Life.

Early years.

Balakirev was born in Nizhny Novgorod into a noble Russian family. His father Alexey Konstantinovich Balakirev (1809—1869) was a titular councillor who belonged to the ancient dynasty founded by Ivan Vasilievich Balakirev, a Moscow boyar and voivode who led Russian army against the Khanate of Kazan during the 1544 expedition (Alexey's branch traced its history to Andrei Simonovich Balakirev who took part in the 1618 Siege of Moscow and was granted lands in Nizhny Novgorod). The legend of supposed Tatar ancestor who was baptized and took part in the Battle of Kulikovo as Dmitry Donskoy's personal khorunzhyi that circulated among fellow composers was made up by Balakirev and doesn't find any proof.  Mily's mother was Elizaveta Ivanovna Balakireva (née

The Five.

The deaths of Glinka in 1857 and Ulybyshev the following year left Balakirev without influential supporters. Nevertheless, his time with Glinka had sparked a passion for Russian nationalism within Balakirev, leading him to adopt the stance that Russia should have its own distinct school of music, free from Southern and Western European influences. He had also started meeting other important figures who would abet him in this goal in 1856, including César Cui, Alexander Serov, the Stasov brothers and Alexander Dargomyzhsky. He now gathered around him composers with similar ideals, whom

Saint Petersburg Conservatory and Free School of Music.

The formation of The Five paralleled the early years of Tsar Alexander II, a time of innovation and reform in the political and social climate in Russia. The Russian Musical Society (RMS) and the musical conservatories in St. Petersburg and Moscow were all established at this time. While these institutions had powerful champions in Anton Rubinstein and Nikolai Rubinstein, others feared the influence of German instructors and musical precepts into Russian classical music. Balakirev's sympathies and closest contacts were in the latter camp, and he frequently made derogatory comments about the German "routine" which, he believed, came at the expense of the composer's originality.  Balakirev was outspoken in his opposition to Anton Rubinstein's efforts. This opposition was partly ideological and partly personal. Anton Rubinstein was at that time the only Russian able to live on his art, while Balakirev had to live on income from piano lessons and recitals played in the salons of the aristocracy. At stake was a viable career in music as artistic director of the Russian Musical Society. Balakirev attacked Rubinstein for his conservative musical tastes,

Mature works and Prague visit.

Balakirev spent the summer of 1862 in the Caucasus, mainly in Essentuki, and was impressed enough by the region to return there the following year and in 1868. He noted down folk tunes from that region and from Georgia and Iran; these tunes would play an important part in his musical development. One of the first compositions to show this influence was his setting of Alexander Pushkin's "Georgian song", while a quasi-oriental style appeared in other songs. In 1864, Balakirev considered writing an opera based on the folk legend of the Firebird (a subject upon which Igor Stravinsky would later base his ballet "The Firebird"), but abandoned the project due to

Waning influence and friendship with Tchaikovsky.

When Anton Rubinstein relinquished directorship of the RMS concerts in 1867, Balakirev was suggested to replace him. The conservative patron for the RMS, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, agreed—provided Nikolai Zaremba, who had taken over for Rubinstein at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory was also appointed, along with a distinguished foreign composer. The choice of Berlioz as foreign conductor was widely lauded, but Balakirev's appointment was seen less enthusiastically. Balakirev's uncompromising nature caused tension at the RMS, and his preference for modern repertoire earned him the enmity of Elena Pavlovna. In 1869, she informed him that his services were no longer required. The week after Balakirev's dismissal, an impassioned

Breakdown and return to music.

In the spring of 1871, rumors circulated that Balakirev had suffered a nervous breakdown. Friends who visited him found no trace of his former self; in place of his former vivacity, energy and drive, they found him silent, withdrawn and lethargic. Borodin wrote to Rimsky-Korsakov that he wondered whether Balakirev's condition was little better than insanity. He was especially concerned about Balakirev's coolness toward musical matters, and hoped he would not follow the example of author Nikolai Gogol and destroy his manuscripts. He took a five-year break from music, and withdrew from his musical friends, but did not destroy his manuscripts; instead he stacked them neatly in one corner of his house. In his mental state,

Personal life.

Balakirev apparently never married nor had any children since none are mentioned in biographical sources. In his earlier days he was politically liberal, a freethinker and an atheist; for a while, he considered writing an opera based on Chernishevsky's nihilistic novel "What is to Be Done?". For a while in the late 1860s he frequented a soothsayer to learn his fate with the Russian Musical Society. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote of these sessions, "Balakirev, who did not believe in God, became a believer in the Devil. The Devil brought it about that subsequently he came to believe in God too... [T]he soothsaying... cast a terror upon him".  Following his breakdown, Balakirev sought solace in the strictest sect of Russian Orthodoxy, dating his conversion to the anniversary of his mother's death in March 1871. The exact circumstances of that conversion are unknown, as no letters or diaries of his from this period have survived. Rimsky-Korsakov relates some of Balakirev's extremes in behavior at this point—how he had "given up eating meat, and ate fish, but... only those which had died, never

Music.

Balakirev became important in the history of Russian music through both his works and his leadership. More so than Glinka, he helped set the course for Russian orchestral music and Russian lyrical song during the second half of the 19th century. While he learned from Glinka certain methods of treating Russian folk song instrumentally, a bright, transparent orchestral technique (something he also learned from the works of Hector Berlioz) and many elements of his basic style, he developed and expanded upon what he had learned, fusing it satisfactorily with then-advanced Romantic compositional techniques.  Unfortunately, the protracted composition of several works robbed Balakirev of the credit for their inventiveness. Pieces which could have won success had they been completed in the 1860s and 70s made a much smaller impact when they were introduced much later in the composer's life. This was because they had been overtaken stylistically by the accomplishments of younger composers, and because some of their compositional devices were appropriated by other members of The Five—the most notable example of the latter is Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade", which was influenced by Balakirev's symphonic poem "Tamara". Another consequence was a tendency to overwork details, which robbed these pieces of freshness of inspiration and made then seem "overdone".  Despite the protracted composition period, there was no discernible difference, especially in the two symphonies, between the sections completed in the 1860s and those written much later. Zetlin asserts that while there was no diminution of Balakirev's creative talent, the reason for this lack of disparity was because Balakirev "had ceased to evolve" as an artist; he remained creatively at the point he had reached in the 1860s, "and his newest works seemed thus merely an echo of the past."

Influences.

Perhaps because Balakirev's initial musical experience was as a pianist, composers for his own instrument influenced the repertory and style of his compositions. He wrote in all the genres cultivated by Frédéric Chopin except the Ballade, cultivating a comparable charm. The other keyboard composer who influenced Balakirev was Franz Liszt, apparent in "Islamey" as well as in his transcriptions of works by other composers and the symphonic poem "Tamara".  Balakirev's affinity with Glinka's music becomes most apparent in his handling of folk material. However, Balakirev advances on Glinka's technique of using "variations with changing backgrounds," reconciling the compositional practices of classical music with the idiomatic treatment of folk

Russian style: The Overtures.

With his First Overture on Russian Themes, Balakirev focused on writing symphonic works with Russian character. He chose his themes from folk song collections available at the time he composed the piece, taking Glinka's "Kamarinskaya" as a model in taking a slow song for the introduction, then for the fast section choosing two songs compatible in structure with the ostinato pattern of the "Kamarinskaya" dance song. Balakirev's use of two songs in this section was an important departure from the model, as it allowed him to link the symphonic process of symphonic form with Glinka's variations on an ostinato pattern, and in contrasting them treat the songs symphonically instead of merely decoratively.  The Second Overture on Russian Themes shows an increased sophistication as Balakirev utilizes Beethoven's technique of deriving short motifs from longer themes so that those motifs can be combined into a convincing contrapuntal fabric. As such it can stand on its own as an example of abstract motivic-thematic composition, yet since it uses folk songs in doing so, it can

Progressive development: First Symphony.

