the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
Canada (provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon)
Nebraska, United States
Denmark (incl.
Faroe Islands and Greenland, minors are emancipated at 18)
Finland (minors are emancipated at 18)
Iceland (minors are emancipated at 18)
Norway (minors are emancipated at 18)
Thailand (minors are emancipated upon marriage)
Colorado, United States
Madagascar  (minors are emancipated upon marriage)
Mississippi, United States
Puerto Rico, United States
Parvicursor (meaning "small runner") is a genus of tiny maniraptoran dinosaur with long slender legs for fast running.
At only about 39 cm (~15 in) from snout to end of tail, and 162 grams (5.7 ounces) in weight, it is one of the smallest non-avian dinosaurs known from an adult specimen.
Caenagnathasia (meaning 'recent jaw from Asia') was a small oviraptorosaurian dinosaur (superfamily Caenagnathoidea), measuring only 1 m (3 ft) in length and weighing around 8 kg (18 lb).
Like all oviraptorosaurs, Caenagnathasia had three fingers on each 'hand'  and three toes on each 'foot', with bone fusion similar to that of birds.
Caenagnathasia lived in the Upper Cretaceous, around 90 million years ago.
Anchiornis ('near bird') is a genus of small, feathered, troodontid dinosaurs.
Anchiornis huxleyi is named in honour of Thomas Henry Huxley, the first to propose a close evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs.
A complete individual would be 34 cm (13 in) and weigh only 110 g (3.9 oz), making it the smallest known feathered dinosaur.
Anchiornis fossils have been found in Liaoning, China, dating to the first part of the late Jurassic period, 160 to 161 million years ago.
Anchiornis is a small, early troodontid dinosaur with a triangular skull like other troodontids.
Also, Anchiornis had long legs, usually an indication of a strong runner.
However, the extensive leg feathers indicate that long legs may be an vestigial trait, because running animals tend to have reduced, not increased, hair or feathers on their legs.
The forelimbs of Anchiornis were also very long, unusual among troodontids (which tend to be short-armed) but similar to dromaeosaurids and early birds, emphasizing its basal ('primitive') position among dinobirds.
While the first specimen of Anchiornis, found in the 2000s, preserved only faint traces of feathers around the preserved portion of the body, the well-preserved second specimen showed nearly complete feather preservation, allowing researchers to identify the structure of the feathers and how they were distributed.
As in other early birds, such as Microraptor, Anchiornis had large wings, made up of flight feathers attached to the arm and hand (as in modern birds) as well as flight feathers on the hind legs, forming an arrangement of fore and hind wings.
Unlike Microraptor, the primary feathers in Anchiornis were about as long as the secondaries and formed a more rounded wing, with curved but symmetrical central vanes, a small and thin relative size, and rounded tips, all indicating poorer aerodynamic ability compared to its later relative.
The hind wings of Anchiornis were also shorter than those of Microraptor, and were made up of 12–13 flight feathers anchored to the tibia (lower leg) and 10–11 to the metatarsus (upper foot).
Also unlike Microraptor, the hind wing feathers were longest closer to the body, with the foot feathers being short and directed downward, almost perpendicular to the foot bones.
Unlike any other known Mesozoic dinosaur, the feet of Anchiornis (except for the claws) were completely covered in feathers (much shorter than the ones making up the hind wing).
Two types of simpler, downy (plumaceous) feathers covered the rest of the body, as in Sinornithosaurus.
Long downy feathers covered almost the entire head and neck, torso, upper legs,and the first half of the tail.
The rest of the tail bore pennaceous tail feathers (rectrices).
In 2010, a team examined numerous points among the feathers of an extremely well-preserved Anchiornis specimen to survey the distribution of melanosomes, the pigment cells that give feathers their colour.
By studying the melanosomes and comparing them with those of modern birds, the scientists were able to map the colours and patterning present on Anchiornis when it was alive.
Though this technique had been used before, Anchiornis became the first Mesozoic dinosaur for which almost the entire life colouration was known.
Most of the body feathers of Anchiornis were grey and black.
The crown of head feathers was mainly reddish with a grey base and front, and the face had rufous speckles among predominantly black head feathers.
The fore and hind wing feathers were white with black tips.
The coverts (shorter feathers covering the bases of the long wing feathers) were grey, contrasting the mainly white main wings.
The larger coverts of the wing were also white with grey or black tips, forming rows of darker dots along mid-wing.
These took the form of dark stripes or even rows of dots on the outer wing (primary feather coverts) but a more uneven array of speckles on the inner wing (secondary coverts).
The shanks of the legs were grey other than the long hind wing feathers, and the feet and toes were black.
Like many modern birds, Anchiornis exhibited a complex pattern of coloration with different colours in speckled patterns across the body and wings, or "within- and among-feather plumage coloration".
In modern birds, such colour patterning is used in communication and display, either to members of the same species (e.g. for mating or territorial threat display) or to threaten and warn off competing or predatory species.
Anchiornis is notable for its long forelimbs, which were 80% of the total length of the hind limbs.
This is similar to Archaeopteryx; long forelimbs are necessary for flight.
Anchiornis also had a more avian wrist than other non-avialan theropods.
The authors first thought that Anchiornis could fly or glide.
However, further finds showed that the wings of Anchiornis, while well-developed, were short when compared to later species like Microraptor, with relatively short primary feathers that had rounded, symmetrical tips, unlike the pointed, aerodynamically proportioned feathers of Microraptor.
