twentyfour - Human being

10 best space movies ever

Fri, 17 Jun 2016 10:11:00 +0000

1. Aliens (1986)

Where Ridley Scott's Alien was a creeping horror, for the sequel, director James Cameron swapped genres, delivering an all-guns-blazing action movie. That's not to say that it's unsophisticated; Cameron was inspired by America's experience in the Vietnam War in depicting how the gung-ho Space Marines are undone by a technologically-inferior enemy.

Heroine Ripley's character was fleshed out too, with the blue-collar worker of the first film recast as a surrogate mother to xenomorph survivor Newt – in Cameron's director's cut, he added further layers with the revelation that after 57 years in stasis, she missed her daughter's entire life.

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Nothing if not ambitious, Stanley Kubrick set out to create the "proverbial good science fiction film" with 2001: A Space Odyssey. And he did so with his usual painstaking attention to detail, enlisting sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke to write the script, and former NASA staff Frederick Ordway and Harry Lange to design the spaceships. So accurate was the film's depiction of future space travel that NASA's head of manned spaceflight, George Mueller, dubbed the 2001 soundstage "NASA East".

2001 is memorable for so many things – the prehistoric intro, that iconic graphic match cut from the bone to the spaceship, the Blue Danube, creepy computer HAL, the mysterious monoliths… it's a film that deserves to be savoured, like a fine wine.

3. Moon (2009)

Sam Rockwell stars as an lone astronaut stuck in a numbing routine on a Moon mining station – but there's something amiss aboard Sarang Base. Director Duncan Jones's debut film, Moon pays tribute to classic sci-fi films – including many of those on this list.

It inherits its chilly, claustrophobic feel and AI companion GERTY from 2001: A Space Odyssey, while the design is heavily influenced by Ridley Scott's films Alien and Blade Runner. It also harks back to earlier sci-fi films in its heavy use of models and practical visual effects – albeit augmented with modern CGI VFX.

4. Alien (1979)

“In space no one can hear you scream,” as the chilling tagline put it. Director Ridley Scott took a B-movie premise – a monster hunting the crew of a spaceship – and elevated it to new heights, creating a cinematic icon in the process.

Many directors are described as “visionary,” but Scott genuinely is – with a background in advertising, he has a keen eye for the importance of the image. So it’s no surprise that Alien looked unlike anything that had come before – where previous movie monsters looked like men in rubber suits, Scott enlisted designer HR Giger to create a truly unearthly creature in his signature biomechanical style.

5. Apollo 13 (1995)

"Houston, we have a problem." Who knew that one of the most incredible real-life dramas of the 20th century would be brought so successfully to our screens by Fonzie's freckly friend, Ron Howard?

The former Happy Days star didn't need to resort to Hollywood storytelling tricks – the rescue of Apollo 13 after its oxygen tank exploded on the way to the Moon was dramatic enough in its own right. Howard went above and beyond in his efforts to create a realistic depiction of the crisis – the replica pressure suits worn by actors Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton were so accurate they were actually airtight, while the stars took physics training to get into character as astronauts. For some of the zero-gravity shots, Howard went so far as to build sets aboard a KC-135 aircraft, used to train astronauts by flying in parabolic arcs to place them into freefall.

6. Dark Star (John Carpenter, 1974)

Like many satires, Carpenter’s feature debut is hilarious while discussing plenty of serious matters. The film follows a ship, deep into space, whose crew has the mission to destroy planets that are unsuitable for human life. The four astronauts are lonely, bored and plagued by their captain’s death. After the ship encounters an asteroid storm, a malfunction causes a bomb to arm for the destruction of a new planet.

The film satirizes many aspects of space travel and science fiction. Firstly, it pokes fun at the numerous and usually wild alien depictions in SF films, as the alien on their ship is just a beach ball with legs, that will cause a lot of trouble. Secondly, Dark Star is a self-aware film. It knows it is a low budget movie and it uses this to caricature the sounds and the scientific talk of astronauts in films.

7. Interstellar (Cristopher Nolan, 2014)

This realist SF film is one of the most thought-provoking films in recent years and it just begs to be talked about. Some people criticized it for not being as scientific accurate as it wants to be, while others say it’s complexity is just pretentious. While it’s true that the film was expected to have very little scientific inaccuracies, it is a piece of fiction and it plays perfectly with the speculation and sense of wonder that makes science fiction such a great genre.

In a desolate future, where people live on agriculture, a pilot will find NASA’s secret base and join their team of astronauts, on a mission to find a new planet for the continuation of the human race. The power of the film is that it does so much with very little.

The special effects are kept to a minimum, while the sense of space is given by claustrophobic images of the ship, and great shots of planets, stars and sheer darkness. This simple style of filmmaking, along with the scientific research gives the film a realist feeling, a tendency which SF movies have, because, in science, the barrier between reality and fiction is starting to disappear.

8. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

The first, and probably the best film of the newly-revived franchise, A New Hope, as it is also called, is one of the most important movies in the history of Hollywood. It’s cultural impact was huge, it is considered to have reinvented the concept of blockbuster and it gave the power back to the producers at the end of the New Hollywood period (1964-1982). This helped establish the franchise driven film industry that is so well known, today.

The film tells the story of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), a farm worker that ends up in the middle of the struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. The characters which he will meet on his journey have become iconic and continue to influence the franchises of the 21st century.

9. Solaris ( Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

Tarkovsky is one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium. His filmography consists of only seven film, but they’re all considered works of masterful direction and depth. His version of Solaris is an intimate reflection on memory and human nature that combined art cinema with science fiction.

The story follows Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), a psychologist that is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet. He is told to find out what makes the crew go insane. Soon, he discovers that his deceased wife has been materialized on the station. At first, he embraces the idea that he can relieve his life alongside her, but, with the help of the other crew members he realizes that she is just a projection of his mind and can`t live without him.

18. GRAVITY (2013)

It may be set in outer space, but Alfonso Cuarón’s thriller is remarkably contained; grounded, even. There are no flying saucers or little green men here, just a worryingly feasible disaster in orbit that leaves astronaut Ryan Stone stranded miles above the Earth. It’s heavy on spectacle, but for much of the film, the only person on screen is Sandra Bullock – giving a career-best performance as Dr Stone.

To achieve the film’s extraordinary long takes in zero gravity, Cuarón used innovative visual effects trickery – the actors stood inside a box delivering their lines, while lights moved around them to simulate the lighting sources shifting as their characters moved. Then their faces were composited into CGI spacesuits for the final shot – in many sequences, the only real thing in the frame is Sandra Bullock’s face.

VOCABULARY

unsophisticated - наивный
hilarious - веселый
provoking - провоцирующий
inaccuracies - неточности

A brief history of YouTube

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 16:20:00 +0000

February 14, 2005
PayPal alums Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim begin work on a "Flickr or HotorNot for video." They register youtube.com the next day.

April 23, 2005
"Me at the Zoo" — 19 seconds of Karim in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo — is the first video posted to the site.

October 21, 2005
Nike is the first major company to embrace YouTube's promotional potential. A video of Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho dancing the samba with a ball is an early viral hit.

December 15, 2005
YouTube officially debuts. Two days later, Saturday Night Live airs "Lazy Sunday." The digital short attracts nearly 2 million views in a week and makes creator Andy Samberg a star. Two months later, NBC asks YouTube to remove the clip; it complies.

April 5, 2006
A day after Sequoia injects $8 million in funding, Judson Laipply uploads "The Evolution of Dance," a six-minute mashup of 50 years of dance crazes. It becomes the most popular clip in YouTube history, with 131 million — plus views.

October 9, 2006
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion.

July 23, 2007
YouTube and CNN host their first presidential debate, featuring citizen-submitted video questions. In the 2008 election cycle, 7 of the 16 presidential candidates announced their campaigns via YouTube.

April 11, 2009
Susan Boyle becomes a global celebrity after her audition on a British TV talent show is uploaded and viewed 80 million times. In December, her first album became the best-selling debut ever for a female artist.

October 12, 2009
YouTube passes 1 billion videos a day but remains unprofitable. Analysts estimated 2009 revenue of $240 million, but YouTube spent more than $700 million storing and serving all that video.

January 2010

YouTube introduced an online film rentals service, which is currently available only to users in the US, Canada and the UK. The service offers over 6,000 films.

March 2010

YouTube began free streaming of certain content, including 60 cricket matches of the Indian Premier League. According to YouTube, this was the first worldwide free online broadcast of a major sporting event.

March 31, 2010

The YouTube website launched a new design, with the aim of simplifying the interface and increasing the time users spend on the site.

November 2011

The Google+ social networking site was integrated directly with YouTube and the Chrome web browser, allowing YouTube videos to be viewed from within the Google+ interface.

December 2011

YouTube launched a new version of the site interface, with the video channels displayed in a central column on the home page, similar to the news feeds of social networking sites. At the same time, a new version of the YouTube logo was introduced with a darker shade of red, the first change in design since October 2006.

Starting in 2010 and continuing to the present, Alexa ranked YouTube as the third most visited website on the Internet, behind Google and Facebook.