Balakirev began his First Symphony after completing the Second Overture but cut work short to concentrate on the Overture on Czech Themes, recommencing on the symphony only 30 years later and not finishing it until 1897. Letters from Balakirev to Stasov and Cui indicate that the first movement was two-thirds completed and the final movement sketched out, though he would supply a new theme for the finale many years later. While he was waiting until the finale to incorporate folk material, he was anxious to incorporate a

Orientalism: "Tamara".

Balakirev also further cultivated the orientalism of Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", making it a more consistent style. It appears in the "Georgian Song" of 1861, "Islamey" and "Tamara". This style comprises two parts: a languorous vein of slow, sinuous melody with ornamentation and slow-moving harmonic progressions, contrasted with a more ecstatic vein marked by a perpetuum mobile at a fast tempo and rapid melodic contours over a slower-moving harmonic changes. This style on one hand evoked the mystery of the distant, exotic east with which Russia did not have

Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (, ; 2 January 1837 – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor known today primarily for his work promoting musical nationalism and his encouragement of more famous Russian composers, notably Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He began his career as a pivotal figure, extending the fusion of traditional folk music and experimental classical music practices begun by composer Mikhail Glinka. In the process, Balakirev developed musical patterns that could express overt nationalistic feeling. After a nervous breakdown and consequent sabbatical, he returned to classical music but did not wield the same level of influence as before.

Mili Alekseïevitch Balakirev (en ) est un compositeur russe né à Nijni Novgorod le et mort à Saint-Pétersbourg le. Il est connu pour sa pièce virtuose pour piano "Islamey" et son poème symphonique "Tamara".


Biography.

Cherryh was born in 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri and raised primarily in Lawton, Oklahoma. She began writing stories at the age of ten when she became frustrated with the cancellation of her favorite TV show, "Flash Gordon". In 1964, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin from the University of Oklahoma (Phi Beta Kappa), with academic specializations in archaeology, mythology, and the history of engineering. In 1965, she received a Master of Arts degree in classics from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was a Woodrow Wilson fellow.  After graduation, Cherryh taught Latin, Ancient Greek, the classics, and ancient history at John Marshall High School in the Oklahoma City public school system. While her job was teaching Latin, her passion was the history, religion, and culture of Rome and Ancient Greece. During the summers, she would conduct student tours of the ancient ruins in England, France, Spain, and Italy. In her spare time, she would write, using the mythology of Rome and Greece as plots for her stories of the future. Cherryh did not follow the professional path typical of science fiction writers at the time, which was to first publish short stories in science fiction and fantasy magazines and then progress to novels; she did not consider writing short stories until she had had several novels published.  Cherryh wrote novels in her spare time away from teaching and submitted these manuscripts directly for publication. Initially, she met with little success; indeed various publishers lost manuscripts she had submitted. She was thus forced to retype them from her own carbon copies, time-consuming but cheaper than paying for photocopying. (Using carbon paper to make at least one copy of a manuscript was standard practice until the advent of the personal computer.)  Cherryh's breakthrough came in 1975 when Donald A. Wollheim purchased the two manuscripts she had submitted to DAW Books, "Gate of Ivrel" and "Brothers of Earth". Cherryh stated in an interview on "Amazing Stories"  It was the first time a book really found an ending and really worked, because I had made contact with Don Wollheim at DAW, found him interested, and was able to write for a specific editor whose body of work and type of story I knew. It was a good match. It was a set of characters I'd invented when I was, oh, about thirteen. So it was an old favorite of my untold stories, and ended up being the first in print.  The two novels were published in 1976, "Gate of Ivrel" preceding "Brothers of Earth" by several months (although she had completed and submitted "Brothers of Earth" first). The books won her immediate recognition and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1977.  Although not all of her works have been published by DAW Books, during this early period Cherryh developed a strong relationship with the Wollheim family and their publishing company, frequently traveling to New York City and staying with the Wollheims in their Queens family home. Other companies that have published her novels include Baen Books, HarperCollins, Warner Books, and Random House (under its Del Rey Books imprint). She published six additional novels in the late 1970s.  In 1979, her short story "Cassandra" won the Best Short Story Hugo, and she quit teaching to write full-time. She has since won the Hugo Award for Best Novel twice, first for "Downbelow Station" in 1982 and then again for "Cyteen" in 1989.  In addition to developing her own fictional universes, Cherryh has contributed to several shared world anthologies, including "Thieves' World", "Heroes in Hell", "Elfquest", "Witch World", "Magic in Ithkar", and the "Merovingen Nights" series, which she edited. Her writing has encompassed a variety of science fiction and fantasy subgenres and includes a few short works of non-fiction. Her books have been translated into Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish. She has also translated several published works of fiction from French into English.  She now lives near Spokane, Washington, with her wife the science fiction/fantasy author and artist Jane Fancher. She enjoys skating, traveling and regularly makes appearances at science fiction conventions.  Her brother David A. Cherry is a science fiction and fantasy artist.

Writing style.

Cherryh uses a writing technique she has variously labeled "very tight limited third person", "intense third person", and "intense internal" voice. In this approach, the only things the writer narrates are those that the viewpoint character specifically notices or thinks about. The narration may not mention important features of the environment or situation with which character is already familiar, even though these things might be of interest to the reader, because the character does not think about them due to their familiarity.

World building.

Cherryh's works depict fictional worlds with great realism supported by her strong background in languages, history, archaeology, and psychology. In her introduction to Cherryh's first book, Andre Norton compared the effect of the work to Tolkien's: "Never since reading "The Lord of the Rings" have I been so caught up in any tale as I have been in "Gate of Ivrel"." Another reviewer commented, "Her blend of science and folklore gives the novels an intellectual depth comparable to Tolkien or Gene Wolfe". Cherryh creates believable alien cultures, species, and perspectives, causing the reader to reconsider basic assumptions about human nature. Her worlds have been praised as complex and realistic because she presents them through implication rather than explication. She describes the difficulties of translating/expressing concepts between differing languages. This is best demonstrated in both the "Chanur" and "Foreigner" series.  She has described the process she uses to create alien societies for her fiction as being akin to asking a series of questions, and letting the answers to these questions dictate various parameters of the alien culture. In her view, "culture is how biology responds to its environment and makes its living conditions better." Some of the issues she considers critical to take into account in detailing an intelligent alien race are:

Major themes.

Her protagonists often attempt to uphold existing social institutions and norms in the service of the greater good while the antagonists often attempt to exploit, subvert or radically alter the predominant social order for selfish gain. She uses the theme of the outsider finding his (or her) place in society and how individuals interact with The Other. A number of Cherryh's novels focus on military and political themes. One underlying theme of her work is an exploration of gender roles. Her characters reveal both strengths and weaknesses regardless of their gender, although her female protagonists are portrayed as especially capable and determined, and many of her male characters are portrayed as damaged, abused, or otherwise vulnerable.

Works.

Her career began with publication of her first books in 1976, "Gate of Ivrel" and "Brothers of Earth". Since that time, she has published over 80 novels, short-story compilations, with continuing production as her blog attests. Ms. Cherryh has received the Hugo and Locus Awards for some of her novels. Her novels are divided into various spheres, focusing mostly around the Alliance-Union universe, The Chanur novels, the Foreigner universe, and her fantasy novels.

Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels "Downbelow Station" (1981) and "Cyteen" (1988), both set in her Alliance-Union universe. She is known for "world building", depicting fictional realms with great realism supported by vast research in history, language, psychology, and archeology.

C. J. Cherryh, née le à Saint-Louis dans le Missouri, est le nom de plume de l'écrivain américaine de fantasy et de science-fiction Carolyn Janice Cherry, sœur du peintre David A. Cherry. Elle a écrit plus de 60 romans depuis les années 1970, notamment "Cyteen" et "Forteresse des étoiles", qui ont obtenu le prix Hugo (et qui se déroulent tous deux dans l'univers Alliance-Union créé par l'auteur). En 2001, Don Wells et Alex Cruz, astronomes amateurs découvrent un nouvel astéroïde et le nomment "77185 Cherryh" en hommage à l'auteur. À cette occasion, ils disent d'elle : « elle nous a mis au défi de mériter les étoiles en imaginant comme l'humanité pouvait grandir pour vivre parmi elles. »


Club career.

Early years / Schalke.

Born in Sömmerda, Bezirk Erfurt, East Germany, Linke began playing football in 1977 with local BSG Robotron Sömmerda. In 1983, he transferred to FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, eventually making the breakthrough into the first team in 1989; with the latter, he had the opportunity to gain experience by playing in the DDR-Oberliga.  After finishing third in the last year of the competition, the club was placed into the newly consolidated 2. Bundesliga in 1991, as part of the German reunification process. Linke was a starter throughout the season but was ultimately unable to prevent it from being relegated, while also appearing in four games in the UEFA Cup.  During Rot-Weiß Erfurt's German Cup win over FC Schalke 04, the latter team's management took notice of Linke and signed him for the following campaign. He quickly earned his way into the starting line-up and, from 1992 until 1998, appeared in a total of 175 Bundesliga games for the "Royal Blues", his debut coming on 1 September 1992 in a 0–0 home draw against SV Werder Bremen.  Linke's crowning achievement during his tenure with Schalke was the penalty shootout win over Inter Milan, in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup. He appeared in 11 matches during the victorious run, scoring twice.

Bayern Munich.

In 1998, Linke joined national giants FC Bayern Munich, where he would go on to experience the most successful chapter of his professional career. In his first season, he scored his first goal for the Bavarians in a 3–1 derby home win over TSV 1860 München on 7 November, but would also start in the notorious UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United.  With Bayern, Linke won five leagues, three German Cups and four league cups, in addition to the 2001 editions of the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup. In the final of the former, he scored the final penalty to give his team the victory in the shootout against Valencia CF.  Since first joining Bayern, numerous critics prophesied that Linke would never be able to hold on to his starting spot in the center of defense. The player made it a point to prove his critics wrong by continually impressing with solid, if unspectacular, performances. Not until his last year, under coach Felix Magath, did he end up losing his starting role to Croatian Robert Kovač, appearing in only 11 games but helping in another league conquest.

Red Bull Salzburg.

At the beginning of 2005–06, 35-year-old Linke made the decision to extend his playing career by transferring to the Austrian Bundesliga, linking up with newly re-tooled FC Red Bull Salzburg alongside former Bayern teammate Alexander Zickler. Soon after arriving, he was appointed team captain, and became a regular fixture. During his second season, he added one last piece of silverware to his extensive collection by winning the league; on 3 May 2007, the club informed him that his initial two-year contract would not be extended.  On 13 June 2007, aged almost 38, Linke agreed to a Bayern return, linking with the club's amateur side in the third division. In early 2008, he re-joined Salzburg, serving as assistant to director of football Heinz Hochhauser and subsequently retiring from playing.

International career.

Linke's debut with the Germany national side took place in a 3–0 victory over South Africa, on 15 November 1997. He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.  In the latter competition, Linke played a key role in the team that would eventually finish runner-up after a 0–2 loss in the final to Brazil. Additionally, he scored his only goal during the group stage match against Saudi Arabia, an 8–0 routing.  Linke announced his international retirement after that tournament, but was called up for national duty once more in 2004. After numerous injuries to the defensive line, national coach Jürgen Klinsmann personally called the player on the telephone and asked him to temporarily come out of retirement. He appeared, being booked, in a 3–1 friendly win in Austria on 18 August 2004, and retired immediately after, with 43 caps to his name.

Thomas Linke (born 26 December 1969) is a retired German professional footballer who played as a central defender who last worked as the director of football of FC Ingolstadt 04.

Thomas Linke est un footballeur allemand né le à Sömmerda, Thuringe (ex-RDA, aujourd'hui Allemagne). Il évoluait au poste de défenseur central.


Description.

"Viola tricolor" is a small plant of creeping and ramping habit, reaching at most 15 cm in height, with flowers about 1.5 cm in diameter. It grows in short grassland on farms and wasteland, chiefly on acid or neutral soils. It is usually found in partial shade. Its root is of the rhizome type with fine rootlets. The stem (acoli stem: which remains flush with the soil and from which leave the leaves and the flowering stalk) is hairless, sometimes downy and is branched. The plant has no leaf rosette at the base, unlike some other violets, such as Viola hirta. Leaves are, on the contrary, alternate. They are stalked at limbus oval, oblong or lanceolate and more or less serrated margins. The stipules are often quite developed, at least those of the upper leaves. These stipules are palm-lined or palmatised.  The flowers are solitary and lateral, hoisted on long peduncles. They appear on aerial stems with more or less long internodes. The sepals are never larger than the corolla. It is 10 to 25 mm long. This corolla can be purple, blue, yellow or white. It can most often be two-tone, yellow and purple. The tricolor shape, yellow, white and purple, is the most sought after.  It flowers from April to September (in the Northern Hemisphere). The plants are hermaphrodite and self-fertile, pollinated by bees.

Habitat.

It is common almost everywhere on the Eurasian continent, near the sea or inland, at altitudes ranging from 0 to 2,700 m. It grows in open grasslands, wastelands, mainly on acidic or neutral soils. It is also found on the banks and in the alluviums.

Traditional uses.

As some of its names imply, "V. tricolor" has a long history of use in herbalism and folk medicine, both for epilepsy, skin diseases and eczema, and for respiratory problems such as bronchitis, asthma, and cold symptoms.  It is also a diuretic, leading to its traditional use for rheumatism and cystitis.  The flowers have also been used to make yellow, green and blue-green dyes, while the leaves can be used to indicate acidity.

Chemicals.

"V. tricolor" is one of many viola plant species containing cyclotides. These small peptides have proven to be useful in drug development due to their size and structure giving rise to high stability. Many cyclotides, found in "Viola tricolor" are cytotoxic. This feature means it could be used to treat cancers. Extracts from the plant are anti-microbial. "V. tricolor" extract had anti-inflammatory effect in acute inflammation induced in male Wistar rats. The plant, especially the flowers, contains antioxidants and is edible.  Heartsease contains flavonoids (such as quercetin, luteolin and rutin), colorless crystalline compounds proven to be useful in prophylaxis, and in treatment of cardiovascular problems, complications of diabetes, inflammations, immune disorders, and liver problems, among other indications. It also contains 10 percent mucilage, consisting of glucose, galactose, arabinose and rhamnose, as well as tannins, salicylic acid, and its derivatives. In addition, it contains the drug phenolcarboxylic acids, such as coffee and coumaric acid. Various carotenoids have been isolated from the drug: violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-Carotene. Anthocyanidins and coumarins, such as umbelliferone, could also be detected. The wild pansy contains—contrary to earlier references—no saponins, but hemolytically active peptides. Plants contain aglycones: apigenin, chrysoeriol, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, luteolin, quercetin and rutin.  The fresh plant "Viola declinata" and "V. tricolor" contains approximately:  Neuroblastoma, a type of cancer, is the most common extracranial malignancy in childhood. In many patients, once the tumor starts to develop it will continue to progress, even given intensive therapy. A study was designed to see the effect of "Viola tricolor" against neuronlastoma N2a cells. In the end, there was no significant change to the cell at first glance. As an ornamental and medicinal plant, the wild pansy has been cultivated since the Middle Ages and bred in Britain since 1810.

