Gets you pissed quick, (In fact seemed to add quite a kick) tastes nicer than normal Lao Khow, may have some medicinal properties, quick and easy to do. Mainly leaves or herbs which are easy to get into a bottle and impart a taste quickly 5-6 hours and you have a passable drink. Oh the best one is your not cold after drinking it, in fact your positivly glowing.
The best one I have found came from MaiSai and had herbs from Burma, Laos and Thailand. That one came in a muslin bag that stops all the little bits getting into your drink.
With the Phrae concoction the locals here like to add a jot of honey to every bottle. It improves the flavour as some of the medicinal lumps are slightly bitter.
That one came in a muslin bag that stops all the little bits getting into your drink.
Not a bad idea, does it matter what religion the bag is ?
I shall try that we're on the second brewing of the Phrae one.
The packs are for 3 bottles (1.5liters), to be left for a few days to 'soak'.
The 'Nan' yah dong I got in Phayao. I only once was given a genuine 'Nan' blend by someone who doesn't sell, but makes for own consumption. Just 2 different woods and some black resin - nice, tried mixing with Vodka instead of Lao Kao, and the liquid turned orange.
There are a few different brands in Chiang Rai, I prefer the woody, resinous ones. There's one with ginseng and ginger, tastes too much of medicine for me -but I didn't throw the brew away.
Did you know it's ilegal to sell yaa dong if already mixed with lao khow ??
I have seen street stalls selling a selection, displayed in huge glass bottles - it sure is possible. Maybe they're concerned that your mixed stuff won't have the blue tax ribbons?
I enjoy my ya dong too, but that being said, I have been wondering if it really is that good for you, apart from the obvious joys of alcohol in general.
We all know drinking methanol (spirits made from wood) is not a good idea. With ya dong though, you deliberately stuff pieces of all types of unidentified wood into ethanol for a good soak.
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what actually happens when the chemicals in the wood get mixed up with the ethanol? Anyone seen a chemical analysis of finished ya dong?
Funny, I was told the exact opposite.
That Yaa Dong was a medicine and therefore you could sell legally.
A shop in Phrae was selling it for 5 baht a glass and the trade was brisk.
She was obviously making a good profit but suddenly stopped selling it, so I suspect that you might be right and it is illegal.
I'd be curious as well, it's not like any wood would do, there are 3 or 4 selected ones, they are also used for other herbal medicines, i.e. part of mixtures you boil in water and drink.
My Thai isn't good enough and the sellers not knowledgable enough, but I'll try to find out more.
I value it for the added flavour, doesn't seem to have any adverse effects - apart from those related to the high alcohol content.
Agreed. I generally dont feel anything negative but then I rarely get smashed on it either, I usually just have a few shots.
The only time I've got seriously shitfaced (not a pretty sight, my mates told me) on ya dong was on Samui 11 years ago. The hangover the next day had me immobilized until 7 PM, worse than any other hangover I've ever had.
I'm sure you're right about the wood and that it is chosen according to traditional medicine etc. Still doesn't mean it is necessarily foolproof (hey, I drink it ).
Last edited by Skulldigger; 20-12-2006 at 02:18 PM.
I believe there is a test-series on the effects of different brand yah-dong on Welshmen being conducted in Nakon Sawan at present.
Usually if drinking Yaa Dong just have a few glasses with my BiL, he usually drinks Gaowlion (SP) or 11 tigers mixed with it both just powder sachets, but it means it's an instant drink.
THe best Ya Dong I ever tasted was a concoction presented to me in chipped tea pot at some tiny village on the back side of Phuket.
The stuff I get here always has too much of a medicinal flavor. AS for soaking woods in ethanol, Well if the wood isn't poisonous should be OK. Not like ethanol is going to be converted to methanol by coming in contact with wood, Be a real blow to the Whiskey business if it did the flavor of most whiskeys comes from the (wooden) barrels it is aged in.
How does retsina get its flavor?
Pine resin. Originally put around the cork to protect the seal. Later added right to the wine because it is a preservative.
Wood alcohol is just another name for methanol; called that because it was a product of the distillation of wood.
Did a bit of back to back testing last night, The stuff from Phrae has taken on quite a taste, a bit bitter with hints of aniseed, tastes quite mediceny.
The Nan blend is a more mellow drink, good coluor seems to take quite a bit of the burn off while in the mouth but you still get a good hit while you swallow, this was the more popular of the two although on the whole I think I prefer the Phrae one.
Did you add the honey?


On April 24, an officer observed a vehicle travelling on Washington St. drive through a red light, make an illegal U-turn, and drive on the wrong side of the road against the flow of traffic. The officer conducted a traffic stop and found that the driver was operating with a suspended license. The driver was placed under arrest.
On April 24, an officer conducted a motor vehicle stop for a car driving above the speed limit on Hammond Street. The officer found that the driver had a suspended license and he was placed under arrest.
On April 24, an officer responded to Colchester St. for a report of breaking and entering and larceny of a motor vehicle. The victim stated that while parked in her driveway overnight, several items were taken from her vehicle. The matter is under investigation.
On April 24, a woman came into the Police Station to report that her car had been broken into sometime the night before. The woman stated that her car had been parked on Carlton St. and she noticed a couple of items were missing. The matter is under investigation.
On April 24, an officer responded to Washington St. for a report of a man chasing a shoplifter from his store. The owner of the store stated that he observed a male take items and leave the store without paying, at which time he chased the suspect on foot and lost him at Holden Street. The matter is under investigation.


A Conservative MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg has been credited as the inspiration for an electronic form of dance music called Moggwave. The 1980s style music made headlines in 2017. He has represented North East Somerset in Parliament since the 2010 general election. Rees-Mogg is the son of the late William Rees-Mogg, a former editor of The Times and life peer.
SomersetWhen do the clocks go forward in 2018 - and why do they change?
Some have claimed almost fifty times more than others!
At the meeting he said: "Be of good cheer, we won, it's happening"
Local and national readers have criticised his defence of following the "teachings of the Catholic Church"


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Home > Opinion > Fountain
The 80s are calling
LEE SO-A
The author is an industrial 2 team reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.
There is no sign of the Korea-Japan discord over Japan's export ban subsiding. Some politicians see parallels with the Donghak Peasant Revolution during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in the late 19th century and the National Debt Repayment Movement in the 20th century. The current situation is as much the same in terms of the way Korea and Japan are clashing, but what sets it apart is the fact that high-tech industry is at the center of the row, and Korea is not a weak country losing sovereignty.
So, the U.S.-Japan semiconductor dispute in the 1980s may offer a more helpful history lesson. Having emerged as the sole superpower after World War II, the United States imposed strong trade pressure on Japan when Japanese companies like Hitachi and Toshiba grew to the point of threatening U.S. companies in the 80s. The 1985 Plaza Accord, which dramatically increased the value of yen, and the U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement in the following year, which forced Japan to import U.S.-made semiconductors, were notable cases. The discord between the two countries ended in 1996 as the demand for computers increased and U.S. semiconductor industry recovered. This recent history offers three lessons.
First, Japan's recent trade restrictions are evidence that it considers Korea's semiconductor industry a threat, just as the United States regarded Japan's in the 1980s. Semiconductors are a core technology of the fourth industrial revolution. As the prolonged U.S.-China trade war is basically over the hegemony of latest technologies, there is no guarantee that not just Japan but also the United States may target Korean semiconductors.
President Moon Jae-in presides over a meeting Monday with his senior secretaries in the Blue House to deal with Japan's export restrictions. [YONHAP]
Second, while Japan's semiconductors were checked by the United States, Samsung Electronics emerged as a new leader in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) sector. We need to be wary that China's may be aiming to take Korea's place.
Third, Japan's semiconductor industry shrank after it lost to the United States in the dispute in the 80s. But Japanese industry did not give up. It pushed technological advancement to secure many patents and competitiveness in the sector of materials used for semiconductor production. The upcoming technology war is likely to be a prolonged battle where we cannot predict who we are fighting against. The government must seek effective diplomacy and policy while companies should review their global collaboration and strategies to overcome the crisis.
JoongAng Ilbo, July 17, Page 31
More in Fountain
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[The Fountain] A resonance from the kind leadership of Arden
[Meanwhile] Goodbye Sanel
The life of a word depends on the users
[The Fountain] The lovely tears of Papa Park

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Alatiliparis är ett släkte av orkidéer. Alatiliparis ingår i familjen orkidéer.

