четверг, 26 мая 2011 г.

Dido - White Flag

Dido - White Flag

White Flag

Исполнитель: Dido


I know you think that I shouldn't still
love you,
I'll tell you that.
But if I didn't say it,
Well I'd still have felt it

Where's the sense in that?

I promise I'm not trying to make
your life harder
Or return to where we were

Chorus:
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

I know I left too much mess and
destruction to come back again

And I caused but nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me
again
And if you live by the rules of
"it's over"
Then I'm sure that that makes sense

Chorus

And when we meet
Which I'm sure we will
All that was then
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on....

Chorus

Watermelon

Watermelon can be both the fruit and the plant of a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) plant originally from southern Africa, and is one of the most common types of melon. This flowering plant produces a special type of fruit known by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind (exocarp) and fleshy center (mesocarp and endocarp); pepos are derived from an inferior ovary, and are characteristic of the Cucurbitaceae. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), has a smooth exterior rind (green, yellow and sometimes white) and a juicy, sweet interior flesh (usually pink, but sometimes orange, yellow, red and sometimes green if not ripe). It is also commonly used to make a variety of salads, most notably fruit salad.
A watermelon contains about 6% sugar and 92% water by weight. As with many other fruits, it is a source of vitamin C.
Notable is the inner rind of the watermelon, which is usually a light green or white color. This area is edible and contains many hidden nutrients that most people avoid eating due to its unappealing flavor.
The amino acid citrulline was first extracted from watermelon and analysed. Watermelons contain a significant amount of citrulline and after consumption of several kg, an elevated concentration is measured in the blood plasma; this could be mistaken for citrullinaemia or other urea cycle disorders.
Watermelon rinds are also edible, and sometimes used as a vegetable. In China, they are stir-fried, stewed or more often pickled. When stir-fried, the de-skinned and de-fruited rind is cooked with olive oil, garlic, chili peppers, scallions, sugar and rum. Pickled watermelon rind is also commonly consumed in the Southern US. Watermelon juice can also be made into wine.
Watermelon is also mildly diuretic.
Watermelons contain large amounts of beta carotene.
Watermelon with red flesh is a significant source of lycopene.

Painting

Painting - direct application of pigment to a surface to produce by tones of color or of light and dark some representation or decorative arrangement of natural or imagined forms.
Materials and Techniques
Painters use a number of materials to produce the effects they desire. These include the materials of the surface, or ground; the pigments employed; the binder, or medium, in which the color is mixed; and its diluting agent. Among the various media used by artists are fresco, watercolor, oil, distemper, gouache, tempera, and encaustic. In addition to these, painting properly embraces many other techniques ordinarily associated with drawing, a term that is often used to refer to the linear aspects of the same art.
If painting and drawing are not always clearly distinguishable from each other, both are to be distinguished from the print (or work of graphic art), in which the design is not produced directly but is transferred from another surface to that which it decorates. While the print may be one of many identical works, the painting or drawing is always unique. Painting has been freely combined with many other arts, including sculpture, architecture, and, in the modern era, photography.
History
In ancient Greece and medieval Europe most buildings and sculptures were painted; nearly all of the ancient decoration has been lost, but some works from Egypt have preserved their coloring and give us an insight into the importance such an art can assume. The art of painting in China was linked from the 1st cent. AD with the development of the Buddhist faith. Early Christian and then Byzantine artists established iconographic and stylistic prototypes in wall painting and manuscript illumination that remained the basis for Christian art (see iconography).
Highly spiritualized in concept, the medieval painting tradition gave way to a more worldly orientation with the development of Renaissance art. The murals of Giotto became a vehicle for the expression of new and living ideas and sentiments. At the height of the Renaissance a large proportion of the works were decorations of walls and altarpieces, which were necessarily conceived in terms of their part in a larger decorative whole and their appeal for a large public. The greatest masterpieces of Raphael and Michelangelo and of the Florentine masters are generally public works of this character. The same period also saw the rise of the separate easel painting and the first use of oil on canvas. Simultaneously are found the beginnings of genre and other secular themes and the elaboration of portraiture.
Basing their art on the technical contributions of the Renaissance, e.g., the study of perspective and anatomy, the baroque masters added a virtuosity of execution and a style of unparalleled drama. From the age of the rococo, painting tended in the direction of greater intimacy. It is noteworthy, for example, that many of the masterpieces of the 19th cent., and particularly of impressionism, are small easel paintings suitable for the private home. The same period saw the rise of the large public gallery with both temporary and permanent exhibitions, an institution greatly expanded in the 20th cent.
A reawakened interest in mural painting and the contributions of painting to such arts as the motion picture and video have led some to believe that a return to a greater emphasis on the public functions of the art is taking place. Such a view can find support in the notable influence of abstract painting in the fields of industrial and architectural design. This art also continues to enjoy undiminished popularity in the home and gallery. Painting has had a long and glorious world history as an independent art. From Giotto to Picasso and from Ma Yuan to Hokusai, painting has never ceased to produce great exponents who have expressed not merely the taste but the aspirations, the concepts of space, form, and color, and the philosophy of their respective periods.

