A recently discovered 18th-Century keyboard work believed to be one of the earliest by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had its premier performance in Austria by Florian Birsak on a harpsichord in the Salzburg Residenz.
The piece is about two minutes long and bears the title Allegro di Wolfgango Mozart. It was found in a volume of anonymous manuscripts given to Salzburg Archdiocese archivist Ernst Hintermaier, Austrian media report.
The discovery came in the 250th anniversary year of Mozart's birth, which was marked by festivities in his homeland and Mozart concerts worldwide. The reports did not name the person who donated them.
Mozart (1756-1791) was a child prodigy, composing his first symphony before the age of 10 and his first successful opera by the age of 12. Experts believe the newfound piece was written when he was between the ages of 6 and 10.
Before his early death he had created hundreds of solo and orchestral pieces, inspiring the many other composers, including Beethoven and Wagner.
We have the video "Amadeus", starring Tom Hulce as the tortured genius and F. Murray Abraham as his nemesis, which brought Mozart's music back into the limelight.
JWilbooks
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Greatest Science Advances of 2006
Maths solution tops science class
| By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News |
Grigory Perelman's proof of the century-old Poincare Conjecture has caused a sensation, and not just because of the brilliance of the work.
In August, the Russian became the first person to turn down a Fields Medal, the highest honour in mathematics.
He also seems likely to turn down a $1m prize offered by a US maths institute.
Dr Perelman is said to despise self-promotion and describes himself as isolated from the rest of the mathematical community.
| | The best piece of mathematics we have seen in the last 10 years Terence Tao, UCLA |
But his work has set the field alight with excitement - and controversy.
Terence Tao, professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, called Perelman's result "the best piece of mathematics we have seen in the last 10 years".
Timofey Shilkin, a former colleague of Perelman at the Steklov Mathematics Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, told BBC News: "He definitely deserves the Fields Medal - that is my personal opinion. I am completely sure he is a genius."
'Excellent mathematician'
He added: "I'm afraid he is quite a self-enclosed person. We know about him approximately the same as you know - not too much.
"I met him when he was a member of our group and our contacts were about once a week, but we had only short discussions.
"I know nothing about his personal life; I know only that he is an excellent mathematician."
The reclusive Dr Perelman left the Steklov Institute in January, and was last said to be unemployed and living with his mother in her apartment in St Petersburg.
For several years he worked, for the most part, alone on the Poincare Conjecture. Then, in 2002, he posted on the internet the first of three papers outlining a proof of the problem.
The Poincare is a central question in topology, the study of the geometrical properties of objects that do not change when they are stretched, distorted or shrunk.
The surface of the Earth is what topology describes as a two-dimensional sphere. If one were to encircle it with a lasso of string, it could be pulled tight to a point.
On the surface of a doughnut, however, a lasso passing through the hole in the centre cannot be shrunk to a point without cutting through the surface.
Checking the work
Since the 19th Century, mathematicians have known that the sphere is the only enclosed two-dimensional space with this property; but they were uncertain about objects with more dimensions.
The Poincare Conjecture says that a three-dimensional sphere is the only enclosed three-dimensional space with no holes.
Proof of the Conjecture eluded mathematicians until Perelman posted his work on the website arXiv.org.
This is a so-called pre-print server, where researchers upload study papers for informal feedback before they submit them to a peer-reviewed journal.
Feuding within the mathematical community now threatens to overshadow Dr Perelman's achievement.
The Russian had detailed a way to kick down the roadblock that had stymied a solution to the problem. It was then up to others to check his proof.
It was at this stage of the process - when mathematicians pored over Perelman's work to assess its accuracy - that much bad feeling started to rise to the surface.
'Complete proof'
In 2005, a Chinese team consisting of Huai-Dong Cao of Lehigh University and Xi-Ping Zhu of Zhongshan University published what they claimed was "the first written account of a complete proof of the Poincare Conjecture".
Cao and Zhu took on the task of checking Perelman's proof at the behest of their mentor Shing-Tung Yau, a Chinese-born professor of mathematics at Harvard University, US.