In October 2012, for the first-time ever, YouTube offered a live stream of the U.S. presidential debate and partnered with ABC News to do so.

December 4, 2012

YouTube relaunched its design and layout which is very similar to the mobile and tablet app version of the site.

December 21, 2012

Gangnam Style became the first YouTube video to surpass one billion views.

March 21, 2013

the number of unique users visiting YouTube every month reached 1 billion.

In 2013, YouTube continued to reach out to mainstream media, launching YouTube Comedy Week and the YouTube Music Awards. Both events were met with negative to mixed reception.

VOCABULARY

citizen-submitted - гражданский представитель

Free Will Is An Illusion, But Freedom Isn’t

Sun, 05 Jun 2016 06:49:00 +0000

We commonly think it obvious that a person facing multiple alternatives can choose any of them, and that the outcome is decided by free will at the moment of decision, rather than being already determined by earlier causes. All the events in the world, however, obey the law of physics, including those that happen inside a brain. If all events in the brain unfold according to classical physics, then free will in the above sense does not exist. This is because classical physics is deterministic: the state of the world at any moment is the inevitable consequence of its state at an earlier moment. Hence the alternatives are only apparently available to the decision-maker, as in fact only a single alternative is destined to be the one chosen.

In contrast to this addict, some people discover room for freedom – that is, for choices compatible with their nature – even when they’re under strong coercion. When Henry David Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay the poll tax, he felt he was still free because his mind could go anywhere, and, as he observed dryly, his mind constituted “all that was dangerous.” And Jean-Paul Sartre claimed that Frenchmen were never freer than when France was under the Nazi occupation. How so? Well, the occupation created opportunities for defiance, and whether to risk defiance or not is a significant choice; hence Frenchmen were freer in the sense of possessing a richer menu of significant choices. The wiggle room allowed under coercion, however, is not always large enough for a choice to be meaningfully called ‘free’. Sophie’s choice, in William Styron’s novel of that title, was to sacrifice one of her children or the other to the gas chamber. Reasonable people would regard the alternatives offered to her by the Nazi doctor as not much of a choice at all, and absolve Sophie of any responsibility for the death of the non-chosen child.

In quantum physics the so-called probability amplitude evolves according to deterministic laws but the transformation from many possible outcomes to one actual outcome takes place purely by chance. The statistical distribution for such chance events follows strict rules, but the outcome of an individual chance event is unpredictable and cannot be controlled by will. Thus any decision is either the predictable result of earlier causes (which may include quantum chance events) and is not free from determinism, or is itself a quantum chance event and is not willed. Either way, the free will we commonly take for granted is absent. What then is the freedom to choose that we so cherish and which politicians like to invoke at every opportunity?

Choice Under Determinism

In order to focus on the essential issues, let us put chance events aside, since, as we have seen, quantum randomness does not rescue free will. In this simplified context, let’s try to see whether our subjective feeling of freedom can be reconciled with physical determinism.

One thing we can’t avoid noticing is that we have the experience of making choices. In fact, each choice consists of two stages. In stage one we conceive alternatives, and in stage two we are aware that we have picked one of them. Often the option picked is the one whose consequences we prefer over the consequences of its alternatives, but the comparison of consequences is not always done consciously. Furthermore, both genetic predispositions and past experiences play a role in forming an individual’s preferences, so the causative factors leading to the making of a choice are complex. The conclusion is that although we do experience choice-making – that transition from stage one to stage two – this doesn’t imply the absence of determining causative factors. We also have the impression that we could have chosen differently. But once a choice has been made, what sense is there to this idea? That is, although a decision-maker faced with the same set of alternatives again may make a different selection the second time, that would be because the overall situation, including the state of brain and mind, has changed. But once again, this choice is the result of previous causes. Hence the existence of free will in the sense of an autonomous force at the very moment of decision unconstrained by past causes, is not required to explain our actual experience of choosing. Our experience of choice-making is perfectly compatible with determinism if we accept that the transition from stage one to stage two – that is, from multiple possible options to the one actually chosen – is, like any other kind of event in the world, the result of previous causes.

Once choice is properly understood in this way – as being causally, physically determined – we can proceed to consider the notion of free choice in wider ways. If a man holds a gun to my head and demands my wallet, and I choose to obey him rather than to try and fight, that’s a ‘coerced choice’. In contrast with this, we can say that a free choice is one that is not coerced. Ultimately, freedom in this sense depends on the absence of conflict between the choice-maker’s nature, character, or core desires and the intended consequences of their actions. Since we are not averse to admitting that our nature is the result of our genetic predispositions and our past circumstances, this notion of freedom can readily coexist with the hidden operation of physical determinism, and also with the fuller scientific worldview where physical determinism is supplemented by quantum randomness.

Compatibilism & Moral Responsibility

Still, how can I be responsible for the consequences of such free choices, when the chains of events that cause them were determined outside myself, beginning long ago? The answer is hinted at in the word ‘responsible’. The president of a nation may take responsibility for his administration’s bad handling of relief work after a natural disaster, for example, even though he was not personally involved in any of the snafus occurring at the operational level. Analogously, although many aspects of my being pull me in different directions and argue with one another during the making of a difficult decision, there is a relatively stable center that I identify as my self, and this recognition means that I can take or own the responsibility for each decision that’s made by me, even through or after the competition of all these factors. This is an appropriate expediency, since the detailed tracing of all the responsible factors is practically impossible.

The nature of the self is obviously complex. Some people have a narrow sense, and some an expansive sense, of the responsible self, and even the same person’s self-perception may change over time. Or for example, a drug addict caught in a crime may claim “My habit made me do it!” In so saying he’s treating his habit as if it’s not a part of him. However, in pondering his responsibility, the jury ought to take into consideration whether his habit was formed with his knowledge or without it (it might sometimes be a result of taking medicine his doctor prescribed). In other words, the jury should assign responsibility for the crime not just on the basis of whether the recent criminal act was itself a completely uncoerced choice, but also on whether some past free acts of the accused contributed to him being in a state where he committed the present crime.

Adopting the absence of coercion instead of the absence of determinism as the essence of freedom gets us out of a conflict with the prevalent scientific worldview. Nonetheless, this notion still captures the importance of freedom – as a condition that enables a person to be true to himself, and also as a criterion for judging whether it is fair to hold a person responsible for their actions.

VOCABULARY

unfold - раскрываться
consequence - следствие
granted - продоставляется
absent - нет на месте
coerced - принуждают
circumstances - обстоятельства

A History of the Restaurant

Sat, 28 May 2016 16:56:00 +0000

Restaurants are an institution in nearly every country and every culture in the world. The restaurant as we know it today, a place where people come to eat and drink and socialize, is credited to the French Revolution. But even before Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were sent to the guillotine, restaurants have been around in one form or another for thousands of years. Since the 2oth Century, restaurants have undergone significant changes, in part to technological advancements in food productions. Today there is a movement in many restaurants for a return to the farms, placing greater emphasis on local goods.

The Earliest Restaurants

It’s no coincide the growth of restaurants through history correlates with the growth of cities. The need for public eateries was firmly established as far back as the Roman Empire and Ancient China, when peasants brought their goods to the markets, often they traveled for several days at a time, stopping at roadside inns along the way.

Usually located in the middle of the countryside, inns served meals at a common table to travelers. There were no menus or even options to choose from. Every night was chef’s choice.

Restaurants in Medieval times

In Europe through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, taverns and inns continued to be the main place to buy a prepared meal. In Spain they were called bodegas-serving tapas. In England items like sausage and shepherd’s pie were popular. In Germany, Austria and Alsace brauwin and weisteben were typical, while in France stews and soups were offered. All of these early restaurants served simple, common fare- foods you would find in a peasant or merchant home.

The French Revolution and the Rise of Fine Dining

In France throughout the Middle Ages, guilds had monopolies on many aspects of prepared foods. For example, charcutiers were the guild who prepared cooked meats for sale therefore if you didn’t belong to that particular guild it was illegal to sell cooked meat in any form. Following the French Revolution, guilds were banned and many chefs employed in aristocratic, even royal, households found themselves unemployed. Many of these displaced workers opened their own restaurants in Paris, bringing with them a new way of dining. Delicate china, cutlery, and linen tablecloths – all trappings of aristocracy, were now available to a whole new echelon of French citizens. Menus became more diverse – offering both prix fixe (french; fix price) and a la carte options (french; additional fee). Though public houses continued to exist, the rise of fine dining in France would soon spread throughout Europe and into the New World.

During the 19th Century, the number of restaurants in Paris continued to rise. After the defeat of Napoléon, wealthy Europeans flocked Paris to partake in the many gourmet dining options. This was especially true of the allied officer gentlemen- a move that would be repeated following the end of WWII. By the end of the 19th Century, advancement in transportation through steamers, railways and eventually automobiles brought about a change in travel. Luxury tourism grew and with it a new precedent of eating well away from home. No longer was eating while traveling a mere necessity. It became an art.

