text:
Chapel Hill | Elephant Seals | Getty Museum | Los Alamos | Mussell Fort | Paddock Zoo | Parkfield | Reagan Library | Santa Barbara Fireworks | Santa Barbara Zoo | Rocket Twilight Launch | VAFB Air Show | Whale Watching | Wildflower Tour
Through a chance reading of an article buried in the LA Times I learned that blue whales had been spotted in the Santa Barbara channel. This led to a spur-of-the-moment whale watching trip.
By the estimate of the boat captain we saw tens of thousands of marine birds, thousands of common dolphins, a few Risso's and Bottlenosed dolphins, and, highlight of the day, two blue whales. The dolphins, as dolphins will, played with the boat on the way out to the whales. Look closely at the picture and you can see a mother and baby dolphin swimming just ahead of the boat in the bow wave. This is said to be one of the favorite actions for the common dolphin; apparently they enjoy turning on the side and looking up at the people in the boat.
Even with a "Common" name, Delphinus delfis are a highlight of the whale watch trip. Their playful behavior and graceful antics create what Melville called "hilarious shoals, which upon the sea keep tossing themselves to heaven like caps in a Fourth-of-July crowd".
When we got out to the area where the blue whales were feeding, we found them feeding deep. The higher water temperatures had driven the krill down deep so the whales would surface for a couple of minutes, take several deep breaths and then sound for 10 minutes or so. A Blue whale may eat up to 1000 pounds (500 kgs.) of krill per day. They did not seem to mind our presence and when they surfaced some times we could get within fairly close viewing range. On one dive one of the whales flipped its tail into the air (see the picture at the left); something blues rarely do we were told.
Despite Jurassic Park, it would appear blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived on earth. In the waters of the southern oceans they grow to lengths well over 30m. (100 ft). In the North Pacific males average 25 m. (82 ft.) and females 26m. (85 ft.). Average weight ranges from 80 to 130 metric tons. In a large whale, the main artery from the heart, the aorta, can be three feet wide; a small child could walk upright inside.
As they breath they send up a spout of air and water vapor up to 7 m (20 ft.) high. The air comes out of their blowholes with such force that it can be seen and heard at least a mile away.
Diverse Info | Travels | Recipies | Aesop's Fables | Rosary
Comments? Please use the contact page form.
Copyright © 2002 Tom Simondi, All Rights Reserved


If you are looking forward to install Kodi APK file then also we have provided working guide for the same. We always provide the official links only to download the app for Android or iPhone and even for PC also. All you need to do is follow the guidelines and official download link given in this post.
Kindly go through the complete website to get full details about this.
Kodi is an open source home theatre which was formerly known as XBMC. The application was developed by XBMC Foundation, as a non-profit technology conglomerate. It is free multimedia software capable of playing various formats of videos and audio files.
Kodi App supports numerous image formats, audio visualisations, playlists, audio files, video files, reporting weather forecasts and also third-party plugins. It works on the internet as well as home networks. It is distributed under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) and has tax exemption.
It works on different operating systems and has a 10-foot user interface for televisions and remote controls. It makes the streaming of media files, podcasts, playlists, and other digital files from the storage media. Since it provides a multiple-platform, therefore, acts as an alternative to Home Theatre PCs.
Initially, Kodi Download was created as a media independent application is known as Xbox Media centre for the Xbox gaming consoles. The codes are written in C++ language. The version has used in smart TVs, embedded systems, set-top boxes, digital signage and other arm platforms.
On 1st August 2014, it was renamed as Kodi and was granted the trademark later in November 2015. The software also has a customizable skin and themes so that you can make it more dynamic. There are approximately 100 ideas and skin designs that one can choose thus making the interface vigorous.
One can easily get Kodi Download as it is accessible and compatible with all devices and operating systems hence allowing you to have a full home theatre and gaming experience. There might be a little difference in the hardware requirements in case of a PC. The graphic device should be capable of supporting 3D images for all rendering.
The system requirements are to be enhanced because it performs a greater function while decoding a full HD video. Therefore, a minimum of 2 GHz dual core or higher processor is included. It can translate files in over 75 different languages till date with complete support. Various other add-ons manager, plugins, scripts, Meta extraction and web scrapers are part of this free software.
It even helps in enriching your gaming experience by providing support for remote controls apart from controlling the media according to your wish. It is attuned to run on Windows 7/8/8.1, Linus, Mac OS, Android Smartphones, and iPhones. Besides the high configuration of the operating system, there are no other specific requirements.
The default skin type for Kodi Download is 'Confluence' and 'Touch', both of which have improved versions. Moreover, in Kodi, the users can modify or create their skin designs alongside access to third party skins. It supports all formats of digital media, network protocol clients, subtitle formats, metadata tags, and much more. It also consists of a dedicated library maintaining all your video, audios, and images files for easy access.
We have two methods to download Kodi App on Android; I will prefer the first method as it's easy and very direct method. But if you want to go with the Kodi APK file method then you can do that also with the second option provided below.
You are directed to a new window with details of Kodi software.
Click on the install option and proceed with the installation.
Once the installation is complete, your can run Kodi Download on your Android device.
Locate the settings menu on your device. Search for Security Menu.
After that enable 'unknown sources' option. This step shall make the installation easier.
Download Kodi for Android from its official website. Select the version according to your hardware.
You may be asked to open a package installer or Google play to complete the process.
Select the relevant option and wait for another confirmation screen.
Now the installation is complete; you can start using Kodi.
I hope that you found both the methods easy to follow. Not let's see how to get Kodi for iPhone or iOS.
The basic requirement to run Kodi on an iPhones device is to have iOS 5.1 or higher version.
If you want to follow the full method on how to get Kodi iPhone without Jailbreak, then you can follow the given guide.
Installation is done using Cydia.
Click on the icon Cydia on the home screen.
Then click on 'All packages, and after that on Kodi iOS.
Select to install and then confirm.
After the process, exit Cydia.
Your Kodi app for iPhone is ready.
I hope that the short guide given above is enough for you to download Kodi App on any iOS device.
Now, let's see how to get this software easily on PC.
Here I am providing you the very basic and short guide on how to download Kodi for PC or Computer, click on the below-given link which will help you to install Kodi on PC.
Double click on the archive. A new dialog box appears which guides you through the whole process of installation.
Follow all the procedure step by step until the installation is complete.
You can start using the application immediately.
Install the Zip file. Click on SuperReo and simultaneously choosing the version.
Kodi software increases the experience of both home theatre and gaming. It is perfect software with compatibility with all the operating systems, devices like smartphones and iPhones. You can also download your favourite movies and TV shows at no extra cost. The streaming is quite fast involving no pauses or annoying halts.
The picture clarity is of utmost quality as all videos are available in High definition. Furthermore, the library in Kodi Download App is most efficient and manageable including your preferred shows, movies, and games. The software works with a remote control making the browsing easier.
Plus, the all required official versions are available on Kodi TV website, so you just need to download and start using the application. These qualities and features, it makes Kodi media player application user-friendly involving a better GUI based interface.
Here, I am going to discuss the full features of Kodi App for PC, iPhone, and Android.
Kodi can easily play most of the music files and supports a wide range of media formats including MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, etc. It also comes with integrated MusicBrainz; users can easily get full control over the playlists so that they can efficiently manage the music files.
It supports a broad range of movies also. One can get free online streaming as it supports most of the video formats, if you want to store the movies including it's extra details then also it's possible with this software.
It comes with inbuilt Television library which includes all the episodes of most of the successful seasons with detailed descriptions of the movie, actors, etc.
Kodi APK supports an enormous amount of add-ons which is created by their community of users. One can utilize these addons for music, videos, movies, etc.
Kodi Chromecast allows you to combine the power of Kodi App with the super adaptability of Chromecast; one can use both the programs at once as gives of out the world experience while watching the media including videos and music.
One more feature includes a recording of TV shows and other popular media files directly from the home screen or GUI. It supports most of the systems including Windows Media Centre, MythTV, MediaPortal, etc.
I covered most of the prominent features of this program and still if you think that I missed any important feature then kindly let me know about it using the comment box as we will try to get it in this post.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this post on how to download Kodi APK, Android, iPhone & PC. I request you to stay updated on this website as we are going to cover more guides and tutorials in future about Kodi Download.


