ETHNICS IN SABAH

Sabah History & Culture
Kadazan, Dusun, Bajau, Murut


Known as the ‘Land below the Wind’, Sabah on the eastern side of Borneo is home to over 30 different ethnic races with over 80 local dialects. Its title comes from its location; directly beneath the typhoon belt making it free from climatic disturbances. Despite the advent of modernity, tradition and culture still prevail in local lifestyles, especially as a practice to welcome international visitors. A visit to Sabah is indeed a multi-cultural and fascinating experience.

Sabah’s early records indicate that it was broken up into various areas ruled by local chieftains in the early 9th Century. Later, in the 15th Century, it became a part of the Brunei Empire until an American Trader named Moses arrived in the 1880s’ to lease it. From there, it was passed on to an Englishman named Alfred Dent who converted the lease into a cession. The British North Borneo Chartered Company was thus established, ruling over the state until the Japanese occupation during World War II, after which it became a British Crown Colony. In 1963, Sabah joined the coalition of Malaysia.

Sabah’s 2 million residents are a diverse mix of races, with the Kadazan, Bajau and Murut forming the main indigenous groups. There are of course, sizeable populations of Chinese, Malays and Indians who form the majority of Malaysia’s social landscape.

Kadazan-Dusun


The largest indigenous group in Sabah is the Kadazan-Duzun, which makes up a third of the population. They are known as prolific rice-producers, but many have gone into other commercial markets outside their traditional field. They are also known for their colourful customs, including those that involve female priestesses named ‘Bobohizan’. Their most famous festival is the Harvest Festival or ‘Tadau Ka’amatan’, which celebrates a season of good rice harvest.

Bajaus

The Bajaus are known for their many skills, from farming rice to rearing water buffaloes and making boats to riding horses. They are established mostly in Sabah’s coastlines, near the sea which is a central part of their culture. Traditionally, they are a nomadic, sea-faring people, with pockets of their race scattered in other countries across South East Asia. A peaceful lot, the Bajaus often put on shows demonstrating their awesome skill in horse-riding and handling for visitors during the annual ‘Tamu Besar’ Festival in Kota Belud.

Muruts

The Muruts are found deep inland in Northern Borneo, renowned for their hunting skills using spears, blow pipes and poisoned darts. They used to practise head-hunting but have renounced it for a life of agriculture. Today, many cultivate hill paddy and tapioca, with some fishing and hunting in between.

There's a lot of ethnics in Sabah has not been stated such as Rungus,Lokos and many more Sabah is a land of inspiring natural scenery, lush ancient rainforests, vibrant coral reefs and mysterious indigenous cultures! We have it all here, from the world's largest flower; the Rafflesia, to the highest mountain in South East Asia; Mount Kinabalu, to some of the world's best dive sites; Sipadan and Layang Layang.

Sabah is naturally endowed with beaches and bays, rainforests and amazing plants and animals, and the sacred Mt Kinabalu. Scuba divers travel thousands of miles to experience the amazing wonders of the underwater realm and where better than to the bio-diversity hotspot of Southern Asia - Sabah, Borneo.

FASHION IN LIFE

Fashion is the style and custom prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage however, "fashion" describes the popular clothing style. Many fashions are popular in many cultures at any given time. Important is the idea that the course of design and fashion will change more rapidly than the culture as a whole. Fashion designers create and produce clothing articles.

The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" were employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current or even not so current, popular mode of expression. There exist a number of cities recognized as global fashion centers or fashion capitals. Fashion weeks are held in these cities where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to audiences. The main five cities are Tokyo, London, Paris, Milan and New York, all headquarters to the greatest fashion companies and renowned for their major influence on global fashion.

CLOTHING

Some historians observe the frequently changing clothing styles as a distinctively Western habit among urban populations.[dubious – discuss] Changes in costume often took place at times of economic or social change (such as in ancient Rome), but then a long period without large changes followed. In 8th century Cordoba, Spain, Ziryab (a famous musician of that time) is said to have introduced sophisticated clothing styles based on seasonal and daily timings from his native Baghdad and his own inspiration.

The beginnings of the habit in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in styles can be fairly reliably dated to the middle of the 14th century, to which historians including James Laver and Fernand Braudel date the start of Western fashion in clothing. The most dramatic manifestation was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment, from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing on the chest to look bigger. This created the distinctive Western male outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers.

The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles, which remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, finally those from Ancien Régime in France.:317-24 Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites - a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.:313-15 The fashions of the West are generally unparalleled either in antiquity or in the other great civilizations of the world. Early Western travellers, whether to Persia, Turkey, Japan or China frequently remark on the absence of changes in fashion there, and observers from these other cultures comment on the unseemly pace of Western fashion, which many felt suggested an instability and lack of order in Western culture. The Japanese Shogun's secretary boasted (not completely accurately) to a Spanish visitor in 1609 that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years.:312-3:323 However in Ming China, for example, there is considerable evidence for rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing.

Fashions may vary considerably within a society according to age, social class, generation, occupation, and geography as well as over time. If, for example, an older person dresses according to the fashion of young people, he or she may look ridiculous in the eyes of both young and older people. The terms fashionista or fashion victim refer to someone who slavishly follows the current fashions.
One can regard the system of sporting various fashions as a fashion language incorporating various fashion statements using a grammar of fashion. (Compare some of the work of Roland Barthes.)

HOW TO SOLVE RUBIK'S CUBE

Solving the First Cross

This step, along with the next step, are the most difficult to teach because there are so many possible starting situations. Luckily, after these steps it takes very little effort to solve the rest of the cube, so please be patient on steps one and two.

In this step, it is important to remember that the very center piece of each side of the cube doesn’t move, making it that side’s respective color. You must bring all of the other pieces of that color to that side. In the example below we bring the red/green piece to match with the red and green sides. Below are the most common moves for this step. You must do this for all four sides in order to make a cross like the "after" picture.http://www.rubikssolver.com/images/solution_step1.jpg


Solving the Bottom Corners

Again, this step is a little harder to teach than the steps to follow because of the amount of possible starting situations, but the pictures below should help you through it.

Find a corner piece on the bottom layer that belongs on the top. In our example pictures this is any corner piece with green in it. Move this piece until it is situated on the bottom layer directly below its appropriate place in the top layer of the cube. In other words, the spot where the piece should start out should be in the same column as the spot where you want the piece to end up. Then, refer to the pictures below to solve. Make sure you are looking at the correct starting picture. Do this step to all four sides.
http://www.rubikssolver.com/images/solution_step2.jpg


Solving the Middle Layers

Before you start this step, flip the cube over so the face that is complete is now the bottom. In the pictures, this is the green side. Now, turn the top layer of the cube to match a "before" picture below. This will make an upside down "T" with one color. We will move that top middle piece to the correct spot on the middle row in this step. There are two ways to do this depending on which side the "T" is on when you’re looking at the cube. Make sure to find the correct starting picture before doing this step. Repeat this step with all four sides. (HINT: If you ever get stuck where there aren’t any useful pieces on the top layer then do one of the moves below in reverse.http://www.rubikssolver.com/images/solution_step3.jpg

Solving the Top Cross

In this step, the goal is to get the top face of the cube to have a cross. In the "after" picture below this is the blue side. You start out by facing a side of the cube that has a blue piece (or whatever your top color is) in the top layer in the front left position (refer to the "before" picture below). It‘s okay to have a blue piece in the front right position as well, but the key is to make sure that there is a blue piece on that front left side. You then follow the moves in the pictures below. Just doing this step once most likely won’t be enough. You may have to repeat the step a few times until there is a cross. You will also likely have to rotate the cube in your hands to munipulate different sides (still make sure a blue piece is in the front left position!).