Shortly after the Cao-Zhu paper was published, Professor Yau gave a speech in which he was reported as having said: "In Perelman's work, many key ideas of proofs are sketched or outlined, but complete details of the proofs are often missing."
Story from BBC NEWS:This drew the ire of others in the field, who said that Yau's promotion of his proteges' work went too far.
In a rare interview, Perelman told the New Yorker magazine: "It is not clear to me what new contribution did they make."
However, speaking to the New York Times newspaper in October, Professor Yau denied having said there were gaps in Dr Perelman's work.
Science magazine also named its "breakdown" of the year: the scandal involving South Korean cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk, whose report of the production of stem cells from a cloned human embryo was found to have been faked.
Science magazine's breakthroughs of 2006
- 1. The Poincare Conjecture . Reclusive Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman apparently solved the venerable mathematical problem.
- 2. Digging out fossil DNA . Researchers used new techniques to sequence more than one million bases of nuclear DNA from a Neanderthal.
- 3. Shrinking Ice . Glaciologists discovered that the world's two great ice sheets were indeed losing water to the oceans - at an accelerating pace.
- 4. From sea to land . Details emerged of a 375-million-year-old fish that fills an evolutionary gap between sea creatures and land animals.
- 5. The Ultimate Camouflage . A British-American team built a "metamaterials" cloaking device, that rendered an object invisible to microwaves.
- 6. Ray of Hope . Clinical trials show the drug ranizumab improved the vision of about one-third of patients with an age-related condition that causes degeneration in vision.
- 7. The road to speciation . Studies on the fruit fly and on butterflies aided our understanding of how species arise.
- 8. Beyond the light barrier . New microscopy techniques allowed biologists to get a clearer view of the fine structure of cells and proteins.
- 9. The Persistence of Memory . Neuroscientists provided insights into how the brain records new memories.
- 10. Small molecules . Researchers reported a new class of small RNA molecules that shut down gene expression.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/6201373.stm
Published: 2006/12/21 22:39:53 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Favorite Stars Based on Searches on Internet Movie Data Base
Internet Movie Database Releases Favorite Stars Searches of 2006
1. Johnny Depp
2. Angelina Jolie
3. Jessica Alba
4. Brad Pitt
5. Scarlett Johansson
6. Keira Knightly
7. Lindsay Lohan
8. Tom Cruse
9. Paris Hilton
10. Natalie Portman
l l. Jennifer Anniston
12. Rachel Adams
13. Christian Bale
14. Kate Beckinsale
15. Hilary Duff
16. Emma Watson
17. Jake Gyllenhaal
18. Orlando Bloom
19. Zac Efron
20. Tom Hanks
21. Heath Ledger
22. Daniel Radcliff
23. Bruce Willis
24. Reese Witherspoon
25. Kirsten Dunst
These are results from the actual search behavior of over 42 million fans, aggregated weekly.
1. Johnny Depp
2. Angelina Jolie
3. Jessica Alba
4. Brad Pitt
5. Scarlett Johansson
6. Keira Knightly
7. Lindsay Lohan
8. Tom Cruse
9. Paris Hilton
10. Natalie Portman
l l. Jennifer Anniston
12. Rachel Adams
13. Christian Bale
14. Kate Beckinsale
15. Hilary Duff
16. Emma Watson
17. Jake Gyllenhaal
18. Orlando Bloom
19. Zac Efron
20. Tom Hanks
21. Heath Ledger
22. Daniel Radcliff
23. Bruce Willis
24. Reese Witherspoon
25. Kirsten Dunst
These are results from the actual search behavior of over 42 million fans, aggregated weekly.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
"Love In the Time Of Cholera " Comes to the Screen
The first English-language adaptation of Love In the Time of Cholera, the story of a very long courtship in 1900's South America by Nobel Prize-Winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is in filming. The author had long resisted having any of his books made into movies because of his fear that Hollywood would not stay true to his material.
Independent producer Scott Steindorff wheedled the 78-year old author for more than two years to change his mind, ignoring the advice of much of Hollywood and even García Márquez's own agent in Spain, who believed that the famously cantankerous author would never sell.
