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SanDisk Launches V-Mate, a Video Flash Memory Card Recorder
Device Lets Consumers Record Video to Flash Cards From TV, Cable And Satellite Set-Top Boxes, DVD or VCR Players to Play Back on Mobile Phones, PDAs, Game Consoles, and Video/Music Players
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced the V-Mate™ Video Memory Card Recorder at the IFA Show, where the company is exhibiting in Hall 2.1, Booth 103.
The ground-breaking V-Mate is a video memory card recorder, allowing users to record video from video inputs such as over-the-air television as well as cable, satellite, DVD players, personal video recorders (PVRs) like TiVo and video cassette recorders (VCRs) onto their flash memory cards.(1) Consumers can then take their memory card from the V-Mate and insert it into their mobile phone, PDA, handheld game console like the Sony PSP™ (PlayStation Portable), video music player or notebook computer to play back their videos on the go.
"Today's increasingly mobile consumer wants to be able to watch their favorite shows and videos, whenever and wherever they want," said Wes Brewer, vice president of consumer product marketing at SanDisk. "The V-Mate is an easy-to-use, affordable way for millions of people to use their mobile phones or other mobile devices to watch video content that resides primarily in the living room when they are away from home."
The SanDisk V-Mate lets users record up to 3.5 hours(2) of high quality video per gigabyte(3), using industry-standard video formats. Memory cards supported include SD™, MMC™, MMCplus™ MMCmobile™, SDHC™, MiniSDHC™, MicroSDHC™, Memory Stick PRO™, Memory Stick Duo™ and Memory Stick PRO Duo™.
"The SanDisk V-Mate provides consumers with a convenient way of place-shifting content from a largely stationary — living room-bound environment — to a high mobile environment comprised of mobile phones, portable game consoles and even notebook PCs," said market analyst Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts. "The ability to re-purpose consumer owned content is a great compliment to many of the newer pay-per-view services rolling out now with many mobile operators and service providers around the world."
Matthijs Hutten, SanDisk product marketing manager, said, "The number of mobile devices with a card slot and video playback capability is huge and growing rapidly. The V-Mate will make it easy for consumers to watch video on their devices by doing the analog to digital conversion for them, compressing the video into MPEG-4 in multiple formats and then creating the correct file format for the target mobile device — all features unmatched by any product today in this price range."
With a maximum recording resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, the V-Mate can also generate recording files for playback on larger screen devices such as the TV it is connected to or a notebook PC. Solid state memory (flash cards) consume less power than the hard drives or CD/DVD drives in mobile entertainment devices and therefore offer longer video playback time on a battery charge.
The V-Mate, which connects to the analog audio/video output of a set-top box, DVD player, PVR or VCR and the analog audio/video input of a TV, is easy to use. A remote control and TV-based graphical user interface let users control settings, record and access content. It has multiple programming slots for entering channel, date and start/stop times to schedule recordings. At initial set-up users select their playback device (such as a mobile phone or handheld game) to ensure the recordings are playback compatible.
The unit includes an infrared emitter. This will automatically turn on the TV tuner box (cable/satellite/terrestrial receiver or VCR) and select the right channel when programmed to record. The V-Mate also includes a mini-USB connection and cable to connect to a personal computer.
The V-Mate measures just 5.1″ x 2.6″ x 0.8," so it will fit snugly next to almost any-sized television. The V-Mate, expected to be available in October 2006, will sell for $129.99 MSRP.
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products, using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, CA and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.
(1) For home and personal use: This product is intended to be used for recording and playback for your home and personal enjoyment. Copying and commercial use of copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner may be prohibited by law. Use of your V-Mate in compliance with all copyright and applicable intellectual property laws remains the responsibility of the user of the product.
(2) Recording times will vary by target device and video quality level. Recording time is approximately 3.6 hours in a mobile phone (@ bit rate of 544kbps) and 1.8 hours on a notebook computer (@bit rate of 1.056kbps).
(3) 1 megabyte (MB) equals 1 million bytes; 1 gigabyte (GB) equals 1 billion bytes.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from http://www.sandisk.com/corporate/media.asp.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com.
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. V-Mate is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. SD, SDHC, miniSD, miniSDHC and microSDHC are trademarks. Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo are trademarks of Sony Corporation. PSP and PlayStation are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI). MMC, MMCplus and MMCmobile are trademarks of the MultiMediaCard Association. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
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O Shakespeare, Shakespeare, wherefore art thou Shakespeare?
February 24, 2019 February 24, 2019 / ginnyburges / Leave a comment
"After God, Shakespeare has created most." ~ Alexandre Dumas
As February is famed for the commemoration of Saint Valentine, as well as being heart health month in the USA and UK, I thought it would be good to celebrate with a love-in devoted to William Shakespeare. Plus, I never need an excuse for a spot of Bardolatry, especially on a #ShakespeareSunday.
No-one in the canon of the English language has written more about love and its many faces, forms and facets than our Will.
Shakespeare's insight into the foibles of human nature still resonate over 400 years since he quilled his immortal sonnets and plays. Observations from his frequently performed works often can provide a parallel to our personal lives as well as current events.
Take one of Shakespeare's most vile villains – Richard III. His ruthless ambition for the crown of England and all the foul deeds he undertook in his quest for power were relinquished in a heartbeat in the face of death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The last words Shakespeare puts into king Richard's screaming mouth as, sans steed, he is about to be butchered are: "A horse! A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
David Garrick as Richard III by William Hogarth
The small things we take for granted are often the things we miss the most when they're gone, and our need is great. Robust health is one that springs to mind.
Love is surely the state of being that is taken for granted the most. Those thoughtful acts of kindness and love that are performed daily and thought nothing of are sorely missed by the receiver when the doer is no longer willing or able to perform them.
But unconditional love is a divine blessing, it's the only emotion that provides an infinite supply. The more you give away the more flows to you and through you.
Shakespeare's sonnets, poems, comedies, histories and tragedies embody eternal human qualities and struggles, captured with such eloquent expression that the mysteries surrounding his life and his status as a god of literature – one of the greatest writers and dramatists that ever lived – shows no sign of slowing or abating. He is everywhere – almost, dare I say – ubiquitous.
Shakespeare is so often reduced to soundbites, but that's because he wrote so many fantastic pithy phrases and unforgettable one-liners. Not to mention the plethora of new words he introduced into the English language that we frequently use today, without realising their origin.
When it came to phrase-making, he was second to none! (Also one of his).
"The best known and least known of figures." ~ Bill Bryson
But the Bard is so much more than the sum of his genius parts. For my part I found Shakespeare heavy going at school, but I have come to love and appreciate his way with words as I have matured.
How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
~ William Shakespeare from Sonnet 97
Shakespeare was, and still is, a man of the people. London's burgeoning East End was his stomping ground, along with his fellow players of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men during the reign of James I.
The Opiate of the People
In Shakespeare's time eighty percent of the population were illiterate. His plays were meant primarily to be seen rather than read.
But you can't please everyone, and even though he was loved by ordinary people and royalty alike, Shakespeare still had his detractors. He was envied by the playwright Robert Greene, who ungraciously labelled him an 'upstart crowe' in his 1592 autobiography. It is poetic justice that no one remembers the critics…
Probably the first play to be staged that had romantic love as its central theme, with an onstage kiss for good measure! It is based on Arthur Brooke's 1562 poem, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.
Anthony, Viscount Montagu (his patron, Henry Wriothesley's grandfather), may have inspired Shakespeare's choice of name for the family foes of the Capulets.
Romeo and Juliet by Sir Frank Dicksee c. 1884
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
I always used to think that Juliet was asking, albeit in poetic fashion, the location of her paramour, but in fact, 'wherefore' means 'why'. She is pondering on the existential crisis of why she had the misfortune to fall in love with a Montague, a sworn enemy of her family.
Blaise Pascale summed it up perfectly: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows not."
It seems forbidden love (or any kind for that matter), is something humans still fall into in the 21st century, as those in the grasp of its all-consuming intensity will know. There are many wonderful adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, I particularly enjoyed the most recent film (screenplay by Julian Fellowes):
As you may have gathered, the question my title poses is, why Shakespeare, and I'll leave it to the centuries of brilliant writers and artists to answer that one!
Let's start with the loving act of friendship on the part of John Heminges and Henry Condell to honour their dead friend and colleague, not solely by publishing 36 of his plays in the First Folio of 1623, but also with this touching preface for the generations of fans to follow:
"To the Great Variety of Readers,
Read him, and again, and again: And if you then do not like him, surely you are in some manifest danger, not to understand him. And so we leave you to other of is friends, whom if you need, can be your guides: if you need them not, you can lead yourselves, and others, and such readers we wish him."