Rise of Chain Restaurants

With the discovery of germs and the link between health and hygiene, a greater emphasis on cleanliness led to the rise of two popular hamburger chains in the early 20th Century- White Castle and White Tower. Their all white interiors were meant to reassure customers that their food was prepared in a safe, modern, sterile environment.

However, the biggest change in the restaurant industry during the 20th Century is credited to McDonalds. Originally a hot dog stand owned by two brothers from Illinois, they switched to hamburgers in 1948. Taking a cue from Henry Ford’s assembly line concept, the McDonald brothers began offering the fastest, cheapest food possible by employing low skill workers to assemble it. While the brothers were successful at serving food efficiently and inexpensively, they were not so good at franchising. A restaurant equipment salesman by the name of Ray Kroc saw the potential in the McDonalds concept, buying the brothers out in 1954. His formula for franchising set a precedent for fast food chains, changing the landscape of American dining.

Today’s Restaurants

By the 1990s, with many families headed by two working parents, shifting consumer patterns brought an increase in the number of people eating out. Restaurant chains like Olive Garden, Applebee’s, and 99 catered to the ever growing middle class, offering moderately priced meals and children’s menus. Another modern trend is local foods, with special emphasis on sustainability. People are more aware than ever of the link between health and nutrition and are more cognizant of what foods they are eating when they dine at restaurants.

VOCABULARY

guillotine - гильотина
peasants - крестьяне
inn - постоялый двор
taking cue - цитировать
cognizant - осведомленный

The Four Stages of Life

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:26:00 +0000

Life is a continuous progress. We all grow, develop and mature. As we continue to move on in life, we move from one stage in life to the next one. For some, this transition feels like a natural process1, while others find themselves stuck in certain stages for decades. Some might even skip entire stages completely, without learning the important lessons of a given stage. What’s true for all of us is that there are a number of distinct stages of life we go through once the time is ready. These stages are experienced by all humans throughout the course of their life. By closely analyzing human life, one can identify the pattern behind these different phases of life. This knowledge about the characteristics of life’s phases can help you to shift gears when it comes to your own growth and your pursuit of success. The following will present you an analysis of the human life cycle. It will show you where people typically get stuck and what you can do to break free from such a situation.

Since ancient times, mankind has philosophized about life. The endeavor to categorize life has led to the development of many different concepts about the cycle of life. Ancient Indian texts, for instance, discuss four age-based life stages (student, householder, retired and renunciation). In ancient Greece, philosophers and lawgivers such as Solon mapped the life cycle into ten seven-year lasting periods. The following is an attempt to condense the wisdom of several different perspectives on the stages of life into one universal life cycle.

Developing an understanding about the different stages of life can help to better explain human life and the challenges it presents. It is important to understand that each of the stages presented in the following can act as a trap that prevents a person’s development. For this reason, a grown-up person can mentally still be trapped in the first stage of life. The same holds true for every other stage, except the last one.

Table of contents – The four stages of life

Stage I: Play, Imitation and EducationBirth – Infancy – Childhood – AdolescenceStage II: Self-Discovery, Enterprise & AdventurousnessAdolescence – Early Adulthood – AdulthoodStage III: Dedication, Contemplation & BenevolenceAdulthood – Midlife – Mature AdulthoodStage IV: Retirement, Wisdom & RenunciationLate Adulthood – Death

Stage I: Play, Imitation and Education
Birth – Infancy – Childhood – Adolescence

Summary of Stage One

The first stage in life focuses on the education of the individual. It is during this phase in the stages of life that we built the fundament for the lifetime ahead. We can get stuck in this stage when we are not able to let go of the need for approval from others.

Stage One in detail

The human life cycle begins with conception. It sets in motion the evolutionary process that forms a body out of a single cell. The first stage of our life is predominantly characterized by the dependency upon others for survival. It is during the beginning of this phase that we basically just eat, sleep and breathe. Our mind is at peace while the brain develops. We pick up essential sensory abilities and motor skills.

The journey continues as a toddler. During this stage the child learns many important skills, such as walking and talking, but also socializing. At the end of this stage of playfulness, the child develops a sense of an inner subjective self. It learns to differentiate between its inner life and the outer world. The stage of playfulness is followed by early adolescence. It’s a critical turning point for the individual’s life. Puberty starts to kick in and with it come drastic hormonal changes. As a result of this, the body begins to change and starts to approach manhood. It’s a time that is ruled by strong emotions and the increased willingness to take risks. The process of liberation from one’s parents is initiated. The adolescent will grow more independently with each year. This growing independency helps to initiate the process of separation from one’s parents.

What really happens

Stage One of the stages of life is all about learning. We observe other people’s behavior and imitate their actions. This helps us to pick up important abilities and skills. By mimicking others, we gradually develop social skills and learn to fit in with society. Rules and norms are imposed upon us and we are taught to behave in socially acceptable manners.

The basic objective of all of this is to help us become self-regulated adults. Once we have grown up, we are expected to act in an autonomous manner. For this reason, we are encouraged to begin meeting decisions of our own. Still, our focus lies on the outside world. We are still dependent upon others for guidance and seek for their approval. Out of all the stages of life, this one helps us to lie the proper foundation.

Why do people get stuck in this stage?

The greatest danger we encounter during this stage is that we are not able to let go of the need for external validation. We might get trapped by adults that do not approve of us becoming independent and autonomous. Society has come up with many different forms of punishment that can prevent us from developing such true autonomy.

Some people never manage to outreach this stage. In their mind, they are still adolescents that imitate adults. They try to fit in and do everything they can in order to please others. The dependency upon other people’s approval prohibits the individual’s growth and development.

Instead of learning to think independently, we place other people’s opinion upon our own. The expectations of others place a great burden upon our shoulders, but we feel obliged to fulfill them. The capability of independent thinking has not yet reached a state in which we are courageous enough to embark on our own journey. Once we have the courage to place our personal values above the expectations of others, and start acting for ourselves, the next stage is entered.

Stage II: Self-Discovery, Enterprise & Adventurousness
Adolescence – Early Adulthood – Adulthood

Summary of Stage Two

The child has grown into an adult who now has to apply the skills learned throughout the initial stage of life. Out of all the stages of life, this one focuses the most upon exploration, endeavor and self-discovery.

Stage Two in detail

The education of the adolescent continues. It is now a more focused approach at acquiring knowledge in various different disciplines. The end of adolescence marks the beginning of adulthood. It is the longest phase in the human life cycle. The bodily transformation reaches its completion. The young adult has reached a point of great independence. It is a time during which the young individual explores life and goes out to leave their mark on the world. The education has completed and the focus lies now on acquiring a good job.

What really happens

During Stage One, we’ve learned to act by ourselves, if necessary against the expectations of others. This new won independence leads us on the great journey of self-discovery. While the first stage primarily focused on integrating us into society, the second stage is all about teaching us to be truly individual.

We start increasing our independence by meeting decisions of our own, but we also have to accept the responsibility that comes with it. It is a time during which we go out to explore the world. We challenge ourselves and seek to gain our own understanding about life. Most importantly, we finally have the courage to discover who we really are. We want to learn what separates us from others. This curiosity helps us to develop an understanding about our individuality and uniqueness.

The desire to explore life increases our willingness to take risks. We start to experiment with new and exciting possibilities. Naturally, the attempt to integrate these elements in our life can be quite erroneous. We make mistakes, learn from them and continue with something else.

At best, we completely break free from the dependency upon other people’s approval. Instead of searching for external validation, we have learned to approve of ourselves. It marks the liberation from childhood in the stages of life.

Why do people get stuck in this stage?

There are various reasons why we can get stuck in this stage of life. One major reason lies in the fact that this phase in the stages of life can be extremely pleasurable and exciting. For this reason, some people simply do not wish to ever leave this stage. Instead of allowing their development to unfold, they prefer to continue life on this level. And let’s face it, Stage Two comes with many adventures and exciting explorations of life. Continuously following where your independence leads you can be exciting for a certain period of time. But at one point, we all have to learn that these youthful endeavors will have to end eventually.

Still, some people refuse to accept the end of the second stage. Their exploration of life continues, often times without a true purpose. Instead of making new discoveries, these people simply experience new things without gaining any new and significant insights about life. Without noticing it, these people are running in a circle.

The underlying reason for this is that some of us do not accept their limitations. However, one crucial lesson of the second stage is to show us that we are limited. We quickly—and sometimes painfully—have to discover everything that we are not good at. We discover our weaknesses and are confronted with our failures. But in terms of our personal growth, it isn’t such a bad thing to be confronted with these things.

These experiences make us realize that time is precious and should be spent accordingly. We begin to understand that not every activity should be pursued, just because we can pursue it. We start to realize that many of the activities we’ve enjoyed for so long do no longer provide us any significant returns. Slowly but surely, we are taught to use our independence in a responsive manner.

The second stage is accomplished once we realize that we have to be selective about what we do.

Stage III: Dedication, Contemplation & Benevolence
Adulthood – Midlife – Mature Adulthood

Stage Three is initiated when the responsibilities of the individual start to increase. What was once an independent being will find itself confronted with many different challenges, among them coping and financial pressures. The individual might want to find a home and partner. Slowly but surely, the time to settle down starts to approach. Wishes of independence, exploration and freedom are now replaced by the wish to start a family. It marks a stage during which we pick up a great number of responsibilities, not only for ourselves, but also for others.

