Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
The Moscow Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia.  It was started in 1989.  It was the first orchestra that was started in modern Russia with private money, not with money from the government.  The orchestra have played under famous Russian conductors and with famous soloists, including Yuri Bashmet and Vadim Repin.

The orchestra's main conductor is Vladimir Ziva, and its main guest conductor is Ignat Solzhenitsyn.  The Orchestra have given concerts in United States, Japan, South Korea and Western Europe.

Other websites
 MSO official site

Russian music
Orchestras
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Saint Petersburg in Russia.  It is the oldest orchestra in Russia.  It has had several changes of name because of the way that Russia has often changed.

The orchestra started in 1882. It was then called the "Imperial Music Choir".  It was the orchestra that belonged to the emperor and it played privately for the court of Alexander III of Russia.  

By the 1900s it had started to give public performances.  Richard Strauss conducted the orchestra in 1912.
After the  Russian Revolution the country no longer had a tsar.  The town of Saint Petersburg changed its name to Petrograd, so the orchestra's name changed to "State Philharmonic Orchestra of Petrograd".  In the 1920s the orchestra began to get money from the state.  It was an excellent orchestra and was famous abroad.   Guest conductors who conducted the orchestra included Bruno Walter, Ernest Ansermet and Hans Knappertsbusch at this time.  Around this time the orchestra changed its name to Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, because the city had changed its name again, this time to "Leningrad".

Evgeny Mravinsky conducted the orchestra for 50 years.  They were not allowed to travel abroad, so they were only known outside Russia (the USSR) by their gramophone recordings.  Symphony no 8 by Shostakovich was one famous work of which they gave the first performance.
By 1991 Leningrad had changed its name again to Saint Petersburg, so the orchestra was renamed Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  It is an internationally well-known orchestra.  Their conductor today is Yuri Temirkanov.

Chief conductors
Yuri Temirkanov (1988–)
Evgeny Mravinsky (1938–1988)
Fritz Stiedry (1934–1937)
Aleksandr Gauk (1930–1934)
Nikolai Malko (1926–1930)
Valery Berdyaev (1924–1926)
Emil Cooper (1920–1923)
Alexander Khessin (1920)
Serge Koussevitzky (1917–1920)
Hugo Varlikh (1907–1917)
Hermann Fliege (1882–1907)

Other websites
Home page of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra 

Russian music
Saint Petersburg
Orchestras
Robert Gerard Tapert (born 14 May 1955) is an American movie producer. He produced Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Legend of the Seeker, all filmed in Auckland, New Zealand.  Tapert's partner is Sam Raimi. 

Tapert married Lucy Lawless on 28 March 1998. Together they have two sons, Julius Robert Bay Tapert (born 16 October 1999) and Judah Miro Tapert (born 7 May 2002). Tapert is stepdad to Lawless' daughter from a previous marriage, Daisy Lawless (born 15 July 1988).

1955 births
Living people
American movie producers
People from Michigan
Mouthpiece might mean:

 Mouthpiece (brass), a mouthpiece used for brass instruments
 Mouthpiece (woodwind), a mouthpiece used for woodwind instruments
 Mouthpiece (scuba), a mouthpiece used in scuba diving equipment
Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai
The NHK Symphony Orchestra is a Japanese orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan.  In Japanese it is written: NHK交響楽団, pronounced: Enueichikei Kōkyō Gakudan.  When the orchestra was started in 1926 it was called New Symphony Orchestra.  It was the first large professional orchestra in Japan.  Later, it changed its name to Japan Symphony Orchestra.  In 1951 it started to get money from the Japanese radio station NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), so it changed its name again to the name it has now. It is thought of as the best orchestra in Japan.  They have played in many parts of the world, including at the BBC Proms in London.

Vladimir Ashkenazy is the orchestra's main conductor (music director) and Charles Dutoit is music director emeritus. Wolfgang Sawallisch is honorary conductor laureate.
Permanent Conductors, Music Directors and Principal Guest Conductors
Josef König (April 1927–April 1929)
Hidemaro Konoye (January 1926–February 1935)
Nicolai Schifferblatt (July 1929–July 1936)
Joseph Rosenstock (August 1936–September 1946 full-time conductor; March 1956–March 1957 Principal Conductor)
Hisatada Otaka (April 1942–February 1951 full-time conductor)
Kazuo Yamada (April 1942–July 1951 full-time conductor)
Shin'ichi Takata (April 1944–May 1951 full-time conductor)
Kurt Wöss (September 1951–August 1954 Principal Conductor)
Niklaus Aeschbacher (August 1954–March 1956 Principal Conductor)
Wilhelm Loibner (March 1957–February 1959 Principal Conductor)
Wilhelm Schuchter (February 1959–March 1962 Principal Conductor)
Alexander Rumpf (August 1964–July 1965 Principal Conductor)
Hiroyuki Iwaki (February 1969–June 2006 Permanent Conductor)
Yuzo Toyama (February 1979– Permanent Conductor)
Tadashi Mori (February 1979–May 1987 Permanent Conductor)
Hiroshi Wakasugi (April 1995–July 2009 Permanent Conductor)
Charles Dutoit (September 1996–August 1998 Principal Conductor; September 1998–August 2003 Music Director)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (September 2004–August 2007 Music Director)
André Previn, KBE (September 2009– Principal Guest Conductor)
Tadaaki Otaka, CBE (January 2010– Permanent Conductor)
Honorary Conductors
Vladimir Ashkenazy (September 2007– Conductor Laureate)
Charles Dutoit (September 2003– Music Director Emeritus)
Herbert Blomstedt (January 1986–)
Horst Stein (March 1975–)
Otmar Suitner (January 1973–)
Wolfgang Sawallisch (January 1967–October 1994; November 1994– Honorary Conductor Laureate)
Lovro von Matačić (January 1967–January 1985)
Joseph Keilberth (January 1967–July 1968)
Joseph Rosenstock (August 1951–October 1985)