Henry Crawford's line in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, (often attributed as Austen's own view): 'Shakespeare… is a part of an Englishman's constitution. His thoughts and beauties are so spread abroad that one touches them everywhere; one is intimate with him by instinct.'
Charles Dickens was obsessed with Shakespeare and carried a volume of his plays around with him at all times; he even bought a house because of its associations with Falstaff. The influence of Shakespeare shines through his novels, including the depiction of family relationships based on Cordelia and Lear, as well as his use of theatrical-style devices borrowed from the plays.
There are echoes of Shakespeare's Henry V in Winston Churchill's 'Their Finest Hour' speech, and he used a quote from Julius Caesar in a memo to his staff in 1943, the one which begins, 'There is a tide in the affairs of men…'
From Henry James' 1876 review of Romeo and Juliet: 'One never sees Shakespeare played without being reminded at some new point of his greatness', although aside from his admiration of Shakespeare's craft, it seemed he had a problem with the Bard being a common oik from Stratford!
Shakespeare was surely one of our greatest exports.
Abraham Lincoln would read his works aloud on many evenings to his aides (who may or may not have been as enamoured of them as their leader), and the French writer, Flaubert said: 'When I read Shakespeare I become greater, wiser, purer.'
The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh wrote of how Shakespeare made him feel in a letter to his brother: 'What touches me… is that the voices of these people, which… reach us from a distance of several centuries, do not seem unfamiliar to us. It is so much alive that you think you know them and see the thing.'
The political prisoners held captive on South Africa's Robben Island reportedly read a smuggled copy of the Complete Works, disguised as a Hindu Bible. Each of them signed their names by their favourite passages.
Walter Sisulu chose a speech of Shylock's: Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, / For suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe. Nelson Mandela chose a passage from Julius Caesar, which begins: Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once. Years later Mandela said, "Shakespeare always seems to have something to say to us."
Hamlet was one of the first characters in literature to be a fully rounded human being, plagued by doubt, inner conflicts and suicidal thoughts, which Sigmund Freud found perfect case study fodder. Hamlet helped him to explore the concept of the unconscious, and also to illustrate the Oedipus complex – maybe a step too far!
Book titles taken from Shakespeare include: Brave New World, The Sound and the Fury, The Dogs of War, Under the Greenwood tree, Infinite Jest, The fault in Our Stars, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Remembrance of Things Past, Murder Most Foul, to mention but a few.
Such Sweet Thunder – The title of the jazz suite album and first track, are Duke Ellington's homage to Shakespeare's characters, with the title representing Othello:
Shakespeare has been credited with more than 1,000 films and TV shows. According to The Guinness Book of Records he is the most filmed author of all time. Hamlet has around 79 film credits with Romeo and Juliet hot on his heels with 59.
"Shakespeare – the nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God." ~ Laurence Olivier
William Hazlitt wasn't taking any prisoners in the 19th century when he wrote: 'If we wish to know the force of human genius, we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators.' Hmm… better stop now!
Venus and Adonis by Titian c. 1560s
Shakespeare's most successful published work during his lifetime was his long narrative poem, Venus and Adonis, which must have seemed rather racy and titillating to Elizabethan audiences… It was written between 1592 – 94 (when London's theatres were closed due to the plague), as was another of his long poems, The Rape of Lucrece.
Shakespeare's perspicacity and ability to illuminate the consequences of a mortal sin, versus the pleasure in committing it are remarkable.
Tarquin ruminates over whether to rape the virtuous Lucretia:
What win I if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week,
Or sells eternity to get a toy?
After he commits the terrible act, poor Lucretia is tormented with horribly realistic guilt and shame, ending ultimately in her suicide.
Tarquin and Lucretia by Luca Giordano
A poem with hard-hitting themes, which unsurprisingly was not as successful as Venus and Adonis.
Both poems were dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, one of the few occasions that Shakespeare 'speaks' to us in his own voice, (even if it is obsequious in tone): 'The love I dedicate to your lordship is without end, and 'What I have done is yours; what I have to do is yours; being part in all I have, devoted yours.'
The Sonnets and the mystery of the 'Fair Youth'
It is debatable whether these were ever meant for public consumption and may only have been intended for the recipient, or a private audience. The subject is addressed as 'you' and known variously as 'my lovely boy', 'lovely youth' and 'beauteous and lovely boy', referred to as the Fair Youth by scholars.
Even though the long poems proved the most financially successful of his literary output during the Bard's lifetime, his 154 sonnets were not greatly admired when first published in 1609, as this form of poetry was starting to go out of fashion. But they have stood the test of time, and are now perhaps considered the apotheosis of his literary achievements.
The first 126 of the sonnets, labelled the 'Fair Youth' poems, are mostly expressions of romantic love, encompassing all the associated emotions such as jealousy, anxiety, mistrust, and they progress into an affair between the youth and the narrator's 'Dark Lady', (who the next 26 sonnets are about, plus a few relating to a 'rival poet').
Many of the sonnets are addressed to a man, and they are among the most tender, passionate and downright erotic poems ever written, causing much heated debate and consternation over the centuries.
Was Shakespeare gay? Or at least bisexual, as he was married to Anne Hathaway. Attitudes towards sexuality would surely have differed to what they are today. Either way, what really matters is his legacy of literary gold dust. It is not clear if all 126 poems are addressed to the same man, like one great outpouring, or if they are to different friends and lovers over a number of years.
It has long been argued that the Fair Youth was Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. He was a good-looking and debonair chap if his portraits are anything to go by.
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Shakespeare scholar Jonathon Bate believes that Henry Wriothesley was indeed the fair youth, and that the sonnets were written for him in the quest for patronage.
However, there is no categorical proof that the poems are autobiographical. To over interpret them surely takes the focus away from their intrinsic beauty. This is the conclusion that James Shapiro came to by the middle of the 19th century: 'The obsession with autobiographical titbits had all but displaced interest in the aesthetic pleasures of the poems themselves.'
Sonnet 130 is not complimentary to a particular lady, yet expresses genuine feeling in the last two couplets, in a slightly cynical, backhanded sort of way:
Another great British poet, William Wordsworth, was a firm proponent of the idea that Shakespeare revealed his true self in the sonnets.
Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned,
Mindless of its just honours; with this key
Shakespeare unlocked his heart; the melody
Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound;
A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound;
With it Camöens soothed an exile's grief;
The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf
Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned
His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp,
It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faery-land
To struggle through dark ways; and, when a damp
Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand
The Thing became a trumpet; whence he blew
Soul-animating strains—alas, too few!
By William Wordsworth
To me the sonnets seem too intimate and poignant to be figments of Shakespeare's imagination, they must have risen up from a deep well… It is not wise to interpret them too literally, but through them his life experiences have left their indelible mark.
The tantalisingly cryptic dedication written on the front was signed by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe (T.T.) and further fuelled ideas that the Fair Youth, possibly Henry Wriothesley, was also the dedicatee with his initials reversed:
One does rather go down a rabbit hole investigating all of this, (I'll save the 'Dark Lady' for another day). A recent hypothesis is that the publisher's dedication is to William Holme, which seems highly plausible to me.
A detailed exploration of the sonnets' dedication. Oscar Wilde even wrote a fictional story, The Portrait of Mr. W.H. based on Thomas Tyrwhitt's theory that the Fair Youth was named William Hughes, based on certain lines contained in Sonnet 20: "A man in hue, all Hues in his controlling", in which the word Hues is both italicised and capitalised in the original edition.
In her brilliant foreward to the RSC edition of sonnets Fiona Shaw writes:
Shakespeare's sonnets give us the impetus required for a meaningful analysis of our foolish selves in love and our difficulty in really communicating with one another.
He uses 'ifs' and 'buts' of all our conflicting thoughts and all in the pocketbook size of the sonnet. They are like literary entries in the diary of the human condition. We borrow his words and his rhythm, his hesitancy, his ease with conclusion, and it helps us to do more than merely navigate through the often fraught landscape of love and delight ourselves along the way.
We live in a time where being unable to utter our personal truth seems to hold more integrity. We have become suspicious of words. Shakespeare's sonnets entice us back to a more precise rendering of emotional reality, and they do it with generous and extravagant language. In a sentence he captures the sound and the terror of feeling.
Sonnet 93 was the first of the sonnets to be subjected to biographical analysis by Edmond Malone in 1780, who proposed that the sonnet might reveal the unhappy state of Shakespeare's marriage. Not such a big leap, when one considers the geographical distance between William and Anne for much of the time, in addition to scrutiny of the language.