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Källor

Externa länkar

Orkidéer
Alatiliparis

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Home / China reports / Internet in China / China internet users / Fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris: What do Chinese netizens say about the fire in Notre Dame? | Daxue Consulting
Fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris: What do Chinese netizens say about the fire in Notre Dame? | Daxue Consulting
China internet users China society Chinese tourists Daxue Insight Media in China World news
On Monday, April 15th, the whole world was shocked by the fire at the emblematic Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral. Although the fire is now under control thanks to the intervention of hundreds of firefighters, two-thirds of the cathedral's roof has been destroyed.
Given that Paris is one of the favourite destinations of Chinese tourists and that visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral is among the top three favourite activities of Chinese tourists in France, it is understandable that the Notre Dame's fire shocked Chinese Internet users. Daxue Consulting conducted a study to understand how Chinese media and Chinese netizens reacted to this tragic event.
Read the French version here
The most discussed topic on Chinese social networks
Notre Dame de Paris' incident quickly became the most talked about topic on Chinese social networks, reaching more than 830 million views and hundreds of thousands of comments and pictures posted in a matter of hours.
On April 16, the first morning after the fire of Notre Dame for the Chinese people, the number of searches on the keyword "Notre Dame de Paris fire" increased to over 1,800,000 on Baidu, according to the Chinese SEO tool Baidu Index.
[Chinese people search for Notre Dame Fire in Baidu – Source: Baidu Index]
A majority of Chinese people are saddened by the scale of the Notre Dame de Paris' disaster
This Monday, million of Chinese expressed their shock at the fire and posted their own pictures of Notre Dame with the hashtag "Notre Dame de Paris and me" #NotreDamedeParisandme. The hashtag had been viewed more than 120 million times, and around 20,000 comments expressing sorrow were posted.
On Weibo, the Chinese social media with more than 340 million users, Chinese netizens have also expressed their grief and dismay about the Notre Dame tragedy. Most of them evoke cultural reasons: more than 800 years of history, an architectural treasure, works of literature and cinema, etc.
[Source: Weibo "Chinese people react to the Notre Dame fire in Paris"
[Source: Weibo "Reactions on the Notre Dame de Paris fire incident"]
Many Chinese Internet users then referred to the novel by the French writer Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris in French). The novel, well known and loved in China, is even considered "a must-read masterpiece for middle school students." The characters of Quasimodo and Esmeralda have given the Chinese people a better understanding of French culture at a time when many films and operas have been made based on the story in China.
[Source: Courtesy of Douban" The Chinese version of Notre Dame de Paris"]
[Source: Zhihu "Chinese comment on The Notre Dame's Fire"]
On Chinese e-commerce platforms, there is even a craze for works related to Notre Dame Cathedral. For example, on three different versions of Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, translated into Chinese on Tmall/Taobao shops we can see that in one night, the number of sales exploded from a few dozen the day before the fire to almost 2000 sales in just a few hours (see chart below).
[Online sales of Victor Hugo's novel are shooting up on Chinese e-commerce platforms – Source: www.taosj.com]
For this younger generation, which has often traveled overseas, the loss of such a monument "is not only the loss of France but also the humanity" as KOL Yingguo Baojie wrote a few hours after the incident, with more than 30,000 interactions:
[Source: Weibo "Notre Dame de Paris fire"]
[Source: Wechat Moments "Wechat's users' reactions to Notre Dame de Paris fire"]
A minority of Chinese Internet users remain doubtful about the sense of urgency in Paris
Questioning the effectiveness of emergency measures and origin of the Notre Dame fire
Since the cause of the Notre Dame fire was accidental and stemmed from work that had been undertaken by France, some Chinese Internet users concluded on Wechat, the Chinese giant which amounted 1.0825 billion monthly active users last year, that this was maybe a lack of professionalism and rigor from France.
[Source: Wechat "Chinese comments on the Notre Dame cathedral fire"]
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Some Chinese netizens are so disappointed to see the Notre Dame cathedral destroyed that they question the preventive measures put in place by the French government around the Notre Dame and the responsiveness of the Parisian fire brigade. According to some Chinese tourists on the scene, it took time for the firefighters to respond and deploy their full power:
[Source: Wechat "Article talking about the Notre Dame cathedral fire in Paris"]
Notre Dame fire is being compared to the burning of Yuanming garden in 1860
A series of comments comparing the fire in Notre Dame to the one in Beijing's Old Summer Palace were posted on Chinese social networks these recent days.
Yuanming Garden (圆明园), also known as the Old Summer Palace, is a historic site in Beijing which was known for its extensive collection of gardens, building architecture and numerous art and historical treasures. However, in 1860, during the second opium war, it was extensively looted and destroyed by English and French troops. English troops continued burning the gardens for three days until the complete destruction of the palace. Many exquisite artworks were stolen at the time, including porcelain, jade, silk, gold…
This painful part of China's history was, therefore, at the center of online discussions after the incident happened in Paris. On Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer social network, the top question was ''How do you view the Paris Notre Dame fire's aftermath? Many netizens are comparing it to Yuanming Garden''. And here's one of the top answers:
[Source: Zhihu "Comment on the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral fire"]
Some netizens explain that they can understand the pain felt by the French, but that the Beijing incident was much more serious. In this debate, a minority of Chinese users even went so far as to say they will never give money to rebuild the Notre Dame cathedral, as France plans to ask, but they would prefer to ask French people to give money to rebuild Yuanming Garden.
On Baidu, we also find that the peak of searches on the keyword 'Notre Dame de Paris' and on 'Yuan Ming Garden' match, showing the interest of the Chinese in this debate.
[Source: Baidu Index – Notre Dame fire and Yuan Ming Garden comparison]
According to some of them, what happened in France is a matter of karma. This means that it is because of the intentions of the French troops who looted and burned Yuan Ming garden in 1860 that the cathedral is now burning. These rather extreme remarks rejoicing in Notre Dame's fate have fuelled an endless debate on Chinese social networks.
Despite everything, a large majority of the Chinese netizens are indignant about this debate and feel a great deal of sympathy for the French, knowing how emblematic the cathedral is.
[Source: Zhihu "How Chinese react to the Notre Dame Fire in Paris"]
How do Chinese media report on the Notre Dame de Paris' fire?
Highlighting the strong China-France friendship
If we look at several articles in China's national media, one element stands out: the long-standing relationship between France and China.
''Given our country's longstanding commitment to the preservation of world cultural heritage, given our countrymen's special enthusiasm for French culture, as well as the historical China-France friendship, it would be great if we could see Chinese participation in the upcoming restoration projects.''
China Daily Global edition, ''Grief over Notre Dame shows cultural heritage global treasures'', 04.1
All the media also took up the Chinese President's announcement expressing his condolences to the French, showing the proximity between the two peoples.
Growing awareness: the Notre Dame's fire as a warning for China's heritage
The destruction of an architectural treasure has also made the Chinese realize how important it is to preserve their heritage. The Chinese newspaper People's Daily, therefore, published an article on the fire prevention measures applied to the Forbidden City. The aim was to make sure that they are effective, especially since this ancient architecture is mainly built of wood.
[Source: People's Daily "Chinese media talk about the fire at Notre Dame de Paris"]
''Fire protection measures for the Forbidden City'' was on top search on Monday.
[Source: Xinhua Net "Chinese media discussing protection issues about the Notre Dame fire"]
[Chinese media discussing protection issues about the Notre Dame fire – Source: Xinhua Net]
Many Chinese media have thus relaunched the debate on the protection of Chinese architecture, reminding everyone how fragile history is.
Hou Weidong, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage told the online Chinese media Shine that "Exchange of ideas, technology, and experience on protecting cultural relics between countries and regions should be strengthened to further protect the cultural heritage of all humankind".
Although opinions differ somewhat on Chinese social networks, the dramatic incident that took place at Notre Dame de Paris is a reminder of how much the Chinese are attached to French and European culture. Many of them even said they were willing to give money to rebuild part of the cathedral within the next five years.
Author: Steffi Noël
Monitoring social media trends is an excellent way to understand Chinese consumers and to gain strategic insights. If you want to learn more about the Chinese social media landscape or to run a survey in China, please contact our team directly at dx@daxueconsulting.com.
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May 30, 2022 5 minutes reading
Return to industry form ahead of IMEX Frankfurt comeback
It's been a week where we've seen a return to form across the events industry.
IMEX Frankfurt is being staged for the first time in three years, US B2B exhibition cancellation rates dropped below 10% for the first time since 2019 and Hyve reported first half revenues which exceeded expectations - with some shows doing better than pre-pandemic.
Other stories included this week include UFI's announcement that ExpoPlatform is in the running for a top award, while the Events Industry Council has also given its backing to data standards scheme VSef.
IMEX Frankfurt returns for first time in three years
Eventprofs from the world over are set to descend on Frankfurt as the city gets set to host its first IMEX in three years.
More 2,800 buyers from across the world – spanning agencies, corporates, independents and associations - will meet and do business with an international roster of suppliers between Tuesday and Thursday.
This year's edition sees the largest ever African representation, including Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda and South Africa, with Ethiopia using IMEX to launch its new convention bureau.
It's nearly IMEX time! IMEX News Central is your guide to what's happening at #IMEX22.
Check it out now: https://t.co/Lh4a6wpxwL
— IMEX (@IMEX_Group) May 19, 2022
Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, explains: "So much has changed over the past three years – for the world and for our industry. Our sector hasn't stood still though, with continued investment in infrastructure, new products, business models and services.
"I therefore encourage all buyers to catch up through both one-to-one appointments and stand presentations with the global range of exhibitors to discover how destinations, venues and more have evolved.
"It's important to make no assumptions right now. Everything has changed and therein lies the value of this year's IMEX. It's the ultimate living representation of our global market – an important snapshot in time."
ExpoPlatform will be among exhibitors from more than 90 different countries taking part in the event, staged at Messe Frankfurt.
Get in touch to arrange a time to talk about how our event tech solutions can help your business. We'll be on Stand D750 (armed with cocktails).
ExpoPlatform in finals for top UFI award
ExpoPlatform has been chosen as a finalist for a top UFI accolade after accelerating of our industry's technological transformation.
The leading event platform is among three shortlisted for the Digital Innovation Award, having beaten of strong competition around the globe.
Each will be invited to present at the global exhibition association's Grand Final ceremony in September, where the winner will be chosen.
We are pleased to announce the finalists of the 2022 UFI Digital Innovation Award:
Expoplatform (UK)
Jaarbeurs (The Netherlands)
Messe Munich (Germany)
Congratulations to all 3, who prevailed from the entries from all over the world. The judges from the UFI Digital Innovation pic.twitter.com/pp27v5dTni
— UFI (@UFILive) May 27, 2022
The winner will receive their award and present their entry at the 89th UFI Global Congress in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, in November.
Others shortlisted in the category include Jaarbeurs and Messe München.
Want to build your own Smart Events?
Get your free consultation to find out how
Hyve's recovery 'stronger than expected'
Hyve's first half results have shown recovery of in-person events at a rate faster than anticipated - with some surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
The group reported revenue of £58.6 million pounds in the six months to March 31, up from £5m during the same period in 2021.
Steps taken by the organiser in the first six months of 2022 include de-risking its portfolio with its Russian exit and strategic acquisitions enhancing omnichannel strategy.
Mark Shashoua, CEO of Hyve Group , said: "Over the last six months we have, once again, had to respond to challenges outside of our control.
"Thanks to the hard work of our people around the world, not only did we successfully navigate these challenges, but we are now seeing a strong recovery and have moved significantly closer to our long-term vision, more quickly than expected."
The group has been hit by some remaining lockdown restrictions, including the reintroduction border controls in China impacting their events.
However, Hyve said it is now entering the second half with momentum and a streamlined portfolio of omnichannel products, focused on "high-growth" industries.
It comes after the group recorded a "better-than-expected" final quarter for 2021, with success across the west driven by significant pent-up demand for in-person shows.
US exhibition cancellations below 10% for first time since 2019
US B2B exhibition cancel rates have fallen below 10% for the first time in more than two years, according to new figures.
Cancellations were found to be at 9.2% in the first three months of this year, compared with 91.3% during the same period in 2021 and 21.9% in 2020.
The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) released the findings in its 2022 First Quarter Index.
Allen Shaw, CEIR economist, said: "B2B exhibitions offer opportunities for buyers to find alternative reasonable-price supplies under the current elevated inflation environment and persistence of global supply chain challenges.
"The B2B exhibition cancellation rate should decline further and the performance of completed events will continue to improve."
EIC gets on board with data standards scheme
The Events Industry Council has given its backing to a data standardisation scheme aimed at helping our industry with its digital transformation.
VSef has received support from the organisation marking a "hugely significant" moment for support for its mission to set professional standards across the industry.
It was launched in 2021 with the aim of creating a global data format which can be used to simplify the process of moving information between platforms, sales and marketing systems as well as business intelligence tools.
Amy Calvert, CEO of the EIC, said: "The global VSef initiative, founded by Explori, has focused on the area of digital event data standards, and developed a comprehensive solution on a not-for-profit basis.
"We are delighted to bring our APEX Commission and VSef together to further develop and establish these essential data standards."
VSef has received backing from many world-leading organisers and platforms including Informa Markets, RX, Tarsus Group, Emerald Expositions, Clarion Events, ExpoPlatform and many more.


