Poem The Beach Essays - Beach, , Term Papers

Poem: The Beach Ryan Hartney English 9 3/8/01 The Beach I have always liked the beach best Its fun in the sun for everyone You can have a picnic Or play in the ocean Or play games on the sand I love just watching and listening Hearing the waves come crashing down The display of colors in the sunset The best is at night Seeing the moon reflect of the dark water While listening to the waves come crashing down Surrounded by palm trees Feeling the breeze And the sand is not hot God I hate driving out of that beach parking lot Poetry Essays

The History of Figure Skating and Ice Skates

The History of Figure Skating and Ice Skates Historians generally agree that ice skating, what we also today call figure skating, originated in  Europe several millennia ago, though its unclear when and where the first ice skates came into use. Ancient European Origins Archaeologists have been discovering ice skates made from bone throughout Northern Europe and Russia for years, leading scientists to posit that this method of transport was at one point not so much an activity as a necessity. A pair pulled  from the bottom of a lake in Switzerland, dated back to about 3000 B.C., are considered to be one of the oldest skates  ever found. They are made from the leg bones of large animals, with holes bored into each end of the bone into which leather straps were inserted and used to tie the skates to the foot. It is interesting to note that the  old Dutch word for skate is schenkel, which means leg bone. However, a 2008 study of northern European geography and terrain concluded that ice skates likely appeared first in Finland  over 4000 years ago.  This conclusion was based on the fact that, given the number of lakes in  Finland, its people would have had to invent a time-saving way to navigate across the country. Obviously, it would have saved precious time and energy to figure out a way to cross the lakes, rather than circumnavigate them. Metal Edged These early European skates didnt actually cut into the ice. Instead, users moved across the ice by gliding, rather than by what we have come to know as true skating. That came later, around the late 14th century, when the Dutch started sharpening the edges of their formerly flat-bottomed iron skates. This invention now made it possible to actually skate along the ice, and it made poles, which previously had been used to aid in propulsion and balance, obsolete. Skaters could now push and glide with their feet, a movement we still call the Dutch Roll. Ice Dancing The father of modern figure skating is Jackson Haines, an American skater, and dancer who in 1865 developed the two-plate, all-metal blade, which he tied directly to his boots. These allowed him to incorporate a host of ballet and dance moves into his skating- up until that point, most people could only go forward and backward and trace circles or figure eights. Once Haines added the first toe pick to skates in the 1870s, jumps now became possible for figure skaters. Today, increasingly spectacular leaps and bounds are one of the things that have made figure skating such a popular spectator sport, and one of the highlights of the Winter Olympic games. Sporting Developments  was developed in 1875 in Canada, although the first  mechanically refrigerated ice rink, named the Glaciarium, was built in 1876, at Chelsea, London, England, by John Gamgee.   The Dutch are also likely responsible for holding the first  skating competitions, however, the first official speed skating events were not held until 1863 in Oslo, Norway. The  Netherlands hosted the first World Championships in 1889, with teams from Russia, the United States, and England joining the Dutch. Speed skating made its Olympic debut at the winter games in 1924. In 1914, John E. Strauss, a blade maker from St. Paul, Minnesota, invented the  first closed-toe blade made from one piece of steel, making skates lighter and stronger. And, in 1949, Frank Zamboni trademarked the ice resurfacing machine that bears his name. The largest, man-made outdoor ice rink is the Fujikyu Highland Promenade Rink in Japan, built in  1967. It boasts an ice area of 165,750 square feet, the equivalent of 3.8 acres. It is still in use today.