The third stage plays a significant role in an adult’s life. It is during this time when we initiate the life cycle once again, by having children of our own. The focus now lies on the growth of one’s career and development of the young family.

A major turning point during Stage Three has arrived once the children begin to leave the nest. Until this point, the individual has followed the destined path scripted by society. The individual was born, grew up, was educated, found a job, settled down and started a family. But now, for the very first time, the individual is confronted with a new situation. The obligations and responsibilities placed by society upon them start to decrease. The individual has entered the stage of midlife. In many cases, this phase resembles the opportunity to take a break from one’s worldly affairs. Perhaps for the very first time, the individual starts to ponder about the true meaning of their life.

It’s a stage of deep contemplation. Every individual reacts differently during this stage. While some develop a profound understanding about human life, others will find themselves in a midlife crisis. In the best case scenario, a stronger and wiser individual will emerge out of this stage. The end of this contemplative stage marks the beginning of a phase that is especially characterized by wisdom and benevolence.

What really happens

Stage Two made us explore the world and confronted us with our limitations and fears. At the beginning of Stage Three we have ripened and are calmer. The third stage can be categorized as the process of decluttering one’s life. We have a much clearer understanding about the things that are truly important to us. We’ve also gained many insights about our limited abilities in certain areas. Based upon this knowledge we start making some significant changes in life.

During the third stage a great shift in focus takes place. We place our concentration upon that which is important to us, while allowing the rest to leave our life. Our patience with time-wasting activities and energy-draining friends decreases drastically. It’s a stage where many of these mindless hobbies and shady friends leave, never to be seen again.

Instead of having countless time-wasting activities on our mind, we nurture the hobbies and relationships that are really important to us. The pursuit of your dreams has become more important to you than anything else. This stage of life is centered around the creation of your legacy. You will strive to make the most of your life by living up to your full potential. All of this is fueled by the desire to leave your mark on the world.

By decluttering your life you will also make room for previously unconsidered matters. One might wonder about the purpose of life, dive into philosophy or (re-)discover religion.

Why do people get stuck in this stage?

Stage Three comes to its natural conclusion once your vision is realized. People feel old, worn out and come to the realization that they’ve accomplished everything they could accomplish in their life.

For some, however, the ambition to accomplish evermore never comes to an end. People are so used to constantly strive for more that they have great trouble with the outlook of retirement. And once that day comes the insatiable hunger for accomplishments and power begins to haunt them. As a result, these individuals stay active as long as their bodies permit. They miss out on another important stage in life.

Stage IV: Retirement, Wisdom & Renunciation
Late Adulthood – Death

During mature adulthood the individual reaches the stage of wisdom and benevolence. The children have left the house and the work life of the individual reaches its completion. After retirement, many make important contributions for society. Their wisdom and foresight contributes to the advancement of society. In many cases, the elderly take up a new role of volunteers and mentors who guide the younger generations. They represent a source of wisdom the following generations can tap into, if they are wise enough to do so.

The last stage of a human’s life begins once it’s time to depart. While this is a painful experience for the relatives of the deceased one, it also serves as a reminder for the younger generations. It reminds them to make the most out of the moment and to be grateful for their lives.

What really happens

The last stage in a human’s life is well deserved. People worked hard all their life long, accomplished great things and ensured the continuance of their family and mankind. Stage Four marks the time when people actively seek to give younger generations helpful advice to take along. It’s the stage during which preparations are set in place so that the following generation continues the legacy.

From a psychological perspective, the last stage helps us to accept the fact of our own mortality. In fact, it offers us the chance to make sure something of us continues to live on in this world, even when we are long dead.

VOCABULARY

stuck in - застревать
distinct - отчетливый, особый
pattern - шаблон
to shift gears - переключать передачи
pursuit - преследование
mankind - человечество
endeavor - прилагать усилия
renunciation - отречение
trap - ловушка
infancy - младенчество
adolescence - подростковый возраст
benevolonce - благожелательность
playfulness - шаловливость
puberty - половая зрелость
manhood - мужественность
willigness - готовность
encourage - поощрять
prohibit - запрещать
obliged - обязанный
capability - возможность
erroneous - ошибочный

Just the two of us

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:35:00 +0000

A wife as nothing more than helpmate, comfort, cushioner: how long ago did that go out of fashion? Probably more recently in the world at large than it did in the sphere of the arts – composers, artists, writers generally moved in more liberated, more Bohemian circles than their contemporaries in the standard professions. Schumann’s Clara was a pianist of astonishing skill and sensitivity, all reports attest, a muse not only to Robert but also, extending after his death, to their friend-in-common Johannes Brahms. Carl Nielsen’s Anne Marie enjoyed as high a reputation in the field of sculpture as he did in music, at least during their lifetimes. Yet there were still limits we wouldn’t think acceptable today: ‘There isn’t room for two artists in this relationship’; ‘My career comes first’. No doubt it happens, but the woman will often think twice at such an ultimatum, or else make a decision to make the greater of the pair her life project to support and follow of her own free will (the same is true of gay marriages and relationships). A recipe for unhappiness in the first case was true for Alma Mahler; by all accounts, Pauline Strauss herself made the decision to give up a strong career as a fine soprano.

Yet even Pauline still suffers from the male perspective, as Garsington Opera’s 2015 production of Strauss’s autobiographical marriage-opera Intermezzo set me thinking. By coincidence, there were two other circumstances around the same couple of weeks last June which prompted the current train of thinking – the first involving an ideal but very human helpmate (Constanze Mozart), the second that aforementioned Danish sculptor.

In David McVicar’s tense and perceptive production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) at Glyndebourne, an offstage wind band played part of the ineffable Adagio from the B flat major Serenade, K361. A quick checking of dates after the performance confirmed that the Serenade was composed only slightly earlier than Entführung, the masterpiece of 1782. The previous December, Mozart announced to his father that he wanted to marry one of the three ‘Weber women’ – not the eldest, Josepha, who had driven him to distraction, but ‘the Martyr of the family’, Konstanze (the name of the opera’s heroine).

The letter of 15 December 1781 is typically perceptive and sensitive, one of many contradicting the image of the scatological numpty projected in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. Wolfgang tells Leopold that while he has the same sexual drive as any young man, he has been too religious and decent ‘to seduce an innocent girl’ and too concerned for his health ‘to play around with whores’: ‘as my personal disposition is more inclined to a quiet and domesticlife than towards noise and excitement… In my eyes, an unmarried man lives only half a life’. Konstanze is ‘the most kindhearted, the most skilled’ of the sisters, he goes on, with ‘no great wit but enough common sense to fulfil her duties as a wife and mother’ and ‘two little black eyes and a graceful figure’ which are ‘her whole beauty… I love her and sheloves me with all her heart.’

As in most marital relationships of the 18th and 19th centuries, we’d like to hear more from the woman’s side, ofcourse. But there is enough evidence to prove that Konstanze was a resourceful and spirited individual, who cared for her husband’s legacy long after his death. The wedding took place on 4 August 1782 in Vienna’s Stefansdom. I’d always wondered why the (semi) comic opera of that year and the most sublime of all the wind serenades were thefirst of Mozart’s works to have that at-one-with-the-world aura we know so well from the mature masterpieces, a radiance only very fitfully to befound in the riven genius of his first great opera Idomeneo. Last year’s discovery reinforced a hunch: Konstanze’s role as muse as well as wife had a more profound effect on the music than we can ever realise.
Wouldn’t a thwarted artistic temperament be a much more plausible explanation for the dissatisfaction, the artfully staged paddies, the ineffectual attempts Christine makes to put herself at the centre of everything? It’s typical that the only other views we get on her, apart from those of the maid who has to button her lips, come from men. Even the one who’s on her side thinks she’s ‘just what he needs’. But what about her needs? At least there’s half an act in which we see Christine apart from her husband, but only in a questionable friendship with a younger man which will serve to put her in the wrong. That raises another unanswered question: did the relationship with the ‘Baron’ have its counterpart in real life, as we know the telegram sent in error by a girl on the make to Strauss certainly did?

In the case of Pauline Strauss, née de Ahna, a major-general’s daughter just like Alice Elgar, we know exactly the effect on the music. Strauss crated a series of musical portraits, filtered through a satirical or mockepic imagination. There’s the woman of infinite variety portrayed in the most complex and difficult violin solo ever written for an orchestral leader in the symphonic poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life); Strauss himself is the hero, but only in part and very much with tongue in cheek. The Wife has a variety of themes – among them ‘lively/wrathful’ and ‘feeling’ ones, – in the 24 hours of Strauss family life so exuberantly portrayed in the Symphonia Domestica. As a soprano of formidable talent, strong enough to sing Isolde and Freihild, the heroine of Strauss’s first opera, under Strauss’s baton at Weimar, and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser as well as a Parsifal flower-maiden at Bayreuth, Pauline’s amazing breath control was the reason why songs like ‘Traum durch die Dämmerung’ and ‘Freundliche Vision’ are especially taxing to singers of shorter wind.