Anchiornis has long hind legs, suggesting a fast-running lifestyle.
However, the legs and even feet and toes of Anchiornis were covered in feathers, making it unlikely that Anchiornis was a capable ground runner.
A tree-based glider is the probable life-style.
Šumadija (Serbian Cyrillic: Шумадија) is a geographical region in Serbia.
The area was heavily forested, hence the name (Šuma - forest).
The city of Kragujevac is the center of the region, and the administrative center of the Šumadija District in Central Serbia.
Šumadija is located between rivers Sava and Danube in the north, river Velika Morava in the east, river Zapadna Morava in the south, and Kolubara, Ljig and Dičina in the west.
According to some interpretations (for example, physiologists such as Jovan Cvijić and ethnologist such as Erdeljanović.),
the northern border of Šumadija lay between Avala and Kosmaj mountain.
According to that view, the capital of Serbia, Belgrade does not belong to this region.
During the 18th century, the forests of Šumadija were the refuge for the Hajduks that fought against Ottoman occupation.
The first Serbian uprising in 1804 was led by national hero Karađorđe.
The second Serbian uprising in 1815 was led by Miloš Obrenović who successfully repelled the Turkish forces and, by 1830, Serbia had gained its full autonomy.
Because of Miloš's efforts and negotiations Serbia was finally an independent state, after centuries under Ottoman reign.
Between 1922 and 1929, one of the administrative units of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was named Šumadijska Oblast.
It roughly included territory of present-day Šumadija District with its administrative seat in Kragujevac, which is the seat of the modern district as well.
Belgrade (most of it)
Čačak (northern part)
Aranđelovac
Mladenovac
Lazarevac
Knić
Varvarin
Lapovo
Ljig
Grocka
Belanovica
Barajevo
Batočina
Rekovac
Šumadija District
Geographical regions in Serbia
Central Region (Serbia)
Šumadija (with Pomoravlje) on serbiainyourhands.com
Stragari - village in Šumadija
The New York Hall of Science is a science and technology museum in New York City.
It has over 400 exhibits on biology, chemistry and physics.
The museum occupies one of the only remaining structures of the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City.
Guadarrama is a village in the nothwestern part of the community of Madrid, in Spain.
The population of Guadarrama is almost 15,000 people.
In summer, there can be 60,000 people.
Guadarrama has become an important tourist point.
It is a second home for many people from Madrid.
The Cia-Cia language (Hangul: 바하사 찌아찌아, Roman: Bahasa Ciacia), also known as South Buton(ese), is an Austronesian language spoken principally around the town of Bau-Bau on the southern tip of Buton Island off the southeast coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
Elmer John Gedeon (April 15, 1917 – April 20, 1944) is one of only two Major League Baseball players killed in action during World War II.
He was also a multi-sport star in college at the University of Michigan.
At Michigan, Gedeon became an All-American in track and field, and earned varsity letters in both American football and baseball.
He tied a world record in the high hurdles in 1938.
After graduating, Gedeon had a position in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Washington Senators.
Gedeon spent most of the 1939 and 1940 baseball seasons in the minor leagues.
He was called up to the Senators in September 1939.
Gedeon's was drafted by the United States Army in early 1941.
Since he was drafted, he had to stop baseball.
He trained as a bomber pilot.
He served in combat, and was shot down and killed in France, April 1944.
Legal and drug problems
In 1983, he was charged with second-degree murder after he wrestled a gun away from a man and shot him in the head at point blank range with it during an altercation outside of a nightclub.
He said it was in self-defense and the charges were dropped because of lack of evidence.
He did admit to killing the man, and says he is unable to forget the incident in a 2011 interview with ESPN.
Hall has had many other legal and drug problems since the 1990s.
Retired professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page invited Hall to join stay at his house to stay sober and rebuild his life.
He also invited him to join his yoga program which many current and former professional wrestlers are involved in.
AWA World Tag Team Championship (one time) (with Curt Hennig)
PWI Match of the Year (1994) (vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X)
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1992)
PWI Tag Team of the Year (1997) (with Kevin Nash)
He was ranked #7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year by PWI in the PWI 500 in 1994.
He was ranked #72 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
He along with Kevin Nash was ranked #40 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
TNA World Tag Team Championship (one time) (with Kevin Nash and Eric Young)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (seven times) (with Kevin Nash (six) and The Giant (one))
WCW World War 3 (1997)
WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (one time)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (four times)
Slammy Award for US Best Match of the Year (1996) (vs. Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam)
Match of the Year (1994) (vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X)
August Rush is a 2007 American drama movie.
It was directed by Kirsten Sheridan.
It was written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart.
It was produced by Richard Barton Lewis.
August Rush has been thought to as an up-to-date reworking of the Oliver Twist story by Charles Dickens.
Wikimania is an international conference on wikis like Wikipedia.
It is organized by the Wikimedia Foundation and brings together authors, programmers, and researchers.
It was started in 2005.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2005)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (2006)
Taipei City, Taiwan (2007)
Alexandria, Egypt (2008)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009)
Gdańsk, Poland (2010)
Haifa, Israel (2011)
Washington, DC (2012)
Hong Kong (2013)
London, United Kingdom (2014)
Mexico, Mexico (2015)
Esino Lario, Italy (2016)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2017)
Cape Town, South Africa (2018)
Stockholm, Sweden (2019)
Future Wikimanias
Wikimania 2020, the sixteenth Wikimedia conference, will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Wikimania page on Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimania website
Bob the Builder is a British-American television program for children.
