Flag of Hong Kong

The flag of Hong Kong, officially the regional flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, depicts a white stylised five-petal Hong Kong orchid tree ("Bauhinia blakeana") flower in the centre of a Chinese red field. Its original design was unveiled on 4 April 1990 at the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress. The current design was approved on 10 August 1996 at the Fourth Plenum of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The precise use of the flag is regulated by laws passed by the 58th executive meeting of the State Council held in Beijing. The design of the flag is enshrined in Hong Kong's Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, and regulations regarding the use, prohibition of use, desecration, and manufacture of the flag are stated in the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance. The flag of Hong Kong was officially adopted and hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of sovereignty from Britain back to China.
Current design.
Symbolism.
The design of the flag comes with cultural, political, and regional meanings. The colour itself is significant; red is a festive colour for the Chinese people, used to convey a sense of celebration and nationalism. Moreover, the red colour is identical to that used in the national PRC flag, chosen to signify the link re-established between post-colonial Hong Kong and Mainland China. The position of red and white on the flag symbolizes the "one country two systems" political principle applied to the region. The stylized rendering of the "Bauhinia blakeana" flower, a flower discovered in Hong Kong, is meant to serve as a harmonizing symbol for this dichotomy. The five stars of the Chinese national flag are replicated on the petals of the flower. The Chinese name of "Bauhinia × blakeana" is most commonly rendered as "洋紫荊", but is often shortened to 紫荊/紫荆 in official uses since "洋" ("yáng") means "foreign" in Chinese, notwithstanding 紫荊/紫荆 refers to another genus called "Cercis". A sculpture of the plant has been erected in Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong.
Before the adoption of the flag, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee explained the significance of the flag's design to the National People's Congress:
Construction.
The Hong Kong government has specified sizes, colours, and manufacturing parameters in which the flag is to be made. The background of the rectangular flag is red, the same shade of red as that used for the national PRC flag. The ratio of its length to breadth is 3:2. In its centre is a five-petal stylized rendering of a white "Bauhinia blakeana" flower. If a circle circumscribes the flower, it should have a diameter 0.6 times the entire height of the flag. The petals are uniformly spread around the centre point of the flag, radiating outward and pointing in a clockwise direction. Each of the flower's petals bears a five-pointed red star with a red trace, suggestive of a flower stamen. The heading that is used to allow a flag to be slid or raised onto a pole is white.
Size specifications.
This table lists all the official sizes for the flag. Sizes deviating from this list are considered non-standard. If a flag is not of official size, it must be a scaled-down or scaled-up version of one of the official sizes.
Colour specifications.
The following are the approximate colours of the Hong Kong flag in different colour models. It is listed by web colours in hexadecimal notation, CMYK equivalents*, dye colours, HSL equivalents, and Pantone equivalents.
Manufacture regulations.
The Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance stipulates that the Hong Kong flag must be manufactured according to specifications laid out in the ordinance. If flags are not produced in design according to the ordinance, the Secretary for Justice may petition the District Court for an injunction to prohibit the person or company from manufacturing the flags. If the District Court agrees that the flags are not in compliance, it may issue an injunction and order that the flags and the materials that were used to make the flags to be seized by the government.
Protocol.
The Hong Kong flag is flown daily from the chief executive's official residence, the Government House, the Hong Kong International Airport, and at all border crossings and points of entry into Hong Kong. At major government offices and buildings, such as the Office of the Chief Executive, the Executive Council, the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, the Legislative Council, and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices overseas, the flag is displayed during days when these offices are working. Other government offices and buildings, such as hospitals, schools, departmental headquarters, sports grounds, and cultural venues should fly the flag on occasions such as the National Day of the PRC (1 October), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (1 July), and New Year's Day. The flag should be raised at 8:00 a.m. and lowered at 6:00 p.m. The raising and lowering of the flag should be done slowly; it must reach the peak of the flag staff when it is raised, and it may not touch the ground when it is lowered. The flag may not be raised in severe weather conditions. A Hong Kong flag that is either damaged, defaced, faded or substandard must not be displayed or used.
Display.
Whenever the PRC national flag is flown together with the regional Hong Kong flag, the national flag must be flown at the centre, above the regional flag, or otherwise in a more prominent position than that of the regional flag. The regional flag must be smaller in size than the national flag, and it must be displayed to the left of the national flag. When the flags are displayed inside a building, the left and right sides of a person looking at the flags, and with his or her back toward the wall, are used as reference points for the left and right sides of a flag. When the flags are displayed outside a building, the left and right sides of a person standing in front of the building and looking towards the front entrance are used as reference points for the left and right sides of a flag. The national flag should be raised before the regional flag is raised, and it should be lowered after the regional flag is lowered.
An exception to this rule occurs during medal presentation ceremonies at multi-sport events such as the Olympics and Asian Games. As Hong Kong competes separately from mainland China, should an athlete from Hong Kong win the gold medal, and an athlete from mainland China win the silver and/or bronze medal(s) in the same event, the regional flag of Hong Kong would be raised in the centre above the national flag(s) during the medal presentation ceremony.
Half-staff.
The Hong Kong flag must be lowered to half-staff as a token of mourning when any of the following people die:
The flag may also be flown at half-staff when the Central People's Government advises the Chief Executive to do so, or when the Chief Executive considers it appropriate to do so, on occurrences of unfortunate events causing especially serious casualties, or when serious natural calamities have caused heavy casualties. When raising a flag to be flown at half-staff, it should first be raised to the top of the pole and then lowered to a point where the distance between the top of the flag and the top of the pole is one third of the length of the pole. When lowering the flag from half-staff, it should first be raised to the peak of the pole before it is lowered.
Prohibition of use and desecration.
The Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance states what manner of use of the Hong Kong flag is prohibited and that desecration of the flag is prohibited; it also states that it is a punishable offence for a person to use the flag in a prohibited manner or desecrate the flag. According to the ordinance, a flag may not be used in advertisements or trademarks, and that "publicly and wilfully burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling or trampling" the flag is considered flag desecration. Similarly, the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance extends the same prohibition toward the national PRC flag. The ordinances also allow for the Chief Executive to make stipulations regarding the use of the flag. In stipulations made in 1997, the Chief Executive further specified that the use of the flag in "any trade, calling or profession, or the logo, seal or badge of any non-governmental organisation" is also prohibited unless prior permission was obtained.
The first conviction of flag desecration occurred in 1999. Protesters Ng Kung Siu and Lee Kin Yun wrote the word "Shame" on both the national PRC flag and the Hong Kong flag, and were convicted of violating the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance and the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance. The Court of Appeal overturned the verdict, ruling that the ordinances were unnecessary restrictions on the freedom of expression and in violation of both the Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Upon further appeal, however, the Court of Final Appeal maintained the original guilty verdict, holding that this restriction on the freedom of expression was justifiable in that the protection of the flags played a role in national unity and territorial integrity and constituted a restriction on the mode of expressing one's message but did not interfere with one's freedom to express the same message in other ways.<ref name="FACC000004/1999"></ref>
Leung Kwok-hung, a former member of the Legislative Council and a political activist in Hong Kong, was penalised in February 2001, before he became a member of the Legislative Council, for defiling the flag. He was convicted of three counts of desecrating the flag—for two incidents on 1 July 2000 during the third anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China and for one incident on 9 July of the same year during a protest against elections to choose the Election Committee, the electoral college which chooses the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Leung was placed on a good-behaviour bond for 12 months in the sum of HK$3,000.
Zhu Rongchang, a mainland Chinese farmer has been jailed for three weeks after setting fire to a Chinese flag in Hong Kong. Zhu was charged for "publicly and wilfully" burning the Chinese flag at Golden Bauhinia Square in central Hong Kong. The 74-year-old man is reportedly the third person charged for desecrating the Chinese national flag, but he is first to be jailed under the law.
In early 2013, protestors went to the streets flying the old colonial flag demanding more democracy and resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying. The use of the flag has created concerns from Chinese authorities and request from Leung to stop flying the flag. Despite the calls from Leung the old flags are not subject to use restrictions beyond not being allowed to be placed on flagpoles and are freely sold and manufactured in the territory.
Previous Flags of Hong Kong.
Pre-colonial period.
Qing dynasty (1862–1895).
Prior to the secession of Hong Kong to the United Kingdom following the First Opium War via the Treaty of Nanking, Hong Kong fell under the jurisdiction of the government of China and flew the flag and ensign of the Chinese government of the time. Prior to the establishment of the crown colony of Hong Kong, the ruling dynasty in China was the Qing dynasty. Despite being established in 1644, the Qing Empire had no official flags until 1862. Prior to 1898, when the Second Convention of Peking was signed between the Qing Court and the government of the United Kingdom, the New Territories was still Qing land. The flag itself features the "Azure Dragon" on a plain yellow field with the red flaming pearl of the three-legged crow in the upper left corner.
Colonial flags.
Prior to Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty, the flag of Hong Kong was a colonial Blue Ensign flag. The flag of colonial Hong Kong underwent several changes from then until 1997.
Use of Union Flag (1843–1871).
In 1843, a seal representing Hong Kong was instituted. The design was based on a local waterfront scene; three local merchants with their commercial goods are shown on the foreground, a square-rigged ship and a junk occupy the middle ground, while the background consists of conical hills and clouds. In 1868, a Hong Kong flag was produced, a Blue Ensign flag with a badge based on this "local scene", but the design was rejected by Hong Kong Governor Richard Graves MacDonnell.
First colonial flag (1871–1876).
On 3 July 1869, a new design for the Hong Kong flag was commissioned at a cost of £3, which featured a "gentleman in an evening coat who is purchasing tea on the beach at Kowloon". After a brief discussion in the executive council, it was determined that the new design was very problematic and it was not adopted.
In 1870, a "white crown over HK" badge for the Blue Ensign flag was proposed by the Colonial Secretary. The letters "HK" were omitted and the crown became full-colour three years later. It is unclear exactly what the badge looked like during that period of time, but it was unlikely to be the "local scene". It should have been a crown of some sort, which may, or may not, have had the letters "HK" below it. In 1876, the "local scene" badge ( "Picture of "Ar Kwan" Guiding the British soldier") was re-adopted to the Blue Ensign flag with the Admiralty's approval.
Second colonial flag (1876–1955).
During a government meeting, held in 1911, it was suggested that the name of the colony appear on the flag in both Latin and Chinese scripts. However, this was dismissed as it would "look absurd" to both Chinese and Europeans. The flag which was eventually adopted featured the Blue Ensign together with a "local scene" of traders in the foreground and both European-style and Chinese-style trading ships in the background.
Japanese occupation period (1941–1945).
During the Second World War, Hong Kong was seized and occupied by the Empire of Japan from 1941 to 1945. During the occupation, the Japanese military government used the flag of Japan in its official works in Hong Kong.
Third colonial flag (1955–1959).
The flag was similar in design to that previously used. It featured a British Blue Ensign with a local waterfront scene.
Fourth colonial flag (1959–1997).
A coat of arms for Hong Kong was granted on 21 January 1959 by the College of Arms in London. The Hong Kong flag was revised in the same year to feature the coat of arms in the Blue Ensign flag. This design was used officially from 1959 until Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty in 1997. Since then, the colonial flag has been appropriated by protestors, such as on the annual 1 July marches for universal suffrage, as a "symbol of antagonism towards the mainland", along with a blue flag featuring the coat of arms, used by those advocating independence. The flag features a British Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1959–1997).
Flags used by government departments.
Council flags.
Hong Kong Regional Council.
The flag of the Regional Council represented the governmental body which oversaw matters related to the outlying areas of the territory during the colonial period. The flag itself featured a stylised white R at a 45-degree angle on a dark green background.
Hong Kong Urban Council.
The flag of the Urban Council represented the governmental body which was responsible for matters pertaining to the urban areas of the territory during the colonial period. The flag itself features a simplified white Bauhinia blakeana on a magenta background.
Potential alternatives.
Before Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty, between 20 May 1987 and 31 March 1988, a contest was held amongst Hong Kong residents to help choose a flag for post-colonial Hong Kong, with 7,147 design submissions, in which 4,489 submissions were about flag designs. Architect Tao Ho was chosen as one of the panel judges to pick Hong Kong's new flag. He recalled that some of the designs had been rather funny and with political twists: "One had a hammer and sickle on one side and a dollar sign on the other." Some designs were rejected because they contained copyrighted materials, for example, the emblem of Urban Council, Hong Kong Arts Festival and Hong Kong Tourism Board. Six designs were chosen as finalists by the judges, but were all later rejected by the PRC. Ho and two others were then asked by the PRC to submit new proposals.
Looking for inspiration, Ho wandered into a garden and picked up a "Bauhinia blakeana" flower. He observed the symmetry of the five petals, and how their winding pattern conveyed to him a dynamic feeling. This led him to incorporate the flower into the flag to represent Hong Kong. The design was adopted on 4 April 1990 at the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress, and the flag was first officially hoisted seconds after midnight on 1 July 1997 in the handover ceremony marking the transfer of sovereignty. It was hoisted together with the national PRC flag, while the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers", was played. The Union Flag and the colonial Hong Kong flag were lowered seconds before midnight.
A selection of proposals during the 1987–1988 contest is shown below:
Flags used at the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
Black Bauhinia.
In 2019, in conjunction with the anti-extradition bill protests, a variation of the flag, in which the flower appears on a black background and, in some versions, with wilted and blood-stained petals, emerged as a symbol of rebellion and protest. It was widely identified as the "Black Bauhinia".
Lennon Wall flag.
Badiucao, a Chinese cartoonist and political dissident, designed the "Lennon Wall Flag", a symbol of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. According to Badiucao, the flag was inspired directly by the Lennon Wall in Hong Kong. It consists of 96 coloured squares arranged in an 8 × 12 grid, which symbolize the post-it notes on the walls. He claims, "Every colour on the flag is a different voice. And every individual voice deserves its place in Hong Kong." The number 96 represents the year 1996, the year before the handover of Hong Kong.


