Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He and his family live in Los Angeles, California.
Salonen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, learning the French horn, composition and conducting. Later he studied composition with several composers including Einojuhani Rautavaara.
He started conducting in 1979 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, mainly in order to conduct his own compositions. In 1983 he was asked at short notice to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra when Michael Tilson-Thomas was ill. This concert made him well known as a conductor.
Salonen was principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984-1995.
He first conducted in the United States in 1984 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1989 he became Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra and soon became Music Director. He has had this title ever since.
In 1992 he took the orchestra to the Salzburg Festival where they gave concert performances and well as playing in the opera house for the opera "Saint-François d'Assise" by Olivier Messiaen. They toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and performed at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, the BBC Proms in London, in Cologne for a festival of Salonen's own compositions, and in 1996 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a Stravinsky festival conducted by Salonen and Pierre Boulez. The orchestra sounded very good in the Paris concert hall, and it made people realize that they needed a better concert hall in Los Angeles. Soon the Walt Disney Concert Hall was built there.
In 2008 Salonen became the main conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He will leave his job with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009. He wants to have more time to compose.
Salonen married Jane Price who used to play with the Philharmonia Orchestra. They have three children.
Emergency telephone
An emergency telephone is a special telephone that can be used in an emergency situation. Such telephones can usually be found on highways, and other big roads. They can also be found in places where people feel unsafe, such as big parks or the campuses of universities. Emergency telephones are also placed at spots where many people commit suicide, like bridges or cliffs.
Emergency phones are usually connected directly, there is no need to dial a telephone number. Lifting the receiver, or pushing a button will make the call. Very often emergency telephones will also tell the other side where they are. This is because people may not know where they are or they may be in shock because of an accident that just happened.
There are many special rules that apply to emergency telephones. They need to be in special colors, because color-blind people may not be able to tell the difference between certain colors. They also need to be easy to use. In an emergency situation, many people do not have time to think about how to operate them.
F-Zero
F-Zero is a racing video game first made for the SNES, where Captain Falcon made his debut. It involves racing around a track at high speeds. Other games in the "F-Zero" series are "F-Zero X" for Nintendo 64, "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity" for Game Boy Advance. "F-Zero GX" for Nintendo GameCube and "F-Zero: GP Legend" for Game Boy Advance.
is the main character of the "F-Zero" series. He wears a blue suit and a red mask. His signature move is the "Falcon Punch".
Gujarati people
Gujarati people (Gujarati: ગુજરાતી લોકો Gujǎrātī loko?), or Gujaratis, is an umbrella term used to describe traditionally Gujarati-speaking people who can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat within the Republic of India.
Arena da Baixada
The Arena da Baixada is a football stadium and an indoor arena in Água Verde neighborhood, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. It has a maximum seating capacity of 28,327 people. It is formerly known as Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães. It was named Kyocera Arena for a short period of time (beginning 2005 until April 1, 2008). The stadium opened on June 6, 1914. The stadium is owned by Clube Atlético Paranaense. Its formal name honors Joaquim Américo Guimarães, a former chairman of Internacional-PR, which was a football club that merged with América-PR. This merger formed Atlético Paranaense. Joaquim Américo Guimarães started the stadium's construction in 1912. Despite being called an arena, it is technically an outdoor stadium. On May 31 2009, the stadium was made one of the match sites for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
The stadium was built at the previous location of a Brazilian Army powder depot. In 1934, the stadium was renamed Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães. In the 1970s, the original stadium was closed down. After being reopened in 1984 and operating for some years, the old stadium building was demolished on March 26, 1997, right after a construction project of a new arena was announced. In June 1999, the new stadium was built. In 2005, the stadium was renamed "Kyocera Arena", after the Japanese company Kyocera purchased the naming rights.
The inaugural match of the old stadium was played on September 6, 1914, when Flamengo beat Internacional 7–1. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Flamengo's Arnaldo.
The inaugural match of the new building was played on June 24, 1999, when Atlético Paranaense beat Cerro Porteño of Paraguay 2–1. The first goal of the stadium after its reinauguration was scored by Atlético's Lucas.
The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 31,740. It was set on December 16, 2001 when Atlético Paranaense beat São Caetano 4–2, on the first game of that year's Brazilian Championship finals.
Though the present stadium is still new, there are some plans for newer stadiums for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The contract with Kyocera that gave the company naming rights expired in early 2008. It was not renewed, and no new partnership was announced. The stadium went back to its old name, "Arena da Baixada".
Steller's sea cow
Steller's sea cow ("Hydrodamalis gigas") is an extinct aquatic mammal.
It is a member of the order Sirenia, which today consists of dugongs and manatees. Discovered in 1741, Steller's sea cow weighed about 10 tonnes. It fed on kelp, and lived in shallow waters around the Bering Sea. Hunted relentlessly for their meat, they died out 27 years after their discovery. The reduction in the kelp supply may also have contributed to their extinction.
Schinus areira
Schinus areira is a tree of the sumac family. The pepper tree "Schinus areira" is a weed in Australia. It is often grown as shade or street tree.
Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Ribah (578-638) was one of the companions of Muhammad. Bilal was an Ethiopian black slave.
Bilal ibn Rabah (, also called Bilal al-Habashi) was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.Bilal was an Ethiopian slave. Bilal's owner was Umayyah ibn Khalaf, an enemy of Islam. When Bilal learned about Muhammad and became Muslim, his master started punishing him. When Muhammad heard about this, he ordered Abu Bakr to buy Bilal's freedom and Bilal -who was now free- joined Muhammad's companions.
Muhammad choose Bilal as the first muezzin. A muezzin is someone who leads the call to daily prayer. Sometimes Bilal walked the streets to call Muslims to come to prayer but most of the times, he said the Adhan from the top of the mosque.