Other websites
Official Web site

Orchestras
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv is the most famous orchestra in Israel.  It is usually called the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, or abbreviated IPO.  In Hebrew it is written: , pronounced: ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisre'elit. It was started in 1936 by the violinist Bronisław Huberman when it was known as the Palestine Orchestra. At this time the Nazis were in power in Germany and Jews were being persecuted.  Many European orchestras were getting rid of their Jewish musicians.  The orchestra gave their first concert in Tel Aviv on 26 December 1936, and was conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

The orchestra tours to many parts of the world.  In 1971 they visited Germany.  Some of the world's greatest conductors have conducted the orchestra.  Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta in particular have had a close relationship with them.  They did not have a main conductor until 1977 when Mehta was made Music Director.  
 
The IPO have made many recordings with Mehta, and also with Bernstein.
After 1938 the orchestra have refused to play the music of Richard Wagner because he was anti-Jewish.

Musical Advisors/Music Directors 
Until 1977 the orchestra had no Music Directors. The conductors most closely associated with the orchestra were called musical advisors.
 Zubin Mehta (1968–) (Musical Advisor 1968–1977; Music Director thereafter)
 Jean Martinon (1957–1959) 
 Bernardino Molinari
 Paul Paray (1949–1951) 
 Leonard Bernstein (1947–1949; Laureate Conductor 1947-1990)
 William Steinberg (1936–1938)

Other websites 
 Israel Philharmonic Orchestra official website

Israeli music
Orchestras
The Metropolitan Opera Association is a big organization in New York City which puts on performances of opera. The Metropolitan Opera House (often simply called: The Met) is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. It was started in 1880. Today the music director is Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Other websites 
 The Metropolitan Opera 

Opera houses
Non-profit organizations of New York (state)
Organizations in New York City
1880 establishments in the United States
1880s establishments in New York (state)
Music in New York City
The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is the part which the player blows into.

Single-reed instruments
On single-reed instruments like a clarinet or saxophone the mouthpiece is shaped like a wedge. The reed is placed near the player's bottom lip. This area is called the table. When the player blows, the reed vibrates. This is then made louder by the instrument.

The shape of the inside of the mouthpiece can change the sound very much. The sound made by a mouthpiece that is large and round will be very different from the sound made by a mouthpiece that is small and square.

The space between the end of the reed and the end of the mouthpiece is called the tip opening.

The facing (or lay) is the part of the reed that starts to curve around the end of the mouthpiece. The length of the facing can change the response of the instrument.
The ligature is what holds the reed onto the mouthpiece. Anything that can hold the reed onto the mouthpiece can be called a ligature. Most ligatures are made from metal or plastic. Some people like to use ordinary string to hold the reed onto the mouthpiece.

Related pages
 Mouthpiece (brass), a mouthpiece used for brass instruments.

Woodwind instruments
Musical instrument construction
The Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra) is a youth orchestra from Venezuela.  The musicians are nearly all in their 20s.  The orchestra was started by the economist José Antonio Abreu in 1975.  Children from poor backgrounds had been given the opportunity, by the Venezuelan government, to learn a musical instrument.  The orchestra consists of some of the best of these players.

The conductor Gustavo Dudamel has been the orchestra's artistic director since 1999.  They have made recordings of music by Beethoven as well as Latin American music.

They became internationally famous when they played at the BBC Proms in London in August 2007.

Other websites
 El Sistema's official website (FESNOJIV) 

Youth orchestras
The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is an orchestra for young people from countries in the European Union. The orchestra is given money by the European Union and by a number of EU member states. It gives young players experience at working together with some of the world's best music teachers and conductors.

The orchestra was started in 1978. Some of the greatest conductors have worked with the EUYO, including Herbert von Karajan, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Claudio Abbado.