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Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square, set in central London, is one of Britain's great tourist attractions. A visit to the capital would be incomplete without going to marvel at Nelsons Column and the four giant lions at its base, or to admire the lovely splashing fountains and to feed the pigeons, who have made their home here. Built to commemorate Admiral Nelson, the square was named after the Spanish Cape Trafalgar where his last battle was won.
It was John Nash, who designed the first layout of the square in the 1820's. Although he didn't live to see its completion, his Neo-classical design was adhered to, achieving the unified effect of the beautiful buildings we admire today. Building of the square began in 1829 and was still being developed into the 1840's.
The National Gallery occupies the north side of the square. In the stone under the balustrade, you can see the Imperial Standards of Length (1 foot, 2 feet, 1 yard etc.).
On the east side is South Africa House, with African animals featured on the stone arches. Sir Robert Smirke, who designed The British Museum, also created Canada House, on the west side. Now open to the public, Canada House is worth a visit to enjoy the original classical interior, and to see the interesting changing exhibitions on view. Visiting Canadians may be interested to know that they can read the Canadian newspapers, browse on line, or send and receive emails in Canada House.
The chartists assembled in Trafalgar Square in 1848 and since then, it has been a favourite meeting place for demonstrators and marchers, trying to gain attention for their cause.
Each year in December, the people of Norway send a gift of an enormous Christmas Tree to Britain, which is erected in Trafalgar Square. This is in thanks for Britain's part in their liberation during the second world war. One of the unforgettable sights of London is to see the giant tree after dark, when it is lit by hundreds of twinkling fairy lights, carol singers grouped around, while floodlights illuminate the sparkling water in the fountains of the square. This picture is depicted on many Christmas cards, sent all over the world each year.
The equestrian statue of Charles I at the south end of the square is noteworthy, as being the original site of Charing Cross. This is the spot from which all 'distances from London' are measured. Edward I erected a cross here in 1290, the last of twelve marking the resting places of the funeral cortege of his wife Eleanor as it made its way from Nottinghamshire to Westminster Abbey. The cross remained on this spot, until its removal during the civil war in the mid 17th century. A replica was placed in the forecourt to Charing Cross Station two centuries later.
Surrounding Nelson are statues of other distinguished men. On either side, are the bronze statues of Sir Henry Havelock and Sir Charles James Napier both Victorian major generals. Fronting the north wall are busts of Beatty, Jellicoe and Cunningham all famous military leaders. In the north east corner, is a statue of George IV on horseback, commissioned by him, while in the opposite corner the pedestal does not yet have a permanent statue.