text:
Ben 10,010 (2021)
You are Watching Ben 10,010 (2021)
Watch Ben 10,010 (2021) Full Movie Online in HD.
In a distant future, where Gwen is President of the United States, the earth is under attack by an alien horde. Gwen leads the resistance against the threat. Ben, on the other hand, has been out of touch with his family for a long time. After being persuaded to come out of retirement, the grown-up Ben returns to the past to ask young Ben for help. Only together can they repel an attack that threatens the future.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi, Short
Actors: Charles DeWayne, David Kaye, Greg Cipes, Montse Hernandez
Keywords:010 123movies 010 fmovies 010 yesmovies Ben 10
Struggling to make ends meet, former special ops soldiers reunite for a high-stakes heist: stealing $75 million from a South American drug lord.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
P Storm (2019)
Liu Yue Ping reports to the ICAC about a rich 2G Cao Yuen Yuen who bribed officers of the Hong Kong Correctional Services (HKCS) from inside the prison. William Luk…
Country: Hong Kong, China
Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must…
Mission: Possible (2021)
A chinese secret agent Da-hee receives intel that a large number of illegal firearms are being smuggled into Korea and is sent to investigate the case. She meets Su-han, who…
The Last Duel (2021)
The true story of a woman who defied a nation and made history. King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire by challenging…
Country: United States, United Kingdom
Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021)
Bruce Wayne faces a deadly menace from his past, with the help of three former classmates: world-renowned martial artists Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Crime
Open Range (2003)
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance, Western
A Writer's Odyssey (2021)
Kongwen Lu is the author of a fantasy novel series following a heroic teenager, also named Kongwen, on a quest to end the tyrannical rule of Lord Redmane, under the…
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Returning for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned to find that his warnings about the return of Lord Voldemort have been ignored. Left with no choice,…
Country: UK, USA
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018)
U.C. 0097, one year after the opening of "Laplace's Box". Despite the revelation of the Universal Century Charter that acknowledges the existence and rights of Newtypes, the framework of the…
Genre: Action, Animation, Sci-Fi
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
Jimmy Neutron is a boy genius and way ahead of his friends, but when it comes to being cool, he's a little behind. All until one day when his parents,…
Country: USA, Spain
Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
NILL added new content to the Indian Law Bulletins on 1/6
U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin
Petition was filed in Aguayo v. Jewell (Tribal Governance - Membership) on 11/14/16.
U.S. Federal Courts Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2016.html
Mullally v. Gordon (Comity - Tribal Judgments)
Miranda v. Jewell (Tribal Enrollment)
Drury v. BNSF Railway Company (Race Discrimination - Wrongful Employment Discharge)
State Courts Bulletin
People ex rel. Owen v. Miami Nation Enterprises (Tribal Sovereign Immunity; Payday Loans)
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. State, Dept. of Revenue (Fuel Taxation)
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
We feature several articles about the new Bears Ears National Monument.
U.S. Regulatory Bulletin
The Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced availability of the new Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2016lr.html
Here are the articles featured this week:
Offensive linemen: How Pro Football, Inc.'s responses to the cancellation of the Redskins registrations should be incorporated into the USPTO's future analyses of disparaging trademarks.
Addressing the Oliphant in the room: Domestic violence and the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native children in Indian Country.
U.S. Legislation Bulletin
This bill was added:
H.R.6529: Chugach Region Lands Study Act.