Solving the Top, Middle Pieces

Once you have the cross at the top, the next step is to get all of the top middle pieces to be on the correct sides. This step, like the previous step, will most likely need to be repeated several times. A useful tip is that, when you have two adjacent sides in the correct place, rotate the cube in your hands so that those two sides are in the back right and front right positions, then repeat this move once more. After doing this, the top pieces will all be in the correct order but will need to be rotated around the cube until they are on their correct sides. (HINT: when performing this step, keep in mind that the front left piece will not move.)

COLOR AS A SYMBOL AND PSYCHOLOGY.

Color symbolism in art and anthropology refers to the use of color as a symbol throughout culture. Color psychology refers to investigating the effect of color on human behavior and feeling, distinct from phototherapy (the use of ultraviolet light to treat conditions like psoriasis or infantile jaundice). Color symbolism is a contentious area of study which is dependent upon a large body of anecdotal evidence, but not supported by data from well-designed scientific studies.

Color symbolism and color psychology are culturally constructed linkages that vary with time, place and culture. In fact, one color may perform very different symbolic or psychological functions in the same place. For example red is often used in North America to indicate stop, as with a stop sign, or danger, as with a warning light. At the same time, red symbolizes love, as with Valentine's Day. A person not familiar with the cultural coding of red in North America could, theoretically, confuse the symbolism of red and mistake a red Valentine's Day heart for a warning. Cross-cultural diversity is found in the symbolism of white, which historically has signified purity, virginity or death (as in Herman Melville's Moby Dick). In Western traditions it is the color worn at weddings. During certain periods in history, it was the color worn at funerals in parts of China, Korea, and Japan. White mourning clothes were also worn in medieval Europe.

In Buddhist religious art there is the most famous Stupa of Bodnath showing the color of the Buddha's eyes as light blue.[1][2] It is not known whether this color is due to symbolism or whether Buddha Shakyamuni is believed to have been blue-eyed.

White

Main article: White
White is the color that represents purity, neutrality, sterility and youth. White is often associated with cleanliness or sterility.[citation needed] White is also associated with neutrality and peace — hence a white flag for surrender or parley. For the same reason it is a neutral color that will continue to be the preferred backdrop on websites and the "color" behind the color.[3] In Western tradition the bride wears white, a custom dating back to Ancient Greece. There, the temple that was dedicated to the goddess Athene was made of white marble. It led to the linking of the color to virginity. In India white is used during death of family members as symbol of sorrow.[4]

White is known for symbolizing light, reverence, purity, truth, snow, peace, innocence, cleanliness, simplicity, security, humility, sterility, winter, coldness, surrender, fearfulness, unimaginative, air, death (in Eastern cultures), life, marriage (in Western cultures), hope, bland, empty (interior) and January (winter).

Black

Main article: Black
Black is a multi-dimensional color that can mean classic or new. It has an ominous characteristic symbolizing death. Therefore it is used in Western cultures for funerals. It has an air of intelligence (graduation robes), marked with rebellion (the bad guy), shrouded in mystery (space). It typically symbolizes absence, modernity, power, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, style, evil, death (in Western cultures), fear, emptiness, darkness, seriousness, conventionality, rebellion, anarchism, unity, sorrow, and professionalism,

Gray

Main article: Gray
Gray, somewhere between white (good) and black (evil), is a blasé color. It can symbolize elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, old age, pessimism, boredom, decay, decrepitude, dullness, pollution, urban sprawl, strong emotions, balance, neutrality, mourning, or formality.

Red

Main article: Red
Red strikes a chord with more cultures than many other colors because of its intensity, passion and invocation of an inherent physiological response. Red is the color of celebration and good luck (China), purity and integrity (India), and mourning (South Africa). When used with a wide brush, red typically makes whatever it’s painted on look larger, whether it’s a torso or wingback chair. The color is bold and audacious, so it usually dilutes the colors around it. For this reason it’s used to accent and highlight objects of importance such as the stop light on a traffic signal.

Studies show that red can have a physical effect, including increasing the rate of respiration, raising blood pressure and thus making the heart beat faster. Red is also said to make people hungry (McDonald's, Burgerville, corner cafés). The red ruby is the traditional 40th wedding anniversary gift. Red is also the color of the devil in modern Western culture.

Red typically symbolizes passion, strength, bravery, danger, energy, fire, sex, love, romance, excitement, speed, heat, arrogance, ambition, leadership, courage, masculinity, power, danger, gaudiness, blood, war, anger, revolution, radicalism, Communism, aggression, respect, martyrs, the Holy Spirit, conservatism (US politics), Liberalism (Canadian politics), wealth (China) and marriage (India) and Danger.

Orange

Main article: Orange (colour)
Orange is energy, enthusiasm, 'get-it-done' attitude, and balance. It typically symbolizes Hinduism, Buddhism (monks wear orange because this vibrant yet soothing color aids in renunciation and spiritual focus), cheer, happiness, energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, nourishment, flamboyance, playfulness, autumn, desire, Sagittarius (star sign), and September. Orange has less intensity or aggression than red and is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow. Orange is symbolic of the Royal family of the Netherlands. As such, in the Netherlands, Orange symbolizes royalty, and as William of Orange was the Calvinist color, orange symbolizes protestantism, particularly in Ireland (Orange Order).

Yellow

Main article: Yellow
Yellow echoes the dual nature of red. Though yellow evokes feelings of happiness, when we are confronted with too much yellow we become annoyed or angered. Yellow typically symbolizes sunlight, joy, happiness, earth, optimism, intelligence, idealism, wealth (gold), summer, hope, air, liberalism, cowardice, illness (quarantine), fear, hazards, dishonesty, avarice, weakness, greed, decay or aging, femininity, gladness, sociability, friendship, Gemini, Taurus, Leo (golden yellow, star signs), April, September, deceit, hazard signs, death (Middle Ages), mourning (as in Egypt and Frank Herbert's Dune), courage (Japan), royalty (China) and God (gold). Yellow ribbons were worn during times of warfare as a sign of hope as women waited for their men to return.

Green

Main article: Green
Green says 'nature,' which explains why it is such a powerful symbol in the eco-friendly movement, as well as 'initiative' and 'wealth,' but just as it symbols good, the extremes of green are considered to be bad as in "green with envy" or its association with money which is sometimes deemed as "the root of all evil." It’s also the color of spring, a time of rebirth and renewal.

Green symbolizes intelligence, nature, spring, fertility, youth, environment, wealth, money (US), good luck, vigor, generosity, go, grass, coldness, cunning, jealousy, perverseness (Spain), deceit, disgrace (China), illness, greed, corruption (North Africa), life eternal, air, earth (classical element), sincerity, Cancer (bright green, star sign), renewal, natural abundance, growth, health, August, balance, harmony, stability, calming, creative intelligence, Islam, and the ordinary.

During the Middle Ages, both green and yellow were used to symbolize the devil. Green is believed to be the luckiest of colors in some western countries including Britain, Ireland and the US. It may also symbolize hope, spirit, life, precious, gem, gracious. While an association with green and forward motion or action may seem, at first blush, to make sense because of its association in the western world with the "go" traffic light, this association is not innate (green being a calming or soothing color) and is as a result of acculturation. Green for traffic signals was selected due to its ability to be seen well over distances and its high contrast with the colors used for stop (red) and caution (yellow).