His perseverance paid off. He earned the privilege of writing a $3 million check.
To guard against a sugarcoated screen version, Steindorff's Stone Village Pictures hired the sure-handed Mike Newell, who, even though he'd never been to South America, said he was accustomed "to traveling to strange places: Los Angeles."
Cast in the lead roles of Fermina and Florentino, whose courtship closely resembles the real-life saga of García Márquez's parents, are two acclaimed actors largely unknown to American audiences: Spain's Javier Bardem and Giovanna Mezzogiorno from Italy.
García Márquez succumbed to Steindorff's pressure, but he is withholding enthusiasm. He hasn't talked about the project since it was first announced two years ago, and since filming began four months ago, the author hasn't once visited the set, despite having a home and several siblings in Cartagena, the location for the movie.
Scriptwriter Ronald Harwood, who in 2003 won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for The Pianist, adapted the book for the screen. Newell described comments Garcia Marquez wrote on the script sent him by the playwright as "pungent".
However, García Márquez, who tried his hand at film before becoming a best-selling author, isn't keeping himself entirely on the sidelines, either. He convinced Shakira, who hails from the nearby city of Barranquilla, to provide three songs for the film.
At the same time García Márquez was emptying Steindorff's pockets, he ceded for free the coveted rights to another highly cinematic novel, Of Love and Other Demons, to a first-time feature-length director from Costa Rica whom he met at a workshop in Cuba.
Production of Hilda Hidalgo's low-budget Spanish-language film will begin next year in Cartagena.
We have both Love in the Time of Cholera and Of Love and Other Demons in the Spanish language hardcover version.
JWilbooks
From the Houston Chronicle, based on an article by Associated Press.
Independent producer Scott Steindorff wheedled the 78-year old author for more than two years to change his mind, ignoring the advice of much of Hollywood and even García Márquez's own agent in Spain, who believed that the famously cantankerous author would never sell.
His perseverance paid off. He earned the privilege of writing a $3 million check.
To guard against a sugarcoated screen version, Steindorff's Stone Village Pictures hired the sure-handed Mike Newell, who, even though he'd never been to South America, said he was accustomed "to traveling to strange places: Los Angeles."
Cast in the lead roles of Fermina and Florentino, whose courtship closely resembles the real-life saga of García Márquez's parents, are two acclaimed actors largely unknown to American audiences: Spain's Javier Bardem and Giovanna Mezzogiorno from Italy.
García Márquez succumbed to Steindorff's pressure, but he is withholding enthusiasm. He hasn't talked about the project since it was first announced two years ago, and since filming began four months ago, the author hasn't once visited the set, despite having a home and several siblings in Cartagena, the location for the movie.
Scriptwriter Ronald Harwood, who in 2003 won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for The Pianist, adapted the book for the screen. Newell described comments Garcia Marquez wrote on the script sent him by the playwright as "pungent".
However, García Márquez, who tried his hand at film before becoming a best-selling author, isn't keeping himself entirely on the sidelines, either. He convinced Shakira, who hails from the nearby city of Barranquilla, to provide three songs for the film.
At the same time García Márquez was emptying Steindorff's pockets, he ceded for free the coveted rights to another highly cinematic novel, Of Love and Other Demons, to a first-time feature-length director from Costa Rica whom he met at a workshop in Cuba.
Production of Hilda Hidalgo's low-budget Spanish-language film will begin next year in Cartagena.
We have both Love in the Time of Cholera and Of Love and Other Demons in the Spanish language hardcover version.
JWilbooks
From the Houston Chronicle, based on an article by Associated Press.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Early Judy Garland records fail to sell at recent auction
A pair of records made by Judy Garland as a child from her first studio recording session have failed to sell at auction, said Levi Morgan, a spokesman for auctioneer Bonhams & Butterfields. The top bid Sunday for the acetate discs recorded in March 1935 was $22,500, failing to reach the minimum amount, The records were expected to fetch between $30,000 and $40,000.