Mythology.

According to Roman mythology, the wild pansy turned into the Love-in-idleness as Cupid shot one of his arrows at the imperial votaress, but missed and instead struck it. As Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love, the flower’s juice received the trait, to act as a love potion. Its name relates to the use of the flower, as it is often used for idleness or vileness acts.  According to Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with a young woman named Io and provoked jealousy to his wife Hera. He transformed the girl into a heifer and kept her grazing at his feet. For pity on the diet of herbs to which he submitted the beloved, he caused the earth to produce beautiful flowers that he called Io. Another Greek legend has it that the delicate white flowers were worshiped by Eros. To inhibit this worship, Aphrodite colored them, which resulted in tricolor coloration.  The ancient Greeks and Chinese used the vials as medicine, and the Celts and Romans made perfumes of them.

Literature.

Long before cultivated pansies were released into the trade in 1839, "V. tricolor" was associated with thought in the "language of flowers", often by its alternative name of "pansy" (from the French "pensée", "thought"): hence Ophelia's often quoted line in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", "There's pansies, that's for thoughts". (What Shakespeare had in mind was "V. tricolor", the wild pansy, not a modern garden pansy.)

"A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Shakespeare makes a more direct reference, probably to "V. tricolor" in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Oberon sends Puck to gather "a little western flower that maidens call love-in-idleness". Oberon's account is that he diverted an arrow from Cupid's bow aimed at "a fair vestal, throned by the west" (supposedly Queen Elizabeth I) to fall upon the plant "before milk-white, now purple with love's wound". The "imperial vot'ress" passes on "fancy-free", destined never to fall in love.  In Act II and III, Oberon's and Puck's intervention with the magic love potion of the flower, they can control the fates of various characters, but also speed up the process of falling in and out of love, so that the actual romances of the lovers and their love itself appears to become very comical. Shakespeare uses the flower to provide the essential dramatic and comical features for his play. Besides that the love potion gained from the flower, does not only interfere with the lovers' fates, but also gives the play structure as it affects the lovers' romances drastically, as it at first upsets the balance of love and creates asymmetrical love among the four Athenian lovers. The fact that this flower introduces magical love to this play creates the potential for many possible outcomes for this play.  The juice of the "heartsease" now, claims Oberon, "on sleeping eyelids laid, Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees." Equipped with such powers, Oberon and Puck control the fates of various characters in the play to provide Shakespeare's essential dramatic and comic structure for the play.  The love-in-idleness was originally a white flower, struck by one of Cupid's arrows, which turned it purple and gave it its magic love potion. When dripped onto someone's eyelids this love potion causes an individual to fall madly in love with the next person they see. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream", William Shakespeare uses this flower as a plot device to introduce the comical disturbance and chaos of love, but also to highlight the irrationality of romantic love. Here love is depicted as a sort of benevolent affliction. Shakespeare presents love to be something contradicting to one's normal feelings and ideas. However he also depicts the fact that those can lead to foolish and hurtful things and present the idea that love can also end in tragedy. The play shows that love can be a source of comedy as easily as of tragedy and therefore show that the power that the love potion from the Love-in-idleness inherits is beyond the comprehension of the fairies and mortals. In the end, the love-in-idleness nectar is used to restore all romances in the play to their original states (including Demetrius' prior affections for Helena before he turned to Hermia.)  The effects of the love-in-idleness can be very dramatic and tragic, no matter if the intentions were right. The play reaches its point at which Demetrius and Lysander are trying to kill one another. Although Hermia and Helena are not trying to kill one another, they are suffering from the rejection of their lovers and from considerable verbal abuse. However, this still happens at a very comical level, for the lovers are not aware of their situation. The more they try to present the dramatic side of love, the hate, jealousy and anger, the less they become serious, and so their anger turns unreal. In the end, love is not denied and the lovers are reunited. Nevertheless, Shakespeare ends the lovers' story as a comedy, with the inclusion of several tragic and dramatic moments. This is supposed to show that love can be a source of comedy as easily as of tragedy, and therefore show that the power that the love potion from the Love-in-idleness inherits is beyond the comprehension of fairies and mortals alike.

"The Taming of the Shrew".

Shakespeare mentions it in his play "The Taming of the Shrew" where Luciento claims he found the effect of love-in-idleness - alluding to its qualities to simulate the effects of love.

"Balm in Gilead".

In her poem "Balm in Gilead", Christina Georgina Rossetti uses heartsease as a metaphor of growing older as her confidence and her vision increases. The heartsease is known as love-lies-bleeding which is a type of the inseparability of the pain of living and the love of Christ. The garden was adorned with the flower which served as the speaker's life. The "weed" represents the sins of the speaker's life. However at the end, the speaker pleads her pain and waits her judgment.  Heartsease I found, where Love-lies-bleeding  Empurpled all the ground:  Whatever flowers I missed unheeding,  Heartsease I found.  Yet still my garden mound  Stood sore in need of watering, weeding,  And binding growths unbound.  Ah, when shades fell to light succeeding  I scarcely dared look round:  'Love-lies-bleeding' was all my pleading,  Heartsease I found.

Wild pansy ("Viola tricolor"), also known as Johnny Jump up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the yellow pansy), heartsease, heart's ease, heart's delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, or love-in-idleness, is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial.

La Pensée sauvage ou Pensée tricolore "(Viola tricolor)" est une espèce de plantes herbacées, commune dans toute l'Europe, de la famille des "Violaceae". Elle est recherchée pour la délicatesse de sa fleur.


Life and career.

Early years.

Barretto (his real name, "Barreto", was misspelled on his birth certificate) was born on April 29, 1929, in New York City. His parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico in the early 1920s, looking for a better life. His father left their family when Barretto was four, and his mother Delores moved the family to the Bronx, and from a young age he was influenced by his mother's love of music and by the jazz of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.  In 1946, when Barretto was 17 years old, he joined the Army. While stationed in Germany, he met Belgian vibraphonist Fats Sadi. However, it was when he heard Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" with Gil Fuller and Chano Pozo that he realized his calling.

Beginnings as a sideman.

In 1949, when Barretto returned home from military service, he started to visit clubs and participated in jam sessions, where he perfected his conga playing. On one occasion Charlie Parker heard Barretto play and invited him to play in his band. Later, he was asked to play for José Curbelo and Tito Puente, for whom he played for four years. It was in 1958, while playing for Puente, that Barretto received his first recoding credit. Barretto developed a unique style of playing the conga and soon he was sought by other jazz band leaders. Latin percussionists started to appear in jazz groups with frequency as a consequence of Barretto's musical influence.

Charanga Moderna and rise to fame.

In 1960, Barretto was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside labels. He also recorded on Columbia Records with Jazz flautist Herbie Mann. New York had become the center of Latin music in the United States and a musical genre called pachanga was the Latin music craze of the early 1960s. In 1962, Barretto formed his first group, Charanga La Moderna, and recorded his first hit, "El Watusi" for Tico Records. He was quite successful with the song and the genre, to the point of being typecast (something that he disliked).