Blue

Main article: Blue
Blue is non-threatening, yet confident and stable. It is the calmest color proven to affect the audience in a soothing manner. This is why many police uniforms are blue because the color says confidence and security, while being non-threatening. Weightlifters have proven to lift heavier weights in blue rooms[citation needed]. With the good, there’s the bad. Blue can also signify depression. 'The blues' is a nod to this attribute. Blue is also used to symbolize the Greek god "Yotuma", who protected stranded soldiers at sea.[citation needed]

Blue can symbolize devotion, seas, men, clouds (New Zealand), productive, interior, skies, peace, unity, harmony, tranquility, calmness, trust, coolness, confidence, conservatism, water, ice, loyalty, dependability, technology, winter, depression, coldness, idealism, air, wisdom, royalty, nobility, Earth (planet), Virgo (light blue), Pisces (pale blue) and Aquarius (dark blue, star sign), strength, steadfastness, light, friendliness, peace, mourning (Iran),[citation needed] truthfulness, love, liberalism (US politics), and conservatism (UK, Australian, Canadian & European politics). In many diverse cultures, blue is significant in religious beliefs. It is held to keep the bad spirits, stupidity and misfortune away.

Indigo

Main article: Indigo
Indigo symbolizes spirituality and intuition.[5] In the Seven rays belief system, indigo is believed to represent both love and wisdom.

Violet

Main article: Violet (color)
Violet symbolizes magic.[6] In Chinese painting, the color violet represents the harmony of the universe because it is a combination of red (yang) and blue (yin).[7] In the United Kingdom it is traditional to package chocolate in violet colored packaging because of the association of the color royal purple with luxury.[8]

Purple

Main article: Purple
The culture of Thailand considers purple to be the color of mourning. This is different from western cultures, where purple is the color of royalty and wisdom. The Purple Heart, a military honor given to those wounded or killed in the United States military, embodies both purple attributes. Purple can symbolize nobility, envy, sensuality, spirituality, creativity, wealth, royalty, nostalgia, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, enlightenment, arrogance, flamboyance, gaudiness, mourning, exaggeration, profanity, bisexuality, pride, May, November, riches, romanticism (light purple), delicacy (light purple), and penance. Purple is the color of mourning for widows in Thailand. Purple was also the color of dye that corkers used to make the king and queen's clothing[citation needed].

Magenta

Main article: Magenta
Magenta symbolized artistic creativity[9] or anti-racism.[10]it represents kindness, knowledge, bravery, wit, comfort, happiness and deepness of the soul.

Rose

Main article: Rose (color)
Rose symbolizes optimism (as opposed to the gray which is used to represent pessimism) or romantic love (since it is the color of roses, which it is the custom to give to ones beloved in many cultures). It also represents innocence, romance, love, and simplicity.

Pink

Main article: Pink
Pink is a sister color of red, but they are very different in terms of symbolism. It is a tranquilizing color. For this reason in many prisons the cells of the most dangerous residents have been painted pink[citation needed]. It symbolizes spring, gratitude, appreciation, admiration, sympathy, socialism, femininity , health, love, romance, June, marriage, joy, flirtatiousness, innocence and child-like features.

Brown

Main article: Brown
Brown is the color of soil, giving it an earthy, environmental quality which is popularly coupled with green. Shades of brown represent skin tones and produce a comforting feeling. Brown symbolizes calm, boldness, depth, natural organisms, nature, richness, rusticity, stability, tradition, anachronism, fascism, boorishness, dullness, filth, heaviness, poverty, roughness, earth (classical element), October, and the quality of being down-to-earth. Brown can stimulate the appetite, wholesomeness, steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, and dependability. Ironically, brown is also associated with disgust[citation needed].

Criticism
Most evidence suggests the lack of a single, universal psychological reaction to a particular color. For example, death is symbolized by black in most Western cultures and by white in many Eastern cultures. Even members of the same culture from different age groups can act differently. Referencing colors with emotions is developed by every individual when they feel an emotion and then see a color repeated during this time. After the connection is ingrained, the referencing can go both ways.

Reasons for color association
Black is often seen as the 'color' of death in Western culture. Black represents darkness and the unknown, and death is associated with the extinguishing of light. The association of white with death in Eastern cultures could come from the white cloth used to enshroud corpses (as in Egyptian mummies), the pale skin of a dead person, or the stark whiteness of bones and skeletons.

Psychology
Color psychology is an immature field of study viewed dubiously by mainstream psychologists and therefore qualifies as "alternative medicine". Critics view it as an overstatement of what can be justified by research, and point out that different cultures have completely different interpretations of color.

Practitioners of color psychology, sometimes called color consultants, claim there are a number of reactions to color which seem to be noted in most persons. They also note that common physiological effects often accompany the psychological effects.

Color consultants claim hues in the red area of color are typically viewed as "warm" while those in the blue and green range are typically viewed as "cool". Reds are also viewed as active and exciting, while the blues and greens are viewed as soothing and passive. Physiological tests have revealed similar responses[citation needed]. It is claimed that red hues increase bodily tension and stimulate the autonomic nervous system, while "cool" hues release tension. Black is considered unique, as it can be either evil or malevolent, yet it also stands for elitism and style. White is associated with purity, whereas grey is viewed as dull or boring (or sophisticated and elegant).

Color consultants also point to an increasing number of studies linking colors to specific responses. One study found that weight-lifters have more powerful performances in blue rooms. Another study found that babies cry more frequently in yellow rooms. Color consultants believe that the colors used in the design of environment can have a significant impact on the emotions and performance of people within that environment.

In one system, red is considered to motivate action, orange and purple are related to spirituality, yellow cheers, green creates coziness and warmth, blue relaxes, and white is associated with either purity or death.

Although color psychology is a relatively new area of scientific research, ancient civilizations believed in the influence of color on humans. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, and Indians believed in chromotherapy, or healing with colors.

The colors of the visible light spectrum[1]
color wavelength interval frequency interval
red ~ 700–635 nm ~ 430–480 THz
orange ~ 635–590 nm ~ 480–510 THz
yellow ~ 590–560 nm ~ 510–540 THz
green ~ 560–490 nm ~ 540–610 THz
blue ~ 490–450 nm ~ 610–670 THz
violet ~ 450–400 nm ~ 670–750 THz

Color in the brain
Main article: Color vision

While the mechanisms of color vision at the level of the retina are well-described in terms of tristimulus values (see above), color processing after that point is organized differently. A dominant theory of color vision proposes that color information is transmitted out of the eye by three opponent processes, or opponent channels, each constructed from the raw output of the cones: a red-green channel, a blue-yellow channel and a black-white "luminance" channel. This theory has been supported by neurobiology, and accounts for the structure of our subjective color experience. Specifically, it explains why we cannot perceive a "reddish green" or "yellowish blue," and it predicts the color wheel: it is the collection of colors for which at least one of the two color channels measures a value at one of its extremes.
The exact nature of color perception beyond the processing already described, and indeed the status of color as a feature of the perceived world or rather as a feature of our perception of the world, is a matter of complex and continuing philosophical dispute (see qualia).

THE ART OF PAINTING

The Art of Painting, also known as The Allegory of Painting, or Painter in his Studio, is a famous 17th century oil on canvas painting by Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. Many art historians believe that it is an allegory of painting, hence the alternative title of the painting. It is the largest and most complex of all of Vermeer's works.

The painting is famous for being one of Vermeer's favourites, and is also a fine example of the optical style of painting, offering a realistic visual depiction of the scene and especially the effects of light streaming through the windows on various elements of the painting.

Elements
The painting has only two figures, the painter and his subject. The painter is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist, though the face is not visible.
A number of the items shown in the artist's studio are thought to be somewhat out of place. The marble tiled floor and the golden chandellier are two examples of items which would normally then be reserved for the houses of the well-to-do.
The map in the background is of the Seventeen United Provinces of the Netherlands, flanked by views of the main centres of power. It was published by Claes Jansz Visscher in 1636.

Symbolism and allegory

Experts attribute symbolism to various aspects of the painting.
The subject is the Muse of History, Clio. This is evidenced by her wearing a laurel wreath, holding a trumpet (depicting fame), possibly carrying a book by Thucydides, which matches the description in Cesare Ripa's 16th century book on emblems and personifications titled Iconologia.