Canon PIXMA TS9000 Driver Download – The Printer Canon pixma Ts9000 Series Driver Compatible for Windows 7/ 7 x64 bit, Windows 10 / 10 x64 bit/ Windows 8.1 / 8.1 x64 bit/ Windows XP/ XP x64 bit/ MAC / OS X. Driver Canon PIXMA TS9000 Printer is a Modern and portable designs for elegant and also linked houses. The compact, streamlined designs are one of the most distinctive as well as attractive yet, making your PIXMA an art piece in the residence. The different mirror as well as matte finish of the PIXMA TS8050 series and also PIXMA TS6050 series add instant shine in any type of room, while those wishing to make an imaginative statement could with the PIXMA TS9000 series cutting-edge box aesthetic. The front tilt panel and also huge LCD screens, offer fast access to the all-new instinctive single display house menu, matching the Canon PRINT app's simple navigation as well as performance.
Windows 10 / Windows 8.1 / Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows XP / Mac OS X v.0.14 / v10.13/v10.12/v10.11/v10.10 /Mac OS X v10.9 / Mac OS X v10.8 / Mac OS X v10.7 / Mac OS X v10.6 & linux.


text:
Edward Stanley 1st Bt (1576 - 1640)
Sir Edward Stanley 1st Bt
Born 14 Dec 1576 in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England
Son of Henry Stanley Esq and Margaret Stanley
Brother of William Stanley, Alice Stanley, Margaret (Stanley) Houghton, Jane (Stanley) Hesketh, James Stanley, Anne Stanley and	Dorothy (Stanley) Boteler
Husband of Catherine (Mainwaring) Stanley — married about 1596 [location unknown]
Husband of Isabel (Warburton) Stanley — married about 1615 [location unknown]
Father of Anne Stanley, Elizabeth Stanley, Frances Stanley, Thomas Stanley 2nd Bt, Henry Stanley, James Stanley, Robert Stanley, John Stanley, Francis Stanley and Peter Stanley
Died 2 May 1640 in Bickerstaffe, Lancashire, England
Profile manager: Ryan Stanley [send private message]
Profile last modified 23 Mar 2021 | Created 18 Jul 2011
2 Research Notes
4 Acknowledgements
Sir Edward Stanley, Knight, 1st Baronet of Bickerstaffe (in Ormskirk), High Sheriff of Cheshire and Lancashire.
Edward was born 14 Dec 1576, Bickerstaff, Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, and is the son of Henry Stanley and Mary Stanley.
In a record relating to his father's 1598 funeral he is listed as having been given 5 yards of black.[1]
He married first, Catherine Mainwaring, daughter of Sir Randall Mainwaring of Over Peover. Catherine died in 1613.
He married second, Isabel Warburton in 1615, daughter of Sir Peter Warburton of Arley.
1. Thomas STANLEY (2nd Baronet) b. 1616
2. James STANLEY
3. Robert STANLEY
4. John STANLEY Acceded: 26 Jun 1627, Bickerstaffe, Lancashire, England
Edward died 2 May 1640 (aged 63), Buried: 4 May 1640, in a chancel at St Peter and St Paul, Ormskirk, Lancashire, England.[2]
Douglas Richardson misidentifies Edward as son of his maternal grandfather, Peter Stanley and his second wife.[3]
↑ Lancashire Funeral Certificates, Chetham Society, 1869, p. 31, Hathi Trust
↑ Lancashire Online Parish Clerks, https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/, search results for 'Edward Stanley', 1640 in Ormskirk: Burial: 4 May 1640 St Peter and St Paul, Ormskirk, Lancashire, England Edward Stanley, Baronet - Notes: bur[ied] in his owne Chancell [X in margin]
↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol. II, p 502, ELTONHEAD #19.
Cokayne, G E. Complete Baronetage, Vol. II, William Pollard, 1902, p. 27. Internet Archive
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBHM-B6V : 11 February 2018, Henry Stanley in entry for Edward Stanley, 14 Dec 1576); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0093437, 0844820 IT2.
Stanley of Hooten, Croshall, Aughto, and Bickerstaff (http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/STANLEY4.htm#Edward%20STANLEY%20of%20Bickerstaffe%20(1%C2%B0%20Bt)
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 January 2020), memorial page for Sir Edward Stanley (14 Dec 1576–4 May 1640), Find A Grave Memorial no. 82819920, citing St Peter and St Paul Churchyard, Ormskirk, West Lancashire District, Lancashire, England ; Maintained by Todd Whitesides (contributor 47553735) .
The Church Of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) computerized Ancestral File.
The Peerage (http://www.thepeerage.com/p1381.htm#i13804 the peerage.com)
Stanley-3129 was created by Ryan Stanley through the import of Our Kin.ged on Jan 28, 2014.
Is Edward your ancestor? Please don't go away!
contact the profile manager, or
No known carriers of Edward's DNA have taken a DNA test.
Cheryl (Stone) Caudill
Stanley-3129 and Stanley-1160 appear to represent the same person because: these seem to be same person
posted Apr 06, 2014 by Cheryl (Stone) Caudill
Edward is 31 degrees from Bob Saget, 20 degrees from Victor Borge, 30 degrees from Graham Chapman, 24 degrees from John Clarke, 32 degrees from John Cleese, 16 degrees from Phyllis Diller, 21 degrees from Gösta Ekman, 34 degrees from Whoopi Goldberg, 23 degrees from Bob Hope, 21 degrees from Barry Humphries, 34 degrees from Norman Wisdom and 25 degrees from Joan Hollander on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
S > Stanley > Edward Stanley 1st Bt