William Sandell

William Sandell (born August 9, 1950) is an art director who was nominated at the 76th Academy Awards for his work on the film "" in the category of Best Art Direction. He shared his nomination with Robert Gould .
He got his start on B-Movies such as "Invasion of the Bee Girls".
In 2020 after regular appearances on Combat Radio, William launched his own radio show and podcast on Brigade-Radio-One called Art Scenic with Ethan Dettenmaier


Linus Maurer

Linus Albert Maurer (January 15, 1926 – January 29, 2016) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and puzzle designer. He worked as the editorial cartoonist for the "Sonoma Index-Tribune", a California newspaper, for more than 25 years. Maurer also authored and created several syndicated comic strips, including "Old Harrigan" during the 1960s and "Abracadabra" during the 1970s, which were published nationwide. Additionally, Maurer created and authored newspaper puzzles, including "Challenger," a number puzzle which was published by King Features Syndicate twenty times per month.
Linus Maurer was the namesake for the character Linus van Pelt, in Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip. Maurer and Schulz had been classmates at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and remained lifelong friends. Both men also worked together at the Art Instruction Schools Inc. in Minneapolis while Schulz was creating "Peanuts". Schulz would name Linus van Pelt, who is known for his blue security blanket in the "Peanuts" comic strip, after his friend and colleague. He would later write in a book marking the 50th anniversary of "Peanuts", "Linus came from a drawing that I made one day of a face almost like the one he now has...I experimented with some wild hair, and showed the sketch to a friend of mine who sat near me at art instruction, whose name was Linus Maurer. It seemed appropriate that I should name the character Linus." Schulz and Maurer continued to meet for coffee at Snoopy's Home Ice skating rink in Santa Rosa, California, until Schulz died in 2000.
Following MCAD, Maurer moved to New York City, where he worked as an illustrator for AT&T and IBM. In 1962, he relocated to San Francisco to accept a position as the art director with the McCann Erickson ad agency. He also worked as an art director at Wells Fargo in San Francisco as well. He eventually left the corporate world and opened his own office in the city's Ghirardelli Square. He created several comic strips during the 1960s and 1970s, including "Old Harrigan," "Abracadabra" and "In the Beginning."
Maurer moved from San Francisco to the Sonoma Valley following the death of his wife. He worked as an editorial cartoonist for more than 25 years in Sonoma.
Maurer suffered from heart disease and Parkinson's disease during his later years, but continued to draw until shortly before his death. He died in Sonoma, California, on January 29, 2016, at the age of 90. He was predeceased by his wife and survived by his partner of 26 years, Mary Jo Starsiak. Both Maurer and Starsiak were widowers when they first met in Sonoma, California.


Carl Smith (game designer)

Carl Smith is a game designer who has worked primary on role-playing games.
Career.
Carl Smith was an editor at TSR when Tracy Hickman got Harold Johnson, then Jeff Grubb, Smith and Larry Elmore in on the idea of Dragonlance before Margaret Weis and Douglas Niles joined them.
Between 1983 and 1984, approximately 200 people left TSR as a result of multiple rounds of layoffs; as a result Smith joined CEO John Rickets, as well as Mark Acres, Andria Hayday, Gaye Goldsberry O'Keefe, Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegle, Stephen D. Sullivan and Michael Williams in forming the game company Pacesetter on January 23, 1984. In 1985, Smith announced that Pacesetter was working on a "totally new concept in gaming", which he called the "instant adventure roleplaying game"; the result was published that summer as "" (1985).


Alien Attack

Alien Attack is a 1979 handheld electronic game made by Coleco using a VFD display. It is housed in a bright orange, futuristic-styled case. The controls are a joystick, fire button, and move button. The player's ship can fire in any direction by moving the joystick with the fire button pressed. Movement only occurs when the move button is pressed. Firing while moving is not possible. There is a grid of barriers representing a city that the player can use for cover.


Adventure Island II

Adventure Island II is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It is the sequel to "Adventure Island" and the second game in the series for the NES. While the first game was an adaptation of Sega's "Wonder Boy" arcade game, "Adventure Island II" is an original work, as were all the subsequent "Adventure Island" games. A portable version was also released for the Game Boy in 1992 titled Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima II or Adventure Island outside of Japan.
Plot.
Master Higgins' girlfriend Tina, has just been kidnapped by the Evil Witch Doctor's persistent followers. Eight perilous islands are in control of the various monster minions, although four friendly dinosaurs will gladly ally themselves with those willing to brave the islands' dangers and defeat their common oppressors. Thinking of how grateful his favorite lady will be when he comes to her rescue, Master Higgins embarks on a daunting quest to get to his honey.
Gameplay.
The rules of the game are the same as those in the original "Adventure Island", with the main new feature being the addition of an inventory system. Before the player begins a stage, he can choose which of Higgins' animal friends to bring (if he has rescued any), as well as whether or not he should bring one of the stone hammers he has accumulated. Because of this, the player can no longer upgrade to shooting fireballs when he picks a second hammer. Instead, it gets added as a reserved hammer to the player's inventory.
The checkpoint system has been eliminated and if the player dies in the middle of a stage, he must restart from the very beginning. However, the stages are significantly shorter than in the previous game. When the player strikes a place where a hidden egg is located, it will play a different noise that will serve as an indicator of its location. The bonus zones are now accessed by picking up a key located inside these hidden eggs. Some of these keys will also transport the player to an item room or a shortcut to the next island. There are now underwater stages, as well as vertical-scrolling stages. When the player completes a stage riding a skateboard, he does not get to take it to the next stage like he could in the previous game. When the player completes a stage, he will be asked to choose one of ten spinning eggs that will give him a certain number of points. The player can now backtrack during a stage as well, but only up to a certain point.
The boss of each island awaits the player on a specific stage at the beginning. However, if the player is defeated while fighting a boss, the boss will move to another area, forcing the player not only to clear his current stage, but also another one in order to fight the boss.
There are four types of dinosaur friends that Higgins can ride. These animal friends are summoned when the player collects a playing card suit hidden inside an egg. The blue camptosaurus (summoned by a heart card) attacks with his tail and can walk on ice without sliding; the red camptosaurus (spade) can breathe fire and swim over lava until a certain point; the pteranodon (clover) can fly over obstacles and drop stones; and the elasmosaurus (diamond) is the only dinosaur that can survive in underwater stages (the others will be lost when used underwater) and can help Higgins swim faster.
Reception.
Allgame editor Skyler Miller praised the game over the original, specifically its "improved graphics, a map screen, and most importantly, four dinosaur buddies for Master Higgins to ride, each with their own special ability".
Other media.
"Adventure Island II" is one of the video games featuring in the manga titled "Cyber Boy", by Nagai Noriaki, Published by Coro Coro Comic and Shogakukan, from 1991 to 1993. Cover artwork for the packaging was illustrated by Shelley L. Hunter.