Other websites 
 EUYO website 

Youth orchestras
Wiener Schnitzel (Viennese schnitzel in German, where Schnitzel means a   without bones) is a traditional Austrian dish and is a popular part of Viennese and Austrian cuisine, consisting of a thin slice of veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried. 
In Austria the dish is traditionally served with a lemon slice, lingonberry jam and either potato salad or potatoes with parsley and butter.  While the traditional Wiener Schnitzel is made of veal, it is now sometimes made of pork, though in that case it is often called Schnitzel Wiener Art (Germany) (Viennese style schnitzel) or Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein (Austria) (Viennese schnitzel from the pig) to differentiate it from the original. In Austria, the term Wiener Schnitzel is protected by law, and any schnitzel called by that name has to be made from veal.
The dish may have originated in Milan, northern Italy, as cotoletta alla milanese, and may have appeared in Vienna during the 15th or 16th century. According to another theory, it was introduced in 1857 by Field Marshal Radetzky, who spent much of his life in Milan. The term Wiener Schnitzel itself dates to at least 1862.
Schnitzel Around the World 

Schnitzel is often mistaken for sausage in the modern American society. What many Americans do not realize about schnitzel is that its part of the melting pot of American cultures. For example, German immigrants to Texas in the 1800s combined schnitzel recipes to make chicken fried steak -- popular in the southwest U.S.A.. Chicken tenders are similar to Schnitzel as well.

Even Israel has its own type of schnitzel. Areas with large German populations like Argentina also carry schnitzel.

Even though schnitzel is often served as a platter, it comes in sandwiches as well. If it's a platter, it usually comes with "Spätzle" -- German egg noodles.

References

Meat dishes

German food

Austrian food
A gel is a semi-solid substance material which usually wobbles.

By weight, gels are mostly liquid. But gels also behave like solids. They have a three-dimensional cross-linked network within the liquid. It is the crosslinks in the fluid that give a gel its structure. 

As colloids, gels are a dispersion of molecules of a liquid within a solid. In a gel, the solid is the continuous phase; the liquid is the discontinuous phase.

Examples: Jellies, agar, contact lenses, organic slime.

Physical chemistry
Materials
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is a Spanish mission. It was founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1772. It is on the central coast of California, halfway between San Diego and Monterey. It was named after Saint Louis, the bishop of Toulouse. It was the fifth of twenty-one missions in California.  Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is noted for its beautiful architectural features, mission life, and historical events.
Design
Mission San Luis Obispo is different from all the other' missions' because it is one of the smallest and has a unique design. The design has both belfry (a bell tower) and a vestibule, which is an entrance hall between the outer door and the interior of a building. These are not found on any of the other California missions. The main nave (the long entrance part of the church) is long and narrow. At San Luis Obispo there is a secondary nave that is the same size and at the right of the altar. This is the only "L"-shaped mission church. Windows around the courtyard have round pillars with square opening, unlike the arches of other missions.  San Luis Obispo is painted white and is surrounded by gardens, wine vineyards, and a fountain.

Mission Life  
Mission life was hard for the California Indians because they had to work hard and study Catholic Religon.
Women had to cook, sew, garden, and make candles and soap. Men had to farm and care for the animals while the older people had to fish and make arrows.  The children attended church every day to study Catholicism.  When their studies were done they would work hard helping their families.  The Spanish introduced the gun to the Chumash.  The Hupa were grateful for the Spaniard guns as they depended on them for hunting bears for food.  The Chumash helped these Spaniards build the missions and take care of it and its surrounding
Other hostile Indians attacked San Luis Obispo on three separate occasions before 1774.  During the attack, the thatched roofs of the mission buildings were set afire by blazing arrows.  In May 1807, the mission was designated as one of six in which the California priests could make their annual retreats for spiritual exercises.  Following Mexico's war against Spain in 1810, all the California missions were forced to contribute food and clothing to the army. In 1830, the bell tower was destroyed in an earthquake, but was later rebuilt with stone.
Today, the mission serves as a parish church of the diocese of Monterey.

References
Title: The Missions of California Mission San Louis Obispo de Tolosa
Author:  Mary Null Boule
Publisher:  Meryant Publishing Inc.
Date:  July 1988
Placed Published:  Vashon, Washington

Mission San Louis Obispo de Tolosa (http://www.missionsanluisobispo.org/)
Retrieved:  February 15, 2009

Mission San Louis Obispo de Tolosa (http://www.californias-missions.org/individual/mission_slo.htm)
Retrieved:  February 15, 2009

Churches in the United States
Museums in California
1772 establishments in North America
History of California
18th-century establishments in California
You Nazty Spy! is the 44th short movie by The Three Stooges.  It was the first Hollywood movie to make fun of Adolf Hitler.  In the movie, Germany is replaced by the pretend country of Moronica and the Hitler-type character is called Moe Hailstone, and is played by Stooge Moe Howard. This made Howard the first US actor to play Hitler.

It was directed by Jules White.

Other websites 
 

American comedy movies
1940 movies
Columbia Pictures movies
English-language movies
Movies about Adolf Hitler
Mačvanska Mitrovica (Мачванска Митровица) is a town located in the Sremska Mitrovica province, in the Srem, province of Serbia. It is in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. In the town are around all population: Serbs ethnic and its population numbering 3,896 people (according to the census 2002).