Malone opened a scholar's Pandora's Box when he further suggested Shakespeare snubbed Anne Hathaway in his will, (to support his hypotheses), in bequeathing his wife his 'second best bed'.
Men portraying women on stage
Women's emancipation had a long way to go in Elizabethan England, when women were prohibited from acting on stage in public. Cue one of my favourite films, Shakespeare in Love. The heroine is Lady Viola de Lesseps, disguised as Thomas Kent for much of the movie, she is shipwrecked at the end of the film, a perfect prequel to Twelfth Night.
Twelfth Night is a tale of separation and rediscovery, set in motion by a storm at sea, a popular device used by Shakespeare, (shipwrecks also featured in varying plot degrees in The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, Pericles and The Winter's Tale). Maybe there was an excess of nautical props lying around…
Viola's character dresses up as a man, Cesario, in the employ of Count Orsino; in a comic romp of gender swaps and mistaken identity on the road to love.
Nuggets of Twelfth Night performances:
Stephen Fry and Mark Rylance lend comic genius to an all male cast in a Globe Theatre production:
I can imagine how they must have howled in the 16th century, and how ludicrous and funny it seems to us today when men play female parts. Especially the scenes with Viola, in which a boy pretends to be a girl pretending to be a boy!
This plot may even have put Will's head in a spin…
As is said in the play: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." I do believe Shakespeare to be in the second category, for he had no noble title at birth and secured his posthumous place in history through his wit, talent and hard work.
The banter and brevity of Much Ado About Nothing meant it was a popular play in its day. The wrong done to Hero is technically the main plot line, but the sparring lovers, Beatrice and Benedick supply the most fun. Even King Charles II apparently wrote Benedick and Beatrice next to the play's title in his personal copy of the Second Folio.
Sparks fly between Kenneth and Emma in Branagh's wonderful film adaptation:
Kenneth Branagh talks about portraying Shakespeare in the twilight of his life in All is True:
I must see this film!
I think the fire scene at the end of the trailer might be depicting the unfortunate burning down of The Globe Theatre. It enjoyed much success from its opening in 1599 to its demise in 1613, after a stray spark from a stage cannon in a performance of Henry VIII ignited the thatch roof. Thankfully there were no fatalities. It was rebuilt the following year with a closed tiled roof.
The original title of Henry VIII was All is True, hence the film's title, and it was changed for the publication of the First Folio to The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth.
Steamy Southwark and Shoreditch were booming medieval theatre districts, home to not just The Globe, but also The Rose, The Curtain, The Swan and The Hope. What they lacked in sophisticated stage and scenery set-ups they made up for with lavish, colourful costumes and the use of animal organs and blood to lend authenticity to gruesome battle and death scenes.
Can you picture the atmosphere with 3,000 rowdy theatre goers packed tightly together?
The Puritans considered such theatres dens of iniquity and vice, (which they most probably were), and in 1642 they succeeded in closing them all down. The Globe was demolished two years later.
Today's Globe Theatre on London's Bankside (again in thatch but with the added benefit of modern water sprinklers), was built a mere 230 metres away from the first Globe's location. It's design however, was based on drawings of The Swan, made in 1596 by a Dutch tourist.
What things you make of us! For what we lack
We laugh, for what we have, are sorry; still
Are children in some kind. Let us be thankful
For that which is, and with you leave dispute
That are above our question."
~ William Shakespeare (The Two Noble Kinsmen)
The above quote, the last words in the play (except for the epilogue), are perhaps the very last words that Shakespeare wrote.
The Tempest was previously thought to be his last play, but The Two Noble Kinsmen, based on Chaucer's The Knight's Tale, is now generally accepted as Shakespeare's final play; a collaboration with John Fletcher. Scholars believe that Shakespeare's contributions are the writing of Act 1, two scenes in Act 3, and three in Act 5.
It may not be considered such a good swansong as The Tempest, but author Andrew Dickson says of the closing lines, 'as a conclusion to his career these halting words… are infinitely more painful than anything voiced by Prospero'.
If Music be the Food of Love, Play on…
"And still, after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
"You owe Me."
Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky." ~ Hafez
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are able to share it with someone who loves and respects you. Not everyone is involved in a romantic, intimate relationship when the 14th February rolls around, but you will almost certainly have friends or family who will show you that you're in their hearts and minds.
There are as many shades and facets of love as there are surfaces on a finely cut diamond, and each touches us and lights up our life in a unique and special way. The most important thing is that somewhere in your life you give and feel love, even if it's for yourself. Traditionally Valentine's Day focuses on romantic attachments, but love is too all-encompassing to be identified as purely a romantic attachment.
Love kept even our best philosophers busy identifying its purpose and meaning; but probably the most beautiful words used to express it came from the Sufi poet Rumi.
However, that being said, the voice of a lover is music to savour, as are the notes that spring from a composer's quill onto lined parchment in a fever pitch of delirium. Their passions and desires, those deep feelings for the object of their affection that would make their heart explode if they weren't cathartically hauled and wrung from their chest cavity, bursting with love and in some cases, anguish.
The most beautiful, exquisite and soul piercing music has arisen from heartbreak. Unrequited love is such agony, even as it is for two people who long to be together but must live apart. Sometimes being in an unhappy relationship is worse than being alone.
For those in the early stages of romantic love it is like nothing you've ever felt. But you are not in control. Those crazy, heady sensations that take over your mind and body whenever that someone special is near is disconcerting. Even if they are far, they are always there, by proxy in your heart. It is like being at sea with no compass and no sails, at the mercy of the elements. Even after the heat of the initial infatuation has cooled a bit, there will be something you cherish from that bond. You can never truly erase such a powerful connection.
And nor should we, because the highs and lows and everything in between make us who we are. We suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and we survived. If you were a composer, a songwriter or writer, you cleansed the pain by creative force of will. But you first had to be consumed by the searing flames to do it.
There must be more music and songs written in the name of love than any other subject. Those souls caught in the throws of passion or the depths of despair can relate to what someone else once lived through, what they transmuted into art and culture for the benefit of others.
Is it possible to define this emotion that dominates us so? The lack of it in childhood can cause untold misery, or betrayal turn love into hate. For we cannot have one without the other, the constant companions of our duality. But what if love is more than a feeling? Feelings and emotions are fleeting, by their nature temporary.
'It struck me tonight how music mirrors life. Fleeting ephemeral moments, made up of beauty, sadness, joy, hope and despair. The melodies are created in both major and minor keys. Flowing and fleeting. You can't hold onto it, or keep it from changing. Our emotions possess the evanescence of a note.' ~ The Virtuoso
Real, true love is transcendent and unconditional; a state of being in the world. It's treating all beings with kindness, compassion, benevolence and lovingness.
Lust is too destructive and romantic love without a deeper regard will never blossom into a more lasting relationship. It would be hard to cope with everyday life if one were permanently in a state of euphoria and ecstasy. Although some historical figures gave it their best shot, such as the infamous Marquis de Sade. He took something divine in nature and used it for his own perverted pleasure and hedonistic impulses.
Intoxication and rapture by their very nature can be addictive…
Let's not beat about the bush, we're all here because two people once loved each other and physically embraced their love. It's a miracle and not to be treated lightly. However, the Garden of Eden has many thorns and stinging nettles growing in its pristine beds. As Shakespeare so perfectly put it, the course of true love never did run smooth…
So let's celebrate this invisible force called love, this ethereal yet palpable potion that is strong enough to make men kill and women weep. It can bring untold joy, or pain like no other. Blessed are we who have basked in its magnificent rays, for however long.
I have often pondered how and why two people are attracted to each other and at what point that becomes love. Perhaps each possessed an energy field that the other needed? Their coming together fulfilled the yin and yang of each other's energy. But there's also alignment – of one's values, interests and outlook. We each speak a different archetypal language, so there are many twists and turns for us to navigate to our happy ever afters!
The concept that Plato suggested that we each have a twin soul is an intriguing one. The other half of our soul…
And if you did ever feel like your heart had been ripped out and stomped on, that person gave you the opportunity and reason to love yourself again.
Maybe the closest definition I can come to is that love's purpose is to put us in-touch with our higher selves, to imbue us with soul stamina, to evolve and grow our capacity to love. We are all worthy of love, and when we give love there is never any shortage from this infinite well. It keeps us in tune with our heart.
Now to poetry and music. I'm merely following Shakespeare's advice because I'm an inveterate romantic and glutton when it comes to love!
Rumi's eternal love verses are succour for the soul….
Byron:
Shakespeare, from one of my all-time favourite films!