Felicity Abbott

Felicity Abbott is a production designer in the film and television industry.
Background.
Abbott is from Wellington, New Zealand, and currently lives in Sydney, Australia.
Education.
Felicity Abbott graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1999, after completing an MA (Film & Television) (Hons) in Production Design. She was awarded the Fox Studios Australia Award for Excellence in Design in 1999. Prior to this, Abbott completed a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Sculpture, at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Career.
Abbott has designed many award winning films. "Restoration" by director Cordelia Beresford, won best film in the general category of the Dendy Awards, at the Sydney Film Festival in 1999. "Restoration" also won the Jury Prize, Short Film Competition, at the Long Beach International Film Festival, USA, 2000.
A further collaboration between Felicity Abbott and Cordelia Beresford, "The Eye Inside", won best film at both the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Awards and St Kilda Film Festival Melbourne in 2005 and received a nomination at the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2005.
In 2006, Abbott completed "The Catalpa Rescue" (US title "Irish Escape"), directed by Lisa Harney for PBS (USA), ABC (Australia) & RTÉ (Ireland) and "Playground" for director Eve Spence. In 2007, Abbott designed the Goalpost Pictures/Channel 4 film, "The Eternity Man", a film opera about the life of Australian Arthur Stace, by acclaimed British director Julien Temple. The world premier screening of "The Eternity Man" was at the Sydney Opera House in June 2008 as part of the Sydney Film Festival.
Recent films include "The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce", directed by Michael James Rowland and produced by Nial Fulton for Essential Media & Entertainment, filmed on location in Tasmania and the feature "Bran Nue Dae", directed by Rachel Perkins.


Baldassare Donato

Baldassare Donato (also Donati) (1525-1530 – June 1603) was an Italian composer and singer of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance. He was "maestro di cappella" of the prestigious St. Mark's Basilica at the end of the 16th century, and was an important figure in the development of Italian light secular music, especially the villanella.
Life.
Details of his early life are unavailable; it is not even known where he was born. The first record of Donato is as a singer at St. Mark's in Venice in 1550, and he was given charge of the musical training of the boys there in 1562. When Gioseffo Zarlino took over the post of "maestro di cappella" from Cipriano de Rore in 1565, Donato was demoted back to being a singer; conflict between the two men seems to have been a feature of life at St. Mark's, culminating in a climactic fight in 1569, publicly and scandalously, during the Feast of St. Mark. In 1577 Donato took a position at the Scuola Grande di S Rocco, another Venetian church with an impressive musical tradition and substantial performing ensemble; however he failed to get along with his employers there as well, resigning by 1580. In 1588 he became assistant "maestro di cappella" at St. Mark's, while Zarlino was still alive (whether because of reconcilement or politics is not clear), and in 1590 he took over the post of his former antagonist, holding it until his death in 1603.
Music and influence.
Donato represented a progressive trend in the Venetian school, which was already a progressive tradition compared to the other major contemporary Italian musical styles (especially as compared to the Roman School). The progressive trend in the Venetian school was represented by composers such as Donato, Giovanni Croce, and Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli; the conservative trend involved composers and theorists such as Zarlino, Cipriano de Rore, and Claudio Merulo, who tended to follow the Franco-Flemish style which was predominant almost everywhere else in Europe until after mid-century.
Donato's sacred music is the most conservative portion of his output, usually using polyphony in the Palestrina style, but also using some of the grand polychoral effects of the Gabrielis. In spite of his evident disdain for Zarlino's conservatism, he clearly absorbed some of his style and teaching, as can be seen in his smooth mastery of counterpoint and Zarlinoesque use of dissonance, at least when he was deliberately composing in the Franco-Flemish style.
Probably his greatest significance to music history is in the development of a light secular form known as the villanella, a lighter form of madrigal, of Neapolitan origin. Some of these pieces may have been intended for dancing, and they were evidently popular. They are similar to the French chanson, often have a memorable melody in the topmost part, contain vigorous cross-rhythms, and avoid the polyphonic and chromatic complexity of the mid-century madrigal.
Donato also wrote madrigals in a more serious style, as well as psalm settings, motets, and ceremonial music.


N. Robin Crossby

N. Robin Crossby (May 18, 1954 – July 23, 2008) was the creator of the Hârn fantasy setting and the HârnMaster role-playing game system, as well as dozens of other related works describing the world of Hârn.
Early life.
N. Robin Crossby was born of Anglo-Welsh parents in 1954 in London, England, the third of four children. His early hobbies included slot car racing, a fascination with dinosaurs and the drawing of fictional maps. His early education took place at William Ellis Grammar School in London. The roots of Hârn can probably be traced back to his early role-playing experiments with his brother and sister in the early 1960s, which involved a hand-drawn map and a personal history of the lost continent of Atlantis.
Crossby's family emigrated to Canada in 1968, settling in the Vancouver, British Columbia suburb of Coquitlam. He attended Centennial High School. Between 1974 and 1980 Crossby was involved in dozens of projects, only some of which came to fruition. After graduating high school both he and his future wife Sharon went to work assembling circuit boards at Crossby Electronics. This company was owned by his father, Victor Crossby. They did a great deal of GlenAyre Electronics’ contract work during the 1970s and were responsible for the bulk of circuitry installed at the former BC Hydro tower located on Burnaby Mountain. Crossby was employed there until about 1980. He attended Douglas College from 1974 to 1976, graduating with an associate degree in Philosophy.
College years.
During his tenure at Douglas College he began dabbling in graphic design, creating many logos and posters for various Douglas College clubs under the name Hexagon Graphics. Hexagon was still around decades later, its largest project being a logo design for Maple Ridge-based company Maple Meadows Glass in approximately 1995.
After graduating Douglas College he transferred to Simon Fraser University, where he co-founded SPLUD, the Society for the Protection of Large Unpleasant Dragons. SPLUD was a board games club which held meetings in the SFU Rotunda. Some of the games played there were designed earlier by Crossby with names like Power and Resource. After encountering Dungeons and Dragons, he started on early precursors of Hârn.
Hobbies.
Crossby was similarly attracted to the arts; he was an accomplished guitar player and composer who often performed at family gatherings. He was also an amateur playwright, and between Douglas College and SFU Robin, his future wife Sharon, his sister Sue and their friends operated a small community theatre company called Threshold Theatre out of the James Cowan Theatre in Burnaby.
Family life.
Not long after arriving in Canada he met his future spouse, Sharon MacLeod, a close friend of his sister Susan. Robin and Sharon had their first child in 1983 (a daughter named Arien) and their second in 1987 (Faya). They were not married until 1987 just barely before the birth of their third daughter, Kiley, in 1988.
Business and Publishing.
Beginning in 1977, Crossby started to codify his fantasy world of Kethira. Near the end of the 1970s Robin started calling his gaming system Hârn and began shopping it with publishers. In 1980, Robin made first contact with the gaming company that would later become Columbia Games Inc.
Robin signed his first contract with the Vancouver-based gaming company in 1983. Throughout that year CGI published a series of booklets called Encyclopedia Hârnica, consisting of the history and background of several regions of the island of Hârn. These were followed in the next three years by the Kingdom Modules, a re-release of much of the same material in a more condensed format. Also in the early 80s, Columbia Games released the Hârn Regional Module, which included a massive, full-colour map that attracted many reluctant players to the system. The "Hârn Regional Module" was later re-released as "HârnWorld".
About Harn.
Like many popular role-playing environments of the time, Hârn took place in a quasi-medieval setting, on the world of Kèthîra in what could be described in another reality, but described in detail many factors that other systems often neglected. One section of HârnWorld, for instance, laid out a complex model for generating weather patterns that affected the entire planet. Hârn was unusual at its outset for having no defined system to support the story – many early players used Dungeons & Dragons rules systems or RuneQuest models to actually play Hârn campaigns. It wasn't until 1986 that Columbia Games released Hârn's companion rule system, HârnMaster I, which was a leap forward in RPG design in that it calculated the probabilities of various battle, exploration and magic scenarios in a far greater degree of detail than any existing system of the time. The level of detail involved in both modules and statistics made it intimidating for more faint-hearted players. Hârn meta-material was available in the form of CGI's HârnQuest Magazine, released four times annually, which is still published today. At one time Hârn fandom also had a thriving mailing list called HârnLine, also known as the Duffleboard for its moderator Rob Duff.
In 1996 CGI came out with HârnMaster Core (known colloquially as HârnMaster II), printed in full-colour on cardstock in a binder that theoretically allowed the system to expand with future modules. The modules included in the new HârnMaster Core series were also printed with the more popular D20 statistics, a different points system that simplified Hârn's extremely detailed points system and brought out resentment in veteran Hârn players who preferred the HârnMaster I rules. CGI argued that this would bring in a new generation of players, but Hârn fandom has boasted about the same number of players since approximately 1990. HârnMaster II also retailed for nearly US$50, which for the time was extremely expensive.
Columbia Games moved to Washington state, and in 1994 Crossby stopped producing new material for Columbia; fans increasingly began to add their own expansions (called "fanon") to fill the void left by the lack of official support for the setting, and he began working on his own version of Hârn.
International Publishing and Conflict with Columbia Games.
In 1998, Robin and CGI were contacted by Auran Games, an Australian video game company interested in developing a Hârnic Internet role-playing game. Robin signed his second contract with CGI that same year. Over the next three years Auran paid for four trips to Australia including one where he was accompanied by his wife, as well as a business associate Tom Dalgliesh and his wife Penny. But tensions had been rising between Robin and Columbia Games, which had moved to Washington state for tax purposes in 1999. Robin had grown unhappy with the direction being taken with the Hârn product line and had begun self-publishing his own modules under the name Kelestia Productions in 1997. These modules and rulebooks diverged from CGI's releases as of the HârnMaster I series. Robin released both digital products in PDF format through Hyperbooks.com and print products which were produced in Burnaby and shipped in large volume from his home with the help of his eldest daughter Arien. During this period he published nearly half a dozen products, including his own extension of the basic rules called HârnMaster Gold. HMG was not only a new version of the Hârn universe, but a guide to campaigning with the Hârn world in any gaming system without compromising on the level of detail.
CGI and Robin worked together alongside Auran until 2000 when the Auran project was cancelled by Electronics Arts, the games proposed publisher, before it was fully completed. It was one of a number of games cancelled by Electronic Arts at the time due to budget cutbacks. Over the next three years there arose more conflicts between Robin and CGI over licensing and unpaid royalties, which led to Robin formally dissolving his contract with Columbia Games in 2003. Columbia games continued to produce Hârn products in defiance of the contract dissolution up until Crossby's death and beyond.
The present-day Kelestia Productions website was founded in approximately 2006 and began selling digital copies of modules under the name Hârn Canon, to differentiate it from the products still being sold by Columbia Games. These modules were created not only by Robin but by his fans; by this period Robin was actively encouraging the input of his fanbase to create new material. The Chélemby City (publication title: Chélemby: City of the Sea Kings) module was produced as a group effort between Robin and many contributors and fans, including his long-time friend Rob Duff. Kelestia Productions was incorporated in October 2008, and since his death in July 2008, the company has published modules and products under the guidance of his heirs and estate-appointed project heads Jeremy Baker (a New Zealander) and Ken Snellings (an American).
Though the dispute between Kelestia Productions and Columbia Games has never been completely resolved, Kelestia Productions has done business selling electronic-format modules since about 2006. After Robin's death in 2008 his intellectual property rights passed on to his eldest daughter Arien. The trademark for the name “Hârn” was formally granted to Arien Crossby by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in September 2009, and Kelestia Productions is not currently pursuing the American trademark, but continues to produce module content and other products independently.
Later life and death.
In early 2006, Robin was diagnosed with liposarcoma of the bowel, a cancer arising in fat cells. Throughout his illness he continued his work, and the last map completed by Crossby was a map of the entire Harnic world. Many also applauded Crossby for keeping a sharp and witty blog on the Kelestia website during the course of his illness. Despite surgery and chemotherapy, he died two years later on July 23, 2008, in a hospice in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.