It is broadcasted on the BBC and around the world.
It was first broadcast on April 12, 1999.
It is developed by Hit Entertainment for BBC Television.
The show is about the life of a builder named Bob, and his talking vehicles and machines who help him fix things.
Bob has a partner named Wendy and a cat named Pilchard.
The slogan of the show is "Can we fix it?
Yes we can!".
There are albums of songs from Bob the Builder.
Out of these songs, there are 2 number 1 hits, "Can We Fix It?"
and "Mambo No.
There is also the number 81 hit "Big Fish Little Fish".
There is also merchandise which is based on the show.
In 2015, a Bob The Builder reboot aired on Nick Jr. Cartoon Network CBBC Cartoonito Channel 5's Milkshake block.
In 2018 reboot show left in Nick Jr. and Cartoonito In 2020 Cartoon Network and Channel 5 It has since ended its run.
A year after the reboot ended, The original Bob the Builder aired on Qubo.
Qubo lost the rights air Bob the Builder reboot on February 28, 2021.
Peter Røschke – Borgmester Bentley
Lars Thiesgaard – Byggemand Bob
Teis Bayer – Grab
Donald Andersen – Kranberg
Vibeke Dueholm – Rumle
Søren Hauch Fausbøll – Smut
Ole Rasmus Møller – Sprinter
Peter Røschke – Thomas Traktor
Dennis Hansen – Tip
Peter Røschke – Tromle
Vibeke Dueholm – Winni
Lasse Nissen
Pauline Rehné
Thomas Meilstrup
Zacharias Grassme
Song by Donald Andersen
A free license refers to a free copyright license.
Some examples are the GNU Free Documentation License, Wikipedia itself and the Creative Commons licenses.
A padlock is a type of portable lock that has a U-shaped shackle that will not come apart from the body of the lock unless the correct key is inserted or the correct combination is dialed.
The U-shape of the lock allows for a wide variety of uses.
Typically the padlock is used to lock two things together, for example, a door and its frame, two or more chains, or a chain and a fixed object.
Padlocks are not recommended for high-security applications because the shackle is easily cut with a bolt cutter or hacksaw.
Some newer padlocks have hardened boron alloy shackles or shrouded (hidden or covered) shackles to make them more difficult to cut.
The combination padlock is usually made with a metal "can" with three tumblers inside connected to a dial on the front.
The mechanism is very similar to that used in safes.
When the correct combination is entered, the notches on the tumblers line up and allow a latch to fall into the notches, releasing the shackle.
Combination locks of this type are not recommended for outdoor use because they can fill up with rain water which causes them to rust.
The laminated padlock is constructed from a series of metal plates that are riveted together.
The shackle of most padlocks is made from hardened steel, although more expensive padlocks may have boron alloy steels to make them more difficult to cut.
Inexpensive padlocks usually have a shackle made of ordinary steel.
Corrosion-resistant padlocks usually have a brass or stainless steel shackle although these materials have low hardness and are easily cut with bolt-cutters.
The material that the shackle is made of is usually stamped in the center of the shackle.
For example, a hardened steel shackle will be stamped "HARDENED" or a boron alloy shackle will be stamped "BORON ALLOY".
Alloy steels with appropriate heat treating provide much higher cutting resistance to bolt-cutters.
Alloy steel shackles are plated with another metal such as nickel or chrome to protect them from rust.
The body of the padlock is usually also plated.
Brass and stainless steel padlocks do not need plating, although they are sometimes plated anyway for appearance.
Stamp on shackle
The stamp on the shackle indicates what material it is made of.
The most common are:
Hardened - Hardened steel, most common
Case hard - Also hardened steel, found on older padlocks
Stainless - Stainless steel
Boron alloy - Boron alloy steel
Boron carbide - Found on Master Lock Magnum.
Special alloy - Found on some Abus padlocks
Molybdenum - Molybdenum alloy steel
Unstamped - Normal steel (when silver) or brass (when gold)
School and gym lockers
Self-storage
Shed doors
Truck doors
Bicycles and motorcycles
Safety switches
Storage boxes
Refrigerators and freezers
Garage doors
Small cash boxes
Abloy
Abus
American Lock
Brinks
The face of a watch, clock or other instrument
a knob with numbers all around it.
It can spin, and is usually used for the following purposes:
used to open some locks and lockers
used on old-modeled telephones for dialing
used on most safes
A market economy is economy in which the prices of the products and services are chosen in a free price system that is decided by supply and demand.
It began around the late 18th century, after the Industrial Revolution.
A key work was Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, 1776.
Market economics has been widely used because of its efficiency (ability to work well).
However, it has also been criticized for its selfishness and the difference between the rich and poor.
In the real world, market economies are not purely market economies, as societies and governments control them in some ways instead of market forces.
The expression free-market economy is sometimes used as the same as market economy.
Nobel Prize in Economics winner Ludwig von Mises said that a market economy is still a market economy even if the government joins in pricing.
The Factors of production are privately owned.
Production occurs from an initiative of the owners.
The only way to get revenue is through services, or through the profits of private companies.
There is no planned economy
There are no regulatory economics
The market participants are free to choose the products they buy, the profession they exercise, and whether to save or invest their money.