"Clearly, there was interest, but perhaps Christmas shoppers didn't want to dig too deep into their pockets," Morgan said.
The records, which have never been heard in public, feature renditions of four songs sung by 12-year-old Garland in her early vaudeville shows including Bill from the Broadway musical Showboat. They also contain a medley of Good Ship Lollypop,Object of My Affections and Dinah.
The current owner , who remains anonymous, discovered the records in 1960 while clearing out the Beverly Hills home where Garland once lived. Whether the records were the originals or whether they were pressed for Garland's personal collection is not known. Morgan said Bonhams might work with private collectors to broker a deal for the records by the end of the year.
Born Frances Gumm, Garland's career began at age 2 and continued until her death in 1969. Her film credits include "The Wizard of Oz," "For Me and My Gal" and "Meet Me in St. Louis."
Bonhams & Butterfields: http://www.bonhams.com
From an article in Associated Press
JWilbooks
"Clearly, there was interest, but perhaps Christmas shoppers didn't want to dig too deep into their pockets," Morgan said.
The records, which have never been heard in public, feature renditions of four songs sung by 12-year-old Garland in her early vaudeville shows including Bill from the Broadway musical Showboat. They also contain a medley of Good Ship Lollypop,Object of My Affections and Dinah.
The current owner , who remains anonymous, discovered the records in 1960 while clearing out the Beverly Hills home where Garland once lived. Whether the records were the originals or whether they were pressed for Garland's personal collection is not known. Morgan said Bonhams might work with private collectors to broker a deal for the records by the end of the year.
Born Frances Gumm, Garland's career began at age 2 and continued until her death in 1969. Her film credits include "The Wizard of Oz," "For Me and My Gal" and "Meet Me in St. Louis."
Bonhams & Butterfields: http://www.bonhams.com
From an article in Associated Press
JWilbooks
Sunday, December 17, 2006
YOU are Time Magazines "Person of the Year"
"You" have been named as Time magazine's Person of the Year for the growth and influence of user-generated content on the internet.
The US magazine praised the public for "seizing the reins of the global media" and filling the web's virtual world.
Time has been giving its controversial awards since 1927, aiming to identify those who most affect the news.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and North Korea's Kim Jong-il were 2006 runners.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, his wife Melinda and rock star Bono won the accolade last year and recent winners also include President George W Bush in 2004, and "The American Soldier" in 2003.
The magazine said naming a collectivity rather than an individual reflected the way the internet was shifting the balance of power within the media through blogs, videos and social networks.
Time cited websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia, which allow users to interact with the web by uploading and publishing their own comments, videos, pictures and links.
"It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes," Time magazine's Lev Grossman writes.
Time praised the tool that made such broad collaboration possible - the web.
"It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter," Mr Grossman said.
Time aims to pick "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill".
Previous winners have often sparked controversy - including Adolf Hitler in 1938 and, in 1979, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.
The link to this is http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6187113.stm
Me! Me! Me!
JWilbooks
The US magazine praised the public for "seizing the reins of the global media" and filling the web's virtual world.
Time has been giving its controversial awards since 1927, aiming to identify those who most affect the news.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and North Korea's Kim Jong-il were 2006 runners.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, his wife Melinda and rock star Bono won the accolade last year and recent winners also include President George W Bush in 2004, and "The American Soldier" in 2003.
The magazine said naming a collectivity rather than an individual reflected the way the internet was shifting the balance of power within the media through blogs, videos and social networks.
Time cited websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia, which allow users to interact with the web by uploading and publishing their own comments, videos, pictures and links.
"It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes," Time magazine's Lev Grossman writes.
Time praised the tool that made such broad collaboration possible - the web.
"It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter," Mr Grossman said.
Time aims to pick "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill".
Previous winners have often sparked controversy - including Adolf Hitler in 1938 and, in 1979, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.
The link to this is http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6187113.stm
Me! Me! Me!
JWilbooks
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Nominees for the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards
Nominees for the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards announced Thursday in Beverly Hills, California.