Flag of Vendsyssel

The proposed flag of Vendsyssel in Denmark was introduced by the mayor of Hjørring in 1976, and is used to some extent.
The flag is named Vendelbrog (with reference to the Danish flag Dannebrog interpreted as The Danish cloth).
Design.
It is a Nordic Cross flag in blue, orange and green. The blue colour symbolizes the sea. The orange/red colour is symbol of the sun and the beaches of Vendsyssel, and the green is for the lush nature. By tradition, only people born in Vendsyssel can use the flag.
The flag is not officially recognised, but it used to be a part of the insignia of the Royal Danish Air Force 723rd Air Squadron.


Blood Omen 2

Blood Omen 2 is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive, and the fourth title in the "Legacy of Kain" series. It was released for the PlayStation 2, alongside Xbox, Microsoft Windows and GameCube ports developed by Nixxes Software BV, in 2002. It is the sequel to the first game in the series, ', with "Blood Omens protagonist, the vampire Kain, returning as the central character.
"Blood Omen 2" chronologically bridges the stories of the original "Blood Omen" and "", but it takes place in an alternate timeline created by the events of "Soul Reaver 2". Centuries after "Blood Omen", Kain is opposed by traitorous vampires and the minions of The Sarafan Lord, and sets out to continue his ascent to power.
While Crystal Dynamics' "Soul Reaver" team began to produce "Soul Reaver 2", a secondary crew started work on "Blood Omen 2" in 1999. They sought to create a more action-focused entry in contrast to the "Soul Reaver" games' emphasis on puzzle-solving. The final product was a commercial success, becoming a Sony's "Greatest Hits" title, but received average reception, with critics citing its lower production values and lack of innovation relative to the "Soul Reaver" games as flaws.
Gameplay.
Gameplay is presented in 3D and is a combination of combat and puzzle solving. Health is represented by two vials - a red vial symbolizing total hit points, and a blue vial which is an indicator as to how long it will take to increase overall health. Lost health can be regained by draining the blood of a downed enemy or civilian. As progression is made throughout the game, several weapons can be attained, such as a broadsword or staff. Weapons have limited durability and will eventually break if used for excessive blocking. If no weapons are selected, claws can be used to attack, as well as abilities, which are gained by killing bosses. These skills help in advancing through sections of the game, as well as puzzles. Most of the abilities - named Dark Gifts in the game - can only be used once the "Rage Meter" has been filled by defeating opponents.
Plot.
Setting.
The vampire, Kain, refused to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars of Nosgoth at the end of "Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain", thus damning the Pillars and the world of Nosgoth to an eternity of depravity and decay. Following his refusal, Kain built a vampire army with Vorador's help and attempted to conquer the world.
Four hundred years after the events of "Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain", Kain awakes in Meridian, Nosgoth's industrial capital city. He remembers very little, and is lacking much of his former power. He is greeted by a vampire called Umah, who informs Kain that he has been asleep for two hundred years.
Two hundred years before, Kain's conquest of Nosgoth had been opposed by an army of vampire hunters called the Sarafan Order. The Sarafan Order destroyed Kain's army, and Kain himself was defeated in combat by their leader, the Sarafan Lord who then claimed the Soul Reaver from Kain. In the years since, the Sarafan have imposed harsh martial law on Nosgoth's human population, and started an industrial revolution. Employing 'Glyph magic'—a new kind of magic, deadly to vampires—they have hunted the remaining vampires to near extinction: as a result, several vampires have agreed to serve the Sarafan out of self-preservation. Umah is a member of the Cabal; an underground resistance movement formed of vampires and working to undermine the Sarafan at every turn. The Cabal hopes that Kain will destroy the Sarafan Lord, and the traitorous vampires that protect him.
Kain sets out to get his revenge, reclaim the sword from the Sarafan Lord, and continue his ascent to power.
Story.
The story is a paradox in Nosgoth's history. Because Raziel's soul was not absorbed into the physical Soul Reaver, an alternate history was introduced into Blood Omen 2. This history places Kain at the threshold of gaining his empire, but because of the weakened state of the Pillars, the Hylden race was able to re-enter Nosgoth. The Hylden masquerade as the defunct Sarafan army to exploit Nosgoth. With their arrival they created an Industrial Age, hunted the Vampire race to near extinction, and domesticated humanity through harsh martial laws and overbearing taxation. Their Glyph magic is used to power Nosgoth's industrial revolution. The surviving vampires serve the Hylden through espionage.
The Cabal, an underground resistance working to topple the Sarafan's plans, are led by Vorador - resurrected in this alternate timeline. They plan to use Kain as the unseen hand that will destroy the Sarafan's operation from the inside. However Kain plans to use this position to reclaim his place as Nosgoth's ruler. Kain was defeated by the Sarafan Lord through the betrayal of his lieutenants. He finds and kills them, absorbing their dark arts.
During reconnaissance of the Sarafan's position one of Vorador's lieutenants, Umah, discovers the location of an amulet called the Nexus Stone. Umah informs Kain that the Nexus Stone is what the Sarafan Lord used to defeat him in their battle. Afterward Vorador tells Kain of a secret weapon, The Device, that will wipe away all life in Nosgoth that is not Hylden. Kain is then told to seek out the Seer, a witch that lives on the outskirts of Meridian.
The Seer explains to Kain that the glyph magic that is supplying Meridian with power is also being used to power The Device. He also drinks her blood to receive telekinesis. As they talk the Sarafan Lord, secretly tracking Kain, sets fire to her house. Sacrificing her safety, the Seer then teleports Kain to the Eternal Prison.
Kain is able to find the Builder, who confesses he built The Device out of arrogance, and wishes to make amends by helping Kain destroy his creation. He tells Kain the Device is powered by a massive life-form called the Mass. The Mass has powerful psychic abilities but is harmless if there is no way to channel the creature's power. Kain is told the Mass is weak against the blood of an Ancient, and the Builder asks Kain to drain him of his blood, and to feed it to the Mass, ensuring its destruction. Kain does so, and faces his last lieutenant (Magnus) before leaving the Eternal Prison.
Kain finds out that Magnus never betrayed him, and only wanted to be his champion. He tried to confront the Sarafan Lord himself, but lost and was then cast into the Eternal Prison, where he lost his mind. Kain destroys the Mass and, leaving the Hylden's lair, meets Janos Audron who has regained his true form. Kain does not know Janos yet, but learns he is the last true ancient vampire.
After Janos explains to Kain part of the history concerning the Hylden, their lord/general and Kain's own involvement in them (unwittingly allowing the Hylden Lord to slip into Nosgoth from the Demon Realm as the pillars were ruined and dimensional barriers weakened), Janos transports Kain and Himself to sanctuary where Vorador and Umah are waiting. Janos explains to the gathered vampires the nature of the Hylden and their plan to invade Nosgoth via a Hylden Gate, located in the ancient Hylden city across the Great Southern Sea from Meridian. However, Janos cannot transport the vampires there immediately as the city is protected by a magical barrier. It is agreed that Kain and Umah are to infiltrate a ship heading to the city from the Wharves and neutralize the barrier when on site.
Umah starts to question Kain's plans for Nosgoth, wondering how his stern rule would be better than that of the Sarafan. She steals the Nexus Stone from Kain and sets off to defeat the Hylden Lord herself. Not long after that, Kain finds Umah mortally wounded, though he has a chance to save her, he refuses, unable to trust her due to the earlier treachery. Kain kills Umah but regrets it, noting that ″now you have left me alone″. Kain then proceeds to board a vessel heading out to sea.
Kain encounters the Hylden Lord waiting at the docks of the Hylden City. The two exchange words and the Hylden Lord attempts to strike Kain down with the Soul Reaver, but is stopped by the Nexus Stone that protected him from Kain's similar attack 200 years ago. The Hylden Lord teleports away and Kain proceeds to explore the Hylden city. After destroying the generator powering the magical barrier, Vorador and Janos warp in. Vorador asks Kain about Umah, being unable to sense her, and Kain tells him that she is dead and openly declares that he killed her for treason, even though he could have saved her. Vorador is horrified at Kain's ruthlessness and the two seem to be on the verge of fighting, but Janos urges them to put aside their conflict. Just as Kain agrees to settle affairs with Vorador later, the Sarafan Lord ambushes the trio and wounds Vorador and Janos, depriving Kain of their help. Janos teleports Kain nearer to the gate and stays behind to tend to Vorador.
Having finally reached the Hylden Gate Kain finds the Hylden Lord. Kain and the Hylden Lord speak, Kain offers the Hylden Lord a choice of exile or annihilation as he destroys the Hylden Gate, while the Hylden Lord berates Kain for his petty lust for power and dominion over Nosgoth, akin to a petty noble who gained too much power and can never be sated. Kain denounces the Hylden Lord, boasting how all of his spies and traitors have fallen before him, even Umah. Surprised, the Hylden Lord claims that he has no spy named Umah, at which Kain angrily attacks him.
After a brief struggle Kain knocks the Hylden Lord off the platform, but he reappears, gloating how Kain cannot slay him while the Hylden Gate is active. Kain then casts the Nexus Stone into the gate, which begins to implode. Janos arrives at that moment and exchanges hateful words with the Hylden Lord. The Hylden Lord grabs Janos and throws him into the imploding vortex and turns to Kain, who is now in possession of the Soul Reaver.
The Hylden Lord and Kain battle one final time, but armed with the Soul Reaver and with the Nexus Stone gone, Kain easily defeats the Hylden Lord. The Hylden Lord, in his dying breath, assures Kain that the war between Vampires and Hylden will never be over, as the Demon Realm ensures the immortality of the Hylden race. Kain states that should the Hylden ever return, he will be waiting and kills the Hylden Lord.
As the Hylden City is slowly destroyed by the collapsing gate, Kain is seen slowly walking away, pondering his plans for Nosgoth.
Development.
"Blood Omen 2" was not produced with the involvement of the "Soul Reaver" crew, instead being created by a new team at Crystal Dynamics under the direction of Glen Schofield. A key point of focus for the developers was the main character, Kain; Crystal Dynamics had "a huge investment in Kain as a character".
Reception.
The Xbox version received "generally favorable reviews", while the other console versions received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
AllGame gave the PS2 and Xbox versions three stars out of five, saying of the former, "Even with the ordinary combat and rather tedious puzzles, Blood Omen 2 still manages to be compelling enough to keep you playing to the end, which is a testament to the overall presentation and varied locales"; and of the latter, "Less demanding players will be more tolerant of the game's repetitive nature, while others will yearn for something juicier to sink their teeth into."


