Foxes and human beings lived close together in ancient Japan; this is why there are legends about them. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto "kami" or spirit, and serve as his messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural importance. The more tails a kitsune has — they may have as many as nine — the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as to a god.
Phonetics
Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, "phone" which means 'sound' or 'voice') is the science of the sounds of human speech. .Someone who is an expert in phonetics is called a phonetician.
Phonetic theory regards the nature of sounds in speech (called phones) and how they are made, heard and thought of. Phonology, which came from it, studies sound systems and sound units (such as phonemes and distinctive features). Phonetics is one of the two parts of orthographical linguistics, the other part being spelling, differing from grammar and lexis.
Phonetics has three main branches:
There are more than 100 different phones recognized by the International Phonetic Association (IPA) and are shown in their writing system called the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The first time phonetics was studied was 2,500 years ago in what is now India, with , when he wrote about the place and manner of articulation of consonants in Sanskrit in his 5th century BC essay on Sanskrit linguistics. The major Indic scripts today order their consonants the way did.
Laws of Form
Laws of Form is a book by George Spencer-Brown published in 1969. It is about logic, mathematics, and philosophy. The mathematical systems that Spencer-Brown presented in the book are known by the names "calculus of indications", "distinction calculus", and often just "LOF".
"Laws of Form" grew out of the author's work in electronic engineering. The book has been published in several editions and translations and has never gone out of print. A short book, its mathematical part is only 55 pages long.
Spencer-Brown's philosophy was influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, R.D. Laing, Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred North Whitehead.
"Laws of Form" was listed in the "Whole Earth Catalog" in 1969 and quickly became a cult classic. The calculus of indications and the primary algebra may be regarded as a way to think about a fundamental activity of the mind, namely, the ability to "distinguish" or to "draw distinctions". The book argues that this ability is the foundation of human cognition and consciousness. According to Spencer-Brown, the primary arithemetic and primary algebra reveal new connections among logic, mathematics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind.
Let 0 and 1 be the two basic primitive values of Boolean algebra. Let "AB" denote a binary operation of Boolean algebra. Let ("X") stand for the Boolean complement of "X". Then the calculus of indications is simply Boolean arithmetic reduced to the two equations 11=1 and (1)=0. These are the only "axioms" in "LoF".
The primary algebra is mainly a simpler notation for Boolean algebra, except for one thing. In Boolean algebra, () is not defined. () is "empty" complementation (the complementation of "nothing"). On the other hand, in the primary algebra () is defined, and stands for one of 0 or 1. (()) stands for the other primitive value, and is the same thing as the blank page.
Let "A" and "B" be any two expressions of the primary algebra. The primary algebra is made up of equations of the form "A"="B", and these equations are treated in the same way as the equations of the number algebra taught in all schools. Standard methods of logic seldom use equations. "LoF" argues that doing elementary logic with the primary algebra is easier. In particular, if "A" is a tautology in logic, then one of "A"=() or "A"=(()) holds in the primary algebra.
"Laws of Form" proves the following fact about the primary algebra:
Hence the primary algebra is a well-behaved piece of mathematics. It can be useful even if the philosophy and cognitive science of "LoF" are wrong or uninteresting.
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were a popular team of sibling comedians who appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, movie, and television.
The brothers were Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.
Born in New York City, the Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany. Their mother, Minnie Schönberg, was from Dornum in East Frisia, and their father Simon Marrix (whose name was changed to Sam Marx, and who was nicknamed "Frenchy") was a native of Alsace, now part of France, and worked as a tailor. The family lived in the then-poor Yorkville section of New York City's Upper East Side, between the Irish, German and Italian Quarters.
The Marx Brothers began as a musical group, during the days of vaudeville theater. They would make jokes, play funny characters, and pretend to get into fights when they performed. In time their got them more applause (and work) than their music, and they became a comedy group. Music stayed in their act, with the brothers performing in character, but their focus was on getting laughs. Makeup and costumes gave their characters their look. When the brothers were out of costume, they could blend into the audience.
Gummo did not appear in any of the movies. In the movies, each brother played a role that was mostly the same in every movie. Groucho was a "wise guy" who had big bushy eyebrows, glasses, and a moustache who smoked a cigar; Chico spoke with an Italian accent and played the piano; Harpo never spoke and played the harp. Zeppo usually played the straight man. He left the group in 1933, and they worked with other actors. Margaret Dumont played the leading lady role in many of their shows. She did not appear to know when a joke was made about her, and this made her role funnier.
The brothers had some good years and some bad years. Groucho lost a lot of money in 1929, when the stock market collapsed. (Years later, he visited the New York Stock Exchange, and drew so much attention that trading stopped for several minutes. Groucho joked that he came "to get his money's worth" in stopping business.) Chico had a problem with gambling, and lost more money than he won at it. Harpo and his wife could not have children of their own, so they adopted enough to have a large family. (When Adolf Hitler took control of Germany in the 1930s, and stories came back about his mistreatment of Jewish people, Harpo legally changed his name from Adolph to Arthur, even though he was better known as Harpo.)
Groucho kept working after his brothers retired. He hosted a television quiz show called "You Bet Your Life", which was more liked for Groucho's way of hosting than for the game itself. He made a few movie and television appearances late in his life. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall, telling stories about his life and career, and singing songs from every part of his career. A recording of his Carnegie Hall show became a .
Films with the Four Marx Brothers:
Films with the three Marx Brothers (post-Zeppo):
Solo endeavors:
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972), usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture and tessellations (means "like tiles").