Settlements in Serbia
Troll is a 1986 horror movie. It has no relation to the movies Troll 2 and Troll 3.

1986 horror movies
American horror movies
Italian movies
American independent movies
Troll 2 is a 1990 horror comedy movie, directed by Claudio Fragasso, under the pseudonym Drake Floyd. During production, the movie was known as Goblins, and some foreign releases of the movie were labeled as such, but upon release in the United States, the title was changed to Troll 2 in an attempt to help sell the movie by connecting it to an established horror movie, the 1986 Empire Pictures movie Troll. The two movies, however, have no connection apart from the title. In fact, despite the title, no actual trolls appear in Troll 2.

This movie has a sequel, Troll 3.

English-language movies
1990 horror movies
1990 comedy movies
American horror movies
American comedy movies
Italian horror movies
Boris Tadić (; born on January 15, 1958 63 in Sarajevo) is a former president of Serbia. He is involved in psychology and he is also the current president of the Democratic Party (Serbia). Tadić was elected for president on June 27, 2004 with a five-year term of office. On July 11, 2004 he passed the oath of president. Second five-year mandate he received by winning on the president elections on February 3, 2008. Before applying for president of Serbia, he was a Minister of Telecommunications in Yugoslav government and a minister of defense in Serbo-Montenegrin's government.

1958 births
Living people
Presidents of Serbia
People from Sarajevo
.gu is the Internet abbreviation of country (top-level domain) (ccTLD) for Guam.

Top-level domains
Swindon Town F.C. are an English football club.  They are based in Swindon and play in Football League One.  They play their home games at the County Ground.

League position

Former position

English football clubs
Swindon
1879 establishments in England
The County Ground is an association football stadium.  It is the home stadium of Swindon Town F.C.

Football stadiums in England
1896 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in Wiltshire
The coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) is a distant relative of the true swan. Many specialists merge this genus, Coscoroba, with ducks, like whistling ducks. The coscoroba swan is found in South America from southern Chile and central Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.

Recent genetic studies have found a relationship between this species and Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae). They are sister groups.

References

Other websites 
Birdlife.  

Swans
Birds of South America
Pitchfork Media is a daily music webzine.  It is based in Chicago, United States. Its focus is on independent music, especially indie rock.

Pitchfork was made in 1995. It talks about new music, but journalists there also review albums that have been released again.

Each year Pitchfork chooses an Album of the Year. Since 2003 they have chose a Track of the Year each year too.

References 

1995 establishments in Illinois
Companies based in Chicago
Entertainment websites
Music critics
Ultratop is the name of the official Belgian record charts. Due to the two different regions (Flanders and Wallonia) there are two different record charts. In Flanders the most important charts are the Ultratop 50 Singles and the Ultratop 200 Albums. In Wallonia the most important charts are the Ultratop 40 Singles and the Ultratop 200 Albums. The rankings in these charts are based on record sales.

Belgian culture
Record charts
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment magazine.  It is published in the United States.

In 2005, Paste was listed at #21 on The Chicago Tribune's list of "50 Best Magazines". Paste appeared on that newspaper's list again in 2007. Paste was also named "Magazine of the Year" by the PLUG Independent Music Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Paste was nominated for a National Magazine Award in the category of General .

Music magazines
The tambourine is a common percussion instrument. 

The tambourine looks like a small hand-held drum. But in addition to the skin (drumhead) there are also small pairs of jingles - like tiny cymbals - in slots around the frame.  However, tambourines come in many types. Some are made without a skin, particularly for use in schools. The tambourine came to Europe through the Arabs who brought it to Italy and Spain.

How to play a tambourine
The tambourine is usually held in the hand.  The jingles can be made to sound by hitting the frame of the instrument with the other hand, or by shaking the instrument. Often the player will hold the instrument high in the air. This not only looks good, but it can also be heard well.  The other hand can tap rhythms on the skin which makes it sound like a drum as well as making the jingles sound.  It can be hit by the knuckles, or with the finger tips, or the flat of the hand or the back of the hand.  It can also be hit against the side of the leg.  A good player with a good tambourine can sometimes create a nice effect with a "thumb roll".  This is done by making the tip of the thumb slightly wet and then moving it fast along the edge of the skin so that the thumb bounces very fast.

It is also possible to put the instrument, with the head up, on the player's lap or on a table or chair, and play with the fingers or with drumsticks.
When a tambourine is used in an orchestra it is usually just one tambourine, although Berlioz asked for two tambourines in his overture Le carnaval romain. It is very often used in music which sounds Italian or Spanish.  It nearly always makes music sound very lively, for example in the second movement of Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto.

References
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments - Könemann, 
Orchestration - Walter Piston (London 1965)

Percussion instruments
A tachyon is any hypothetical particle that can travel faster than the speed of light. 

Most scientists do not believe that tachyons exist. Einstein's theory of special relativity states that nothing can accelerate faster than the speed of light, while tachyons are theorized to be constantly traveling faster than the speed of light. If a tachyon did exist, it would have an imaginary number as its mass.

