Sand did not say which prelude Chopin played for her at that time. Most music critics think it was no. 15, because of the repeating A flat, with its suggestion of the "gentle patter" of rain. Peter Dayan points out that Sand accepted Chopin's protests that the prelude was not an "imitation" of the sound of raindrops, but a "translation" of nature's harmonies within Chopin's "génie". Frederick Niecks says that the prelude "rises before one's mind the cloistered court of the monastery of Valdemosa, and a procession of monks chanting lugubrious prayers, and carrying in the dark hours of night their departed brother to his last resting-place.
The prelude opens with a "serene" theme in D flat. It then changes to a "lugubrious interlude" in C sharp minor, "with the dominant pedal never ceasing, a basso ostinato". The repeating A flat, which has been heard throughout the first section, here becomes more insistent. Following this, the prelude ends with a repetition of the original theme. Niecks says, "This C sharp minor portion...affects one like an oppressive dream; the re-entrance of the opening D flat major, which dispels the dreadful nightmare, comes upon one with the smiling freshness of dear, familiar nature – only after these horrors of the imagination can its serene beauty be fully appreciated.
Sisseton, South Dakota
Sisseton is a city in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It is the county seat of Roberts County, and 2,740 people lived there at the 2010 census. Sisseton became a city in 1907.
GSSP
A GSSP, more fully a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, is an internationally agreed point which defines the start of a stage on the geologic time scale.
The work is done by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, a part of the International Union of Geological Sciences. As of 2012, 64 of the 101 stages that need a GSSP have been decided.
A geologic section has to follow the rules to be adapted as a GSSP by the ICS. The list below are the rules:
This list shows some of the GSSPs.
Because defining a GSSP depends on finding well-preserved geologic sections and identifying key events, this task becomes more harder as one goes farther back in time. Before 640 million years ago, boundaries on the geologic timescale are defined simply by reference to fixed dates, known as "Global Standard Stratigraphic Ages". The oldest GSSP is the one that marks the start of the Ediacaran at 635 million years ago.
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is a word for differences in people's brains. It is a type of biodiversity (diversity in living creatures).
Examples of neurodiverse conditions include autism, Tourette syndrome, ADHD, and dyslexia.
The neurodiversity movement is an approach to mental disability in which some neurological conditions are variations of the human genome. The term was first used in the late 1990s as a challenge to the idea that neurological differences are disorders instead of features. The movement believes that these variations should be recognised as a social category along with gender, human race and sexual orientation.
Some people claim that neurodiversity would not be good for individuals with severe disabilities, such as low-functioning autism. They state that the difficulties are far greater than any potential strengths.
Luo Meizhen
Luo Meizhen (July 9, 1885 – June 11, 2013) was a Chinese woman who claimed to be the world's oldest person. It is unknown if Meizhen was the world's oldest person since there China did not keep birth certificates when she was born. She was allegedly the world's oldest woman.
Meizhen died of natural causes at the claimed age of 127 on June 11, 2013 in Guangxi.
Hampstead Heath
Hamstead Heath is a large park Hampstead, North London, which is taken care of by the City of London.
Milt Schmidt
Milton Conrad Schmidt (March 5, 1918 – January 4, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He was an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. From 2014 until his death in 2017, Schmidt was the oldest living former NHL player.
Schmidt was born on March 5, 1918 in Kitchener, Ontario. He was raised in Toronto, Ontario. Schmidt died on January 4, 2017 from a stroke in Needham, Massachusetts, aged 98.
Evelyn Kozak
Evelyn Kozak (née Jacobson) (August 14, 1899 – June 11, 2013) was an American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest living Jewish person, until her death at the age of 113 years, 301 days. She was also the oldest verified Jewish person in history after surpassing fellow American Adelheid Kirschbaum's age of 113 years and 83 days on November 6, 2012.
Kozak was born on August 14, 1899 in Manhattan, New York City. She died from a heart attack on June 11, 2013 in New York City, aged 113.
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author. He was the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 12, 1995 until his death. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members. Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.
Hinckley was born on June 23, 1910 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He studied at the University of Utah. Hinckley was married to Marjorie Pay in 1937. She died in 2004. They had five children. Hinckley died on January 27, 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah from cancer, aged 97.
Misao Okawa
Okawa was born on 5 March 1898, in the Tenma district (present-day Kita-ku) of Osaka, and in her latter years lived at a nursing home in Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka. She married Yukio in 1919, and had three children, two of whom were still alive at the time of her death. She also had four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
On 27 February 2013, a few days before her 115th birthday, Misao Okawa was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest living woman in the world, and was presented with a certificate at her nursing home in Osaka.
Happy Feet Two
Happy Feet Two is a 2011 Australian-American 3D computer-animated family musical movie directed by George Miller. It is a sequel to Miller's 2006 movie "Happy Feet". It stars Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugo Weaving, Magda Szubanski, and Anthony LaPaglia reprising their roles from the first movie. Brad Pitt also stars in the movie.
Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart 8 (stylized as MARIOKART8) is a racing video game released on May 30, 2014 for the Wii U game console. It is part of the "Mario Kart" series.
The game is like the other "Mario Kart" games, where characters from the "Mario" series race each other in go-karts. Players are able to use items from item boxes to keep their opponents from winning. Along with go-karts, the game also has motorcycles. There are 12 players in a race. Like in "Mario Kart 7", karts have hang-gliding attachments, and players are able to drive underwater. For the first time in the series, players are able to drive on walls and ceilings. There is one new types of vehicles: and four-wheel buggies. There is local and online multiplayer for up to 12 players. Players include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, etc. The first DLC track pack was revealed in October 2014.
A port remake titled Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2017, having pre-installed and changed some in-game mechanics such as the battle mode.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are two fighting video games for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U game consoles. They were developed by Sora Ltd. and Namco Bandai Games and published by Nintendo. They act as the fourth game in the "Super Smash Bros." series. The 3DS game was released on September 13, 2014. The Wii U game was released on November 21, 2014.