Even after Pauline’s apparently voluntary retirement from the operatic stage and the concert platform to bring up the Strausses’ only child, Franz, her legacy lived on in songs right through to the incredibly long phrases of the Four Last Songs of 1948-9. Eduard Hanslick, Wagner’s notorious opponent immortalised as Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg called Pauline the composer’s ‘better and more beautiful other half’. The phrase went straight into thelibretto Strauss concocted himself for Intermezzo, fleshing out at length an anecdote of a rather serious marital misunderstanding. Christine Storch, theleading role, is very decidedly Pauline Strauss in all her pettishness, fury, coquettishness and generosity of spirit (unfortunately in that order, though Strauss lavishes his finest music on the generosity in one of his greatest slow movements, the orchestral interlude as Christine dreams by thefireside). In forging an identity for multifarious Christine, Strauss throws in just about every detail concerning her follies and virtues except the most crucial: that she has been a performer of great distinction, and has given it all up for family life.

We have to take Strauss’s word for it that he never forced his dissatisfied wife into anything; whereas we know for certain that the marriage between Alma Schindler and Gustav Mahler, the colleague with whom Strauss had a difficult but not unfruitful professional friendship, got off to a bad start by any standards. What we know of Alma’s songs shows a more than modest talent. There’s no question of her rising to the level of her husband’s symphonies – who else could, at that time? But to her liberal family in 1890s Vienna almost as much as to us now, the unbelievably egotistical ultimatum that there couldn’t be room for two composers in a marriage seemed intolerable. It’s encapsulated in Mahler’s letter of 19 December 1901, of which this is merely a sample: ‘Have you any idea how ridiculous, and in time, how degrading for both of us such a peculiarly competitive relationship would inevitably become? What will happen if, just when you’re “in the mood”, you’re obliged to attend to the house or that something I might happen to need, since, as you wrote, you ought to relieve me of the menial details of life… You… have only one profession from now on: to make me happy.’

An extreme statement, surely, of what was sometimes taken as a given in marital relations between creative artists and women who served. Still, it could have been worse. On their honeymoon, William Walton told his vivacious Argentinian wife that there was only room for one child in the relationship – a pity the question hadn’t been raised earlier – and when she did accidentally become pregnant, essentially drove her to a back-steet abortion. Was Susana’s insanely energetic promotion of William as his widow overcompensation for all that frustrated drive?

At any rate, Alma questioned the one who was really being ridiculous, writing in her diary for 22 December, ‘But must one of us be subordinate? Isn’t it possible with the help of love to merge two fundamentally opposing points of view into one?’ But she went ahead, and 11 years later, just before Mahler died, it turned out not to be enough. Though Alma did not leave her husband long for the architect Walter Gropius, would her new volte-face hold? At any rate, she married ‘the other’ after Mahler’s death.

Let’s take an intermezzo of our own now between the high-profile wives. By comparison with Pauline and Alma, Caroline Alice Roberts – like Pauline a major-general’s daughter who took music lessons from a merely promising composer – remains a more shadowy figure. She was also 40, nine years older than Elgar, when they married. Was this the helpmate pure and simple, albeit one who took her domestic powers seriously to impress upon her husband the need of moving in higher society as well as to make him work and to divert his thoughts of suicide during bouts of depression?

Creatively, this good wife was shunted sideways in Elgar’s most autobiographical music, as Pauline never was in Strauss’s. It probably says much for the Edwardian supremacy of the male that ‘C.A.E.’ is the first, delicate but melancholy portrait of the Enigma Variations while its heart and soul is AJ Jaeger, ‘Nimrod’, the tubercular employee at Novello’s music publisher to whom Elgar confided so many of his innermost thoughts as well as his artistic ones. Maybe that has more to do with the summer night’s discussion between Jaeger and Elgar discussing Beethoven’s slow movements, and particularly the one at the centre of the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata which the ‘Nimrod’ variation so nobly emulates. But even in the finale, ‘Nimrod’ plays a bigger role alongside ‘E.D.U.’ than the briefly returning ‘C.A.E’.

Mothering seems also to have played a large part in the stressful married life of Sibelius’s wife Aino. Like Alma, she camefrom a highly cultured family, albeit also that of an army man like Pauline’s and Alice’s. One brother, Arno Järnefelt, was a writer, another, Eero, a painter. The 1890s and early 1900s were hard years; it was left to Aino to deal with her husband’s carousing and financial difficulties, and she turned to the solace ofcreating a garden in their humble home at Järvenpää, not far from Helsinki. In 1907 Sibelius was operated on for what turned out to be a malign throat tumour, and touched no alcohol or cigars for the next seven years – happy ones for Aino. The threat of separation or divorce loomed again when that time of abstinence came to an end. Yet this was a 65-year-old marriage, probably one of more happiness than grief, and Aino lived on at Ainola until her death in 1969. She wrote in later years that though she had had to repress and control her own wishes, ‘I bless my destiny and see it as a gift from heaven. To me my husband’s music is the word of God – its source is noble, and it is wonderful to live close to such a source.’

In another marriage which took place in 1891, a year before Aino and Jean tied the knot, the woman did not suppress her wishes in a high-profile career and only tolerated her husband’s infidelities up to a point. Anne Marie Brodersen was an award-winning sculptor in Paris when Carl Nielsen arrived in that mecca for Scandinavian artists. A whirlwind romance and a pack-it-in European tour culminated in a Roman wedding. They shared liberal values which meant there was never any question but that Anne Marie should continue her career as well as raising three children (Aino, mother of six, could never have balanced the two).

Just how fine this sculptor was – indeed is – because her works have such an ongoing life, quickly dawned on me in Odense’s Carl Nielsen Museum which I visited on Nielsen’s 150th birthday in between the Entführung and Intermezzo first nights. The collection seems to be equally divided between Anne Marie’s maquettes and sculptures, and Carl’s manuscripts and other memorabilia. Her sculpture of an imagined young Nielsen playing on a home-made flute stands on the road from Odense to the only survivor among his childhood homes at Nørre Lyndelse. It’s fine if conventional work, and Anne Marie took on big projects – the bronze doors, a colossal equestrian statue of Christian IX – work and preliminary studies on which did indeed make her husband feel neglected.

The real fault, though, was his. Regular liaisons led to an illegitimate child and the revelation that he’d been carrying on with his children’s governess. A hushed-up separation lasted from 1915 to 1922, when Anne Marie returned to comfort the last years of the composer’s life, constantly troubled by a heart condition which led to his death at 66. If the Nielsens’ was a rather more troubled portrait of a marriage than the Strausses’ or the Mozarts’, it anticipates the modern pattern of parallel careers and forgiveness of infidelities in a world where constant travel makes a fulfilled creative life for both partners difficult but not impossible.

VOCABULARY

astonishing - удивительный

circumstances - обстоятельства

wratheful - гневный

retirement - выход на пенсию

thwarted - сорван

infidelities - неверность

Female education: European history

Sat, 02 Apr 2016 16:23:00 +0000

Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, and its connection to the alleviation of poverty. Also involved are the issues of single-sex education and religious education in that the division of education along gender lines as well as religious teachings on education have been traditionally dominant and are still highly relevant in contemporary discussions of educating females as a global consideration.

Early modern period, humanist attitudes

ANCIENT ROME

In ancient Rome, upperclass women seem to have been well-educated, some highly so, and were sometimes praised by male historians of the time for their learning and cultivation. Cornelia Metella, for instance, was distinguished for her knowledge of geometry, literature, music, and philosophy. In the wall paintings of Pompeii, women are more likely than men to be pictured with writing implements. Some women had sufficient knowledge of Roman the law and oratorical training to conduct court cases on their own behalf, or on behalf of others. Among occupations that required education, women could be scribes and secretaries, calligraphers, and artists.

Some and perhaps many Roman girls went to a ludus (ancient Rome)|public primary school. Boys and girls were educated either together or with similar methods and curriculum. One passage in Livy's history assumes that the daughter of a centurion would be in school; the social rank of a centurion was typically equivalent to modern perceptions of the "middle class". Girls as well as boys participated in public religious festivals, and sang advanced choral compositions that would require formal musical training.

Medieval period

Medieval education for females was typically tied to a convent. Research has uncovered that several early women educators were in charge of schools for girls:

St. Ita of Ireland - died 570 AD. Founder and teacher of a co-ed school for girls and boys at her monastery of Cell Ide. Several important saints studied under her, including St. Brendan the Navigator.

Caesaria the Younger - died 550 AD. Successor to the sister of St. Caesarius and abbess of the convent he founded for her nuns, Caesaria the Younger continued the teaching of over a hundred women at the convent and aided in the copying and preservation of books.

St. Bertilla - died c. 700 AD. Queen Bathild requested her services for the convent she had founded at Chelle. Her pupils founded convents in other parts of western Europe, including Saxony.

St. Leoba - died 782 AD. St. Boniface requested her presence on his mission to the Germans and while there she founded an influential convent and school.