» Kantholz - Nice To Sweet You / U Wanna Rock?
Mr. Kantholz returns to Tesno Records with an outstanding EP. Nice to sweet you and U wanna rock are solid melodic techno bangers. Perfect for those afterhours sets. This release comes also with a rather nice Jay Fish remix of Nice To Sweet You. Definitely worth checkin out!


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Q: Show that the roots of $x^2 − 2α x +β = 0$ are $x = α \pm \sqrt {α^2 −β}$ I have been asked to show that the roots of $$x^2-2αx+β$$ are $$x=α±\sqrt{α^2- β}$$
I do not have any idea how to complete this question, I believe factorising is involved but I don't know how to apply it if so.
I have got the steps here but I am not able to complete the square. please can someone show me? this is what I have.

Any help in terms of finding a solution and showing methodology would be very much appreciated.
Edited  let us solve this equation
$x^2+3*x-4=0$
let us calculate discriminant
$d=b^2-4*ac=9+16=25$
$x_1=(-b+\sqrt(d))/2=(-3+5)/2=1$
$x_2=(-3-5)/2)=-4$

A: Hint : Vieta's theorem allows a quick proof. The sum of the roots must be $2\alpha$ and the product $\beta$

A: $d=4*\alpha^2-4*\beta$
which is the same as  $4*(\alpha^2-\beta) $ square root from this will be  $2*\sqrt{\alpha^2-\beta)}$
can you continue?
we will have ($2*\alpha+2*\sqrt{\alpha^2-\beta)}) /2$
and
($2*\alpha-2*\sqrt{a^2-\beta)}) /2$
factorize  $2$ out of bracket

A: Consider $f(x) = x^2-2\alpha x+\beta = 0$
$f(x) = (x-\alpha)^2+\beta-\alpha^2 =0$
Then $x= \alpha\pm\sqrt{\alpha^2-\beta}$ as required.

A: These are simply the so-called reduced formulae for quadratic equations $\;ax^2+2b'x+c=0\,$: one sets
$$\Delta'=b'^2-ac\qquad(\textit{reduced discriminant}).$$
If $\Delta'> 0$, the (real) root  are
$$x_1, x_2=\frac{-b'\pm\sqrt{\Delta'}}{a}.$$

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Humidity control and insulation go hand in hand. By improving the humidity levels in your home, you can help to improve the effectiveness of your insulation. Similarly by improving your insulation, you can help to improve the levels of humidity in your home.
Moisture control is an important issue when you think about the insulation in your home. This is because insulation that has become wet does not function as well as dry insulation. If you are able to control the moisture in your home, then you will also be able to protect the integrity of your insulation. The amount of moisture in the air affects the humidity in the home, and it can take very little water to raise the moisture level in a 1,000 square foot area from 15 percent to 60 percent.
To control humidity, there are several steps that homeowners can take. Some of these steps are easy lifestyle changes. However, in extreme cases, these steps can include changes in the structure of the home. In regards to lifestyle changes, taking shorter, cooler showers can help decrease the humidity levels in small homes. It is also important that the home is well ventilated. This ventilation system should work within bathrooms as well as kitchens. Finally, you may consider using a dehumidifier. Alongside having several health benefits for certain conditions, a dehumidifier will work to remove excess moisture from the air inside your home.
Of course, there are some moisture issues that can only be addressed by more drastic measures. Some moisture may enter the home and cause damage to insulation during severe storms with heavy rain. When rain is very heavy or is being blown by strong winds, the moisture can penetrate your walls and cause moisture damage. To remedy this, you will to make sure that you are employing the use of storm windows or plastic covers.
When paired with these humidity control measures, your insulation can help protect your home from serious damage caused by excess moisture. However, you also need to protect your insulation. If you are concerned about the level of humidity in your home, contact USI online to get a free quote. USI believes that excellence in every step of the process ensures timely completion and quality service, time after time.