BatmanThe Dark Kninght Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BatmanThe Dark Kninght - Article Example It carves a work of twisted beauty from it. Along with the film, â€Å"the dark knight† came a soundtrack, which was equally dark, violent, tortured, and relentless. The purists of the film music may find this soundtrack to be a bit offbeat to match their tastes. Certainly, they would not be wrong. The fact about the dark knight soundtrack is it represents a highly stylized approach in the creation of a film score. The music of Batman in the movie is iconic. While the music at the beginning of the movie is impressive, it actually does not give a comparison to what the duo have concocted when it comes to their second foray into the underbelly of the Gotham city, which is dark. Within the films context, the music assists in creating an unnerving sense of panic, chaos, dread, and fear. Zimmer and Howard help in creating a clashing dissonance for the joker that unnerves the listener. The Salvo used in the opening â€Å"why so serious?† is one among those tracks, which are used to create a disturbing feeling in persons bones. The soundtrack utilizes strings in a dissonant way to throw the listener off balance. It further creates a sense of malice and disconnect through the shift of rhythm, which jar them violently. The only sound an individual can hear when the soundtracks come to a quasi-silence is the recreation of the heartbeat palpitating. This palpitation of the heart serves to magnify the sheer horror and terror in the movie. This track in the film is a reminiscent of some of the Philip Glass’s composition in several ways, although it is progressive in nature. In conclusion, this music is the most jarring and daring composition ever to be used in filming. It is quite impossible to follow twisted things such as â€Å"why so serious?† but Howard and Zimmer have been able to manage and keep the wonderful thematic in progress. They have been able to roll over some of the nuances in the first track into the much more classically natured

The music of Stravinsky Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The music of Stravinsky - Term Paper Example Due to the University’s closure following a bloody Sunday, he could not take his final exams and could only receive a diploma. As a result he chose to consntrate in music and was taught private lessons on music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who almost acted like his second father. Stravisky got married to Katerina Nossenko, his cousin and despite the Orthordox church’s opposition on such marriages, they finaly managed to tie the not on January 23, 1906. Thye gave birth to four kids that is Fyodor born in 1907, Ludmilla born in 1908, Soulima(1910) and Maria Milena(1913) according to Straus (22). By the time he finished hi studies Stravinsky was already a excellent amateur pianist and also could play along with the singer.He was also an expert in Russsian, Italian and French opera. Stravinsky’s best friend was Stephan Mitusov who was a step son of a prince and who helped him advance his career in music. Mitusov would translate French poems and Stravinsky would make mu sic from them. The idea of objectivity is a central theme both in life and in compositions of Stranvinsky.Stranvinsky grew up I environment where he was exposed to music, literature and art given that his father was a known operatic bass.At the age of nine Stravinsky started his piano classes and he studied counterpoint as well as music theory. Rimsky adviced him to compose on his own and gave him composition and orchestra lessons, which helped him, begin his career in music composition. ... The aggressive rythms, abrasive harmonies and the shifting meters he applied in this ballet on ritual pagan sacrifice remained in the memories of many listeners. This became Stravinsky’s first work which permanently placed him at the international repertory. The World War 1 totally disrupted Strvinsky life hence his compositions were disrupted. However, he continued with his compositions but did it smaller scale productions. After the war, he settled in France and his style of composition started to change as now he was inspired by eighteenth century music of Europe. For thirty years he composed using neo-classical style during which he experienced a spiritual transformation which encouraged him to compose liturgical and sacred works. By the time he was in his thirties, Stravinsky found that his music was mostly demanded in the US.At the same period he had lost his mother, daughter and wife in a span of two years. While in Eurpoe, due to condition of war, Stravinsky could not compose held the position of the chairperson of poetry in Harvard. He later married his mistress, Vera de Bosset who he had dated for a long time. They settled in Hollyhood where he started to compose The Rake’s progress. While he was still composing The Rake’s Progress, he came across Robert Craft who later became Stravinsky’s musical aide.This relationship was significant as Craft managed to encourage Stravinsky to create interest in twelve-one techniques which he initially disliked. They also manage to publish co-authored books ewhich explored the musical views of Stranvisky.After completing the Rakes Progress his music compositions took another form which resulted from intergrating the twelve-one techniques in his language of composition. Through this

