Almaty (; formerly known as "Alma-Ata" (Алма-Ата), also "Verniy", (Верный)) is the largest city in Kazakhstan. It has a population of over 1,700,000 people (as of 2015). Eight percent of the population of the country live in Almaty. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1927 to 1998. Although it is not the capital today, Almaty is still the major commercial center of Kazakhstan.
The city is close to China, and was once on the northern silk route between China and the Middle East. Its name derives from the Turkic languages.
The city is in an earthquake zone. There have been three quite serious earthquakes in the last 150 years.
On 4 February 1854 the Russian Empire decided to build a fort Verniy on the west bank of the Malaya Almatinka river. Later Russian settlers arrived. In 1922 the Soviet Union renamed the city to Alma-Ata. In 1927 Alma-Ata became the capital of the Kazakh SSR.
Almaty has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa in the Koeppen climate classification).
Almaty TV tower is the highest TV tower above sea level (1130 m.). The tower is the highest building in the city (372 m.). This building able to withstand 10.0 magnitude.
The name "Almaty" comes from the Kazakh word for "apple" (алма). The name is often translated as a city "rich with apples". The older Soviet-era Russian name for the city, Alma-Ata, comes from a mistake (the name literally means "Grandfather of apples"). In the area around Almaty, there are many different species of the wild apples. The region is thought to be the ancestral home of the apple. A local species of apple, the wild "Malus sieversii", may be the ancestor of the modern domestic apple.
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a video game made by Rare for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. The name of the game comes from the names of the two main characters, a bear called "Banjo" and an orange bird called "Kazooie", who lives in Banjo's backpack. The story follows Banjo and Kazooie as they set out on a quest to rescue Banjo's sister who has been kidnapped by an evil witch named Gruntilda Winkybunion. It was released on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service in December of 2008.
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game for the Xbox 360. It was developed by Ensemble Studios. The game was released by Microsoft. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in Europe on February 27, and in North America on March 3. It is based on the popular, award winning "Halo" series of video games, and is set in the year 2531, 21 years before the events of "". It's the first "Halo" game that is not a first person shooter.
Project Gotham Racing (series)
Project Gotham Racing often known as PGR is a series of driving video games published by Microsoft for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles.
There are four games in the series
Bydales School
Bydales School is a secondary school in Marske-by-the-Sea, England which has about 750 students. A new school building was opened on 2 November 2006. It is rated as 'outstanding' by Ofsted. It is a technology college. The school has a small wind turbine, solar panels and a hydrogen fuel cell.
In Love with a Girl (song)
"In Love with a Girl" is the #1 single by Gavin DeGraw on the album "Gavin DeGraw". "In Love with a Girl" was released February 2008.
Vinje
Vinje is a municipality in Norway. It is in the county of Telemark. The administration of this place is done from Åmot.
Vinje is the home of folk musician Myllarguten. His home there is now a small museum. A monument of Myllarguten is located near Kosi. Myllarguten was a 19th-century musician. He who played for kings and inspired Edvard Grieg.
Vinje was established in 1838 as a municipality. It is on the Hardangervidda and on the Setesdalsheiane Mountains plateaus.
Arabygdi lies in the western part of Rauland. IT is on Lake Totak. The largest stone scree in Northern Europe, with huge boulders lying on the floor of the valley is here. "Urdbøuri", is the name of this famous place.
The municipality Vinje (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Vinje (Norse "Vinjar"), since the first church was built here. The name is the plural form of "vin" f 'meadow, pasture'.
1979–80 NHL season
The 1979–80 NHL season was the 63rd season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This season saw the addition of four teams from the collapse of the World Hockey Association (WHA) the previous season as expansion teams. The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers (later renamed "Hartford Whalers" at the insistence of the Boston Bruins), and Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL bringing a new total of 21 teams. The other two WHA teams (Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers) were paid to disband.
"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes"
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"Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"
"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points"
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a string instrument which was popular in the 17th and 18th century. It is a kind of viola. The name is Italian and means “viola of love”. It can have 6 or 7 strings. It is held under the chin and bowed like a violin. Sometimes it is used today to play music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Occasionally some modern composers have also written music for it.
The viola d'amore is about the same size as a modern viola. However, the shape is more like the shape of a viol. Like viols, it has a flat back, a wide rib (the sides), sloping shoulders and a carved head at the top of the peg box. It does not have any frets (markings on the fingerboard) like a viol or a guitar. The sound-holes are often in the shape of a flaming sword.
The viola d'amore usually has six or seven playing strings which are played with the bow, just as with a violin. In addition, it has the same number of sympathetic strings. These are strings which vibrate when the other strings are played, making the sound richer and sweeter.
The viola d'amore was often tuned to whatever notes were best for the piece it was to going to play. This is a kind of scordatura (changing the way the strings are tuned). Towards the end of the 18th century the usual tuning became: "A, d, a, d', f#', a', d"" (see music example. Notice the example uses the "viola clef")
The viola d’amore became very popular during the 17th century. However, after a time it became less popular because the instruments of the viol family were not used much while the instruments of the violin family took over. The viola d’amore was too quiet and sweet to play with the modern violin family. However, in the 20th century some composers have written for the instrument again, e.g. Paul Hindemith.
The viola d'amore can regularly be heard today in groups who play Baroque music on period instruments. It can be heard, for example in Bach’s St John Passion.
Sœur Emmanuelle
Sœur Emmanuelle (born Madeleine Cinquin, November 16, 1908 – October 20, 2008) was a Belgian-born French nun.
She was born in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a family that made lingerie. At the age of six she saw her father drown. She learned at the Sorbonne, earning a degree in philosophy. In 1929 she made a religious promise and became a nun.
She worked in Notre-Dame de Sion high school in İstanbul in 1930s.
In 1971 she saw how poorly trash collectors in Cairo, Egypt were doing, and decided to live with them. She stayed until 1993, when she went back to France. After she went back, she became very famous in France and was liked by audiences and talk-show hosts.