Boogaloo and early salsa.

In 1965, Barretto signed with the Latin division of United Artists, UA Latino, and began recording a series of albums in the boogaloo genre, which merges rhythm and blues with Latin music. On his album "El Ray Criollo", Barretto explored the modern Latin sounds of New York, combining features of charanga and conjunto to birth a new style which would later be known as salsa. After recording four albums for the United Artists label, Barretto joined the Fania record label in 1967, and his first recording for the new label was the 1968 album "Acid", which is often cited as one of the most enduring boogaloo albums, with songs such as "A Deeper Shade of Soul" and the title track was included in the soundtrack of the video game on the fictitious Latin music radio station "Radio Espantoso". During this period, Adalberto Santiago was the band's lead vocalist.

Success with Fania.

In 1972 Barretto's "Que viva la música" was released. "Cocinando," a track from the album, opened the soundtrack of the Fania All Stars film "Our Latin Thing" in which Barretto had a role. In 1973, Barretto recorded the album "Indestructible", in which he played "La familia", a song written by José Curbelo in 1953 and recorded by the sonero Carlos Argentino with the Cuban band Sonora Matancera; Tito Allen joined as new vocalist. After a number of successful albums, and just as his Afro-Cuban band had attained a remarkable following, most of its members left it to form Típica 73, a multinational salsa conglomerate. This left Barretto depressed and disappointed with salsa; he then redirected his efforts to jazz, while remaining as musical director of the Fania All Stars. In 1975 he released "Barretto", also referred to as the "Guararé" album, with new vocalists Ruben Blades and Tito Gomez.  Barretto played the conga in recording sessions for the Rolling Stones and the Bee Gees. In 1975, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song "Barretto". From 1976 to 1978, Barretto recorded three records for Atlantic Records, and was nominated for a Grammy for "Barretto Live...Tomorrow". In 1979, he recorded "La Cuna" for CTI records and produced a salsa record for Fania, titled "Rican/Struction", which was named 1980 "Best Album" by Latin N.Y. Magazine, with Barretto crowned as Conga Player of the Year.

New World Spirit.

In 1990, Barretto won his first Grammy for the album "Ritmo en el corazón" ("Rhythm in the Heart"), which featured the vocals of Celia Cruz. His 1968 song "A Deeper Shade Of Soul" was sampled for the 1991 "Billboard" Hot 100 #21 hit "Deeper Shade of Soul" by Dutch band Urban Dance Squad.  Also in the 1990s, a Latin agent, Chino Rodríguez, approached Barretto with a concept he also pitched to Larry Harlow. The idea was "The Latin Legends of Fania", and Barretto, Harlow, Yomo Toro, Pete "el Conde" Rodríguez, Junior González, Ismael Miranda, and Adalberto Santiago came together and formed "The Latin Legends of Fania", booked by Chino Rodríguez of Latin Music Booking.com. However, in 1992 Barretto had to leave the Legends to focus on his new jazz ensemble, New World Spirits, with which he recorded several albums for the Concord Jazz label.  In 1999, Barretto was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.  In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Barretto its Jazz Masters Award.  Barretto lived in New York and was an active musical producer, as well as the leader of a touring band which embarked on tours of the United States, Africa, Europe, Israel and Latin America.

Death.

Barretto died of heart failure and complications of multiple health issues on February 17, 2006 at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. His body was flown to Puerto Rico, where Barretto was given formal honors by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture; his remains were cremated.

Discography.

As sideman.

With Gene Ammons With Bee Gees With Ray Bryant With Kenny Burrell With Arnett Cobb With Billy Cobham With Celia Cruz With George Benson With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Deodato With Bill Doggett With Art Farmer With Jimmy Forrest With the Red Garland Trio With Ben E. King With Dizzy Gillespie With Al Grey With Slide Hampton With Eddie Harris With Willis Jackson With Clifford Jordan With Yusef Lateef With Johnny Lytle With Junior Mance With Herbie Mann With Jack McDuff With Wes Montgomery With Oliver Nelson With Dave Pike With Michel Sardaby With Johnny "Hammond" Smith With Jeremy Steig and Eddie Gómez With Sonny Stitt With Cal Tjader With Julius Watkins With Weather Report With Frank Wess With Charles Williams

Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American conga drummer and bandleader of Puerto Rican ancestry. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Latin jazz. His first hit, "El Watusi", was recorded by his Charanga Moderna in 1962, becoming the most successful pachanga song in the United States. In the late 1960s, Barretto became one of the leading exponents of boogaloo and what would later be known as salsa. Nonetheless, many of Barretto's recordings would remain rooted in more traditional genres such as son cubano. A master of the descarga (improvised jam session), Barretto was a long-time member of the Fania All-Stars. His success continued into the 1970s with songs such as "Cocinando" and "Indestructible." His last album for Fania Records, "Soy dichoso", was released in 1990. He then formed the New World Spirit jazz ensemble and continued to tour and record until his death in 2006.

Ray Barretto, né le à Brooklyn (New York) et mort le à Hackensack (New Jersey), était un conguero, chef d'orchestre, compositeur, arrangeur, producteur de salsa et de latin jazz.


Theory.

In navigation, the true azimuth of a heavenly body is the arc of the horizon between the point where a vertical plane containing the observer and the heavenly body intersects the horizon and the direction of true north. The magnetic azimuth is the arc between the point on the horizon below the heavenly body and the direction of magnetic north.  When the latitude and date are known, the bearing of the sun at sunrise or sunset relative to true north can be readily determined. If the sun is observed at some time between sunrise and sunset, its altitude must also be recorded to calculate the true azimuth. The true azimuth may be compared to the magnetic azimuth to find the magnetic declination, the angle between the direction that the compass indicates as north and the true north direction.

Compass designs.

An azimuth compass is a magnetic compass where the circumference of the card is divided into 360 degrees. It has two sights, diametrically opposite each other, through which the sun, planet or star is viewed. The sun is typically observed when the sun's center is about one solar diameter above the horizon. Typically the compass will have a stop in the side of the box, which the observer pushes when the sun is lined up in the sights. This fixes the compass card, from which the magnetic azimuth or amplitude can be read.  The sights may consist of two vanes, one with a narrow slit and the other with a wider slit bisected by a thread. The observer looks towards the sun, seen through a dark glass, lining up the thread and the narrow slit on the center of the sun. Another arrangement has a vertical bar on one vane and a slit bisected by a thread on the other. The instrument is aligned with the sun when the shadow of the thread falls on the vertical bar. Yet another design has a magnifying glass on one vane that focuses the rays of the sun on the opposite vane.  Meridional azimuth compasses included a universal equatorial sundial. By setting the date and latitude, the true north and the magnetic variation could be read from the instrument without the need for calculation. With the iron vessels introduced in the 19th century the azimuth compass would be mounted on a pedestal at a neutral point where the readings would not be affected by magnetism of the vessel.

Applications.

Early navigators in the northern hemisphere could calculate latitude relatively easily when the night sky was clear by observing the elevation of Polaris, a star that is very close to the north celestial pole. However, calculating longitude was impossible until chronometers that could keep time accurately throughout a long voyage were developed. In 1688 King Philip III of Spain (1578–1621) offered a large reward to anyone who could find a practical solution to determining longitude.  A novel approach, apparently originating with the Jesuit missionary Christoforo Borri, was to create charts that mapped points of equal magnetic declination. With an accurate reading of the latitude and the magnetic declination the navigator could determine their longitude using the chart. A drawback to this approach is that magnetic variations change over time, so the charts would need constant revision.  The azimuth compass still had great value in letting the master of a ship determine how far the magnetic compass varied from true north, so he could set a more accurate course while following a line of constant latitude or using dead reckoning to navigate. In 1795 a British First Rate ship would have up to eight compasses, of which one was an improved steering compass. This azimuth compass may have been specialized for the purpose of measuring magnetic variation through taking readings from stars, and used to determine the accuracy of the other compasses.