Mont Blanc is a premier luxury brand that is recognized all over the world. The company was originally founded in 1906 as a pure manufacturer of sophisticated, high-quality writing instruments. They then ventured into other products including perfumes, jewelry, belts, sunglasses, and watches.
They are popularly known for their soulful artisanship and attention to detail. Currently, they are the leading designers of high-quality perfumes for men. Every man should choose as unique cologne as he is. This is why Mont Blanc comes with different colognes allowing every man to select a unique scent that suits the personality.
These colognes have been designed to add extra zing to the wardrobe of any man. There are several Mont Blanc perfume choices and below are the five best-selling and most reviewed ones.
This is a strikingly masculine and iconic fragrance explicitly designed for a contemporary and charismatic man. It is sweeter and more aromatic. One can spray it on pulse points and the chest. Legend Eau de Toilette combines the notes that arouse tradition, modernity, tenderness, and strength.
It comes in various aromatic tones such as lavender, pineapple, bergamot and exotic verbena. It can last fresh for up to 8 hours meaning one can smell good all day long. The heart underscores oakmoss note combined with coumarone, geranium and apple and other dried fruits. It is packaged in a way that exudes reductivism yet luxurious design. It is recommended for those guys that love being extravagantly attractive.
This is another timeless cologne introduced in 2003. It is designed for a romantic and well-refined man. It is intended to influence stress levels, mood, body chemistry, diet and even current medications. With this one, you can just leave those windows open for cool air to carry a fresh breeze of strongly aromatic scent through your room.
It is also a great fabric softener that smells intensely for up to four hours with medium projection. Like the previous one, its actual scent is phenomenal and comes in different tasty tones to render any man young and tender.
Mont Blanc Legend Spirit was released in 2016 and is a new version of the original 2011 Legend brand. It is just another symbol of classicism and timeless elegance. It has a refreshing scent that is not too strong to be offensive to those not used to colognes. Most people would compare it to the famous Paco Rabbane Invictus Acqua.
They are similar particularly the opening. It smells great during initial application before drying down into a woody masculine scent. Its freshness and lightness make it even more versatile. Spirit can be great for spring and summer though it can make through all year long. With its several notes, Spirit is surprisingly cool yet masculine.
Mont Blanc launched this masculine fragrance together with a modified version of Emblem Intense in 2014. It is an embodiment of elegance and authentic essence of Mont Blanc brand. Unlike others, this one has a larger volume of perfume oil meaning it can last and smell intensely longer.
Its base features Tonka bean and intense woods. It includes fresh, green and violet leaves combined with cinnamon to exude even more elegance. It is a favorite fragrance ideal for evening outs and weekend dates. With a variety of smoky grapefruit and sparkling cardamom, this fragrance is number one approval getter. One can get it in 40, 60 and 100 ml packages.
Star Walker is the brand for the men generation that takes care of their future. It is a fragrance that comes with fresh, sensual base and spicy top notes. It has a woody heart of profound and sturdy cedar that is moderated with creamy notes of sandalwood. This makes it ideal not only to draw the attention of neighbors but also capture it.
Additionally, the dry-down note is utterly compelling and sensual making it a game changer in the world of fragrance. One can wear it during both formal and informal events. It is one must-have fragrance that should not miss on the wardrobe of any fashion-minded man.


text:
Grezzo (株式会社グレッゾ Kabushiki-Gaisha Gurezzo) es una empresa japonesa de desarrollo de videojuegos. Se fundó en diciembre de 2006. En abril de 2007 tomó su presidencia Koichi Ishii, conocido por su trabajo en la serie de videojuegos Seiken Densetsu para Square Enix.

Grezzo desarrolló Line Attack Heroes para Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D y The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ambos para Nintendo 3DS y en 2019 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening para Nintendo Switch, donde además, se ha añadido la capacidad de poder crear tus propias mazmorras y la compatibilidad con Amiibo.

Juegos publicados por Nintendo

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Desarrolladoras de videojuegos
Empresas de videojuegos de Japón
Desarrolladoras de Nintendo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Fresno Basketball Team Was Set to Play Kobe Bryant's Daughter in Game on Day of Crash
Nunes' Reliably Red District Remains So, But Is Slipping
Billie Eilish Really Is the California Girl Next Door
Political Activist Sarsour Will Speak at Local CAIR Banquet
Costa Gets Feisty on Election Challenge While Home for Holiday
Central Unified is weighing the merits of a construction bond measure for the 2020 ballot. (GV Wire/Jahz Tello)
Survey Says: Huge Support for Central Unified's Potential $120 Million Bond Measure
It looks like Central Unified School District voters would be willing to hike their own property taxes if it means improving the quality of their Fresno-area schools, including replacing portable classrooms with permanent buildings and renovating school libraries.
A survey last month of 404 voters showed that 69% would be willing to pay an extra $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation on their homes after hearing only potential ballot language for a bond measure. After hearing about the types of construction projects that a $120 million bond measure could pay for, the yes votes climbed to 73%.
In California, most school bond measures need 55% voter approval to pass.
Board Will Consider Survey Results Tuesday
The Central Unified board will consider at Tuesday's meeting a report on the survey results, which was prepared by the consulting firm Dale Scott & Co. of San Francisco.
M 8 VoterSurveyResults 0 (1) (PDF)
M 8 VoterSurveyResults 0 (1) (Text)
Board President Terry Cox
Board President Terry Cox told GV Wire she was encouraged, but not surprised, by the high levels of support expressed in the survey results. "I think as a board member, it gives you a level of confidence that you're listening to the community and meeting their needs," she said.
The survey, which has a margin of error of nearly plus-or-minus 5%, was conducted Aug. 17 to Aug. 21. More than half of the respondents rated Central's quality of education and fiscal responsibility as good or excellent, and said education in their schools is heading in the right direction.
"Our community sees the growth we're experiencing with new home developments and understands the need for more schools as well as expansion and modernization of our current facilities." — Central Unified Superintendent Andy Alvarado
A whopping 90% agreed that local public schools are the community's most important asset and that quality schools increase property values.
Central's community includes generations of families who have stayed involved and well-informed about the district and its growth, and community members have a great interest in their local schools and providing the best education possible, said Central Superintendent Andy Alvarado.
"Our community sees the growth we're experiencing with new home developments and understands the need for more schools as well as expansion and modernization of our current facilities," he said.
Potential Bond Projects Outlined
Among the projects that would make voters more likely to approve a bond measure:
Upgrade outdated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (over 80% more likely).
Meet handicap accessibility requirements in restrooms and classrooms, and on playgrounds (over 80%).
Upgrade outdated electrical wiring and plumbing (80%)
Replace aging portable classrooms with permanent buildings (80%).
Construct an agricultural science lab at Central High West (75%).
A pool at the new high school now under construction at Ashlan and Grantland avenues was at the bottom, with slightly more than 55% of those surveyed saying they were more likely to vote for a bond measure that included that project.
Although the support isn't as strong as for other projects on the list, the new pool will make a big difference, not only to the school district but also to the community, Alvarado said.
"Our current pool not only serves the district's athletic program, but also the community," he said. "Through our partnership with the City of Fresno P.A.R.C.s, low-cost swim lessons are offered to our community."
Do Tax Rates Make a Difference?
The survey asked if respondents would be more or less likely to vote for a bond that would cost less than $45 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, less than four and a half cents per $100 of assessed valuation, less than six cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or less than $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
The survey results indicated a preference for the lower tax rate.
Choice Between March Primary or November General Election
According to the board's tentative schedule, to get the measure on the March ballot — which is the presidential primary — the board would need to have all paperwork filed with the county Supervisor of Elections by Dec. 6. The board would need to finalize the projects list this month, and review and then vote on the bond resolution at the two meetings in October to stay on schedule.
Cox said she's concerned about disenfranchising those people whose primary voting would be limited by party rules and who might skip that election. She said she thinks a bond measure would have no difficulty whatsoever passing in November because of the larger turnout then, but she could also support putting the matter to voters in March.
"It's important to us who shows up (to vote)," Cox said. "But I don't think in the overall analysis it would change my mind, if the demographers convince us that the community is ready to go."
bond measureCentral UnifiedEducationprimaryschoolssurveyvoter
A Cry of the Heart From Local Human Trafficking Survivor
Report: Clovis, Sanger Districts Among Best at Closing 'Achievement Gap'
vgentile September 12, 2019
I do not want our taxes raised! For anything.
Richard Michael 909-378-5401 September 13, 2019
One-sided reporting, as usual.
How many laws does this ballot statement violate?
"To renovate, upgrade, repair and equip classrooms and schools throughout the District, build a new elementary school and complete the high school shall the Central Unified School District measure authorizing $120 million in bonds be adopted with legal rates, an estimated levy of 6 cents per $100 of assessed value averaging $6.8 million per year through 2054 with independent citizens oversight and all money spent on local projects?"
That's how they win these elections, by putting an illegal sales pitch on the ballot. That's all that low-information voters ever read.
Want to do something about it? Call me.