Overseas Volunteer Essay Example for Free

Overseas Volunteer Essay The summer of 1996 was a time of great change for me as an individual. This was the summer that I was fortunate enough to get to spend six weeks as part of a traveling abroad program. These six weeks changed the way I viewed different places, people and cultures. I was lucky enough to experience many different things in many different places. I met many people from interesting cultural backgrounds and learned a lot from them. These six weeks prepared me for many new experiences in life. While traveling, I stayed with different families who were kind enough to take me in. Living with people who had different cultures and sometimes even different languages was a challenge for me since I had never even been out of the United States before this trip. I got to learn how to adapt to new situations by finding inventive ways to communicate with other humans. This was invaluable to me because it forced me to really pay attention to other people and learn about their cultural values through observation. This is a skill that has stayed with me. I have learned to slow down and really listen and observe in order to learn new things and gain new perspective. I was also able to visit many historic sites, landmarks and museums during my travels that I had only read about in books. I was able to apply a picture in a book to the real setting and this was an incredible experience. In these visits I was also able to learn a great deal about the culture in which I had immersed myself. This allowed me a deeper understanding of the people around me. These visits also told me about the rich histories of different groups of people and how they shaped the culture as it is today. In addition, I was able to try new and different foods which only added to my cultural experiences. At the same time, as I was experiencing new cultures I was also able to reflect on my own culture and the importance that it holds in my life. My travels have helped shaped the person I am today. I was forced to learn patience as I was immersed in cultures with different values and languages. I learned how to be creative in finding ways to communicate respectfully. I built my self confidence as I began to realize how capable I was of learning about different cultures in ways other than reading books. I got the opportunity to meet interesting people who helped me understand different ways of life and apply those to my own life. I learned how to be flexible in adapting to new ways of doing things, new ways of communicating and even new ways of eating. I experienced a great deal of personal growth in these travels that will prove invaluable to me in my future accomplishments. Changing lives is a great experience. This sentence sums up why I would like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have a deep desire to change the world by changing the lives of people less fortunate than me. I have been fortunate enough to have access to a high quality education. I have always enjoyed learning and experiencing new things and I would like to pass that on to other people. My college education was only a starting point in my life long learning endeavors. I have a passion for knowledge that has allowed me to reach a point in my life where I wish to give 27 months serving as a volunteer and enriching the lives of people around the world. Habitat for Humanity has given me valuable life skills but more importantly gave me the opportunity to help people less fortunate than me. I have been able to build homes for people and at the same time learn about their individual lives. I have taken my passion for helping others and in the process began to realize how one person can make a great difference. I can be that one person that takes the initiative to make small changes that will eventually lead to big changes. I desire to take this realization and travel the world helping others through small changes. Four years in the workforce has also given me valuable experiences that will enable me to be an effective volunteer. Through working, I have gained leadership skills that will serve me well when working with a team of other volunteers. These leadership skills will help me work cooperatively to make positive changes in the world. I have also gained a clear understanding of globalization outside of the United States and I wish to build on that knowledge through my volunteer work and opportunities I wouldn’t be able to have if I continued working in the corporate world. Working as a volunteer will provide me with international experience and new insights about the world around me. I can learn new values and perspectives that will make me a more well rounded and empathetic person. I will gain new understandings of different people and cultures and be able to apply some of that to how I live my own life. At the same time, I will have a great responsibility to show others my values and teach them new and exciting things about my own culture. Twenty-seven months is a short time in my life but those months will mean big changes in my life that will last long after my time serving as a volunteer is over. My life would be greatly enriched by helping others through small changes. I look forward to the chance to start making small changes right away and watching those small changes turn into big changes that have positive impacts on people around the world.

Shakespeare In Love :: essays research papers

Shakespeare in Love is a fictional story about the writing of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes, is in the middle of what could be a disastrous writer's block. His idea for the play, which should be completed, is a pirate comedy entitled Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. But Will is stuck, his shrink asks him how long it has been since he has been with a woman and advises him that that is what he needs. Auditions are held since the players' troup is out on tour. All the not so actors are pitiful. Except for Thomas Kent, the alias given by Viola, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Women at this time are not allowed on stage in public. After Shakespeare shows interest, this character runs away to her estate where a party is being held. He follows Thomas into this party to later find love at first sight in Viola. Thomas once again shows up to receive her part in the play as Romeo. While Will and Thomas are talking, Shakespeare pours his heart out, telling about this wonderfully beautiful woman, Thomas's cousin. Somehow, they end up kissing. Now that Will has this woman, his writers block is cured, he goes on to write Romeo and Juliet through his true-life actions in his affair with Viola. At the end of the movie they put on the play through all the hardships, in the company of Queen Elizabeth. I greatly enjoyed this movie, even though it is not a typical movie of my preference. The truth is that I would have never gone to see this movie if extra credit was not given. I was delighted to see an extremely entertaining movie. I was also amazed at all the references that I would not have not caught if it weren't for English Literature and history covered this year and by reading Romeo and Juliet two years ago. Freshmen year, while reading the play, I repeatedly caught myself thinking, "I don't understand a thing they are saying.