Instruments.

An azimuthal compass was described in 1736, but the inventor was not named. Azimuth compasses were sometimes large, with a brass case mounted in gimbals containing the rose, and sights on top of the case. Walter Hayes, Richard Glynne and Benjamin Ayres (died c. 1775) made accurate large azimuth compasses. Henry Gregory (1744–1782) had an establishment known as "The Azimuth Compass" in Leadenhall Street, London. He supplied an azimuth compass designed by Gowin Knight to Joseph Banks for the voyage of commanded by Captain James Cook in 1772. The instrument cost £80.0.0.  On 6 February 1808 the American sealer "Topaz", commanded by Captain Mayhew Folger, arrived at Pitcairn Island to take on fresh water. There he found thirty-five survivors of the mutiny on HMS "Bounty" led by John Adams, who gave Folger's azimuth compass and chronometer.

An azimuth compass (or azimuthal compass) is a nautical instrument used to measure the magnetic azimuth, the angle of the arc on the horizon between the direction of the sun or some other celestial object and the magnetic north. This can be compared to the true azimuth obtained by astronomical observation to determine the magnetic declination, the amount by which the reading of a ship's compass must be adjusted to obtain an accurate reading. Azimuth compasses were important in the period before development of the reliable chronometers needed to determine a vessel's exact position from astronomical observations.

Un compas de relèvement est un compas de navigation sur lequel se superpose une alidade, qui permet de mesurer la direction d'un objet ou d'un astre, sur le plan horizontal, par rapport au nord.


Description.

They possess very large ears lined with white hairs, red-gold to tawny brown fur, blackish eyes and long dark legs. The hair turns darker during winter. There are also white marks on the hips and around the eyes. The legs are black below the tarsal as is the muzzle. The tail is of a paler reddish tone than the rest of the body on its upper part and black on the under part. The head-and-body length is, while the tail adds a further. The height at the shoulder can range from.  The hoof, which is large in relation to the body, has elastic interdigital membranes which are useful for swimming and walking on marshy surfaces. Only the males possess antlers which are ramified and reach a length of 60 cm (23 inches). An adult typically grows to a weight of, although an occasional big male can weigh up to.

Ecology and behavior.

They are solitary animals or living in groups with less than 6 individuals with only an adult male. Their main predators are the jaguar and the mountain lion.

Habitat.

The marsh deer lives only in marsh areas, notably the Pantanal and Chaco, in which the level of water is less than deep. They are swift swimmers. The marshes with their high vegetation density protect them from predators and provide them with food. These deer also have a small migratory pattern, they follow the water levels between the dry season and flooding season. With the fluctuation in water levels, they are able to find new food sources that the water uncovers during the dry season. Some freshwater ponds on the Pantanal Wetland, Brazil reported low densities of individuals dictating that those ponds are not able to support large populations of marsh deer.

Diet.

Since marsh deer live near aquatic habitats, they eat a majority of their diet in aquatic plants. A study was conducted and they found 40 different species of plants in which they ate. The main food component was Graminae which took up 22% of their diet, Pontederiaceae took up 12%, Leguminosae was about 11%, and the rest was filled in with Nymphaeaceae, Alismataceae, Marantaceae, Onagraceae, and Cyperaceae. They also enjoy eating aquatic flowers and shrubs that grow in the swamps and the floating mats. They can be best classed as a grazer-browser for food. Their diet also changes between the dry season and the flood season.

Reproduction.

Usually the rutting season coincides with the dry season but can change from animal to animal. They may use this to their advantage for breeding or finding mates because the densities of marsh deer are significantly higher on the Rio Negro marshland boundary during the dry season compared to the less dense, more distributed population during the flooded season. Gestation lasts approximately 271 days. The offspring (normally one per female, though occasionally twins are born) are born between October and November. The infant deer are whitish which becomes more adult-like after a year.

Conservation.

The natural predators of the marsh deer – the jaguar (locally called onça or yaguaraté) ("Panthera onca") and the puma ("Puma concolor")— have almost completely disappeared from its habitat. The former major threat was poaching for its antlers, but this is somewhat under control. Destruction of its habitat presents nowadays the major threat to marsh deer. The Yacyretá Dam altered an area in which several hundred individuals lived and the draining of marshes for farmland and cattle threaten hundreds of hectares every year in Argentina and Brazil. Contagious diseases from cattle are also a problem, though it has been shown that the deer is not affected by brucellosis. In October 2018, Argentina established the Ciervo de los Pantanos National Park to help protect this species.

The marsh deer ("Blastocerus dichotomus"), sometimes known as the swamp deer (not to be confused with the barasingha, which can sometimes be called the swamp deer), is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a shoulder height of. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Formerly found in much of tropical and subtropical South America, it ranged east of the Andes, south from the Amazon rainforest, west of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest and north of the Argentinian Pampa. Today it is largely reduced to isolated populations at marsh and lagoon zones in the Paraná, Paraguay, Araguaia and Guapore river basins. Small populations also occur in the southern Amazon, including Peru where protected in Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. It is listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN and on CITES Appendix I.

Le ciervo de los pantanos (en français cerf des marais ou "Blastocerus dichotomus", et en guaraní pukú guazú) est le plus grand des cervidés de l'Amérique du Sud, atteignant deux mètres de longueur et de hauteur au garrot.


History of the Prize.

1996 The first Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to Matthew Barney, an American filmmaker and sculptor. The other nominees were:  1998 Douglas Gordon, a Scottish video artist, won the second Hugo Boss prize. The other nominees were:  2000 The third Hugo Boss Prize went to Marjetica Potrč, a Slovenian artist, architect and urban theorist working in sculpture and photography. The other nominees were:  2002 Pierre Huyghe, a French artist who works in multiple media, won the fourth Hugo Boss Prize. The other nominees were:  2004 The fifth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to Rirkrit Tiravanija, a Thai artist born in Buenos Aires who now works in New York, Berlin and Bangkok. The other nominees were:  2006 The sixth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to the British artist Tacita Dean. The other nominees were:  2008  The seventh Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to Palestinian Emily Jacir. The other nominees were:  2010  The eighth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to the German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann. The other nominees were:  2012  The ninth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to the Vietnamese artist Danh Vo. The other nominees were:  2014  The tenth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to the American artist Paul Chan. Other nominated artists were:  In March 2014, nominee Steve McQueen withdrew his name from consideration for the Hugo Boss Prize because of the demands of promoting his Oscar-winning movie "12 Years A Slave".  2016  The eleventh Hugo Boss prize was awarded to fhe South Korean conceptual artist Anicka Yi. The others nominees were:  2018  The twelfth Hugo Boss Prize was awarded to Simone Leigh an American interdisciplinary multimedia artist. The other nominees were:

The Hugo Boss Prize is awarded every other year to an artist (or group of artists) working in any medium, anywhere in the world. Since its establishment in 1996, it has distinguished itself from other art awards (e.g. the Turner Prize) because it has no restrictions on nationality or age. The prize is administered by the Guggenheim Museum and sponsored by the Hugo Boss clothing company, which since 1995 has been sponsoring various exhibitions and activities at the museum. It carries with it a cash award of US$100,000 and a tetrahedral trophy.