MOTION PICTURES:
Picture, Drama: "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," "Little Children," "The Queen"
Picture, Musical or Comedy: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Thank You for Smoking"
Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Sherrybaby"; Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children"
Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"; Peter O'Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"; Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"; Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"; Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Kinky Boots"; Will Ferrell, "Stranger than Fiction"
Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"
Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, "Hollywoodland"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"; Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"; Brad Pitt, "Babel"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"
Director: Clint Eastwood, "Flags of Our Fathers"; Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima"; Steven Frears, "The Queen"; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"; Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"; Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"; William Monahan, "The Departed"; Peter Morgan, "The Queen"
Foreign Language: "Apocalypto," USA; "Letters from Iwo Jima," USA/Japan; "The Lives of Others," Germany; "Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico; "Volver" Spain
Animated Film: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Monster House"
Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The Painted Veil"; Clint Mansell, "The Fountain"; Gustavo Santaolalla, "Babel"; Carlo Siliotto, "Nomad"; Hans Zimmer, "The Da Vinci Code"
Original Song: "A Father's Way" from "The Pursuit of Happyness"; "Listen" from "Dreamgirls"; "Never Gonna Break My Faith" from "Bobby"; "The Song of the Heart" from "Happy Feet"; "Try Not to Remember" from "Home of the Brave"
TELEVISION:
Series, Drama: "24," Fox; "Big Love," HBO; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC; "Heroes," NBC; "Lost," ABC
Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, "Medium"; Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"; Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"; Ellen Pompeo, "Grey's Anatomy"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Actor, Drama: Patrick Dempsey, "Grey's Anatomy"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; Bill Paxton, "Big Love"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24"
Series, Musical or Comedy: "Desperate Housewives," ABC; "Entourage," HBO; "The Office," NBC; "Ugly Betty," ABC; "Weeds," Showtime
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives"; America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"; Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Zach Braff, "Scrubs"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Jason Lee, "My Name is Earl"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"
Miniseries or movie: "Bleak House," PBS; "Broken Trail," AMC; "Elizabeth I," HBO; "Mrs. Harris," HBO; "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," PBS
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Gillian Anderson, "Bleak House"; Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris"; Helen Mirren, "Elizabeth I"; Helen Mirren, "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"; Sophie Okonedo, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Andre Braugher, "Thief"; Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail"; Michael Ealy, "Sleeper Cell: American Terror"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Ben Kingsley, "Mrs. Harris"; Bill Nighy, "Gideon's Daughter"; Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story"
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, "Gideon's Daughter"; Toni Collette, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Katherine Heigl, "Grey's Anatomy"; Sarah Paulson, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds"
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail"; Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I"; Justin Kirk, "Weeds"; Masi Oka, "Heroes"; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
JWilbooks
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Monet Letters Sell for $1.7 Million
A collection of about 1,000 letters to French impressionist painter Claude Monet from his friends and admirers fetched more $1.7, more than double the estimated price at an auction Wednesday, Artcurial auction house told a reporter for Associated Press.
The letters, which date from 1874 until the artist's death in 1926, offer an intimate glimpse into a close circle of artists: Many are by Monet's fellow impressionist painters, including Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley and Mary Cassatt. Others were written by sculptor Pierre-Auguste Renoir and writer Guy de Maupassant. Much of the correspondence from Monet's fellow painters show their fascination and admiration for Monet's work. Monet was at the center of the impressionist circle. His painting, "Impression, Sunrise," gave the movement its name.
An American bidder purchased 13 out of 15 lots of letters by American artist John Singer Sargent. Paris' impressionist museum, the Musee d'Orsay, bought the other two. Another American paid $19,560 for a letter by Rodin in which the sculptor mentions The Thinker, one of his most famous pieces. Besides the letters, the collection also included some notes in the handwriting of Monet and a few photos, including one of the painter by French photographer Nadar.
JWilbooks
Parton pledges $500,00 toward hospital and cancer center
Dolly Parton pledged $500,000 to a $90 million hospital and cancer center in her Smoky Mountains hometown honoring Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the country doctor who delivered her.