Percy Bysshe Shelley:
There is nothing more powerful than music to capture feelings and as a portal to our emotions, to a time, a place or a person…
Baroque Beauties:
Thomas Tallis – If ye love me:
Purcell – 'My dearest, my fairest' (Jaroussky & Scholl):
The Fairy Queen – If love's a sweet passion by Veronique Gens:
Handel – Semele 'Endless Pleasure, Endless Love' by Kathleen Battle:
In 1852 the young Richard Wagner became infatuated with a beautiful writer, poet and song composer, Mathilde Wesendonck, also the wife of the wealthy businessman who had bestowed his generous patronage on Wagner.
Mathilde Wesendonck by Karl Ferdinand Sohn c. 1850
Their love affair seems to have been intense, (at least from Wagner's perspective), occurring at the same time he was working on his Tristan poem. The final consummation of Tristan's hopeless love for Isolde, the wife of his liege lord, could only be achieved in death. Wagner also set his beloved's poetry to music, in his Wesendonck Lieder. Their relationship was hastily ended when Wagner's first wife Minna discovered a love letter and threatened to show it to Mathilde's husband Otto.
There can be no doubt that Mathilde was Wagner's Isolde…
In Tristan and Isolde he perfectly expresses the hopeless, languid longing that was clearly pulling at his own heart strings:
Tchaikovsky's immortal Rome and Juliet Fantasy Overture:
Beethoven – Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50 with Christian Ferras:
Beethoven – Romance Cantabile in E Minor for piano, flute, bassoon and orchestra:
Brahms – Violin Concerto in D Major, 'Adagio', with love oozing from Itzhak Perlman:
Dvořák – Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F minor, Op. 11 with Jodef Suk:
Kriesler – 'Liebeslied' (love's sorrow) with Yo-Yo ma and patricia Zander:
Liszt – Romance oubliée with Guido Schiefen and Eric Le Van:
Liszt – 'Liebestraume' No. 3 in E-Flat Major (Love Dream) Harpist unknown:
Liszt – Consolation No. 3 with Nathan Milstein and Georges Pludermacher:
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 20 K. 466, 2nd movement 'Romance' with Friedrich Gulda:
Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, 2nd movement 'Romance':
Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2, the romantic, dreamy 2nd movement:
Contemporary Classical:
Paul de Senneville – Mariage d'Amour with Richard Clayderman:
Nino Rota gets the sax treatment with Kenny G:
Adam Hurst – Longing:
Jazz:
My Funny Valentine:
A Kiss to Build a Dream on:
Opera arias are in a league of their own when it comes to love!
'O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe' ('Descend, o night of love') from Act II of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Tristan and Isolde rapturously hail their 'night of love' to an exquisite melody drawn from 'Träume' ('Dreams') of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder:
Mozart – Voi che sapete with Cecilia Bartoli and Jean-Yves Thibaudet:
Bellini – A Te, O Cara from I Puritiani – Pavarotti & Sutherland:
Berlioz – Les Troyens 'Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie' ('O night of intoxication and infinite ecstasy') from Act IV. Dido and Aeneas finally admit their love in this exquisite duet:
Saint-Saens – 'Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix' from Samson et Delilah:
Bizet – Carmen 'La Fleur Que Tu M'avais Jetée' by Plácido Domingo:
Puccini – Tosca 'E lucevan le stelle' (and the the stars were shining), Pavarotti:
Beethoven's beautiful aria of wedded love, 'O namenlose Freude' from Fidelio:
Verdi – La Traviata (the fallen one) – Maria Callas is supreme in this heart-rending performance of E strano! E strano!
Duke Orsino:
If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
~ William Shakespeare (Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 1, 1–3)
Purcell and the King's Singers:
Until the next time, with all my love!
Heart Matters: Secrets of the Heart in Culture and Life
May 5, 2016 May 6, 2016 / ginnyburges / 3 Comments
My heartfelt thanks go to French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal, for elucidating such profound observations about the human heart.
He provides the perfect context for the subject matter of this first, in-depth exploration of the human heart in my 'Heart Matters' blog trilogy.
In this first post I wanted to explore the fundamental questions about the function of the heart in our everyday lives as well as looking specifically at heart health challenges and well-being in later posts.
Mysteries of the Human Heart
Is the heart merely a muscle, a complex pump that powers blood, oxygen and nutrients around our body, or does it actually have a mind of its own, as Blaise Pascal suggests it does? Is it the seat of our emotions and the source of love? Perhaps it serves in both capacities?
David Malone explores the human heart, juxtaposing the modern scientific view of the heart as a mere pump, versus its long history as a symbol of love and the centre of innate wisdom and human character:
The heart has been written about in every age and culture. It is the subject of poetry, prose, stories and parables. For the romantics it is an 'organ of fire'.
"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object." ~ Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being)
The immense use of the word 'heart' in language reveals our long-held obsession with its mysteries. Here are more than a few references to the heart, covering the whole spectrum of human emotion:
Heartfelt, heartbroken, heartache, bleeding heart, heartless, purple heart, kind hearted, soft hearted, cold hearted, black heart, heartless, heartthrob, heartbeat, sweetheart, weak hearted, big hearted, disheartened, heartily, hearty, heart of the matter, open hearted, half hearted, down hearted, free hearted, lion heart, heart centred, heart burn, a heart of stone, sickness of the heart, bless your heart, a change of heart, absence makes the heart grow fonder, after my own heart, be still my heart, eat one's heart out, by heart, cry heart out, follow heart, faint of heart, give someone heart-failure, heart of gold, have a heart-to-heart, follow your heart, heart in the right place, heart in mouth, heart sinks, heavy hearted, heart skips a beat, heart flutter, home is where the heart is, heart's not in it, with all one's heart, young at heart, with a light heart, set heart on, take to heart, steal heart, out of the goodness of heart, pour heart out, to one's heart's content, lose heart, have heart in mouth, let heart rule head, in one's heart of hearts, wear heart on sleeve, close to one's heart, win heart, have a heart!
Perhaps to describe a person as heartless is the worst insult you could level at them, it implies that the very essence of what makes a human being is absent…
Shakespeare's references to the heart:
The very instant I saw you, did My heart fly to your service. (The Tempest, Ferdinand to Miranda) ~ You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant (Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena to Demetrius) ~ My five wits, nor my five senses, can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee. (Sonnet 141, 9-10) ~ Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight, Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside (Sonnet 139, 5-6) ~ JAQUES What stature is she of? ORLANDO Just as high as my heart (As You Like It) ~ A heart to love, and in that heart Courage, to make love's known (Macbeth, Macbeth to Macduff) ~ Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? (Merchant of Venice, song) ~ What infinite heart's ease Must kings neglect that private men enjoy! (Henry V) ~ My old heart is cracked, it's cracked (King Lear, Gloucester to Regan) ~ If thou ever didst hold me in thy heart, Absent thee from felicity a while, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story. (Hamlet, Hamlet to Horatio) ~ Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know… (Measure for Measure, Isabella)
Shakespeare as you've never heard him before! I think the Bard would dig this jazzy interpretation:
Definitions of heart
A hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood.
The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, and the like; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; — usually in a good sense, when no epithet is expressed; the better or lovelier part of our nature; the spring of all our actions and purposes; the seat of moral life and character; the moral affections and character itself; the individual disposition and character; as, a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart.
The nearest the middle or centre; the part most hidden and within; the inmost or most essential part of any body or system; the source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion; the centre of activity, or of energetic or efficient action; as, the heart of a country, of a tree, etc.
Courage; courageous purpose; spirit.
Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.
That which resembles a heart in shape; especially, a roundish or oval figure or object having an obtuse point at one end, and at the other a corresponding indentation, – used as a symbol or representative of the heart.
One of a series of playing cards, distinguished by the figure or figures of a heart; as, hearts are trumps.
Vital part; secret meaning; real intention.
A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address.
t. To give heart to; to hearten; to encourage; to inspirit.
i. To form a compact centre or heart; as, a hearting cabbage.
All emotion emanates from the heart. It is the first organ that develops in a growing foetus, even before the brain.
"It is in the heart that the values lie. I wish I could make him understand that a loving heart is riches, and riches enough, and that without it intellect is poverty." ~ Mark Twain
It makes sense to me that emotional intelligence comes from the heart and intellectual intelligence comes from the mind. The two are separate yet cannot exist without the other, the yin and yang of our physical existence. It seems that our creator trapped us in a biological duality of heart and mind, where our challenge lies in finding balance within the dichotomy of reason and passion.
It is a question pondered by greater poets than me.
