Quadrant Model of Reality Book 16 Art

Art Chapter

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Four Burglars is a magic effect in which the magician shows the four Jacks from a deck of cards, calling them burglars, and tells a story about them entering a house in different ways (the front door, a window, another window, and the back door) as he places one of the Jacks on the bottom of the deck, one about two thirds of the way down, one about one third of the way down, and one on top. The magician then talks about the burglars hearing sirens and running around as he cuts the deck. The cards are then spread to show that the four burglars have gathered together in the center of the deck in the commotion, with some remark about "safety in numbers."

A variation involves the four Jacks robbing a bank by flying on a 'helicopter' and landing on top of the bank (the deck of cards). The magician places one in the '3rd floor', another in the '2nd floor', another in the '1st floor' (all the 'floors' are roughly divided in thirds of the deck like in the original version), and one to guard the helicopter. Then, they hear the police arrive and the burglars ascend the bank and fly off via their helicopter. The magician takes the first four cards of the deck and shows to the audience that it is the four Jacks.

When the four Jacks are shown, three other cards are hidden behind them. All four jacks are placed on top of the deck, and the other cards are placed in different places in the deck as the story is told.[1]

QMRIn 1988, Japanese magician Masahiro Yanagida performed with miniature Ninja rings, using four rings that were four and a half inches (or 11.43 cm) in diameter. Since then, the Chinese linking rings have also become a favourite performance item for close-up magicians.

Whit Haydn, Comedy Four-Ring Routine, DVD

Ryan Merkle QMRIn 1980, Henning appeared on The Muppet Show where he performed several acts. He demonstrated chink-a-chink for Kermit the Frog's nephew Robin, segmented a Muppet monster into four pieces (and put him together wrong), and performed what he called "metamorphosis": a bit where he swapped places with an assistant who was locked inside a trunk.[14]

Ryan Merkle QMRDeath due to disease is called death by natural causes. There are four main types of disease: pathogenic disease, deficiency disease, hereditary disease, and physiological disease. Diseases can also be classified as communicable and non-communicable. The deadliest disease in humans is ischemic heart disease (blood flow obstruction), followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections respectively.[2]

Ryan Merkle QMRDestiny is an online-only first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Activision. It was released on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series, and it is the first game in a ten-year agreement between Bungie and Activision.There are four separate races in the game, each occupying different planets. The Fallen are an insectoid race of nomadic pirates who scavenge ruined settlements on Earth, the Moon, and Venus for resources. The Hive are a macabre race of ancient aliens who have created massive underground settlements beneath Earth and the Moon's surface. The Vex are semi-organic androids who are attempting to seize control of Venus and Mars by turning them into their machines, which they have already done to Mercury. The Cabal are a military-industrial empire of massive amphibians who have established massive fortifications on Mars. The Taken, a new race introduced in The Taken King DLC, are corrupted versions of regular enemies, who infest areas on every planet. Every race utilizes different strategies and weapons in combat. The Fallen possess cloaking and short-range teleportation technologies to increase their mobility. The Hive use superior numbers to overwhelm their opponents in close quarters while more elite units attack from a distance. The Vex utilize hard-light shields and teleport units of infantry into the battlefield en-masse. The Cabal rely on heavy armor, ballistic shields, and jump packs to combat players. The Taken, in addition to all the other races specialties, use high mobility and plenty of long-range attacks to out-maneuver the player. All of these races are hostile towards each other (with the exception of the Hive and the Taken), as they can often be observed attacking one another in-game for territorial dominance. The majority of the game's lore, detailing backstory on characters, weapons, the alien races, planets, etc., is found in Grimoire cards collected throughout the game and accessed through Bungie's website and the Destiny app.

Ryan Merkle QMR"When you strip away the genre differences and the technological complexities, all games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation." (Jane McGonigal)[15]

Ryan Merkle QMRBoard game groups include race games, roll-and-move games, abstract strategy games, word games, and wargames, as well as trivia and other elements. Some board games fall into multiple groups or incorporate elements of other genres: Cranium is one popular example, where players must succeed in each of four skills: artistry, live performance, trivia, and language.

Ryan Merkle QMRQuad-Ominos is a game published by Pressman beginning in 1978. It is permanently out of production but generally available on the secondhand market. It is similar in theory to Triominoes but uses a set of four-sided square tiles. The object of the game, as with many domino-type games, is to rid one's hand of tiles by placing them all on the board.

Tiles[edit]

Each tile is made of a stamp-molded polystyrene plastic, colored white or cream, and is approximately 1" square with rounded corners, and approximately 1/4" deep. Each tile has four numbers, one on each corner, painted in brown or black. The numbers normally have a raised relief; the tile's numbers can, with skill, be discerned by touch. The backs of the tiles are hollowed out, unlike most other tilesets like dominoes and triominoes.

The numbers range from 0 to 5, and each tile contains a unique combination of four numbers (with replacement). There are 125 tiles in the set; the number of possible combinations of 6 values taken 4 at a time with repetition is \tbinom {6+4-1}4=126 , but the tile with combination "0245" is absent from the set.

The numbers on each tile are placed in one of several arrangements; the most common is a clockwise or counter-clockwise arrangement in ascending order. The tile with the unique combination "0224" might look like:

0 2

4 2

Gameplay[edit]

The game begins with all tiles turned face-down (alternately they can be placed in a bag); they are then shuffled (or the bag shaken) and each player picks a number of tiles:

2 players: 30 tiles

3 players: 20 tiles

4 players: 15 tiles

5 players: 12 tiles

6 or more: 10 tiles (up to 12 players can theoretically play; Pressman recommends 2-8)

Each player's tiles are laid on-edge facing towards the player.

Play begins with the highest "quad" (tile where all four corner values are the same); if no such tile was drawn, play begins with the highest-value tile drawn (the tile with the highest total of corner values). That tile is laid down in the center of the table, the player scores the sum of the corner indices, and if this tile was a quad, the player gets their choice of a 25-point bonus or the opportunity to play 2 additional tiles, scoring their values as well. If the player with the starting tile also has the "quad-zero" tile (with zeroes in all four corners), he may choose to play that, and take both the 25-point bonus and the opportunity to play 2 additional tiles.

In turn, players then lay one tile each per turn with at least one side of the tile contacting the side of another tile already played, and score points equal to the sum of the corner indices on that tile. A tile can only be played to a position on the board if the numbers at its corners match those of adjacent tiles. Adjacent tiles are tiles immediately contacting any of the played tile's 4 sides, and any tiles in the four diagonal directions (even if there is no tile contacting either side forming that corner). A tile must be laid orthoganally to at least one other tile (directly adjacent with one side completely contacting the side of the other tile); a tile cannot only be diagonally adjacent to other tiles. A valid play must match at least two numbers, but may match three or all four.

If a tile is placed such that more than two of its numbers match tiles on the board, the player placing the tile gets the option of adding a 25-point bonus to their score, or playing two additional tiles. If the player chooses to place bonus tiles, a bonus tile can be placed such that it would also match more than two numbers. The instructions for the Pressman game do not specify if a bonus tile can trigger an additional bonus; they do specify that if a player cannot play two additional tiles, their only option is to take the bonus.

If a player cannot make any play on their turn with the tiles in their hand, they must draw tiles one at a time from the boneyard (called the "well" in the instructions). For each tile drawn this way, the player incurs a 20-point penalty. If a player cannot play and the well is empty, they take a single 20-point penalty and must pass.

QMRSome other games use tiles in place of cards; Rummikub is a variant of the Rummy card game family that uses tiles numbered in ascending rank among four colors, very similar in makeup to a 2-deck "pack" of Anglo-American playing cards. Mah-Jongg is another game very similar to Rummy that uses a set of tiles with card-like values and art.

Ryan Merkle QMRRummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players, combining elements of the card game rummy and mahjong. Players take turns putting down tiles from their racks into sets (groups or runs) of at least three. In the Sabra version (the most common and popular), the first player to go out scores a positive score based on the total of the other players' hands, while the losers get negative scores. There are 104 number tiles in the game (valued 1 to 13 in four different colors, but duplicated) and two jokers. An important feature of the game is that players can work with the tiles that have already been played.

Ryan Merkle QMRCatalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The focus of this article is not just the literature of Catalonia, but literature written in Catalan from anywhere, so that it includes writers from the Valencian Community, Balearic islands and other territories where Catalan or its variants are spoken.

Les quatre grans cròniques[edit]

These four major literary works are chronicles written between the 13th and 14th centuries narrating the deeds of the monarchs and leading figures of the Crown of Aragon. They are the following:

Crònica de Jaume I, also known as "The book of deeds" (see External links)

Crònica de Bernat Desclot, also known as "Book of the king, Peter of Aragon".

Crònica de Ramon Muntaner

Crònica de Pere el Cerimoniós

QMRIn his 1989 book, Albion's Seed (ISBN 0195069056), David Hackett Fischer suggests that the United States is made up today of four distinct regional cultures. The book's focus is on the folkways of four groups of settlers from the British Isles that emigrated from distinct regions of Britain and Ireland to the British American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. Fischer's thesis is that the culture and folkways of each of these groups persisted, with some modification over time, providing the basis for the four modern regional cultures of the United States.

According to Fischer, the foundation of American culture was formed from four mass migrations from four different regions of the British Isles by four distinct socio-religious groups. New England's earliest settlement period occurred between 1629 and 1640 when Puritans, mostly from East Anglia in England, settled there, forming the New England regional culture. The next mass migration was of southern English cavaliers and their Irish and Scottish domestic servants to the Chesapeake Bay region between 1640 and 1675, producing the Southern American culture. Then, between 1675 and 1725, thousands of Irish, English and German Quakers, led by William Penn, settled in the Delaware Valley.

This settlement resulted in the formation of what is today considered the "General American" culture, although, according to Fischer, it is really just a regional American culture, even if it does today encompass most of the U.S. from the mid-Atlantic states to the Pacific Coast. Finally, Irish, Scottish and English settlers from the borderlands of Britain and Ireland migrated to Appalachia between 1717 and 1775. They formed the regional culture of the Upland South, which has since spread west to such areas as West Texas and parts of the U.S. Southwest. Fischer says that the modern U.S. is composed only of regional cultures, with characteristics determined by the place of departure and time of arrival of these four distinct founding populations.

Ryan Merkle QMRToday the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census recognizes four races, Native American or American Indian, African American, Asian and White (European American).

Ryan Merkle QMRThere are four major regional dialects in the United States: northeastern, south, inland north, and midwestern. The Midwestern accent (considered the "standard accent" in the United States, and analogous in some respects to the received pronunciation elsewhere in the English-speaking world) extends from what were once the "Middle Colonies" across the Midwest to the Pacific states.

Four folkways[edit]

The four migrations are discussed in the four main chapters of the book:

East Anglia to Massachusetts

The Exodus of the English Puritans (Pilgrims influenced the Northeastern United States' corporate and educational culture)[3]

The South of England to Virginia

Distressed Cavaliers and Indentured Servants (Gentry influenced the Southern United States' plantation culture)[4]

North Midlands to the Delaware

The Friends' Migration (Quakers influenced the Middle Atlantic and Midwestern United States' industrial culture)[5]

Borderlands to the Backcountry

The Flight from North Britain (Scotch-Irish, or border English, influenced the Western United States' ranch culture and the Southern United States' common agrarian culture)[6]

Fischer includes satellite peoples such as Welsh, Scots, Irish, Dutch, French, Germans, Italians and a treatise on Black slaves in South Carolina. Fischer covers voting patterns and dialects of speech in four regions which span from their Atlantic colonial base to the Pacific.

Fischer remarks on his own connective feelings between the Chesapeake and Southern England in Albion's Seed, but attempts to flesh that out in Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement—a corollary of his work in this book.[7]

Origins[edit]

Fischer states that the book's purpose is to examine the complex cultural processes at work within the four folkways during the time period. Albion's Seed argues that: "The legacy of four British folkways in early America remains the most powerful determinant of a voluntary society in the United States."

The term 'folkways' was originally conceived of by William Graham Sumner, a 19th-century American sociologist. Sumner’s treatise Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals posits that:

"The folkways are habits of the individual and customs of the society which arise from efforts to satisfy needs; they are intertwined with goblinism and demonism and primitive notions of luck (sec. 6), and so they win traditional authority. Then they become regulative for succeeding generations and take on the character of a social force. They arise no one knows whence or how. They grow as if by the play of internal life energy. They can be modified, but only to a limited extent, by the purposeful efforts of men. In time they lose power, decline, and die, or are transformed. While they are in vigor they very largely control individual and social undertakings, and they produce and nourish ideas of world philosophy and life policy. Yet they are not organic or material. They belong to a superorganic system of relations, conventions, and institutional arrangements."[8]

Key characteristics[edit]

Fischer describes his modified application of the folkways concept as: "the normative structure of values, customs and meanings that exist in any culture", which rise from social and intellectual origins. More specifically, Fischer's definition of folkways are that they "are often highly persistent, but they are never static. Even where they have acquired the status of a tradition they are not necessarily very old. Folkways are constantly in the process of creation, even in our own time."

Each of the four distinct folkways are comparatively described and defined in the following terms:

Speech Ways: "Conventional patterns of written and spoken language; pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax and grammar."

Building Ways: "Prevailing forms of vernacular architecture and high architecture, which tend to be related to one another."

Family Ways: "The structure and function of the household and family, both in ideal and actuality."

Marriage Ways: "Ideas of the marriage-bond, and cultural processes of courtship, marriage and divorce."

Gender Ways: "Customs that regulate social relations between men and women."

Sex Ways: "Conventional sexual attitudes and acts, and the treatment of sexual deviance."

Child-Rearing Ways: "Ideas of child nature and customs of child nurture."

Naming Ways: "Onomastic customs including favoured forenames and the descent of names within the family."

Age Ways: "Attitudes towards age, experiences of aging and age relationships."

Death Ways: "Attitudes towards death, mortality rituals, mortuary customs and mourning practices."

Religious Ways: "Patterns of religious worship, theology, ecclesiology and church architecture."

Magic Ways: "Normative beliefs and practices concerning the supernatural."

Learning Ways: "Attitudes toward literacy and learning, and conventional patterns of education."

Food Ways: "Patterns of diet, nutrition, cooking, eating, feasting and fasting."

Dress Ways: "Customs of dress, demeanor, and personal adornment."

Sport Ways: "Attitudes toward recreation and leisure; folk games and forms of organized sport."

Work Ways: "Work ethics and work experiences; attitudes toward work and the nature of work."

Time Ways: "Attitudes toward the use of time, customary methods of time keeping, and the conventional rhythms of life."

Wealth Ways: "Attitudes towards wealth and patterns of its distribution."

Rank Ways: "The rules by which rank is assigned, the roles which rank entails, and the relations between different ranks."

Social Ways: "Conventional patterns of migration, settlement, association and affiliation."

Order Ways: "Ideas of order, ordering institutions, forms of disorder, and treatment of the disorderly."

Power Ways: "Attitudes toward authority and power; patterns of political participation."

Freedom Ways: "Prevailing ideas of liberty and restraint, and libertarian customs and institutions."

Ryan Merkle QMRThe flag of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს სახელმწიფო დროშა; sakartvelos sakhelmtsʼipo drosha), also known as the Five Cross Flag (Georgian: ხუთჯვრიანი დროშა; khutjvriani drosha) was adopted in January 2004, and was originally the flag of the United National Movement. It was widely used during the "Rose Revolution" of 2003.

Contents [hide]

1 History

2 Design

3 Previous flags of Georgia

3.1 Medieval Georgian flags

3.2 Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921)

3.3 Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991)

3.4 Georgia (1991–2004)

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

History[edit]

The current flag was used by the Georgian patriotic movement following the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the late 1990s, the design had become widely known as 'the Georgian historical national flag' as vexillologists had pointed out the red-on-white Jerusalem cross shown as the flag of Tblisi in a 14th-century map by Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano.[2]

A majority of Georgians, including the influential Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, supported the restoration of the flag and in 1999 the Parliament of Georgia passed a bill to change the flag. However, it was not endorsed by the President, Eduard Shevardnadze. It was adopted in the early 2000s by the main opposition party, the United National Movement led by Mikheil Saakashvili, as a symbol of popular resistance to Shevardnadze's rule.[3]

The flag was adopted by Parliament on 14 January 2004. Saakashvili formally endorsed it via Presidential Decree No. 31 signed on 25 January, following his election as President. 14 January is annually marked as a Flag Day in Georgia.

Design[edit]

The national flag of Georgia, as described in the decree:

The Georgian national flag is a white rectangle, with in its central portion a large red cross touching all four sides of the flag. In the four corners there are four bolnur-katskhuri crosses of the same color (as the large cross).

The flag is the quadrant model

Previous flags of Georgia[edit]

The five crosses on the current Georgian flag are sometimes interpreted as representing either the Five Holy Wounds, or alternatively Christ and the Four Evangelists.[4]

See also: List of flags of Georgia (country)

Medieval Georgian flags[edit]

Detail of the 1367 Pizzigano chart, showing Tbilisi and its flag

The white flag with the single red St. George's cross was supposedly used by King Vakhtang I in the 5th century.[dubious – discuss][5]

According to tradition, Queen Tamar (d. 1213) used a flag with a dark red cross and a star in a white field.[6]

In the 1367 map by Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano, the flag of Tifilis (Tbilisi) is shown as a Jerusalem cross (a large cross with smaller crosses in each quarter). According to D. Kldiashvili (1997), the Jerusalem cross might have been adopted during the reign of King George V.[7]

Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921)[edit]

During Georgia's brief existence as an independent state as the Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1918 to 1921, a tricolour was adopted. The design resulted from a national flag-designing contest won by the painter Iakob Nikoladze. It was abolished by the Soviet Union following the 1921 incorporation of Georgia into the USSR.

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991)[edit]

Main article: Flag of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

During the Soviet period, Georgia adopted several variants of the red Soviet flag incorporating either the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic's name, or a red hammer and sickle with a star in a blue sun in the canton and blue bar in the upper part of flag. The flag of Georgian SSR was abolished by the Georgian government in November 1990 shortly before it declared independence from the Soviet Union.

Georgia (1991–2004)[edit]

The previous flag used by the Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1918 to 1921 was revived on 8 December 1991, by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia. However, it lost popularity thereafter as it became associated with the chaotic and violent period around the collapse of the Soviet Union. The wine-red colour symbolises the good times in the past and the future, while the black represents Russian rule, and the white represents hope for peace.[8]

Ryan Merkle QMRWilloughby has an 18th-century[15] public house, The Rose Inn.[16] The parish had three other pubs including the Four Crosses Inn and the Navigation. The Four Crosses has been turned into apartments and the other two former pubs are now private houses.

Ryan Merkle QMRConsecration crosses are crosses on the interior walls and exterior architecture of a Christian church or cathedral showing where the bishop has anointed the church with chrism or holy water in order to consecrate it. There is often a place for a candle in front of each cross which is lit on the anniversary of the consecration. The crosses signify the sanctity of the church. The 13th century Trinity Chapel in Salisbury Cathedral contains a painted consecration cross dating from 30 September 1225.[1][2]

QMRThe flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the Union Jack or Union Flag,[1] is the national flag of the United Kingdom.

The current design of the Union Jack dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. It consists of the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the Cross of St Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). Wales, however, is not represented in the Union Flag by Wales's patron saint, Saint David, as at the time the flag was designed Wales was part of the Kingdom of England.

The flag's correct height-to-length proportions are 1:2.[2] However, the version used by the British Army modifies the proportions to 3:5 and also crops two of the red diagonals.

The earlier flag of Great Britain was established in 1606 by a proclamation of King James VI and I of Scotland and England.[3] The new flag of the United Kingdom was officially created by an Order in Council of 1801, reading as follows:

The Union Flag shall be azure, the Crosses saltire of Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick quarterly per saltire, counter-changed, argent and gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of Saint George of the third fimbriated as the saltire.[4]

It is a cross

Ryan Merkle QMRSt Edward's Crown[edit]

St Edward's Crown

Main article: St Edward's Crown

The centrepiece of the coronation regalia is named for Edward the Confessor and is placed on the monarch's head at the actual moment of crowning by the Archbishop of Canterbury.[42] Made of gold in 1661, it has four crosses pattée and fleurs-de-lis, with two arches on top. Surmounting the arches is a jewelled cross pattée. Its frame is embellished with 444 semi-precious stones, including amethysts, garnet, olivine, peridot, rubies, sapphires, topazes, tourmalines and zircon.[43] The crown is 30 cm (12 in) tall, weighs 2.23 kg (4.9 lb) and has been noted to be extremely heavy. Queen Elizabeth II opted to use a stylised image of this crown in coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia throughout the Commonwealth realms to symbolise her royal authority.[44] On 4 June 2013, it was displayed on the altar in Westminster Abbey to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation – the first time it had left the Tower of London since 1953.

Until the 19th century, the coronation was traditionally followed by a banquet at Westminster Hall. The last banquet was held in 1821 after the coronation of George IV. Silverware used at the banquets include the Plymouth Fountain, a wine fountain made by the German goldsmith Peter Oehr in the mid-17th century. It weighs 14 kilograms (31 lb) and was gilded for the coronation of George II in 1726, and is decorated with flowers, fruit, dolphins, mermaids and sea monsters.

The Exeter Salt, a 45 cm (18 in) tall salt cellar in the form of a castle, was presented to Charles II by the city of Exeter upon the restoration of the monarchy. It was made in 1630 and is set with around 70 gemstones. Each of its four main compartments held about 29 grams (1.0 oz) of salt, and smaller compartments held pepper and spices.[79] The salt is the only surviving work of the German goldsmith Johann Hass.

The four St George's Salts were originally made for a St George's Day banquet of the Knights of the Garter and Charles II in the 17th century.

Ryan Merkle QMrThe flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé, was adopted for the province by the government of Quebec, during the administration of Maurice Duplessis. It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada, first shown on January 21, 1948, at the Parliament Building of the National Assembly in Quebec City. Quebec's Flag Day (January 21) commemorates its adoption each year, though for some time it was celebrated in May.[1] At least one parade marked the flag's 60th anniversary in January 2008.[2]

It is a cross

Ryan Merkle QMRCangjie (Chinese: 倉頡) is a legendary figure in ancient China (c. 2650 BC), claimed to be an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters.[1] Legend has it that he had four eyes and four pupils, and that when he invented the characters, the deities and ghosts cried and the sky rained millet. He is considered a legendary rather than historical figure, or at least, not considered to be sole inventor of Chinese characters. The Cangjie input method, a Chinese character input method, is named after him. A rock on Mars, visited by the Mars rover Spirit, was named after him by the rover team.[2]

Painting Chapter

Music Chapter

QMRThe 4 Cats (Arabic: الفور كاتس) is a Lebanese band made up of four Lebanese female singers. The members in the band have changed frequently.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Lemminkäinen Suite (also called the Four Legends, or Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op. 22, is a work written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in the early 1890s. Originally conceived as a mythological opera, Veneen luominen (The Building of the Boat), on a scale matching those by Richard Wagner, Sibelius later changed his musical goals and the work became an orchestral piece in four movements. The suite is based on the character Lemminkäinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. The piece can also be considered a collection of symphonic poems. The second/third section, The Swan of Tuonela, is often heard separately (the work's inner movements are often reversed as their order is a subject of disagreement among scholars).

Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island: this is based on Runo 29 ("Conquests"[1]) of the Kalevala, where Lemminkäinen travels to an island and seduces many of the women there, before fleeing the rage of the men on the island.

The Swan of Tuonela: this is the most popular of the four tone poems and often is featured alone from the suite in orchestral programs. It has a prominent cor anglais solo. The music paints a gossamer, transcendental image of a mystical swan swimming around Tuonela, the island of the dead. Lemminkäinen has been tasked with killing the sacred swan, but on the way he is shot with a poisoned arrow, and dies himself.

Lemminkäinen in Tuonela: this is based on Runos 14 ("Elk, horse, swan"[2]) and 15 ("Resurrection"[3]). Lemminkäinen is in Tuonela, the land of the dead, to shoot the Swan of Tuonela to be able to claim the daughter of Louhi, mistress of the Northland, in marriage. However, the blind man of the Northland kills Lemminkäinen, whose body is then tossed in the river and then dismembered. Lemminkäinen's mother learns of his death, travels to Tuonela, recovers his body parts, reassembles him and restores him to life.

Lemminkäinen's Return: the storyline in the score roughly parallels the end of Runo 30 ("Jack Frost"[4]), where after his adventures in battle, Lemminkäinen journeys home.

The above order of the movements matches their numbering within opus 22. However, Sibelius revised the order in 1947, transposing the middle two movements, which is the order in which most concert performances are played.[citation needed]

The suite is scored for two flutes (one doubling on the piccolo), two oboes (one doubling on the cor anglais), two clarinets (in B) (one doubling on bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns (in E and F), three trumpets (in E and F), three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, harp, and strings.

Tristan Murail's Gondwana incorporates a substantial passage directly modelled upon Lemminkäinen in Tuonela.[5]

Ryan Merkle QMRGauntlet Legends is an arcade game released in 1998 by Atari Games. It is a fantasy themed hack and slash styled dungeon crawl game, a sequel to 1985's popular Gauntlet and 1986's Gauntlet II and marks the final game in the series to be produced by Atari Games. Its unusual features for an arcade game included passwords and characters that could be saved, enabling players to play over the course of a long period.

Gameplay[edit]

In ages past, a corrupt mage named Garm used a set of Runestones to summon a demon named Skorne. However, Skorne crushed Garm and imprisoned his soul in the Underworld. Skorne, fearing the power of the Runestones, scattered them throughout the four realms, so that they could never be used against him. The player(s) must defeat the end bosses of each of the four kingdoms to obtain the four keys which allow access to the desecrated temple and be able to banish Skorne to the Underworld. While traveling through each realm, he/she/they must also collect the Thirteen Runestones from where they have been scattered. The complete set of Runestones allows him/her/them to pursue Skorne to the Underworld in order to finally destroy him. The players must find three rune stones on each kingdom in order to defeat Skorne in the Underworld (in the arcades only), and of course one from the battle grounds (home versions only). The initial arcade version had a contest by which the first 500 players to complete the game and send in the supplied validation code would win a free Gauntlet Legends shirt. This game will not end unless the player runs out of health.

Ryan Merkle Characters[edit]

A new aspect of the Gauntlet series is established in Legends: the ability to level up the player's character(s) as the game is played, increasing their abilities through experience earned by slaying enemies and acquiring treasure, similar to the character progression methods in many role-playing video games. The four primary attributes are:

Strength - Determines damage dealt by physical attacks.

Speed - Determines character movement and attack rates.

Armor - Determines amount of damage character takes from enemy attacks.

Magic - Determines the range and effectiveness of magic potion attacks (see Items below).

Attributes increase with each level attained; increases can also be purchased from the Items menu with gold acquired in gameplay.

The stock fantasy characters from the original Gauntlet return for Legends; as before, each has greater starting ability in a single attribute than their fellows.

Warrior/Minotaur - Strength

Wizard/Jackal/Sumner - Magic

Archer/Tigress - Speed

Valkyrie/Falconess - Armor

Character progression is saved through a password system; a player can progress all four characters to a maximum level of 99, and each of their attributes to a maximum of 999.

QMRJan Bäcklund and Jacob Wamberg categorize alchemical art into the following four groups:

images made within the alchemical culture proper;

genre images which portray alchemists and their environment;

religious, mythological or genre images which appropriate alchemical ideas or motifs as a kind of Panofskian ‘disguised symbolism’; and

images which show structural affinities with alchemy without iconographically alluding to it.[1]

QMRLike alchemy in visual art, the intersection of alchemy and literature can be broken down into four categories:

The alchemical texts themselves;

Satirical attacks on alchemists;

Stories that incorporate alchemical iconography; and

Works that are structurally alchemical, known as literary alchemy.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Quad Cinema is New York City's first four-screen movie theater, Located in Greenwich Village, it was opened by entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar, along with his younger brother Elliott S. Kanbar in October 1972. It has been described as "one of the oldest independent cinemas in the city" and "a vibrant center for art house films."[1]

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Plaza Cinema is a traditional cinema located in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It is the sole survivor of four cinemas that once existed in the town. The Plaza has circle seating and stalls with Pullman seats throughout.

Ryan Merkle QMRInduced pluripotent stem cells (also known as iPS cells or iPSCs) are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from adult cells. The iPSC technology was pioneered by Shinya Yamanaka’s lab in Kyoto, Japan, who showed in 2006 that the introduction of four specific genes encoding transcription factors could convert adult cells into pluripotent stem cells.[1] He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize along with Sir John Gurdon "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.

QMRFormation[edit]

Historically, four models have been proposed for the formation and persistence of gene clusters.

Gene duplication and divergence[edit]

This model has been generally accepted since the mid-1970s. It postulates that gene clusters were formed as a result of gene duplication and divergence.[2] These gene clusters include the Hox gene cluster, the human β-globin gene cluster, and four clustered human growth hormone (hGH)/chorionic somaomammotropin genes.[3]

Conserved gene clusters, such as Hox and the human β-globin gene cluster, may be formed as a result of the process of gene duplication and divergence. A gene is duplicated during cell division, so that its descendants have two end-to-end copies of the gene where it had one copy, initially coding for the same protein or otherwise having the same function. In the course of subsequent evolution, they diverge, so that the products they code for have different but related functions, with the genes still being adjacent on the chromosome.[4] Ohno theorized that the origin of new genes during evolution was dependent on gene duplication. If only a single copy of a gene existed in the genome of a species, the proteins transcribed from this gene would be essential to their survival. Because there was only a single copy of the gene, they could not undergo mutations which would potentially result in new genes; however, gene duplication allows essential genes to undergo mutations in the duplicated copy, which would ultimately give rise to new genes over the course of evolution.[5] Mutations in the duplicated copy were tolerated because the original copy contained genetic information for the essential gene's function. Species who have gene clusters have a selective evolutionary advantage because natural selection must keep the genes together.[1][6] Over a short span of time, the new genetic information exhibited by the duplicated copy of the essential gene would not serve a practical advantage; however, over a long, evolutionary time period, the genetic information in the duplicated copy may undergo additional and drastic mutations in which the proteins of the duplicated gene served a different role than those of the original essential gene.[5] Over the long, evolutionary time period, the two similar genes would diverge so the proteins of each gene were unique in their functions. Hox gene clusters, ranging in various sizes, are found among several phyla.

Hox cluster[edit]

When gene duplication occurs to produce a gene cluster, one or multiple genes may be duplicated at once. In the case of the Hox gene, a shared ancestral ProtoHox cluster was duplicated, resulting in genetic clusters in the Hox gene as well as the ParaHox gene, an evolutionary sister complex of the Hox gene.[7] It is unknown the exact number of genes contained in the duplicated Protohox cluster; however, models exist suggesting that the duplicated Protohox cluster originally contained four, three, or two genes.[8]

In the case where a gene cluster is duplicated, some genes may be lost. Loss of genes is dependent of the number of genes originating in the gene cluster. In the four gene model, the ProtoHox cluster contained four genes which resulted in two twin clusters: the Hox cluster and the ParaHox cluster.[7] As its name indicates, the two gene model gave rise to the Hox cluster and the ParaHox cluster as a result of the ProtoHox cluster which contained only two genes. The three gene model was originally proposed in conjunction with the four gene model;[8] however, rather than the Hox cluster and the ParaHox cluster resulting from a cluster containing three genes, the Hox cluster and ParaHox cluster were as a result of single gene tandem duplication, identical genes found adjacent on the same chromosome.[7] This was independent of duplication of the ancestral ProtoHox cluster.

Intrachromosomal duplication is the duplication of genes within the same chromosome over the course of evolution (a-1). Mutations may occur in the duplicated copy, such as observed with the substitution of Guanine with Adenine (a-2). Alignment of DNA sequences exhibits homology between the two chromosomes (a-3). All segments were duplicated from the same ancestral DNA sequence as observed by the comparisons in b(i-iii).

Cis vs. trans duplication[edit]

Gene duplication may occur via cis-duplication or trans duplication. Cis-duplication, or intrachromosomal duplication, entails the duplication of genes within the same chromosome whereas trans duplication, or interchromosomal duplication, consists of duplicating genes on neighboring but separate chromosomes.[7] The formations of the Hox cluster and of the ParaHox cluster were results of intrachromosomal duplication, although they were initially thought to be interchromosomal.[8]

Fisher Model[edit]

The Fisher Model was proposed in 1930 by Ronald Fisher. Under the Fisher Model, gene clusters are a result of two alleles working well with one another. In other words, gene clusters may exhibit co-adaptation.[3] The Fisher Model was considered unlikely and later dismissed as an explanation for gene cluster formation.[2][3]

Coregulation Model[edit]

Under the coregulation model, genes are organized into clusters, each consisting of a single promoter and a cluster of coding sequences, which are therefore co-regulated, showing coordinated gene expression.[3] Coordinated gene expression was once considered to be the most common mechanism driving the formation of gene clusters.[1] However coregulation and thus coordinated gene expression cannot drive the formation of gene clusters.[3]

Molarity Model[edit]

The Molarity Model considers the constraints of cell size. Transcribing and translating genes together is beneficial to the cell.[9] thus the formation of clustered genes generates a high local concentration of cytoplasmic protein products. Spatial segregation of protein products has been observed in bacteria; however, the Molarity Model does not consider co-transcription or distribution of genes found within an operon.[2]

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Four Pennies were an English, 1960s pop group, most notable for their 1964 UK chart-topping song "Juliet". The Four Pennies were probably the most commercially successful UK vocal/instrumental group that failed to chart in the United States, during the so-called British Invasion.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Bobby Fuller Four (sometimes stylized as Bobby Fuller 4) was a popular mid-60s American rock & roll band started by Bobby Fuller. With its first incarnation formed in 1962 in El Paso, Texas, the group went on to produce some of its most memorable hits under Mustang Records in Hollywood, California. The band's most successful songs include "Let Her Dance", "I Fought the Law", and "Love's Made a Fool of You."

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Frightful Four are a group of fictional characters appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They serve as the antithesis to the Fantastic Four.

Ryan Merkle QMRLos Four was a Chicano artist collective during the 1970s and early 1980s in Los Angeles, California. The group was instrumental in bringing Chicano Art to the attention of the mainstream art world.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Big Four are the four major international beauty pageants for women.[1][2] These are Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth.[3][4][5] The group was first described by China Daily newspaper in 2004 as the world's four major beauty contests.[6] The world's top four beauty pageants[7] are the most publicised,[8] most influential,[9] and the most prestigous.[10][11]

Contents [hide]

1 The pageants

1.1 Most successful countries

2 Big Four pageant winners by year

3 References

4 External links

The pageants[edit]

The world press such as the international daily newspaper and New York City-based The Wall Street Journal,[1] BBC News,[12] and global news agencies such as Reuters,[13] Agence France-Presse,[14][15] among others, collectively refer the four major pageants as "Big Four" [16] namely:

Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant.[17][18] It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951.[19][20] Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant.[21][22]

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization.[23][24][25] The contest was founded in 1952 by California clothing company Pacific Mills.[26][27] The pageant became part of Kayser-Roth and then Gulf+Western Industries, before being acquired by Donald Trump in 1996 [28][29] and is currently owned by WME/IMG.[22][30]

Miss International, also called "Miss International Beauty",[31] The contestants are expected to serve as "Ambassadors of Peace and Beauty", showing tenderness, benevolence, friendship, beauty, intelligence, ability to take action, and great international sensibility. The ultimate goal of the Miss International beauty pageant is to promote world peace, goodwill, and understanding.[22][32][33]

Miss Earth is an annual pageant organised by Philippine-based Carousel Productions through the Miss Earth Foundation.[34][35] The non-profit organization aims to promote awareness levels and knowledge on current environmental issues and what actions can be done by power of broadcasting and other media campaigns globally where the annual winners are expected to spend a year delivering talks to schools and other organizations and work on projects with other institutions, including Greenpeace, World Wildlife Foundation, and United Nations Environment Program.[22][36][37][38]

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Stanford marshmallow experiment[1] was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,[2] educational attainment,[3] body mass index (BMI),[4] and other life measures.[5]

Subjects[edit]

Test subjects were 16 boys and 16 girls attending the Bing Nursery School of Stanford University. Three other subjects were run, but eliminated because of their failure to comprehend the instructions. The children ranged in age from 3 years, 6 months to 5 years, 8 months (with a median age of 4 years, 6 months). The procedures were conducted by two male experimenters. Eight subjects (four male and four female) were assigned randomly to each of the four experimental conditions. In each condition each experimenter ran two boys and two girls in order to avoid systematic biasing effects from sex or experimenters.[7]

The conditions[edit]

Both the immediate (less preferred) and the delayed (more preferred) reward were left facing the subject and available for attention[7]

Neither reward was available for the subject’s attention, both rewards having been removed from his/her sight[7]

The delayed reward only was left facing the subject and available for attention while he or she waited[7]

The immediate reward only was left facing the subject and available for attention while he or she waited[7]

Procedure[edit]

On the table in the experimental room there were five pretzels and an opaque cake tin. Under the cake tin were five pretzels and two animal cookies. There were two chairs in front of the table, on one chair was an empty cardboard box. On the floor near the chair with the cardboard box on it were four battery operated toys. The experimenter pointed out the four toys; before the child could play with the toys, the experimenter asked the child to sit in the chair and then demonstrated each toy briefly and in a friendly manner, saying that they would play with the toys later on. Then the experimenter placed each toy in the cardboard box and out of sight of the child. The experimenter explained to the child that the experimenter sometimes has to go out of the room but if the child eats a pretzel the experimenter will come back into the room. These instructions were repeated until the child seemed to understand them completely. The experimenter left the room and waited for the child to eat a pretzel – they did this four times.

Next the experimenter opened the cake tin to reveal two sets of reward objects to the child: five pretzels and two animal crackers. The experimenter asked which of the two the child liked better (preferred reward), and after the child chose, the experimenter explained that the child could either continue waiting for the more preferred reward until the experimenter returned, or the child could stop waiting by bringing the experimenter back. If the child stopped waiting, then the child would receive the less favored reward and forgo the more preferred one.

Depending on the condition and the child’s choice of preferred reward, the experimenter picked up the cake tin and along with it either nothing, one of the rewards, or both. The experimenter returned either as soon as the child signaled him to do so or after 15 minutes.[7]

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Cross for the Four Day Marches (Dutch: Vierdaagsekruis) is an Dutch decoration awarded for successful participation in the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen (Vierdaagse in Dutch) held annually at Nijmegen, Netherlands. The full title of the decoration is the Cross for Marching Proficiency (Kruis Voor Betoonde Marsvaardigheid). It is more commonly referred to as the Vierdaagse Cross or Vierdaagsekruis.

Ryan Merkle QMRIn 2015, the world will spend about US$592.43 billion on advertising.[7] Internationally, the largest ("big four") advertising conglomerates are Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP.[8]

QMRThe primary cycle of four beats

File:Polyrhythm6c4.theora.ogv

Polyrhythm 6:4

A great deal of African music is built upon a cycle of four main beats. This basic musical period has a bipartite structure; it is made up of two cells, consisting of two beats each. Ladzekpo states: "The first most useful measure scheme consists of four main beats with each main beat measuring off three equal pulsations [12

8] as its distinctive feature … The next most useful measure scheme consists of four main beats with each main beat flavored by measuring off four equal pulsations [4

4]." (b: "Main Beat Schemes")[5] The four-beat cycle is a shorter period than what is normally heard in European music. This accounts for the stereotype of African music as "repetitive." (Kubik, p. 41)[2] A cycle of only two main beats, as in the case of 3:2, does not constitute a complete primary cycle. (Kubik, Vol. 2, p. 63)[2] Within the primary cycle there are two cells of 3:2, or, a single cycle of six-against-four (6:4). The six cross-beats are represented below as quarter-notes for visual emphasis.

QMRDuple-pulse correlative of 3:2[edit]

In sub-Saharan rhythm the four main beats are typically divided into three or four pulses, creating a 12-pulse (12

8), or 16-pulse (4

4) cycle. (Ladzekpo, b: "Main Beat Scheme")[5] Every triple-pulse pattern has its duple-pulse correlative; the two pulse structures are two sides of the same coin. Cross-beats are generated by grouping pulses contrary to their given structure, for example: groups of two or four in 12

8 or groups of three or six in 4

4. (Rumba, p. 180)[11] The duple-pulse correlative of the three cross-beats of the hemiola, is a figure known in Afro-Cuban music as tresillo. Tresillo is a Spanish word meaning ‘triplet’—three equal notes within the same time span normally occupied by two notes. As used in Cuban popular music, tresillo refers to the most basic duple-pulse rhythmic cell.[13] The pulse names of tresillo and the three cross-beats of the hemiola are identical: one, one-ah, two-and.

QMRCassadaga is the seventh studio album by Bright Eyes, released on April 10, 2007. Around 25 to 30 songs were recorded in 2006,[2] with 13 of these appearing on the final track list. The album is named after the town of Cassadaga, Florida, a community of mediums and followers of spiritualism.[3]

Z Berg of the Like, Sherri DuPree and Stacy King of Eisley as well as solo artist Rachael Yamagata all appear on this album. The first single, "Four Winds" was released on March 6, 2007, from the Four Winds EP with five B-sides not on Cassadaga.[1]

Cassadaga debuted at number four on the U.S Billboard 200, selling about 58,000 copies in its first week.[4] The album is the 103rd release of Saddle Creek Records. This album was #12 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[5] In the United Kingdom Cassadaga reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart in April 2007[8].

Johnny Depp named Cassadaga one of his "favorite things" of 2007.[6]

The first single from the album, "Four Winds" can be heard in the background briefly during the party scene in the 2008 film Cloverfield.

QMRThe Royal Stars and history[edit]

The four stars with their modern and ancient Persian names were:

Aldebaran (Tascheter) - vernal equinox (Watcher of the East)

Regulus (Venant) - summer solstice (Watcher of the South)

Antares (Satevis) - autumnal equinox (Watcher of the West)

Fomalhaut (Haftorang/Hastorang) - winter solstice (Watcher of the North)

Ryan Merkle QMRBright Alpine Four Peaks Mountain Climb

Houston Bright Four for Piano: A Short Suite (1957)

Notion

Invention on a Ground

Quick Dance

Finale

Ryan Merkle QMRWilliam R. "Bill" Bright (October 19, 1921 – July 19, 2003) was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students.[1] In 1952 he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws. In 1979 he produced the Jesus Film.

Dance Chapter

Literature Chapter

Ryan Merkle QMRQuidditch /ˈkwɪdɪtʃ/ is a competitive sport in the Wizarding World of the Harry Potter universe, featured in the series of novels and movies. Matches are played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, using four balls: a Quaffle, two Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch

Ryan Merkle The game starts with the referee releasing all four balls from the central circle. The Bludgers and the Snitch, having been bewitched, fly off of their own accord, the Snitch to hide itself quickly and the Bludgers to attack the nearest players. The Quaffle is thrown into the air by the referee to signal the start of play.

Ryan Merkle QMRNow You See Me is a 2013 American caper thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier

Ryan Merkle Four gifted magicians: J. Daniel "Danny" Atlas (Eisenberg), an up and coming illusionist; Merritt McKinney (Harrelson), a has-been mentalist trying to get back on his feet after his brother/manager ran off with his money; Henley Reeves (Fisher), an escape artist and Danny's former magician's assistant/lover; and Jack Wilder (Franco), a street wise con-man and master lock picker—are brought together by an unknown benefactor after mysteriously finding Tarot cards that tell them to be at a specific time and place where a plan is holographically projected for them. The plot time jumps to a year later, where we find them performing in Las Vegas as "The Four Horsemen" with financing by insurance magnate Arthur Tressler (Caine). For the finale of their show (the first of three big tricks in the movie, because magicians always use two progressively more difficult tricks to set up their big finale) they declare they will rob the bank of a randomly selected audience member, Étienne Forcier, an account holder at the Crédit Républicain de Paris. Etienne dons a camera equipped helmet and is teleported into the vault of his bank in Paris, France where a pile of freshly printed Euros awaits. The Horsemen instruct Etienne to leave a calling card, whereupon an air duct vacuums up the money and showers it onto the Las Vegas crowd. Upon the discovery that the money really is missing from the bank vault, a reluctant FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is called to investigate the theft and is partnered with Interpol agent Alma Dray (Laurent). Dylan interrogates the arrogant Magicians and is convinced of their guilt, but is forced to release them due to lack of evidence.

Ryan Merkle In a mid-credits scene, the Four Horsemen have driven to a wasteland in the middle of a desert. All of them enter and find a secret room containing boxes full of their new magic equipment. They turn to Merritt and ask him for their individual cards to open the boxes, and it is seemingly implied that he has either lost or forgotten the cards.

QMRBreaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed is a series of television shows in which the methods behind magic tricks and illusions are explained. In its original incarnation there were four shows in 1997-1998 and a special in 2002 broadcast on the Fox network in the United States, and on Sky and ITV in the United Kingdom. In 2008-2009, a new series of thirteen shows was broadcast by MyNetworkTV in the United States and ITV4 in the United Kingdom. On May 1, 2012, reruns of the first season began airing on BIO in the United States.

Contents [hide]

1 Cast

2 Episodes

3 Production

4 External links

5 References

Cast[edit]

The first four specials and the full series featured incognito magician Val Valentino as the Masked Magician performing large-scale illusions and a few smaller-scale close up magic tricks before revealing the secrets of the tricks. The Masked Magician was promoted as a well-known magician who wore a mask to avoid recrimination from fellow magicians. He revealed his identity in the fourth episode. His assistants are also left unidentified and uncredited. They are Michelle Berube, Denise Holland, Jennifer Lee Keyes, and Sybil Azur.[1] The fifth special featured a second unidentified Masked Magician, whose assistants were Kelly Cooper, Kimi Bateman, Kadee Sweeney, and Noelle Naone.[citation needed]

Ryan Merkle QMRThere are four principal epic cycles in early Irish literature. The first of these is the Mythological Cycle, which concerns the Irish pagan pantheon, the Tuatha Dé Danann. Second is the Ulster Cycle, mentioned above, also known as the Red Branch Cycle or the Heroic Cycle, which concerns events during the legendary reign of King Conchobar mac Nessa in Ulster in the first century BC. The Ulster Cycle includes the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the so-called "Iliad of the Gael,"[16] and its hero, the warrior Cú Chulainn, a figure comparable to the Greek hero Achilles, known for his terrifying battle frenzy, or ríastrad.[17] Third is a body of romance woven round Fionn Mac Cumhaill, his son Oisin, and his grandson Oscar, in the reigns of the High Kings Conn of the Hundred Battles, his son Art Oénfer, and his grandson Cormac mac Airt, in the second and third centuries AD; this cycle of romance is usually called the Fenian cycle because it deals so largely with Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his fianna (militia). Fourth is the Historical Cycle, or Cycle of the Kings, stemming from Irish court bards' duty to recount the histories and genealogies of the dynasties they served.

The Historical Cycle ranges from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who allegedly became High King of Ireland around 431 BC, to the entirely historical Brian Boru, who reigned as High King of Ireland in the eleventh century AD. The Historical Cycle includes the late medieval tale Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Sweeney), which has influenced the works of T.S. Eliot and Flann O'Brien, among others. Unusually among European epic cycles, the Irish sagas were written in prose, with verse interpolations expressing heightened emotion. Although usually found in recensions of the later mediaeval period, many of these works are linguistically archaic, and thus throw light on pre-Christian Ireland.[18]

QMRThe literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans in any of the country's four main languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin, and Tamil.

While Singaporean literary works may be considered as also belonging to the literature of their specific languages, the literature of Singapore is viewed as a distinct body of literature portraying various aspects of Singapore society and forms a significant part of the culture of Singapore. Literature in all four official languages has been translated and showcased in publications such as the literary journal Singa, that was published in the 1980s and 1990s with editors including Edwin Thumboo and Koh Buck Song, as well as in multilingual anthologies such as Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology Of Poetry (2000), in which the poems were all translated three times each into the three languages. A number of Singaporean writers such as Tan Swie Hian and Kuo Pao Kun have contributed work in more than one language. However, such cross-linguistic fertilisation is becoming increasingly rare and it is now increasingly thought that Singapore has four sub-literatures instead of one.

Ryan Merkle QMRByzantine literature partakes of four different cultural elements: the Greek, the Christian, the Roman, and the Oriental, the character of which commingling with the rest. To Hellenistic intellectual culture and Roman governmental organization are added the emotional life of Christianity and the world of Oriental imagination, the last enveloping all the other three.[1]

Ryan Merkle QMRNBC4.com: What's the difference between a one-alarm, two-alarm, three-alarm, and four-alarm fire?

QMRLibrary of Alexandria destroyed by fire. Evidence is scant for all four fires, but the library was eventually destroyed.

48 BCE – Library of Alexandria accidentally burned during siege by Julius Caesar

272 – Library of Alexandria possibly burned during occupation of Alexandria

391 – Library of Alexandria possibly burned by order of Roman Emperor Theodosius I

642 – later sources attribute burning to Caliph Omar during the Muslim conquest of Egypt

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Carlton Complex Fire is the largest wildfire in the history of Washington state. It began on July 14, 2014 as four separate lightning-caused fires in the Methow Valley which merged into one by July 20 and burned over 250,000 acres (1,011.7 km2). The fire destroyed approximately 300 houses in and around the towns of Pateros and Malott, as well as rural Okanogan County.

Origin[edit]

The Carlton Complex fire consisted of four fires (the Stokes Fire, the Gold Hikes Fire, the French Creek Fire and the Cougar Flat fire) which were ignited by lightning strikes on July 14.[2]

Due to hot weather and windy conditions, the fire grew significantly on July 17 and rapidly overtook the town of Pateros. Over the next few days, several evacuations were ordered, including the entire towns of Pateros and Malott, as well as portions of Brewster, Okanogan, Carlton and Methow.[2]

Rain slowed the fire on July 24, allowing crews to reach 60% containment by July 26.[3]

Ryan Merkle QMRHamburg after four fire-bombing raids in July 1943, which killed an estimated 50,000 people[21]

QMRFour Fires

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First edition (publ. Viking Australia)

Four Fires is a novel written by Bryce Courtenay. It was first published in 2001.

Background to the novel[edit]

The title is derived from a quote (unspecified, but possibly of Indigenous Australian origin):

There are four fires of our dreaming

The bushfire of our land's renewal

The war fire of good men killing

The soul fire of a different God

The fires of a consuming love

The novel focuses on the Maloney family, who live in country Victoria. It also deals with many major events and issues in Australian history, as seen through the eyes of, or experienced by, the Maloneys. These include feminism, bushfires and PTSD. The story covers a time period from the late 1940s to 1999.

QMRTaxonomy[edit]

Farah Mendlesohn argues the world of fantasy literature is broken up into four categories: the portal quest, the immersive, the intrusive, and the liminal.[22] How the fantastic enters the narrated world is what determines how a story fits into these categories.

In a portal quest such as C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (1950), readers are invited into the world of the fantastic.

In the intrusion fantasies like Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), the fantastic invades the fictional world.[22]

With liminal fantasy, for example Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife (1997), the magic hovers just out of sight.[22]

As for immersive fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) for example, allows the reader no escape from the fantastic.[22]

QMRExtant manuscripts[edit]

The Peterborough Chronicle,in a hand of about 1150, is one of the major sources of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; the initial page

A large number of manuscripts remain from the Anglo-Saxon period, with most written during its last 300 years (9th to 11th centuries), in both Latin and the vernacular. There were considerable losses of manuscripts as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century.[2] Scholarly study of the language began in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I when Matthew Parker and others obtained whatever manuscripts they could.[2] Old English manuscripts have been highly prized by collectors since the 16th century, both for their historic value and for their aesthetic beauty with their uniformly spaced letters and decorative elements.[2]

There are four major poetic manuscripts:

The Junius manuscript, also known as the man hunt, is an illustrated collection of poems on biblical narratives.

The Exeter Book, is an anthology, located in the Exeter Cathedral since it was donated there in the 11th century.

The Vercelli Book, contains both poetry and prose; it is not known how it came to be in Vercelli.

The Beowulf Manuscript (British Library Cotton Vitellius A. xv), sometimes called the Nowell Codex, contains prose and poetry, typically dealing with monstrous themes, including Beowulf.[7]

Most Old English poets are anonymous, and only four names are known with any certainty: Cædmon; Bede; Alfred the Great; and Cynewulf.

QMRChristian poetry[edit]

Saints' lives[edit]

The Vercelli Book and Exeter Book contain four long narrative poems of saints' lives, or hagiography. In Vercelli are Andreas and Elene and in Exeter are Guthlac and Juliana.

Andreas is 1,722 lines long and is the closest of the surviving Old English poems to Beowulf in style and tone. It is the story of Saint Andrew and his journey to rescue Saint Matthew from the Mermedonians. Elene is the story of Saint Helena (mother of Constantine) and her discovery of the True Cross. The cult of the True Cross was popular in Anglo-Saxon England and this poem was instrumental.

Guthlac consists of two poems about the English 7th century Saint Guthlac.

Biblical paraphrases[edit]

There are a number of partial Old English Bible translations and paraphrases surviving. The Junius manuscript contains three paraphrases of Old Testament texts. These were re-wordings of Biblical passages in Old English, not exact translations, but paraphrasing, sometimes into beautiful poetry in its own right. The first and longest is of Genesis, the second is of Exodus and the third is Daniel. The fourth and last poem, Christ and Satan, which is contained in the second part of the Junius manuscript, does not paraphrase any particular biblical book, but retells a number of episodes from both the Old and New Testament.

QMRThe Wessex Gospels are a full translation of the four gospels into a West Saxon dialect of Old English, produced about 990. The Old English Gospel of Nicodemus manuscripts date from the 11th century AD. Other translations include "...the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, Vindicta salvatoris, Vision of Saint Paul and the Apocalypse of Thomas".[2]

QMRMS Junius 11 (Cædmon, Junius manuscript or Junius manuscript of Oxford) is one of the four major codices of Old English literature. Although the poems are untitled in the manuscript, modern editors have provided the names Genesis A, Genesis B, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Exeter Book, Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, also known as the Codex Exoniensis, is a tenth-century[1] book or codex which is an anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry. It is one of the four major Anglo-Saxon literature codices, along with the Vercelli Book, Nowell Codex and the Cædmon manuscript or MS Junius 11. The book was donated to the library of Exeter Cathedral by Leofric, the first bishop of Exeter, in 1072. It is believed originally to have contained 131 leaves, of which the first 8 have been replaced with other leaves; the original first 8 pages are lost. The Exeter Book is the largest known collection of Old English literature still in existence.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Vercelli Book is one of the oldest of the four Old English Poetic Codices (the others being the Junius manuscript, the Exeter Book, and the Nowell Codex). It is an anthology of Old English prose and verse that dates back to the late 10th century. The manuscript is housed in the Capitulary Library of Vercelli, in northern Italy.

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Nowell Codex is the second of two manuscripts found in the bound volume Cotton Vitellius A.xv, one of the four major Anglo-Saxon poetic manuscripts. It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem Beowulf. In addition to this, it contains first a fragment of The Life of Saint Christopher, then the more complete texts Wonders of the East and Letters of Alexander to Aristotle, and, after Beowulf, a poetic translation of Judith. Due to the fame of Beowulf, the Nowell codex is also sometimes known simply as the Beowulf manuscript. The manuscript is located within the British Library with the rest of the Cotton collection.

QMRThe four greats of Chilean poetry[edit]

The four greats of Chilean poetry[71] was the group of most important poets of Chilean literature: Gabriela Mistral, Vicente Huidobro, Pablo de Rokha and Pablo Neruda.

These four poets were linked to each other or met each other at some point in their lives. For example, while Gabriela Mistral was head teacher at the Girls' High School in Temuco, Chile, and already recognized as an outstanding poet, a teenage boy came to her with his own poems, asking for her opinion. This teenager was Neftalí Reyes, who would later take the pseudonym of Pablo Neruda and become another great Chilean poet. He would also follow in Mistral's footsteps when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971,[72] 26 years after Mistral herself had won the highest honor in literature in 1945.[73]

In contrast to this tenuous link, the relationship between Huidobro, De Rokha and Neruda was one of the most persistent rivalries in Chilean cultural history. They were peers, part of the same generation, and were all at some point in their lives members of the Chilean Communist Party. De Rokha would later be expelled from the party for some disagreement with the leaders, as they claim today.

Mistral expressed no political affiliation in Chile, although according to the Chilean writer Jaime Quezada,[74] an expert on the work of Mistral, she expressed her Pan-Americanist will in her work "Tala", and expressed solidarity with the Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto Sandino in two texts published in 1928.

The other three poets' links with the Communist party was a reflection of the political climate at the time and their desire to fight for the social change in Chile. However, personal disputes played a more important role than politics in their relationship. Pablo de Rokha became one of Neruda's bitterest enemies, considering him bourgeois and a hypocritical opportunist in political and social life. De Rokha wrote several essays and pamphlets in which he railed against Neruda, for example the poem "Tercetos Dantescos":

Ryan Merkle QMRGoliardic poetry (four-line stanzas of satiric verse) was an art form used by some clerics to express dissent

QMRHindi literature (Hindi: हिन्दी साहित्य, Hindi Sahitya) includes literature in the various Central Zone Indo-Aryan languages which have writing systems. It is broadly classified into four prominent forms (styles) based on the date of production. They are :

Vir-Gathas (poems extolling brave warriors) – 11th–14th century

Bhakti era poems (devotional poems) – 14th–18th century

Riti or Srngar poems (poems of romance) – 18th–20th century

Adhunik literature (modern literature) – 20th century onwards

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Bhakti period also marked great theoretical development in poetry forms chiefly from a mixture of older forms of poetry in Sanskrit School and the Persian School. These included Verse Patterns like Doha (two-liners), Sortha, Chaupaya (four-liners)

Ryan Merkle QMRThe Bhakti period also marked great theoretical development in poetry forms chiefly from a mixture of older forms of poetry in Sanskrit School and the Persian School. These included Verse Patterns like Doha (two-liners), Sortha, Chaupaya (four-liners)

QMRWorks[edit]

Mahadevi is considered to be one of the four major poets of the Chhayavaadi school of the Hindi literature, others being Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant. She was also a noted painter. She drew a number of illustrations for her poetic works like Hindi and Yama. Her other works include short stories such as Gillu (गिल्लू) which talks about her experience with a squirrel and 'Neelkanth' which talks about her experience with a peacock,which is also included as a chapter into the syllabus of Central Board of Secondary Education for the 7th graders. She has also written Gaura which is based on her real life, in this story she wrote about a beautiful cow. Mahadevi Varma is also known for her childhood memoir, Mere Bachpan Ke Din and Gillu (गिल्लू)", which was inducted into the syllabus of India's Central Board of Secondary Education for the 9th grade.

Stories written by her on her pets are also famous.

Ryan Merkle Mahadevi Varma (1907–1987), one of the "four pillars" of the Chhayavada movement

QMRJourney to the West is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. In English-speaking countries, the work is widely known as Monkey, the title of Arthur Waley's popular abridged translation.

The four protagonists, from left to right: Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang (on the White Dragon Horse), Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing

The novel has 100 chapters that can be divided into four unequal parts. The first part, which includes chapters 1–7, is a self-contained introduction to the main story. It deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, a monkey born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and through guile and force makes a name for himself, Qitian Dasheng (simplified Chinese: 齐天大圣; traditional Chinese: 齊天大聖), or "Great Sage Equal to Heaven". His powers grow to match the forces of all of the Eastern (Taoist) deities, and the prologue culminates in Sun's rebellion against Heaven, during a time when he garnered a post in the celestial bureaucracy. Hubris proves his downfall when the Buddha manages to trap him under a mountain, sealing it with a talisman for five hundred years.

18th-century Chinese illustration of a scene from Journey to the West

An illustrated edition of the story

The second part (chapters 8–12) introduces the nominal main character, Xuanzang (Tang Sanzang), through his early biography and the background to his great journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins", the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) to search Tang China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back to the East. Part of the story here also relates to how Xuanzang becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha named "Golden Cicada" (金蟬子) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld).

The third and longest section of the work is chapters 13–99, an episodic adventure story in which Xuanzang sets out to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Leiyin Temple on Vulture Peak in India, but encounters various evils along the way. The section is set in the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India, including Xinjiang, Turkestan, and Afghanistan. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantasy; once Xuanzang departs Chang'an, the Tang capital, and crosses the frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, inhabited by demons and animal spirits, who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh was believed to give immortality to whomever ate it), with the occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh setting.

Episodes consist of 1–4 chapters and usually involve Xuanzang being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although some of Xuanzang's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various demons, many of whom turn out to be earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Xuanzang) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.

Chapters 13–22 do not follow this structure precisely, as they introduce Xuanzang's disciples, who, inspired or goaded by Guanyin, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone for their sins in their past lives.

The first is Sun Wukong, or Monkey, whose given name loosely means "awakened to emptiness", trapped by the Buddha for defying Heaven. He appears right away in chapter 13. The most intelligent and violent of the disciples, he is constantly reproved for his violence by Xuanzang. Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin has placed around his head, which causes him unbearable headaches when Xuanzang chants the Ring Tightening Mantra.

The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Bajie, literally "Eight Precepts Pig", sometimes translated as Pigsy or just Pig. He was previously the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, a commander of Heaven's naval forces, and was banished to the mortal realm for flirting with the moon goddess Chang'e. A reliable fighter, he is characterised by his insatiable appetites for food and sex, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant conflict with Sun Wukong.

The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing, also translated as Friar Sand or Sandy. He was previously the celestial Curtain Lifting General, and was banished to the mortal realm for dropping (and shattering) a crystal goblet of the Queen Mother of the West. He is a quiet but generally dependable character, who serves as the straight foil to the comic relief of Sun and Zhu.

The fourth is Yulong, the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from execution to stay and wait for his call of duty. He appears first in chapter 15, but has almost no speaking role, as throughout the story he mainly appears as a horse that Xuanzang rides on.

Chapter 22, where Sha Wujing is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, as the river that the travelers cross brings them into a new "continent". Chapters 23–86 take place in the wilderness, and consist of 24 episodes of varying length, each characterised by a different magical monster or evil magician. There are impassably wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom with an all-female population, a lair of seductive spider spirits, and many other fantastic scenarios. Throughout the journey, the four brave disciples have to fend off attacks on their master and teacher Xuanzang from various monsters and calamities.

It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travelers. Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities. Towards the end of the book there is a scene where the Buddha literally commands the fulfillment of the last disaster, because Xuanzang is one short of the 81 tribulations he needs to face before attaining Buddhahood.

In chapter 87, Xuanzang finally reaches the borderlands of India, and chapters 87–99 present magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane (though still exotic) setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, but presumably there was room to add additional episodes) they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene simultaneously mystical and comic, Xuanzang receives the scriptures from the living Buddha.

Chapter 100, the last of all, quickly describes the return journey to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveller receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong (Monkey) and Xuanzang (monk) achieve Buddhahood, Sha Wujing (Sandy) becomes an arhat, the dragon horse is made a nāga, and Zhu Bajie (Pig), whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).

The Four main characters

Main characters[edit]

Further information: List of Journey to the West characters

Tripitaka or Xuanzang[edit]

An illustration of Xuanzang

Main article: Xuanzang (fictional character)

The monk Xuanzang (also referred to in the story as Tang Sanzang, meaning "Tang Tripitaka Master", with Tang referring to the Tang Dynasty and Sanzang referring to the Tripitaka, the main categories of texts in the Buddhist canon which is also used as an honorific for some Buddhist monks) is a Buddhist monk who had renounced his family to become a monk from childhood. He is just called Tripitaka in many English versions of the story. He set off for Dahila kingdom (天竺国, an appellation for India in ancient China) to retrieve original Buddhist scriptures for China. Although he is helpless in defending himself, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) helps by finding him powerful disciples who aid and protect him on his journey. In return, the disciples will receive enlightenment and forgiveness for their sins once the journey is done. Along the way, they help the local inhabitants by defeating various monsters and demons who try to obtain immortality by eating Xuanzang's flesh.

Monkey King or Sun Wukong[edit]

An illustration of Sun Wukong

Main article: Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong is the name given to this character by his teacher, Subhuti, the latter part of which means "Awakened to Emptiness" (in the Waley translation, Aware-of-Vacuity); he is called Monkey King. He is born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient rock created by the coupling of Heaven and Earth. He first distinguishes himself by bravely entering the Water Curtain Cave on the mountain; for this feat, his monkey tribe gives him the title of "Handsome Monkey King". After angering several gods and coming to the attention of the Jade Emperor, he is given a minor position in heaven as the Keeper of Horses (弼马温) so they can keep an eye on him. This job is a very low position, and when he realises that he was given a low position and not considered a full-fledged god, he becomes very angry. Upon returning to his mountain, he puts up a flag and declares himself the "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." Then the Jade Emperor dispatches celestial soldiers to arrest Sun Wukong, but no one succeeds. The Jade Emperor has no choice but to appoint him to be the guardian of the heavenly peach garden. The peaches in the garden bear fruit every 3,000 years, and eating its flesh will bestow immortality, so Sun Wukong eats one and becomes more powerful and near-matchless. Later, after fairies who come to collect peaches for the heavenly peach banquet inform Sun Wukong he is not invited and make fun of him, he starts causing trouble in Heaven and defeats an army of 100,000 celestial troops, led by the Four Heavenly Kings, Erlang Shen, and Nezha. Eventually, the Jade Emperor appeals to the Buddha, who detains Wukong under a mountain called Five Elements Mountain. Sun Wukong is kept under the mountain for 500 years, and cannot escape because of a spell that was put on the mountain. He is later set free when Xuanzang comes upon him during his pilgrimage and accepts him as a disciple.

His primary weapon is his staff, the "Ruyi Jingu Bang", which he can shrink down to the size of a needle and keep in his ear, as well as expand it to gigantic proportions. The rod, which weighs 17,550 pounds, was originally a pillar supporting the undersea palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea, but he was able to pull it out of its support and can swing it with ease. The Dragon King had told Sun Wukong he could have the staff if he could lift it, but was angry when the monkey was actually able to pull it out and accused him of being a thief; hence Sun Wukong was insulted, so he demanded a suit of armour and refused to leave until he received one. The Dragon King, unwilling to see a monkey making troubles in his favourite place, also gave him a suit of golden armour. These gifts, combined with his devouring of the peaches of immortality, three jars of elixir, and his time being tempered in Laozi's Eight-Trigram Furnace (he gained a steel-hard body and fiery golden eyes that could see very far into the distance and through any disguise. He is therefore always able to recognise a demon in disguise while the rest of the pilgrimage cannot. However, his eyes become weak to smoke), makes Sun Wukong the strongest member of the pilgrimage by far. Besides these abilities, he can also pluck hairs from his body and blow on them to convert them into whatever he wishes (usually clones of himself to gain a numerical advantage in battle). Although he is a master of the 72 methods of transformation (七十二变),[8] and can transform into a bird (giving him the ability to fly), he can use his "somersault cloud" enabling him to travel vast distances in a single leap. The monkey, nimble and quick-witted, uses these skills to defeat all but the most powerful of demons on the journey.

Sun's behavior is checked by a band placed around his head by Guanyin, which cannot be removed by Sun Wukong himself until the journey's end. Xuanzang can tighten this band by chanting the "Ring Tightening Mantra" (taught to him by Guanyin) whenever he needs to chastise him. The spell is referred to by Xuanzang's disciples as the "Headache Sutra", which is the Buddhist mantra "oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ". Xuanzang speaks this mantra quickly in repetition.

Sun Wukong's childlike playfulness is a huge contrast to his cunning mind. This, coupled with his great power, makes him a trickster hero. His antics present a lighter side in what proposes to be a long and dangerous trip into the unknown.

Zhu Bajie[edit]

An illustration of Zhu Bajie

Main article: Zhu Bajie

Zhu Bajie (literally "Pig of the Eight Prohibitions") is also known as Zhu Wuneng ("Pig Awakened to Ability"), and given the name Pigsy, Monk Pig or just simply Pig in English.

Once an immortal who was the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy commanding 100,000 naval soldiers of the Milky Way, he drank too much during a celebration of gods and attempted to flirt with the moon goddess Chang'e, resulting in his banishment into the mortal world. He was supposed to be reborn as a human, but ends up in the womb of a sow due to an error at the Reincarnation Wheel, which turns him into a half-man half-pig monster. Zhu Bajie was very greedy, and could not survive without eating ravenously. Staying within the Yunzhan Dong ("cloud-pathway cave"), he was commissioned by Guanyin to accompany Xuanzang to India and given the new name Zhu Wuneng.

However, Zhu Bajie's indulgence in women led him to the Gao Family Village, where he posed as a normal being and wedded a maiden. Later, when the villagers discovered that he was a monster, Zhu Bajie hid the girl away, and the girl wailed bitterly every night. At this point, Xuanzang and Sun Wukong arrived at the Gao Family Village and helped defeat him. Renamed Zhu Bajie by Xuanzang, he consequently joined the pilgrimage to the West.

His weapon of choice is the jiuchidingpa ("nine-tooth iron rake"). He is also capable of 36 transformations (as compared to Sun Wukong's 72), and can travel on clouds, but not as fast as Sun. However, Zhu is noted for his fighting skills in water, which he used to combat Sha Wujing, who later joined them on the journey. He is the second strongest member of the team.

Sha Wujing[edit]

An illustration of Shā Wùjìng

Main article: Sha Wujing

Shā Wùjìng (literally meaning "Sand Awakened to Purity"), given the name Friar Sand or Sandy in English, was once a celestial Curtain Lifting General, who stood in attendance by the imperial chariot in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. He was exiled to the mortal world and made to look like a monster because he accidentally smashed a crystal goblet belonging to the Queen Mother of the West during a Peach Banquet. The now-hideous immortal took up residence in the Flowing Sands River, terrorising surrounding villages and travellers trying to cross the river. However, he was subdued by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie when Xuanzang's party came across him. They consequently took him in, as part of the pilgrimage to the West.

Sha's weapon is the yueyachan ("Crescent-Moon-Shovel" or "Monk's Spade"). He also knows eighteen transformation methods and is highly effective in water combat. He is about as strong as Zhu Bajie, and is much stronger than Sun Wukong in water. However, Zhu can defeat Sha in a test of endurance, and Sun can almost certainly defeat him both on land and in the air.

Sha is known to be the most obedient, logical, and polite of the three disciples, and always takes care of his master, seldom engaging in the bickering of his fellow disciples. He has no major faults nor any extraordinary characteristics. Perhaps this is why he is sometimes seen as a minor character. He does however serve as the peacekeeper of the group mediating between Sun and Zhu and even Xuanzang and the others. He is also the person whom Xuanzang consults when faced with difficult decisions.

Sha eventually becomes an arhat at the end of the journey, giving him a higher level of exaltation than Zhu Bajie, who is relegated to cleaning every altar at every Buddhist temple for eternity, but lower spiritually than Sun Wukong or Xuanzang, who are granted Buddhahood.

QMRNorthrop Frye asserts in Anatomy of Criticism (1957) that all narratives fall into one of four mythos.

QMRVietnamese mythology comprises the pre-history national myths of the Vietnamese people together with popular aspects of religion in Vietnam.

Popular heroes and gods[edit]

Figures in Vietnamese mythology include The Four Immortals: the giant boy Thánh Gióng, mountain god Tản Viên Sơn Thánh,[1] Chử Đồng Tử marsh boy, princess Liễu Hạnh. One of the Four Immortals also reemerges in the fighting between Sơn Tinh and Thủy Tinh "the god of the mountain and the god of the Water." Historical legend occurs in the story of the Thuận Thiên "Heaven's Will" magical sword of King Lê Lợi.

Adaptions of Chinese mythology occur such as the Four Holy Beasts (the Vietnamese dragon, Kỳ Lân, Turtle and Phoenix). Chinese Shennong appears in Sino-Vietnamese myths with the same characters (chữ Hán 神農) pronounced as "Thần Nông."

Ryan Merkle The Four Immortals (Vietnamese: Tứ bất tử, chữ Hán: 四不死) refers to the four chief cult figures in the pantheon of genii worshiped by the Vietnamese people of the Red River Delta region.[1] They are Tản Viên Sơn Thánh (chữ Hán: 傘圓山聖), also known as Sơn Tinh (山精) the god of Tản Viên Mountain, Phù Đổng Thiên Vương (扶董天王, also known as Thánh Gióng, Ông Dóng) a giant who defeated northern invaders, Chử Đồng Tử (褚童子) a sage, and Princess Liễu Hạnh (柳杏公主), a heavenly spirit and Mother Goddess.

Full development of the mythology and honouring of the Four Immortals took place in the Lê Dynasty.[2] Each of the four immortals has association with helping historical national figures. For example, Thánh Gióng in legend helped the sixth Hung King to repulse foreign invaders.[3]

QMRThe Four Legends Fountain[edit]

Constructed in 1992, the Four Legends Fountain honors four pioneers of the "thumb picking" style of guitar playing often associated with Bluegrass music: Kennedy Jones, Ike Everly, Mose Rager, and Merle Travis.[7] All four have close ties to Muhlenberg County.

Cinema Chapter