"I have wonderful, wonderful memories of Dr. Thomas. I know the grand vision of this hospital would have made him proud,” the country music star said of the physician who delivered her in 1946. "Daddy paid him with a sack of cornmeal," she laughed. "And I've always joked that I've been raking in the dough ever since. I felt like it was time to step up and do a little more."
Parton, 60, is honorary chairman of the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, which plans to raise $10 million for a 79-bed hospital and cancer patient center in Sevierville. She surprised the Covenant Health , hosts of a dinner to celebrate state approval of the new hospital with an appearance Tuesday
She pledged $500,000 from her Dixie Stampede dinner theater and the Dollywood Foundation, a charitable organization spun off from her Dollywood theme park. She also will perform a concert May 20 at a minor league baseball park in Sevierville, with proceeds going to the hospital.
We have Dolly's autobiography!
JWilbooks
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Remembering John Lennon
Today is the 26th anniversary of John Lennon's death. This post is for comments on your memories of him, and if you remember what you were doing at the time of his death and want
to talk about that, you are welcome to do that.
JWilBooks
to talk about that, you are welcome to do that.
JWilBooks
Friday, December 08, 2006
New photos of Marilyn Monroe surface in British exhibition
Limited edition prints have been released to selected galleries across the United Kingdome of the eight pictures from the collection of Eve Arnold, now 94. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer built a bond of trust with the star which shows itself in the intimate shots. Ms Arnold worked with Marilyn for over a decade.
"She trusted me and she was a joy to photograph. She liked my pictures and was canny enough to realise that they were a fresh approach to presenting her," Arnold said. "By seeing Marilyn through photographs - the only way most people ever saw her - it may be possible to get some idea of how she saw herself and perhaps to glean some insight into the phenomenon that was Marilyn Monroe."
JWilbooks
"She trusted me and she was a joy to photograph. She liked my pictures and was canny enough to realise that they were a fresh approach to presenting her," Arnold said. "By seeing Marilyn through photographs - the only way most people ever saw her - it may be possible to get some idea of how she saw herself and perhaps to glean some insight into the phenomenon that was Marilyn Monroe."
The collection is being opened today at a Marilyn-themed evening event at the Meller Gallery in Witney, Oxfordshire and will be available only until Christmas. Only a handful of other galleries across the UK are showing the pictures as only 495 prints have been made of each one.
We have a copy of the Focus Magazine with Marilyn on the cover in December, 1951, Volume 1, Number 5. This pre-dated the Playboy cover by two years! We have other Marilyn items also, including Marilyn by Norman Mailer, My Story by Marilyn, Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers, and an early 8 x 10 Glossy (unsigned).
JWilbooks
Samuel Beckett letters auction exceeds expectations
 |
The writings were sent to his friends, painters Henri and Josette Hayden, in which he writes in French about his health, family and works in progress. The correspondence, spanning over almost 40 years, are considered the most important series of letters by the author. Their envelopes and postcards bear postmarks from Paris, Dublin, London, Berlin, Stuttgart and Ussy-sur-Marne.
Beckett met the Haydens in 1943 while they were taking refuge from the Gestapo in the village of Roussillon d'Apt in Vichy France. After the Second World War, Beckett was awarded a croix de guerre medal for his work with the French Resistance.
Beckett was born in Dublin. His early education was at Portora in Enniskillen. He later attended Trinity College in his home city. He wrote in both English and French. In adulthood, he settled in Paris, where he died in 1989. Beckett is best known for his novel Waiting for Godot. Other works include Krapp's Last Tape and More Pricks Than Kicks. Early editions of these books were sold in Thursday's auction.
Interest in Beckett has been huge this year, the 100th anniversary of his birth, with major festivals celebrating his life and works staged here in the United States, UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Japan.JWil Books
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Top picks for movies from National Board of Review
The National Board of Review today announced it selections for Bests in a number of categories. National Board of Review is a group made up of film educators and other professionals with no official ties to the film industry. Inclusion in the NBR selections can help set the expectations for the awards season and top 10 lists that follow.
Best Film: Letters From Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood, Producer
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren in The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Djimon Hounsou for "Blood Diamond"
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine O'Hara for "For Your Consideration" .