For certain goods or services there may be monopolies or cartels.
Some goods may be public.
There may be externalities
There may be Information asymmetry, that is not all participants have the same information
Mayra Verónica (named Mayra Verónica Aruca Rodríguez) was born in Havana, Cuba.
She grew up in the United States where she became famous as a model and singer.
Verónica appeared on Hispanic Univision, TV commercials, FHM magazines and calendar, and music videos.
She works with the USO.
Mayra Verónica was born in Havana, Cuba on 20 August 1980.
Sometimes her birth date appears as 20 August 1980 or 20 August 1983.
Celebrity Birthday lists her as 32 years old (July 2010), born in 1977.
In 1984, she came to the US with her mother, Mayra Rodriguez.
They left behind the rest of her family– her father Arturo Aruca, and sister Giselle Guzman.
Her father came to the US a year later and reunited with Veronica and her mother, while her sister was unable to meet them until 13 years later.
Verónica spoke about her difficult childhood.
She grew up with little money and food was sometimes scarce.
Verónica was a good student.
She learned ballet with help from paying students from her school who could afford the training.
In junior high school, her now famous curves developed.
She said it made ballet difficult, but boys liked it.
Her first boyfriend at the age of 15 was an artist of the same age who often painted her in little or no clothing.
After joining a local beauty pageant and becoming Miss Miami, she met a photographer who took pictures for the event.
The photographer invited her to his studio for free photo sessions.
Mayra's first modeling job led to another job as a reporter for a local TV celebrity news show.
She had no reporting experience, but she was a competent reporter.
She was promoted to hostess for the show, where she interviewed Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, Oscar de la Renta, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Rodman, Hugh Hefner, Marc Anthony, and many more.
Verónica continued actress training in New York.
Verónica obtained a made-for-TV movie role called The Suitor.
She also worked in commercials for Nike, L'Oréal, Ford, Colgate, Burger King, and Coca-Cola.
When Univision started a new TV talk show, they asked her to be their model and co-host, but there was one catch.
Due to her ample curves, her last appearance on screen for the day would show her backside on camera before she turned to face the camera.
Verónica did it gladly.
Once the show aired, the model with the great backside became the talk of Latinos everywhere.
Eventually her fame spread through North America.
Cover girl
Veronica appeared in  FHM magazine (For Him Magazine), and also on the cover of the FHM book, which included top sex symbols such as Pamela Anderson, Eva Longoria, and Carmen Electra.
Verónica appeared on more than 100 magazine covers.
Her web site became very popular and FHM received many letters requesting that she appear again.
The US Marines voted Verónica their favorite pin-up girl.
When soldiers stationed in Iraq sent emails asking for her posters and calendars, Verónica's managers sent the soldiers 5000 posters.
The USO asked her to tour with US soldiers in Iraq.
USO tour
The Thanksgiving USO tour included General James Cartwright, actor Wilmer Valderrama, and comedian Russell Peters.
They traveled 6 places in 6 days (Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Turkey, Africa, and Greenland).
The troops' appreciation was overwhelming.
Although Veronica had decided not to do more calendars, she changed her mind and decided to do one in 2008, dedicating proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Upon her return from the tour, fans described Verónica as a "modern day Betty Grable".
Verónica continued touring with the USO and became an official spokesperson.
In 2009, the New York Stock Exchange asked Verónica to ring the bell for the Fourth of July celebration.
Verónica promoted organizations for which she advocates, the USO and UNICEF, and brought them to the bell ringing ceremony.
Vengo con To
During her time with the Univision TV Network, Veronica met top music producers who worked with her on her first music album.
It was titled Vengo Con To''' (I'm coming at you with everything).
It was a popular time for reggaetón music and Verónica's album included as its first single "Vengo Con To".
The song soared to number 1 in New York and made top 40 on Billboard.
The video was banned from Latin television because her curves appeared too much for TV.
Europe did not seem to mind and Mayra signed a contract with a German company for the release of the album in Europe.
The album's popularity brought Verónica a deal with Motown, which put out a second single from the album titled "Mamma Mia" which performed well on radio.
A third single, "Es Tan Dificil Olvidarte", dedicated to the soldiers who died, put Verónica in the top 10 on the pop contemporary charts.
Verónica continued her work with the troops by visiting the wounded at Camp Lejeune.
Saint nor Sinner
Verónica began 2010 on the cover of Billboard magazine with a new single, "If You Wanna Fly," that reached #13 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart and #15 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart.
She continues working with producer Eddie Galan of Mach 1 Music, with a new album titled Saint Nor Sinner'' due out in 2010.
Ranked #86 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005"
Ranked #67 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006"
Mayra Veronica Interview
Mayra Veronica at Ask Men
Cuban musicians
Epidexipteryx ('display feather') is a genus of small maniraptoran dinosaurs, known from one fossil specimen in Beijing.
Epidexipteryx is the earliest known example of ornamental feathers in the fossil record.
It is a small maniraptoran dinosaur from the Middle or Upper Jurassic age Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia, China (perhaps 160 to 168 million years ago).
It is known from a well preserved partial skeleton that includes four long feathers on the tail, composed of a central rachis and vanes.
However, unlike in modern-style tail feathers, the vanes were not branched but made up of a single ribbon-like sheet.
Epidexipteryx also preserved a covering of simpler body feathers.
They are unique in that some appear to arise from a "membranous structure".