text:
1Early years
2Competitive career
3Coaching career
4Personal life
5Competitive highlights
5.1Pairs with Tamara Moskvina
5.2Men's singles
6Orders and rewards
10Navigation
Alexei Mishin
Russian figure skating coach and former pair skater
For the wrestler, see Aleksey Mishin.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Nikolayevich and the family name is Mishin.
Mishin in 2011
Alexei Nikolayevich Mishin
Country represented
(1941-03-08) 8 March 1941 (age 81)
Sevastopol, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Former partner
Tamara Moskvina
Former coach
Igor Moskvin, Maya Belenkaya, Nina Lepninskaya
Began skating
Medal record
Representing Soviet Union
Pairs' Figure skating
1969 Colorado Springs Pairs
1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs
1968 Västerås Pairs
Alexei Nikolayevich Mishin (Russian: Алексей Николаевич Мишин; born 8 March 1941) is a Russian figure skating coach and former pair skater. With partner Tamara Moskvina, he is the 1969 World silver medalist and Soviet national champion.
Mishin is based in Saint Petersburg at Yubileyny Sports Palace. His former students include Olympic champions Alexei Urmanov, Alexei Yagudin, and Evgeni Plushenko. Mishin also runs summer seminars. Among the skaters who have attended those are Stéphane Lambiel and Sarah Meier.[2] He has authored several books on the biomechanics of figure skating.[2]
Early years[edit]
Born in Sevastopol, Mishin spent his childhood in Tbilisi and later moved to Leningrad with his family. He was interested in mechanics from an early age.[3] He started skating relatively late, at age 15, after his parents brought him to the rink.[1][2] His father skated with him to get him interested in the activity.[2][4] Mishin was first coached by Nina Lepninskaya,[5] a pupil of Nikolai Panin, and later by Maya Belenkaya.[1][6]
Competitive career[edit]
Mishin competed in singles within the Soviet Union and won the bronze medal at the 1964 Soviet Championships. In 1966, he took up pair skating as an experiment, teaming up with his first and only partner, Tamara Moskvina.[2] They were coached by Igor Moskvin.[7] Together they won the 1969 Soviet Championships, defeating both the two-time Olympic champions Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, and the future champions Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov. They went on to win silver at the 1969 World Championships. At the European Championships, they won silver in 1968 and bronze in 1969. Moskvina took time off to have a baby and they decided to retire to concentrate on their coaching careers, with Mishin focusing on coaching singles while Moskvina focused on pairs. Mishin was 28 when he retired from competition and he said he was glad to start coaching when he was young.[2]
He later stated:
Tamara Moskvina and I were famous in the USSR: people recognized us in the shops, we could buy a car...[8] But from the very start I looked forward to training other people and never regretted becoming a coach.[3]
Coaching career[edit]
Mishin graduated from university with a degree in mechanics and his dissertation focused on the mechanical base of figure skating technique.[2] He started with coaching junior ladies to success at national and international competitions, but later switched to men's singles.[4] He rapidly became a well-known coach, due to his training methods that made the skaters learn jumps very quickly.[2] In addition, he has authored several books on the biomechanics of figure skating and jumps which have been published in Russia, Germany, China, Japan and several other countries.[2]
Mishin with pupil Evgeni Plushenko in 2004
Mishin prefers to work with men's single skaters. The most successful students are Alexei Urmanov the 1994 Winter Olympics champion, Alexei Yagudin the 2002 Winter Olympics сhampion, a four-time World Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002), and Evgeni Plushenko the 2006 Winter Olympics champion, 2014 Winter Olympics gold medalist, two-time Olympic silver medalist, and three-time World champion. Plushenko came to Mishin without his parents when he was eleven years old. Then Mishin became Plushenko's father figure, both on and off the ice. Since that time, they have been working together for nearly twenty years.[9]
Plushenko later described Mishin as "Professor Higgins", a character from George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion:[10][11]
Mishin was like a second father, like Professor Higgins. He taught me how to behave in public. In which hand should I hold the knife, and fork. He pulled me out of the dirt, put me on my feet, and made me into a person.
His current male students include Evgeni Semenenko, Mikhail Kolyada,[12] Gleb Lutfullin and Andrei Lazukin.
On the subject of female students, Mishin said in 2009, "better one man of average talent than two super-talented ladies" because "compared with women, men are more sporty and talented and able to learn artistic elements faster" but women are "delicate material":[13]
Coaching women is dangerous – there's always probability that the story of (mythology) Pygmalion will recur periodically. My wife was a mere pupil at first. See, what has eventually happened?[3]
Mishin with pupil Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in 2010
Nevertheless, one of his current students is ladies' single skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, the 2021 World Silver Medalist, the 2015 World champion, the 2015 European champion, the 2014–15 Grand Prix Final champion and the 2013 Russian national champion. On the junior level, she is the 2012 Youth Olympics champion, 2011 World Junior silver medalist, and 2010–11 JGP Final silver medalist.
His current female students also include: Sofia Samodurova, Anastasiia Guliakova and Maria Dmitrieva.
His notable former students include: Yuri Ovchinnikov, Vitali Egorov, Anna Antonova, Tatiana Oleneva, Oleg Tataurov, Ruslan Novoseltsev, Elena Sokolova, Ksenia Doronina, Tatiana Basova, Andrei Lutai, Sergei Dobrin, Katarina Gerboldt, Artur Gachinski, Maria Stavitskaya, Artur Dmitriev Jr., Petr Gumennik, Elizaveta Nugumanova, Alisa Fedichkina, Alexander Petrov etc.
Mishin is a professor at the Lesgaft School of Sports Science and Physical Education and gives seminars all over the world.[2][14] He is taking part in the development of a figure skating device which measures the number of revolutions in jumps when attached to the skater's body. According to Mishin, this device has already been patented.[13]
Mishin is based at Saint Petersburg's Yubileyny Sports Palace for most of the season but has annual summer training camps in various locations, such as Jaca (Spain), Tartu (Estonia), Courchevel (France) and Pinzolo (Italy). Additionally, Alexei is surrounded by many talented choreographers such as Lori Nichol, David Wilson, Jeffrey Buttle, Emanuel Sandhu or Benoit Richaud. [2][15]
Personal life[edit]
Mishin is married to Tatiana Mishina[2] (née Oleneva), a former figure skater. They coach together and separately. They have two sons, Andrei Alexeevich Mishin, born in 1977, and Nikolai Alexeevich Mishin, born in 1983.
Competitive highlights[edit]
Pairs with Tamara Moskvina[edit]
Winter Olympics 5th
World Championships 6th 4th 2nd
European Championships 6th 2nd 3rd
Prize of Moscow News 1st 1st
Winter Universiade 3rd
Soviet Championships 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st
Men's singles[edit]
Soviet Championships 3rd
Orders and rewards[edit]
Order of Friendship of Peoples (1994)
Meritorious Worker of Physical Education of Russian Federation (2002)
Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR
Honoured Coach of Sports of the USSR
Honoured Coach of Sports of Russian Federation
Commendation of the President of Russia (2002)
Honorary title "Best in Saint Petersburg's Sports" (2006)
Publications[edit]
Mishin, Alexei (1976). Figure skating jumps (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 104.
Mishin, Alexei (1979). School in figure skating (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 175.
Mishin, Alexei (1981). Biomechanics of figure skaters' moves (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 144.
Mishin, Alexei, ed. (1985). Figure skating: A study manual for sports colleges (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 271.
^ a b c Ermolina, Olga (11 March 2014). Алексей Мишин: "У меня не было комплекса неполноценности" [Alexei Mishin: "I never had an inferiority complex"]. Russian Figure Skating Federation (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 March 2014.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mittan, Barry (26 December 2004). "Russia's Mishin Is Dean of Coaches". Skate Today. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
^ a b c Kuznetsova, Valeria. "Interview with Alexei Mishin" (in Russian). TV-Park magazine. Archived from the original on 18 April 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
^ a b "The skating philosophy of Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin". The Official Site for Evgeni Plushenko. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
^ "Biography at Olympic encyclopedia" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
^ Легендарная фигуристка М.П.Беленькая [Legendary figure skater M. P. Belenkaya] (in Russian). Ledyanaya Fabrika. 2009. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010.
^ Vaytsekhovskaya, Elena (25 August 2009). "Igor Moskvin: I have never thought that wife and me are rivals". Sport Express (in Russian). Retrieved 4 July 2010.
^ Buying a car in the Soviet Union was difficult due to the shortages of several goods. See Economy of the Soviet Union.
^ "International Figure Skating" May 2006
^ "Blades on Ice" November/December 2003
^ Russian Magazine "Sportclub"
^ International Figure Skating [@ifsmagazine] (27 June 2020). "Mikhail Kolyada's coaching change has been confirmed" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ a b Mironova, Valeria (25 March 2009). "A revival will begin after Vancouver Olympics". Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved 26 March 2009.
^ "Alexei Mishin and "Mishin's Magic Vest"". Retrieved 4 February 2008.
^ Remmel, Ia (4 November 2011). "The story behind success: Mishin' s and Gachinski 's season preparation". Absolute Skating. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
Media related to Alexei Mishin at Wikimedia Commons
Official website of Alexey Mishin
"Alexei Mishin quotes". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
Navigation[edit]
Soviet champions in figure skating – Pairs
1920: А. Konopatova / Ivan Bogoyavlenski
1924: Alexandrа Bykovskaya / Yuri Zeldovich
1927: Tatiana Kuznetsova / Mikhail Stankevich
1928: Maria Laskevich / Igor Vonzblein
1933: Valentina Krylova / Ivan Krylov
1937: Raisa Gandelsman / Alexander Gandelsman and Tatiana Granatkina / Alexander Tolmachev
1938: Tatiana Granatkina / Alexander Tolmachev
1939: Raisa Gandelsman / Alexander Gandelsman
1945–1951: Tatiana Granatkina / Alexander Tolmachev
1952–1954: Maya Belenkaya / Igor Moskvin
1955–1956: Lidia Garasimova / Yuri Kiselev
1957–1959: Nina Zhuk / Stanislav Zhuk
1960: Tatiana Zhuk / Alexander Gavrilov
1961: Nina Zhuk / Stanislav Zhuk
1962–1964: Liudmila Belousova / Oleg Protopopov
1965: Tamara Moskvina / Alexander Gavrilov
1966-1968: Liudmila Belousova / Oleg Protopopov
1969: Tamara Moskvina / Alexei Mishin
1970–1971: Irina Rodnina / Alexei Ulanov
1972: Irina Cherniaeva / Vasili Blagov
1973–1975: Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev
1976: Irina Vorobieva / Alexander Vlasov
1977: Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev
1978–1979: Marina Cherkasova / Sergei Shakhrai
1980: Marina Pestova / Stanislav Leonovich
1981: Veronika Pershina / Marat Akbarov
1982–1983: Marina Pestova / Stanislav Leonovich
1984–1985: Larisa Selezneva / Oleg Makarov
1986: Elena Valova / Oleg Vasiliev
1987: Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov
1991: Evgenia Shishkova / Vadim Naumov
1992: Elena Bechke / Denis Petrov
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexei_Mishin&oldid=1136368418"
Russian figure skating coaches
Russian male pair skaters
Soviet male pair skaters
Olympic figure skaters of the Soviet Union
Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics
Figure skating choreographers
Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
Sportspeople from Sevastopol
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II class
Merited Coaches of the Soviet Union
Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg
Honoured Coaches of Russia
Soviet figure skating coaches
Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni
Universiade medalists in figure skating
Universiade bronze medalists for the Soviet Union
Competitors at the 1966 Winter Universiade
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text:
Netherlands has qualified twice for the FIFA Women's World Cup: In 2015 and in 2019. They reached the 2nd round in 2015 and the final in 2019.