On behalf of the DNSSEC Deployment Initiative and CZ.NIC, DNSSEC Implementers are invited to attend an informal gathering to discuss and exchange information on their DNSSEC implementation experiences during the ICANN meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. This is a unique opportunity to meet with and talk to key implementers, such as CZ.NIC, Nominet UK, ISC, IIS Sweden, and others. We do ask that in order to participate you should come prepared to say a few words about your experiences. This is a peer-to-peer event for implementers.
This entry was posted on June 18, 2012, 15:16 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


text:
require 'http'

module Neows
  module REST
    class Request
      attr_accessor :client, :path, :options

      # Creates an instance of Request
      #
      # @param request_method [Symbol] :get
      # @param path [String]
      # @param klass [Class]
      # @param options [Hash]
      # @return [Neows::REST::Request]
      def initialize(client, request_method, path, klass, options = {})
        @client = client
        @request_method = request_method
        @path = path.gsub @client.base_url, ''
        @options = options
        @klass = klass
      end

      # @return [String]
      def uri
        @client.base_url + @path
      end

      # Makes the request passing the response into the given class. If a class provides a coerce! method,
      # it will be called to handle custom coercion of data.
      #
      # @return [Class] instance of Klass
      def perform
        response = HTTP.with(request_headers).public_send(@request_method, uri, params: @options)
        klass = @klass.new JSON.parse(response.to_s).merge(client: @client)
        klass.coerce! if klass.respond_to?(:coerce!)
        klass
      end

    private

      def request_headers
        {
          user_agent: @client.user_agent,
          accept: 'application/json'
        }
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
MyHillChart
Selecting a PCP
Types of PCPs
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Medi Cal
She said the benefits might have occurred because remote classes allowed some students to take classes at flexible times, not early in the morning.
Sleep is a critical issue for college students and one of the biggest barriers to academic performance, Hershner said, adding that students have sleep stressors that other populations don't, with workloads and schedules that vary a lot.
"One of the primary functions of sleep is learning and memory. It's very vital in this age demographic," Hershner said, adding depression and anxiety are prevalent among college students.
"Whatever we can do to improve sleep health is actually going to potentially impact the mental health of students," she said.
Although the study did not consider how behaviors such as substance use, jobs or social lives affected students' sleep, Wright said it's clear anecdotally that the pandemic has changed commuting times and social lives of many people.
"There are probably a number of factors like that contributing to this," he said.
Wright said another recent sleep study, of 18- to 65-year-olds in Europe, found similar results.
"The fact that we have consistency in different populations, different parts of the world, in very different lockdown situations suggest that these findings are representative of what's happening in other populations," he said.
The findings were published June 10 in the journal Current Biology.
For tips on getting good sleep, visit the Sleep Foundation.
SOURCES: Ken Wright, Ph.D., professor, integrative physiology, and director, Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory, University of Colorado Boulder; Shelley Hershner, M.D., clinical associate professor, neurology, and director, Collegiate Sleep Clinic, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Current Biology, June 10, 2020
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I greet all of you with great affection and gratitude for your festive welcome and particularly for the fact that you have come to this gathering from so many countries the world over. Here we are truly a spectacular image of the Catholic Church in the world.
I thank especially the seminarian, the priest and the Bishop who have given us their own personal witness. I must say that I was moved to see these paths on which the Lord has guided these men in an unexpected way and not according to their own projects.
I cordially thank you and am very pleased to have this meeting. I had asked – and this has already been said – that the programme of these days in Cologne should include a special meeting with young seminarians, so that the vocational dimension would truly emerge in all of its importance, since it plays an evermore important role in the World Youth Days. It seems to be that the rain too that is falling down from heaven is a blessing.
You are seminarians, that is to say, young people devoting an intense period of your lives to seeking a personal relationship with Christ, an encounter with him, in preparation for your important mission in the Church. This is what a seminary is: more than a place, it is a significant time in the life of a follower of Jesus.