St. Bede the Venerable reports that noble-women were often sent to these schools for girls even if they did not intend to pursue the religious life, and St. Aldhelm praised their curriculum for including grammar, poetry, and Scriptural study. The biography of Sts. Herlinda and Renilda also demonstrates that women in these convent schools could be trained in art and music.

During the reign of Emperor Charlemagne, he had his wife and daughters educated in the liberal arts at the Palace Academy of Aachen, for which he is praised in the Vita Karolini Magni. There is evidence that other nobles had their daughters educated at the Palace Academy as well. In line with this, authors such as Vincent of Beauvais indicate that the daughters of the nobility were widely given to education so that they could live up to their social position to come.

Early modern period, humanist attitudes

In early modern Europe, the question of female education had become a commonplace one, in other words a literary topos for discussion. Around 1405 Leonardo Bruni wrote De studies et letteris, addressed to Baptista di Montefeltro, the daughter of Antonio II da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino; it commends the study of Latin, but warns against arithmetic, geometry, astrology and rhetoric. In discussing the classical scholar Isotta Nogarola, however, Lisa Jardine notes that (in the middle of the 15th century), ‘Cultivation’ is in order for a noblewoman; formal competence is positively unbecoming. Christine de Pisan's Livre des Trois Vertus is contemporary with Bruni's book, and sets down the things which a lady or baroness living on her estates ought to be able to do.

In his 1516 book Utopia, Thomas More advocated for women to have the right to education.

Erasmus wrote at length about education in De pueris instituendis (1529, written two decades before); not mostly concerned with female education, in this work he does mention with approbation the trouble Thomas More took with teaching his whole family. Catherine of Aragon "had been born and reared in one of the most brilliant and enlightened of Europen courts, where the cultural equality of men and women was normal". By her influence, she made education for English women both popular and fashionable. In 1523, Juan Luis Vives, a follower of Erasmus, wrote in Latin his De institutione feminae Christianae. This work was commissioned by Catherine, who had charge of the education of her daughter for the future Queen Mary I of England; in translation it appeared as Education of a Christian Woman. It is in line with traditionaldidactic literature, taking a strongly religious direction. It also placed a strong emphasis on Latin literature. AlsoComenius was an advocate of formal education for women. In fact his emphasis was on a type of universal education making no distinction between humans; with an important component allowed to parental input, he advocated in hisPampaedia schooling rather than other forms of tutoring, for all.

The Reformation prompted the establishment of compulsory education for boys and girls. Most important was Martin Luther's text 'An die Ratsherren aller Städte deutschen Landes,' (1524) with the call for establishing schools. Especially the Protestant South-West of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation with cities like Strassburg became pioneers in educational questions. Under the influence of Strasbourg in 1592 the German Duchy Pfalz-Zweibrücken became the first territory of the world with compulsory education for girls and boys.

Elizabeth I of England had a strong humanist education, and was praised by her tutor Roger Ascham. She fits the pattern of education for leadership, rather than for the generality of women. When Johannes Sturm published Latin correspondence with Ascham centred on the achievements in humanist study of Elizabeth and other high-ranking English persons, in Konrad Heresbach's De laudibus Graecarum literarum oratio (1551), the emphasis was on the nobility of those tackling the classics, rather than gender.

So schooling for girls was not always rare.

Modern period

The issue of female education in the large, as emancipatory and rational, is broached seriously in the Enlightenment. Mary Wollstonecraft, who worked as a teacher, governess, and school-owner, wrote of it in those terms. Her first book was Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, years before the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

The Commission of National Education in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, founded in 1777, considered the first Ministry of Education in history, was a central, autonomous body responsible for nationwide, secular and coeducational training. In the late 19th century, in what was then the Russian province of Poland, in response to the lack of higher training for women, the so-called Flying University was organized, where women were taught covertly by Polish scholars and academics. Its most famous student was Maria Skłodowska-Curie, better known as Marie Curie, who went on to win two Nobel Prizes.

Much education was channelled through religious establishments. Not all of these educated women only for marriage and motherhood; for example, Quaker views on women had allowed much equality from the foundation of the denomination in the mid-17th century. Theabolitionist William Allen and his wife Grizell Hoare set up the Newington Academy for Girlsin 1824, teaching an unusually wide range of subjects from languages to sciences. The first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe, was established by Catherine II of Russia

Actual progress in institutional terms, for secular education of women, began in the West in the 19th century, with the founding of colleges offering single-sex education to young women. These appeared in the middle of the century. The Princess: A Medley, a narrative poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, is a satire of women's education, still a controversial subject in 1848, when Queen's College first opened in London. Emily Davies campaigned for women's education in the 1860s, and foundedGirton College in 1869, as did Anne Clough found Newnham College in 1875. Progress was gradual, and often depended on individual efforts - for example, those of Frances Lupton, which led to the founding of the Leeds Girls' High School in 1876. W. S. Gilbert parodied Tennyson's poem and treated the themes of women's higher education and feminism in general with The Princess in (1870) and Princess Ida in 1883.

Once women began to graduate from institutions of higher education, there steadily developed also a stronger academic stream of schooling, and the teacher training of women in larger numbers, principally to provide primary education. Women's access to traditionally all-male institutions took several generations to become complete.

Educational reform

he interrelated themes of barriers to education and employment continued to form the backbone of feminist thought in the 19th century, as described, for instance by Harriet Martineau in her 1859 article "Female Industry" in the Edinburgh Journal. Despite the changes in the economy, the position of women in society had not greatly improved and unlike Frances Power Cobbe, Martineau did not support the emerging call for the vote for practical reasons.

Slowly the efforts of women like Emily Davies and the Langham group (under Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon) started to make inroads. Queen's College (1848) and Bedford College (1849) in London started to offer some education to women, and by 1862 Davies was establishing a committee to persuade the universities to allow women to sit for the recently established (1858)Cambridge Local Examinations, with partial success (1865). A year later she published The Higher Education of Women. She and Bodichon founded the first higher educational institution for women, with five students, which became Girton College, Cambridge in 1873, followed byLady Margaret Hall at Oxford in 1879. Bedford had started awarding degrees the previous year. Despite these measurable advances, few could take advantage of them and life for women students was very difficult.

As part of the continuing dialogue between British and American feminists, Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the US to graduate in medicine (1849), lectured in Britain with Langham support. They also supported Elizabeth Garrett’s attempts to assail the walls of British medical education against strong opposition; she eventually took her degree in France. Garrett's successful campaign to run for office on the London School Board in 1870 is another example of how a small band of determined women were starting to reach positions of influence at the level of local government and public bodies.

VOCABULARY

praise - хвалить
cultivation - выращивание
distinguished - выдающийся
behalf - от имени
tied - связанный
nun - монахиня
presence - присутствие
evidence - доказательства
establishing - налаживание
Enlightenment - просвещение
Commonwealth - содружество
inroad - нашествие

Education in The U.S. (by Nadya Denisova)

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 11:21:00 +0000

(www.youtube.com/user/dsashulya/featured)

The United States of America being located on the other side of the globe, thousands of miles away from Russia, have always been a mysterious and fascinating land for me. A couple of years ago I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to become an exchange student and get an inside look at the life of a typical American teenager. I can even say that I got a chance to live like one for about seven months. I enrolled at American school and were studying there on a par with the regular students, which gave me priceless experience and many interesting stories to tell.

Let us start with debunking the most common myth – not all American high schools are quite like what we see in movies. They all do have lockers (the iron boxes where you can put your binders, books and even outerwear) and plenty of various sports teams but studying at some of them isn’t all that glamorous. In fact, after discussing public schools in Portsmouth, VA (where I got the chance to live) with my host family and other Americans, I learned that public school system there is low quality. The families who can afford sending their kids to private schools or homeschool them, try their hardest to avoid the necessity of sending them to public schools.

However, America is known as a melting pot of various nations, traditions and customs, which makes every corner, every state and even every town in the country completely different from one another. That is why I know for sure that everything, including the quality of the school system, would be different for any other place in the country. Nevertheless, some aspects of a high school teenager’s life are quite similar in every part of the USA.

American education is longer than that in Russia. High school starts with the 9^th grade that is called freshman year, then continues with the 10^th grade that is called sophomore, then goes the 11^th grade called junior and the last, twelfth one, which we don’t have in Russia, is called senior year. I was enrolled as a junior and had some classes with the people of my age while others I shared with students of all four high school grades. That happened because, as many of us already know from movies, Americans get to choose the classes they take. The choice is quite vast – you can take academic classes like chemistry, biology and physics on a par with choir, art, fashion marketing and design. That is why you generally have completely different people in each of the classes you take. However, there are some restrictions.

First, every student has to take English, History or Government, Science and PE classes at least for one semester. The school year at the school I attended was divided in two parts called semesters, and you could pick different classes for both of them. Nevertheless, some classes, like AP (Advanced Placement) English were yearlong which reduced the number of other subjects you could take. In addition, most classes have different levels, for example, there were regular and Honors History classes and regular, AP and DE (Dual Enrollment) English levels. The variety helps every student find what would be the most suitable for him or her. As an exchange student, the only mandatory classes I had were English and History, other blank spaces in my schedule I could fill with any classes myself.

