 2016:

 

Hines Ireland has officially started work on the first key phase of construction at Cherrywood in South County Dublin. If all goes well up to 30,000 people will live at Cherrywood by early in the next decade meaning that it will be as large as Bray and even larger than a town such as Athlone.

  

Brian Moran said, “The upfront delivery of the roads, cycle and pedestrian network and three wonderful parks is a pivotal moment for the Cherrywood project. These will be the green lungs for this modern new town and this not only strikes the right environmental note for Cherrywood to come but it also underpins our commitment to expedite the delivery of the 4,000 modern new homes within the Hines land holding."

 

"We are acutely aware of the enormous public demand for new housing stock and the submission of planning for the new €875 million Cherrywood Town Centre in the coming months will include 1300 new smart design apartments as part of this highly ambitious plan.”

 

In 2014, Hines acquired Cherrywood in South Dublin. The two components of this investment include an existing 52,000-square-meter office park and a 390-acre master-planned development site. The Cherrywood site has been acquired with approval for the construction of a new, retail-led mixed-use town center; up to 3,800 apartments and houses; and zoning capacity to expand the second largest office park in Dublin to three times its current size.

 

Mr. Moran is the Senior Managing Director responsible for developing Hines’ Ireland projects. He established the Hines platform in Ireland which currently has more than €1.2 billion of retail, office and residential assets under management, in addition to a major development pipeline which includes an additional €500 million of retail development and over 4,000 residential units. He rejoined the firm in 2011 having previously worked with Hines in Russia in the 1990's.

This work on nutrition-sensitive landscapes is carried out by Bioversity International in partnership with the Farming Systems Ecology (FSE) group from Wageningen University and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, to characterize the Barotse landscape and its current farming systems. It is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).

 

www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/farming-syste...

 

www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/a-gender-pers...

 

Credit: Bioversity International/E.Hermanowicz

 

by fuckjerry ift.tt/1QMOFfU

The description and specifications relate to the Pitts Special as this is an identical aircraft to the S1 and S2S.

 

The Pitts Special is a light aerobatic biplane designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts Special dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remains a potent competition aircraft and is a favourite for many an aerobatic pilot.

 

General characteristics

 

•Crew: Two

•Length: 18 ft 9 in (5.71 m)

•Wingspan: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)

•Height: 6 ft 7⅓ in (2.02 m)

•Wing area: 125 ft² (11.6 m²)

•Empty weight: 1,150 lb (521 kg)

•Max takeoff weight: 1,625 lb (737 kg)

•Powerplant: 1× Textron Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 flat-six air cooled piston engine, 260 hp (194 kW)

 

Performance

 

•Never exceed speed: 182 knots (210 mph, 338 km/h)

•Cruise speed: 152 knots (175 mph, 282 km/h) (max cruise)

•Stall speed: 52 knots (60 mph, 97 km/h)

•Range: 277 NM (319 mi, 513 km)

•Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)

•Rate of climb: 2,700 ft/min (13.7 m/s)

•Wing loading: 13.0 lb/ft² (63.6 kg/m²)

•Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.26 kW/kg)

 

Text and specifications based on Wikipedia article under the Creative Commons License for non-profit use.

Does anyone recognise which school this badge relates to? It’s quite possible the school was in Cork (Ireland).

 

.

Enamels: n/a.

Finish: Nickel or silver plated.

Material: Brass.

Fixer: Pin.

Size: 1 ¼” diameter (32mm).

Process: Die stamped & hand-engraved.

Imprint: EGAN, CORK. The firm of Egan Jewellers & Silversmiths was established in the 1820’s and from 1876 they were located in St. Patrick Street, Cork City. They closed on the 11th October 1986 after more than 157 years of continuous trading.

 

Accession Number: spa.si.224

 

This image relates to the Ayr 2000 by-election where Jim Mather stood as the SNP candidate for Holyrood.

 

Jim Mather is currently MSP for Argyll and Bute. For biographical information about Jim Mather www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet/jimmathe...

 

This picture forms part of the Scots Independent donation to the Scottish Political Archive. The Scots Independent is a monthly Nationalist newspaper. The paper was founded in 1926 and is the longest surviving political newspaper in Scotland in the twentieth century. For further information about the Scots Independent please visit their website at www.scotsindependent.org

 

The Scottish Political Archive is housed at the University of Stirling. The archive is home to the oral interviews, personal papers and associated material from prominent Scottish politicians. For further information about the work of the archive please visit our website www.scottishpoliticalarchive.org.uk

Hon Judy Darcy and Myles Mattila Discuss Mental Health and Addictions and how it relates to the MindRight APP.

 

Judy Darcy was first elected MLA for New Westminster in 2013, and was re-elected in 2017.

 

She was appointed British Columbia’s first and Canada’s only Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in July 2017. Judy has committed her career to building strong and vibrant communities, and has earned a reputation as an effective and compassionate leader.

 

As a tireless advocate, she has spent much of her life working to improve health care, seniors’ care, education and child care for British Columbians. She is committed to bringing people together to find innovative solutions to the issues that affect families to improve their lives.