Alexander Borodin

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (; 12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian chemist and Romantic musical composer of Georgian ancestry. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as "The Five", a group dedicated to producing a uniquely Russian kind of Classical music. Borodin is known best for his symphonies, his two string quartets, the symphonic poem "In the Steppes of Central Asia" and his opera "Prince Igor". Music from the "In the Steppes of Central Asia", his Symphony No. 2, "Prince Igor" and his string quartets was later adapted for the US musical "Kismet".
A doctor and chemist by profession and training, Borodin made important early contributions to organic chemistry. Although he is presently known better as a composer, he regarded medicine and science as his primary occupations, only practicing music and composition in his spare time or when he was ill. As a chemist, Borodin is known best for his work concerning organic synthesis, including being among the first chemists to demonstrate nucleophilic substitution, as well as being the co-discoverer of the aldol reaction. Borodin was a promoter of education in Russia and founded the School of Medicine for Women in Saint Petersburg, where he taught until 1885.
Life and profession.
Family and education.
Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg as an illegitimate son of a 62-year-old Georgian nobleman, Luka Stepanovich Gedevanishvili, and a married 25-year-old Russian woman, Evdokia Konstantinovna Antonova. Due to the circumstances of Alexander's birth, the nobleman had him registered as the son of one of his Russian serfs, Porfiry Borodin, hence the composer's Russian last name. As a result of this registration, both Alexander and his nominal Russian father Porfiry were officially serfs of Alexander's biological father Luka. The Georgian father emancipated Alexander from serfdom when he was 7 years old and provided housing and money for him and his mother. Despite this, Alexander was never publicly recognized by his mother, who was referred to by young Borodin as his "aunt".
Despite his status as a commoner, Borodin was well provided for by his Georgian father and grew up in a large four-storey house, which was gifted to Alexander and his "aunt" by the nobleman. Although his registration prevented enrollment in a proper gymnasium, Borodin received good education in all of the subjects through private tutors at home. During 1850 he enrolled in the Medical–Surgical Academy in Saint Petersburg, which was later the workplace of Ivan Pavlov, and pursued a career in chemistry. On graduation he spent a year as surgeon in a military hospital, followed by three years of advanced scientific study in western Europe.
During 1862 Borodin returned to Saint Petersburg to begin a professorship of chemistry at the Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy and spent the remainder of his scientific career in research, lecturing and overseeing the education of others. Eventually, he established medical courses for women (1872).
He began taking lessons in composition from Mily Balakirev during 1862. He married Ekaterina Protopopova, a pianist, during 1863, and had at least one daughter, named Gania. Music remained a secondary vocation for Borodin besides his main career as a chemist and physician. He suffered poor health, having overcome cholera and several minor heart failures. He died suddenly during a ball at the Academy, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg.
Career as a chemist.
In his profession Borodin gained great respect, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes. Between 1859 and 1862 Borodin had a postdoctoral position at Heidelberg University. He worked in the laboratory of Emil Erlenmeyer working on benzene derivatives. He also spent time in Pisa, working on halocarbons. One experiment published during 1862 described the first nucleophilic displacement of chlorine by fluorine in benzoyl chloride. The radical halodecarboxylation of aliphatic carboxylic acids was first demonstrated by Borodin during 1861 by his synthesis of methyl bromide from silver acetate. It was Heinz Hunsdiecker and his wife Cläre, however, who developed Borodin's work into a general method, for which they were granted a US patent during 1939, and which they published in the journal "Chemische Berichte" during 1942. The method is generally known as either the Hunsdiecker reaction or the Hunsdiecker–Borodin reaction.
During 1862, Borodin returned to the Medical–Surgical Academy (now known as the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy), and accepted a professorship of chemistry. He worked on self-condensation of small aldehydes in a process now known as the aldol reaction, the discovery of which is jointly credited to Borodin and Charles-Adolphe Wurtz. Borodin investigated the condensation of valerian aldehyde and oenanth aldehyde, which was reported by von Richter during 1869. During 1873, he described his work to the Russian Chemical Society and noted similarities with compounds recently reported by Wurtz.
He published his last full article during 1875 on reactions of amides and his last publication concerned a method for the identification of urea in animal urine.
His successor as chemistry professor of the Medical-Surgical academy was his son-in-law and fellow chemist, Alexander Dianin.
Musical avocation.
Opera and orchestral works.
Borodin met Mily Balakirev during 1862. While under Balakirev's tutelage in composition he began his Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major; it was first performed during 1869, with Balakirev conducting. During that same year Borodin started on his Symphony No. 2 in B minor, which was not particularly successful at its premiere during 1877 under Eduard Nápravník, but with some minor re-orchestration received a successful performance during 1879 by the Free Music School under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's direction. During 1880 he composed the popular symphonic poem "In the Steppes of Central Asia". Two years later he began composing a third symphony, but left it unfinished at his death; two movements of it were later completed and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov.
During 1868 Borodin became distracted from initial work on the second symphony by preoccupation with the opera "Prince Igor", which is considered by some to be his most significant work and one of the most important historical Russian operas. It contains the "Polovtsian Dances", often performed as a stand-alone concert work forming what is probably Borodin's best-known composition. Borodin left the opera (and a few other works) incomplete at his death.
"Prince Igor" was completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. It is set in the 12th century, when the Russians, commanded by Prince Igor of Seversk, determined to conquer the barbarous Polovtsians by travelling eastward across the Steppes. The Polovtsians were apparently a nomadic tribe originally of Turkish origin who habitually attacked southern Russia. A full solar eclipse early during the first act foreshadows an ominous outcome to the invasion. Prince Igor's troops are defeated. The story tells of the capture of Prince Igor, and his son, Vladimir, of Russia by Polovtsian chief Khan Konchak, who entertains his prisoners lavishly and orders his slaves to perform the famous 'Polovtsian Dances', which provide a thrilling climax to the second act. The second half of the opera finds Prince Igor returning to his homeland, but rather than finding himself in disgrace, he is welcomed home by the townspeople and by his wife, Yaroslavna. Although for a while rarely performed in its entirety outside of Russia, this opera has received two notable new productions recently, one at the Bolshoi State Opera and Ballet Company in Russia during 2013, and one at the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York City during 2014.
Chamber music.
No other member of the Balakirev circle identified himself so much with absolute music as did Borodin in his two string quartets, in addition to his many earlier chamber compositions. As a cellist, he was an enthusiastic chamber music player, an interest that increased during his chemical studies in Heidelberg between 1859 and 1861. This early period yielded, among other chamber works, a string sextet and a piano quintet. Borodin based the thematic structure and instrumental texture of his pieces on those of Felix Mendelssohn.
During 1875 Borodin started his First String Quartet, much to the displeasure of Mussorgsky and Vladimir Stasov; the other members of The Five were known to be hostile to chamber music. The First Quartet demonstrates mastery of the string quartet form. Borodin's Second Quartet, written in 1881, displays strong lyricism, as in the third movement's popular "Nocturne." While the First Quartet is richer in changes of mood, the Second Quartet has a more uniform atmosphere and expression.
Musical legacy.
Borodin's fame outside the Russian Empire was made possible during his lifetime by Franz Liszt, who arranged a performance of the Symphony No. 1 in Germany during 1880, and by the Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau in Belgium and France. His music is noted for its strong lyricism and rich harmonies. Along with some influences from Western composers, as a member of The Five his music has also a Russian style. His passionate music and unusual harmonies proved to have a lasting influence on the younger French composers Debussy and Ravel (in homage, the latter composed during 1913 a piano piece entitled "À la manière de Borodine").
The evocative characteristics of Borodin's music made possible the adaptation of his compositions in the 1953 musical "Kismet", by Robert Wright and George Forrest, notably in the songs "Stranger in Paradise", "And This Is My Beloved" and "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads". In 1954, Borodin was posthumously awarded a Tony Award for this show.
References.
Sources