text:
The Untranslated
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Return to Egypt (Возвращение в Египет) by Vladimir Sharov
Posted on December 2, 2018	by The Untranslated
Vladimir Sharov's dense and voluminous novel, the winner of the 2014 Russian Booker Prize and a runner-up of the Big Book Award of the same year, is in many ways similar in its themes, ideas and obsessions with the much shorter The Rehearsals. The former actually could serve as a good appetizer for the sprawling smorgasbord offered by Return to Egypt. Here are some of the topics explored in the book: the Russian Schism, the Old Believers and their offshoot Beguny, the Great Flood, the Exodus, the Apocalypse, Christian eschatology, Nikolai Gogol's life and work, Dante and The Divine Comedy, the Emancipation Reform of 1861, the Narodniks, the Bolsheviks, the October Revolution, the Russian Civil War, Stalin's repressions and prison camps, kolkhozs, the painter A. A. Ivanov and his masterpiece The Appearance of Christ Before the People, the Islamic ornaments of the Tash Hauli Palace, palindromes, the noosphere of Vladimir Vernadsky, agronomy, a theory of the evolution of inanimate objects. What is remarkable, all this wealth of facts, narratives, exegeses, and mystical insights is presented as a vast mosaic composed by the author himself using as "tiles" the fragments of the letters exchanged by Nikolai Gogol's 20th-century descendants over the period of thirty-seven years.
The reader's minimum for a partial understanding of this opus is a good knowledge of Gogol's play The Government Inspector, also known as The Inspector General, his poem in prose Dead Souls (the first volume and what is left of the second whose complete manuscript was burned by the writer shortly before his death), Dante's The Divine Comedy and the biblical Book of Exodus. At least a fleeting acquaintance with Russian history from the mid-17th century and up to the 1960s is also desirable. For the full appreciation, however, you really have to be a specialist in Russian history and culture as the scope of Sharov's literary allusions and historical references is breathtaking. I can imagine an English edition of the book, published by a university press, with a good hundred pages crammed with detailed annotations.
The main correspondent in the letter exchange taking place from 1931 to 1968 is Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (the Second), the famous author's great-grandnephew whose bloodline originates from Yelizaveta Bykova, one of the writer's younger sisters. (Since Gogol didn't have any children, all the descendants stem from his siblings). On most occasions the author's full namesake is referred to as simply Kolya, which is a diminutive of Nikolai. The other participants of the correspondence are his numerous relatives, the most active of those being his first and second cousins once removed, whom he prefers to call uncles. We're talking about the closely knit clan of Gogols connected via the network of mail communications, who share stories, ideas and revelations with topics ranging from personal anecdotes to ambitious theological theories. The major obsession of the Gogols is the failure of their great ancestor to complete the poem Dead Souls. Modelled on Dante's The Divine Comedy, Gogol's work was also supposed to have three parts corresponding to Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. As we know, only the first part, which depicts Hell, is available in its entirety. Just several chapters remain of Gogol's Purgatory, and Paradise was never written. The mystics of the Gogol clan see in this the root of all the calamities that have been besetting Russia and its people. They believe that if Gogol had succeeded in finishing the trilogy, Russian history would have been different. Hence the ambitious plan: to finish Gogol's poem. Kolya is chosen as the most appropriate candidate for the task. The writing of Gogol's Purgatory and Paradise will be the culmination of the long-standing preoccupation of the writer's descendants with his texts that has taken a variety of whimsical shapes.
One such idiosyncratic display of this fixation, Kolya learns from Uncle Artemy, was the annual staging of Gogol's plays or excerpts from Dead Souls at the estate owned by Artemy's grandmother. The amateur performances happened regularly for more than a decade until the area with the estate was included in the frontline zone in 1916 and everybody had to leave. All the actors were recruited from Gogol's descendants, of course. The 1916 production of The Government Inspector was to be the most radical of all, but since it was interrupted at the preliminary stage, all we've been left with are Uncle Evgeny's detailed notes on the pre-production analysis of the play conducted by the director Blotsky. The director's bold vision, which unsettles the actors, is actually based on Gogol's own metaphysical re-interpretation of his own play that found its expression in the posthumously published metaplay The Dénouement of the "Government Inspector". Gogol wanted a new production of The Government Inspector which would not end with the famous silent scene (the town officials bamboozled by the roguish Khlestakov whom they have taken for the inspector general frozen aghast as they learn that the real inspector has arrived), but with The Dénouement, in which "the first comical actor" explains to his audience — actors and theatre connoisseurs — the true meaning of the play. According to "the first comical actor", the corrupt town officials are the metaphorical representations of human vices, and the inspector general who arrives at the end of the play is the personification of consciousness. Blotsky goes even further in his interpretation, viewing the inspector as the formidable judge who has visited humanity to punish them for their sins. Therefore, the final silent scene should be played as a live tableau of eschatological consternation. The motionless actors should convey the unspeakable horror in the face of the inevitable Last Judgement. Blotsky regards the silent scene not only the key element of the whole production, but also as the companion piece to A. A. Ivanov's sweeping canvas The Appearance of Christ Before the People. He sees the both pieces as some kind of multimedia diptych: the painting represents the beginning of the divine revelation to mankind, whereas Gogol's tableau shows the end of human history: the frozen figures stand for sinners who will not be saved.
Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, The Appearance of Christ Before the People, 1837–1857.
The Silent Scene in the 1966 production of The Government Inspector in the Moscow Art Theatre. Director: Igor Ilyinsky.
The ambition for the 1916 production considerably overshadows Blotsky's previous direction of the same play just a year before. In that staging Khlestakov represented the Russian nation as the chosen people during the Exodus, his hometown stood for the Promised Land, and the Town of N, in which he was stranded and managed to pass off as the government inspector before the officials, symbolised one of the stops in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. It's just one of scores and scores of occasions when the members of the Gogol clan invoke this powerful biblical plot.
The mythical story of the Hebrews fleeing the Egyptian captivity, crossing the Red Sea and wondering for forty years in the desert led by Prophet Moses is the master narrative for the Gogols against which they constantly compare, parse and reconceptualise the last three hundred years in the history of Russia. In this respect Kolya's historiosophical versions of the second and third volumes of Dead Souls are no exception: the myth of the Exodus underpins both of them, just like Dante's Commedia, which is the other equally significant master narrative.