 

As Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, she has taken urgent action to combat the devastating overdose crisis that is affecting families and communities across the province, including increasing the number of overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites and access to naloxone, and expanding treatment and recovery options. She is also forging ahead with her work to create a seamless and coordinated mental health and addictions system in British Columbia, so people can get the help they need, when they need it.

 

Judy has served in the B.C. Legislature since she was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for New Westminster in May 2013. She served as the official opposition spokesperson for Health until her re-election in May 2017. During that time she championed many issues, including the initiative to establish a clinic for adult survivors of childhood cancer.

 

Judy also served as national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canada’s largest union. She was the only woman to lead a national union for many years. Later, as secretary business manager for the Hospital Employees Union in B.C., Judy led negotiations that led to a historic settlement that established collective bargaining as charter protected rights for the first time for B.C. healthcare workers in 2008.

 

Born in Denmark, Judy’s family immigrated to Canada and shared many of the challenges that new Canadians face. She is married to human rights and labour lawyer Gary Caroline and has an adult son. She enjoys the Royal City Farmers’ Market, devouring good novels, hiking, kayaking, and watching the ever-changing activity and light on the Fraser River from her windows.

  

The Mindright.info Initiative

  

Mindright was founded by Myles Mattila 3 years ago. Myles is a Student, a mental health advocate, Jr Hockey player and he has recently added the Peer to Peer Support Program (P2P) to his extensive list of mental health initiatives.

 

The primary goal of P2P is to create a resource platform to help provide support and do even more for youth mental health. This initiative focuses on raising initial awareness, sourcing and coordinating an additional resource team, and helping youth access existing support associations within the community. Currently, we use hockey as one example and a common place where we have access to a large number of ‘players’ (i.e. like-minded youth) as we continually try to demonstrate that it is ‘ok’ to ask for help. We believe that, when dealing with mental health challenges, early intervention is crucial and this can be accomplished with P2P.

  

Vision

Help youth hockey players end the mental health stigma within their peer group, and assist players with seeking the necessary help they need from the P2P Resource Team and existing community resources.

 

Mission

Mindright.info focuses on helping promote wellness and positive living for young people through increasing community awareness and making use of existing mental health resources. We want to encourage young people to be open and engage in Peer to Peer conversation. We want to support, connect, and build ties with young people using hockey as a medium while creating a movement with a brand that makes mental health relatable and accessible

 

How we will achieve our Mission

While playing for the Kelowna Chiefs of the KIJHL, Myles will support this initiative and the Kelowna Chiefs will host four mental health awareness games this season that will feature P2P.

 

As a certified Jack.org speaker, Myles will use his skills to reach out to local schools and hockey teams to tell his story and extend his invitation to the P2P Program. He will encourage dialogue regarding mental health, provide details on existing mental health resources and promote Peer to Peer support.

 

We will continue to reach out and add support to a system that needs to enhance, promote, and provide mental health care for all.

 

We will encourage others to join us to support those in need as mental health does not discriminate.

   

Despite the large number of documents relating to this case at both the National and Lancashire Archives, the exact nature of the disagreement that first arose between Sir William Gerard and his agent, Randolph Penswick, is difficult to ascertain. Mr Penswick's father had become agent to the Gerards at a time when the 8th baronet, Sir Thomas, had been incapacitated by mental illness, and it may be that the Penswicks had become so used to managing every aspect of the Garswood Estate that the Gerards felt they were no longer in control of their own affairs. One of the documents at Lancashire Archives (“Defendant's Interrogatories”, ref. DDGE(E) 441) concerns Mr Penswick's practice of giving small amounts of money to Sir William and his wife to meet their daily needs, and includes a schedule of such payments during the period 1794-1804. Another (DDGE(E) 442) details an annuity paid to Mr Penswick's mother by the Estate, and discusses whether an individual named John Berry was an employee of -and therefore, ultimately, answerable to- Sir William or Mr Penswick.

 

By this action in the Chancery Court, Sir William sought an order requiring Mr Penswick to deliver to him “all books, papers, and writings in his custody or power” relating to the Garswood Estate. Mr Penswick objected that the books etc also contained “copies of letters and entries of various transactions in which the Plaintiff [i.e. Sir William] has no concern, relating to the private business of the Defendant [i.e. Mr Penswick] or of other persons for whom he is agent; and some of them are in daily use”. Mr Penswick's “private business” included trusteeships of the Wigan-Warrington and Liverpool-Bolton turnpike roads and a partnership with his bother-in-law, William Bone, for the spinning and manufacture of cotton at Downall Green.

 

The legal proceedings were concluded, first, by an order that Mr Penswick leave the books “with his clerk in court, sealing up those parts which do not concern the Plaintiff, and pledging himself by oath that he has sealed up those parts only” and, finally, by the appointment of William Alexander, Master in Chancery, to arbitrate between the parties in regard to the “disputes on monetary matters” which had arisen (Lancashire Archives ref. DDGE(E) 364, 8 May 1822; see also DDGE(M) 1677-84 and, at National Archives, C 13/1706/29 and C 13/2001/27).

 

Remarkably, neither these events nor Randolph Penswick's subsequent bankruptcy seem to have jeopardised his position with the Gerards, and he continued to serve not only Sir William but also the 12th Baronet, Sir John Gerard, until his own death in 1844.