The double headed eagle, symbol of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, former rulers of Holland, which adorns the central golden chandelier, may have represented the Catholic faith. Vermeer was unusual in being a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant Netherlands. The absence of candles in the chandelier might represent the suppression of the Catholic faith.

The map on the back wall has a rip that divides the Netherlands between the north and south. (West is at the top of the map, as was the custom.) The rip symbolizes the division between the Dutch Republic to the north and the Habsburg controlled Flemish provinces to the south. The map by Claes Jansz Visscher (Nicolaum Piscatorem) shows the earlier political division between the Union of Utrecht to the north, and the colonies to the south.

Salvador Dalí refers to "The Art of Painting" in his own surrealistic painting The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934). On Dali's painting we can see the image of Vermeer viewed from his back re-created as a strange kind of table.


History

The painting is considered a work with significance for the artist because the painter himself did not part with it or sell it, even when he was in debt. In 1676, his widow Catharina bequeathed it to her mother, Maria Thins, in an attempt to avoid the sale of the painting to satisfy creditors.[3] The executor of Vermeer's estate, the famous Delft microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, determined that the transferral of the work to the late painter's mother-in-law was illegal.

The painting belonged to the inheritants of Gottfried van Swieten until its purchase for 50 florins in 1813 by the Bohemian-Austrian Count Czernin.[4] Until 1860, the painting was considered to be by Vermeer's contemporary Pieter de Hooch; Vermeer was little known until the late 19th century. Pieter's signature was even forged on the painting. It was at the intervention of French Vermeer scholar, Thoré Bürger and the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen that it was recognised as a Vermeer original. It was placed on public display in the Czernin Museum in Vienna. Andrew W. Mellon and others tried to buy the painting.

BAMBOO GAZEBO AND PERGOLAS

Gazebos, also known as pergolas, summer houses, screen houses, pagodas, and pavilions, have been popular in backyards and gardens for generations. Their popularity has grown in recent generations, and they are now one of the most common garden structures in the world. The classic wood octagonal gazebo of red cedar is probably what comes to mind when you think of gazebos, but there are many different sizes and styles of gazebos.

Gazebos can be constructed of wood, wrought iron, or vinyl. Their shape can be an oval, an octagon, rectangle, or dodecagon (12 sides). Gazebos can have a simple asphalt roof, a double roofs, or even a roof with a cupola. A gazebo can be very small (a "lover's gazebo" 6 feet or smaller) or large enough to hold a party in. A gazebo can be screened to keep out pests, or open style without screens. They can include built-in benches, chairs, swings, and tables, and they can be wired with electricity to allow for ceiling fans, electric lights, and other fixtures.

Building a Gazebo?

Installing a gazebo in your yard or garden is the perfect way to create a welcoming retreat for family and friends to enjoy the scenery and lounge outdoors. Depending on your garden's style, there is more than likely a variety of gazebo designs that will suit your style, landscape and pocketbook. The subsequent article discusses gazebo installation and design to suit any garden style.

The most commonly found gazebo designs resemble Victorian style structures; these are generally built from wood that can be left natural or painted white typically. This type of style is still popular in both public and private gardens. Kits can readily be found at home improvement and garden centers. Of course, an enterprising builder can even design a plan to perfectly suit the setting. Victorian style gazebos may be simple affairs with floor, railings and roofs or highly ornate with built-in benches, stairs and ramps. These designs are generally open-air structures but it is possible to incorporate screens for those areas with significant mosquito populations.

Many Victorian style gazebos also feature climbing plants. For example, the gazebo's base may be constructed with lattice-work which is the perfect support for English ivy or climbing roses. When settled within the garden, this becomes the perfect backdrop for any setting. For a romantic and secluded arrangement, consider installing tall trellises around the gazebo and hang baskets of flowers from hooks along the gazebo's rim. This style is perfectly adapted to formal English style gardens or rustic country landscapes.

For Oriental gardens, consider outfitting your yard with a pagoda-style gazebo. The wood could be left natural or painted black and red and then heavily lacquered for dramatic effect. There are many Oriental garden ornaments and plants to select to surround your gazebo for an overall great effect. Consider suspending hanging lanterns around the open sections of the pavilion or installing a small garden pond nearby filled with Chinese goldfish.

A strictly formal garden can always incorporate a Victorian style gazebo, but consider one made from brick or even stone. Such construction materials will be more costly, but they will also endure the elements quite well and add a stately charm to any formal estate. These gazebos could even be fitted with windows to enjoy the outdoors behind glass in cold or stormy weather. This style could be built right off the house or set somewhere in the landscape overlooking a ridge perhaps or a stream.

Some gardeners prefer a very understated or minimalist approach when it comes to style and a gazebo need not be an ornate or overstated structure to work well. A rustic square style with four posts, a floor and a roof can provide all that is necessary to enjoy the outdoors. Such gazebos are perfect places for outdoor entertaining. A simple set of tables and chairs along with a few lovely containers for plants and you've created a wonderful outdoor room.

Finally, whatever design you choose, you can adapt it to fit in any location in your garden. A large plot of land can certainly benefit from a large pavilion style gazebo. But even a courtyard garden can employ a small gazebo in a corner of the space for those romantic candle-lit suppers in the garden. Consider hanging candelabra from the gazebo's ceiling for enjoying the garden at night.

Whatever your style, you can choose a gazebo to match it or make simple changes in kit designs to suit your needs. A gazebo offers gardeners a place to relax and enjoy the landscape they work so hard to maintain. It also is a spectacular feature for outdoor entertaining during the growing season. Whether built as a focal point or hidden as a surprise feature deep within a garden, a gazebo is an attractive feature for every garden.

WHAT IS GUITAR?

The guitar is a musical instrument of the chordophone family. The standard guitar has six strings but four-, seven-, eight-, nine-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars are also available. The two primary families of guitar types are the electric guitars and the acoustic guitars. The three main types of acoustic guitar are the classical guitar (nylon string guitar, plucked with the fingers), the steel-string flattop guitar, and the archtop guitar.

Guitars are recognized as one of the primary instruments in flamenco, jazz, blues, country, mariachi, rock music, and many forms of pop. The classical guitar (nylon string guitar) can be played as a solo instrument, and is well known for its comprehensive fingerpicking technique. Guitars may be played acoustically; the tone is produced by the vibration of the strings which is amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a large hollow resonating chamber, or they may rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Such electric guitars were introduced in the 1930s, and they have continued to have a profound influence on popular culture since then.

HISTORY OF GUITAR

Traditionally guitars have been constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut, or more recently, with either nylon or steel strings. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers.

Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides". The term is used to refer to a number of related instruments that were developed and used across Europe beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. These instruments are descended from ones that existed in ancient central Asia and India.

For this reason guitars are distantly related to modern instruments from these regions, including the tanbur, the setar and the sitar, among others. The oldest known iconographic representation of an instrument displaying the essential features of a guitar is a 3,300 year old stone carving of a Hittite bard.

The modern word "guitar" was adopted into English from Spanish guitarra (German Gitarre, French Guitare), loaned from the medieval Andalusian Arabic قيثارة qitara, itself derived from the Latin cithara, which in turn came from the earlier Greek word kithara (κιθάρα), a descendant of Old Persian sihtar ( سی تار) (Tar means string in Persian).

The guitar is descended from the Roman cithara brought by the Romans to Hispania around 40 AD, and further adapted and developed with the arrival of the four-string oud, brought by the Moors after their conquest of Iberia in the 8th century. Elsewhere in Europe, the indigenous six-string Scandinavian lut (lute), had gained in popularity in areas of Viking incursions across the continent. Often depicted in carvings c. 800 AD, the Norse hero Gunther (also known as Gunnar), played a lute with his toes as he lay dying in a snake-pit, in the legend of Siegfried. By 1200 AD, the four-string "guitar" had evolved into two types: the guitarra moresca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, wide fingerboard and several soundholes, and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the modern guitar with one soundhole and a narrower neck. In the 14th and 15th centuries the qualifiers "moresca" and "latina" were dropped and these four course instruments were simply called guitars.