Breakthrough Performance By An Actor: Ryan Gosling
Breakthrough Performance By An Actress: Tie: Jennifer Hudson and Rinko Kikuchi
Best Original Screenplay: Zach Helm for Stranger Than Fiction"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Ron Nyswaner for The Painted Veil.
Best Directorial Debut: Jason Reitman for Thank You for Smoking.
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Top Ten Films:
Letters From Iwo Jima
The Departed
Blood Diamond
The Painted Veil
Flags of Our Fathers
The History Boys
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
Devil Wears Prada
Babel
Shortlist of Best Foreign Films:
Curse of the Golden Flower
Days of Glory
Pan's Labyrinth
Water
Shortlist of Best Documentaries:
51 Birch Street
Iraq in Fragments,"
Shut Up and Sing
Wordplay
Top Independent Films:
Akeelah and the Bee
Bobby
Catch a Fire
Copying Beethoven
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Half Nelson
The Illusionist
Lonesome Jim
Sherrybaby
10 Items or Less
Thank You for Smoking
And a good time was had by all.
JWil Books
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Ancient Moon Computer Workings Revealed by Scientists
The delicate workings at the heart of a 2,000-year-old analogue computer have been revealed by scientists.
The Antikythera Mechanism, discovered more than 100 years ago in a Roman shipwreck, was used by ancient Greeks to display astronomical cycles.
Using advanced imaging techniques, an Anglo-Greek team probed the remaining fragments of the complex geared device.
The results, published in the journal Nature, show it could have been used to predict solar and lunar eclipses.
The elaborate arrangement of bronze gears may also have displayed planetary information.
"This is as important for technology as the Acropolis is for architecture," said Professor John Seiradakis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, and one of the team. "It is a unique device."
However, not all experts agree with the team's interpretation of the mechanism.
Technical complexity
The remains of the device were first discovered in 1902 when archaeologist Valerios Stais noticed a heavily corroded gear wheel amongst artefacts recovered by sponge divers from a sunken Roman cargo ship.
A further 81 fragments have since been found containing a total of 30 hand-cut bronze gears. The largest fragment has 27 cogs.
Researchers believe these would have been housed in a rectangular wooden frame with two doors, covered in instructions for its use. The complete calculator would have been driven by a hand crank.
Although its origins are uncertain, the new studies of the inscriptions suggest it would have been constructed around 100-150 BC, long before such devices appear in other parts of the world.
Writing in Nature, the team says that the mechanism was "technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards".
Although much of it is now lost, particularly from the front, what remains has given a century's worth of researchers a tantalising glimpse into the world of ancient Greek astronomy.
One of the most comprehensive studies was done by British science historian Derek Solla Price, who advanced the theory that the device was used to calculate and display celestial information.
This would have been important for timing agricultural and religious festivals. Some researchers now also believe that it could have been used for teaching or navigation.
Although Solla Price's work did much to push forward the state of knowledge about the device's functions, his interpretation of the mechanics is now largely dismissed.
A reinterpretation of the fragments by Michael Wright of Imperial College London between 2002 and 2005, for example, developed an entirely different assembly for the gears.
The new work builds on this legacy.
Eclipse function
Using bespoke non-invasive imaging systems, such as three-dimensional X-ray microfocus computed tomography, the team was able to take detailed pictures of the device and uncover new information.
The major structure they describe, like earlier studies, had a single, centrally placed dial on the front plate that showed the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar on concentric scales.
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| IMAGING TECHNIQUES 1.Three dimensional X-ray microfocus computed tomography: Developed by X-Tek Systems and similar to medical CAT scans, it allowed 3D images of the fragments to be reconstructed. Crucial for reading text hidden by centuries of corrosion. 2.Digital optical imaging using polynomial texture mapping: Developed by Hewlett Packard, a new method for increasing the photorealism of surface textures in digital pictures. Revealed faint surface details. 3.Digitised conventional film photography: High-quality images allowed the fragments to be studied without being handled. |
On the back, two further dials displayed information about the timing of lunar cycles and eclipse patterns. Previously, the idea that the mechanism could predict eclipses had only been a hypothesis.