Secondly, in my American school there were only four classes a day, each lasting 1.5 hour. Every day I had the same schedule, which changed only once - at the end of January when the second semester started. Such system didn’t allow me to take all the classes I wanted. However, talking to other exchange students, I learned that some schools have around seven or eight 45 minute long classes a day just like in Russia, and two different schedules that changed one another daily. The two different schedules at such schools are called Day A and Day B and the alternation of them stays the same throughout the whole year.

Another interesting fact about American high schools is the length of the breaks between classes. To collect all your binders and books, get to your locker if needed, visit the bathroom and get to another classroom you have only five minutes. Being late to a class without a special note from a teacher or a member of administration is punished. After a couple times of being tardy the teacher calls the student’s parent, and if the student doesn’t change his or her behavior, he or she will be suspended for several days, and if it doesn’t help next goes the expelling from school. The disciplinary rules are indeed quite stricter than in Russian schools. The same happens for those who miss classes without a valid reason.

The lunch break is the longest and usually lasts for half an hour. There are several of them and they take place during the third period, because the cafeteria can’t house all the students at once which is more than a thousand teenagers. During the lunch break you can either buy a meal at school the cost of which is about one or two dollars, or you can eat what you brought from home in a lunchbox. One can’t walk around school during that time – there are staff members watching students and keeping them disciplined. However, if you manage to sneak past the staff, you can spend some time at the library.

The most interesting and even disappointing for some people fact about American high school is that cell phones aren’t allowed not only during classes but also during the breaks. If staff, who as I’ve already mentioned are constantly watching students, see you having your cell phone out even if not using it, they will withdraw it from you and only your parents can get it back next day. If it happened on Friday, you wouldn’t have your phone back until Monday, because American students have a five day school week.

The famous yellow school buses are another element of a typical American teenager’s life that has always interested me. The bus picks students up either right at their houses’ thresholds or at an arranged bus stop depending on how many students live in the same area and how long the route becomes if driving past every student’s house. There are at least ten busses each having a different route. Since all the students have the same number of classes a day, after the last class busses are already parked at the schoolyard waiting for the students to get on. They stay there for 10 or 15 minutes and if you’re late for the bus you will have to find another way to get home. However, many teenagers have their own cars. Every school has a rather vast car parking space, because one of the peculiarities of America is that you can hardly ever see a person walking – everybody prefers using cars even if they need to get to the next block. Teenagers can get a driver’s license and start actually driving at 16, there is even a special driving course at school which you can take instead of PE. Most teenagers have a part time job after school at places like grocery stores and pharmacies, and the money they earn helps them keep a car.

To sum up, I can say that school system in America is indeed very different from that in Russia. It was truly exciting to have an opportunity to live a typical American teenager’s life for the long seven months and if I had a chance to go back in time and face the decision of whether to become an exchange student or not, I wouldn’t change a single thing. I the American lifestyle from the inside enjoying some things and being shocked by the other. However, as we were taught at the exchange student orientation camp, life in another country isn’t better or worse. It is just different.

VOCABULARY

debunk - разоблачать
restriction - ограничение
sophomore - второкурсник
suspended - приостанавливать
valid - веский

Blind Film Critic

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 12:36:00 +0000

Tommy Edison has been blind since birth and now producing videos online that reveal a glimpse into his life and the funny challenges that he faces daily. Tommy has showed us what it’s like for someone who is blind to use an ATM for the time and how some people who are visually impaired may organize their money.

Plus, Tommy is living his dream of reviewing movies as the Blind Film Critic. With his unique and interesting perspective, Tommy says “I watch movies and pay attention to them in a different way than sighted people do. I’m not distracted by all the beautiful shots and attractive people. I watch a movie for the writing and acting.”

In addition to critiquing films, Tommy adds humor to his reviews. When he watched “Water for Elephants”, Tommy said, “I didn’t think Robert Pattinson was all that much to look at. I gotta be honest with you. I don’t know what all the kids see in him, but okay! Ha ha!”

Also, Tommy has a unique rating system. When he reviewed “Scream 4″, Tommy said, “Sighted people, I think you will really enjoy this movie. Blind people stay home. I’m going to give this 2 out of 4 eyes open!”

In addition to being the Blind Film Critic, Tommy has been a radio professional for nearly 25 years, having spent the last 19 at STAR 99.9 FM in Connecticut as a traffic reporter. Tommy’s engaging personality, along with his on-air excellence and entertaining demeanor has garnered him much media attention.

In April 2011, Roger Ebert endorsed the Blind Film Critic when he posted Tommy’s first two movie reviews on his Chicago Sun-Times blog. Plus, Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 shared Tommy’s review of “Water for Elephants” on their blog, and NBC Connecticut (WVIT-TV) produced a feature story about the recent success of the reviews. In 2009, the Governor of CT, Jodi Rell proclaimed May 21, 2009 as “Tommy Edison Day” for the service that he has provided the community throughout the years. In 2004, Tommy made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Plus, he has been featured on a variety of other news programs on CNN and Headline News.

WEBSITE: http://blindfilmcritic.com/

VOCABULARY

ATM - asynchronous transfer mode — асинхронный способ передачи данных
demeanor - манера поведения
glimpse - мельком

The Russian Prince

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 13:05:00 +0000

"I was standing on a Lithuanian battlefield with 300 Lithuanian-Russian extras behind me," recalls British actor James Norton. "I was able to pull my sabre out of my scabbard and say, 'Charge!' Little eight-year-old James was having the time of his life."
Norton is talking about his latest project, a six-part adaptation of Tolstoy's epic novel War & Peace. Directed by Tom Harper from a script penned by Andrew Davies, and co-produced by the Weinstein Company and BBC, the miniseries features over 90 speaking roles and plenty of famous faces. Cinderella actress Lily James stars as the animated heroine Natasha Rostova, with Paul Dano as her bumbling suitor Pierre Bezukhov, Aneurin Barnard as her ambitious cousin Boris Drubetskoy, Callum Turner and Tuppence Middleton as the debauched Kuragin siblings, Brian Cox as the famous Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov, and Gillian Anderson as the society hostess Anna Pavlovna Scherer. Norton plays Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Tolstoy's distant hero and a man who wants for nothing, yet remains perpetually dissatisfied.
"Andrew described Andrei as the 'the Russian Darcy,' and although I rolled my eyes and was like, 'Thanks a lot, Andrew,' because obviously it had been picked up by lots of press, it's true," says Norton. "There is something very intriguing and enigmatic about both of them, whilst appearing to be really cruel and callous towards their loved ones," he continues. "Everyone's drawn to Andrei."
Educated at Cambridge and RADA, Norton seems like an obvious choice for a "Russian Darcy." He's appeared in period dramas before and currently stars as the vicar-turned-sleuth Sidney Chambers in the PBS series Grantchester. But Norton is not one to be typecast. The 31-year-old received a BAFTA nomination for his chilling performance as Tommy Lee Royce, a rapist and murderer recently released from prison, in the BBC's gritty, Yorkshire-set drama Happy Valley. In addition to War & Peace, he'll return as both Royce and Chambers later this year.

I: How did you get involved in War & Peace?
JAMES NORTON: I got involved quite late on, actually. I hadn't read the book. It was quite a daunting prospect; there are many who have strong relations to the book, particularly Andrei. [Upon reading it,] you realize how extraordinary and special, how deserving it is of its status. With the people involved and Andrew Davies's script and the locations, as soon as we realized what it was, of course, we did absolutely everything we could to try and make it happen. Then it did and it was about trying to understand Andrei and get to this extraordinary character because again people, particularly the Russians, have a real relationship with him. They really treasure and respect the characters. I had this amazing moment in Russia where I bumped into this guy called Lev Dodin, he's a theater director for the Maly Theatre Company, and I went to see his Cherry Orchard and he summoned me backstage at the interval. He didn't speak a word of English, but he had a translator and he said, "I want to meet the man playing Bolkonsky." And I thought, "Gosh, that's a bit scary." This immaculately dressed little man turns up and he said, "How old are you?" I said, "I'm 30," and he goes, "Good age for the Bolkonsky. No man has ever played Bolkonsky younger than 40, because the spheres and circles of contemplation are so complex that at your age, no man has dared to take the part." And then only thing he could say in English was, "Hey, hey, James. Good luck." So there was this real sense of imparting this responsibility on me: "You're welcome to try, but don't fuck it up."
I: Did you have to audition for Andrei or did they approach you and make you an offer?
NORTON: I auditioned a long, long time before and then, as it often does, things went quiet. Then in November, I had a conversation with Tom [Harper] and put a couple of auditions on tape. You know there's interest when they start to come back with little pieces of direction, and then I knew things were getting really serious when I got a call on a Tuesday night from my agent at about eight o'clock saying, "Umm...not to freak you out, but Harvey Weinstein's in town and he wants to meet you tomorrow at 8:00 AM in his hotel for breakfast." I was like, "Oh my god," because I'd never met Harvey before. Then I met Harvey, and I met some of his execs, and it went from there—after a very shaky cappuccino with Mr. Weinstein.

