His most famous paintings include "The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up". Often called just "The Fighting Temeraire", this is a picture of a famous warship that was used in the Battle of Trafalgar. Other pictures include "Rain, Steam and Speed", which shows a steam train crossing a bridge, and "Snowstorm" which shows a steamship in a snowstorm trying to get into a harbour. In order to get the right feeling into this painting, he had himself tied to a ship's mast during a storm, so that he could see what it was like. Some of his most famous paintings show the roughness of nature, with bleak landscapes and violent storms.
But also there is beauty and a sense of calmness in pictures such as Crossing the Brook, a stunning scenic view of the Tamar Valley and River from New Bridge near Gunnislake in Cornwall, painted in 1815, a view which can still be admired today.
As he grew older, Turner's behaviour became a bit odd, and he became depressed quite often. He died in Chelsea on 19 September 1851, and was buried next to the painter Joshua Reynolds in St Paul's Cathedral.
Even while Turner was alive, some people thought he was a genius. Some people complained that the pictures he painted when he was older were not realistic, and some even joked that they could have been painted with a mop. However, most think that his way of painting shows complete mastery.
Mug
A mug is a container for drinking. It has one handle on the side. It is usually made of ceramic or steel. People might talk about getting "a mug of beer" at a local pub. They might also drink a mug of coffee in the morning.
Claude Monet
Claude Monet (14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French impressionist artist.
One of his most famous paintings was called "Water Lilies", which he repeated many times in various conditions.
Monet was born in Paris, France. His father wanted him to help run the family's grocery business. However, Monet wanted to be an artist. When he was young he met the painter Eugène Boudin who taught him to use oil paints, and encouraged him to paint out of doors.
Monet joined the French Army in Algeria for two years from 1860-1862. When he became ill he left the army to study art at university. He did not like the way art was taught, and joined the painter Charles Gleyre in his studio. He met other artists here, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. They shared their ideas about painting.
In 1866 Monet had a child with Camille Doncieux, who had been his model. They married in 1870 and had two children, Michel and Joseph. In 1870 he moved to England to escape the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1871 he moved to Argenteuil near Paris where he painted some of his most famous pictures. In 1873 he painted "Impression, Sunrise", showing the sea at Le Havre. When this picture was shown in 1874 one critic took its title and called the group of artists "Impressionists". He intended to make fun of the artists, but the name has stuck and this is what people today call this style of painting.
In 1879 Camille died of tuberculosis. Alice Hoschedé decided to help Monet by taking care of his children as well as her own. In 1883 they moved to a house in Giverny where Monet planted a large garden. Monet married Alice in 1892.
Monet found that his garden inspired him to paint pictures of it, particularly the water lilies. Alice died in 1911, and his son Jean was killed in World War I in 1914.
Monet used broad brush strokes to build up his pictures, and painted quite quickly to try and get the idea of the light he could see into his paintings. If you go very close to one of his pictures it is hard to see what it shows, but if you stand back everything becomes clear.
His later paintings include series, in which he paints the same subject in different lights. For example, he painted a series of pictures of haystacks in a field, and another series of pictures of the west front of Rouen Cathedral. There are many paintings of the lilies in his garden at Giverny.
Video
A Video is a technology. It records moving images onto some medium. The recorder may be a separate machine such as a videocassette recorder (also called a VCR) or built into something else such as a video camera.
A popular 20th century videotape format was VHS. It was used by many people to record television programmes onto cassettes. This is usually an analog format. In the 21st century digital recording is used more often than analog recording.
By extension, a video clip is a short movie. A music video usually stars someone who recorded an (audio) album. One purpose is to promote the album.
Exodus
Exodus is the second book in the Torah. Exodus in Hebrew is called "Shmowt", which means 'names.'
Exodus means 'going out' in Latin. It is about how the Hebrew people were led out of Egypt by God. Moses, their leader, hears God's words and then tells the Israelites. Exodus ends with God's laws and his instructions on how to build a holy container called the Ark of the Covenant.
After the Hebrews went to Egypt to get food, the old Pharaoh died, and a new Pharaoh came to power and made each Hebrew a slave. The Pharaoh made the Hebrews work very hard and told his soldiers to throw their babies into the Nile River. One baby, Moses, was put in a reed basket set adrift on the Nile. He was later rescued by an Egyptian princess, grew up in Pharaoh's palace, and later killed an Egyptian slaveowner. Moses escaped from Egypt and lived away from his people in Midian. He lived with Jethro, his father-in-law.
One day, while Moses was tending his flocks, God appeared in a burning bush to Moses and instructed him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. As Moses had no confidence in doing this, God gives him his brother Aaron to help him. Aaron was a good talker and helped Moses speak to the Pharaoh.
When he returned to Egypt, Moses asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but the Pharaoh refused. Through God's power, Moses causes ten plagues to come on Egypt.
The last plague was the death of all the firstborns in Egypt. Only the Israelites' firstborns were spared, as they had the blood of a young lamb on their door, so God did not let the Angel of Death enter their houses (12:23). The Pharaoh finally decided to let the Israelites go.
While the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea, the Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to pursue them with his troops. The Israelites passed safely as Moses parted the Sea with his staff by God's power. Once the Hebrews all passed the sea closed, leaving all the Pharaoh's troops to drown.
Later, at Mount Sinai, Moses received the law and the Ten Commandments from God. But the Israelites sinned against God by worshiping an idol (a golden calf). Moses broke the first two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in anger. God later gave him another two. He also told Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant.
Ten Times the Israelites rebeled and tested the L-D during Exodus despite his revealation to them; according to rabbanic literature it was because "..They were still laboring under the slave mentality of the Egyptian bondage."
The book has been filmed several times, as "The Ten Commandments" and "The Prince of Egypt".
Stretching (body piercing)
Stretching is a word used to describe a kind of body modification. It is when a person widens a pierced hole in their body.
Stretching is usually done a little bit at a time, so the pierced hole would not bleed or get infected.
There are some common ways used to stretch piercings, of different origins and useful for different people.
Body jewellery is measured in gauges from 20g up to 000g; sizes larger than that are measured in fractions of inches. In Europe they are measured in millimeters.
The table below is not exact, but very close.
Chernobyl disaster