Heart and Mind
SAID the Lion to the Lioness – 'When you are amber dust, –
No more a raging fire like the heat of the Sun
(No liking but all lust) –
Remember still the flowering of the amber blood and bone,
The rippling of bright muscles like a sea,
Remember the rose-prickles of bright paws
Though we shall mate no more
Till the fire of that sun the heart and the moon-cold bone are one.'
Said the Skeleton lying upon the sands of Time –
'The great gold planet that is the mourning heat of the Sun
Is greater than all gold, more powerful
Than the tawny body of a Lion that fire consumes
Like all that grows or leaps…so is the heart
More powerful than all dust. Once I was Hercules
Or Samson, strong as the pillars of the seas:
But the flames of the heart consumed me, and the mind
Is but a foolish wind.'
Said the Sun to the Moon – 'When you are but a lonely white crone,
And I, a dead King in my golden armour somewhere in a dark wood,
Remember only this of our hopeless love
That never till Time is done
Will the fire of the heart and the fire of the mind be one.'
~ Edith Sitwell (1944)
The heart and its mysteries will always be at the root of popular culture. I don't recall Elton John singing, "Don't go breaking my brain." It doesn't sound right and it doesn't feel right…
"If my heart could do my thinking, and my head begin to feel, I would look upon the world anew, and know what's truly real." ~ Van Morrison
So how do we attain the ideal marriage between the heart and mind? That state of alignment and inner peace, which promotes optimal health and a feeling of good will to all man, of spiritual connection?
"It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Increasing one's intellect is sometimes an arduous task, and for some of us, there's only so far our grey matter will take us (thanks genes). I'm all for constant learning. I'm a learning junkie. But the heart's capacity to love knows no limits and is not dependent on knowledge.
The Heart — an organ of truth and emotion
It turns out that living a heart centred life isn't a sound bite of new-age mumbo jumbo, it's based on hard science. Positive emotions and living in alignment with our strengths, virtues, passions and purpose creates coherence with the mind. Scientists have discovered that the heart has its own neurons which communicate with the brain more than the brain communicates with the heart. It's a symbiotic relationship.
"I think… if it is true that
there are as many minds as there
are heads, then there are as many
kinds of love as there are hearts." ~ Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina)
History of the heart
The ancient Egyptians recognised that the heart represents truth. The heart knows when we are in love, it gives us that ecstatic yet unsettling fluttering sensation which is beyond our control. The swelling and warmth we feel when we think of those we love. Whether we are being true to ourselves, or being less than truthful, it beats steadily or erratically accordingly. We may be able to fool others, but we can't fool our heart.
"Alas! there is no instinct like the heart…" ~ Lord Byron
That's why many organisations use Polygraph tests when questioning suspects and witnesses, so they can measure potential physiological changes that take place during questioning. The lie detector tests measure pulse, blood pressure, respiration and skin conductivity, all of which are controlled by the heart and cardio vascular system.
"The heart is the perfection of the whole organism. Therefore the principles of the power of perception and the soul's ability to nourish itself must lie in the heart." ~ Aristotle
Could it be that the voice of conscience we hear in our head actually has its Head Office located in our heart?
A great article from Stanford: A History of the Heart
"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." ~ Kahlil Gibran
It has been discovered that the heart emits its own powerful electro-magnetic field, and that our hearts are linked energetically to those we love regardless of distance. Science tells us that we are all connected at the quantum level.
Mysteries of the Heart:
The Heart's Intuitive Intelligence: A path to personal, social and global coherence:
An interesting and enlightening TED Talk from Howard Martin, one of the original leaders who helped Doc Childre found the HeartMath Institute. I think he eloquently answers my questions!
When he talks about how human heart energy interacts and affects the planet's ionosphere; it's quite fitting that an anagram of HEART is EARTH.
To bear malice is ultimately affecting us more adversely than the person or thing we are scornful of. A Happy heart is a healthy heart.
Until the next time, from the bottom of my heart!
"It is our heart working in tandem with our brain that allows us to feel for others … It is ultimately what makes us human… Compassion is the heart's gift to the rational mind." ~ David Malone
#SundayBlogShare – Hearing the Heart 💗
October 4, 2015 October 6, 2015 / ginnyburges / Leave a comment
Heartfelt verses to sweeten your Sunday!
Hearing the Heart
The Heart and the Head are sometimes at odds,
But the Heart wields the ultimate power.
It is the Heart that has a mind of its own; not in my control,
My Heart: a field of pure love than emanates towards you.
The Golden Hours – Lord Frederick Leighton c. 1864
All housed in a squidgy mass of pulsating muscle,
Keeping me alive, yet drawing me to you, like a magnet,
Encompassing everything it means to be human.
An eternal passion pumps and swirls within its red chambers,
Heart – Alie Ward
Forcing blood through my veins; expressing my soul,
Its true purpose is giving meaning to the biology of existence.
Without a heart we would be mere machines,
Alive, but not living, not in love with life.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema – An earthly Paradise c. 1891
And in giving new hearts life, it burgeons with joy,
Connected hearts are the music of the cosmos.
My Heart is strong and resilient, driving gallons of crimson fuel,
But the paradox remains: it is also fragile.
Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee – Romeo & Juliet c. 1884
It can shatter into a million pieces and still breathe life,
But the shards stab with a pain not of this world.
I listen, but I must also hear…
The message is clear. Without love, I cannot live.
By Virginia Burges
Variations on a Theme of Love
"The more we give love, the greater our capacity to do so." ~ Dr. David R Hawkins
As Valentine's Day is approaching, I thought I might as well jump on the love bandwagon!
I probably should have written this post in French; étant le vrai langage de l'amour.
In terms of the arts, nothing captures the many facets of love like music. Just as a single ray of light dances through the prisms of a diamond, casting a beautiful, ethereal spectrum; so can the notes of a captivating romance, passionate rhapsodie, reflective nocturne or a soulful sonata evoke certain emotional states in the listener. States that can place you into a poignant memory or an ardent fantasy, or the many moods in between.
And now for the scientific part:
A musical tone makes physical objects vibrate at its frequency, the phenomenon of sympathetic reverberation. A soprano breaks a wineglass with the right note as she makes unbending glass quiver along with her voice. Emotional tones in the brain establish a living harmony with the past in a similar way. The brain is not composed of string, and there are no oscillating fibers within the cranium. But in the nervous system, information echoes down the filaments that join harmonious neural networks. When an emotional chord is struck, it stirs to life past memories of the same feeling.
(A general Theory of Love)
Over to you Ludwig!
Now, us ladies love to be romanced (generally speaking), and I'm sure it's true for most women that being desired by your sweetheart is somewhat of a potent aphrodisiac, and makes us every bit as enthusiastic about amatory pursuits as lovers, partners or husbands.
But there's more than one type of love, although it's usually the romantic and erotic type of love that society pays the most attention to. Even more so, at this time of year, thoughts turn to the intimate relationship between a man and a woman. Hall & Oates captured the sentiment in the lyrics of their song, Kiss On My List.
Come the 14th not everyone will be fortunate enough to be with a loving partner, and Valentine's Day can be quite depressing if you believe your happiness solely rests on a romantic connection. It's an endless commercial love-fest of adverts, romcoms, red roses and card sales. I would never berate a man for giving me roses, (quite the opposite), but the expectation it puts on people means the true meaning of love can get distorted and exploited on Valentine's Day.
It's as much about friendship, companionship, kindness, sharing, trusting and understanding as it is about pleasures of the flesh; although who wouldn't enjoy a night of unbridled lovemaking with their sweetheart? Moving on swiftly…
Even without love, the pleasure part can be addictive. I'm sure the sexual exploits of Giacoma Casanova left a trail of devastated hearts in women across 18th century Europe. Perhaps he was the first celebrity womaniser?
Love, or the lack of, affects everyone. In 450 B.C., Hippocrates stated that emotions emanate from the brain. You and I are mammals, and as such we're subject to limbic resonance and limbic regulation.
Love is, without doubt, the most powerful force on the planet. It can heal, sooth, excite, placate, reassure, create new life and put one into a state of ecstacy. However, those moments can be relatively short lived. For constant happiness to abide in your heart, you have to be able to extend love and forgiveness to yourself first.
The basis of all love is self-love. If you love and respect yourself, you will be able to pass on that energy to others. There's nothing selfish or unhealthy about that. Self-loathing, guilt and repressed emotions are all blocks to giving and receiving such love.
"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you." ~ Erich Fromm (The Art of Loving).
The immature love is a dependency. You love that person because of the way they make you feel, and when that feeling has gone you will feel bereft and perhaps then look for someone else who can provide those emotions. But the mature love means you love someone for who they are.