Other aspects are less certain, such as the exact number of cogs that would have been in the complete device. The new research suggests 37 gears could have been used.
However, what is left gives an insight into the complexity of the information the mechanism could display.
For example, the Moon sometimes moves slightly faster in the sky than at others because of the satellite's elliptic orbit.
To overcome this, the designer of the calculator used a "pin-and-slot" mechanism to connect two gear-wheels that introduced the necessary variations.
"When you see it your jaw just drops and you think: 'bloody hell, that's clever'. It's a brilliant technical design," said Professor Mike Edmunds.
Planetary display
The team was also able to decipher more of the text on the mechanism, doubling the amount of text that can now be read.
Combined with analysis of the dials, the inscriptions hint at the possibility that the Antikythera Mechanism could have also displayed planetary motions.
"Inscriptions mention the word 'Venus' and the word 'stationary' which would tend to suggest that it was looking at retrogressions of planets," said Professor Edmunds.
"In my own view, it probably displayed Venus and Mercury, but some people suggest it may display many other planets."
One of those people is Michael Wright. His reconstruction of the device, with 72 gears, suggests it may have been an orrery that displayed the motions of the five known planets of the time.
"There is a feature on the front plate that could have made provision for a bearing with a spindle, that carried motion up to a mechanism used to model the planets of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn as well," he told the BBC News website.
"That's how I see it and my reconstruction shows it works well."
Intriguingly, Mr Wright also believes the device was not a one-off.
"The designer and maker of the device knew what they wanted to achieve and they did it expertly; they made no mistakes," he said.
"To do this, it can't have been very far from their everyday stock work."
Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
The Antikythera Mechanism will be explored in an episode of Unearthing Mysteries on BBC Radio 4 on 12 December
JWil BooksPoetry Archive Online Initiative Celebrates First Birthday
BBC reports that The Poetry Archive is adding historic voices to solidify and increase its value as a resource for poetry researchers, students, and teachers. Recordings of Dylan Thomas, Ted Hughes and others have been recovered.
The free archive was launched in 2005 by UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and recording producter Richard Carrington.
Other additions include Siegfried Sassoon reading his poem, Everyone Sang, plus three works by Philip Larkin.
Numerous requests for Thomas have prompted the addition of two of his works - A Refusal to Mourn the Death, By Fire, of a Child in London, and In My Craft or Sullen Art.Walter de la Mare also makes his debut, reading Thomas Hardy - a poem celebrating a visit its author made to Hardy's Dorset house in June 1921.
In all 14 poems by eight authors have been added to the website. The total archive contains more than 300 recordings.
"We often read reports in the newspapers and elsewhere saying that the audience for poetry is in decline," said Motion.
"The very large number of people who have used the archive during the last 12 months prove otherwise."
The archive also aims to ensure current leading English-speaking poets are recorded reading their work for future generations.
JWil Books
Norman Rockwell's "Breaking Home Ties" Finds a New Home
The new owners of the Norman Rockwell painting "Breaking Home Ties" paid $15.4 million to take it home.
The artist sold the painting to his Vermont neighbor, cartoonist Donald Trachte in 1960. Mr. Trache made a copy of the painting and hid the original in behind a fake wall in his home. After his death, his sons noticed a strange gap in one of the walls of their father's home. When they pushed against it, the wall slid open to reveal the Rockwell and other paintings.
Mr. Trachte had never told anyone about the fake painting that was displayed as the original in his home, even after several experts pointed out inconsistencies between the reproduction of the painting on the front of "The Saturday Evening Post" in 1954 and the assumed original in Mr. Trachte's possession. The differences were blamed on poor preservation and sloppy restoration until the dicovery of the original solved the mystery.Mr. Trachte divorced his wife and mother of his children in the early 1970's, and his sons conjecture that he may have been trying to keep his wife from claiming the painting in the divorce, thereby saving them for his children.
Even in 1970, the painting would have brought enough to make both wealthy. How stingy!
JWil Books
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