After the fall of the Berlin Wall the population dropped from over 100,000 in 1989 down to roughly 75,000 in 2005 through emigration. The migration mainly affects the young people and thus the future of the city is uncertain.
Earl Hooker
Earl Hooker (born January 15, 1929 in Clarksdale, Mississippi; died April 21, 1970 in Chicago, Illinois) was an American blues guitarist.
Earl Hooker was born Earl Zebedee Hooker in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He taught himself to play guitar around the age of 10 and began going to the Lyon & Healy Music School in 1941 soon after.
While a teen, Hooker played on Chicago street corners, sometimes with Bo Diddley. He also became friends with slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk, which led to Hooker playing slide guitar and some performances with Nighthawk's group outside of Chicago.
In 1949, Hooker moved to Memphis, joined Ike Turner's band, and played in the South.
Hooker made his first recordings mainly 78 rpm and 45 rpm records in 1952 and 1953 for small labels Rockin', King, and Sun. Hooker spent most of the '60s playing in Chicago clubs with his band.
In 1969 he recorded an album, "Hooker 'n Steve", with organist Steve “Mr. Blues” Miller for Arhoolie Records. Hooker also played slide guitar on the 1962 Muddy Waters recording "You Shook Me". The 1970 album "Sweet Black Angel", co-producer Ike Turner contain songs "I Feel Good", "Drivin' Wheel", "Country and Western", "Boogie", Don't Blot! "Shuffle", "Catfish Blues", "Crosscut Saw", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Mood", and "Funky Blues".
Earl Hooker died at the age of 41 from tuberculosis. He is buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. His story was told in a 2001 book by author Sebastian Danchin titled "Earl Hooker, Blues Master".
Romani people
The Roma are an ethnic group found mainly in Europe. In English they are often called Gypsies. Some Roma consider "gypsy" a slur, some not. The old word Chingar is also in used. The Roma are people that originally came from the Indian subcontinent at the 500 century AD, and settled in Egypt.
A DNA study by Indian and Estonian researchers shows that the Ancestor of the Roma and Sinti people originate from the Chingar tribe of Northwest india of Dalit community of their ancestral homeland. They migrated as Traders via Roman Empire Egypt, through Asia Minor and finally to Europe. Today there are populations of Roma found all over Europe, although the largest populations are in Eastern Europe, in the Balkans, and their religions are: Eastern Christianity, Catholicism and Islam. Baptism by the Christian Roma and Male Circumcision by the Muslim Roma are practiced. Their ancient religion was Hinduism and Buddhism. The majority of Romani people practise Endogamy Arranged marriage, only few Exogamy marriages are used. To marry a Gadjo (non Roma) is very seldom.
There are various groups of Roma: the Roma of East European birth; the Sinti in Germany and Manouches in France and Catalonia; the Kaló in Spain, Ciganos in Portugal and Gitans of southern France; the Romanichals of Britain, and the Romanlar(Roma) in Turkey).
The Romani language, whose roots lie in the Indo-Greek Kingdom, is now an official language in many countries of Europe under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
The 18th-century idea about the Indian birth of the Roma is based on the likeness between Romani and languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent and is now supported by genetic evidence. The origins of the Roma were not known until 1763, when a theology student named Stefan Vali met Indian medical students. He noticed that they were physically similar to the Roma he saw in Hungary. He also noticed that they were using similar words.
It is believed to have been around the 500 century AD, that the Ancestor of the Roma, the Chingari tribe, left the Indian subcontinent as Traders with Indo-Roman trade, via Arabian Sea through Roman Empire Egypt where they live for centuries and intermarried with Copt. Around the 15th century, the Roma reached the Balkans. From there, they dispersed through Europe. The first arrivals were well accepted. European people thought they were Christian pilgrims. The local people of Europe were fascinated by their nomadic way of life and their new sciences. The Roma were often recruited as mercenaries, horse trainers and circus artists. Roma were crossing Europe aboard large caravans which contained their luggage.
During World War II, Roma people suffered from the Nazis' persecution and ethnic cleansing policies. Statistics show that about 500,000 Roms died in Nazi concentration camps.
The Roma left a musical heritage. Guitars and violins are part of their traditions. They influenced musical styles in Europe, such as Belly dance, flamenco, rumba, jazz, etc.
On 8 April 1971, the Roma nationality was legally recognized in Europe. Since this day, 8 April is the Roma national day.
Even though they have been recognized, they still suffer from discrimination and Antiziganism. Some countries still apply discriminatory attitudes towards Roma, especially in workplaces and schools, where they are not accepted.Their squatting communities irritate locals. The Romani created an association in 1978 to defend their rights.
Scrubland
Scrubland is plant community with scrub vegetation. "Scrub" means low shrubs, mixed with grasses, herbs, and geophytes.
Scrublands are sometimes known as heathlands. Scrublands may develop naturally or as result of human activity. They may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as a major fire.
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Lower Egypt was known as "Ta-Mehu" which means "land of papyrus." It was divided into twenty districts called nomes. Lower Egypt was mostly undeveloped scrubland, undeveloped for human life and filled with all types of plant life such as grasses and herbs.
The climate in Lower Egypt is milder than that of Upper Egypt. Temperatures are less extreme and there is more rainfall.
The capital of Lower Egypt was Buto. Its patron goddess was the cobra goddess Wadjet. Lower Egypt was represented by the Low Red Crown "Deshret", and its symbol was the papyrus.
Evelyn Barbirolli
Evelyn Barbirolli (born Wallingford-on-Thames, Berkshire, 24 January 1911; died 25 January 2008) was a famous oboist. She was an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Only 116 people have ever been made honorary members. She was the wife of the conductor Sir John Barbirolli. She was born Evelyn Rothwell, and was always known by that name until after the death of her husband, John Barbirolli, when she changed her professional name to “Evelyn Barbirolli”. She became famous at a time when there were very few women in orchestras.
Evelyn Rothwell’s father was a tea dealer in the City of London. Her mother was related to Charles Reade, a 19th century novelist. She started to learn the oboe at her school, Downe House, near Newbury. Her father did not want her to study music, but in the end she was allowed to go to the Royal College of Music. She studied the oboe there, and the piano as a second instrument. She also played the cello and timpani. She was a student there at the same time as Benjamin Britten, who sometimes asked her to play some of the oboe music he had just written.
Evelyn started her professional career as an oboist in the Drury Lane orchestra. She soon got a job with the Royal Opera House touring company whose conductor was John Barbirolli. Barbirolli was married, but his marriage did not last long.