In all, the skeleton of Epidexipteryx hui measures 25 centimeters (10 inches) in length (44.5 cm or 17.5 in including the incomplete tail feathers), and the authors estimated a weight of 164 grams, smaller than most other early dinobirds.
The skull of Epidexipteryx is also unique in a number of features.
It had teeth only in the front of the jaws, with unusually long front teeth angled forward, a feature only seen in Masiakasaurus among other theropods.
The tail of Epidexipteryx bore unusual vertebrae towards the tip which resembled the feather-anchoring pygostyle of modern birds and some oviraptors.
Despite its close relationship to avialan birds, Epidexipteryx appears to have lacked wing feathers, and so it could not fly.
suggest that unless Epidexipteryx evolved from flying ancestors and subsequently lost its wings, this may indicate that advanced display feathers on the tail may have predated flying or gliding flight.
There is uncertainty about the age of the Daohugou Beds in which this fossil was found.
Various papers have placed the fossils here anywhere from the Middle Jurassic (169 million years ago) to the Lower Cretaceous (122 ma).
The age of this formation has implications for the relationship between similar dinosaurs, as well as for the origin of birds in general.
A Middle Jurassic age would mean that the bird-like dinosaurs in the Daohugou beds are older than the 'first bird', Archaeopteryx, which was late Jurassic in age.
Until this question is decided, the significance of Epidexipteryx (and other early dinobirds from that area) is not clear.
A driver is a person who controls a vehicle.
A driver may be a job such as a bus driver or a hobby such as a race car driver.
Taylor Daniel Lautner (; born February 11 1992) is an American actor.
He is best known for playing Jacob Black in the Twilight Saga movie series, though he has also been in family movies and done voiceover work for animated cartoons.
Lautner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
His parents are Deborah, who works for a software development company, and Daniel Lautner, a commercial airline pilot.
Lautner was raised as a Roman Catholic in Hudsonville, Michigan.
He went to Jamestown Elementary School until the age of eleven, when the family moved to the Santa Clarita area.
Lautner is of mostly Dutch, French, and German ancestry, and claims some Native American ancestry through his mother.
He has a younger sister, Makena.
He has learnt karate since the age of six.
The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, (simplified Chinese: 汉语水平考试; traditional Chinese: 漢語水平考試; hanyu pinyin: Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì), shortened as HSK, is the People's Republic of China's only standardized test of Standard Mandarin Chinese proficiency for non-native speakers, such as foreign students, overseas Chinese, and members of ethnic minority groups in China.
It is also known as the "Chinese Proficiency Test".
Every year, HSK certificates are issued to those who score well enough.
The HSK is primarily conducted in Simplified Chinese.
Hong Kong Test Centre (Yale-China Chinese Language Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
The Foxtrot, or Slow foxtrot, is an English ballroom dance which developed from American band music.
It is now one of the international standard ballroom dances.
All ballroom dance competitions controlled by the World Dance Council include the Foxtrot.
All the standard ballroom dances had their origins abroad, but were adapted and modified by English dancers into their modern style.
The Waltz came from Germany around 1810.
The Tango came from Argentina.
The Foxtrot and Quickstep were greatly influenced by American music.
Influences from America
The Boston
An American dance called the Boston arrived in England about 1903.
This had fairly slow, gliding steps.
It is a characteristic of the Foxtrot that in the basic steps, unlike the other dances, the feet slide past each other rather than coming together.
The Boston seems to have been the first dance to move the feet in this way.
The Boston also was the first ballroom dance to be done with feet parallel (rather than turned out, as in ballet).
"The Boston, surely, was the first true example of the smooth flow and natural walking movement of this form".p165
The Boston, like much else, was finished off by the First World War.
Crowded dance floors in wartime left no room for it, and new musical imports arrived from America.
Ragtime and jazz came to Europe, and were great sensations.
Both the music, and the many 'craze' dances contributed.
After the war the big bands of Paul Whiteman took centre stage.
He played 'arranger's jazz', meaning, the band played from charts rather than by ear.
Whiteman's bands were hugely successful (there were several).
The craze dances
"The decade between 1910 and 1920", said one writer, "was the period in which America went dance mad".p369 "From 1912 through 1914", said another, "over one hundred new dances found their way in and out of our fashionable ballrooms".p76
These are a few examples: The Shimmy, The Grind, The Turkey Trot, The Bunny Hug, The Texas Tommy, The Cakewalk... Almost all these dances originated in the black community in the United States, and some moved over into white society.p95
The English touch
During the 1920s, English professional dancers and dance teachers set out to find ways of dancing to the new music.
In their opinion, what was needed was separate dances for different tempos.
So what happened was that the Foxtrot, which had started off as a mid-tempo dance influenced by ragtime, gradually split into two dances, a Slow foxtrot and a quick foxtrot.
The difference in tempo allowed the dances to become, in time, different in style as well as music.
The Quickstep (as it was soon called) was influenced by the Charleston, and the Slow foxtrot by ideas from the Boston.
The syncopation which is still common in the quickstep is an example of ragtime influence on modern dancing.
Where did the name 'foxtrot' come from?
It is often said that Foxtrot took its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox; however the exact origins are not clear.
The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the talented husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style.
W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues was said to be the inspiration for the Foxtrot.
The Castles' music director would play the Memphis Blues during breaks from the fast paced Castle Walk and One-step.
The Castles were intrigued by the rhythm.