Le prix Hugo Boss est un prix d'art contemporain, parrainé par la marque Hugo Boss, et attribué tous les deux ans depuis 1996, les années paires. Malgré cette faible ancienneté, il est considéré comme un des prix les plus importants.


Description.

Honeyeaters can be either nectarivorous, insectivorous, frugivorous, or a combination of nectar- and insect-eating. Unlike the hummingbirds of America, honeyeaters do not have extensive adaptations for hovering flight, though smaller members of the family do hover hummingbird-style to collect nectar from time to time. In general, honeyeaters prefer to flit quickly from perch to perch in the outer foliage, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside down at need. Many genera have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed.  In addition to nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters take insects and other small creatures, usually by hawking, sometimes by gleaning. A few of the larger species, notably the white-eared honeyeater, and the strong-billed honeyeater of Tasmania, probe under bark for insects and other morsels. Many species supplement their diets with a little fruit, and a small number eat considerable amounts of fruit, particularly in tropical rainforests and, oddly, in semi-arid scrubland. The painted honeyeater is a mistletoe specialist. Most, however, exist on a diet of nectar supplemented by varying quantities of insects. In general, the honeyeaters with long, fine bills are more nectarivorous, the shorter-billed species less so, but even specialised nectar eaters like the spinebills take extra insects to add protein to their diet when breeding.  The movements of honeyeaters are poorly understood. Most are at least partially mobile but many movements seem to be local, possibly between favourite haunts as the conditions change. Fluctuations in local abundance are common, but the small number of definitely migratory honeyeater species aside, the reasons are yet to be discovered. Many follow the flowering of favourite food plants. Arid zone species appear to travel further and less predictably than those of the more fertile areas. It seems probable that no single explanation will emerge: the general rule for honeyeater movements is that there is no general rule.

Taxonomy and systematics.

The genera "Cleptornis" (golden honeyeater) and "Apalopteron" (Bonin honeyeater), formerly treated in the Meliphagidae, have recently been transferred to the Zosteropidae on genetic evidence. The genus "Notiomystis" (New Zealand stitchbird), formerly classified in the Meliphagidae, has recently been removed to the newly erected Notiomystidae of which it is the only member. The "Macgregor's bird-of-paradise", historically considered a bird-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae), was recently found to be a honeyeater. It is now known as "MacGregor's honeyeater" and is classified in the Meliphagidae.  The wattled smoky honeyeater ("Melipotes carolae"), described in 2007, had been discovered in December 2005 in the Foja Mountains of Papua, Indonesia.  In 2008, a study that included molecular phylogenetic analysis of museum specimens in the genera "Moho" and "Chaetoptila", both extinct genera endemic to the Hawaiian islands, argued that these five species were not members of the Meliphagidae and instead belong to their own distinct family, the Mohoidae.

The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea. Bali, on the other side of the Wallace Line, has a single species.

Les Meliphagidae (ou méliphagidés en français) sont une famille de passereaux constituée de 50 genres et de près de 190 espèces (en 2015).


Plot.

In A.D. 1555, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) returns to his former home in Glenfinnan, Scotland, to save his mother from his former friend and village priest Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne). Kell executes Connor's mother for witchcraft. Connor kills both Kell and Kell's adopted father, Father Rainey, and sets Glenfinnan ablaze. Jacob Kell is reborn as an Immortal, and vows vengeance against Connor for Rainey's death. He spends the next four centuries killing people Connor cares about. Kell amasses great power by ignoring the rules of The Game; he recruits several lesser Immortals as disciples, who overpower other Immortals so Kell can take their heads.  Ten years before the present-day events of the film, Kell orchestrates the death of Connor's adopted daughter Rachel Ellenstein. Heartbroken, Connor departs for The Sanctuary, where Immortals are under surveillance by a subgroup of Watchers to prevent The Prize from being won.  A decade later, Kell and his disciples attack the Sanctuary, and Connor is believed to have been beheaded along with the other Immortals there. Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), compelled by a vision he has of the slaughter, begins to investigate. Meanwhile, Mathew Hale, the watcher supervising the sanctuary, looks on at the carnage, and decides that they will now turn to "volunteers" to refill their test-subjects' numbers. Duncan goes to see Methos, who tells him about the Sanctuary. Duncan cannot believe that Connor would even go to such a place. He later leaves London for New York, where he goes to Connor's loft, which was destroyed in the explosion that killed Rachel. Sensing an Immortal, he turns to see Kate (Lisa Barbuscia), his wife from 200 years before. Then Kell's posse arrives, and fights Duncan (disregarding the rule of one-on-one combat). The fighting stops when Kell arrives, but Carlos shoots Duncan, who falls on a spike, killing him. Kell is furious with Carlos, and beheads him: as the quickening begins, a van drives up to where Duncan fell, and takes him away.  Later on, Duncan wakes up, only to realize that he has been taken by Watchers who want to keep him in the Sanctuary so that the Prize cannot be won by any immortal. He is later saved with the help of Methos and Joe. Joe warns Duncan about Kell and how powerful he has become. He discovers Connor was spared by Kell, so as to allow the evil Immortal to make Connor's life even more miserable. Kell wants to kill Duncan in order to torture Connor, and given the number of Quickenings he has received, this seems quite likely to occur. Additionally, Connor is too guilt-ridden by the deaths of all his loved ones to stand up to Kell by himself. Duncan later confronts Kate (now using the alias "Faith") at a fashion shoot, and asks her why she is with Kell. She tells him how much she hates the fact that she will never have children or grow old and die, and believes that Kell understands her pain. Duncan must earn her forgiveness, or face her as an embittered part of Kell's faction. Later on in his hotel room, Kate arrives after having a chat with Kell, and the two make love. Duncan touches the scar that was caused when he made her immortal and apologizes to Faith for what he did. Though it would appear that she has forgiven him, it is not the case, and she tells Duncan that she will never forgive him; Duncan tells her that it is never too late for redemption, and that he will wait, even if it takes years or centuries.  Ultimately, Kell executes his group in a mock Last Supper to gain their powers, including possibly Faith. Later on a roof top Connor meets Duncan and intentionally starts a sword fight with him. Telling him that neither one of them can defeat Kell alone, Connor convinces Duncan that he must allow himself to be beheaded in order for Duncan to have enough power to rival Kell. After an emotional good-bye, Duncan ends the fight with Respect and Honor beheading his beloved Clansman.  Soon after, Duncan and Kell engage in a final battle. At first, Kell easily overpowers Duncan, even when MacLeod attempts a supposedly-unbeatable sword move that Connor taught him. Just before Duncan's impending death at the hands of Kell, Connor's spirit helps give Duncan the strength to continue. Duncan then kills Kell by jumping over him and decapitating him as he turns around. Duncan absorbs all of Kell's massive power. He then goes to Glen Coe, Scotland to bury Connor next to Connor's first wife Heather.  Producer's Cut: After Duncan's visit to Glen Coe to bury Connor, Kate appears and explains that Kell spared her life. After proclaiming that "Faith" is "dead" and she is giving Kate another try, she and Duncan share a kiss, suggesting that they will reconcile their marriage and live together forever.

Production.