The Spanish vihuela or (in Italian) "viola da mano", a guitar-like instrument of the 15th and 16th centuries, is often considered a major influence in the development of the modern guitar. It had six courses (usually), lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply-cut waist. It was also larger than the contemporary four course guitars. By the late 15th century some vihuelas began to be played with a bow, leading to the development of the viol. By the sixteenth century the vihuela's construction had more in common with the modern guitar, with its curved one-piece ribs, than with the viols, and more like a larger version of the contemporary four-course guitars. The vihuela enjoyed only a short period of popularity in Spain and Italy during an era dominated elsewhere in Europe by the lute; the last surviving published music for the instrument appeared in 1576. Meanwhile the five-course baroque guitar, which was documented in Spain from the middle of the 16th century, enjoyed popularity, especially in Spain, Italy and France from the late 16th century to the mid 18th century. Confusingly, in Portugal, the word vihuela referred to the guitar, whereas guitarra meant the "Portuguese guitar", a variety of cittern.


Guitars can be divided into two broad categories, acoustic and electric:
ACOUSTIC GUITAR
There are several notable subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars; steel-string guitars, which include the flat-topped, or "folk," guitar; twelve-string guitars; and the arched-top guitar. The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers, such as the acoustic bass guitar, which has a similar tuning to that of the electric bass guitar.

ELECTRIC GUITAR
Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, and produce little sound without amplification. Electromagnetic pickups convert the vibration of the steel strings into signals, which are fed to an amplifier through a cable or radio transmitter. The sound is frequently modified by other electronic devices or the natural distortion of valves (vacuum tubes) in the amplifier. There are two main types of pickup, single and double coil (or humbucker), each of which can be passive or active. The electric guitar is used extensively in jazz, blues, and rock and roll.

The first successful magnetic pickup for a guitar was invented by George Beauchamp, and incorporated into the 1931 Ro-Pat-In (later Rickenbacker) "Frying Pan" lap steel; other manufacturers, notably Gibson, soon began to install pickups in archtop models.

After World War II the completely solid-body electric was popularized by Gibson in collaboration with Les Paul, and independently by Leo Fender of Fender Music. The lower fretboard action (the height of the strings from the fingerboard), lighter (thinner) strings, and its electrical amplification lend the electric guitar to some techniques which are less frequently used on acoustic guitars. These include tapping, extensive use of legato through pull-offs and hammer-ons (also known as slurs), pinch harmonics, volume swells, and use of a tremolo arm or effects pedals.

The first electric guitarist of note to use a seven-string guitar was jazz guitarist George Van Eps, who was noted as a pioneer of this instrument. Solid body seven-strings were popularized in the 1980s and 1990s in part due to the release of the Ibanez Universe guitar, endorsed by Steve Vai. Other artists go a step further, by using an eight-string guitar with two extra low strings. Although the most common seven-string has a low B string, Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds and Rickenbacker) uses an octave G string paired with the regular G string as on a 12-string guitar, allowing him to incorporate chiming 12-string elements in standard six-string playing. In 1982 Uli Jon Roth developed the "Sky Guitar", with a vastly extended number of frets, which was the first guitar to venture into the upper registers of the violin. Roth's seven-string and 33-fret "Mighty Wing" guitar features an altogether six-octave range.

The electric bass guitar is similar in tuning to the traditional double bass viol. Hybrids of acoustic and electric guitars are also common. There are also more exotic varieties, such as guitars with two, three, or rarely four necks, all manner of alternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards (used almost exclusively on bass guitars, meant to emulate the sound of a stand-up bass), 5.1 surround guitar, and such.

Some electric guitar and electric bass guitar models feature piezoelectric pickups, which function as transducers to provide a sound closer to that of an acoustic guitar with the flip of a switch or knob, rather than switching guitars. Those that combine piezoelectric pickups and magnetic pickups are sometimes known as hybrid guitars.

THE BASIC CAKE DECORATION

The art of cake decorating is centuries old. Around the world, people have used the art of cake decorating to make elaborate edible sculptures that are the centerpieces of holidays, birthdays, and all kinds of special occasions. In any celebratory meal, having a gorgeous cake as a dessert is the crowning culinary delight of the evening.

Have you ever looked at a particularly fancy cake and thought, how do they do that? The artist probably spent years perfecting the art of cake decorating in order to create that cake. Some Sugarcraft artists will sell their designs; some will teach classes and teach students how to make their “signature” cakes and some will guard their techniques like a national security secret.

Cakes are a unique food product because cakes can be cooked, molded, shaped, and decorated to look like just about anything imaginable. Pastry chefs, wedding cake designers, and other Sugarcraft artists spend years, sometimes their entire lifetimes, perfecting new methods of decorating cakes and creating new and unique designs for cakes.

Cake decorating is a popular art form all over the world. Even though it’s less common in North America for people to bake cakes from scratch than it was a few decades ago, decorating cakes is still a very popular pastime. The rise of cable TV stations like the Food Network have led to the creation of entire TV shows that feature celebrated Sugarcraft artists, cake decorators and designers, and pastry chefs.

Cake decorating is an art, but it’s an art that almost anyone can learn. There are lots of resources to help you lean how to become an expert cake decorator. You can find books, magazines, websites, classes and groups all devoted to the centuries old art of cake decorating. You may even find that you have such an interest in and talent for cake decorating that you want to decorate cakes as a profession!

WHAT IS LOVE...?

What is Love


What is love? It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love. To some Love is friendship set on fire for others Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it. No matter how you define it or feel it, love is the eternal truth in the history of mankind.

Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life. Always stand steadfast in love, not fall into it. It is like the dream of your matter of affection coming true. Love can occur between two or more individuals. It bonds them and connects them in a unified link of trust, intimacy and interdependence. It enhances the relationship and comforts the soul. Love should be experienced and not just felt. The depth of love can not be measured. Look at the relationship between a mother and a child. The mother loves the child unconditionally and it can not be measured at all. A different dimension can be attained between any relationships with the magic of love. Love can be created. You just need to focus on the goodness of the other person. If this can be done easily, then you can also love easily. And remember we all have some positive aspect in us, no matter how bad our deeds maybe. And as God said �Love all�

Depending on context, love can be of different varieties. Romantic love is a deep, intense and unending. It shared on a very intimate and interpersonal and sexual relationship. The term Platonic love, familial love and religious love are also matter of great affection. It is more of desire, preference and feelings. The meaning of love will change with each different relationship and depends more on its concept of depth, versatility, and complexity. But at times the very existence of love is questioned. Some say it is false and meaningless. It says that it never exist, because there has been many instances of hatred and brutality in relationships. The history of our world has witnessed many such events. There has been hatred between brothers, parents and children, sibling rivalry and spouses have failed each other. Friends have betrayed each other; the son has killed his parents for the throne, the count is endless. Even the modern generation is also facing with such dilemmas everyday. But �love� is not responsible for that. It is us, the people, who have forgotten the meaning of love and have undertaken such gruesome apathy.

In the past the study of philosophy and religion has done many speculations on the phenomenon of love. But love has always ruled, in music, poetry, paintings, sculptor and literature. Psychology has also done lot of dissection to the essence of love, just like what biology, anthropology and neuroscience has also done to it.

Psychology portrays love as a cognitive phenomenon with a social cause. It is said to have three components in the book of psychology: Intimacy, Commitment, and Passion. Also, in an ancient proverb love is defined as a high form of tolerance. And this view has been accepted and advocated by both philosophers and scholars. Love also includes compatibility. But it is more of journey to the unknown when the concept of compatibility comes into picture. Maybe the person whom we see in front of us, may be least compatible than the person who is miles away. We might talk to each other and portray that we love each other, but practically we do not end up into any relationship. Also in compatibility, the key is to think about the long term successful relationship, not a short journey. We need to understand each other and must always remember that no body is perfect.