History
E. C. G. Sudarshan, V.K Deshpande and Baidyanath Misra were the first to propose the existence of particles faster than light and named them "meta-particles". After that the possibility of particles moving faster than light was also proposed by Robert Ehrlich and Arnold Sommerfeld, independently of each other. Lately, Similar concept was coined with the term "tachyon" by Gerald Feinberg in  1967.
In September 2011, it was reported that a tau neutrino had traveled faster than the speed of light in a major release by CERN; however, later updates from CERN on the OPERA project indicate that the faster-than-light readings were resultant from "a faulty element of the experiment's fibre optic timing system".

Other meaning: imaginary mass field
In modern physics the term "tachyon" often refers to imaginary mass fields rather than to faster-than-light particles. The idea of those mass fields, comes in part from Quantum field theory, and Classical field theory.

Imaginary mass fields fields have come to play an important role in modern physics.

References 

Subatomic particles
Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He was the director of all the High School Musical movies.

Filmography and concerts

Awards

References

1950 births
Living people
American movie directors
People from Palo Alto, California
Gelatin is a protein substance that comes from collagen. Collagen is a natural protein found in the tendons, ligaments, and tissues of mammals as well as fish. Gelatin has no smell, no taste, and is either colorless or light yellow. It can be found in sheets, flakes, or as a powder. It can be dissolved in water, but not in alcohol. 

It is made by boiling the connective tissues, bones and skins of animals, usually cows and pigs. Once the boiling is done, the collagen will cool and make a jelly.  As a food, gelatin is used to make jellied desserts; used in the preservation of fruit and meat, and to make powdered milk.  Gelatin can also be used as glue for matches or for paper money. You can also find it used as the syrup in medicine, also known as medicine emulsions. Gelatin is also found in some makeup.

Gelatin is classed as a liquid when above room temperature but reverts to a solid if below room temperature.
Because gelatin comes from animals, vegetarians and vegans do not eat or use products that have gelatin added. Some religious or cultural groups also do not eat gelatin because of the animals used to make it. For example, people that keep kosher or halal will not eat gelatin because it is often made from cows. Alternatives to gelatin are products like agar or carrageenan which comes from seaweed or pectin which comes from plants.

References 

Proteins
Animal tissues
Naturist Christians are the Christians who practice naturism or nudism, and are a part of the clothes-free movement. They believe that the human body was the greatest making of God. It is  not shameful and should not be covered. Naturist Christians can be found in almost all of the different groups of Christianity, called "denominations". They do not find any conflict with the teachings of the Bible, and living their lives and worshiping God without any clothing. However, most have various differences with New Age and man-centered philosophy (called "humanism") which is common among other naturists and wish to be separated from it. This includes not worshiping nature at all.

Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden

In the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden as 'man and wife' . They ate the fruit not allowed by God, after being talked into it by the devil in the form of a snake. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So, they gathered fig leaves to be used as simple clothing to cover their sexual organs. These became lacking very quickly, and Adam and Eve hid themselves from God in the trees.

 God to Adam (with Eve) "Who told you that you are naked?" ()

naturism
Christian movements and denominational families
Lake Eyre (pronounced "air") is the lowest point in Australia, at about   below sea level. When it fills with water, it is the largest lake in Australia, being  long and  wide. It is also in the driest part of Australia, getting only about  of rain each year. It is in the north of South Australia, about  north of Adelaide. The lake was named after the explorer, Edward Eyre, who was the first Europen to see it in 1840. It is the centre of the Lake Eyre National Park.

Geography 

Lake Eyre is in the driest desert region of central Australia. It is a large endorheic lake system, which means that the water flows in, but does not flow out. As the water evaporates, the lake dries up leaving a dry salt lake. The lake does not usually completely dry up, there is often water in small areas on the lake surface. The rate that the water dries up is  per year, that is about 20 times more than the rainfall in the area.
Filling up 
During the wet season the rivers from Queensland flow towards the lake through the Channel Country. These rivers drain about one sixth of Australia, an area the size of Spain. How much water reaches the lake depends on how rain falls in Queensland. Since 1885 the lake has filled in 1886/1887, 1889/1890, 1916/1917, 1950, 1955 and 1974-1976. In 1974 Lake Eyre was  deep. Local rain filled Lake Eyre to  in 1984 and 1989. Very heavy rain in January 2007 took about six weeks to reach the lake but put only a small amount of water into it. In February 2009, water from flooding rains in Queensland were flowing along the creeks to the lake covering about 40 km per day. The lake fills to about  every three years, to , every ten years, and fills up about four times every 100 years.
Drying up 
When Lake Eyre is full, the water is almost fresh and native fresh water fish can live in it. The lake becomes saltier as the  salt crust dissolves over six months. This kills millions of fish. When about 4m deep the Lake is as salty as the sea. It becomes more salty as the water evaporates. At about 500mm depth the Lake becomes a "pink" color because of a beta-carotene pigment made by the algae Dunaliella salina.