NASCAR Heat 2

NASCAR Heat 2 is a racing video game by Monster Games and published by 704Games. It is the sequel to "NASCAR Heat Evolution", and was released in North America on September 12, 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows via Steam. Kyle Busch is featured on the cover. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series are featured in the game for the first time since EA Sports' 2008 release, "NASCAR 09". Truck and Xfinity stand-alone tracks, including Eldora Speedway and Gateway Motorsports Park are also featured. All three series are playable online, and in career mode, the player can ascend the ranks to conquer the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
"NASCAR Heat 2" was also the working title of "", as logos for it appear in some menus of the 2002 game.
Gameplay.
Career mode gives players the ability to start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and work up towards the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The player can use their own car or use a driver on a team. In the beginning, users choose a driver from hot seat offers in the Truck Series and progress up the ranks to Cup. Users can also play a single-season championship simulation. Also included are online multiplayer, with races up to 40 players, or local split-screen multiplayer. Challenges featuring different tracks and drivers are also included in the game; all are voiced by Claire B. Lang.
Drivers.
"NASCAR Heat 2" features drivers from all three of NASCAR's national series in the game (42 MENCS drivers, 43 NXS drivers, and 32 NCWTS drivers). However, there are some notable omissions, including Beard Motorsports with driver Brendan Gaughan in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and all GMS Racing drivers in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, excluding Justin Haley. The driver rosters for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series have been confirmed by 704Games. In a patch released in October, 704 added all remaining NASCAR Next drivers including Hailie Deegan and Chase Purdy.
The highest-placing Toyota driver in the Sprint All-Star Race was selected as the cover driver; Last Year: Carl Edwards won the cover driver competition with a fourth-place finish. He retired from NASCAR on January 9, 2017 and handed his ride to Daniel Suárez. That year the eligible drivers were Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex Jr. Busch won the cover driver competition with a win in the NASCAR All-Star finishing 2nd in Stage 2 in that event and winning the event.
Reception.
Accolades.
The game was nominated for "Game, Franchise Racing" at the 17th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards.


Alpha Prime

Alpha Prime is a first-person shooter video game developed by Black Element Software and released in 2007. The script for the game's story was written by Ondřej Neff, and the game is built upon Black Element's proprietary Enforce 2 Engine. "Alpha Prime" was initially released on Steam and, as of August 30, 2011, it is also available on the cloud gaming service OnLive.
Plot.
The State Business Federation has discovered an asteroid dubbed Alpha Prime with rich deposits of hubbardium, which is used as fuel in interstellar ships. During the mining operations, the miners began to go mad due to exposure to hubbardium. The State Business Federation decided that mining the hubbardium is too dangerous, and sealed off the asteroid.
The protagonist, Arnold Weiss, is recruited by an old friend, Livia, to rescue their mutual friend, Warren Reynolds, who was trapped on the asteroid when it was sealed off. Arnold grudgingly accepts, and they head off in a ship called the Artemis. The ship is disabled by a mine before they reach the asteroid, however, and only Arnold and Livia survive. Arnold gets into an escape pod and lands on Alpha Prime alone.
After fighting his way through malfunctioning robots and miners driven mad by hubbardium exposure, Arnold meets up with an Italian member of the Association of Freelance Prospector's named Paolo Bellini. Paolo gives Arnold a device known as a ReCon, used to hack into a variety of electronics, and agrees to help him. Paolo then suggests they go further into the complex to escape the insane miners. After another run in with robots, Paolo is injured and decides to stay behind when Arnold goes to survey the area. The two notice that the area is now crawling with enforcers from the company that originally controlled the mining operation.
Arnold gets in contact with another employee trapped on Alpha Prime, Bruce Lawrence, who assists him in opening some doors. On the way back, the leader of the enforcers, Colonel Olivier, finds Paolo and asks him about Glomar, an urban legend said to be the source of hubbardium. Paolo attempts to escape, but is killed. Livia contacts Arnold again to explain that she has been hiding from Colonel Olivier's ship, but Bruce later informs him that Livia had been transmitting directly to Olivier.
Using the complex's tram system, Arnold finally makes his way to Warren. Warren reveals that Livia was on Alpha Prime when the Company first tried to acquire the heart of Glomar, now confirmed to be the source of the radiation which transforms rock into hubbardium. Something went wrong and during the Company's flight, Livia abandoned Warren to go with them. Warren removes the information about how to find Glomar's heart, which constantly moves, from Alpha Prime's database, and attempts to hide it.
Olivier's men fake an image of Paolo approaching the room on the security cameras, leading Warren to go outside to get him. Arnold realizes it's a trap, but gets over to Warren too late, who is captured. Arnold chases Olivier and Warren to Olivier's ship, which he also hopes to use to escape the asteroid after rescuing Warren. Warren, however, inspired by an act of Paolo's, sets off an explosion as a distraction to escape, also resulting in the ship being rendered unusable.
Arnold gets a tip that Warren might be headed to an old mining site, and drives a buggy across the asteroid's surface to reach it. Arnold meets up with Bruce there, only to find out that Olivier already caught Warren, stole the database containing the location of Glomar's heart, and left him for dead. With his dying breath, Warren informs Arnold that when you touch the heart, it does whatever you expect it to. Arnold insists he's going after Olivier so Bruce leaves because he only wants to escape the asteroid.
Arnold tracks Olivier to an old mine and begins descending into it. Along the way, Olivier, who now wants the heart for himself, contacts Arnold and insists that they both have the same goal: keeping the heart away from the Company. He also warns Arnold of a spy by the codename of Coral Snake, who is a mutual acquaintance he insists cannot be trusted. Arnold speculates that Coral Snake may not even exist at all, and is only a myth to turn Arnold against his friends.
Arnold finally reaches Olivier, who is about to pick up Glomar's heart. He threatens to kill him, but Olivier insists that Arnold would not shoot next to such a precious object. Instead, Arnold convinces Olivier that Glomar will destroy Olivier if he picks it up. With the doubt in his mind, Warren's prediction turns out true as Olivier is transformed into a hideous abomination upon touching the heart. Arnold defeats the corrupted Olivier and goes to pick up the heart himself.
Bruce contacts Arnold, only to be cut off by the sounds of a struggle. Livia, who had landed the Artemis, arrives and tries to stop Arnold from picking up the heart. Arnold does anyway, however, and asks Livia if she can guess his wish. Livia approaches him and shoots him dead, revealing that she was Coral Snake.
The game ends with a shot of Arnold's corpse as Livia insists to Company members that Arnold has the heart and she needs to get it out of his body. She requests an autopsy and Arnold's head turns, revealing green glowing eyes as the screen fades to black.
Gameplay.
The game has a total of 10 missions or levels, and around 14 types of enemies. The game's mechanics allow for an interactive environment, a hacking system, and a "bullet time" system. It primarily features traditional first-person shooter gameplay interspersed with basic puzzle solving involving the hacking system or locating objects.
Soundtrack.
Composed by Jaroslav Kašný, the soundtrack of Alpha Prime consists of sixteen Industrial tracks and has been released for free on the website.
Development.
The original preview of the game was released during E3 2006. There it was revealed that the game would have support for the Ageia's PhysX processor. The company that created the game, Black Element Software, is based in the Czech Republic. A system was created for the game originally known as the "Remote Hacking Device", but eventually renamed to the "Remote Control (ReCon)", which allows the player to manipulate electronic devices in the environment. The developers decided during the game's development phase that the user would have no choice in the name, look, or appearance of the playable character, since the game was not an RPG, and that the game would incorporate player-controlled vehicles and preset weapons. An important focus during development was the realism and facial expressions of the non-playable characters (NPCs), and it was the developers' choice to make the overall game primarily linear to appeal to a general audience. The developers also used specific languages to make the Artificial Intelligence language as adaptable as possible. The game is powered by the Enforce 2 Engine with Meqon Physics.
On July 7, 2009, a patch was released to address some of the concerns of players. On top of adding full-screen anti-aliasing, it fixed issues with sound in Windows Vista, as well as tweaking the difficulty. Enemies are now slightly weaker, are damaged more easily, and give out more ammo when you need it.
Reception.
The game has received average reviews, citing many faults of the game. The enemies have been criticized for being too hard, with perfect aim at all ranges and no reduction in damage, leading players to constantly having to save and load. The voice acting has been seen as sub-par, as well as some sound effects lacking "punch". The lack of multiplayer has also been a notable criticism. On the other hand, the game has been complimented for having a solid engine with crisp visuals that live up to its mainstream contemporaries.