Kolya never accomplishes his task, however. All he manages to do is write a short synopsis of Purgatory and Paradise before being accused of anti-Soviet propaganda and sentenced to 10 years in the Gulag. By this time his father, an NKVD officer, has already been serving time in a prison camp. The content of the Synopsis is recreated in the series of the letters written by Kolya to Uncle Artemy in 1955-1956, after Gogol's namesake has been released from the camp and settled in the town of Staritsa located on the Volga river. As we know from the poem's first part, it's picaresque protagonist Pavel Chichikov purchases from a bunch of grotesque landowners around four hundred dead serfs, registering them as if they were alive. The motivation of the original Gogol character for this bizarre transaction is carrying through the fraudulent scheme of taking a loan against the non-existent serfs and making off with the money. However, in Kolya's interpretation, the figure of Chichikov gains unexpected metaphysical dimensions. Gogol the Second believes that in reality Chichikov intended to populate with his dead souls a specially designated territory within the Russian Empire so that they would build the City of God on earth.
In the Synopsis, Chichikov rises from the depth of Hell, and goes through the circles of the Purgatory to become a Moses-like figure that is destined to liberate the chosen people (the adherents of the Old Belief who rejected Patriarch Nikon's liturgical reforms of 1653) from the tyranny of the Antichrist (the Romanov dynasty) and to lead them to the Heavenly Jerusalem where eternal bliss and happiness will reign. The worldly manifestation of this metaphysical enterprise is Chichikov's mission to restore the hierarchy of the Ancient Orthodox Church to which he devotes all his wits and industriousness after taking the vows as an Old Believer monk. In the course of his adventure-packed peregrinations that take him to Austria, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and Palestine, Chichikov succeeds in his ambitious plan despite the imminent persecution of Tsar Nicholas I: the Old Believer bishopric is established in Belaya Krinitsa with the consent of Ferdinand I of Austria, the first bishops get ordained, and Chichikov is among them. Thanks to his missionary activity hundreds of thousands of priestless Old Believers return to the fold of the Popovtsy, the Old Believer faction with ecclesiastical structure. Closer to the end of his life and his great mission, Chichikov accepts the Narodniks, anti-tsarist revolutionary intellectuals and activists, as the welcome addition to the chosen people marching under his guidance across the Sinai desert towards the Heavenly Jerusalem. Within the discourse of the Exodus, Chichikov regards the revolutionaries as those Egyptians who have found belief in God, rejected the tyranny of the Pharaoh and joined the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. At the end of his spiritual and earthly journey, Chichikov realises that the socialist revolution which will overthrow the monarchy associated with the Antichrist is that long-awaited event which will inaugurate the emergence of Paradise on earth. This Paradise will be known as Communism, and the Heavenly City will be created "out of space aether and Edison's electricity".
The Synopsis is by far the longest embedded narrative in Sharov's novel: distributed over ten letters to Uncle Artemy, it takes almost ninety pages of the book. It makes for a fun and erudite read, but it's hardly possible to take it as seriously as its author does. Kolya's relatives expected the full namesake of the great writer to create a commensurate piece of literature imbued with transformative spiritual force. Not only does he fail to do that, for he never writes the complete book, but judging by the summary of the plot in the Synopsis we can see that even in the complete form his work would be laughably naive and, at best, would just reflect the delusions of 19th century Russian socialist thinkers. The 20th century communist era turned out to be anything but Paradise on earth. By embracing the ephemerous and unrealistic ideals of the revolution, Chichikov leads his followers back to the Egyptian slavery. The Dantesque ascension to Paradise via Purgatory proves to be a meandering re-descent into Hell, the Inferno of the Civil War, the Red Terror, collectivisation, and the Gulag. Kolya's relatives who have the opportunity to read the Synopsis have a mixed reaction to it. Some even suggest that it should be burned like the second part of Gogol's Dead Souls. Others prefer to view it as a playground for their own historiosophical musings, and use it to come up with diverse interpretations of Gogol's literary heritage and the course of Russian history as seen through the prism of the Exodus myth.
There is no lack of all kinds of mystical theories and quirky hermeneutic methodologies professed by Gogol's descendants and their close friends. The encapsulated summaries of these as well as fragmentary applications to biblical narratives, Gogol's texts, and important historical events keep cropping up in the correspondence and can be seen as an important part of Kolya's growth and development as an independent thinker. For example, the protagonist's friend and long-time correspondent Isakiev is the founder of palindrome philosophy. A prominent representative of the association of poets-palindromists, Isakiev gained notoriety for composing a 100 page play-palindrome about the Great Flood titled, appropriately enough, Potop (The Flood). The play was about to be staged in a theatre of his hometown Gomel when he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years of labour camps. The indictment boiled down to the following: "the aim of a work that can be read equally from left to right and right to left is to persuade our people that the course of history is reversible and that Soviet Russia soon will become again the Romanov monarchy." Upon his release, Isakiev has already formed his specific Weltanschauung in which everything is subject to palindromic interpretation and he readily shares his revelations with Kolya. In Isakiev's mysticism different places, events, objects and entities smoothly lock together into pairs forming a palindromic whole. The Tower of Babel and Dante's funnel of Hell are such a pair. The emancipation of serfs by Alexander II and the October Revolution constitute a historical palindrome in which the former corresponds to the Exodus and the latter to the return to Egypt. Needless to say, Egypt and the Promised Land also make up a palindrome along which Russian people keep shuttling back and forth. Isakiev believes that the palindrome is the true voice of language because of the inherent randomness of its formation and its total independence from the speaker's intent. He sees the future in the utopian palindromic language, which "will not be shattered even by the Apocalypse".
Tash Hauli Palace, Khiva. Photo Credit: Fulvio Spada.