1991 World Cup
The Dutch women failed in the quarter-finals of qualification for UEFA Women's Euro 1991, which served as the qualifying tournament for the first women's World Cup in China. In the group stage, the Dutch team prevailed with three wins and a draw against Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the quarter-finals they met Denmark. After a goalless draw in Denmark they lost the home game in Denekamp 0-1 after extra time. The Danes went on to qualify for the World Cup.

1995 World Cup
As in 1991, UEFA designated the UEFA Women's Euro 1995 the qualifying tournament for that years World Cup. The Dutch missed out on qualification in the group stage. This time Iceland, against which both games were lost and Greece, against which both games were won, were the group opponents. As second in the group, they failed to reach both the quarter-finals and the World Cup. Iceland failed in the quarterfinals and so did not qualify for the World Cup.

1999 World Cup
For the third World Cup, UEFA started its own qualification process. To date, UEFA is the only continental federation to hold separate World Cup qualifiers. The Dutch women in the group stage encountered world champion Norway, European champion Germany and England. However, the Dutch lost none of their home games against these high-caliber opponents, won 1–0 against Germany and 2–1 against England and reached a goalless draw against the world champions. But since the three away games were all lost, it was only enough for third place ahead of England. With the victory over the European champions, they had forced the German team in the relegation matches of the runners-up against the Ukraine, which were survived. World Champion Norway qualified directly for the World Cup.

2003 World Cup
The 2003 World Cup was scheduled to again take place in China. Due to the SARS epidemic, the tournament was ultimately relocated to the United States. Thus the World Cup took place for the second time in the USA. The Dutch women faced Germany and England again in qualifying, as well as Portugal for the first time. The Dutch started with a 0–0 in England, but then lost four games before they beat Portugal in the final game. It was only enough for third-place finish. Germany, who won all the matches, this time qualified directly for the World Cup and could not be beaten there either. The English women failed in the playoffs of the runners-up, losing in the Playoff finals to France.

2007 World Cup
Four years later, England and France were the opponents in qualification for the next World Cup, which was held for the second time in China. As other group opponents, the Dutch women had to deal with Austria and Hungary for the first time. The Dutch started with two 1-0 victories in France and Austria, but then lost 1–0 to England. After a 5–0 in Hungary, they also lost the next home game, this time with 0–2 against France. This was followed by three games that ended 4-0: In England with four goals for England, as well as in the two home games with four goals for the Netherlands against Austria and Hungary. In the end the English women succeeded in qualifying for the first time since 1995.

2011 World Cup
After their successful Euro 2009 where they reached the semi-final, the Dutch women were eager to participate in the World Cup in their neighboring country. In March 2010 Roger Reijners took over as the national team coach from Vera Pauw, who had coached the Dutch since 2004, and was fired over differences with the association's leadership. At the draw for qualification they were tied with former World Champion Norway again. Other opponents were Belarus, Slovakia and Macedonia. The Dutch started their campaign with a 0–3 loss in Norway. They followed up with the 13–1 against Macedonia, one of their two highest international wins, but also a 1–1 against Belarus. All subsequent matches were won, except for the home game against Norway, which ended in a 2–2 draw. In the end it was only enough for second place behind Norway, which prevailed in the play-off round of the group winners against the Ukraine.

2015 World Cup

Four years later, the Dutch finally qualified for the World Cup. 2 years previous they had again reached the 2013 European Championship, but did not survive the preliminary round. At the Qualification draw for the World Cup in Canada, they were again matched with Norway. Other group opponents were neighbor Belgium, whom they beat in the first game 4–0, Portugal, Greece and first timers Albania. After a 7–0 in Portugal, they lost out on direct qualification in the home games against Norway and Belgium losing 1-2 and drawing 1-1. However, on the final day of qualifying, the Dutch were able to secure their participation in the playoff games of the runners-up by winning in Norway. In the playoffs they qualified for the first time with two wins against the Scotland and, after a 1–1 home game, by a 2–1 victory in Italy. Both goals were scored by 18-year-old Vivianne Miedema, who ended European qualifying as topscorer with 16 goals. In the other confederations, only one player, Jamaica's Shakira Duncan, also scored 16 goals but failed to qualify for the finals. Duncan had scored 14 of her 16 goals in the pre-qualifiers against weaker teams. Together with Anja Mittag, who scored 11 goals in qualifying and five in the finals they were topscorers of the overall competition.

In the draw for the groups, the Dutch women were not placed and were assigned to Group A with hosts Canada

In the second round they were eliminated by Japan.

Group A

Round of 16

2019 World Cup

In July 2017, the Dutch women used home advantage to surprise everybody and win the UEFA Women's Euro's. In the World Cup qualification starting in September 2017 they were one of the group favorites, as they were Norway's supposedly strongest opponents. They won the first qualifier against the Norwegians 1–0. After a 5–0 win in Slovakia, they then gave away their advantage with a goalless home game against Ireland. Despite victories in the other games, a 1–2 defeat in Norway on the final day ensured they only finished second in the group and the Norwegians qualified as group winners directly for the World Cup. As the best runner-up however, the European champions qualified for the playoffs of the four best runners-up. In the semifinal against Denmark the Dutch women were victorious with two wins (2-0 and 2–1). In the playoff final, they met Switzerland. In the first leg, they laid the foundation for the World Cup qualifiers with a 3–0 victory after a scoreless first half. In the second leg, they lost Anouk Dekker in the seventh minute after a red card. Miedema brought the Dutch women in the 52nd in the lead, the Swiss then needed five goals overcome the Dutch. But they managed only one goal and the Dutch qualified for the second time for a World Cup finals.

In France, like four years earlier, the Dutch team met Canada and New Zealand in the group stage as well as Cameroon. With three wins, the European champion easily qualified for the knockout stages. Again like four years earlier in 2015, Asian champion Japan was the opponent in the first knock-out round . Two goals from Lieke Martens reversed the result of 2015 and they reached the quarter-final against Italy. The Dutch women won 2–0, with Miedema scoring her third World Cup goal. The Dutch also qualified for the Olympic Games 2020 for the first time. In the semi-final, after 90 goalless minutes, extra time allowed Jackie Groenen to score the only goal of the match. The Dutch women reached the final, where they lost to defending champions USA 0–2.

Group E

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

2023 World Cup

Group E

FIFA World Cup record

 * Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Record by opponent

Goalscorers

References

World Cup
Countries at the FIFA Women's World Cup


Whether you are here at the campus, at the market, or at the home improvement store, the green movement constantly bombards you. Considering Mars doesn't seem like a viable living option any time soon, maintaining the already established planet Earth seems to be something of importance.
For those of you living under a rock, the green movement is not something related to a bunch of pot smoking hippies. Rather, it is the process by which our world becomes more environmentally conscious.
Here on campus, the green movement, also known as sustainability, has been established; however, its ranks and success failed to grasp a spot in the top 100 most sustainable US universities by the Sierra Club.
With four of the top ten schools on the list being UC's, one must ask, how can we Matadors get to the point of sustainability that we too can help our planet – plus, ranking on any list always makes you feel a little special.
Washom's conception of the "green way of life" coexists well with his fellow team member Dave Weil, UCSD Director of Building Commissioning and Sustainability. Weil describes the process of becoming green as one that must be done through student initiative and getting senior leadership, i.e. the president of the university, involved.
On campus, there are green clubs, green buildings, and CSUN was even the first university in California to install a fuel cell utilizing the Self Generation Incentive Program, but there is always more that can be done.
Taking a look at CSUN's sustainability website, one would note all the movements and involvements that exist to encourage this "green way of life," however the backing from students does not seem to be as apparent as those from other schools such as Cal Poly, San Diego State, CSU Long Beach, and UCSD.
This semester was the first semester sustainability was an option for a minor. Currently in development is a Masters Program in Sustainability Practices. The school has laid out the footwork for a sustainable life style; the rest is truly in the students' hands.
Yes, the idea of spending more money to replace all our light bulbs with LED lighting sounds pricey. But, when Weil, Washom, as well as many others have proven the long-term fiscal savings, it is difficult to deny that sustainability and the green way of life isn't important.
Drastic change like in the city of Long Beach where they banned the use of plastic bags and began charging ten cents per paper bag used is not necessary. If students work together to encourage the incentives through recycling, reducing waste, and educating ourselves on this life style, an improvement can be made.
It is understandable that putting forth such efforts can be exhausting, time consuming and, for those of you who still don't believe our world is impacted by global warming, ridiculous, think fiscally; you will save money over time.
Contact our Sustainability Director, Helen M. Cox, and Administrative Coordinator, Sarah E. Johnson, research the sustainable ways, donate to the cause, do your part as an active college student to help our planet be a pleasant place to live until our next ice age. There is power in numbers.
Yes, there is always more that can be done. The question is: What is reasonable and what is affordable?