Early history 
Beaches made by wave action suggest that during the Medieval Warm Period Lake Eyre possibly held permanent water at levels above those of 1974.

The local Aboriginal people, the Arabunna people, have stories that explain the creation of Lake Eyre. These stories are part of their sacred traditions, and are only told to initiated people.
Animal and bird life 
Fresh water fish found in the full lake include boney bream (Nematolosa erebi), the Lake Eyre Basin sub-species of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and various small hardyhead species (Craterocephalus spp). The Lake Eyre hardyhead, can live in water up to 15 times saltier than the ocean.

When there is water more than 8 million birds, from more than 60 different species, flock to the lake. The pelicans are usually the first to arrive, followed by silver gulls, hoary headed grebes, Australasian grebes, cormorants, ducks, banded stilts, kites, falcons and wedge tailed eagles. Scientists still do not know how the birds know when the lake holds water.

There is also a lizard, the Lake Eyre Dragon, Ctenophorus   maculosus, that lives in the cool mud below the salt crust of the lake.
Yacht club 
The Lake Eyre Yacht Club is a small group of people who sail on the lake's floods, including recent trips in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2009. A number of 6 m Trailer Sailers sailed on Lake Eyre in 1975, 1976 and 1984 when the flood depth reached 3–6 m.

Land speed record attempts 

The salt crust on the lake is not thick and can break like glass under a person's weight. At Level Post Bay, the crust is more than one metre thick, and because of its flat surface it has been the site for various land speed record attempts. In 1964, British driver, Sir Donald Campbell, set a new record of , in the Bluebird-Proteus CN7.

Related pages
 List of lakes

References

Other websites

 NASA Earth Observatory pages on Lake Eyre: 
Fluctuations of Lake Eyre, South Australia 
Lake Eyre, South Australia 
 Lake Eyre Yacht Club website
 Lake Eyre pelican mystery 
 Floods of Lake Eyre - Dr Vincent Kotwicki's site 
 Website for the Arabunna people of Lake Eyre 

Lakes of South Australia
Castanets are percussion instruments which come from Spain.  They are often used in an orchestra.  Castanets are hollowed-out wooden shells.  A hardwood such as ebony or rosewood is used.

Castanets are used in pairs.  Traditionally two pairs are played together, one pair held in each hand.  There is a string which passes through small holes in the shells.  The player winds the string around the thumb and finger so that the two shells can be clicked together.  The two pairs of castanets used are slightly different sizes so that they make a slightly different pitch. The higher pair, known as hembra (female), is usually held in the right hand, with the larger macho (male) pair held in the left.

Castanets are traditionally played by singers and dancers.  Spanish folk dancers often use castanets.  They are often associated with flamenco dancing.
When they are played in an orchestra they are often attached to a stand.  The technique of playing is therefore different.  They can be tapped by the fingers and palm of the hand.  They are often used in music which is supposed to sound Spanish.  In ballet and opera they are used to accompany Spanish dances.  Carmen, the character in Bizet's opera Carmen, sings a song and accompanies herself on the castanets.  Usually the opera singer does not have the skill to play them, so the castanets are played by a percussion player in the orchestra while Carmen pretends to be playing them.

References
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, Könemann; 

Percussion instruments
Peravia is a province in along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is Baní.

History
The province was created in 1944 with the name of Baní Province, with the municipal district of Nizao, but that same year the name was changed to José Trujillo Valdez Province after the father of dictator Rafael Trujillo. In 1961, the name of the province was changed to the present Peravia. In 1988, Nizao became a municipality in the province.

Matanzas, Villa Fundación and Sabana Buey became municipal districts in 1991; Pizarrete en 1997; Santana and Paya in 1998; Villa Saombrero and El Carretón in 2001; Catalina in 2004; and El Limonal and Las Barías in 2006.

In 2000, the province was divided in two parts and the province of San José de Ocoa was formed with the northern part.

Location
The Peravia province is bordered to the north by the San José de Ocoa province, to the east by the San Cristóbal province, to west by the Azua province and to the south by the Caribbean Sea.
Population
In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Peravia province, and 125,534 () living in towns and cities. The population density was  persons/km².

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 16th (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated province.

, the total estimated propulation of the province is 192,660 inhabitants.

The largest city of the province is Baní, its head municipality or capital, with an urban population (in ) of 72,466 inhabitants.

Geography
The Peravia province has a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 29th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province.
The province is along the Caribbean coast, in the eastern part of the Llano Costero del Caribe ("Caribbean Coastal Plain"). There are several small valleys in the southern part of the province, surrounded by the north and west by mountains of the Cordillera Central ("Central mountain range").

The altitude of Baní, provincial capital, is  above sea level.

The most important rivers in the province are the Nizao and Ocoa rivers.

Climate
The climate of the province is tropical dry climate, hot most of the year, but it is cooler on the mountains. It is very dry in the savannas and plains, with long droughts.

Municipalities
There are two municipalities and 11 municipal districts (M.D.) in the province.