Architecture

Architecture the art of building in which human requirements and construction materials are related so as to furnish practical use as well as an aesthetic solution, thus differing from the pure utility of engineering construction. As an art, architecture is essentially abstract and nonrepresentational and involves the manipulation of the relationships of spaces, volumes, planes, masses, and voids. Time is also an important factor in architecture, since a building is usually comprehended in a succession of experiences rather than all at once. In most architecture there is no one vantage point from which the whole structure can be understood. The use of light and shadow, as well as surface decoration, can greatly enhance a structure.
The analysis of building types provides an insight into past cultures and eras. Behind each of the greater styles lies not a casual trend nor a vogue, but a period of serious and urgent experimentation directed toward answering the needs of a specific way of life. Climate, methods of labor, available materials, and economy of means all impose their dictates. Each of the greater styles has been aided by the discovery of new construction methods. Once developed, a method survives tenaciously, giving way only when social changes or new building techniques have reduced it. That evolutionary process is exemplified by the history of modern architecture, which developed from the first uses of structural iron and steel in the mid-19th cent.
Until the 20th cent. there were three great developments in architectural construction—the post-and-lintel, or trabeated, system; the arch system, either the cohesive type, employing plastic materials hardening into a homogeneous mass, or the thrust type, in which the loads are received and counterbalanced at definite points; and the modern steel-skeleton system. In the 20th cent. new forms of building have been devised, with the use of reinforced concrete and the development of geodesic and stressed-skin (light material, reinforced) structures.
See also articles under countries, e.g., American architecture; styles, e.g., baroque; periods, e.g., Gothic architecture and art; individual architects, e.g., Andrea Palladio; individual stylistic and structural elements, e.g., tracery, orientation; specific building types, e.g., pagoda, apartment house.
Architecture of the Ancient World
In Egyptian architecture, to which belong some of the earliest extant structures to be called architecture (erected by the Egyptians before 3000 BC), the post-and-lintel system was employed exclusively and produced the earliest stone columnar buildings in history. The architecture of W Asia from the same era employed the same system; however, arched construction was also known and used. The Chaldaeans and Assyrians, dependent upon clay as their chief material, built vaulted roofs of damp mud bricks that adhered to form a solid shell.
After generations of experimentation with buildings of limited variety the Greeks gave to the simple post-and-lintel system the purest, most perfect expression it was to attain (see Parthenon ; orders of architecture). Roman architecture, borrowing and combining the columns of Greece and the arches of Asia, produced a wide variety of monumental buildings throughout the Western world. Their momentous invention of concrete enabled the imperial builders to exploit successfully the vault construction of W Asia and to cover vast unbroken floor spaces with great vaults and domes, as in the rebuilt Pantheon (2d cent. AD; see under pantheon).
The Evolution of Styles in the Christian Era
The Romans and the early Christians also used the wooden truss for roofing the wide spans of their basilica halls. Neither Greek, Chinese, nor Japanese architecture used the vault system of construction. However, in the Asian division of the Roman Empire, vault development continued; Byzantine architects experimented with new principles and developed the pendentive, used brilliantly in the 6th cent. for the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
The Romanesque architecture of the early Middle Ages was notable for strong, simple, massive forms and vaults executed in cut stone. In Lombard Romanesque (11th cent.) the Byzantine concentration of vault thrusts was improved by the device of ribs and of piers to support them. The idea of an organic supporting and buttressing skeleton of masonry (see buttress), here appearing in embryo, became the vitalizing aim of the medieval builders. In 13th-century Gothic architecture it emerged in perfected form, as in the Amiens and Chartres cathedrals.
The birth of Renaissance architecture (15th cent.) inaugurated a period of several hundred years in Western architecture during which the multiple and complex buildings of the modern world began to emerge, while at the same time no new and compelling structural conceptions appeared. The forms and ornaments of Roman antiquity were resuscitated again and again and were ordered into numberless new combinations, and structure served chiefly as a convenient tool for attaining these effects. The complex, highly decorated baroque style was the chief manifestation of the 17th-century architectural aesthetic. The Georgian style was among architecture's notable 18th-century expressions (see Georgian architecture ). The first half of the 19th cent. was given over to the classic revival and the Gothic revival.
New World, New Architectures
The architects of the later 19th cent. found themselves in a world being reshaped by science, industry, and speed. A new eclecticism arose, such as the architecture based on the Ecole des Beaux-Arts , and what is commonly called Victorian architecture in Britain and the United States. The needs of a new society pressed them, while steel, reinforced concrete, and electricity were among the many new technical means at their disposal.
After more than a half-century of assimilation and experimentation, modern architecture, often called the International style, produced an astonishing variety of daring and original buildings, often steel substructures sheathed in glass. The Bauhaus was a strong influence on modern architecture. As the line between architecture and engineering became a shadow, 20th-century architecture often approached engineering, and modern works of engineering—airplane hangars, for example—often aimed at and achieved an undeniable beauty. More recently, postmodern architecture (see postmodernism), which exploits and expands the technical innovations of modernism while often incorporating stylistic elements from other architectural styles or periods, has become an international movement.