Ciel Nosurge

Ciel Nosurge, full name , with the title translating to "World of the Girl -Requiem to a Lost Star-" is a life simulation video game for the PlayStation Vita developed by Gust. The player's objective is to help Ion, a girl with amnesia, regain her memories by entering her mind, which is shown as a broken world which the player can repair. Although not a continuation of the "Ar tonelico" series, it takes place in the same universe with many of the same elements and expands on the series mythos. The game was notably the first game to be developed by Gust after their merger with Koei Tecmo.
The game's first version was released on April 26, 2012. The original cart contained just the first episode of the game, with additional episodes gradually being released as downloadable content (DLC) via the PlayStation Network. "Ciel nosurge Re:Incarnation", a re-release containing all of the original game's patches and DLC, including episodes one through four and a voucher to download episode five, was released on February 21, 2013. A total of twelve episodes were released in total, which are divided in three arcs: the Trials Arc, the Downfall Arc and the Empress Arc. An offline-only version of the game titled "Ciel noSurge Offline" was released on October 2, 2014. In September 2015, Koei Tecmo announced that all versions of the game would remain exclusive available to Japan, with the company having no intentions on translating or releasing it in any other regions or languages.
A continuation of the series for the Vita and PlayStation 3, titled "Ar Nosurge", was released on 6 March 2014. Despite "Ciel Nosurge" staying in Japan, the sequel, a JRPG, was later released in English regions.
A remastered version, "Ciel Nosurge DX", was released on March 4, 2021, in Japan for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows.
Gameplay.
The player is introduced to (shortened to "Ion") (Japanese VA: Ai Kakuma), a girl with amnesia who lives in another dimension; the player's objective is to help Ion recover her lost memories. Ion is a candidate for the next emperor in her world but lives on her own; the player can build a romantic relationship with Ion (shown by a separate "love meter") by interacting with her. Ion may make adjustments to her lifestyle timing, which will eventually match the player's the longer the game has been played.
Another gameplay element of "Ciel nosurge" is the ability to create fairies known as from scanning barcodes. Different barcodes create a different type of Sharl, which are needed to repair Ion's mind. The game also has a system where players can type short messages for other players. The game has been referred to as a social game due to its heavy focus on socializing with other players and the requirement to be connected to PlayStation Network to play. At the time of its release, many of the game's online servers were not working properly, but that problem has since been fixed by Gust through a series of patches.
The game was released as a series of episodes, episode one being the original cart. As of February 2014, ten episodes have been released. Episodes two through ten were released as DLC for a few hundred yen each on PlayStation Network. Each episode is estimated to take around seven hours to complete. Other than episodes and patches, other minor add-ons have been released on PSN, such as costumes, extra scenarios and dialogue packs for the interactions with Ion.
Midway through 2013, Gust released additional contents: bundles containing the entirety of the chapters for both the Trials and Downfall Arcs, bundles containing all costumes, additional Sharl types and even a paid patch that repaired at once all of the Repair Points in Ion's Dream World, allowing the player to see the events without waiting for the Sharls to do the repairs. All of this can be bought as a single bundle, as well.
Setting.
The world of "Ciel nosurge" was designed with an intent to give Japanese players a sense of nostalgia; for example with buildings from the Shōwa era. Ion herself lives in a world called Ra Ciela. Ra Ciela is nearing destruction due to the expansion of its sun, Bezel; and due to this, most of its population built floating cities called Colons to protect themselves; while the poor still live on the ground.
Reception and sales.
Japan's "Famitsu" magazine scored "Ciel nosurge" 31 out of 40. Merchandise for the game include a mousepad. In the week from April 23 to April 29, "Ciel nosurge" ranked number one in PlayStation Vita games sales (33,324 per week) and fourth overall, behind "" (PlayStation 3 version), "Mario Party 9", and "Fire Emblem Awakening", respectively.
"Surge Concerto".
"Surge Concerto" is a Nosurge collection consisting of "Ar Nosurge DX" and "Ciel Nosurge DX" announced in Japan on June 25, 2020. Thus far, nothing is known about this collection, other than it being a re-release of "Ciel nosurge" and "Ar nosurge". It was originally scheduled to release on January 28, 2021 in Japan for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, but was later delayed to March 4, 2021.


Nifty Magazine

Nifty Magazine is a high fashion magazine that focuses on upcoming and aspiring models, fashion, beauty and health. It was first published in May 2007. The magazine is headquartered in New York City. It is published on monthly basis.
Content.
"NIFTY Magazine"'s mission is to highlight the hidden information pertaining to the model industry, to show the realism of a model's profession.


Soul Axiom

Soul Axiom is a first-person adventure-puzzle video game developed and published by Wales Interactive. The game is set inside a "Digital Soul Provider" called Elysia, and combines exploration with puzzle solving elements to unlock the mystery of your character's digital afterlife. It follows a similar visual style from its predecessor, Master Reboot, and while it's not a direct sequel, it is set in the same world but with new characters, a new story and new set of game mechanics. The game was released on February 29, 2016. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports were released in June 2016. The Wii U version launched on September 29, 2016. Then, the game was also released on February 27, 2020 for Nintendo Switch as Soul Axiom Rebooted.
Gameplay.
In "Soul Axiom", the player plays an unknown protagonist, utilizing a first person camera as they wander through strange landscapes of unknown memories. The player will experience traditional adventure/puzzle gameplay, by interacting with physical puzzles, making psychological decisions and exploring the environment to find the right information to unlock the story of your character. The player is slowly granted abilities in the form of a hand power system which enables them manipulate the objects and environments around them, which will allow them to navigate through the world of Elysia. These abilities also further complicate the puzzles that the player is given.
The narrative is told through collectible items which take the form of a small symbol monkey. They are known as a PEMO (Personal Message Object) and act as messages from the outside world, usually in the form of news articles, emails, letters etc. Sometimes they are easy to find and other times you will have to explore the environment to find them. To support the PEMO's, you will unlock memories after each level you complete to piece together the story, these memories come in the form of a 3D animated cutscene. A gameplay trailer was released on January 20, 2015.
Development.
"Soul Axiom" was initially released on Steam Early Access on November 23, 2014 which included Chapter 1 and parts of Chapter 2. Since then, the developers have been releasing frequent updates which often contain new content in the form of more levels to play as well as bug fixes and general improvements that the community have suggested. The Early Access development was delayed due to a major engine upgrade from Unity 4 to Unity 5. It wasn't until February 29, 2016 when "Soul Axiom" left Early Access.
Releasing first for PC, Mac and Linux, "Soul Axiom" was announced to be launched on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U in 2016. Throughout the development, the game has been supported by the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo. Microsoft has taken the title to be exhibited on several of their gaming stands at events such as GDC San Francisco (2015) and EGX Rezzed (2015 & 2016). Microsoft also financially supported the game towards the end of development, accepting the game onto their Greenshoots programme. Similarly, Nintendo also exhibited the game on their stand at EGX (2015) and Gamescom Cologne (2015). Arguably, Wales Interactive's most successful promotion came from Nintendo's E3 Nindies@Home program, where an early demo of the game was free to download on Wii U with a launch day discount offer for anyone who downloaded the demo.
Reception.
After the game left Early Access, it has received mixed reviews collated on Metacritic for PC, receiving a total score of 56/100.
"Soul Axiom" was a finalist for "Use of Narrative" at the Develop Awards in 2015, and was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Games Award for "Best Game".
Ben Barrett from "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" wrote: "It really is beautiful, nailing a Tron-like neon cyberspace feel...In the thirty minutes I gave the game this was never exploited to its full potential, but the odd bit of interaction was enough to keep me exploring the environments"
Ken Talbot from "Push Square" said: "The puzzle mechanics themselves are the game's key failing. Given abilities that control the environment around him, our silent protagonist is never allowed to use them in inventive or even organic ways." He gave the game a score of 50/100.
Reviewing the Early Access version, Mike Cosimano from "Destructoid" said: ""Soul Axiom" is an unsettling and compelling techno/cyber-thriller, with a killer visual style that matches its high-concept premise. Whether it actually delivers on its many promises is another thing entirely, but there’s a lot to be excited about so far." However, Joe Parlock reviewed the final version for "Destructoid" and gave the game its worst Metacritic score to date, 25/100.
Borja 'VodKaVK' Martos from "GameGrin" wrote: "The treatment of the soul and the afterlife is not disappointing, but the context in which these ideas are brought up are. It is a shame that puzzles feel so plastic and repetitive, because the multitude of scenarios and the ideas brought up in them tend to have a lasting effect on the player."
Staff from "Attack Of The Fanboy" wrote: "I would probably put it up there as one of, if not, the most pretty looking indie games I’ve ever played...While it wasn’t advertised as a horror game, it sure can do plenty to scare you with just the general ambience."
"PC Gamer" wrote about the game several times during development and eventually gave a score of 55/100 in their review by James Davenport. Davenport wrote ""Soul Axiom" wants to be a huge, cerebral puzzle game. I admire the scope and variety of its modular environments, each with completely different aesthetics and puzzle mechanics ... "Soul Axiom" nearly gets by on intrigue. For the first two hours, however inconsistent, I was curious to explore the varied environments and play around with the shallow puzzles."
Jordan Helm from "Hardcore Gamer" compared the game to "Tron", "Bioshock" and "The Talos Principle" and wrote: "Simplistic and often jarring its intended design may seem, "Soul Axiom" is a game that requires, as much cunningly desires, the player’s warranted need to look beyond the surface that’s initially presented. Whether that be in its puzzle design or the ample conflict of environments, Wales Interactive do just enough with the overarching themes of simulation and replication to make its superficial locales feel that extra bit suspicious." The review ended with a score of 3.5/5.
Pavel Valek from "games.cz" gave the game a 40/100: "If you expect a fun puzzle game, you have to look elsewhere. "Soul Axiom" offers plenty of easy levels and dull puzzles that will resolve themselves."
Peter Parrish from "PC Invasion" gave the game 7/10: "As a consequence of action sequences being a bit clunky, "Soul Axiom's" final encounter is a bit of a let down," and concluded with, ""Soul Axiom" consistently finds new and engaging ways for the player to use the same set of powers to overcome obstacles, and does an able job weaving its (justifiably) fragmented story throughout the game’s hub structure."