They introduced the 'Bunny Hug' in a magazine article.
They went abroad and in mid-ocean sent a wireless to the magazine to change the Bunny Hug to the 'Foxtrot'.p226
Three Step
Feather Step
Closed Impetus
Basic Weave
Closed Telemark
Open Telemark
Hover Feather
Hover Telemark
Hover Cross
Open Impetus
Slow Foxtrot: Basic steps demonstrated by a top-class pair.
The dancers are Marcus and Karen Hilton, nine times Professional World Ballroom Dance champions.
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) offers recreational support for members of the U.S. military.
The USO provides programs in 140 centers worldwide funded by private and public donations and support from the United States Department of Defense.
It is not a government agency.
USO Tours
USO works to boost military morale.
Since 1941, the USO became the soldier's "home away from home" and began a tradition of entertaining the troops with live performances called Camp Shows that continues today.
These "tours" typically feature big name actors or actresses, comedians, pop musicians, and pin-up models.
Support and services
The USO serves both in time of war and during time of peace.
During the 1990s, the USO provided services to 5 million active duty service members and their families, and more support after start of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
USO Clubs in World War II
President Bush speech USO World Gala, 2008: Text and video, Oct. 1, 2008
8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) is one of the largest choral works in classical music.
It needs a huge orchestra to play it and a huge choir to sing.
Because so many performers are needed it is often called  "Symphony of a Thousand", but that is not a name that Mahler gave to it.
Mahler worked very hard at it, composing it in quite a short time at Maiernigg in southern Austria in the summer of 1906.
It was the last of Mahler's works that was to be given its first performance in his lifetime.
The symphony was given its first performance in Munich on 12 September 1910.
Symphonies are usually pieces of music played just by an orchestra, but Beethoven started a tradition of having singing in symphonies: his Ninth Symphony is the famous one with the Ode to Joy in the last movement.
Mahler took up this idea of combining singing with symphony.
His Symphonies Nos 2, 3, and 4 all have singing in them.
The next three are just for orchestra, but in No.
8 he uses singing again.
8 is very unusual because he does not have the usual three or four movements with traditional forms such as sonata form.
The whole symphony is in two parts.
Part I is based on the Latin text of a ninth-century Christian hymn for Pentecost, Veni creator spiritus ("Come, Creator Spirit").
Part II is in German.
The words come from the closing scene of Goethe's Faust.
The two parts have a common idea: the idea of being saved through the power of love.
Musically Mahler does this by sharing tunes throughout the symphony.
The symphony expresses the confidence of the eternal human spirit.
For many years after Mahler’s death it was not often performed.
It is, of course, a very expensive symphony to perform because of the vast numbers of musicians needed.
It also needs to be performed in a very large concert hall.
Today it is played more often.
The 100th anniversary of its first performance will be celebrated in July 2010in the opening concert of the BBC Proms is the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Opinions about the symphony have been divided.
Some people did not think the optimism expressed in the music was really convincing.
Other people have said it is one of the greatest musical expressions of humanity.
Mahler 8
08 (Mahler)
Simon Boccanegra is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.
It is divided into a  prologue and  three acts.
The libretto is by Francesco Maria Piave.
The story was based on a play Simón Bocanegra (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez.
Simon Boccanegra was first performed at Teatro La Fenice, Venice on 12 March 1857.
It was not very successful, and many years later Verdi made a lot of changes to it.
He was helped by the writer Arrigo Boito who made changes to the plot.
The new version was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 24 March 1881.
This is the version that is normally performed today.
The story is supposed to take place in the middle of the 14th century in Genoa.
Genoa (in Italian: Genova) is now a town in Italy, but in those days Italy was not yet one country, and Genoa, like Venice, was a small republic, ruled by a Doge (pronounced “Doadz” in English.
It is an Italian word meaning “duke”).
Until the time of this story the Doge had always been chosen from one of the rich patricians.
The ordinary, common people (the plebeians), could not be chosen to be the Doge.
At the beginning of the story Fiesco is the Doge of Genoa.
He has a daughter Maria.
Maria has fallen in love with Simon Boccanegra who is a plebeian, so he would not be important enough to be allowed to marry her, even though he has become a hero because he has fought lots of pirates.
Simon and Maria had a child, a young girl.
After she was born she was given to an old woman to look after, but one day the old woman died and the small child wandered off alone.
She was found wandering by the sea shore by Count Grimaldi who took her and looked after her as if she were his own child.
No one knows what has happened to the child.
Count Grimaldi does not know who she is.
He thinks she is an orphan.
When the opera begins, Paolo, the leader of the Plebeian party, persuades Pietro to encourage the plebeians to vote for Simon Boccanegra as the new doge of Genoa.
Boccanegra arrives and agrees that he would be doge if he were chosen.
Simon thinks this would make Fiesco allow him to marry Maria.
For the past three months Fiesco has locked his daughter in the palace because she had had a child with Simon.
Maria dies (we never see her in the opera).
Fiesco now laments the death of his daughter.
Simon begs Fiesco to forgive him.
Fiesco does not tell him Maria has just died.
He promises to forgive him only if Simon lets him have his granddaughter.
Simon explains he cannot because the child has disappeared.
He goes into Maria’s room and finds she is dead.
The people sing happily because Simon is the new Doge.
The story of Act I takes place 25 years later.
Simon is still the Doge.
He has sent many of his enemies into exile and taken away their property.