Be together, share your joy and sorrow, understand each other, provide space to each other, but always be there for each others need. And surely love will blossom to strengthen your relationship with your matter of affection.

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
William Shakespeare.

WHY ENGLISH IS IMPORTANT

Why English is important

IF YOU are currently learning English in a school, college or institute of further education, you join approximately one billion other people around the world who are engaged in the same pursuit. However, as you try to memorise proper grammar, and try to avoid the mistakes common to most students of English, you may wonder why you are learning the language in the first place.

So, why is English important?

After Mandarin, English is spoken by more people than any other language, and is the native language of more than 350 million people. More people speak English than those who speak the Arabic and French languages combined.

Moreover, English is the international language of diplomacy, business, science, technology, banking, computing, medicine, aviation, UN & NATO armed forces, engineering, tourism, Hollywood films and arguably the best pop and rock music in the world.

English has plenty of words to choose from. In fact, an English speaker is offered the biggest vocabulary of any language with a choice of 500,000 to 1,000,000 words (including technical and scientific terms).

But don’t panic, most English speakers do very well with a vocabulary of around 20,000 words.

English can be fun too. For instance, the music of such stars as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson and Madonna has encouraged fans to speak the language of their idols, whilst others have enrolled in English classes to improve their understanding of the dialogue in films and TV shows.

Or perhaps they have embraced English to enjoy the writing of Stephen King, George Orwell or J.K. Rowling. They may even have an interest in speaking English just to converse with travellers from other countries, who communicate by using the English global interlingua while travelling abroad.

Finally, if you are studying English at school, college or university, remember that getting an ‘A’ grade in English is almost worthless, in terms of communication, if you cannot speak the language. Spoken English is used in the best careers, the best universities, and is increasingly being used at job interviews. So like it or not, English is a very important language to learn how to speak.

WHY PEOPLE SMOKE

Why People Smoke

Most people start smoking when they are in their teens and are addicted by the time they reach adulthood. Some have tried to quit but have returned to cigarettes because smoking is such a strong addiction. It is a habit that is very difficult to break. There are many different reasons why people smoke.

Three of the main reasons that young people smoke are to look mature, to be like their friends, and to experiment. Since teens see older people all around them smoking, especially their parents and relatives, they smoke to act older. If their friends or peers smoke, they may feel pressured into doing the same to be accepted. The last reason is the excitement of experimenting with something that is forbidden. In Massachusetts it is against the law for anyone under 18 years old to smoke. Usually parents do not allow their under age teens to smoke. Therefore, smoking becomes very attractive. It is exciting to get cigarettes and sneak away to smoke without being caught.

Adults smoke for other reasons. They may have a lot of stress and pressures because of economic and personal problems. They may be unemployed or working but not making enough money to take care of themselves and their families. They may be homeless, or they may be dealing with alcohol or cocaine/heroin addictions. Some may be in bad marriages or relationships in which there is physical and/or verbal abuse. All these people may smoke to feel relaxed or to give them energy while going through a hard time.

Whether young or old, some people smoke to control their weight. Smokers, on the average, weigh seven pounds less than non-smokers. Smoking reduces a person's appetite. It lessens his/her sense of taste and smell. This could be why ex-smokers gain weight after quitting cigarettes. Food tastes and smells so much better.

Finally, there are people who say they love to smoke. Smoking gives them pleasure. It just makes them feel good.

Why do people start to smoke?

There are not many smokers about who started smoking after the age of eighteen. In fact, the majority of smokers took up the habit in their early or mid teens.

At such a young age, you don't really think about the health risks of smoking and you certainly do not realise how addictive smoking can be. As a teenager you probably think that you can try smoking a few times and then take it or leave it.

However, the reality is that it doesn't take long to become addicted to nicotine and smoking. Within a short period of time, children can experience the same cravings and withdrawal symptoms as an adult, as well as smoke as many cigarettes or more.

There are several reasons as to why children or teenagers start smoking.

Peer pressure plays an important part. Many children start smoking because their friends have tried it or smoke themselves.

Those children may have started as they have grown up in an environment where their parents, grandparents and older siblings smoke, and so they smoke in order to look and act like them.

Other children start smoking as an act of rebellion or defiance against their parents or people of authority.
Some children may also begin to smoke if they have low self-esteem. Smoking may get them in with the "in crowd" and help them to make friends. If they smoke, then they will be accepted by their peers.

Some children have said that they smoke to appear older and more grown up, especially if they are surrounded by young adults who smoke.

A number of children are only experimenting with smoking and just want to try it so see what all the fuss is about. As it is prohibited to smoke until the age of sixteen or even eighteen in some countries, children who smoke and get away with it without being caught, can get a thrill or feeling of excitement out of flaunting the law and doing what grown up adults do all the time.

Whatever the reason that a teenager has for starting to smoke, it is apparent that no matter how much you try to tell them that smoking is bad for you, a great number of them are going to try it anyway.

At that age, a teenager is more likely to be influenced by what their friends are doing rather than doing what their parents would like them to do.

Some teenagers may take up smoking because their favourite film star or pop star smokes. They may think that if they smoke just like their favourite idol does, then they will appear more glamorous, attractive or sexy, like them.

The manner in which some tobacco companies advertise their cigarette brands also has a major influence on young people. Some adverts give the impression that smoking is sociable. You can make new friends by smoking or you can attract your ideal partner by looking sexy, sultry and smoky!

Cigarette advertising is being banned in some countries and tobacco companies are becoming limited in where they are allowed to advertise. In some countries they are not permitted to advertise on billboards, television, radio, in magazines or newspapers or on buses or trains.

WHY DO WE SMILE?

Smiles are generally accepted as a universal facial expression of happiness or joy. We get instincts about which smiles are more genuine, are more felt than others, and which are more forced and more politely construed. Find out whether smiles are a social reaction- something learned amongst society- or whether there’s an actual biological reason why, when we are given a positive stimulus, our cheeks bulge and the corners of our mouths turn upward.

started with the understanding that because it would be difficult or impossible to define happiness on an individual level, which taking to be the stimuli of the smiles themselves, the results would have to be more generalized and the findings would probably be somewhat controversial and less conclusive.Smiling was more directly linked to a physical, neurobiological response than to social interactions, because there had to be some reason why even the most creative and brilliant of thinkers followed the rest and smiled to show pleasure.

The movement of the zygomaticus major muscle near the mouth, and the orbicularis oculi muscle near the eyes. It is believed that this smile can only be produced as a result of genuine positive emotion, making it involuntary. By contrary, the “Pan American smile” involves only the zygomaticus muscle, and is entirely voluntary, being used more often used to show politeness or mask true emotion (2). This suggests a partial control we have over the kind of smile we show when it comes to realizing that we need to put a smile on our faces for social approval, but little control over smiling about things that genuinely make us happy.

Stroke victims help us understand more of the distinctions between these two types of smiles. When they have had damage to their motor cortex, they often cannot physically concoct their faces into smiles voluntarily, but can smile Duchenne, involuntary smiles, when given a positive stimulus (3). Those having more damage to the deeper-seated basal ganglia can smile on command, but can’t smile as an involuntary reaction, for example, when they hear something they find funny (4). This shows a difference in the roles of different muscles and neurons when it comes to the different types of smiling, suggesting a correlation between not being able smile voluntarily with injury to the motor cortex, and not being able to smile spontaneously with injury to the basal ganglia. The latter is often seen in Parkinson’s disease patients, in whom the basal ganglia degenerate, and there becomes impairment to voluntary movement, with much loss of involuntary movement, including tics, as well (5).