Early drafts of the screenplay differed greatly from the final cut in several respects. The Kate character was originally named "Alexis"; most of the flashback scenes occurred in Shanghai instead of Ireland; Paris was the original location of Methos's home rather than London; Duncan MacLeod lived on his Parisian barge during the modern-day sequences; and Hugh Fitzcairn appeared during the Shanghai flashbacks. The titles of the various drafts included "Highlander IV: The Immortals", "Highlander: The Search for Connor", and "Highlander: World Without End". Gregory Widen, writer of the original "Highlander", worked on the early drafts and was in talks to direct the film. Widen had previously directed the film "The Prophecy", which he also wrote. Portions of Widen's writing were used for "Endgame", though he received only a "Characters Created By" credit.  The film features several shots from the original "Highlander". The first is a computer-altered and enhanced shot of Glenfinnan, which was originally the shot of Connor walking away from his village. The second is a shot of the Silvercup sign, pulled from the scene of the Kurgan taking Brenda Wyatt to the building. And in the rooftop Quickening, two shots of Connor and Heather MacLeod together are taken from the first film. Castle Stalker is seen briefly in the film during Connor's flashback scene. This building was also seen in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".  Donnie Yen served as the film's martial arts choreographer and also played the role of Jin Ke, who was based on a real historical figure: Jing Ke, renowned for his failed assassination of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang. Hip-Hop producer Damon Dash makes an appearance as one of Jacob Kell's Immortal minions. Professional wrestler Adam Copeland, known as "Edge" in the World Wrestling Entertainment, makes a cameo appearance as Lachlan. A reference is made to Copeland's wrestling persona when Duncan says to Lachlan, "Looks like you've lost your edge, lad."  The movie was meant to act as a bridge between "" and the spin-off series "" which was continuing on television back in 1999. But these plans started to go awry when "Raven" was canceled due to low ratings and the change in syndication, as well as production delays, started occurring due to cast availability problems. Dimension Films, which took on the project as a way of invigorating the film series, realized that its plans for the film were not going to meet expectations, and scaled back on its release.  Filming began on October 22, 1999, and ended on March 7, 2000. Much of the bulk of filming happened in Romania, a decision which was opposed by the producers.  "Endgame"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s theatrical distributor, Dimension Films, demanded that cuts be made to the film to give it a faster pace. The deleted footage contained exposition necessary to understanding the "Highlander" universe, resulting in a theatrical cut that was criticized for being incomprehensible to audiences unfamiliar with the earlier films. An extended cut with restored footage was later released on DVD. (See alternate versions below.)

Alternative versions.

The DVD release features a 101-minute "producers' cut" which features improved visual effects, sound mixing, and color-timing, and restores numerous scenes of exposition intended to make the story more easily understandable for audiences unfamiliar with the "Highlander" franchise. The "producers' cut" includes the "Kate lives" ending and removes the line of dialogue in which Methos refers to the Sanctuary as holy ground, which was criticized by fans.  The Region 1 (United States and Canada) DVD includes, as a bonus feature, a rough workprint cut of the film. The visual quality of the rough cut is rather poor, with unfinished special effects and a timecode visible at all times, and alternating between widescreen and full-screen. This cut features a subplot involving Connor giving a Christmas tree to an orphanage every Christmas, an activity picked up by Duncan after Connor's death. Kate does not appear in this version of the film at its conclusion, unlike the producers' cut included on the DVD. The rough cut also notably features an extended version of the "Last Supper" scene in which Jin Ke plunges his sword into a wall and beheads himself after realizing that he cannot beat Kell, thereby denying Kell the opportunity to kill him. In the other versions of the film, this scene was edited to make it appear that Kell beheads Jin Ke (off-screen) along with the rest of the group.

Producers cut.

The producers of the film disagreed with Dimension Films over the running length and story structure of the film. They were unsatisfied with the theatrical cut, and upon its DVD release, they re-edited the film and added twelve minutes of new footage, which included:  Among other changes was the edited blurring of a large JVC billboard that was prominently featured during Connor's death scene in the theatrical cut.

Theatrical trailer.

The trailers for the film feature several shots showing Kell using mystical abilities (such as stopping a sword in midair with some sort of force field, cloning himself and holding an orb with Connor's screaming head inside of it). Also, Connor and Duncan are shown emerging from some sort of portal. None of this footage made it into any released version of the film, and the footage is only seen in the trailer. No explanation for the nature of these scenes has ever been willingly released by the producers or film studio, although it has since been revealed that these shots were never intended for inclusion in any finished cut of the movie — they were shot exclusively for its trailer, instead. No mention of Kell's magical abilities exists in the online version of an early screenplay.

Reception.

According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 11% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 3.27/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The fourth and supposedly last "Highlander" movie is a confusing mess, complete with bad acting and dialogue." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 21 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".  Elvis Mitchell of "The New York Times" gave "Endgame" a mildly positive review, saying: "It's nice to see mindless violence back in a B picture, where it belongs, and the swordplay is impressive. When [the movie] sticks to the hand-to-hand battles and doesn't try to offer deeper thoughts on the life of an immortal, it works on its own terms." IGN gave "Endgame" a score of 8 out of 10, saying that "fans will be pleased," adding: ""Endgame" proves to be both true to the spirit of the first film and the television series, [it has] a solid story to tell, [and it] features the best fight sequences of the series."  Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com said, "Personally, I enjoyed it about the way I enjoyed the "Mortal Kombat" movies, meaning that its genuine fun and its unintentionally ridiculous moments are roughly in balance." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly remarked: "[Fans] will be thrilled that Connor MacLeod and his fellow clansman Duncan MacLeod engage in a vein-popping showdown to see which immortal will bump off the other, thereby achieving a quickening of multiorgasmic proportions. Those who aren't in the cult of this popular genre fantasy not only won't understand what the previous sentence is about, but may also wonder what's so great about perpetual life if it entails shlepping from one badly lit, cheesily art-directed, peat bog-colored century to another, spouting hollow dialogue."  Travis Eddings of Film Threat gave the film one half star out of five, saying: "After viewing "Highlander: Endgame", it's obvious that Aarniokoski has no idea how to make a film.... The only reason why this film earns one-half of a star instead of zero is due to some unintended laughs. It's funny to see what passes as acting in this movie." James Brundage of FilmCritic.com gave the film one and half stars out of five, saying: ""Highlander: Endgame" possesses all of the elements of a straight-to-video action movie. Cheap special effects that look cool, weak characters that still pull heartstrings, and a bunch of actors no one really knows unless you have seen this or that obscure flick. And, taking that view, one wonders why the hell I even had to watch "Highlander: Endgame" in theatres."  Carlo Cavagna of About Film called the film "a disaster," adding: "The plot and the characters' motivations are nonsense. Lambert's character has nowhere to go, and his once-magnetic glower is tired and worn. Several opportunities for spectacular action are squandered because the movie's villain has a tendency to execute summarily his own henchmen. Paul's modicum of charisma, director Douglas Aarniokoski's broad panoramas that recall the original "Highlander", and Lambert's amusing skirmishes with a Scottish accent are not enough to provide any redeeming value.

Box office.

At the North American box office, the film opened at #5, grossing $6,223,330 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $12,811,858 domestically and gather $3,031,750 from international markets for a worldwide total of $15,843,608.

Highlander: Endgame is a 2000 American fantasy action film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and starring Adrian Paul, Christopher Lambert, Bruce Payne and Lisa Barbuscia. It is the fourth theatrical release in the "Highlander" film series and it serves as a continuation of both the "Highlander" film from 1986 and the (including the latter's spin-off ""). The film reunites Duncan MacLeod, the lead character of the series, and Connor MacLeod, the lead character of the films. In the film, the Macleods need to deal against a new enemy named Jacob Kell, a powerful immortal who is willing to break any rule to win the Prize. "Highlander: Endgame" was released on September 1, 2000. It was followed by "" which released seven years later, with Paul reprising his role.

Highlander: Endgame ou Highlander 4 : Le Dernier Affront au Québec, est un film américano-britannique réalisé par Douglas Aarniokoski, sorti en 2000. C'est le de la saga "Highlander".