Count Grimaldi is one of the people who has been exiled.
In the Grimaldi castle, Fiesco is calling himself Andrea Grimaldi so that people do not know who he is.
He is plotting with Simon’s enemies to overthrow him.
He does not know that his granddaughter (Simon’s daughter) is the young lady called Amelia Grimaldi who is living in the castle.
At the beginning of Act I we see Amelia singing a beautiful song about the morning and the sea and the stars.
She has a lover, Gabriele Adorno.
When he arrives she warns him of the dangers of political plotting.
The news is brought that the Doge is coming.
Amelia is worried that the Doge will make her marry Paolo, so she asks Gabriele to ask Andrea (who is actually Fiesco) immediately for permission for them to marry.
Fiesco agrees.
He tells Gabriele that she was a poor orphan who had been found (he does not realize that it is his granddaughter).
Gabriele says that he does not care about that, so Fiesco blesses the marriage.
Simon enters.
He tells her that Count Grimaldi is forgiven and can return home.
He asks her whether she would like to marry Paolo, but she refuses.
She tells him that she is an orphan and she shows him a locket with a picture of her mother.
Simon realizes that Amelia is his long-lost daughter.
They are very happy to have found one another.
When Paolo enters, Simon tells him he cannot marry her.
Paolo is furious and decides to kidnap Amelia.
In the next scene we see Simon surrounded by the plebeian and patrician members of his Council.
They are discussing whether they should make peace with the republic of Venice.
Suddenly a crowd enters shouting for death to Simon.
They are chasing Gabriele.
Gabriele confesses that he killed Lorenzino for trying to kidnap Amelia.
As Lorenzino lay dying he had said that he had been told by an important person to kidnap her.
Adorno guesses that Simon must have ordered the kidnapping.
He is about to attack him when Amelia rushes in and stops the fight   Simon arrests Gabriele.
He realizes that Paolo must be the real kidnapper, and makes everybody (including Paolo) curse him.
Simon and his daughter are left alone on stage at the end of the act.
Paolo is frightened.
He is furious with Simon and decides he must poison him.
Fiesco and Gabriele are brought in.
He tells Fiesco he can be free if he murders Simon.
Fiesco refuses.
Just as Fiesco and Gabriele are about to leave, Paolo asks Gabriele whether he knows Amelia is here in the palace having an affair with Simon.
Gabriele is furious.
When Amelia enters she denies the story.
She tells Gabriele she loves him and tries to persuade him to leave, but Simon is coming and Gabriele hides.
Amelia tells Simon that she would die for Gabriele.
Simon agrees to pardon him.
He drinks from a poisoned glass of wine, which Paolo had put on the table, and falls asleep.
Gabriele tries to kill him, but Amelia stops him.
Simon wakes up.
He tells Gabriele that Amelia is his daughter.
Gabriele begs Simon for forgiveness and promises he will fight for him.
This takes place in a great hall which looks out on the harbour.
Fiesco has been set free,  but Paolo is condemned to death for leading the uprising against the Doge.
Paolo tells Fiesco that he has poisoned Simon.
Fiesco goes to Simon, who is now dying (the poison is working slowly).
Simon recognizes his old enemy who he thought was dead.
He is happy to tell him that Amelia is his long-lost granddaughter.
Fiesco feels terribly sad and tells Simon about the poison.
Gabriele and Amelia have just got married.
They find her father and grandfather are now friends.
Simon asks for Gabriele to be the next Doge when he dies.
Fiesco goes to the window and announces to the crowd that Gabriele Adorno is now the new Doge and that Simon Boccanegra is dead.
Giuseppe Verdi – Simon Boccanegra.
Dokumente – Materialien – Texte, Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2008.
The New Kobbe's Opera Book, ed.
The Earl of Harewood and Antony Peattie,
A fire hydrant, also known as a fire plug or johnny pump, is a tool used for fighting fires.
They are usually found easily on streets, stuck to the road.
The first fire hydrant recorded was in Philadelphia.
A fire hydrant is the primary method of firefighting in a municipal area.
It is basically an outlet with a valve that provides water to the fire pumps or fire jeeps engaged in firefighting.
Laws for keeping operational fire hydrants at specific intervals and with free access in buildings, factories, urban and developed areas are an important component of fire control and safety.
Betty Grable (18 December 1916 – 2 July 1973) was born Elizabeth Ruth Grable in St. Louis, Missouri.
She was an American actress, dancer, singer, and model, famous for her legs.
She insured her legs for $1,000,000.
Her swimsuit photo made her the number 1 pin-up girl during World War II.
Her photo later appeared in LIFE magazine's "100 Photos that Changed the World".
She was awarded a star (a metal award plaque set in sidewalk cement) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
She died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California at age 56.
(1929) Happy Days
(1930) Let's Go Places
(1930) New Movietone Follies of 1930
(1930) Whoopee!
(1931) Kiki
(1931) Palmy Days
(1932) The Greeks Had a Word for Them
(1932) Probation
(1932) The Age of Consent
(1932) Hold 'Em Jail
(1932) The Kid from Spain
(1933) Cavalcade
(1933) Child of Manhattan
(1933) Melody Cruise
(1933) What Price Innocence?