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Andrea Gibbons
What's Popping
Tag Archives: nationalism
History, music, Violence
Cosima Wagner: Lady of Bayreuth
May 1, 2017 Andrea Gibbons	2 Comments
This biography of Cosima Wagner was very difficult to read on many levels. Mark was being flown to Bayreuth for a workshop and I picked it up as part of my tradition of exploring a place — I confess I was utterly ignorant of Cosima Wagner's history, or Richard Wagner's history or the role that this city where they made a home played in the formation of Hitler's pseudophilosophy, his social circle, and his base of power. Because this family made a home here in Bayreuth at Wahnfried.
That I found most difficult.
But there was also the author Oliver Hilmes… his tone, what he singled out, his commentary were all quite contrary to my own style and feeling. This can hardly be a criticism of course, because we do not all think the same. I thought it best to signal it — and that said, numerous times I think he did actually let the family off the hook for some fairly vile little foibles of theirs.
So from the beginning I felt that while I might perhaps agree broadly that Marie d'Agoult was not the nicest of women or very present for her children, yet my critique of her would be directed differently. I would have made more of her support for women's equality, I might have mentioned her wider friendships with other women such as Georges Sand, and my sympathy would certainly have been much more engaged. Cosima's father Franz Liszt did simply take the children away from Marie after Paris followed her mother in rejecting them all from polite society (their ideas of free love being greatly frowned upon then but thank god they fought for them), and he did refuse to let her see them. Hilmes then describes Liszt as under the sway of his new life-long lover and companion Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein — and that kind of language always worries me. Yet at her direction Liszt's three children were removed from the home they had made with Lizst's mother Anna and placed under the care of a horrible governess of the ancien regime, Madame Patersi de Fossombroni and her sister. Here is Cosima standing.
It's as though 1848 never happened, in this book. I found that curious. But Madame Patersi had been a governess for many princesses of soon-to-be-relegated-to-history principalities, and so I imagine in that house even the gains of the French Revolution were steadfastly ignored.
This book also and again reinforced the realisation that the education of European aristocratic youth consisted (and still consists to some extent) of breaking children into small pieces to rebuild them as heartless, stony-faced, charming individuals who know much about etiquette but have had all feeling for humanity destroyed. How better to maintain power and obscene privilege as though it were right and natural? Reading about such upbringings you are almost sorry for them.
I was sorry for Cosima too, in reading Hans von Bülow's official request to Liszt for his daughter's hand in marriage.
It is more than love I feel for her… Rather, the idea of drawing even closer to you, whom I regard as the principal instigator and animator of my present and future existence, sums up all the happiness that I can expect to feel here on earth. In my eyes Cosima Liszt towers over all other women not only because she bears your name but also because she resembles you so much and because so many of her qualities make her a faithful reflection of your own person. (39-40)
The creepiest declaration of love I have ever read, and hardly a solid foundation for a happy marriage, though she did marry him.
She did very much resemble Liszt. He met his end in Beyreuth, in her home. She made it a hard and painful one refusing medical help for him at the end and refusing to allow anyone in to see him as she would be the one to nurse him — and then finding herself too busy to nurse him. Liszt's pupil watched through the window from the bushes after being expelled from the sickroom, heard his dying groans. Almost you can feel sorry for him. But I get ahead of myself.
There are a number of brilliant quotes here. I thought this one very telling.
'What she says is almost always intelligent,' recalled one contemporary, 'in other words, it is well thought through; but one has the feeling that it has been thought through for a long time in advance, so that the ideas are inflexible and fail to adapt to the actual conversation.' (49)
Hilmes blames this on the limitations of her otherwise flawless German, but seems more a characteristic of mind perhaps. In her younger years she wrote for a monthly magazine, though always under pseudonyms and this memory not encouraged by family hagiographers — not something for women to do. Her mother had fought long and hard for women's rights to be authors.
Cosima met Wagner as a child as he was a friend of Liszt — they moved in the same artistic and often radical circles as did Liszt's student Hans von Bülow. Wagner, however, did not notice her until her marriage brought her within his orbit, and his failing marriage left him without the feminine support he believed he needed. This book fails to mentions Wagner's time on Dresden's barricades in 1849, his arrest. I learned that at Wahnfried… a fact hard to guess because some of Wagner's quotes? Wow.
Mine is a different kind of organism, I have sensitive nerves, I must have beautify. radiance and light. The world owes me a living! I can't live the miserable life of an organist like your Master Bach! Is it such as outrageous demand to say that I deserve the little bit of luxury that I can bear? I, who can give pleasure to thousands?
— letter to mistress Eliza Wille (65)
He had many many mistresses. And a wife, named Minna. She had a hard time I believe. I know I am doing none of them justice, I apologise.
There are Wagner's terrible letters to King Ludovic II, who was utterly smitten with him and known to be gay. Every age has its idiom and this may be reflected here, yet if they weren't lovers this could be worse, as Wagner must have known very well what he was about in using such language to get land, money and influence. This is only a taste.
'My beloved has often wanted to know more about my political views. I have already divulged certain things. Would my beloved know more?' … Ludwig begged the 'light of his life' to inform him of his own opinion … (70)
Wagner did inform him, in the form of journal entries, and they were distributed as policy documents to Ludwig's ministers.
I'm not saying that his obsessive fashion sense and his extreme care in interior decoration says anything definitive about the breadth of his sexuality, but, well. He loved pastels, loved to wear silk and satin and velvet (who doesn't, I know), and here is a description of Wagner's interior decoration sense from his villa in Munich bestowed upon him by Ludwig:
To the right a door led to the composer's holy of holies, his 'satin chamber'. The select few who were permitted to enter this study were generally overwhelmed by what they found here, for the room's furnishings — entirely Wagner's own creation — were a riot of light and colour and an orgy of velvet and satin. The walls were lined with yellow satin, while the pink silk curtains in front of the windows bathed the room in a roseate glow. Through the room were draperies, artificial roses and decorations made from precious fabrics such as damask and satin. In the middle of the study was a couch covered with a floral moire fabric. (77)
The von Bülows moved to Munich, just around the corner, in 1864. in April, 1865 Wagner's first daughter Isolde was born to Cosima. Hilmes notes that it is not certain that von Bülow knew it was Wagner's child — which could mean Cosima was sleeping with both at the same time! I almost laughed at the shock implied in the sentence discounting such as thing.
It is impossible to laugh, however, at the letter she wrote in November of 1867 to protest Ludwig hiring Paul Heyse as artistic director of his theatre company.
My objections to him are as follows: 1) his Jewish extraction — in this respect I beg our august and dear friend most humbly not to see a harsh prejudice but a profoundly well-justified fear of a race that has caused the Germans much harm … (90)
Meanwhile Wagner was about to cross the line with old Ludwig… you'd have thought that journal escapade would have done it, but no. Or that time he called Ludwig 'my lad'. But after glorious days in which Wagner organised concerts in the morning then read to Bavaria's king from his memoirs after which the two of them would head off to sport in the countryside, Wagner went so far as to demand the resignations of the cabinet secretary and the prime minister. And so, Hilmes describes it as involuntary exile.
After much passionate recrimination, Cosima finally obtained a divorce from von Bülow, and married Wagner in 1870. She would dedicate her life in his service, and in service to her son…an oddly dictatorial service to be sure, or to their myth as she interpreted it. How better to summarise the role she saw for her life than this picture?
There is a quote here that is fairly terrifying from her private journals (though she wrote them as testaments to her service, and they were always meant to be read by her children, particularly Siegfried):
Spoke very seriously with the children, wept and prayed with them, brought them to the point of asking me for punishment. (107)
Hilmes ties her strange streak of self-sacrifice to her husband's myth and her sadomasochism that emerged from her upbringing to her anti-semitism. I find his psychoanalysis a little simple perhaps, but the roots of it are all here. It's not surprising that Wagner reissued a little pamphlet he had written about the Jews the year of their marriage in 1870 — I haven't yet read it. I suppose I will. I am curious. But all of it brings on nausea.
In 1871 they moved to Bayreuth, gifted land and money to build a home by Ludwig it was known as Wahnfried (from wahn and fried which mean roughly delusion and freedom), and written upon it Wagner's motto:
"Hier wo mein Wähnen Frieden fand – Wahnfried – sei dieses Haus von mir benannt." ("Here where my delusions have found peace, let this place be named Wahnfried.")
Oh the delusions that this home would help spawn.
Gifted land from the council they built the Festspielhaus, a new opera house for the festival they would begin — Wagner found the town's incredible baroque opera house too small for the orchestras he needed.
I think for me, one of the most terrible substories in the book is that of Hermann Levi, an enormously gifted conductor (poet, composer) who was court kapellmeister to Ludwig in Munich, and whom Ludwig himself insisted be first conductor for Wagner's recently finished Parsifal. The book is clear that Wagner objected, on the grounds he was a jew, only to be overruled. Hilmes writes:
Among Wagner's less attractive qualities was his insistence on repeatedly tormenting his new in-house conductor with anti-Semitic barbs. (145)
He notes Levi tried to break his ties to the Wagners many times. Yet in spite of this, Levi is referred to consistently thereafter as a family friend… it seems to me that whatever this complicated relationship might have been, friendship is not quite the right term for it. His relationship with Cosima far less so, it hurts my soul to read of it.
In 1883 Wagner died while in Vienna. There were scenes of operatic horror as Cosima lay by the side of his decomposing corpse and refused to be removed, kept slipping in to be with his body, cut off all of her hair and sewed it into a pillow to be buried with Wagner. From here she would dedicate her life to his myth, his music, and his festival in Bayreuth. Everything was sacrificed to that cause, but only as she defined it and controlled it. She never released power, and she never forgave those who challenged her. Wahnfried in Bayreuth became a shrine to her dead husband and the family and to Germany as she imagined it. She placed glass over Wagner's desk to keep it always as he left it, people described the chair that could not be sat in, the many ornaments and the piano that could never be touched. This is what she tried to do on a much grander scale across Germany itself, making of his life, work and thought a kind of museum performed over and over again through the festival, yet at the same a living force in music and in German nationalism. She tried to control it all, keep Wagner at the pinnacle of musical achievement (a strange madness for anyone who loved music) as well as relevance for the ideal of the German people. It is terrifying how effective she was.
I loved this quote about the Beyreuth festival from Brahms's pupil Elisabeth von Herzogenberg — and of course I had forgotten that Brahms and the Wagnerians were sworn enemies, I like Brahms even more now. But this sums up the feeling that you get from all of this — Cosima's relentless rule in the house, her children's desperately unhappy lives in service of her will and Wagner's myth and the way that any one and everyone was also pulled into that service who could be of any use:
People like that go to Parsifal just as Catholics visit graves on Good Friday, it has become a church service for them. The whole bunch of them are in an unnaturally heightened, hysterically enraptured state like Ribera's saints, with their eyes raised aloft so that one can see only the whites of them, and under their shirts they all have carefully tended stigmata. I tell you, the whole thing has a really bad smell to it, like a church that has never been aired or like a butcher's display of meat in summer: a blood-thirstiness and musty smell of incense, a sultry sensuality with terribly serious gestures, a heaviness and a bombast otherwise unprecedented in art weighs down on one, its brooding intensity taking one's breath away. (194)
This is the antisemitic and German nationalist atmosphere that drew Houston Chamberlain here in quest of one of Wagner's daughters — he ended up marrying Eva. He is perhaps best known for writing the innocuous sounding Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century), a favourite of Hitler's. While de Gobineau had been long in favour in Wahnfried circles, Cosima and others felt that Chamberlain had updated these outdated ideas of race with more modern understandings of race for the new century. She was ecstatic at snagging such a mind to be in service to the family's task and Germany itself. Meanwhile Siegfried had married Winifred, another English woman raised in Germany and friendly to the cause. She described Hitler's first open visit in 1925. He continued to visit in secret over the next few years while still widely seen as the nasty little man he was, up through his successes in 1933, so as not to compromise the family. Hilmes writes:
Generally Hitler would turn up at Wahnfried after dark, Friedelind Wagner recalling that 'late as it was, he never failed to come into the nursery and tell us gruesome tales of his adventure. We all sat up among the pillows in the half-light and listened while he made our flesh creep.' Chamberlain too, could scarcely wait for Hitler's flying visits: 'Visits by A.H. highly enjoyable & enthralling, eyes wide open & directed at him.'
Joseph Goebbels came along to visit the great man Chamberlain as well, though he was already very ill. He would die in 1927 — very possibly of late-stage syphilis. One can only hope, it is most unpleasant. Cosima died in 1930, Siegfried followed soon after, Winifred was left to run the festival which she did most ably with great support from Hitler himself until the end of the war.
It is hard to say what I feel finishing this… horror certainly. Amazement at what have always seemed to me to be such different times, such different worlds spanned by Cosima's life — from the rebellion of Liszt and d'Agoult and the romantic period and 1848 smashed against an ancien regime governess's rocks through to Wagner and Brahms and then to the rise of Hitler in Germany … it is almost inconceivable really. Yet her life shows how these things tied together, how far Nazi Germany was from being a strange bubble, shows the depths of its roots. She was such a force. I need to read more of Wagner to get a better grip on how much she shaped his legacy, but I'm not sure I have the stomach for it.
antisemitismBayreuthCosima WagnerGermanyHanz LisztMarie d'AgoutmusicnationalismoperaRichard WagnerWahnfried
Empire, Environment & Justice, Violence
Remnants of Polish Empire: Milosz and Sienkiewicz
July 2, 2016 Andrea Gibbons	1 Comment
The Polish Empire…I confess my ignorance, immense ignorance, and thus shamefaced astonishment to find such an empire existed once. I realise anew how parochial US education is. Perhaps in high school's elective class on European History there was a mention, but I remember Poland above all as a tragedy, a land of both centrality and flatness, leading to repeated invasions by countries and peoples bigger and stronger and bent on a vastness of domination. I am not sure how much is my failure and how much faulty interpretation U.S. style, where Polish jokes were sadly legion through my growing up and our own history of conquest and empire (and fear of decline) so steadfastly ignored. Both of which perhaps explain avoidance of presenting this history and its aftermath alongside the tragedy (which is no less true for the existence of the commonwealth).
A map of the changing borders:
By Esemono – Own work, Public Domain
I am going to Poland! It is a good year for going places, given unemployment and a wonderful partner who I can trail after like the discombobulation of stars behind a comet. Hopefully at some point here we will start trading off who gets to be the comet and who the (poetic rather than realistic) discombobulation. Anyway, I came up with a list to read as I always do, and started in chronological order, now slightly broken but happily. I find Henryk Sienkiewicz's With Fire and Sword (1884 — translated by Jeremiah Curtain in 1898) more interesting since reading Czeslaw Milosz's The Issa Valley (1955) because of the way one echoes in curious ways the subjects of the other.
Of course, all of With Fire and Sword takes place in Central Ukraine, based on the historical uprising of the Cossacks against the land's occupation by Polish nobility. That was initially a bit disappointing, but almost made up for by some splendid descriptions of Chigirin, giving it such a border town feel but also doing much to show the diversity of connections between town and wilderness and agriculture and the meeting of different cultures that I have become so interested in. Also, in this case, the machines of war.
Barabash pointed to the market-square and to the people moving around upon it. The whole square was thronged with great gray oxen on the way to Korsún for the army; and with the oxen went a crowd of herdsmen (Chabani), who passed their whole lives in the steppe and Wilderness,–men perfectly wild, professing no religion, ("religionis nullius," as the Voevoda Kisel said). Among them were forms more like robbers than herdsmen,–fierce, terrible, covered with remnants of various garments. The greater part of them were dressed in sheepskin doublets or in untanned skins with the wool outside, open in front and showing, even in winter, the naked breast embrowned by the winds of the steppe. All were armed, but with the greatest variety of weapons. Some had bows and quivers on their shoulders; some muskets or "squealers" (so called by the Cossacks); some had Tartar sabres, some scythes; and finally, there were those who had only sticks with horse-jaws fastened on the ends. Among them mingled the no less wild, though better armed men from the lower country, taking to the camp for sale dried fish, game, and mutton fat. Farther on were the Chumaki (ox-drivers) with salt, bee-keepers from the steppes and forest, wax-bleachers with honey, forest-dwellers with tar and pitch, peasants with wagons, registered Cossacks, Tartars from Bélgorod, and God knows what tramps and "vampires" from the ends of the earth.
It continues with some of the persistent and matter-of-fact contextual anti-Jewish sentiment that shouldn't have surprised me yet did.
The blaze from the piles on the square spread such a glare over the town that all Chigirin seemed burning. The bustle and shouts increased with the approach of night. The Jews did not peep from their houses.
Jews hide in their houses throughout this book in fact. The (simplified and partial) explanation for people's own understanding of this is given by Hmelmitski, leader of the rebellion:
I want no war with the king, I want no war with the Commonwealth! It is the mother, and he is the father. The king is a merciful lord; but the kinglets!–with them it is impossible for us to live; their extortions, their rents, meadow-taxes, mill-taxes, eye and horn taxes, their tyranny and oppression exercised through the agency of Jews, cry for vengeance.
Sienkiewicz writes, of course, in celebration of the Polish kinglets vital to the existence of the Commonwealth. He tries for balance occasionally, but passages like the following occur over and over again expressing a belief in the requirements of progress through the civilization of the wilderness (we meet once again these tropes), and support for the unspeakable levels of violence acceptable for its achievement, though this is often sorrowful.