I: I was going to ask, what do you order when you have breakfast with Harvey Weinstein?
NORTON: I didn't eat. Put it that way. I think I managed a slurp of my coffee and that's about it. I've actually met him many times since and he's a great guy. He came on set for a bit and he's been very supportive. I think, hopefully, they're really pleased with the outcome, because it was quite a new venture for them embarking on U.K., BBC-based television. So we were very lucky to have them. Having done a couple of BBC dramas, I think we were all aware of the support we had in the Weinstein Company, not as much the financial backing, but just that extra bit of clout. I think it meant when they decided, "We need to film in Russia. We need to be on that frozen lake or in that beautiful palace and it can't be anywhere else," it gave them the boost to take the plunge. And it made such a difference being there. I can't tell you. Being in Russia filming War & Peace...filming War & Peace alone is an extraordinary experience, but to be out there was just magical.
I: When they gave you notes during the audition process, what did they tell you to do differently?
NORTON: It was all about finding his darkness. As an actor, I think most people have a tendency to want to demonstrate that they can act, they can emote. The challenge of Andrei was to keep it incredibly contained, and not do very much, but at the same time communicate this darkness and this cynicism. There's so much going on in Andrei. He's wrangling with these big existential conundrums, and he tries out different routes to fulfillment. He tries falling in love, that doesn't work. He goes to war and searches for military glory, that doesn't work. He does the quiet life of a farmer. He's always active. That's what I loved about him, he's always looking, searching. He's really inquisitive. Those are the best parts to play, especially as a young, 30-year-old guy also trying to work it all out. It's a wonderful headspace to wrangle with for six months. But despite all this, he's also very Russian in his lack of emotion. So it was trying to show all that stuff was going on and that brooding, but at the same time hardly doing anything at all. That was the note I got: remember the darkness, but don't do anything. When I came to set—because I'm quite a smiley guy, I have my moments, but I think I'm generally of a relatively optimistic nature—Tom kept shouting, "James, stop smiling! Stop smiling." I wasn't allowed any hint of a smile, apart from maybe twice in the whole six months.

I: Did that affect your mood off set?
NORTON: No. It was nerve-wracking as an actor. I often gave them a lot of choices in the takes. You give them some that are a little bit more demonstrative and some that are so contained. Having seen the first episode, they generally went in for the more contained. So that's quite nerve-wracking—"Am I communicating all this?" You really try to work the character out and spend time in the headspace of the character. That's what I did. I do really mundane, everyday things, but in the headspace of the character. Having spent all that time, you do want the audience to go on that journey with you. But off set, I'm not the kind of actor who spends all his time wallowing in his hotel room. We had an amazing time. There were moments when it became a bit of a party, especially when we were all out in Saint Petersburg together. It was magical. Lots of fun nights out because we were all very over excited.
I: Did people in Saint Petersburg know what you were doing?
NORTON: They did. The first day, we covered the equivalent of Trafalgar Square or Times Square in snow, and they gave us free reign over their Buckingham Palace. So they were aware of us being there, and incredibly generous with these extraordinary historical sites. We blocked off loads of the roads. It was really warming. It was a weird time to be in Russia with the political situation going on in the Ukraine. Filming in Lithuania and Latvia, there's a certain awareness of what's going on. I think we all went out going, "What's it going to be like?" And the Russians were so welcoming. Brilliant crews. The Lithuanian crews were absolutely incredible as well, incredible tailors. All our costumes were handmade. But the Russians were all really accommodating, and that made it really special. To be allowed in Catherine's Summer Palace...Lily and I have this scene where we fall in love and we waltz up and down this enormous gold hall with thousands of candles and a live orchestra and 300 Russian extras. To do those scenes in situ really meant it was a once-in-a-lifetime job. I hope that that really lifts the project and gives it that special touch. It's an amazing place, Saint Petersburg. It's like a big, old butch Venice. It's like no place I'd ever been.

I: Did people shout "Bolkonsky" at you in the street and buy you drinks?
NORTON: No, no. They didn't know who I was playing. We had the sideburns, so we were slightly conspicuous—we looked like we were in some sort of Andrew Davies adaptation. We had some fun. The shoot was bookended by these stints in Saint Petersburg. We started in minus 20, snow up to your waist, mid-winter, brutal cold. And then we ended in June in the white nights when it didn't get dark. Being there at the beginning and the end with everyone together was really special. The end was sort of sentimental and exciting, and the beginning was all meeting each other and equally exciting.
I: I know you were already friends with Lily James. Did you know any of the other cast members?
NORTON: Lily and I have been friends for some time. We're good friends. I knew quite a few people, actually. I knew Aneurin Barnard, who plays Boris. Because there were 95 speaking roles, there was a constant stream of amazing actors coming in. Nick Brimble, a friend of mine who I worked with on Grantchester, came out for one scene. The depths of talent, how the casting department had managed to get together these really illustrious actors, was a dream. Every day, every scene, you were like, "My god. I'm doing a scene with Brian Cox today and then I'm onto a scene with Stephen Rea." For us young actors, I think we were all very, very star-struck and impressed by the caliber of everyone who came out.
What was really challenging for everyone was that we didn't shoot chronologically; we shot everything all at once. Weeks in Saint Petersburg had to cover seven years of Russian winter. So by definition, we never had a sense of chronology. One day you might be in Saint Petersburg in 1806 and then Moscow in 1812, and then you might jump back to Saint Petersburg. It was completely discombobulating and an incredible credit to Tom Harper, the director, who kept us grounded, and this amazing woman called Marnie [Paxton], who was on continuity. We were constantly shouting, "Marnie, where am I? Which year is it?" And she was always on script to keep you orientated. That, I think, was one of the bigger challenges we faced—keeping a sense of the arc of each character.

I: You came into the offices a few years ago, and you talked about how you felt you really had to like the characters you played and people would always give you funny looks when you said that, because your character in Happy Valley is not particularly likeable. Do you still feel that way?
NORTON: I do. It's a dodgy area, because if you start to say that you "like" Tommy Lee Royce from Happy Valley, a lot of people will rightfully put you on trial: "What on earth do you mean by that?" I think it's about empathy. It's about knowing the reasons why a character does certain things and thinks certain ways. If you're constantly stepping outside of the character and judging them, you'll never really be able to fully engage because you'll always be slightly cynical. I think to be in that moment as much as you can, you have to fully empathize with them and it is about liking them and feeling their pain. Andrei was a much, much easier character to like and empathize with than Tommy, but he's objectively, he's not likeable. Particularly the beginning of the story, he's really cruel to Lise his wife and his family. He's so aloof and so cut off from everyone emotionally that you would be forgiven for thinking he's a prick. But then of course as the book goes on and as our adaptation goes on, you start to realize that he ultimately does mean well and he does have faith in humanity, which is the most important thing, I think. He believes he sees good in people, and he sees good in himself, he's just finding it difficult to discover that goodness and that calm. I really, really enjoyed the journey to empathizing with Andrei, and trying to work out why this man is so disgruntled. As Pierre says in one of our early scenes, "You have everything going for you. You could do anything and everyone looks up to and respects you." And Andrei just sighs, "Yeah...so they say." Immediately that conflict is set up: the aristocrat who's going to inherit this fortune and has got this incredible military career ahead of him and is very intelligent and women find him very attractive, he's got all that going for him and then he seems to be so pissed off with his lot. That conflict is brilliant drama. For some reason, he is incredibly compelling and you are drawn to him. Everyone wants to know what on earth is going on. It goes back to what we were talking about earlier—having such a cold, callous exterior but then showing the audience and all the other characters that behind the eyes there's a lot going on and drawing people in and hopefully they want to know what that is. But he's a bastard to Lise. The scene when he goes to war and leaves her heavily pregnant with his father is brutal—physically pushing her down into a chair while she's sobbing her eyes out. It was quite a harsh scene to shoot as well.
I: Did you find that relationship particularly challenging?
NORTON: Yeah. Again, it's a bit like what we were saying before about liking and empathizing with characters, particularly when their moral choices are so different from your own. Then the challenge is to try and understand why they've done what they've done. But that is difficult because at that point in the story, you meet Andrei and he is so disillusioned by his life, to the point that he's willing to ride off to battle and when Schöngrabern happens and one of the commanders offers his services to divert the French army, Andrei goes straight up to him and says, "I'll go with you," which is essentially suicide. For a young man with a baby on the way, what's going on in there? So that was hard, to try and find that darkness without the three chapters of working out. There were a lot of conversations with Tom when we were doing our rehearsals about where Andrei's disillusionment had come from.

VOCABULARY

callous towards - быть черствым к
conspicuous - бросающийся в глаза
contemplation - созерцание
conundrums - головоломки
debauched - развращенный
discombobulate - идти кругом
Lithuanian - Литовский
mundane - мирской
perpetually dissatisfied - постоянно недовольный
sabre - сабля
scabbard - ножны
venture - предприятие
vicar-turned-sleuth - викарий, ставший сыщиком