Economy
The main economic activity in the province is farming, growing fruits (like mangos) and vegetables (tomatoes and onions). Fishing and salt production is also important along the Caribbean Sea and there are some factories in Baní.

References
References

Provinces of the Dominican Republic
1944 establishments in North America
1940s establishments in the Dominican Republic
The Puerto Plata Province is one of the northern provinces of the Dominican Republic. The province is a popular tourist attraction since the late 1990s because there are many fine beaches.

Its capital is the city of San Felipe de Puerto Plata.

Name
The province is named after its capital city, Puerto Plata. 
When Christopher Columbus visited the northern coast of the Hispaniola island for the first time, on 11 January 1493, he saw a mountain with clouds on its top and he gave it the name of Monte de Plata ("Mountain of Silver"). The town that was founded on the foot of that mountain was called Puerto de Plata ("Port of Silver"); the name was changed later to just Puerto Plata.

History
The first European town, La Isabela, was founded by Columbus in January 1493 by Columbus near the city of Puerto Plata; the city of Puerto Plata was founded in 1502.
In 1605, the towns of Puerto Plata along with Monte Cristi, Bayajá and La Yaguana were destroyed by the governor, Antonio de Osorio. All the people living in those towns had to move to places closer to the capital due to the amount of illegal trade happening in these towns. These towns formed what are now Monte Plata and Bayaguana.

It was created as a Maritime District (a special administrative category similar to a province and that has been abandoned) in 1865. It was part of the Santiago province before being elevated to the category of province. The 1907 Dominican Constitution changed its status to province with the municipalities of Puerto Plata, Altamira, Blanco and Bajabonico.

In 1959, Puerto Plata was confirmed as a province with the municipalities of Puerto Plata, Altamira, Imbert and Luperón, and the municipal district of Sosúa; its capital was San Felipe de Puerto Plata.
In 1978, Sosúa and Los Hidalgos were made municipalities of the province. In 1989, Villa Isabela became a municipality, Guananico in 1992 and Villa Montellano in 2006.

La Isabela and Estero Hondo became municipal districts in 1998; Belloso, Cabarete and Sabaneta de Yásica in 2002; La Jaiba in 2003; Yásica Arriba in 2005; Maimón, Río Grande and Estrecho de Luperón - Omar Bross in 2006; and Gualete in 2007.

Location
The Puerto Plata province is along the northern coast of the island. To the north, it has the Atlantic Ocean; to the east, the Espaillat province; to the south, the Santiago and Valverde provinces; and to the west, the Monte Cristi province.

Population
In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Puerto Plata province, and 187,767 () living in towns and cities. The population density was  persons/km².

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 6th (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated province.
, the total estimated propulation of the province is 329,482 inhabitants.

The largest city of the province is San Felipe de Puerto Plata, its head municipality or capital, with an urban population (in ) of 118,496 inhabitants.

Most of the population is composed of blacks and mulattoes.

Geography
The Puerto Plata province has a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 10th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province.

The Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern mountain range") runs along the southern half of the province. Another mountain range is Sierra Atravesada that goes from the Cordillera Septentrional to the coast. The mountain "Isabel de Torres" (the "Monte de Plata" of Columbus) is close to the city of San Felipe de Puerto Plata.

Because the Cordillera Septentrional is close to the coast, rivers in this province are short. The most important rivers are Bajabonico, Yásica and Camú del Norte.
The altitude of San Felipe de Puerto Plata, provincial capital, is  above sea level.

Municipalities
There are nine municipalities and 12 municipal districts (M.D.) in the province.

Economy
There are several important economic activities in the province, like tourism along the coast, farming and industry (like food products and rum).

Gallery

References

Provinces of the Dominican Republic
1865 establishments in North America
1860s establishments in the Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo is a Dominican province. It is in the southern part of the country, on the Caribbean coast. Its capital city is Santo Domingo Este.

Name
The Santo Domingo province is named after the city of Santo Domingo, which has been always the capital city of the country.

History
The province was created on 16 October 2001. It was part of the Distrito Nacional (National District) before being elevated to the category of province with most of the territory of the old Distrito Nacional.

The new province had the municipalities of Santo Domingo Este, Santo Domingo Oeste, Santo Domingo Norte and Boca Chica. San Antonio de Guerra became a municipality in 2004, and Pedro Brand and Los Alcarrizos in 2005.

The municipal districts of the province were created in:

 2001: La Victoria
 2004: Hato Viejo, San Luis and La Caleta
 2005: Palmarejo-Villa Linda, Pantoja, La Guáyiga and La Cuaba
Location
The Santo Domingo province is bordered to the north by the province of Monte Plata, to the east by the San Pedro de Macorís province, to the south by the Caribbean Sea and to the west by San Cristóbal.

Population
In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Santo Domingo province, and 2,084,651 () living in towns and cities. The population density was  persons/km².

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 1st (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated province.

, the total estimated propulation of the province is 2,702,028 inhabitants.

The largest urban area of the province is Santo Domingo Este, its head municipality or capital, with an urban population (in ) of 851,853 inhabitants.