External Factor Are Affecting the Ecosystems Essay

The word ecosystem refers to the combined physical and biological components of an environment; these organisms form complex sets of relationships and function as a unit as they interact with their physical environment. Ecosystems are constantly changing naturally, and they’ve got a specific and stable climax, equilibrium. Living as well as non-living factors may have an impact in an ecosystem such as the impact of humans in ecosystems by hunting, fishing, agriculture etc. r climate change may affect an ecosystem and dare it to adapt to the conditions. Will human’s activity affect the equilibrium of the arctic wolves ecosystem? Equilibrium refers to balance, so†¦ will human’s activities affect the balance of the physical and biological components of the tundra? Human activities, which affect the arctic wolf’s ecosystem, the tundra, are pollution, chemical contamination and overdevelopment. All of them are harmful to the ecosystem. Pollution affects in directly the tundra, habitat of the Arctic wolf. Pollution leads to Global Warming and this affect the global temperature, as a result ice melts and the tundra is affected because its an ecosystem nearly made up on ice, so eventually the ecosystem would be endangered and also the species that are contained in the ecosystem. Lately, thousands of â€Å"green† organizations have been generated to promote the green habits and to try to reduce pollution worldwide, reducing also the vulnerability of the tundra biome. Their projects consist in reducing wastes of any kind of energy source and saving any resource we get. This will involve social aspects also in the way that our society must take part and have an impact into world pollution, which will finally affect the tundra ecosystem; it has lately become popular to be ecofriendly. This ecologic movement has also affected the fashion industry which lately looks for looks with more pure materials, not much synthetic ones, also they’ve preferred clothing with pure cotton, even not only the materials of clothing are involved but the message in the clothing’s have taken a very special impact in the society. Hunting, affects directly and indirectly to the ecosystem of the Arctic wolf, it affects the interaction of living organisms by hunting the animals. The overhunting of species such as the musk ox and caribou in Alaska and North America were even near of extinction. This would create unsustainability on the ecosystem because there would not be equilibrium in the food chain and all the animals that have any relationship with the specie would me affected by don’t having a predator or a prey. Hunting in the tundra has had a very negative effect because important species suck as the musk ox have nearly got to extinction. By 1950, herds in North America were reduced by ninety percent, so this made the American population realize what was really going on in their country. They were loosing biodiversity and so laws were created to protect animals. This had an economic impact, because musk ox’s (prey of the arctic wolf) leather was part of the market so it has also a social impact, not only from for hunters but for the fashion industry which had a relation with musk ox’s fur and leather. Chemical contamination also affects the Arctic Wolf’s ecosystem. Lately, Petroleum and Coal or Natural Gas, Iron, Lead or Zinc mines and mineral exploration and exploitation and extraction are increasing worldwide especially in the Arctic. The development affects the Caribou, which are one of the main species present in the Arctic wolf habitat. Overdevelopment indicates to the building of roads and buildings in the tundra, this lead to more circulation. Fragile tundra areas of plants are taken out for the creation of these roads. Without plants to give nutrients to the soil, earth will stop being rich and will abolish the community of flora in the tundra. After discussing all the direct and indirect human impact in the environment, hunting, chemical contamination and overdevelopment are certainly harmful for the ecosystem. These activities attempt to the balance of the ecosystem by attempting against the living organisms that live in the tundra, ecosystem of the arctic wolf and by attempting against the non-living factors in the ecosystem such as climate. Even tough there are solutions for these activities to reduce or to stop, they are not completely efficient. In my opinion after all my investigation, apart from the pollution affecting indirectly to the tundra, the other activities are not a major concern for the arctic wolf’s ecosystem. As seen, human activities impact in the arctic wolf’s ecosystem is not positive (although they don’t damage much the tundra) toward the ecosystem. My final conclusion will be that external factors are definitely against the equilibrium of the arctic wolf’s ecosystem.