You are tender, kind and passionate, but do not depend on them for your own happiness. Instead, you treasure each moment with them, appreciating and respecting them for who they are, for their unique personality, talents, endearing qualities and flaws, wanting their happiness as much as your own.
That's where the 'variations' come in. The basic 'theme' is the person you become by your lovingness towards your kin and the wider world, and with that comes the capacity to truly appreciate love in all its glorious forms: the sensual, the passionate, the platonic, the maternal, the highs, the lows and the middle ground.
Maternal love is so strong that nothing can break it, (perhaps with the exception of mental illness). Whilst your offspring may drive you crazy and push you to the limit on occasion, you know that no matter what, you will always love and protect them. Part of that love is knowing when to nurture, and when to promote independence and foster self-reliance. The love of parents plays a huge role in a child's self-esteem and development. Never criticize the person, only cite the action.
And just as the unwavering love children are shown promotes harmony in families, so can the loving behaviour we all show to each other, to friends, aquaintances and even to total strangers, promote a healthy global community.
To be able to suspend our judgements of others and love unconditionally is no easy task, but it comes from the standpoint of compassion and understanding. We are all at different points in our spiritual evolution.
I've long been a student of the late Dr. David R Hawkins, founder of the Institute for Advanced Spiritual Research, and author of many illuminating books. He also gave many brilliant lectures and interviews during his life. His book Power vs. Force totally changed my perspective on life (see Veritas Publishing).
He often cited instances where the caring and loving attitude of a doctor towards both the patient and their recovery would have a beneficial impact on their healing. An advocate of animals, he believed that the unconditional love shown by dogs to their human companions could add as much as 10 years to their life. Especially if that person was elderly, isolated and lonely.
"Love is misunderstood to be an emotion; actually, it is a state of awareness, a way of being in the world, a way of seeing oneself and others." ~ David R. Hawkins
Here is a wonderful talk he gave on unconditional love:
There is so much mesmerising art and beautiful prose written about love, and that is what I will leave you with.
"I loved you first: but afterwards your love"
Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda. – Dante
Ogni altra cosa, ogni pensier va fore,
E sol ivi con voi rimansi amore. – Petrarca
Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song
As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.
Which owes the other most? my love was long,
And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;
I loved and guessed at you, you construed me
And loved me for what might or might not be –
Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.
For verily love knows not 'mine' or 'thine;'
With separate 'I' and 'thou' free love has done,
For one is both and both are one in love:
Rich love knows nought of 'thine that is not mine;'
Both have the strength and both the length thereof,
Both of us, of the love which makes us one.
Christina Rossetti
"Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."
Kahlil Gibran, (The Prophet)
As for me, Cupid has pierced my heart, his arrow is well and truly lodged!
Cupid, draw back your bow… The dulcet tones of the 'king of soul' Sam Cooke:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
William Shakespeare (Sonnet 116)
Percy Bysshe Shelley – Love's Philosophy:
C'est tous mes chéris, Je t'aime!
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." ~ Jimi Hendrix

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How do I add PayPal to my Rebel account?
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Registering online is a convenient way to secure your spot this semester. However, if you have questions or would prefer to discuss your registration, please call us at (615) 850-3100.
Both adults and children are welcome to enroll. Many adults are already enrolled in the program. Also, both beginners and more advanced students will find attentive help to develop as an artist.
Enrollment is open to the public and not reserved to church members.
My child is younger than the minimum age requirement. Can s/he still take lessons?
At this time we cannot offer discounts for multiple students, except that the registration fee is per family, not per student. However, if needed you may apply for a partial scholarship.
A very small number of scholarships are now available. The number and dollar amount of scholarships may vary from one semester to another. Scholarships will not carry over from one semester to another. Scholarships are granted on a "first come first served" basis.
General Donations: The Worship and Arts Center is always in need of additional music equipment, advertising, computers, and administration resources. If you would like to contribute to this ministry to ensure that a new generation of worshippers is trained in the arts, we would love to help you with that.
Call us at (615) 850-3100.
What are the requirements to instruct?


Born in 1970, Cyril Réguerre is a French artist living and painting in Paris, France. After studying at the Ecole Boulle in Paris he chose to focus on drawing, which was his first love. Through his art Cyril explores themes including landscapes, nudes, portraits and since 2003, horses. He is particularly drawn to horses as subjects since their animal magic allows him to paint with energetic movement. He uses various shades of browns and grays to bring his images back to basics, expressing life through movement, with emphasis on vivacity of the line.


>   giving the player a chance in the game.
>   different elements of the puzzle.
>   the games' native language find them helpful.
>   them to read the manual prior to playing the game.
>   the game much easier (no hook and slice on shots).
>   Need some good terminlogy... anyone?
>   To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List"
>   should be a great one.
>   needs to be shortened.
>   in game for both audible dialog and sound effects.
>   > bet Reid can write an excellent five line summary?
>   > playing the game.   Kevin!
>   features make a great showcase!
>   > for the IGDA website?
>   > on the AudioGames server anyway).
>   > Or something like this.
>   > cam, are you a left-eye or a right-eye?
>   > games do right" ... maybe we should sync them... ?
>   > To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List"


Taking good care of your teeth means visiting a dentist on a daily basis. It's far easier to treat minor decay than having to endure serious pain due to tooth problems which were left to linger for a long time.
Discovering a very good dentist will do lots to lessen the dread of having to get your tooth checked for decay. Listed below are few recommendations on the right way to discover a good dentist.
1.The obvious thing to do is to ask family,associates or work colleagues if there's a dentist they will recommend.
If they can't enable you, attempt logging on and checking out any local websites.You could be able to get some good info on how a particular dental surgery operates.
2. If you cannot find a referral for a dentist, make a phone enquiry and see how the staff reply your questions. Are they friendly and professional. Are you able to make a booking in the near future. Sadly the easiest dentists typically have very long waiting lists.
If you're in real pain you may be able to get a referral to an emergency dental practice so ensure you ask if one is available in your area.
3. If your only option is to trial a dental surgical procedure, make an appointment and see how it goes from there. Once you might be within the reception space, notice the layout and cleanliness and pay explicit attention to how you might be treated by the staff.
An excellent dental clinic provides you with the sense that you're important and dentisti romania you can be treated with care.
The dentist will tell you what your options are with reference to any issues with your teeth. They'll explain things in simple to grasp terms and do a really thorough investigation before beginning any treatment.
Most significantly they'll explain what the associated fee might be and their billing options.


text:
Hitchin' a Ride. . .
Interplanetary satellite Shin'en 2
A Japanese space mission to visit an asteroid launched in early December included two hitch-hikers, amateur radio satellites Shin'en 2 (JG6YIG) and ARTSAT2:DESPATCH (JQ1ZNN), the two latest ham satellites to venture beyond Earth orbit (a recent Chinese moon mission also carried a downlink-only ham satellite). According to the ARRL Letter, the two satellites will have an elliptical deep-space orbit around the sun, between Venus and Mars. The satellites should remain in Earth's equatorial plane and their orbit will take them between 65 million and 121 million miles from the Sun.
Shin'en 2 carries a CW beacon and a telemetry transmitter, as well as a digital store-and-forward transponder with an uplink on 2 meters and a downlink on 70 centimeters. ARTSAT2:DESPATCH carries a sculpture built by a 3D printer as well as a 7-watt transmitter sending out CW on 437 MHz. The satellite carried only batteries and no solar panel, so its estimated operating time was only about one week. One of the first reception reports, according to the AMSAT News Service, came from Michal Zawada, SQ5KTM, who reported monitoring both satellites two days after launch from a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers, or 683,500 miles, from Earth.
A third satellite, called SpinSat, was launched November 28 from the International Space Station. Built by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, its prime mission is to test new nicro-thruster technology. But it also carries an amateur packet radio store-and-forward system on 437.230 MHz. It was expected to operate for approximately six months.
Tune in Christmas at the bottom of the world... SW...
Hitchin' a Ride. . .Interplanetary satellite Shin'...
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IARU Calls for All-Out Effort on 60 MetersThe Inte...
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Ham Radio Included in Updated National EmergencyCo...
New Study Casts Further Doubt on Health Risks from...
Dr. Bob Heil, K9EIDIndustry News: Call Him Dr. Hei...
DX News: Activity From Iran; 1x1s from the Cook ...
MARS, ARES, Team Up in Interoperability Exercise T...
CEPT Considers License Exam Accommodations for Dis...
EXChat: New Digital Texting App A ham in New Zeala...
Probing the Mysteries of NVISResearch in South Afr...