Giovanni Picchi

Giovanni Picchi (1571 or 1572 – 17 May 1643) was an Italian composer, organist, lutenist, and harpsichordist of the early Baroque era. He was a late follower of the Venetian School, and was influential in the development and differentiation of instrumental forms which were just beginning to appear, such as the sonata and the ensemble canzona; in addition he was the only Venetian of his time to write dance music for harpsichord.
Life.
Little is known about Picchi's early life, but his birthdate (1571 or 1572) can be inferred from his death record which states that he was 71 when he died on 17 May 1643. The earliest documentary evidence pertaining to him, unusually enough, is a picture: he appears as a lutenist on the title page of a 1600 dance manual by Fabritio Caroso ("Nobilità di dame"). Sometime before February 1607 he was hired as organist at the Venetian church of the Frari, and from 1623 to his death he was also organist at the confraternity Scuola di San Rocco, the most prestigious and wealthy of all the Venetian confraternities. In 1624 he applied for the position of second organist at St. Mark's, but Giovanni Pietro Berti was chosen instead.
He was a close contemporary of Monteverdi, being born four years later and dying six months earlier than the more renowned composer.
Music and influence.
Of Picchi's music, mostly instrumental music survives. One harpsichord "toccata" is included in the "Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" (how it got there is not known – very little Italian music is included in that English collection); three "passamezzos" survive in a manuscript from Turin; and in 1619 he published a collection of harpsichord dances, "Intavolatura di balli d'arpicordo". In addition, he published a collection of 19 ensemble "canzonas" in 1625, "Canzoni da sonar". A sole motet survives in Ghirlanda sacra 1625.
His harpsichord dances are of three types: dances in triple meter, dances in triple meter paired with "saltarellos," and pieces which use a ground bass. Most of the works with ground bass use some type of "romanesca" pattern, consisting of a line descending by fourth, rising by step, then descending again by fourth or fifth, rising by step, and so forth (the Pachelbel Canon, probably written several decades after Picchi's death, is probably the most famous example of variations over a "romanesca" bass).
Within his ensemble "canzonas," Picchi worked to differentiate several types of instrumental writing which were critically important to later forms such as the concerto. In particular, he used well-defined concertino, ritornello, and cadenzas in his ensemble music, following and further developing a practice initiated in the music of Giovanni Gabrieli and the other composers of his generation. His writing for concertino groups was probably the most innovative aspect of his style, and foreshadowed the work of composers in the middle Baroque such as Corelli. Picchi used both sequential variation and echo effects, and scored for a variety of instruments including violins, bassoons, recorders and trombones, often in the same piece.
Picchi seems to have used the terms "canzona" and "sonata" interchangeably, sometimes calling a piece "canzona" in the score and "sonata" in the part book; the differentiation of these forms was only just beginning in the early 17th century.


Savitha Nambrath

Savitha Nambrath is a sound designer in the Indian film industry. Her first independent work was with the movie, "Stree" in 2018. She has worked for films like "Dangal", "Haider", "Talvar", and "Barfee". She has also worked on many documentaries and short films that have been showcased in film festivals around the world.
Early life.
Savitha Nambrath was born in Pattambi in Palakkad district of Kerala, to Mohanasundaran and Radha. Later she migrated to Mumbai for doing her PhD in Geography from Mumbai University. She completed her Masters in Applied Geography from University of Madras with Gold medal and first rank prior to her movement to Mumbai.
Selected filmography.
Work as a sound designer for short films:


Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha


Hum Honorary Television Award

The Hum Honorary Television Award, organized in 2013 for the 1st Hum Awards, was given by the board of directors of the Hum Television Network and Entertainment Channel to the stars of Pakistani television to recognize their lifetime of work and achievements in the television industry. Hum TV overviewed this award with the inception of its first ceremony, this is one of the special awards given by the channel directors for exceptional achievements. All the categorized and organized special awards are given annually during the ceremony.
Honorary Television Award incepted with the origin of first awards. At the first ceremony, ten legendary Pakistan television stars were awarded. The honorary award is presented at the annual Hum Awards ceremony.
Recipients.
The following is the listing of the recipients of Hum Honorary Television Award:
Note: "The † symbol indicates a posthumous awarded."


Serge (fabric)

Serge is a type of twill fabric that has diagonal lines or ridges on both sides, made with a two-up, two-down weave. The worsted variety is used in making military uniforms, suits, great coats and trench coats. Its counterpart, silk serge, is used for linings. French serge is a softer, finer variety. The word is also used for a high-quality woven woolen fabric.
Etymology and history.
The name is derived from Old French , itself from Latin , from Greek ("serikos"), meaning "silken". The early association of silk serge, Greece, and France is shown by the discovery in Charlemagne's tomb of a piece of silk serge dyed with Byzantine motifs, evidently a gift from the Byzantine Imperial Court in the 8th or 9th century AD. It also appears to refer to a form of silk twill produced in the early renaissance in or around Florence, used for clerical cassocks. A reference can be found in "Don Quixote": "I am more pleased to have found it than anyone had given me a Cassock of the best Florentine serge" (The Curate, Book I, Chapter VI).
From early Saxon times, most English wool ("staples") was exported. In the early 16th century it went mainly to a Royal monopoly at Calais (then an English possession) and was woven into cloth in France or the Low Countries. However, with the liberation of Calais by the French on 7 January 1558, England began expanding its own weaving industry. This was greatly enhanced by the European Wars of Religion (Eighty Years' War, French Wars of Religion); in 1567 Calvinist refugees from the Low Countries included many skilled serge weavers, while Huguenot refugees in the early 18th century included many silk and linen weavers.
Wool worsted serges are known from the 12th century onward. Modern serges are made with worsted warp and a woollen weft.
Denim is a cotton fabric with a similar weave; its name is believed to be derived from "serge de Nîmes" after Nîmes in France.


Sally Tuffin

Sally Tuffin (born 1938 in Essex) is an English fashion designer and ceramicist who, with Marion Foale, was half of "Foale and Tuffin", the groundbreaking fashion label that was part of the "youthquake" movement in 1960s London.
Early life and education.
Sally Tuffin is the daughter of a dressmaker mother and a printer and draughtsman father. She was educated at Friends' School, a progressive Quaker school in Saffron Walden.
Tuffin studied at Walthamstow College of Art, where she became friends with Marion Foale, who was in the year below her. On graduating, they enrolled in 1959 on a fashion design diploma course at the Royal College of Art headed by Professor Janey Ironside.
Fashion designs.
Having both been given sewing machines by their parents for their 21st birthdays and having spent £5 on a steam iron, they founded the "Foale and Tuffin" label, for which they created a range of colourful and fun dresses, skirts and tops. These were sold through their own shop in Carnaby Street, and later through department stores. Foale and Tuffin were among the first designers to experiment with creating trousers for women that were "flattering, sexy garments".
Their friend James Wedge helped them become established as designers and retailers. According to Tuffin, to make their clothes, they "worked on the billiards table in Jimmy Wedge's flat". According to Foale, Wedge had his offices in Ganton Street and told them about a place round the corner in Marlborough Court with a low rent. Soon, they needed more space, so Wedge found space for them above him, and when he moved out, they took over 4 Ganton Street in its entirety.
Ceramicist.
Tuffin is now a ceramicist.
In 1986 Moorcroft, Europe's last independent art pottery, was rescued by Maureen and Hugh Edwards together with Sally Tuffin and her husband Richard Dennis, a former art dealer. Sally became Art Director of the firm and designed ceramics for them from 1987 to 1997. Her numerous designs include: "Balloons", "Bramble", "Peacock" and "Rain Forest". Sally Tuffin and Richard Denis left the firm in 1992, since when Maureen and Hugh Edwards have been the sole owners.
Sally Tuffin and Richard Dennis now run the independent pottery Dennis Chinaworks.


Arthur Lawson (designer)

Arthur Lawson (1908–1970) was a British art director. He had a long association with film directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, beginning in 1943 when he was floor manager on "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp". Three years later, when Powell and Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made "A Matter of Life and Death", Lawson had graduated to assistant art director. He worked with Alfred Junge on the sets for "Black Narcissus" in 1947, and earned an Oscar for the set designs on "The Red Shoes" in 1948. Lawson's association with Powell continued right through to "Peeping Tom" (1960). He received a BAFTA nomination for "The Bedford Incident" in 1965.
Listing of films:
1942 The Foreman Went to France
1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
1944 This Happy Breed
1944 The Way Ahead
1945 They Knew Mr. Knight
1946 A Matter of Life and Death
1947 Black Narcissus
1948 The Red Shoes
1950 Gone to Earth
1950 The Elusive Pimpernel
1951 The Tales of Hoffmann
1952 Folly to Be Wise
1952 The Story of Robin Hood and His Merry Men
1953 Twice upon a Time
1953 Front Page Story
1954 The Constant Husband
1955 Oh... Rosalinda!!
1955 Richard III
1956 The Battle of the River Plate
1956 Sea Wife
1956 The High Terrace
1957 Hour of Decision
1957 Seven Thunders
1958 Harry Black
1959 The Devils Desciple
1960 Sink the Bismarck
1960 Cleopatra
1960 Peeping Tom
1961 The Valiant
1962 The Very Edge
1962 Vengeance
1962 H.M.S. Defiant
1963 The Leather Boys
1963 Hornblower
1965 The Bedford Incident
1965 Called in to assist in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
1966. The Blue Max...Travelling mat expertise
1966 Binddle (One of Them Days)
1967 The Double Man
1968 The Lost Continent
1968 Midas Run


Tulenkantajat

Tulenkantajat (″The Flame Bearers″) was a literary group in Finland during the 1920s. Their main task was to find a way to take Finland from so-called backwoods culture to the new, modern European level of literature. They did not consider their manifestos to form a program of any sort, but instead stated that their group was the "new feeling of life", building on humility, courage, and the sense of community. The group published their own magazine "Tulenkantajat". The editorial of the first issue emphasized the group's unconnectedness to any political party, if not even apoliticism. However, less than a decade later the group disbanded partly due to political conflicts, as some members ended up being strictly on the left while others openly promoted the values of the Academic Karelia Society.
In the 1930s, Erkki Vala launched another "Tulenkantajat" magazine which he published from 1932 to 1939. Vala's magazine was more political compared to its predecessor.
Positioning.
The group's main motto was "Ikkunat auki Eurooppaan" ("Windows open to Europe") and its members visited Europe's major cities such as Paris, Rome, London, and Berlin. The young people who started Tulenkantajat in their early 20s ended up being important cultural characters in Finnish society.
Tulenkantajat's poetry and prose received inspiration from oriental themes, jazz, city and industry life, as well as hedonism.
Notable members.
Some of the best known members of Tulenkantajat were:


Nippon Kogaku KK