(1933) The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
(1934) The Gay Divorcee
(1934) Student Tour
(1934) By Your Leave
(1935) The Nitwits
(1935) Old Man Rhythm
(1936) Collegiate
(1936) Follow the Fleet
(1936) Don't Turn 'em Loose
(1936) Pigskin Parade
(1937) This Way Please
(1937) Thrill of a Lifetime
(1938) College Swing
(1938) Give Me a Sailor
(1938) Campus Confessions
(1939) Man About Town
(1939) Million Dollar Legs
(1939) The Day the Bookies Wept
(1940) Down Argentine Way
(1940) Tin Pan Alley
(1941) Moon over Miami
(1941) A Yank in the RAF
(1941) I Wake Up Screaming
(1942) Song of the Islands
(1942) Footlight Serenade
(1942) Springtime in the Rockies
(1943) Coney Island
(1943) Sweet Rosie O'Grady
(1944) Four Jills in a Jeep
(1944) Pin Up Girl
(1945) Diamond Horseshoe
(1945) The Dolly Sisters
(1946) Do You Love Me
(1947) The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
(1947) Mother Wore Tights
(1948) That Lady in Ermine
(1948) When My Baby Smiles at Me
(1949) The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
(1950) Wabash Avenue
(1950) My Blue Heaven
(1951) Call Me Mister
(1951) Meet Me After the Show
(1953) The Farmer Takes a Wife
(1953) How to Marry a Millionaire
(1955) Three for the Show
(1955) How to Be Very, Very Popular
Betty Grable: A Tribute
BettyGrable.net
Vintage People
Betty Grable Photo Tribute
Betty Grable Portraits
A geyser is a hot spring which shoots out water and steam.
They erupt when pressure has built up, often at regular intervals.
There are about a thousand geysers around the world.
About half are in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States.
Geysers are made in special geological conditions.
Only a few places on Earth have these conditions.
Because of this, geysers are not very common.
One place is the Yellowstone National Park, which is the remains of a gigantic volcano.
Another is Iceland, which sits on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where new Earth's crust is formed.
Geysers are often near active volcanos.
This is because the geyser is caused by magma.
Surface water usually goes down to about .
There, it mixes with hot rocks.
The pressurized water begins to boil.
When it is pressured enough, hot water and steam burst out of the geyser.
Form and function
Individual geysers do not last forever, but systems of geysers last as long as the geological situation continues.
The oldest individual geysers are only a few thousand years old.
Geysers are usually near volcanic areas.
As the water boils, the pressure increases.
This forces hot steam and water to the surface through the geyser.
Geysers are usually made because of three things that are around volcanoes.
Great heat
A geyser needs a lot of heat .
This heat comes from magma.
This magma needs to be near the surface of the earth.
Geysers need much more heat than is usually found near the earth's surface.
This is why they are often around volcanoes or volcanic areas.
The water that bursts from a geyser must travel underground through deep, high-pressure cracks in the earth's crust.
A plumbing system
For the heated water to form a geyser, a plumbing system is needed.
The water needs to be held while it is being heated.
The plumbing system is made up of a system of fractures, fissures, spaces and sometimes cavities (holes).
Most importantly, the temperatures near the bottom of the geyser become high enough to start boiling the water.
Steam bubbles come out of the top of the column.
They burst through the geyser's vent.
Some water flows or splashes out.
This makes the weight of the column of water and the pressure on the water below less.
When this pressure is released, the hot water turns into steam.
It boils violently.
There are several bodies in the Solar System where jet-like eruptions, often called "geysers" and "cryogeysers", have been seen.
Unlike geysers on Earth, these are eruptions of gas, together with dust or ice particles, but without liquid.
Water vapor streams have been seen near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Nitrogen eruptions have been seen on Neptune's moon Triton.
Carbon dioxide eruptions from the southern polar ice cap of Mars have also been seen.
Bryan, T. Scott (1995).
The geysers of Yellowstone.
Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.
Glennon, J.A., Pfaff, R.M. (2003).
The extraordinary thermal activity of El Tatio Geyser Field, Antofagasta Region, Chile, Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA) Transactions, vol 8.
31–78.
Glennon, J.A. (2005).
Carbon Dioxide-Driven, Cold Water Geysers , University of California, Santa Barbara.
Originally posted February 12, 2004, last update 6 May 2005.
Accessed 8 June 2007.
Glennon, J.A. (2007).
About Geysers ,  University of California, Santa Barbara.
Originally posted January 1995, updated June 4, 2007.
Glennon, J.A., Pfaff, R.M. (2005).
The operation and geography of carbon-dioxide-driven, cold-water geysers, GOSA Transactions, vol.
184–192.
Kelly W.D., Wood C.L. (1993).
Tidal interaction: A possible explanation for geysers and other fluid phenomena in the Neptune-Triton system, in Lunar and Planetary Inst.,
Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Part 2: 789-790.
Rinehart, J.S. (1980) Geysers and Geothermal Energy.
Springer-Verlag, 223 p.
Schreier, Carl (2003).
Yellowstone's geysers, hot springs and fumaroles (Field guide) (2nd ed.).
Homestead Pub.
Soderblom L.A., Becker T.L., Kieffer S.W., Brown R.H., Hansen C.J., Johnson T.V. (1990).
Triton's geyser-like plumes — Discovery and basic characterization.
Science 250: 410-415.
Allen, E.T. and Day, A.L. (1935) Hot Springs of the Yellowstone National Park, Publ.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C., 525 p.
Barth, T.F.W. (1950) Volcanic Geology: Hot Springs and Geysers of Iceland, Publ.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C., 174 p.