Bob Schenck, N2OO, Named CQ Magazine DX Editor


In SharePoint, there is a column type called, "Summary Links Data." Microsoft desribes this column type as "Columns that represent summary links for a page. Summary Links include a title, description, image, and URL and are used on publishing pages to present grouped links by using a set of shared styles" (Microsoft, 2010).
This column type is brilliant in theory, but unfortunately they don't appear to work as expected. Here is my assessment of the Summary Links Data column type.
In SharePoint 2010, if I add a Summary Links Data column to document library, then add a new document, the new or edit document properties page looks correct. The Summary Links Data column is represented by an editable summary links control.
However, after the links have been added and the document uploaded, you return to the document properties using the "View Properties" page. The result of this is that the links are not visible. Huh?
Microsoft (2010). Create a site column. Retrieved July 22, 2010 from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/create-a-site-column-HA010177759.aspx.
Does anybody has experiece using it?


text:
Jay Gelzer: 1943 – 2012
March 26, 1943 – December 29, 2012
across the room
we smile
the same smile
the crows outlast
The following obituary appeared in the Seattle Times on January 20, 2013. See also another short obituary with rememberances from friends on the website for Mensa of Western Washington. Remembrances from Haiku Northest members and friends also appear below.
Jay Gelzer
I want my bones to smell like
spring rain
and shine like the moon.
In fact, I want that now.
Jay died on her beloved house boat, departing as she had wished—on her own terms and cradled in the hearts and minds of those who knew and loved her. Heartfelt thanks to Drs. Kristine Rinn, Jed Gorden, and Terry Law and to Seattle's Providence Hospice. Everlasting gratitude to Gretchen de Roche of Compassion and Choices of Washington.
Jay was an inspired and remarkable psychotherapist, an extraordinary mother, a writer, a thinker, a poet, a Pea Patch gardener, an interrupted musician, and an ardent lover of life, beauty, and the creative experience. She was a rare and exotic flower—beautiful, ferociously bright, passionate, private, sensitive, and deeply spiritual.
Although hardship and loss dogged the last third of her almost seventy years, Jay gave no quarter, steely in her determination to live life with hope, wonder, and mastery.
sunny morning
even the scraps
beautiful in the bowl
Jay was predeceased by her beloved son Connor and is survived by her bereft and loving family, mother, Helen Baker Gelzer, sisters Barbara Perry Gelzer, Helen G. Kupka, Katherine G. Murphy, and dear friend, Jean Star Wald Dinaburg.
here we go,
slipping into the last pool of
silence!
The following are comments from Jay's friends:
My Friend Jay, by Amelia Fielden
Jay and I last saw each other in September 2012, for the Haiku Pacific Rim conference at Asilomar, California, where we walked by the shore, shared mealtimes, had quiet drinks in her room after the evening seminars. My dear friend was still in shock, deeply mourning the untimely death in the previous month of her son, Connor.
At Asilomar I wrote this tanka, fully intending the double-entendre with her name.
bright-sky morning
a blue jay flies low, lands
I affirm that is
my most loved colour
Our friendship was bookended by haiku: we had found each other first at the Haiku Society of America's quarterly meeting in Portland, Oregon, in late June 2007.
Five years of friendship ensued. During the periods I was visiting my family in Seattle, Jay and I enjoyed numerous outings together to bookstores, movies, restaurants, parks, and gardens. Many of those happy occasions are recorded in my tanka notebooks, and a number of the tanka inspired by my experiences with Jay have been published in journals and books.
Finally, we went as appreciative participants to the Haiku Pacific Rim gathering in California.
Travelling back from Monterey to San Francisco on the 9th of September after HPR, Jay and I sat next to each other on the minibus. My lips were badly sunburned; I still have the tube of lip-balm that Jay took from her handbag and gave to me. On arrival outside my hotel in Japantown, we hugged and said not "goodbye" but "see you next year."
That was not to be.
From an evening we shared at the Japanese garden in Seattle in 2011, this tanka I wrote remains as one of my "Jay memories."
so trustingly
the willow's trunk leans out
over the pond
propped by a stout pole—
my love has slipped away
Remembering Jay, by Peggy Heinrich
I first met Jay at a meeting of Haiku Northwest in 2009. There she was, across the table from me in a Japanese restaurant. After we exchanged a few comments, I felt a strong connection to her that seemed to be mutual. We met again in 2012 at the Haiku Pacific Rim conference at the Asilomar Conference Center in California. Again we felt the same sense of compatibility and had a chance to have several long conversations during which I learned of her home on a houseboat in Seattle. I told her that I often visit Seattle to see my daughter and her family, and promised to visit her and her houseboat the next time. The next time never came.
I was terribly saddened to learn of Jay's death not long after. It seemed the world had lost a beautiful person—sensitive, insightful, and warm.
Jay's Haiku Soul, by Michael Dylan Welch
If anyone ever had a haiku soul, surely that person was Jay Gelzer. The first time I met her was the day, to my knowledge, that she became interested in haiku. It was 2006. I had just given a haiku workshop for Mensa of Western Washington, and Jay was in the audience. She talked to me afterwards, as did several others, and I encouraged each of them to come to Haiku Northwest meetings. There was something warm and relaxed about Jay that stood out, though, and I had a hunch that she in particular would really enjoy the group. She began attending, and enjoyed each meeting she could make it to, despite the challenges of illness, especially her first bout with cancer that kept her away for more than a year. During that time, I occasionally emailed encouragement to her, and while she was mostly too ill to respond, her close friend, Jean Dinaburg, contacted me to say how much Jay appreciated my gestures. I and others were pleased when she was able to rejoin the group, and we especially enjoyed her participation in the 2011 and 2012 Seabeck Haiku Getaways. I took pictures of Jay at both retreats, and they're both shown here.
that ready smile—
her tale of finding
a marvelous morel
Despite a clear love of haiku and a deep love for Haiku Northwest, Jay seldom shared haiku of her own. We learned later that she felt her haiku to be too dark, often reflecting her health challenges and the sudden death of her son. I had created a member page for Jay on the Haiku Northwest website, and wrote to ask if she had poems I could post for her, but despite my asking gently several times, over a period of several years, she never sent any poems. But she didn't say no, either; she wanted to send work, but didn't think they were right for the page. Another facet of Jay we all came to know was that publishing and sharing her haiku was not nearly as important as the friendships and camaraderie she enjoyed in and out of our monthly haiku gatherings.
autumn haiku meeting—
all of us smile at the poem she says
isn't any good
After the 2011 Seabeck Haiku Getaway, I had the privilege to visit Jay's home. She was fortunate to live on a floating home, one of Seattle's most uncommon and distinctive housing options, on Lake Union, across from the Space Needle. That was Jay. She knew what she wanted, what she loved. Despite obstacles, she did her best to get herself as near as possible to whatever fueled her spirit.
a Japanese maple
red by her window . . .
a sort of blooming
That gentle spirit was infectious. All of us around Jay felt a close connection—she had that effect on everyone, it seemed, an openness to life and its celebration, even while she remained largely private and even closed about painful aspects of her personal life, including much of her cancer. It was no so much that she was private, but that she was compassionate in not wishing to burden anyone else with her troubles.
the glance between friends . . .
a stranger's mention
of cancer
Jay's son died in a motorcycle accident in August of 2012, and I cannot imagine the grief that caused her. Yet she was still able to come to the Seabeck retreat that fall. She told me she had the energy, both emotional and physical, to attend only some of the weekend's many activities. I checked in with her several times during the weekend, and talked about my uncle's sudden death in a plane crash that summer, and my sister's bout with breast cancer. Even though she had so much on her mind, I delighted in the fact that she made the effort to be there with us all, as much as she could manage. Whether it was haiku or other haiku people that fueled her spirit, she needed that fuel. Yet she fueled others even more.
the nurse log
wet with moss and ferns—
sorrel swaying
Of course, none of us could imagine Jay Gelzer would be dead two months after we had all seen her at the 2012 Seabeck retreat. But she died as best she could, on her own terms, when she learned that her cancer had returned—severe, inoperable, and terminal. I have a photo I took at Jay's houseboat in the fall of 2011, a close-up of a potted Japanese maple. Somehow, I think of those bright red leaves when I think of Jay Gelzer. Strong, vibrant, yet warm as could be. I am personally honoured to have known her, and to count her as a friend. What a haiku soul she had!
perfect for the seeds:
rain and sun
on her memorial day
The Jay I Knew, by Terran Campbell
I will tell you about the Jay that I knew. She mostly showed her bright face to others, but she was also dark and hidden. Jay sometimes felt conflicted in the shiny/happy haiku world. Very few haiku deal with despair or trauma. Because of this, Jay censored her voice afraid that others would not be able to receive what she had to say. She did not feel up to the impossible task of collapsing the horrors she had lived through into three neat lines and then revealing it in polite company.