Order reigned in all the lands of the prince, with plenty, justice, peace, but also terror,–for in case of the slightest opposition the prince knew no bounds to his anger and to the punishments he inflicted; to such a degree was magnanimity joined with severity in his nature. But in those times and in those regions that severity alone permitted life and the labor of men to thrive and continue. Thanks to it alone, towns and villages rose, the agriculturist took the place of the highwayman, the merchant sold his wares in peace, bells called the devout in safety to prayer, the enemy dared not cross the boundaries, crowds of thieves perished, empaled on stakes, or were changed into regular soldiers, and the wilderness bloomed.
A wild country and its wild inhabitants needed such a hand…
Impalings and the destruction of entire villages along with each of their inhabitants…there is no 'civilian' in these battles. Nothing sacred. No woman unraped, no field unburned, no child spared. No cruelty too extreme.
They saw on both sides of the road a long row of "Cossack candles,"–that is, people with hands raised above their heads, and tied to stakes driven into the ground, wound around with straw steeped in pitch and set on fire at the hands.
A little thought and you realise the peasants must have quite a lot of grievances to have embarked on a course of rebellion.
"Why do you croak, grandfather, like a raven?" asked an old peasant. "We believe that the black hour is coming on the lords; and there will be neither on the Russian nor Tartar bank lords or princes,–only Cossacks, free people; there will be neither land-rent, nor barrel-tax, nor mill-tax, nor transport-tax, nor any more Jews, for thus does it stand in the letter from Christ which you yourself spoke of. And Hmelnitski is as strong as the prince. Let them go at it!
Again, the a long list that has me nodding my head until we reach the Jews. The violence shown by peasants in the revolt is treated very differently by Sienkiewicz of course:
Through the broken windows Skshetuski saw the multitude of drunken peasants, bloody, with rolled-up shirt-sleeves, going from house to house, from cellar to cellar, and searching all corners, garrets, lofts; from time to time a terrible noise announced that a nobleman, a Jew, a man, a woman, or a child had been found. The victim was dragged to the square and gloated over in the most fearful manner. The crowd fought with one another for the remnants of the bodies; with delight they rubbed the blood on their faces and breasts, and wound the still steaming entrails around their necks.
It is terrifying to read the battle cries on every side: Kill! Slay! It is full of irony to hear bemoaned on the one hand the terrible betrayal of the Cossacks joining with the Tartars in their uprising, and then on the other to celebrate the mercenary Tartar regiments of the crown putting down the rebellion.
Above all is the weight of contempt heaped upon non-Polish peasantry. I present you a short selection among so so many phrases:
in his ears the words of Yeremi were roaring: "Better for us not to live, than to live in captivity under peasants and trash."
The peasant breaths, filled with the odor of gorailka, came upon the faces of those nobles of high birth, for whom the pressure of those sweating hands was as unendurable as an affront. Threatenings also were not lacking among the expressions of vulgar cordiality.
Would not every dog-brother of them be better at home, working his serfage peaceably for his land? What fault is it of ours if God has made us nobles and them trash, and commanded them to obey? Tfu! I am beside myself with rage. I am a mild-mannered man, soft as a plaster; but let them not rouse me to anger! They have had too much freedom, too much bread; they have multiplied like mice in a barn; and now they are dying to get at the cats. Ah, wait! There is one cat here called Yeremi, and another called Zagloba.
I have not started on the misogyny. I don't think I will. I don't know enough to argue that Sienkiewicz necessarily agreed with all of these views expressed through the mouths of characters and sympathetic narration. But the overwhelming feeling is their promotion, alongside a fierce nationalism tied to land and a certain kind of honour. Written, as well, in a period where Poland as a country did not officially exist.
So many of the better parts of the book engage in lyrical descriptions embodying a love of land, of crops, of wildlife. An understanding of seasons. A desire to create a peaceful land of fertility and beauty. This is partly what it shares in common with The Issa Valley, maybe why I kept reading. It could also be just the absurd knightly adventures with swords and romance.
Milosz's memoir of the Issa Valley is lyrical, lovely, haunted. Its rural community remains divided, separate and ranked along the same lines established by the Commonwealth. A Polish ruling class still sits in position over Lithuanian 'peasants' (though Sienkiewicz's account numbers a Lithuanian knight amongst the heroes. A man capable of cutting off three heads at once and splitting people down the middle a-la Song of Roland).
I found this about Czeslaw Milosz — In Memoriam, from the University of California, Berkeley:
Czesław Miłosz (d. 14 August 2004), Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the University of California, Berkeley's only Nobel Prize winner from the Division of Arts and Humanities, was witness to much that was central to the history of the twentieth century. He was born on 30 June 1911 in Szetejnie/Šateiniai, a small town in rural Lithuania, then a part of the Russian Empire. His parents, Aleksander and Weronika (née Kunat), were members of the long polonized lesser Lithuanian nobility. Miłosz would always place emphasis upon his identity as one of the last citizens of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a place of competing and overlapping identities. This stance—not Polish enough for some, certainly not Lithuanian to others—would give rise to controversies about him that have not ceased with his death in either country.
Again there is a narrative of colonization, of civilization of empty wilderness (but without the swords and scythes and impalings):
Starting in the sixteenth century, the Issa Valley had been colonized by settlers lured there by the Princes Radziwill, and the Bukowskis had come from the Kingdom of Poland in their covered wagons, through forests, across fords and uncharted wilderness, before reaching their destination in the virgin forests of Lithuania. Many fell on distant fields of battle — in the wars against the Swedes, the Turks, and the Russians. (92)
Covered wagons and virgin forests almost left me speechless, confused about the parallels with, or borrowings of, US mythologies. Again there is a constant divide between Polish (Polonized?) nobility and Lithuanian peasantry:
Masiulis, the wizard, sat with his back against the farmhouse wall, smoking his pipe. They were not on the best of terms. The magician laid claim to as much land as Romuald, but he was a peasant — a Lithuanian peasant. (93)
But no Bukowski had ever married a peasant. (172)
Though this Bukowski did in fact end up marrying the peasant.
Thomas, the young boy of the story, comes of age and grows into the immensity of the distance between himself and the peasants who surround him, despite his love of the land, his knowledge of the harvest, threshing, hunting, fishing. He is increasingly separate, which he feels with sadness and longing and his family bolster with pride and constant vigilance. The book opens with pages of factual moving to lyrical description of the place, love and memory constantly well up through every phrase throughout the whole of the novel:
I should begin with the Land of Lakes…This part of Europe was long covered with glaciers, and the landscape has much of the severity of the north. The soil is sandy and rocky and suitable only for growing potatoes, rue, oats and flax. This explains why such care was taken not to spoil the forests, which helped to soften the climate and offered protection against the Baltic winds. The forests are [predominantly of pine and spruce, though birch, oak, and hornbeam are also in abundance… (1)
This continues to be a world where everyone has their scythe. This continues to be a world of peasant uprising and violence — a grenade is thrown through the mansion's window. It fails to explode, and comes to rest under Thomas's bed. This is the time of land reform — resented by the narrator's family who use money and corruption to try to preserve their lands. The Deluge is remembered in the form of The Swedish Mounds, great earthworks from the 17th century battles.
I am a third of the way through Vol. 1 of Sienkiewicz's second volume The Deluge, though I am a little at a loss as to quite why…
The other thing the two books share in common is the uncanny, which I quite love. An example or two from Milosz:
The Issa Valley has the distinction of being inhabited by an unusually large number of devils. (3)
And this brilliant thing that recalls another aspect of history:
…he was visited by a monster. Shatybelko described it as a sort of bumpy log that moved sideways, level with the ground, and which was mounted with three heads — all with Tartar features, he said — baring their teeth in hideous grimaces. (41)
With Fire and Sword, however, has Horpyna. A beautiful giantess dressed as a man and valiant, who shows promise of great supernatural powers.
I had served long in Wallachia, where there are more vampires than people, but where there are weapons against them. I sprang from the horse and thrust my dagger into the ground. 'A vaunt! disappear!' and it groaned, seized the hilt of the dagger, and slipped down along the edge under the grass. I cut the ground in the form of a cross and rode off."
"Are there so many vampires in Wallachia, father?"
"Every other Wallachian after death becomes a vampire, and the Wallachian vampires are the worst of all. They call them brukolaki."
"And who is stronger, father,–the werewolf or the vampire?"
"The werewolf is stronger, but the vampire is more stubborn. If you are able to get the upper hand of the werewolf, he will serve you, but vampires are good for nothing except to follow blood. The werewolf is always ataman over the vampires."
"And Horpyna commands the werewolves?"
"Yes, surely. As long as she lives she will command them. If she had not power over them, then the ataman would not give her his cuckoo, for werewolves thirst for maiden's blood above all."
Vampires! Werewolves! Still:
The giantess herself who guards the princess is a powerful witch, intimate with devils who may warn her against us. I have, it is true, a bullet, which I moulded on consecrated wheat, for a common one would not take her; but besides there are probably whole regiments of vampires who guard the entrance.
I was so hoping for a supernatural turn and a novel all about Horpyna, yet these are left only as stories. Still, I greatly desire a visit to Wallachia, part of Romania.
Czeslaw MiloszfarmingHenryk SienkiewiczlandscapeLithuanianationalismpatriotismpeasantsPolandrebellionThe Issa ValleyUkraineWith Fire and Sword
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