Geography
The Santo Domingo province has a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 16th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province.
The altitude of the provincial capital, Santo Domingo Este, is  above sea level.

The Santo Domingo province is in the "Llano Costero del Caribe" ("Caribbean Coastal Plain"), a large plain in southeastern Dominican Republic. There are not mountains in the province, only some low hills.

The most important rivers are Haina, that makes the western border of the province, and the Ozama with its tributary La Isabela and that separates the province from the Distrito Nacional.

Climate
The climate of the province is a tropical climate, hot most of the year.

Municipalities
There are 7 municipalities and 8 municipal districts (M.D.) in the province.

Economy
It is the province of highest economic activity in the country, with many industries and companies in its territory.

Tourism is an important activity in Boca Chica because there is a beach with white sand.

References

Provinces of the Dominican Republic
2001 establishments in the Dominican Republic
The vibraphone is an percussion instrument.  It looks like a xylophone but the bars are made of aluminium instead of wood.  Like the xylophone, the bars are arranged in a similar way to a piano keyboard so that tunes can be played.  An alternate form is the 6-plus-6-system, where each row has the bars in a whole-tone distance and both rows are in a half-tone distance.  The player uses mallets (beaters), either one or two in each hand.  There are tubes underneath each bar.  These are called "resonators".  They make the sound louder.  There is also an electric motor which can be switched on by a pedal.  This makes fans go round and round in the ventilators and makes a very strong, vibrating sound.  This is why the instrument has its name.  Sometimes people call a vibraphone vibes.

Vibraphones were first made in the United States in 1921.
The mallets are beaters with a rubber ball at the end.  Yarn or a hard cord is wound tightly round these balls.  Vibraphone mallets are usually slightly harder than the ones ones used for the marimba.  They usually consist of a rubber ball core wrapped in yarn or cord and attached to a narrow dowel, most commonly made of rattan or birch (other materials, such as nylon, are sometimes used). Mallets suitable for the vibraphone are also generally suitable for the marimba.  There are different ways of holding them.  A common way is to hold them between the thumb and index finger, using the other fingers to help control the sticks.  Playing with four mallets is harder, but allows the player to play harmony (chord with four notes).

Sometimes special techniques are used such as "pitch bending".  This is done by sliding one of the mallets along a bar in a special way.  Occasionally players are asked to use a bow such as cello or double bass bow, and bow across the edge of a bar.
The vibraphone is used in the orchestra in Alban Berg's opera Lulu.  It is also used in works by Olivier Messiaen, Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and Vaughan Williams (opening of Symphony no 8).  Vibraphones are commonly heard in jazz, especially in combos.

Related pages
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
Marimba
Tubular bells

References
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, Könemann; 

Percussion instruments
Simon Blair Doull (born 6 August 1969 in Pukekohe, Auckland) is a New Zealand radio personality, commentator and former international cricketer. 

He was a right arm medium pace swing bowler. He played in 32 Test matches and 42 one-day internationals for the New Zealand national cricket team. Doull took his career best bowling figures of seven for 65 in the Boxing Day Test in 1998 against India at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Due to that performance, he reached a career-high ranking of 6 in the ICC Player Rankings on December 26, 1998.

References

1969 births
Living people
New Zealand cricketers
Sports commentators
Sportspeople from Auckland
Oberlungwitz is a town in the rural district Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. It is about  northeast of the city of Zwickau and about  in the west of Chemnitz.

References

Other websites

Zwickau Rural District
Waldenburg is a town in the rural district Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. It is near Glauchau, northeast to Zwickau.

References

Other websites
 

Zwickau Rural District
Wildenfels is a town in the rural District Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. It is  southeast of Zwickau.

References

Other websites

Zwickau Rural District
Wilkau-Haßlau is a town in the rural district Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. It is about  south of Zwickau.

References

Other websites

Zwickau Rural District
James Hugh Calum Laurie (born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He portrayed Dr. Gregory House in the television series House MD and Frederick Little in Stuart Little and its sequel Stuart Little 2. He is also famous in Britain for his work with Stephen Fry and for the BBC series Blackadder.

Biography 
Laurie was born on 11 June 1959 in Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire. His mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw), died when he was 29 and his father, W.G.R.M. "Ran" Laurie, was a doctor and an athlete who won the gold medal in rowing 1948 in London. He has two older sisters and an older brother.

Laurie was in a comedy duo with Stephen Fry for a number of years. He became world-famous as Dr. Gregory House in the long-running television series House.
Laurie studied at Eton and then went to Selwyn College, Cambridge: he took a degree in archeology and social anthropology. He was an athlete like his father, but he became an actor after meeting Emma Thompson, who introduced him to his future best friend and co-worker, Stephen Fry.

In 1989, he married Jo Green and had three children, sons Charles (born November 1988) and Bill (born January 1991), and daughter Rebecca (born September 1993).

Filmography

Awards
All of the following are nominations or wins for Laurie's role on House:

Emmy Awards
 2005 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
 2007 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
 2008 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
 2009 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
 2010 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
 2011 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series