While this shows that different parts of the brain and different brain messengers control different functions, I wanted to combine that with the social factor of smiling in an attempt to put it all together to determine how smiles work. Many studies have indicated that smiling is an innate reaction (1), most often due to happiness. This claim has been made as a result of several factors, including being based on studies of fetuses and children at young ages.

Since 2001, a four-dimensional scanner has been used to allow doctors to see that babies in the womb exhibit facial expressions (6). With the corners of the mouth turned up and the cheeks bulging, obstetrician Stuart Campbell, who’s in charge of this new discovery, says, “what’s behind the smile, of course, I can’t say, but… I think it must be some indication of contentment in a stress-free environment” (6).

The 4D scanner, which also produces 3D images that move in real time, shows that babies start making finger movements at 15 weeks, yawning at 18 weeks, and smiling, blinking, and crying at 26 weeks. After birth, infants do not usually smile until they are 6 weeks old, creating a further interest to survey the womb and why there is this gap of time where no smiling occurs, perhaps because the infant must adjust to its new, less content surroundings. This new information on the subject suggests that perhaps smiling is a reflex to positive feelings, while at the same time can also be a response to hearing social communications from inside the womb.

Another interesting study was done on feral children who live in isolation from human contact and have remained unaware of human social behavior and unexposed to language (7). While there having only been just over a hundred reported cases, these children generally do not smile (1). Isolated from human interaction, they lend an interesting view to the question of why we smile. Since there are so few that are feral, placing great emphasis on this may not be the most constructive, but it is important to keep in mind when assessing how much social interaction plays in the role of a smile.

Instead of the six week gap for these children relearning or regaining the confidence to smile after leaving the womb, they never do, and that’s really interesting. It highly suggests that social interaction plays a large role in either smiling as a reflex, or helping to biologically develop the brain to be able to be able to pick up this kind stimuli reflex.

WHAT IS ACAPELLA MUSIC

The phrase a cappella derives from a Latin expression which, by way of Italian, means “in the style of the church,” or “as is done in the church.” It reflects the historical reality that instrumental music in Christian worship was not practiced in the Christian movement for many centuries, and that the rather late introduction of it constitutes an innovation void of New Testament authority.

Professor Everett Ferguson, one of the premier historians of church history alive today, has noted that the non-use of the instrument in worship was the “majority tradition of Christian history” until “comparatively recent times”.

Between 1708-22, Joseph Bingham, an Anglican cleric, produced his magnificent ten-volume work titled, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, a prodigious effort that required 20 years in composition. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church depicts this work as that which “has not been superseded” (Cross, 173). Regarding the use of instrumental music in church worship, the celebrated English scholar wrote:

Music in churches is as ancient as the apostles, but instrumental music not so: for it is now generally agreed by learned men, that the use of organs came into the church since the time of Thomas Aquinas, anno 1250. For he in his Sums has these words, “Our church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to judaize” (I.315).

He then catalogs considerable testimony from ancient writers of the post-apostolic age to sustain the point.

There is scarcely any controversy regarding this historical matter. In their massive, twelve-volume Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (1876), John McClintock and James Strong (denominational scholars) noted:

The Greeks as well as the Jews were wont to use instruments as accompaniments in
their sacred songs. The converts to Christianity accordingly must have been familiar with this mode of singing; yet it is generally believed that the primitive Christians failed to adopt the use of instrumental music in their religious worship.

These scholars further noted that: “The general introduction of instrumental music can certainly not be assigned to a date earlier than the 5th and 6th centuries [A.D.]” (VI.759).

They also observed that the early reformers, e.g., Martin Luther, and also Calvin and Knox (Presbyterians), protested against the use of instruments. The same could be said of Clarke (Methodist) and Spurgeon (Baptist). The men were the leaders of their respective movements.


A divine warrant is necessary for every element of doctrine, government and worship in the church; that is, whatsoever in these spheres is not commanded in the Scriptures, either expressly or by good and necessary consequence from their statements is forbidden (9; emp. original).

The professor contended that the evidence shows that instrumental music was not commonly used in churches “until the thirteenth century” .

In 1965 James W. McKinnon prepared a dissertation at Columbia University on “The Church Fathers and Musical Instruments.” In this exhaustive document, McKinnon contended that “early Christian music was vocal” and there was a "patristic [the “church fathers”] polemic against instruments" (1-2; quoted in Bales, 351-352).

The truth is there is no authority in the New Testament for the use of instrumental music in Christian worship — neither command, precedent, nor necessary implication. This is so elementary that it is like rehearsing one’s ABCs all over again.

In view of this it is both shocking and disheartening that so many who profess an allegiance to Jesus Christ, and his New Testament revelation, have incorporated the use of mechanical instruments into their worship. As Christ once said of his contemporaries:


These people honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men (Matthew 15:8-9).

FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS

Chocolate Lovers' Cake
Serves: 12
Preparation Time: 20 Minute(s)
Cook Time: 30 Minute(s)
Chill Time: 15 Minute(s)


Ingredients
Cake:
- 3/4 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread
- 6 squares (1 oz. ea.) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, OR 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 eggs, separated
- Pinch salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Glaze:
- 5 Tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®
- 10 squares (1 oz. ea.) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, OR 1-2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.For CAKE, preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9-inch round cake pan, then line with parchment or waxed paper; set aside.

2.Melt I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread with chocolate in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally; set aside to cool slightly. Beat egg whites with salt in medium bowl with electric mixer until stiff peaks form; set aside.

3.Beat egg yolks with sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer until light and ribbony, about 2 minutes. While beating, slowly add chocolate mixture until blended. Beat in flour. Fold in egg whites with spatula just until blended. Pour into prepared pan.

4.Bake 30 minutes. (Note: Toothpick inserted in center will NOT come out clean.) Run knife around rim of cake to loosen cake from sides of pan; cool 15 minutes on wire rack. Remove cake from pan and cool completely.

5.For GLAZE, melt I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread with chocolate in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Spread warm glaze over cake.

WHY WOMEN AREN'T MEN

Gender Specifics: Why Women Aren't Men
By DORION SAGAN


The Causes and Consequences Go Beyond the Obvious
Western thought about sex -- from the story of Eve to Aristotle's belief that girl babies arise from cooler sperm -- has been tainted by the notion that the female is a kind of imperfect or unfinished male. Medical science, however, has gone from treating women as though they were simply smaller men to realizing that sex confers many more differences than those that are related to reproduction.

In contrast to the feminist premise that women can do anything men can do, science is demonstrating that women can do some things better, that they have many biological and cognitive advantages over men. Then again, there are some things that women don't do as well.

One of the less visible, but theoretically very important differences, is the larger size of the connector in women between the two hemispheres of the brain. This means that women's hemispheres are less specialized: a stroke that damages the left side of the brain leaves men barely capable of speech, while the same damage to a woman's brain is far less debilitating since she can use both sides for language. Although there is no hard evidence, the larger connector may also account for a woman's tendency to exhibit greater intuition (the separate brain halves are more integrated) and a man's generally stronger right-handed throwing skills (controlled by a left hemisphere without distractions).


Mary Catherine Bateson, the cultural anthropologist and a former president of Amherst College, has described women as "peripheral visionaries" able to follow several trains of thought (or children) simultaneously. Men, by contrast, seem more capable of focusing intensely on single topics. Our strengths, then, come from our differences rather than from our similarities.


Science and medicine are finally realizing that the differences that exist between men and women necessitate developing distinct therapeutic treatments addressing the specifics of our physiology. For example, doctors like Dr. Susan G. Kornstein, at the Medical College of Virginia's department of psychiatry, are advocating the use of sex-specific assessment and treatment of psychiatric disorders, like depression.