The last twenty years of her life were overshadowed by tragedy way beyond battling cancer and Connor's death. In the last year of her life she was like a caged bird that was being set free. After decades of being held hostage by a severely mentally-ill child, he finally moved out only to die in an accident. Despite his loss she began to reclaim her life. We were planning a month-long trip for her 70th birthday. Her long imprisonment was at last over. She could finally do what she wanted.
It was shortly after this that the cancer returned with a vengeance. Her death with dignity was a way of giving the final "finger" to the fates (her words), unwilling to let them torment her any longer. I write these things for the parts of her that were silenced, for all that went unwritten. I honor her with this telling.
As I am writing this an enormous hawk with golden eyes has landed on a railing three feet away from me and is staring me directly in the face. This would not be too unusual but I am on a bench outside a laundromat on a very busy street. After a minute or two of face time she takes wing. I cannot help but feel that this is some sort of visitation.
I have been silent too long since your death my complex, erratic, rebellious, furious, fun-loving friend. I miss you dearly.
darkness where your
light used to be
Jay's Memorial at Seabeck, by Michael Dylan Welch
The memorial time we had for Jay Gelzer at the 2013 Seabeck Haiku Getaway was very moving—I cried, when I hadn't expected to. Leading it was harder than I anticipated. A few others were in tears too, and the sharing around the room was transcendent, filled with love. I wish we could have recorded what everyone said. Only six or seven people spoke, in a room of 35 or 40, but they spoke for everyone. And those who did not know Jay told me they felt her presence. There were moments of quietness, too. Immediately afterwards, we took turns reading the Japanese haiku translations from William Higginson's "Butterfly Dreams" multimedia presentation, viewing the nature photographs of Michael Lustbader, which added to the tribute. It was something I think Jay would have loved.


text:
Early Color Television
CBS 205C2
Click on above pictures for high resolution images
CBS Model 205C2 with "360" sound system, which was used in this set (and in top of the line B&W and hi-fi consoles of the time) It has a twin speaker 360 degree sound pattern. Made in 1954, and used the CBS 19VP22 picture tube. Our set has a pecan finish. It was also made in mahogany and blonde. The set was made in the C1 model, without doors, and the C2 model, with doors. The cabinet was designed by Paul McCobb.
Based on the serial numbers of surviving sets, we estimate that around 2000 were made. Many of the surviving sets have 21 inch CRTs. We understand that there was a factory kit for converting the set, but at least one of the 21 inch conversions involved a home made cutout of the mask to fit the larger tube.
(Courtesy of Steve Dichter and Ed Ellers)
The main chassis
The CRT assembly. Our tube had the nipple smashed some time ago and will have to be rebuilt
Removable CRT neck protector
Parts removed from modified 205s
Bob Dobush found this box at an auction in north Ohio and donated it to the museum. The conversion kit was to replace the original 19VP22 with a 21 inch CRT. Here are instruction for doing the conversion.
Inside were a removable CRT neck protector, with a note explaining that it allowed adjusting the CRT without removing the back. Also inside were 3 plastic insulating rings removed from the original 19VP22 tubes, and three inserts for yokes.
We don't know what new parts the box contained. It is too small to have contained a new mask or funnel-shaped CRT shield. We suspect that the modification of the 205 used the original mask and shield, since a 21 inch tube will fit in the cabinet with those parts.
Steve Dichter suggested that there might have been a second box with the funnel-shaped insulator that the 21AXP22 used, and possibly a new mask, though whether the modification included a new mask is questionable. A visitor to the museum who worked on 205s in the 50s recalls that the original mask was retained in the conversion - the customer had bought a 19 inch set, so installing a 21 inch tube with a 19 inch viewing area would have been sufficient.
Of the 3 surviving 205s that have 21 inch tubes, one has the tube installed with the original mask and one has the original mask hand cut to make a larger opening. We don't have information on the third set.
James Cozart wrote:
The kit came in two boxes, with the larger one being made in two parts. The small one is what you have, although I don't remember ours being as tall as yours.
The large box was an RCA CRT with a CBS label pasted over the RCA one. On top of the CRT box was a second box, exactly the same width and length as the CRT box, that was fiberglass reinforced paper taped to the top of the CRT box. That box was maybe 6 to 10 inches tall. It included a plastic jacket for the CRT and a new CRT mask that was slightly oversize to be trimmed after installation to line up exactly on the larger CRT. It was not round, but had squared edges with rounded corners like the CBS original. Apparently, the new face plate curve was slightly different. While I was replacing the CRT in the Admiral, my boss grabbed the non-CRT boxes removed any reusable parts and added them to our inventory and threw the rest away.
I suspect that the new mask was an optional extra to encourage out-of-warranty set owners to repair them.
I know there was a new CRT socket with longer leads, a new yoke (or yoke cover? with leads), new mounting adapters to insulate the CRT, a new HV lead and a hand full of smaller parts with a several page instruction booklet. I remember the instructions showed a picture of yoke with the cover off and arrows pointing to some parts inside. I think there were also convergence yoke changes, other than simply mounting it upside down.


(WTHR) — It's still hot out there and it will stay that way for a few days.
Today is a good example of the next few days with overnight temperatures only falling into the lower 70s and afternoon temperatures reaching 90+ degrees.
Due to the higher humidity, it will feel like closer to 100 degrees each afternoon too. A couple of pop-up storms are possible each afternoon.
The better chance for storms will arrive on Thursday as a cold front moves our way. That front will bring scattered showers and storms, and eventually a drop in temperature.
Highs on Thursday and Friday will drop back into the lower 80s.
Rain moves up from the south thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Gordon. We could get pretty wet!
Gordon will reach landfall as a Category 1 storm near Biloxi, Mississippi tonight. Some of that leftover tropical moisture may move back our way later this week and into the weekend.


text:
Exclusive: Check Out a Gallery of Rare ALIEN Film Images from Titan's ALIEN: THE ARCHIVE
Posted by Joseph McCabe on October 31, 2014
So what do you get the Xenomorph lover in your life who has everything for Halloween? Titan Books has the answer with its generously sized hardcover tome Alien — The Archive: The Ultimate Guide to the Classic Movies. Clocking in at three hundred and twenty pages, the book is stuffed full of behind-the-scenes goodness and rare art from all four Alien films — Sir Ridley Scott's Alien, James Cameron's Aliens, David Fincher's Alien3, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Alien Resurrection, all of which starred Sigourney Weaver in her role as the greatest heroine in science-fiction film history: the unflappable Ellen Ripley.
As a little holiday present for you, we've got an exclusive gallery of images from the book, courtesy of our friends at Titan. Check it out below.
Titan tells us that Alien — The Archive delves "deep into the process of how all four films were created. From the earliest script ideas to final cut, this book showcases the making of the series in exhaustive and exclusive detail. Featuring storyboards from Ridley Scott, exclusive concept designs from Ron Cobb and Syd Mead, behind-the-scenes imagery of the xenomorphs being created, deleted scenes, unused ideas, costumes, weapons, and much more. This must have retrospective also includes brand new interviews with Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver, H.R. Giger, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Jenette Goldstein, and those whose vision and originality created a cinema legend."
Since the inconic surrealist Giger recently left us, his interview alone makes the book a must buy for Alien fans. But a quick flip through its pages confirms it offers countless other delights. And hey, if you've already got that special someone a Halloween present, well, Christmas is right around the corner!
Images: Titan Books
alien, Alien -- The Archive, Alien Ressurection, Alien3, aliens, Fox, james cameron, ridley scott, Sigourney Weaver, Titan
Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD Will Bring Him Back to Zombies


Charlton welcome Southend United to The Valley on Saturday, September 9th in what is set to be a much-anticipated clash between the two sides.
And what better way to enjoy the day than in the comfort of your own Executive Box?
This package, which has limited availability, will provide you with VIP seating directly outside of your box, with a matchday programme and teamsheet provided to each guest before the game.
You can arrive at ease with two parking spaces awaiting you in the West Stand car park, before being welcomed to your box with reception drinks. You can then enjoy your delicious, two-course meal at your own leisure before watching the game just footsteps away.
If you are interested in taking advantage of our Executive Box package, please contact 020 8333 4050 or email charlotte.howe@cafc.co.uk.
If you have less people in attendance but would still be interested in experiencing our executive hospitality, why not try Centre Circle Dining, Keith Peacock Suite or Vista Restaurant? Packages start at just £25 + Vat per person!


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub