And so Saturn says and has sent to warn you: When you see the moon amiss and two monks' heads, And a maid have the mastery, and multiply by eight, Then shall Death withdraw and Dearth be justice, And Daw the diker die for hunger Unless God of his goodness grants us a truce.

[William Langland, Will's Vision of Piers Plowman , E. Talbot Donaldson, tr., E. D. Kirk, J. H. Anderson, ed., (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1990), p. 70]. I - xxii - Far From Time.

Lothar Flusstapfer, packing his bags for Vegas, has a premonition. At the apex of the chichi, Aira notices tail-gating neuro-Niceans. Heppleweis’ lax performance at Failsafe makes the late night sports wrap-up, also viewed by the fjulsfut whom, scattered by a Snorggi sneeze, are interned in the Forgotten Tents. A golf segue features a match involving the Trinity, crashed by Lucifer, who points out current parallel envelopments at the chichi, marking the collision between Aira and the neuro-Niceans, with collateral effect. The Van Etnabarons are safely reunited and resolve to confront perpetrators.

~ page 280 ~

Richard Strauss, portrait by Max Liebermann, 1918; in the National-Galerie, Berlin

Strauss, Richard

Act I, Signature xxii - (1)

Born June 11, 1864, Munich, Ger.

Died Sept. 8, 1949, Garmisch-Partenkirchen

German composer and conductor. Son of a horn player, he began composing at age six. Before he was 20, he had already had major premieres of two symphonies and a violin concerto. In 1885 the conductor of the Meiningen Orchestra, Hans von Bülow, made Strauss his successor. Strongly influenced by the work of Richard Wagner, he began to write programmatic orchestral tone poems, including Don Juan (1889), Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (1894–95), and Also sprach Zarathustra (1896). After 1900 he focused on operas; his third such work, Salome (1903–05), was a succès de scandale. Elektra (1906–08) marked the beginning of a productive collaboration with the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, with whom Strauss wrote his greatest operas, including Der Rosenkavalier (1909–10). He remained in Austria through World War II and held a music post in the German government, but he was later cleared of wrongdoing in connection with the Nazi regime. After many years writing lesser works, he produced several remarkable late pieces, including Metamorphosen (1945) and the Four Last Songs (1948).

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (German: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, 1894-95), Op. 28, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, chronicling the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspiegel. The two themes representing Till are played respectively by the horn and the clarinet. The horn theme is a lilting melody that reaches a peak, falls downward, and ends in three long, loud notes, each progressively lower. The clarinet theme is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best.

The work opens with a 'Once upon a time' theme, with solo horn bursting in with two repetitions of the first Till theme. The theme is taken by the rest of the orchestra in a rondo form (which Strauss spelled in its original form, rondeau), and this beginning section concludes with the tutti orchestra repeating two notes, along the lines of a child's "ta da!" The clarinet theme is heard next, suggesting Till's laughter as he plots his next prank. The music follows Till throughout the countryside, as he rides a horse through a market, upsetting the goods and wares, pokes fun at the strict Teutonic clergy, flirts and chases girls (the love theme is given to soli first violin), and mocks the serious academics.

The music suggesting a horse ride returns again, with the first theme restated all over the orchestra, when the climax abruptly changes to a funeral march. Till has been captured by the authorities, and is sentenced to beheading for blasphemy. The funeral march of the headsman begins a dialogue with the desperate Till, who tries to wheedle and joke his way out of this predicament. Unfortunately, he has no effect on the stony executioner, who lets fall the ax. The D clarinet wails in a distortion of the first theme, signifying his death scream, and a pizzicato by the strings represents the actual execution. After a moment of silence, the 'once upon a time' theme heard at the beginning returns, suggesting that someone like Till can never be destroyed, and the work ends with one last quotation of the musical joke.

Beatrix Helen Potter, 1913

Potter, Beatrix

Act I, Signature xxii - (2)

Born July 28, 1866, South Kensington, Middlesex, Eng.

Died Dec. 22, 1943, Sawrey, Lancashire

English author and illustrator of children's books. In her childhood Potter spent holidays in Scotland and the English Lake District, which inspired her love of animals and stimulated her imaginative and technically superb watercolour drawings. The illustrated animal stories she sent to a sick child when she was 27 were published as The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), which became one of the best-selling children's books of all time. More than 20 sequels followed, featuring such original characters as Jeremy Fisher, Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Born into a privileged household, Potter was educated by governesses and grew up isolated from other children. She had numerous pets and, through holidays spent in Scotland and the Lake District, developed a love of landscape, flora and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted. As a young woman her parents discouraged her intellectual development, but her study and paintings of fungi led her to be widely respected in the field of mycology. In her thirties Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit , and became secretly engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne, causing a breach with her parents, who disapproved of his social status. Warne died before the wedding could take place.

Potter eventually published 23 children's books and, having become financially independent of her parents, was able to buy a farm in the Lake District, which she extended with other purchases over time. In her forties she married a local solicitor, William Heelis. She became a sheep breeder and farmer while continuing to write and illustrate children's books. Potter died in 1943, and left almost all of her property to her husband who, after his death in 1945, left it to The National Trust in order to preserve the beauty of the Lake District as she had known it, protecting it from developers.

When Potter came of age, her parents appointed her their housekeeper and discouraged any intellectual development, instead requiring her to supervise the household. From the age of 15 until she was past 30, she recorded her everyday life in journals, using her own secret code, which was not decoded until 20 years after her death [http://www.peterrabbit.com/miss_pott er/miss_potter_world/diary.cfm].

An uncle attempted to introduce her as a student at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but she was rejected because she was female. Potter was later one of the first to suggest that lichens were a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae [Chet Raymo, "The Sharp and the Half-Sharp," Science Musings (blog of Stonehill College professor and former Boston Globe columnist, Chet Raymo), September 29, 2006]. As, at the time, the only way to record microscopic images was by painting them, Potter made numerous drawings of lichens and fungi. As the result of her observations, she was widely respected throughout England as an expert mycologist. She also studied spore germination and life cycles of fungi. Potter's set of detailed watercolours of fungi, numbering some 270 completed by 1901, is in the Armitt Library, Ambleside.

In 1897, her paper on the germination of spores was presented to the Linnean Society by her uncle Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe, as women were barred from attending meetings (in 1997, the Society issued a posthumous official apology to Potter for the way she had been treated). The Royal Society also refused to publish at least one of her technical papers. She also lectured at the London School of Economics several times. Français: Feuilles de thé vert en infusion dans un zhong (author: Wikimol, December 2005).*

flavonoid

Act I, Signature xxii - (3)

Or flavone. Organic compound, any member of a class of biological pigments containing no nitrogen that are found in many plants. They include anthoxanthins, which give yellow colours, often to flower petals, and anthocyanins, largely responsible for the red colouring of buds and young shoots and the purple and purple-red colours of autumn leaves. Their biological function is unknown; they may attract pollinators and seed dispersers.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids), also collectively known as Vitamin P and citrin ["Vitamin P," http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vitamin+p], are a class of plant secondary metabolites. According to the IUPAC nomenclature ["Flavonoids (isoflavonoids and neoflavonoids)," IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology , http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/F02424.pdf], they can be classified into:

• flavonoids, derived from 2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1,4-benzopyrone) structure (examples: quercetin, rutin). • • isoflavonoids, derived from 3-phenylchromen-4-one (3-phenyl-1,4-benzopyrone) structure • • neoflavonoids, derived from 4-phenylcoumarine (4-phenyl-1,2-benzopyrone) structure.

The three flavonoid classes above are all ketone-containing compounds, and as such, are flavonoids and flavonols. This class was the first to be termed "bioflavonoids." The terms flavonoid and bioflavonoid have also been more loosely used to describe non-ketone polyhydroxy polyphenol compounds which are more specifically termed flavanoids, flavan-3-ols, or catechins (although catechins are actually a subgroup of flavanoids).

Biological roles. Flavonoids are widely distributed in plants fulfilling many functions. Flavonoids are the most important plant pigments for flower coloration producing yellow or red/blue pigmentation in petals designed to attract pollinator animals.

Flavonoids secreted by the root of their host plant help Rhizobia in the infection stage of their symbiotic relationship with legumes like peas, beans, clover, and soy. Rhizobia living in soil are able to sense the flavonoids and this triggers the secretion of Nod factors, which in turn are recognized by the host plant and can lead to root hair deformation and several cellular responses such as ion fluxes and the formation of a root nodule.

They also protect plants from attacks by microbes, fungi [Galeotti, F., Barile, E., Curir, P., Dolci, M., Lanzotti, V., "Flavonoids from carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) and their antifungal activity," Phytochemistry Letters 1: 44 (2008)], and insects.

Potential for biological activity. Flavonoids (specifically flavanoids such as the catechins) are "the most common group of polyphenolic compounds in the human diet and are found ubiquitously in plants [Spencer, Jeremy P. E., "Flavonoids: modulators of brain function?" British Journal of Nutrition 99: es60–77 (2008)]." Flavonols, the original bioflavonoids such as quercetin, are also found ubiquitously, but in lesser quantities. Both sets of compounds have evidence of health-modulating effects in animals which eat them.

The widespread distribution of flavonoids, their variety and their relatively low toxicity compared to other active plant compounds (for instance alkaloids) mean that many animals, including humans, ingest significant quantities in their diet. Resulting from experimental evidence that they may modify allergens, viruses, and carcinogens, flavonoids have potential to be biological "response modifiers," such as anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory [Yamamoto and Gaynor, "Therapeutic potential of inhibition of the NF-?B pathway in the treatment of inflammation and cancer," Journal of Clinical Investigation 107 (2): 135, http://www.jci.org/cgi/content/full/107/2/135? ijkey=a1e09ce2dbca283cec170598f 2410b15d5f4304f&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha], anti-microbial [Cushnie, T. P. T., Lamb, A. J., "Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids," International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 26 (5): 343–356 (2005)] and anti-cancer activities shown from in vitro studies [de Sousa, R. R., Queiroz, K. C., Souza, A. C., Gurgueira, S. A., Augusto, A. C., Miranda, M. A., Peppelenbosch, M. P., Ferreira, C. V., Aoyama, H., "Phosphoprotein levels, MAPK activities and NFkappaB expression are affected by fisetin," J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 22 (4): 439–444 (2007)].

Antioxidant activity in vitro. Flavonoids (both flavonols and flavanols) are most commonly known for their antioxidant activity in vitro. Consumers and food manufacturers have become interested in flavonoids for their possible medicinal properties, especially their putative role in prevention of cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Although physiological evidence is not yet established, the beneficial effects of fruits, vegetables, tea, and red wine have sometimes been attributed to flavonoid compounds rather than to known micronutrients, such as vitamins and dietary minerals [Félicien Breton, Health Benefits of Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (2008), http://www.frenchscout.com/polyphenols#procyanidins].

Alternatively, research conducted at the Linus Pauling Institute and evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority indicates that, following dietary intake, flavonoids themselves are of little or no direct antioxidant value [Lotito, S. B., Frei, B., "Consumption of flavonoid-rich foods and increased plasma antioxidant capacity in humans: cause, consequence, or epiphenomenon?" Free Radic. Biol. Med . 41 (12): 1727–46 (2006); Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to various food(s)/food constituent(s) and protection of cells from premature aging, antioxidant activity, antioxidant content and antioxidant properties, and protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage pursuant to Article 13 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/20061, EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) 2, 3 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Journal (Parma, Italy) 8 (2): 1489 (2010), http://www.frenchscout.com/polyphenols#procyanidins]. As body conditions are unlike controlled test tube conditions, flavonoids and other polyphenols are poorly absorbed (less than 5%), with most of what is absorbed being quickly metabolized and excreted. The increase in antioxidant capacity of blood seen after the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods is not caused directly by flavonoids themselves, but most likely is due to increased uric acid levels that result from metabolism of flavonoids [David Stauth, "Studies force new view on biology of flavonoids," EurekAlert! (adapted from a release issued by Oregon State University), http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/osu-sfn030507.php].

According to Frei, "we can now follow the activity of flavonoids in the body, and one thing that is clear is that the body sees them as foreign compounds and is trying to get rid of them." Seizure of the Zaibatsu families' assets, October 1946; source: Vol. 13, "Ruins and Lack," in Showa History (Mainichi Newspapers Company).*

zaibatsu

Act I, Signature xxii - (4)

(Japanese“wealthy clique”)

Large capitalist enterprises of pre-World War II Japan, similar to cartels or trusts but usually organized around a single family. One zaibatsu might operate companies in many areas of economic importance; all zaibatsu owned their own banks, which they used as a means for mobilizing capital. After the war the zaibatsu were dissolved: stock owned by the parent companies was put up for sale and individual companies were freed from the control of parent companies. After the signing of the peace treaty in 1951, many companies began associating into what became known as enterprise groups; these differed from zaibatsu primarily in the informal manner that characterized policy coordination and in the limited degree of financial interdependency between member companies. Modern-day keiretsu are similar.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

History and Development. The Big Four zaibatsu (



?, shidai zaibatsu) of Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Yasuda are the most significant zaibatsu groups. Two of them, Mitsui and Sumitomo, have roots stemming from the Edo period while Mitsubishi and Yasuda trace their origins to the Meiji Restoration. Throughout Meiji to Showa, the government employed their financial powers and expertise for various endeavors, including tax collection, military procurement and foreign trade.

The new zaibatsu. Beyond the Big Four, consensus is lacking as to which companies can be called zaibatsu, and which cannot. After the Russo-Japanese War, a number of so-called "second-tier" zaibatsu also emerged, mostly as the result of business conglomerations and/or the award of lucrative military contracts. Some more famous second- tier zaibatsu included the Okura, Furukawa, and Nakajima groups, among several others.

The early zaibatsu permitted some public shareholding of some subsidiary companies, but never of the top holding company or key subsidiaries. The monopolistic business practices by the zaibatsu resulted in a closed circle of companies until Japanese industrial expansion on the Asian mainland (Manchukuo) began in the 1930s, which allowed for the rise of a number of new groups (shinko zaibatsu), including Nissan. These new zaibatsu differed from the traditional zaibatsu only in that they were not controlled by specific families, and not in terms of business practices.

Postwar dissolution. The zaibatsu had been viewed with some ambivalence by the Japanese military, which nationalized a significant portion of their product capability during World War II. Remaining assets were also highly damaged by the destruction during the war. Under the American occupation after the surrender of Japan, a partially successful attempt was made to dissolve the zaibatsu. Many of the economic advisors accompanying the SCAP administration had experience with the New Deal program under American President Roosevelt, and were highly suspicious of monopolies and restrictive business practices, which they felt to be both inefficient, and to be a form of corporativism (and thus inherently anti- democratic).

During the occupation of Japan, sixteen zaibatsu were targeted for complete dissolution, and twenty six more for reorganization after dissolution. Among the zaibatsu that were targeted for dissolution in 1946 were Asano, Furukawa, Nakajima, Nissan, Nomura, and Okura. Their controlling families' assets were seized, holding companies eliminated, and interlocking directorships, essential to the old system of inter-company coordination, were outlawed. Matsushita, while not a zaibatsu, was originally also targeted for breakup, but was saved by a petition signed by 15,000 of its union workers and their families [Morck, Randall and Masao Nakamura, A Frog in a Well Knows Nothing of the Ocean: A History of Corporate Ownership in Japan , p. 33, http://www.nber.org/books/corp-owner0 3/morck-nakamura7-1-04.pdf].

However, complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved, mostly because U.S. government rescinded the orders in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia [in his 1967 memoirs, Kennan wrote that aside from the Marshall Plan, setting the "reverse course" in Japan was "the most significant contribution I was ever able to make in government..." George F. Kennan, Memoirs: 1925-50 (Boston, 1967), p. 393]. Zaibatsu as a whole were widely considered to be beneficial to the Japanese economy and government, and the opinions of the Japanese public, of the zaibatsu workers and management, and of the entrenched bureaucracy regarding plans for zaibatsu dissolution ranged from unenthusiastic to disapproving. Additionally, the changing politics of the Occupation during the reverse course served as a crippling, if not terminal, roadblock to zaibatsu elimination.

Modern-day influence. Today, the influence of the zaibatsu can still be seen in the form of financial groups, institutions, and larger companies whose origins reach back to the original zaibatsu, often sharing the same original family names (for example, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation). However, some argue that the "old mechanisms of financial and administrative control" that zaibatsu once enjoyed have been destroyed. Despite the absence of an actualized sweeping change to the existence of large industrial conglomerates in Japan, the zaibatsu's previous vertically integrated chain of command, ending with a single family, has now widely been displaced by the horizontal relationships of association and coordination characteristic of keiretsu (

?). Keiretsu, meaning "series" or "subsidiary", could be interpreted as being suggestive of this difference.

~ page 281 ~ “Astronomers at the Istanbul Observatory, ” from Islam and the Arab World , Bernard Lewis, ed., (New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.), p. 200.*

lunar calendar

Act I, Signature xxii - (5)

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

The Islamic calendar is not to be confused with the lunar calendar. The latter is based on a year of 12 months adding up to 354.37 days. Each lunar month begins at the time of the monthly "conjunction", when the Moon is located on a straight line between the Earth and the Sun. The month is defined as the average duration of a rotation of the Moon around the Earth (29.53 days). By convention, months of 30 days and 29 days succeed each other, adding up over two successive months to 59 full days. This leaves only a small monthly variation of 44 mn to account for, which adds up to a total of 24 hours (i.e. the equivalent of one full day) in 2.73 years. To settle accounts, it is sufficient to add one day every three years to the lunar calendar, in the same way that one adds one day to the Gregorian calendar, every four years [Emile Biémont, “Rythmes du temps,” Astronomie et Calendriers (De Borck, 2000), 393p]. The technical details of the adjustment are described in Tabular Islamic Calendar.

The Islamic calendar, however, is based on a different set of conventions [Khalid Chraibi, “Issues in the Islamic Calendar,” Tabsir.net]. Each Islamic State proceeds with its own monthly observation of the new moon (or, failing that, awaits the completion of 30 days) before declaring the beginning of a new month on its territory.

But, the lunar crescent becomes visible only some 15–18 hours after the conjunction, and only subject to the existence of a number of favourable conditions relative to weather, time, geographic location, as well as various astronomical parameters [Karim Meziane et Nidhal Guessoum, “La visibilité du croissant lunaire et le Ramadan,” La Recherche n° 316 , Janvier 1999, pp. 66–71]. As a result, the beginning of each month differs from one Muslim country to another, and the information provided by the calendar does not extend beyond the current month.

If the Islamic calendar were prepared using astronomical calculations, Muslims throughout the Muslim world could use it to meet all their needs, the way they use the Gregorian calendar today. But, there are divergent views on whether it is licit to do so [Allal el Fassi, «Aljawab assahih wannass-hi al-khaliss ‘an nazilati fas wama yata’allaqo bimabda-i acchouhouri al-islamiyati al-arabiyah », "[...] and the beginning of Islamic Arab months", report prepared at the request of King Hassan II of Morocco, Rabat, 1965 (36 p.), with no indication of editor]. A majority of theologians oppose the use of calculations on the grounds that this would not conform with Muhammad's recommendation to observe the new moon of Ramadan and Shawal in order to determine the beginning of these months [Muhammad Mutawalla al-Shaârawi, Fiqh al-halal wal Haram , Ahmad Azzaâbi, ed. (Dar al-Qalam: Beyrouth, 2000), p. 88 ]. But, since there is no prohibition to use astronomical calculations in the Qur’an, some jurists see no contradiction between Muhammad’s teachings and the use of calculations to determine the beginnings of lunar months [Abderrahman al-Haj : «The faqih, the politician and the determination of lunar months » (in Arabic)]. They consider that Muhammad's recommendation was merely adapted to the culture of the times, and should not be confused with the acts of worship [Allal el Fassi : "Aljawab assahih..." op. cit.; The dynasty of Fatimids in Egypt used a tabular pre-calculated calendar over a period of two centuries, between the 10th and 12th centuries, before a change of political regime reactivated the procedure of observation of the new moon; Helmer Aslaksen, The Islamic calendar ].

Thus, jurists Ahmad Muhammad Shakir and Yusuf al-Qaradawi both endorsed the use of calculations to determine the beginning of all months of the Islamic calendar, in 1939 and 2004 respectively [Ahmad Shakir : “The beginning of Arab months … is it legal to determine it using astronomical calculations?” (published in Arabic in 1939); reproduced in the Arab daily Al-Madina , 13 October 2006 (n° 15878); Yusuf al-Qaradawi : “Astronomical calculations and determination of the beginning of months (in Arabic)”]. So did the "Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA)” in 2006 [Fiqh Council of North America Islamic lunar calendar; Zulfikar Ali Shah; “The astronomical calculations: a fiqhi discussion”] and the "European Council for Fatwa and Research" (ECFR) in 2007 [Islamic Center of Boston, Wayland, September 7th , 2007].

Copper-Bromide laser in operation in South Florida, February 2006.*

"rock laser show"

Act I, Signature xxii - (6)

Device that produces an intense beam of coherent light (light composed of waves having a constant difference in phase). Its name, an acronym derived from “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation,” describes how its beam is produced. The first laser, constructed in 1960 by Theodore Maiman (born 1927) based on earlier work by Charles H. Townes, used a rod of ruby. Light of a suitable wavelength from a flashlight excited (see excitation) the ruby atoms to higher energy levels. The excited atoms decayed swiftly to slightly lower energies (through phonon reactions) and then fell more slowly to the ground state, emitting light at a specific wavelength.The light tended to bounce back and forth between the polished ends of the rod, stimulating further emission. The laser has found valuable applications in microsurgery, compact-disc players, communications, and holography, as well as for drilling holes in hard materials, alignment in tunnel drilling, long-distance measurement, and mapping fine details.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

A laser lighting display or laser light show involves the use of laser light to entertain an audience. A laser light show may consist only of projected laser beams set to music, or may accompany another form of entertainment, typically a dance concert or other musical performance.

Laser light is useful in entertainment because the coherent nature of laser light allows a narrow beam to be produced, which allows the use of optical scanning to draw patterns or images on walls, ceilings or other surfaces including theatrical smoke and fog without refocusing for the differences in distance, as is common with video projection. This inherently more focused beam is also extremely visible, and is often used as an effect. Sometimes the beams are "bounced" to different positions with mirrors to create laser sculptures.

Laser scanners consist of small mirrors which are mounted on galvanometers to which a control voltage is applied. The beam is deflected a certain amount which correlates to the amount of voltage applied to the galvanometer scanner. Two galvanometer scanners can enable X-Y control voltages to aim the beam to any point on a square or rectangular raster. This enables the laser lighting designer to create patterns such as Lissajous figures (such as are often displayed on oscilloscopes); other methods of creating images through the use of galvanometer scanners and X-Y control voltages can generate letters, shapes, and even complicated and intricate images. (The use of X-Y raster scanning to create images is also used in television picture tubes.) A planar or conical moving beam aimed through atmospheric smoke or fog can display a plane or cone of light known as a "laser tunnel" effect.

Safety. Some lasers have the potential to cause eye damage if aimed directly into the eye, or if someone were to stare directly into a stationary laser beam. Some high-power lasers used in entertainment applications can also cause burns or skin damage if enough energy (typically a stationary beam) is directed onto the human body and at a close enough range. In the United States, the use of lasers in entertainment, like other laser products, is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and additionally by some state regulatory agencies such as New York State which requires licensure of some laser operators. Safety precautions used by laser lighting professionals include beamstops and procedures so that the beam is projected above the heads of the audience. It is possible, and in some countries commonplace, to do deliberate audience scanning. In such a case, the show is supposed to be designed and analyzed to keep the beam moving, so that no harmful amount of laser energy is ever received by any individual audience member.

Lasers used outdoors can pose a risk of "flash blindness" to pilots of aircraft if too-bright light enters the cockpit. In the U.S., outdoor laser use is jointly regulated by the FDA and the Federal Aviation Administration. For details, see the article Lasers and aviation safety.

~ page 282 ~ canterbury

Act I, Signature xxii - (7)

(plural canterburys or canterburies)

'Canterbury', a small piece of furniture made originally to house sheet music, also used for newspapers and magazines

A magazine rack, usually wooden, often done as a decorative piece.

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canter bury" see G. Eliot, The Mill on the Floss An image of the distribution and size of eel larvae shows the approximate location of the Sargasso Sea (map of the Sargasso Sea by Uwe Kils).*

Sargasso Sea

Act I, Signature xxii - (8)

Body of still water in the North Atlantic Ocean. Elliptical in shape and strewn with a brown floating seaweed of the genus Sargassum, it lies between the parallels 20° and 35° N and the meridians 30° and 70° W and encompasses the Bermuda islands. It was first mentioned by Christopher Columbus, who crossed it in 1492. The presence of the seaweed suggested the proximity of land and encouraged him to continue, but many early navigators feared becoming entangled in the floating vegetation and turned back.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

The Sargasso Sea is a region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by ocean currents. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf Stream; on the north, by the North Atlantic Current; on the east, by the Canary Current; and on the south, by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. This system of currents forms the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.

The Sargasso Sea is roughly 700 statute miles wide and 2,000 statute miles long (1,100 km wide and 3,200 km long). It stretches from roughly 70 degrees west to 40 degrees west, and from 25 degrees north to 35 degrees north. Bermuda is near the western fringes of the sea. The Sargasso Sea is the only "sea" without shores [Flint Institute of Arts Vol. 2, No. 2, http://web.mac.com/flintartsed/Hom eschool/artreachresources_files/AR 2_2_Oct07.pdf]. The ocean water in the Sargasso Sea is distinctive for its deep blue color and exceptional clarity, with underwater visibility of up to 200 feet (61 m) ["Sargasso Sea," World Book xv (Field Enterprises, 1958)].

History. Portuguese sailors were among the first to discover this region in the 15th century, naming it after the Sargassum seaweed growing there (sargaço in Portuguese) [citation needed]. However, the sea may have been known to earlier mariners, as a poem by the late 4th century A.D. author, Rufus Festus Avienus, describes a portion of the Atlantic as being covered with seaweed, citing a now-lost account by the 5th-century B.C. Carthaginian explorer Himilco the Navigator. Christopher Columbus and his men also noted the Saragasso Sea, and brought reports of the masses of seaweed on the surface.

Ecology. The Sargasso Sea is home to seaweed of the genus Sargassum, which floats en masse on the surface there. The sargassum is not a threat to shipping, and historic incidents of sailing ships being trapped there are due to the often calm winds of the horse latitudes ["Sargasso," http://www.straightdope.com/mailba g/msargasso.html].

The Sargasso Sea also plays a major role in the migration of the European eel and the American eel. The larvae of both species hatch there and go to Europe or the East Coast of North America. Later in life, they try to return to the Sargasso Sea to lay eggs. It is also believed that after hatching, young Loggerhead Sea Turtles use currents, such as the Gulf Stream to travel to the Sargasso Sea, where they use the Sargassum as cover from predation until they are mature [BBC News, "Turtles return home after UK stay," June 30, 2008, http://news.bbc. co.uk/1/hi/sci/tec h/7477519.stm].

The Sargasso Sea was the subject of a recent metagenomics effort called the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) survey by J. Craig Venter and others, to evaluate the diversity of microbial life there. The results have indicated that, contrary to previous theories, the area has a wide variety of prokaryotic life.

Owing to surface currents, the Sargasso accumulates a high concentration of non-biodegradable plastic waste [Greenpeace, "The trash vortex," http://www.greenpeace.org/internat ional/campaigns/oceans/pollution/t rash- vortex]. The huge North Atlantic Garbage Patch is similar to another ocean phenomenon, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

~ page 283 ~

Advertisment from 1889 for the Edison Mimeograph. Source: Early Office Museum (http://www.officemuseum.com/copy_machines.htm).*

mimeograph

Act I, Signature xxii - (9)

Main Entry: mim£eo£graph

Pronunciation: ‚mi-m‡-„-ƒgraf

Function: noun

Etymology: from Mimeograph, a trademark

Date: 1889: a duplicator for making many copies that utilizes a stencil through which ink is pressed –mimeograph transitive verb

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

The stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo) is a low-cost printing press that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. Along with spirit duplicators and hectographs, mimeographs were for many decades used to print short-run office work, classroom materials, and church bulletins. They also were critical to the development of early fanzines because their low cost and availability enabled publication of amateur writings. These technologies began to be supplanted by photocopying and cheap offset printing in the late 1960s.

Although in mid-range quantities mimeographs remain more economical and energy efficient, easier-to-use photocopying and offset have replaced mimeography almost entirely in developed countries, although it continues to be a working technology in developing countries because it's a simpler, cheaper, and more robust technology, and because many mimeographs can be hand-cranked and thus require no electricity.

Thomas Edison received US patent 180,857 for "Autographic Printing" on August 8, 1876 [http://edison.rutgers.edu/patents/00180857.pdf]. The patent covered the electric pen, used for making the stencil, and the flatbed duplicating press. In 1880 Edison obtained a further patent, US 224,665: "Method of Preparing Autographic Stencils for Printing", which covered the making of stencils using a file plate, a grooved metal plate on which the stencil was placed which perforated the stencil when written on with a blunt metal stylus [http://edison.rutgers.edu/patents/00224665.pdf].

The word "mimeograph" was first used by Albert Blake Dick [http://edison.rutgers.edu/NamesSearch/SingleDoc.php3?DocId=CA035A] when he licensed Edison's patents in 1887 [http://edison.rutgers.edu/NamesSearch/SingleDoc.php3?DocId=LB024149].

Dick received Trademark Registration no. 0356815 for the term "Mimeograph" in the U.S. Patent Office. It is currently listed as a dead entry, but shows the A.B. Dick Company of Chicago as the owner of the name.

Over time, the term became generic and is now an example of a genericized trademark ["mimeograph," The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , 4th Ed. (2000)] ("Roneograph," also "Roneo machine," was another trademark used for mimeograph machines, the name being a contraction of Rotary Neostyle). Others who worked concurrently on the development of stencil duplicating were Eugenio de Zaccato and David Gestetner, both in Britain. In Britain the machines were most often referred to as "duplicators", though the predominance of Gestetner and Roneo in the UK market meant that some people referred to the machine by one of those two manufacturers' names.

In 1891, Gestetner patented his Automatic Cyclostyle. This was one of the first rotary machines that retained the flatbed, which passed back and forth under inked rollers. This invention provided for more automated, faster reproductions since the pages were produced and moved by rollers instead of pressing one single sheet at a time.

By 1900, two primary types of mimeographs had come into use: a single-drum machine and a dual drum machine. The single-drum machine used a single drum for ink transfer to the stencil and the dual-drum machine used two drums and silk-screens to transfer the ink to the stencils. The single drum (example Roneo) machine could be easily used for multi color work by changing the drum - each of which contained ink of a different color. This was spot color for mastheads. Colors could not be mixed.

The mimeograph became popular because it was much cheaper than traditional print - there was no typesetting or skilled labor involved. One individual with a typewriter and the necessary equipment essentially became his own printing factory, which allowed for greater circulation of printed material.

Phlegethon

Act I, Signature xxii - (10)

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon (English translation: "flaming") or Pyriphlegethon (English translation: "fire-flaming") was one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of the underworld, along with the rivers Styx, Lethe, Cocytus, and Acheron. Plato describes it as "a stream of fire, which coils round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus [Plato, Phaedo 112b, Benjamin Jowett, trans., http://www.gutenberg.org/]." It was parallel to the river Styx. It is said that the goddess Styx was in love with Phlegethon, but she was consumed by his flames and sent him to Hades. Eventually when Zeus accepted her river to flow through, they reunited.

"The Arcadian or Pastoral State," second painting (1836) in The Course of Empire , by Thomas Cole (1801-1848).*

arcadian

Act I, Signature xxii - (11)

Main Entry: ar£ca£di£an

Pronunciation: är-‚k†-d‡-„n

Function: adjective

Usage: often capitalized

Date: 1589 1 : idyllically pastoral; especially : idyllically innocent, simple, or untroubled 2 a : of or relating to Arcadia or the Arcadians b : of or relating to Arcadian.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Arcadia (Greek: Ἀρκαδία) refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. The term is derived from the Greek province of the same name which dates to antiquity; the province's mountainous topography and sparse population of pastoralists later caused the word Arcadia to develop into a poetic byword for an idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is associated with bountiful natural splendor, harmony, and is often inhabited by shepherds. The concept also figures in Renaissance mythology. Commonly thought of as being in line with Utopian ideals, Arcadia differs from that tradition in that it is more often specifically regarded as unattainable. Furthermore, it is seen as a lost, Edenic form of life, contrasting to the progressive nature of Utopian desires.

The inhabitants were often regarded as having continued to live after the manner of the Golden Age, without the pride and avarice that corrupted other regions [Bridget Ann Henish, The Medieval Calendar Year , p. 96]. It is also sometimes referred to in English poetry as Arcady. The inhabitants of this region bear an obvious connection to the figure of the Noble savage, both being regarded as living close to nature, uncorrupted by civilization, and virtuous. A gargoyle on the roof of Himeji Castle, Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Taken August 2004 by Rdsmith4.*

gargoyle

Act I, Signature xxii - (12)

Carved spout that drains water from a rooftop gutter. The Gothic gargoyle was usually a grotesque bird or animal sitting on the back of a cornice and projecting forward for several feet in order to throw the water far from the building. The term is often loosely applied to any grotesque or fantastic beast, such as the chimères (chimeras) that decorate the parapets of Notre-Dame de Paris.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building. Preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls is important because running water erodes the mortar between the stone blocks [Janetta Rebold Benton, Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings (New York: Abbeville Press, 1997), pp. 6–8]. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts were sometimes cut into the buttress to divert water over the aisle walls.

The term originates from the French gargouille, originally "throat" or "gullet [ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , 4th Ed. (Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), p. 725]" cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, gargula ("gullet" or "throat") and similar words derived from the root gar, "to swallow", which represented the gurgling sound of water (e.g., Spanish garganta, "throat"; Spanish gárgola, "gargoyle"). It is also connected to the French verb gargariser, which means "to gargle [Benton (1997)]." The Italian word for gargoyle is doccione o gronda sporgente, an architecturally precise phrase which means "protruding gutter." The German word for gargoyle is Wasserspeier, which means "water spitter." The Dutch word for gargoyle is waterspuwer, which means "water spitter" or "water vomiter." A building that has gargoyles on it is "gargoyled."

A grotesque figure is a sculpture that does not work as a waterspout and serves only an ornamental or artistic function. These are also usually called gargoyles in layman's terminology [ American Heritage Dictionary (2000)], although the field of architecture usually preserves the distinction between gargoyles (functional waterspouts) and non-waterspout grotesques. corrigendum

Act I, Signature xxii - (13)

Main Entry: cor£ri£gen£dum

Pronunciation: ƒk•r-„-‚jen-d„m, ƒkär-

Function: noun

Inflected Form: plural cor£ri£gen£da \-d„\

Etymology: Latin, neuter of corrigendus, gerundive of corrigere to correct

Date: circa 1850 : an error in a printed work discovered after printing and shown with its correction on a separate sheet.

~ page 284 ~

From a collection at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (http://www.klassik-stiftung.de/einrichtungen/herzogin- anna-amalia-bibliothek .html); http://www.simplicissimus.info/

Simplicissimus

Act I, Signature xxii - (14)

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Simplicissimus was a satirical German weekly magazine started by Albert Langen in April 1896 and published through 1967, with a hiatus from 1944-1954. It became a biweekly in 1964[Harvard University Library Catalog, Hollis number 006013229]. It took its name from the protagonist of Grimmelshausen's 1668 novel Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch . Combining brash and politically daring content, a bright, immediate, surprisingly modern graphic style, Simplicissimus published the work of writers such as Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke. Its most reliable targets for caricature were stiff Prussian military figures, and rigid German social and class distinctions as seen from the more relaxed, liberal atmosphere of Munich. In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm's objections to being ridiculed on the cover resulted in the magazine being suppressed, publisher Langen taking five years' exile in Switzerland and a fine of 30,000 mark, a six month prison sentence for the cartoonist Heine, and seven months prison for the writer Frank Wedekind. Again in 1906 the editor Ludwig Thoma was imprisoned for six months for attacking the clergy. These controversies only served to increase circulation, which peaked at about 85,000 copies. Upon Germany's entry into World War I, the weekly dulled its satirical tone, began supporting the war effort, and considered closing down. Thereafter the strongest political satire expressed in graphics became the province of artists George Grosz and Käthe Kollwitz (who were both contributors) and John Heartfield.

The editor Ludwig Thoma joined the army in a medical unit in 1917, and lost his taste for satire, denouncing his previous work at the magazine, calling it immature and deplorable. He left the magazine in the 1920s. During the Weimar era the magazine continued to publish and took a strong stand against extremists on the left and on the right. As the National Socialists gradually came to power, they issued their pattern of verbal accusations, attacks, threats, personal intimidations, then arrests against the artists and writers of Simplicissimus . It continued publishing, in declining form, until finally ceasing publication in 1944. It was revived from 1954-1967. Graphic artists associated with the magazine include Thomas Theodor Heine, Olaf Gulbransson, Edward Thöny, Bruno Paul, Josef Benedikt Engl, Rudolf Wilke, Ferdinand von Reznicek, and Karl Arnold.

For further history and graphics, see http://www.munichfound.de/new.cfm?New s_ID=1680; http://www.old- coconino.com/sites_aut eurs/simplicissimus/mng_simpli.htm.

hapax legomenon

Act I, Signature xxii - (15)

Main Entry: ha£pax le£go£me£non

Pronunciation: ƒha-ƒpaks-li-‚gä-m„-ƒnän, ƒhä-ƒpäks-, -n„n

Function: noun

Inflected Form: plural hapax le£go£me£na \-n„\

Etymology: Greek, something said only once

Date: 1882 : a word or form occurring only once in a document or corpus.

ESPN

Act I, Signature xxii - (16)

Recreational or competitive activities that involve physical skill, intellectual acumen, and often luck(especially in the case of games of chance). Play is an integral part of human nature. Throughout history, humans have invented sporting and gaming activities as a means to socialize, to display skills and prowess, and to entertain or offer excitement. The earliest games may have been based on hunting and gathering activities. In modern times, with the emergence of professional sports, games continue to serve as physical and emotional outlets, as diversions, and as enrichments to daily life while also playing a pronounced economic role.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day.

Founded by Bill Rasmussen ["Bill Rasmussen, the Father of Cable Sports,"http://www.espnfounder.com/about_bill.htm] and his son Scott Rasmussen, it launched on September 7, 1979 under the direction of Chet Simmons, the network's President and CEO (and later the United States Football League's first commissioner). Getty Oil Company provided the funding to begin the new venture. Geoff Bray of New Britain, CT was chosen as the architect. George Bodenheimer is ESPN's current president, a position he has held since November 19, 1998. Bodenheimer has also headed ABC Sports, a separate legal entity now branded as ESPN on ABC, since March 3, 2003.

ESPN's signature telecast, SportsCenter, debuted with the network and aired its 30,000th episode on February 11, 2007. ESPN broadcasts primarily from its studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices in New York City; Seattle, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles office, from which the late-night edition of SportsCenter is now broadcast, opened at L.A. Live in early 2009. The name of the sport company was lengthened to "ESPN Inc." in February 1985.

History. Early months. ESPN was originally conceived by Bill Rasmussen [ ibid ], a television sports reporter for WWLP, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts [Bill Rasmussen, Sports Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN (2010), http://www.espnfounder.com/bill_book.htm]. In the mid-1970s, Rasmussen worked for the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers, selling commercial time for their broadcasts. His son Scott, a former high school goaltender, was the team's public-address announcer. Both were fired in 1977 and Rasmussen sought a new business venture. His original idea was a cable television network (then a fairly new medium) that focused on covering sports events in the state of Connecticut (for example, the Hartford Whalers, Bristol Red Sox, and the Connecticut Huskies). When Rasmussen was told that buying a continuous 24-hour satellite feed was less expensive than buying several blocks of only a few hours a night, he expanded to a 24-hour nationwide network. The channel's original name was ESP, for Entertainment and Sports Programming, but it was changed prior to launch [Michael Freeman, ESPN: An Uncensored History (2000)].

ESPN started with the debut of SportsCenter hosted by Lee Leonard and George Grande on September 7, 1979. Afterwards was a pro slow pitch softball game. The first score on SportsCenter was from women's tennis on the final weekend of the US Open.

To help fill 24 hours a day of air time, ESPN aired a wide variety of sports events that broadcast networks did not show on weekends, including Australian rules football, the Canadian Football League, Davis Cup tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, and additional college football and basketball games. The U.S. Olympic Festival, the now-defunct competition that was organized as a training tool by the United States Olympic Committee, was also an ESPN staple at the time. ESPN also aired business shows and exercise videos.

ESPN recruited Steve Powell, former Director of Sports Programming at HBO, to be its first head of Programming. Powell had been the youngest VP at HBO and its parent company (Time, Inc.), but left to attend Harvard Business School. He worked for ESPN while completing the MBA Program at Harvard.

Professional sports arrive. ESPN (along with the USA Network) was among the earliest cable-based broadcast partners for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lasting from 1982 to 1984, the network's relationship with the association marked its initial foray into American professional sports. After an 18 year hiatus, ESPN (by then, under the auspices of the ABC network), secured a $2.4 billion, six-year broadcast contract with the NBA, thereby revitalizing its historic compact with U.S. professional basketball.

In 1983, The United States Football League (USFL) made its debut on ESPN and ABC. The league (which lasted for three seasons) enjoyed ephemeral success, some portion of which was a byproduct of the exposure afforded through ESPN coverage.

On July 15, 1985, ESPN started airing the "ESPN Sports Update" (later known as "28/58"), a condensed run-down of scores and news that aired at 28 and 58 minutes past the hour, when SportsCenter was not airing ["ESPN's 30th Anniversary: 30 ESPN Firsts & Innovations," http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_kits/ESPN30/ESPN30 _Production_FirstsA.html ]. This was changed to 18/58 on May 30, 2005.

In 1987, ESPN gained partial rights to the National Football League. The league agreed to the deal as long as ESPN agreed to simulcast the games on local television stations in the participating markets. ESPN Sunday Night Football would last for 19 years and spur ESPN's rise to legitimacy. In the 2006 NFL season, ESPN began airing Monday Night Football, formerly seen on its sister network ABC. (NBC took over the Sunday night game, which replaced the Monday night contest as the league's weekly centerpiece game) Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue credits ESPN for revolutionizing the NFL, "ESPN was able to take the draft, the pregame and highlight shows, and other NFL programming to a new level [Freeman (2000)]."

In 1990, ESPN added Major League Baseball to its lineup with a $400 million contract ["ESPN," Encyclopedia Britannica , http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002482/ESPN]. The contract has been renewed and will continue through 2011. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are the longtime voices of the network's centerpiece Sunday Night Baseball. Steve Phillips joined the package in 2009, but Phillips was later dismissed by the network in October 2009.

ESPN broadcast each of the four major professional sports leagues in North America from 2002 until 2004, when it cut ties with the National Hockey League [ESPN, "ESPN decides not to match Comcast's offer," August 18, 2005, http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2137098]. The network had aired NHL games from 1980–82, from 1986–89, and most recently from 1992-2004. ESPN has been broadcasting Major League Soccer games about once a week on ESPN2 since that league's inception in 1996. In most years, the annual All-Star Game and MLS Cup championship game, and in some years, the Opening Night game, are shown on ABC broadcast stations.

With the increasing cost of live sports entertainment, such as the USD$8.8 billion costs for NFL football broadcasts rights for eight years, "scripted entertainment has become a luxury item for ESPN," said David Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California ["ESPN calls time out on scripted fare," Variety , 407: 1, May 21–27, 2007, p. 22].

ESPN broadcasts 65 sports, 24 hours a day in 15 languages in more than 150 countries ["ESPN, Inc.," Encyclopedia Britannica , http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002482/ESPN].

~ page 285 ~

"Job's Evil Dreams," watercolor by William Blake, from the Linell set, 1821.*

The Book of Job

Act I, Signature xxii - (17)

Job 1: 7. "Then Jehovah said to Satan, 'Where do you come from?' At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: 'From roving about in the earth and from walking about in it (NIV).'"

Orville J. Nave, Nave’s Topical Bible: A Digest of the Holy Scriptures , S. Maxwell Coder, rev., (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974); The Comparative Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervon Corporation, 1984). *[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Ἀ iyov) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials אִיוֹב :The Book of Job (Hebrew at the hands of Satan, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The Book itself comprises a didactic poem set in a prose framing device and has been called "the most profound and literary work of the entire Old Testament [John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible (Simon & Schuster, 1965), p. 440, http://www.amazon.com/dp/068481913 9]." The Book itself, along with its numerous exegeses, are attempts to address the problem of evil, i.e., the problem of reconciling the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the existence of God.

Satan in the Book of Job. The term "Satan" appears in the prose prologue of Job, with Satan's usual connotation of "the adversary," as a distinct being. He is shown as one of the celestial beings before the deity [Coogan, M., ed., The New Oxford Annotated Bible (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 728], replying to the inquiry of God as to whence he had come with the words: "from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (Job 1:7), perhaps implying total ownership, which brings God to mention Job.

The dialogue that ensues characterizes Satan as a member of the divine council who observes human activity, but with the purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, as it were, a celestial "prosecutor"; he persists in his opinion of Job even after the man of the Land of Uz has passed through his first trial by surrendering to the will of God, whereupon the Satan demands another test through physical suffering (Job 2: 3–5). Satan challenges Job's righteousness by saying that his belief is built only upon the material goods he has been given, and that his faith will disappear as soon as they are taken from him.

The introduction of "the adversary" occurs in the framing story alone: he is never clearly alluded to in the central poem at all, although Sheol is mentioned in the central poem, as well as Job's need for an adversary (although it is doubtful that he is referring to the original adversary of the story).

In Job Satan is not yet the devil's personal name, as in later Judeo-Christian works [ ibid ].

~ page 286 ~

cetacean

Act I, Signature xxii - (18)

Main Entry: ce£ta£cean

Pronunciation: si-‚t†-sh„n

Function: noun

Etymology: ultimately from Latin cetus whale, from Greek k‡tos

Date: 1836 : any of an order (Cetacea) of aquatic mostly marine mammals that includes the whales, dolphins, porpoises, and related forms and that have a torpedo-shaped nearly hairless body, paddle-shaped forelimbs but no hind limbs, one or two nares opening externally at the top of the head, and a horizontally flattened tail used for locomotion –cetacean adjective –ce£ta£ceous \-sh„s\ adjective.

glasnost

Act I, Signature xxii - (19)

Main Entry: glas£nost Pronunciation: ‚glaz-(ƒ)n‹st, ‚glas-, ‚gläz-, ‚gläs-

Function: noun

Etymology: Russian glasnost', literally, publicity, from glasny8 public, from glas voice, from Old Church Slavonic glasV — more at call

Date: 1986 : a Soviet policy permitting open discussion of political and social issues and freer dissemination of news and information.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Glasnost (Russian: Гласность, IPA: [ἈἈlasnəsἈtἈ] (listen), Openness) was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s [Milestones in Glasnost and Perestroyka: Politics and People (Brookings Institution Press, 1991)].

The word was frequently used by Gorbachev to specify the policies he believed might help reduce the corruption at the top of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, and moderate the abuse of administrative power in the Central Committee. Russian human rights activist and dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva explained glasnost as a word that "had been in the Russian language for centuries. It was in the dictionaries and lawbooks as long as there had been dictionaries and lawbooks. It was an ordinary, hardworking, nondescript word that was used to refer to a process, any process of justice of governance, being conducted in the open [Alexeyeva, Lyumila and Paul Goldberg, The Thaw Generation: Coming of Age in the Post-Stalin Era (University of Pittsburg Press, 1990]." Glasnost can also refer to the specific period in the history of the USSR during the 1980s when there was less censorship and greater freedom of information.

~ page 287 ~

Harley Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada [Source: Steelerdon September 22, 2009].*

Harley

Act I, Signature xxii - (20)

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Harley-Davidson engines. The classic Harley-Davidson engines are two-cylinder, V-twin engines with the pistons mounted in a 45° "V". The crankshaft has a single pin, and both pistons are connected to this pin through their connecting rods [Nelson, Gregory J., "United States Patent Application: 0060260569," http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/]. This design causes the pistons to fire at uneven intervals. This is due to an engineering tradeoff to create a large, high-torque engine in a small space. This design choice is entirely vestigial from an engineering standpoint, but has been sustained because of the strong connection between the distinctive sound and the Harley-Davidson brand. This design, which is covered under several United States patents, gives the Harley-Davidson V-twin its unique choppy "potato-potato" sound. To simplify the engine and reduce costs, the V-twin ignition was designed to operate with a single set of points and no distributor. This is known as a dual fire ignition system, causing both spark plugs to fire regardless of which cylinder was on its compression stroke, with the other spark plug firing on its cylinder's exhaust stroke, effectively "wasting a spark". The exhaust note is basically a throaty growling sound with some popping. The 45° design of the engine thus creates a plug firing sequencing as such: The first cylinder fires, the second (rear) cylinder fires 315° later, then there is a 405° gap until the first cylinder fires again, giving the engine its unique sound [http://auto.howstuffworks.com/harley 3.htm].

Harley-Davidson has used various ignition systems throughout its history - be it the early points/condenser system, (Big Twin up to 1978 and Sportsters 1970 to 1978), magneto ignition system used on 1958 to 1969 Sportsters, early electronic with centrifugal mechanical advance weights, (all models 1978 and a half to 1979), or the late electronic with transistorized ignition control module, more familiarly known as the black box or the brain, (all models 1980 to present).

Starting in 1995, the company introduced Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) as an option for the 30th anniversary edition Electra Glide [http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content /Pages/H-D_History/history_1990s.j sp? locale=en_US]. With the introduction of the 2007 product line, EFI is now standard on all models, including Sportsters [http://www.nightrider .com/biketech/motorcycle_efi_basics.h tm].

In 1991, Harley-Davidson began to participate in the Sound Quality Working Group, founded by Orfield Labs, Bruel and Kjaer, TEAC, Yamaha, Sennheiser, SMS and Cortex. This was the nation's first group to share research on psychological acoustics. Later that year, Harley-Davidson participated in a series of sound quality studies at Orfield Labs, based on recordings taken at the Talladega Superspeedway, with the objective to lower the sound level for EU standards while analytically capturing the "Harley Sound [citation needed]." This research resulted in the bikes that were introduced in compliance with EU standards for 1998.

On February 1, 1994, the company filed a sound trademark application for the distinctive sound of a Harley- Davidson motorcycle engine: "The mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant's motorcycles, produced by V- twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use". Nine of Harley-Davidson's competitors filed comments opposing the application, arguing that cruiser-style motorcycles of various brands use a single-crankpin V- twin engine which produce a similar sound [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law /st_org/iptf/articles/content/1998101 101.htm l]. These objections were followed by litigation. In August 2001, the company dropped efforts to federally register its trademark. However, legal counsel for the company claims that the Harley-Davidson still holds trademark rights in the sound even without a registration [http://www.themabreys.com/northtexas hog/history.htm].

Gayomart

Act I, Signature xxii - (21)

In later Zoroastrianism, the first man and the progenitor of humankind. Created by Ahura Mazda, he was made incarnate after 3,000 years of life as a spirit. His existence at first immobilized Ahriman, the evil spirit who wanted to invade creation, but after 30 years of attacks Ahriman destroyed Gayomart. His body became the earth's minerals; gold was his seed, and from it sprang the human race.

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Gayō Marətan, in later Zoroastrian texts Gayōmard or Gayōmart, is the Avestan name of the mythological first Man. In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh he appears as .ث The name in Middle Persian is Kayōmart, Modern Persian Keyumars the first shāh of the world.

The Avestan name translates to "mortal life", from gaya "life" and marətan "mortal" (or "human"; cf. Persian mard ,man"). Keyumars is also a popular first name in contemporary Iran. According to the Zoroastrian creation myth" د Gayōmart was the first human being, created by Ahura Mazda after he had created the Earth. Druj, the force of Evil, sent a demon to kill Gayōmart, from whose body sprang a tree, which bore the first man, Mashya, and the first woman, Mashyana.

Das Rheingold

Act I, Signature xxii - (22)

In music, a melodic idea associated with a character or an important dramatic element. It is associated particularly with the operas of Richard Wagner, most of which rely on a dense web of associative leitmotifs. Most composers after Wagner (and some of his immediate predecessors) continued to use this musico-dramatic principle, but few as rigorously as he did.

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

"Das Rheingold" (The Rhine Gold) is the first of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. "Das Rheingold" was originally written as an introduction to the 3 part Ring, however most people usually regard the 4 parts as equals.

It received its premiere at the National Theatre in Munich on 22 September 1869, with August Kindermann in the role of Wotan, Heinrich Vogl as Loge, and Wilhelm Fischer as Alberich, much to Wagner's disgust, since he wanted this opera to be premiered as part of the entire cycle, however he was forced to allow the performance at the insistence of his patron King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The opera received its premiere as part of the complete cycle on 13 August 1876, in the Bayreuther Festspielhaus.

See also Act III, Signature xiii - (31).

~ page 288 ~ First atomic bomb test, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, July 16, 1945.

trinitite

Act I, Signature xxii - (23)

Weapon whose great explosive power results from the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission, of the nuclei of heavy elements such as plutonium or uranium (see nuclear fission). With only 11–33 lb (5–15 kg) of highly enriched uranium, a modern atomic bomb could generate a 15-kiloton explosion, creating a huge fireball, a large shock wave, and lethal radioactive fallout. The first atomic bomb, developed by the Manhattan Project during World War II, was set off on July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert. The only atomic bombs used in war were dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later. In 1949 the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, followed by Britain (1952), France (1960), China (1964), India (1974), and Pakistan (1998). Israel and South Africa were suspected of testing atomic weapons in 1979. See also hydrogen bomb; Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; nuclear weapon.

*[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Trinitite, also known as Atomsite or Alamogordo Glass, is the name given to the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sand composed of quartz grains and feldspar (both microcline and smaller amount of plagioclase with small amount of calcite, hornblende and augite in a matrix of sandy clay) ["Optical properties of glass from Alamogordo, New Mexico," http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM33/AM 33_360.pdf] that was melted by the atomic blast. It is usually a light green, although color can vary. It is mildly radioactive, but is safe to handle [Kolb, W. M., and Carlock, P. G., Trinitite: The Atomic Age Mineral (1999), separate link at http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/hi roshimatrinity/trinitite.htm; "Nuclear weapons question," Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum , http://www.bautforum.com/general-scie nce/9499-nuclear-weapons-question.htm l] [assertions of safety questioned - citation needed].

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, samples were gathered and sold to mineral collectors as a novelty. Traces of the material can be found at the Trinity Site today, though most of it was bulldozed and buried by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1952. It is now illegal to take the remaining material from the site. However, material that was taken prior to this prohibition is still in the hands of collectors.

In 2005 it was theorized by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Robert Hermes and independent investigator William Strickfaden that much of the mineral was formed by sand which was drawn up inside the fireball itself and then rained down in a liquid form [Robert Hermes and William Strickfaden, "New Theory on the Formation of Trinitite," Nuclear Weapons Journal (2005), http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinityS ite/NewTrinititeTheory.htm].

A number of different types of Trinitite have been identified. Green is the most common form. Black contains iron from the tower structure. Red contains copper from the device itself or from the communications cables that led away from the site. Both black and red specimens are extremely rare. Rounded pearls are also found which come from melted silica that returned to solid form before hitting the ground [Steven L. Kay, "Nuclearon," Trinitite Varieties , http://www.radiochemistry.org/documen ts/pdf/trinitite_nuclearon_061608.pdf ].

The glass has been described as "a layer 1 to 2 centimeters thick, with the upper surface marked by a very thin sprinkling of dust which fell upon it while it was still molten. At the bottom is a thicker film of partially fused material, which grades into the soil from which it was derived. The color of the glass is a pale bottle green, and the material is extremely vesicular with the size of the bubbles ranging to nearly the full thickness of the specimen [http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM33/A M33_360.pdf]."

The name trinitite is occasionally broadly applied to all glassy residues of nuclear bomb testing, not just the Trinity test [citation needed]. An analog of Trinitite found in Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazachstan at ground zeroes of Soviet atmosperic nuclear tests is called Kharitonchik. Black vitreous fragments of fused sand that had been solidified by the heat of the explosion were described from French test site in Algeria (Reggane site) ["Radiological Conditions at the Former French Nuclear Test Sites in Algeria: Preliminary Assessment and Recommendations International Atomic Energy Agency," 2005, http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publicat ions/PDF/Pub1215_web.pdf]. There are many known fakes in circulation among collectors [citation needed]. These fakes use a variety of means to achieve the glassy green silica look as well as mild radioactivity. However, only trinitite from a nuclear explosion will contain certain neutron activation products which are not found in naturally radioactive ores and minerals. Gamma spectroscopy can narrow down the potential nuclear explosions from which the material formed.

See also P. P. Parekh, T. M. Semkow, M. A. Torres, D. K. Haines, J. M. Cooper, P. M. Rosenberg, and M. E. Kitto, "Radioactivity in Trinitite six decades later," Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 85 (1): 103–120 (2006).

Stonehenge (Slaughter stone in the foreground), 31st October 2007, by Matthew Brennan.*

Stonehenge

Act I, Signature xxii - (24)

Monumental circular arrangement of standing stones built in prehistoric times and located near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng. The stones are believed to have been put in place in three main phases c. 3100–c. 1550 B.C.. The reasons for the building of Stonehenge are unknown, but it is believed to have been a place of worship and ritual. Many theories have been advanced as to its specific purpose (e.g., for the prediction of eclipses), but none has been proved. Stones erected during the second phase of construction (c. 2100 B.C.) were aligned with the sunrise at the summer solstice, suggesting some ritual connection with that event.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Archaeological research and restoration. Throughout recorded history Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments have attracted attention from antiquarians and archaeologists. John Aubrey was one of the first to examine the site with a scientific eye in 1666, and recorded in his plan of the monument the pits that now bear his name. William Stukeley continued Aubrey’s work in the early 18th century, but took an interest in the surrounding monuments as well, identifying (somewhat incorrectly) the Cursus and the Avenue. He also began the excavation of many of the barrows in the area, and it was his interpretation of the landscape that associated it with the Druids [Stukeley, William, Stonehenge: A Temple Restor'd to the British Druids (London, 1740)] Stukeley was so fascinated with Druids that he originally named Disc Barrows as Druids' Barrows. The most accurate early plan of Stonehenge was that made by Bath architect John Wood in 1740 [Wood, John, Choir Guare: Vulgarly Called Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain (Oxford, 1747)]. His original annotated survey has recently been computer redrawn and published [Johnson, Anthony, Solving Stonehenge: The New Key to an Ancient Enigma (Thames & Hudson, 2008)]. Importantly, Wood’s plan was made before the collapse of the southwest trilithon, which fell in 1797 and was restored in 1958.

William Cunnington was the next to tackle the area in the early 19th century. He excavated some 24 barrows before digging in and around the stones and discovered charred wood, animal bones, pottery and urns. He also identified the hole in which the Slaughter Stone once stood. At the same time Richard Colt Hoare began his activities, excavating some 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain before working with Cunnington and William Coxe on some 200 in the area around the Stones. To alert future diggers to their work they were careful to leave initialled metal tokens in each barrow they opened.

In 1877 Charles Darwin dabbled in archaeology at the stones, experimenting with the rate at which remains sink into the earth for his book The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms .

William Gowland oversaw the first major restoration of the monument in 1901 which involved the straightening and concrete setting of sarsen stone number 56 which was in danger of falling. In straightening the stone he moved it about half a metre from its original position [Johnson (2008)]. Gowland also took the opportunity to further excavate the monument in what was the most scientific dig to date, revealing more about the erection of the stones than the previous 100 years of work had done. During the 1920 restoration William Hawley, who had excavated nearby Old Sarum, excavated the base of six stones and the outer ditch. He also located a bottle of port in the slaughter stone socket left by Cunnington, helped to rediscover Aubrey's pits inside the bank and located the concentric circular holes outside the Sarsen Circle called the Y and Z Holes [Cleal, Rosamund, et al., "Y and Z holes," Archaeometry and Stonehenge (English Heritage, 1995), http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/stoneh/yz.htm ].

Richard Atkinson, Stuart Piggott and John F. S. Stone re-excavated much of Hawley's work in the 40s and 50s, and discovered the carved axes and daggers on the Sarsen Stones. Atkinson's work was instrumental in understanding the three major phases of the monument's construction.

In 1958 the stones were restored again, when three of the standing sarsens were re-erected and set in concrete bases. The last restoration was carried out in 1963 after stone 23 of the Sarsen Circle fell over. It was again re-erected, and the opportunity was taken to concrete three more stones. Later archaeologists, including Christopher Chippindale of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Brian Edwards of the University of the West of England campaigned to give the public more knowledge of the various restorations and in 2004 English Heritage included pictures of the works in progress in its new book Stonehenge: A History in Photographs [Young, Emma, "Concrete Evidence," New Scientist , January 9, 2001, http://www.newscientist.com/article/d n310-concrete- evidence.html; Taverner, Roger, "How they rebuilt Stonehenge," Western Daily Press , January 8, 2001, quoted in Cosmic Conspiracies: How They Rebuilt Stonehenge , http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicst onehenge.htm; Richards, Julian C., Stonehenge: A History in Photographs (London: English Heritage, 2004)]. In 1966 and 1967, in advance of a new car park being built at the site, the area of land immediately northwest of the stones was excavated by Faith and Lance Vatcher. They discovered the Mesolithic postholes dating from between 7,000 and 8,000 B.C., as well as a 10m length of a palisade ditch – a V cut ditch into which timber posts had been inserted that remained there until they rotted away. Subsequent aerial archaeology suggests that this ditch runs from the west to the north of Stonehenge, near the avenue [Richards, Julian C., Stonehenge: The Story So Far (Swindon: English Heritage, 2007)].

Excavations were once again carried out in 1978 by Atkinson and John Evans during which they discovered the remains of the Stonehenge Archer in the outer ditch [BBC News, "Stonehenge execution revealed," June 9, 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7 84348.stm], and in 1979 rescue archaeology was needed alongside the Heel Stone after a cable-laying ditch was mistakenly dug on the roadside, revealing a new stone hole next to the Heel Stone.

In the early 1980s Julian Richards led the Stonehenge Environs Project, a detailed study of the surrounding landscape. The project was able to successfully date such features as the Lesser Cursus, Coneybury henge and several other smaller features.

More recent excavations include a series of digs held between 2003 and 2008, led by Mike Parker Pearson, known as the Stonehenge Riverside Project. This project mainly investigated other monuments in the landscape and their relationship with the stones — notably Durrington Walls, where another ‘Avenue’ leading to the River Avon was discovered. In April 2008 Professor Tim Darvill of the University of Bournemouth and Professor Geoff Wainwright of the Society of Antiquaries, began another dig inside the Stone circle to retrieve dateable fragments of the original bluestone pillars. They were able to date the erection of some bluestones to 2300 B.C. [BBC, "Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins," September 21, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7 625145.stm], although this may not reflect the earliest erection of stones at Stonehenge. They also discovered organic material from 7000 B.C., which, along with the Mesolithic postholes, adds support for the site having been in use at least 4000 years before Stonehenge was started.

In August and September 2008, as part of the Riverside Project Julian Richards and Mike Pitts excavated Aubrey Hole 7, removing the cremated remains from several Aubrey Holes that had been excavated by Hawley in the 1920s, and re-interred in 1935 [Sheffield University, "The Stonehenge Riverside Project," August 20, 2008, http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/res earch/stonehenge]. A licence for the removal of human remains at Stonehenge had been granted by the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) in May 2008, in accordance with the Statement on burial law and archaeology issued in May 2008. One of the conditions of the licence was that the remains should be reinterred within two years and that in the intervening period they should be kept safely, privately and decently ["StonehengeBones: The Office of the PM's Response to e-petitions" (Crown copyright: Ministry of Justice, September 29, 2009), http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page20787; "Statement on burial law and archaeology: Review of Burial Legislation" (Crown copyright: Ministry of Justice, April 2008) http://www.justice .gov.uk/guidance/do cs/burial-law-archaeology-statementii .pdf].

A new landscape investigation was conducted in April 2009. A shallow mound, rising to about 40 cm (16 inches) was identified between stones 54 (inner circle) and 10 (outer circle), clearly separated from the natural slope. It has not been dated but speculation that it represents careless backfilling following earlier excavations seems disproved by its representation in 18th and 19th century illustrations. Indeed, there is some evidence that, as an uncommon geological feature, it could have been deliberately incorporated into the monument at the outset [Field, David, et al, "Introducing Stonehedge," British Archaeology (York, England: Council for British Archaeology) (111): 32–35 (March 2010)]. A circular, shallow bank, little more than 10 cm (4 inches) high, was found between the Y and Z hole circles, with a further bank lying inside the "Z" circle. These are interpreted as the spread of spoil from the original Y and Z holes, or more speculatively as hedge banks from vegetation deliberately planted to screen the activities within [ibid ].

In July 2010 the Stonehenge New Landscapes Project discovered what appears to be a new henge less than 1 kilometre away from the main site [University of Birmingham, "A new 'henge' discovered at Stonehenge," July 22, 2010, http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/news/news.s html].

~ page 289 ~ cabala

Act I, Signature xxii - (25)

Or Cabbala. Jewish mysticism as it developed in the 12th century and after. Essentially an oral tradition, it laid claim tosecret wisdom of the unwritten Torah communicatedby God to Adam and Moses. It provided Jews with a direct approach to God, a notion regarded as heretical and pantheistic by Orthodox Judaism. A major text was the 12th- century Book of Brightness , which introduced the doctrine of transmigration of souls to Judaism and provided Kabbala with extensive mythical symbolism. In 13th-century Spain the tradition included the Book of the Image , which asserted that each cycle of history had its own Torah, and the Book of Splendour , which dealt with the mystery of creation. In the 16th century the centre of Kabbala was Safed, Galilee, where it was based on the esoteric teachings of the greatest of all Kabbalists, Isaac ben Solomon Luria. The doctrines of Lurianic Kabbala, which called for Jews to achieve a cosmic restoration (Hebrew: tiqqun) through an intense mystical life and an unceasing struggle against evil, were influential in the development of modern Hasidism.

See also Act III, Signature iv - (17).

ELIZA

Act I, Signature xxii - (26)

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

ELIZA is a computer program and an early example (by modern standards) of primitive natural language processing. ELIZA operated by processing users' responses to scripts, the most famous of which was DOCTOR, a simulation of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Using almost no information about human thought or emotion, DOCTOR sometimes provided a startlingly human-like interaction. ELIZA was written at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum between 1964 to 1966.

When the "patient" exceeded the very small knowledge base, DOCTOR might provide a generic response, for example, responding to "My head hurts" with "Why do you say your head hurts?" The response to "My mother hates me" would be "Who else in your family hates you?" ELIZA was implemented using simple pattern matching techniques, but was taken seriously by several of its users, even after Weizenbaum explained to them how it worked. It was one of the first chatterbots in existence.

Overview. Weizenbaum said that ELIZA, running the DOCTOR script, provided a "parody" of "the responses of a nondirectional psychotherapist in an initial psychiatric interview [Weizenbaum, Joseph, Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort, eds. (W. H. Freeman and Company, 1976)]." He chose the context of psychotherapy to "sidestep the problem of giving the program a data base of real-world knowledge [ ibid ]," the therapeutic situation being one of the few real human situations in which a human being can reply to a statement with a question that indicates very little specific knowledge of the topic under discussion. For example, it is a context in which the question "Who is your favorite composer?" can be answered acceptably with responses such as "What about your own favorite composer?" or "Does that question interest you?"

ELIZA was named after Eliza Doolittle, a working-class character in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion , who is taught to speak with an upper-class accent [Markoff, John, "Joseph Weizenbaum, Famed Programmer, Is Dead at 85," The New York Times , March 13, 2008].

First implemented in Weizenbaum's own SLIP list-processing language, ELIZA worked by simple parsing and substitution of key words into canned phrases. Depending upon the initial entries by the user the illusion of a human writer could be instantly dispelled, or could continue through several interchanges. It was sometimes so convincing that there are many anecdotes about people becoming very emotionally caught up in dealing with DOCTOR for several minutes until the machine's true lack of understanding became apparent [citation needed]. In 1966, interactive computing (via a teletype) was new. It was 15 years before the personal computer became familiar to the general public, and three decades before most people encountered attempts at natural language processing in Internet services like Ask.com or PC help systems such as Microsoft Office Clippy. Although those programs included years of research and work, ELIZA remains a milestone simply because it was the first time a programmer had attempted such a human-machine interaction with the goal of creating the illusion (however brief) of human-human interaction.

In the article "theNewMediaReader," an excerpt from Weizenbaum's Computer Power and Human Reason (1976), references how quickly and deeply people became emotionally involved with the computer program, taking offence when Weizenbaum asked to view the transcripts, saying it was an invasion of their privacy, even asking him to leave the room while they were working with the DOCTOR script.

Influence on games. ELIZA had an impact on a number of early computer games by demonstrating additional kinds of interface designs. Don Daglow wrote an enhanced version of the program called Ecala on a PDP-10 mainframe computer at Pomona College in 1973 before writing what was possibly the second or third computer role-playing game, Dungeon (1975) (The first was probably "dnd", written on and for the PLATO system in 1974, and the second may have been Moria , written in 1975). It is likely that ELIZA was also on the system where Will Crowther created Colossal Cave (Adventure), the 1975 game that spawned the interactive fiction genre. Both these games appeared some nine years after the original ELIZA.

Response and legacy. Lay responses to ELIZA were disturbing to Weizenbaum and motivated him to write his book Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation , in which he explains the limits of computers, as he wants to make clear in people's minds his opinion that the anthropomorphic views of computers are just a reduction of the human being and any life form for that matter.

There are many programs based on ELIZA in different languages. For example, in 1980, a company called "Don't Ask Software," founded by Randy Simon, created a version called "Abuse" for the Apple II, Atari, and Commodore PCs, which verbally abused the user based on the user's input [Davidson, Steve, "Abuse," Electronic Games 1 (11), January 1983, http://www.atarimania.com/det_mag_review.php?MAG_REVIEW_ID=86&SOFT_ID=60]. In Spain, Jordi Perez developed the famous ZEBAL in 1993, written in Clipper for MS-DOS. Other versions adapted ELIZA around a religious theme, such as ones featuring Jesus (both serious and comedic) and another Apple II variant called I Am Buddha . The 1980 game The Prisoner incorporated ELIZA-style interaction within its gameplay.

See also McCorduck, Pamela, Machines Who Think , 2nd Ed. (Natick, MA: A. K. Peters, Ltd., 2004), http://www.pamelamc.com/html/machines_who_think.html; Weizenbaum, Joseph, "ELIZA — A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man And Machine," Communications of the ACM 9 (1): 36–45 (January 1966); Whitby, Blay, "The Turing Test: AI's Biggest Blind Alley?", in Millican, Peter & Clark, Andy, Machines and Thought: The Legacy of Alan Turing, 1 (Oxford University Press, pp. 53–62, 1996), http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/blayw/tt.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_On- line_Dictionary_of_Computing

~ page 290 ~

thrombosis

Act I, Signature xxii - (27)

Main Entry: throm£bo£sis

-m-‚b‹-s„s, thr„mنPronunciation: thr

Function: noun

Inflected Form: plural throm£bo£ses \-ƒs‡z\ Etymology: New Latin, from Greek thromb‹sis clotting, from thrombousthai to become clotted, from thrombos clot Date: 1866 : the formation or presence of a blood clot within a blood .tik\ adjective-نvessel –throm£bot£ic \-‚b

~ page 291 ~

Athabaskan languages

Act I, Signature xxii - (28)

Or Athapaskan languages. Family of North American Indian languages. There are perhaps 200,000 speakers of Athabaskan. Northern Athabaskan includes more than 20 languages scattered across an immense region of subarctic North America from western Alaska to Hudson Bay and south to southern Alberta and British Columbia. Pacific Coast Athabaskan consisted of four to eight languages, all now extinct or nearing extinction. Apachean consists of eight closely related languages spoken in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, including Navajo and the various subdivisions of Apache. In 1990 Navajo had some 150,000 speakers, far more than any other indigenous language of the U.S. or Canada. In 1915 Edward Sapir placed the Athabaskan family together with Tlingit and Haida (languages of Alaska and British Columbia, respectively) in a larger grouping called Na-Dene; this hypothetical relationship continues to be controversial.

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Dene, Athapascan, Athapaskan, or Athapaskes [citation needed]) is the name of a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family. The Athabaskan family is the second largest family in North America in terms of number of languages and the number of speakers, following the Uto-Aztecan family which extends into Mexico. In terms of territory, only the Algic language family covers a larger area.

[The word Athabaskan is an anglicized version of the Woods Cree name for Lake Athabasca (aًapaskâw, "[where there are plants one after another") in Canada [Bright, William, Native American Place Names of the United States (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), p. 52]. The name was assigned by Albert Gallatin in his 1836 (written 1826) classification of the languages of North America. He acknowledged that the name for these related languages was entirely his own individual preference, writing (1836: 116-7):

"I have designated them by the arbitrary denomination of Athabascas, which derived from the original name of the lake."

Albert Gallatin’s arbitrary designation has unfortunate connotations as the term describes a shallow, weedy lake rather than a coherent people with shared language and culture. Most Athabaskans prefer to be identified by their specific language and location, however the general term persists in linguistics and anthropology despite alternative suggestions such as "Dene."

The four spellings of "Athabaskan," "Athabascan," "Athapaskan," and "Athapascan" are in approximately equal use. There are various preferences for one or another spelling depending on the particular community. For example, Alaska Native Language Center prefers the spelling “Athabascan” following a decision in favor of this spelling by the Tanana Chiefs Conference in 1997 [http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/athabascan.h tml]. In contrast, Michael Krauss has previously endorsed the spelling "Athabaskan" (1987). Ethnologue uses "Athapaskan" in naming the language family and individual languages [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_famil y.asp?subid=611-16].

Languages. The Athabaskan family is conventionally divided into three groups based largely on geographic distribution: Northern Athabaskan, Pacific Coast Athabaskan, and Southern Athabaskan or Apachean. The 31 Northern Athabaskan languages are spoken throughout the interior of Alaska and the interior of northwestern Canada in the Yukon and Northwest Territories as well as in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Several Athabaskan languages are official languages in the Northwest Territories, including Dëne Sّùiné .Gwich’in (Kutchin, Loucheux), and Slavey ,ىchἈ YatἈiلChipewyan), Dogrib or Tù) The seven Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages are spoken in southern Oregon and northern California. The six Southern Athabaskan languages are distantly isolated from both the Pacific Coast languages and the Northern languages as they are spoken in the American Southwest and the northwestern part of Mexico. This group includes Navajo and the five Apache languages.

As a crude approximation of differences among the languages in the family, one can compare differences between Athabaskan languages to differences between Indo-European languages. Thus, Koyukon and DenaἈina are about as different as French and Spanish, while Koyukon and GwichἈin are as different as English and Italian [Thompson, Chad, Athabascan Languages and the Schools].

The following list gives the Athabaskan languages organized by their geographic location in various North American states and provinces. Note that several languages such as Navajo and GwichἈin span the boundaries between different states and provinces, and hence they appear in this list multiple times. For alternative names for the languages, see the classifications given later in this article.

• NORTHERN • Central Alaska – Yukon • Deg Xinag • Gwich’in nنH • • Holikachuk • Koyukon • Tanacross • Lower Tanana • Upper Tanana • Tutchone • Upper Kushokwin • Southern Alaskan • Ahtna • Dena’ina • Central British Columbia • Babine • Dakelh • Chilcotin • Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanai • Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie • Northwestern Canada • Beaver • Chipewyan • Dogrib • Sekani • Slave (Bearlake, Hare, Mountain, Slavey) • Tahltan (Tahltan, Kaska, Tagish) • Sarsi • Sarsi • Tsetsaut • Tsetsaut • • PACIFIC COAST • California • Hupa (Chilula, Hupa) • Mattole-Bear River • Eel River (Cahto, Lassik, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Wailaki) • Oregon • Upper Umpqua • Rogue River • Galice-Applegate • Tolowa • SOUTHERN • Plains • Plains Apache • Western • Chiricahua-Mescalero • Navajo • Western Apache • Eastern • Jicarilla • Lipan

~ page 291 ~

apparatchnik

Act I, Signature xxii - (29)

[Following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Apparatchik (Russian: аппаратчик, Russian pronunciation: [ἈpἈἈratἈἈk] plural apparatchiki) is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" (apparatus) that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management. James Billington describes one as "a man not of grand plans, but of a hundred carefully executed details [James H. Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men (Transaction Publishers, 1999, p. 455]." It often is considered a derogatory term [Raymond Pearson, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire (Palgrave Macmillan), p. xx].

Members of the "apparat" were frequently transferred between different areas of responsibility, usually with little or no actual training for their new areas of responsibility. Thus, the term apparatchik, or "agent of the apparatus" was usually the best possible description of the person's profession and occupation ["The Rule of the Apparatchiks," in Roland Huntford, The New Totalitarians , Chapter 7 (Stein and Day, 1972), p. 135].

Not all apparatchiks held lifelong positions. Many only entered such positions in middle age [David Stuart Lane, Cameron Ross, The Transition from Communism to Capitalism: Ruling Elites from Gorbachev to Yeltsin (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999), p. 25-26].

Today this term is also used in contexts other than Soviet Union. For example, it is often used to describe people who cause bureaucratic bottlenecks in otherwise efficient organizations. It is also frequently used to describe individuals, appointed to positions in any government, on the basis of ideological or political loyalty rather than competence [citations needed].

~ page 292 ~ Panorama of Newark from Harrison, photo by Leifern, February 5, 2006.*

Newark

Act I, Signature xxii - (30)

City (pop., 2000: 273,546) and port of entry, northeastern New Jersey, U.S., west of New York City. It was founded in 1666 by Puritans and was chartered as a township in 1693. It was the site of the College of New Jersey (1748–56; now Princeton University). In 1776 the city served as a supply base for Gen. George Washington. It was incorporated as a city in 1836. The largest city in the state, it was the scene of major civil disturbances in 1967. It is a highly diversified industrial, transportation, and insurance centre. It was the birthplace of Aaron Burr and Stephen Crane.

*[Image & caption credit and following text courtesy of Wikipedia]:

Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402 [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet ], making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S. Newark is also home to major corporations, such as Prudential Financial.

It is located approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Manhattan and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Staten Island. Its location near the Atlantic Ocean on Newark Bay has helped make its port facility, Port Newark, the major container shipping facility for the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is the home of Newark Liberty International Airport, which was the first major airport to serve the New York metropolitan area.

Newark was originally formed as a township on October 31, 1693, based on the Newark Tract, which was first purchased on July 11, 1667. Newark was granted a Royal Charter on April 27, 1713, and was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. During its time as a township, portions were taken to form Springfield Township (April 14, 1794), Caldwell Township (February 16, 1798, now known as Fairfield Township), Orange Township (November 27, 1806), Bloomfield Township (March 23, 1812) and Clinton Township (April 14, 1834, remainder reabsorbed by Newark on March 5, 1902). Newark was reincorporated as a city on April 11, 1836, replacing Newark Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on March 18, 1836. The previously independent Vailsburg borough was annexed by Newark on January 1, 1905 [John P. Snyder, The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968 (Trenton, NJ: Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969), p. 130]. Newark is divided into five wards; North Ward, South Ward, West Ward, East Ward, and Central Ward.

Culture. There are several notable Beaux-Arts buildings, such as the Veterans' Administration building, the Newark Museum, the Newark Public Library, and the Cass Gilbert-designed Essex County Courthouse. Notable Art Deco buildings include several 1920s era skyscrapers, such as the National Newark Building (Newark's tallest building), 1180 Raymond Boulevard (Newark's second tallest building), the intact Newark Penn Station, and Arts High School. Gothic architecture can be found at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart by Branch Brook Park, which is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the United States. It is rumored to have as much stained glass as the Cathedral of Chartres. Newark also has two public sculpture works by Gutzon Borglum — Wars of America in Military Park and Seated Lincoln in front of the Essex County Courthouse. Newark has one Moorish Revival building, the Prince Street Synagogue, the oldest synagogue building in New Jersey. Museums and galleries. The Newark Museum is the largest in New Jersey. It has a first class American art collection and its Tibetan collection is considered one of the best in the world. The Museum also contains science galleries, a planetarium, a mini zoo, a gallery for children's exhibits, a fire museum, a sculpture garden and an 18th century schoolhouse. Also part of the Museum is the historic Ballantine House, a restored Victorian mansion which is a National Historic Landmark.

The city is also home to the New Jersey Historical Society, which has rotating exhibits on New Jersey and Newark. The Newark Public Library also produces a series of historical exhibits.

The Newark Public Library is the state's largest public library with more than a million volumes. The Library has frequent exhibits on a variety of topics, many feature items from its Fine Print and Special Collections.

In February 2004, plans were announced for a new Smithsonian-affiliated Museum of African American Music to be built in the city's Coast/Lincoln Park neighborhood. The museum will be dedicated to black musical styles, from gospel to rap. The new museum will incorporate the facade of the old South Park Presbyterian Church, where Abraham Lincoln once spoke ["Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District/Museum of African American Music," Smithsonian Institution, http://affiliations.si.edu/AffiliateD etail.Asp?AffiliateID=143]. Groundbreaking is planned for winter 2006 with the grand opening scheduled for 2007.

On December 9, 2007 the Jewish Museum of New Jersey [United States Geological Survey, "US Board on Geographic Names," October 25, 2007, http://geonames.usgs.gov/] located at 145 Broadway in the Broadway neighborhood held its grand opening. The museum is dedicated to the portrayal of the rich cultural heritage of New Jersey’s Jewish people. The museum is housed at Congregation Ahavas Sholom [Snyder (1969)], the last continually operating synagogue in Newark. At one time there were fifty synagogues in Newark serving a Jewish population of 70,000, which was once the sixth largest Jewish community in the United States. Together, the Jewish Museum of New Jersey and Congregation Ahavas Sholom keep the light of Judaism alive in the city of Newark.

Newark is also home to numerous art galleries including City Without Walls, Gallery Aferro, Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Sumei Arts Center, and Aljira. Aljira is a gallery showing "emerging or under-represented artists" located near Military Park. cWOW is another contemporary art gallery in Newark that has been in operation since 1975. cWOW is located in The Coast district of Newark, which will be home to the new Museum of African- American Music (MOAAM) [citation needed].

Florida

Act I, Signature xxii - (31)

State (pop., 2000: 15,982,378), southeastern U.S. Comprising a peninsula and adjoining mainland areas, it is bordered by Alabama and Georgia, with the Gulf of Mexico lying to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It covers 58,680 sq mi (151,981 sq km); its capital is Tallahassee. Indian groups entered Florida from the north as early .as 10,000 years ago. It was explored by Juan Ponce de Leَn c. 1513, and in 1565 Spaniards founded St. Augustine Florida became a British possession in 1763 after the French and Indian War. The area reverted to Spanish control after the American Revolution (1783) but was used by the British as a base of operations during the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson's capture of Pensacola during that war led to the cession of Florida to the U.S. in 1819. A war with the Seminole Indians followed (see Seminole Wars). Florida became a state in 1845. It seceded from the Union in 1861, then was readmitted in 1868. In the late 20th century, it became one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. It produces about 75% of the nation's citrus fruits and is second only to California in vegetable production. Tourism is a leading industry, with Disney World a major attraction. Electronics manufacture is important, and the aerospace industry, led by the Kennedy Space Center (see Cape Canaveral), employs many thousands of people. The state, and especially the city of Miami, with its large Cuban population, plays a major economic role in the Caribbean region. Among its many recreational areas is Everglades National Park.

End Notes Ready Reference Library from Encyclopedia Britannica Ready Reference 2005 CD-ROM (unless otherwise indicated). Copyright 1994-2003 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

*[Image & caption credit and text (if indicated) courtesy of Wikipedia].