четверг, 7 апреля 2011 г.

Louisa May Alcott



Biography

Louisa May Alcott (born Louisa May Alcott; November 29, 1832 - March 6, 1888) - American writer, who became famous in 1868 published the novel "Little Women", which was based on memories of her growing up in a society of three sisters.
The future writer was born in a poor family friendly. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott (1799 - 1888) was the son of a poor farmer. As a boy he learned to read and write independently, and then stubbornly engaged in self-education, has become one of the most educated men and philosophers of his time. Hot partisan transcendentalism, a friend and admirer of Emerson and Thoreau, he was an innovator in the field of education and founder of several schools in the states of Pennsylvania, and Concord, as well as in Boston. In his teaching he was trying to bring to life the idea of self-education through self-analysis. In his school teacher's role was reduced to give advice to students and the curriculum included not only the general subjects, but also painting, music, nature study, physical education. Not all parents of his students understood and accepted his progressive ideas, so he founded schools are often closed, and the family was forced to move to a new location. (For thirty years, Alcott perezzhali about 20 times.) Later, his ideas have gained recognition in the period 1859 - 1864 he worked as an inspector of schools in Concord. In 1879 he founded the Concord Summer School of Philosophy for adults who work 9 years until his death in 1888.
Mother Louise - Abigail May Alcott (1800 - 1877) - came from a high-born neo-English family. Household and raising four daughters required a lot of time and effort, but despite that Abigail, progressive-minded woman and a preacher of practical application of Christian virtues, to pay continued attention to charity, actively helped the poor, was a supporter of the abolition of slavery, supported women's rights movement and carried out in that the campaign period of the struggle for sobriety. She became the first paid social worker in Massachusetts.
Louisa May Alcott was the second of four daughters. Olcott family came from New England, but Louise was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When she was two years old, the family moved to Boston, where Amos Bronson Alcott founded an experimental school and joined the club transcendentalists, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. After several setbacks with the school, Alcott moved to Concord, Mass., where he joined a utopian settlement «Fruitlands», based transcendentalists. Education Louise and her three sisters (Anna, Elizabeth and May) was prepared at home under the guidance of his father, had a great influence on her and the circle of his friends: Emerson, Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller. She wrote about this in his essay «Transcendental Wild Oats», in 1876 and reprinted in the book «Silver Pitchers», devoted to the time spent in Olcott «Fruitlands». Currently, the house where the family lived Alcott, is a museum. The girls were friends with children Emerson and often put together in a neighbor's barn plays written by Louisa. Financial position of the family has always been difficult, and from early youth, Louise tries to find earnings: she was a seamstress, maid, companion, and then a teacher. The whole experience later became a source of material for her art. In 1922, Louise wrote her first book, "Fables of flowers» («Flower Fables»), which includes stories, composed for Ellen Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
During the Civil War served as a nurse in a military hospital in Georgetown. Impressions of the war years are reflected in the published in 1863, "The health essays" that attracted considerable interest in their author. Positive evaluation of the work criticized Alcott convinced that success is waiting for her in the way of images of real life rather than in descriptions of flights of fancy.
And she was right - the real fame came to her in 1868 when it was published the first part of the story "Little Women" tells the story of growing up a family of four daughters March: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. It was created at the request of the Boston publisher Thomas Niles, who asked Alcott to write a "book for girls. " Meg has served as the prototype of her older sister Anna, she expressed herself in the image of Joe, and the images of Beth and Amy were based on her younger sisters, Elizabeth and May, respectively. Unlike Jo March, his literary incarnation, Louisa May Alcott never married. The writer was at the center of public attention, and proceeds from the sale of this and the following books allowed her to provide material well-being of parents and devote himself entirely to literary work. The book's success prompted the writer to compose several related product stories.
Starting from 1868 new books Alcott appear almost annually, and each of them enthusiastically meet publishers and readers.
Throughout his career, Alcott also wrote autobiographical poems, essays, short stories, among them the "Work" (1873) and "transcendental enthusiasm of youth" (1873), as well as memories of Thoreau and Emerson.
In 1879, after the death of her sister May, the writer has taken the education of his two-year niece Louisa May Neriker (she was named in honor of my aunt, and even got the same family nickname - Lulu).
Later, Alcott became an active campaigner for women's rights and was the first woman registered to participate in elections in Concord, Massachusetts.
His last years were marred by Alcott painful disease. Mother's death, and several years later and his father, with whom Louise associated particularly good relationship, for it was a heavy blow. Despite failing health, Alcott continued to write until his death. She died in Boston March 6, 1888 from the effects of long-term mercury poisoning (due to typhoid fever a long time it took calomel), two days after the death of his father and was buried in Concord.

Bibliography

1849 - The Inheritance
1854 - Flower Fables
1863 - Hospital Sketches
1864 - The Rose Family: A Fairy Tale
1865 - Moods
1867 - Morning-Glories and Other Stories
1867 - The Mysterious Key and What It Opened
1868 - Little Women (English Little Women)
1868 - Three Proverb Stories (includes "Kitty's Class Day", "Aunt Kipp" and "Psyche's Art")
1869 - The good wife (born Good Wives), sequel to "Little Women"
1870 - An Old Fashioned Girl
1871 - Little Men (English Little Men)
1872/82 - Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag
1873 - Transcendental Wild Oats
1873 - Work: A Story of Experience
1875 - Rose and the seven brothers (born Eight Cousins or The Aunt-Hill)
1875 - Beginning Again, Being a Continuation of Work
1876 - Silver Pitchers, and Independence: A Centennial Love Story
1876 - Rose in Bloom: A Sequel to Eight Cousins
1878 - Under the Lilacs
1880 - Jack and Jill: A Village Story
1886 - Jo's Boys
1886/89 - Lulu's Library
1888 - A Garland for Girls
1893 - Comic Tragedies
 
A few days ago watching a screen version of the book "Little Women. " Connoisseurs retro and Katherine Hepburn worth looking at setting of 1933. Movies certainly beautiful and interesting, albeit many discrepancies.
 

четверг, 31 марта 2011 г.

Why are people guess on the flowers camomile ...

This guessing on so many simple and natural, that, unfortunately, no one seriously engaged in the research of its origin However, there is an old legend, which, though indirect talks about the ancient origins of divination in chamomile flowers In ancient times, lived in the light of a beautiful young girl, she was beautiful as the morning, like a gentle breeze and slender as a birch.





The girl was loved by name - Romashov. Young people are very fond of each other, their love was so sublime, that everyone around us seemed to love sent to them from the sky gods.
Once Romashov brought a gift to their favorite little flower with white petals and a sunny-red serdtsevinkoy.
Never before had she seen such a flower and hours admiring them. Its simple and modest beauty as if she were deducted from it. Delicate and beautiful fragrance conjures up thoughts of flower and did not leave her indifferent.
-Where have you extracted is a miracle? "- Asked the girl at her lover
At that Romashov said: "In my dream, I dreamed about you ... you - my love is like the sun in the night came to me in a dream and turned into the flower. And when I woke up, lay a flower at my bedside."
- What a beauty! Let's call it Daisy, by thy name - invited the girl.
And the young man did not mind.
- But is it a single flower in the whole wide world? Let's share our happiness with all the lovers. We gather as many of these colors and gave love to people - the girl said.
Romashov was perfectly aware that it is impossible to get flowers from a dream. But for the sake of their love, he vowed that he would fulfill the desire of the beloved.
How long have briefly wandered young man in search of the flower. But nowhere and no one even heard of it.
And just at the edge of zamli met Romashov keeper of dreams.
- I have what you're looking for! But for my flowers, if you really love, you will have to remain forever in my country. Then I will give thy boundless love chamomile field.
And Romashov agreed. For the sake of their love for the sake of his favorite, he was ready for anything.
Long waited for the girl of his beloved. But one day woke up I saw in front of his window an endless field of daisies ...
And she realized that Romashov her alive and that he is for it obtained the promise of flowers. And as she realized that never again see his beloved, and that she loved and always will love him just ...
The girl gave the chamomile flowers to people as a reminder of her pure and eternal love for his beloved.
People liked these flowers. 













And lovers all over the world tearing the petals from daisies to guess the elect, saying: "He loves - loves me not", remembering the eternal, faithful and tender love between two lovers.