The gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument. It has 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 21 or other numbers of strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. Its body is made of Paulownia wood.
According to Samguksagi ( the three kingdoms history book), the first gayageum was made for King Gasil in the 6th century. This was after he observed a Chinese musical instrument. He ordered a musician named Wu Ruk to compose music for this new instrument. The original name was "gayago". It was further improved by Wu Ruk.
There are two types. The "beobgeum gayageum" is 160cm long by 30cm wide by 10cm deep. Its body is made of a single piece of paulownia wood. The resonator chamber is hollowed out of the wood body. It is used in court music.
The "sanjo gayageum" is about 142cm long by 23cm wide by 10cm deep. The soundboard is made of paulownia, but the sides and back are of a harder wood such as chestnut or walnut. It is used in folk music.
The player usually sits cross-legged. The gayageum is played put on the player’s knee (usually the right knee). One hand plucks the strings to make a sound. The other hand decorates the sound by pressing, shaking, and vibrating the strings.
Legal guardian
The goal of a legal guardian is to protect a person who cannot make legal decisions on their own. The legal guardian makes decisions for the person who needs protection. Usually, a legal guardian has to be appointed (chosen) by a court. Before a court appoints a guardian for a person, it first has to decide that the person is incompetent (unable to make decisions on their own).
A court may choose a legal guardian for a minor child (a child under a certain age) in many different situations:
A court may also choose a legal guardian for an adult. This happens when the court decides the adult is incompetent. The court appoints a legal guardian to help protect the incompetent person (who is called a ward). The legal guardian then has the right to make legal decisions for the ward.
Legal guardians get chosen in a few different ways.
Sometimes a parent will write a will, which explains their last wishes in case they die. In the will, they can say who they want to take care of their child if the parent dies. If the parent dies, a court still has to approve the person named in the will as the child's new guardian. The new guardian does not have to be a blood relative of the parent or child.
If someone (like a person's doctor, psychiatrist, or family member) thinks that a person is incompetent, they may ask a court to choose a legal guardian. In the United States, the court must hold a hearing to decide whether the person needs a guardian. The person must be given a lawyer, and the court must listen to arguments from both sides. If the court decides that the person needs a guardian, the court will choose one. That guardian may be a family member, a friend, or a stranger.
In the United States, when a court chooses a legal guardian, the court has to say specifically what decisions the guardian will be able to make for their ward. For example, a court might say the guardian can only make medical decisions for their ward. The ward will still have the right to make any other decisions that are not medical decisions.
Different states have different laws about types of guardianships and what decisions guardians can make.
For example, in Massachusetts, a court can appoint a Rogers Guardian, who can only make decisions about their ward's psychiatric (mental health) medicines. The ward still has the right to make any other decisions that are not about medications.
In other states, like Pennsylvania, a court can appoint a plenary guardian, who has the right to make all decisions for the ward. The ward has no right to make any important decisions for himself or herself.
Kazu Kibuishi
Kazu Kibuishi is the writer and artist of "Copper", a comic strip. He also wrote Amulet which is a series of graphic novels which are like comic books. He was born 1978, in Tokyo, Japan. He moved to the United States in 1982. He lives in Alhambra, California. He has a degree in film studies from the University of California. He is married to who is a comic book artist and illustrator.
He is a writer, editor, illustrator, art director, comic book artist, graphic novelist, producer, and animator. He’s an animator at Shaded Box which is an animation, commercial, and video game studio. Animators make movies and cartoons.
"Copper" follows the quests of an intelligent dog and his owner in a world of steampunk technology and fiction. The series continues to appear on the Internet and gains him quite a few fans.
Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (also known as Albert Pujols) is a star baseball player from the Dominican Republic.
Pujols was born on January 16, 1980 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. When he was 16, Pujols's family moved to Missouri. He learned English at Fort Osage High School and later studied to be an American citizen.
He went to Maple Woods Community College and posted a .461 on-base average (which means he got on base 461 times out of every 1,000 at-bats).
At age 19, Pujols was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a very low draft pick (402nd in the 13th round of the draft). He played his first season with one of the Cardinals' minor league teams, the Peoria Chiefs.
After one full season with the Chiefs, Pujols got onto the Cardinals' roster after a teammate got injured. Later two of the Cardinals' best players also got injured, and Pujols became a regular player. In his first season with the Cardinals, he had 37 RBIs and 130 home runs, and posted a .329 on-base average. He won the Rookie of the Year Award, earning every vote.
In 2002, Pujols was the runner-up for the Most Valuable Player Award, and the Cardinals reached the National League Championship Series.
In 2005, the Baseball Writers of America voted Pujols the National League's Most Valuable Player.
In 2006, the Cardinals won the World Series. Pujols was also named to the National League All-Star Team that year.
Since 2006, Pujols has won many awards, like the Players' Choice Most Outstanding Player Award, the Players' Choice Player of the Year Award, and the National League Home Run Award.
Grandaddy
Grandaddy is an American indie rock band formed in California in 1992 by singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch.
Complex Party Come Theories is their first work. After that, they got new guitarist Jim Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden. They released EP A Pretty Mess By This One Band in 1996, and their first full-length album Under The Western Freeway in 1997. “Summer Here Kids”, one of the songs in Under The Western Freeway, earned Single of the Week honors in NME. In 2000, in Sophftware Slump, they created vintage, electronic, drift-off music. In , Concrete Dunes was released, without the band's permission. In 2003, the group released another album, Sumday, and received good reviews. In 2006, Just Like the Fambly Cat was released.
After the album, the band broke up in 2005. They did not do Just Like the Fambly Cat tour concert. The band was utterly content and happy about the decision to end Grandaddy. In the song 'Elevate Myself', he says "I don't wanna work all night and day. On writing songs that make the young girls cry." Other members all worked in their own field, but Jim Fairchild was still working with music. He joined a guitarist in Modest Mouse tour, and he released his first solo album, Ten Readings of a Warning. In 2012, the band reunited for Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco. In the same year, they played in End of the Road Festival. No album has been released since then.