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Dr. Kornstein points out that while depressed men seem to respond best to drugs that affect two neurotransmitter systems, those involving norepinephrine and serotonin, women respond better to drugs that affect only the serotonin system.


These differences in the therapeutic benefits of drugs not only underscore the need for medicine to go beyond giving women tapered doses of whatever is being prescribed for men (a latter-day offshoot of the women-as-incomplete-men theory), but support the idea that men's and women's brains do not function the same way.

Indeed, it is not only our brain functions that apparently diverge, but just about every aspect of our physiology. The way we metabolize alcohol and drugs, the way our circulatory system works and how resistant we are to infection are all affected by our sex.


Why? Hormones.

In utero, girls and boys are chromosomally different; one might wag that the determinant of maleness, the Y chromosome, named for its shape, is "missing" something that the female determinant, the X chromosome, has. But they look identical. The development of characteristic male and female sexual genitalia at birth and of secondary sexual characteristics like breasts during adolescence, result from influxes of hormones, including estrogen and testosterone.


But the hormones we once thought were important only for pregnancy, lactation and sexual drive have profound effects on just about every organ in the body. In fact, the reproductive organs, which from a biologist's perspective are our only reason for existing, control and contribute to everything from mood to how cholesterol is used in the body.

Assigning such an important role to the reproductive organs is not new to our belief system. In ancient Greece, women who were classified as having nervous or "hysterical" disorders were thought to be suffering from an upward dislocation of the womb. Treatment for nervousness and hysteria entailed, among other things, trying to repel the womb back into place by applying noxious-smelling odors to the mouth and nose.


As a few women can testify today, the perception that the reproductive organs caused hysteria later manifested itself in the widespread use of hysterectomies and ovarectomies to treat behavioral disorders among American women during the early part of this century.

Science and medicine have historically used biologically-based sex differences to justify obvious acts of misogyny. It is not surprising, then, that a natural response has been for women to insist on equality implicitly based on the assumption that the sexes are essentially the same.

But women may be just as ill served by a medical profession that treats men and women as equals as by one that follows what Dr. Rudolf Virchow, a famous 19th-century German doctor, believed. (He was the first to describe leukemia and is regarded as the founder of cellular pathology.) As Dr. Virchow put it, "Woman is a pair of ovaries with a human being attached, whereas man is a human being furnished with a pair of testes."

Recent research demonstrates that while men begin to suffer from coronary artery disease earlier in life than women do, women are more likely to die of coronary complications once they are afflicted. Men are also more prone throughout most of their lives to high-blood pressure, but as women get older, this advantage disappears.

The delayed onset of cardiovascular disease in women may be linked to the fact that the female hormone, estrogen, which is produced mostly by the ovaries, protects the circulatory system from disease. Differences in the quantities of estrogen, essential for organization and maintenance of tissues and organs in both sexes, plays an important role in brain development and appears to be the reason that men's brains are bigger, but women's brains have more neurons.

Estrogen makes blood vessels more elastic, stimulates them to expand and allow good blood flow, and prevents cholesterol accumulation on the inside of blood vessels. As women age, however, they lose the protective benefits of estrogen because, in a rather dramatic fashion, their bodies stop producing it.

At the same time, some treatments that are used to prevent cardiovascular disorders -- aspirin, for example -- are less effective in women. Reporting in a recent issue of the International Journal of Fertility and Women's Medicine, Dr. Marianne Legato, of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, notes: "Although aspirin use is associated with less frequent myocardial infarction in both men and women, it does not decrease the risk of stroke in hypertensive women, as it does in men."

There are a number of naturally produced compounds that fluctuate more in women than in men: steroids, for example, which are infamous on the street for their simultaneous role in developing muscles and shortening tempers.

It turns out that steroids, a class of compounds that includes sex hormones, may play an important role in the mood swings of menstruators. These hormones directly affect brain cells. The neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone, made from progesterone, dampens the sensitivity of brain cells; it works like benzodiazepine drugs, most familiarly Valium. When the progesterone level is high, a woman is calmer. When it is low, she may feel more anxious and irritable. Moreover, women with PMS become insensitive to the calming effects of Valium-like drugs.

There is a growing consensus that these steroids produced by the sex organs are responsible for the greater incidence of mood disorders and depression in women. And a growing body of research is pointing to a role for other, similar steroids in memory, stress and alcohol abuse.


In keeping with the increasing recognition that some powerful mind-altering substances are internally produced by hormones, it is no wonder that adolescence is often a time of emotional turbulence. You cannot "Just say no" to your body's own genetically timed release of mood-altering sex hormones at puberty.

What society considers "recreational" drug use, which often begins at adolescence, may sometimes be motivated by an effort to self-medicate, changing or reversing the effects of sex hormones and neuroactive steroids. The notorious mood swings of adolescents may very likely reflect the body's adjustment to new concentrations and combinations of these compounds.


Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an advocate of the medical use of marijuana, points out that marijuana has long been known as a palliative for the psychophysical pains of menstruation. Queen Victoria, according to her doctor J. R. Reynolds, used it for that purpose. Curiously (and although since disputed), one of the few medical studies on marijuana suggests that its use lowers testosterone levels in men.

Perhaps this drug, among others, interacts with or works in a similar way to the hormonal and neuroactive steroids. In any case women, who are twice as prone as men to depression, and who have a higher body-fat-to-muscle ratio and more hormonally distinct brains, cannot be expected to respond to drugs, legal or illegal, in the same way men do.


The sexual distinction that biology traces to chromosomes and hormones also applies to culture and language. I recall, for example, being put in the girls' group at a day camp as a child because my first name was assumed to be female.

Evolutionists believe that the first sexual reproducers were unisexual cells that became involved in cycles of merging and separating. The first fertilizations probably occurred among starving microbes that cannibalized, but did not completely devour each other, becoming instead two-in-one cells.


Sexual differences evolved gradually over hundreds of millions of years. With these differences came ways of recognizing them. In many species, including humans, the gametes, or sex cells, of the females became fewer, bigger and more sedentary while those of the males became smaller, more fast-moving and numerous. But in humans, while the female sex cells, or ova, are far larger than the male gametes, or sperm, full-grown men are bigger than full-grown women.

The cultural ramifications of body size have been considerable, including the virtual absence of rapes committed by women. They may also have influenced the development of greater female cunning and social acumen to mitigate four million years of male bullying.


In our patrilineal culture, the family name is usually that of the man. Biology tells a more matrilineal story: the tiny DNA-containing oxygen-using inclusions in all of our cells, called mitochondria, come solely from our mothers. Nonetheless, culture remains, for lack of a better term, male-dominated. The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan even argued that all speech is part of the "symbolic order" -- the largely negative, male realm of language and rules that supplants the original affirmative closeness of mother and child.


The psychologist Theodore Roszak, who has been exploring what he calls the "twisted sexual politics of modern science," argues that science insidiously reinforces a partial male perspective. "Hard" sciences, like physics and chemistry, Mr. Roszak contends, are venerated, while "softer" sciences, like anthropology and psychology, are disparaged.


"Macho science," he argues, leads to bizarre fictions like selfish genes and cannibal galaxies. Female perspectives, he says, offer science new balance and openness.

From sex among equal single cells to male feminists offering cultural critiques of science's rhetoric, we have learned that the two sexes, subtly different, develop differently, respond differently to certain drugs and see the world in different ways. As the French say, vive la différence.


Are Women Like Beer?
That's what Homer Simpson, who is mighty fond of both, told Bart. But while it's human nature to categorize men and women into neat packages, and while some of the differences are as distinct as the pinks and blues in nurseries (think height, muscle-to-fat ratio and hair distribution), others are not as apparent. This X-Ray of a typical couple, a result of a mishap when Marge brought Homer's lunch to the nuclear-power plant, shows some contrasts. Sorry, Homer, beer is not the answer to everything.

By Constanza Villalba