Quite often the mystical leanings of the Gogol clan and its immediate circle find confirmation and even elaboration in visual arts. There are several artists among Kolya's relatives, and many of his numerous uncles and aunts take lively interest in different art forms. When paintings or drawings are described in the novel, it is not done for mere ekphrastic embellishment, but as another means of revealing the arcane dimension hidden from the eyes of the uninitiated. The image is never what it seems; it persistently balks at surrendering its true meaning to a cursory glance. You really have to take your time and zoom in to see what lies beneath the superficial details. In this respect, Sharov's ideas are close to those expressed by Julio Cortázar in his short story The Devil's Drool, on which Antonioni later based his cult classic Blowout. The case in point is the graphic works of Valentin Stanitsin, or Uncle Valya as Kolya refers to him in the letters. Trained as a miniaturist, Valentin is fascinated by the elaborate carvings on the wooden columns of Alla-Kuli-Khan's Tash Hauli Palace in Khiva, a city in Khorezm Region of Uzbekistan where he works in the regional museum. His fascination with the Islamic non-figurative patterns gives rise to a powerful allegory on how interpretation turns historical events into subjective, ideologically charged narratives. In fulfillment of a commission, Valentin prepares graphic sketches for the columns of the new city council building using the Tash Hauli ornaments as his inspiration. He manages to complete the ornaments for two columns before the whole project is suspended. When seen from a distance, the patterns in these drawings do not much differ from the Islamic floral ornaments; however, if one takes a magnifying glass and looks closely, they will see that the fancy curlicues are made up of tiny human figures ascending through space and time: on one column those are the forebears, participants and inheritors of the French Revolution, and on the other, obviously, of the October Revolution in Russia. Thus the neutral non-figurative patterns are transformed into ideological statements. But that's only part of the story. With time, Valentin's art evolves from the dialectical-materialist representation of the triumph of revolution to the depiction of abstruse mystical entities. Now he applies the lessons learnt from the carvings on the columns of the khan's palace to the design of the posts of the metaphysical gates that, as some believe, lead to the City of the Antichrist. Each gatepost is associated with either of the two sepulchral orders: the Khodynka and Trubnaya Brotherhoods. These secret societies were born out of two mystically related tragedies: the stampedes which resulted in many deaths among the participants of the festivities following the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896 on Khodynka Field, and, fifty-seven years later, among the mourners who were pushing through Trubnaya Square to pay last respects to the body of Stalin lying in state in the House of the Unions in the centre of Moscow. The Khodynka Brotherhood maintains that the hundreds of deaths during the coronation festivities were the prediction of the tragic fate of the whole Empire, while the Trubnaya brothers believe that the people trampled in Moscow in March of 1953, in blatantly pharaonic fashion, were claimed by the dead Soviet leader as his retinue in the afterlife. Many also believe that the tragedies symbolise for the Russians two stops during their journey away from the Promised Land and back to Egypt. Just like Valentin's floral patterns for the columns of the city council in Khiva, his ornaments for the mystical gateposts upon close inspection transform into miniscule human figures. This time those are not prophets and ideologues of revolution, but common people jostling in throngs to witness two historic events that will claim some of them as the due sacrifice.
After about three days, Uncle Valya brings a couple of new drawings. Both depict a sequence of his favourite elm columns supporting the portico of the Khivan Khan's harem. They are adorned from top to bottom with a fancy floral ornament. The lianas thick as a hand, which gird the tree, and other stems with buds and half-blown flowers tangle with the clusters of ripe grapes, the fresh sprouts twist and twist making up a spiral.
Only when looking through a magnifying glass, it becomes clear that these are not meticulously drawn vignettes. On the even columns, queues of people not yet crushed by the crowd meander and twist around the trays with bread rolls and sausages, around the large oak barrels with fresh beer brought by horse carts; on the odd ones, folks in the equally peaceful manner flow to Trubnaya Square through boulevards, side-streets and communicating courtyards. It's the mourners who flock from different parts of the city to bid farewell to Joseph Stalin. […] Already in Trubnaya Square, and especially in Neglinnaya Street […] Uncle Valya depicts how the people are squashed together by an incredible force and now, as it should be, this united people's body flows to the House of the Unions.
Streets of Moscow on March 9, 1953. Image source
In Return to Egypt, hidden meanings and enciphered revelations are not limited to fictitious artworks. What is more, sometimes well-known real pieces of art prove to harbour equally astonishing secrets. While copying A. A. Ivanov's sketches of the already mentioned The Appearance of Christ before the People, Valentin's course mates at the art school Vkhutemas notice that blended with the foliage of the tree, hidden in plain sight, there lurks a group of dead people risen from the graves, which leads to the sensational conclusion that the Russian painter at some point changed his mind and instead of the apparition of the messiah ended up depicting the Second Coming and the Last Judgement.
The conceit of artworks as vehicles conveying secret messages is taken to the extremes, which seem absurd and parodic even within the framework of Sharov's outlandish world, in the apocryphal story about the subversive character of Kazimir Malevich's paintings. This anecdote is hilarious and horrible at the same time, for in all its grotesquerie it perfectly encapsulates the mundanity of the bloodthirsty paranoia in whose thrall the Soviet regime indulged in imprisoning, torturing and executing thousands of its innocent victims. The fact that Malevich in reality was arrested, interrogated and held in custody two times — first in 1927, on charges of being a German spy and second in 1930, for anti-Soviet propaganda — gives us the chilling realisation that Sharov's apocryph is not totally inconceivable.
Uncle Valya writes that when the famous artist Kazimir Malevich, who taught him and Kolodezev in Vkhutemas, was arrested in 1926, he testified during the interrogation that his paintings sold to the West over the last six years — from 1918 to 1924 — were in fact coded messages. The addressee was the English intelligence service MI5 for which he had been employed as a freelance operative since 1912. In the works one way or another related to figurative painting, the information about the Soviet Army and the industrial capabilities of the state was encoded in the colour, individual details and their relative placement on the canvas. As for the abstract art, to be more specific, Black Square recently smuggled out by the private collector Gornfeld: that was an analysis of the general situation in the country carried out by order of MI5.
Kazimir Malevich, Black Suprematist Square, 1915.
As Kolya gets exposed to more of the various philosophical and religious ideas bandied about by the host of his learned correspondents, he comes to the realisation that there is only one schismatic denomination in Russia whose principles and practices promise true salvation in the face of the repeated victories of the Antichrist and the never-ending cycles of the Egyptian enslavement. Confident in this belief he moves to Kazakhstan, where his ill father has already settled in the house of a member of the mysterious Beguny sect. Later, having buried his father and having been joined by his erstwhile sweetheart and distant relative Sonya, Kolya will decide to spend the rest of his life there, more than twenty-five years.
The Beguny or Stranniki (Wanderers) are the branch of the priestless Old Believers who decided to sever all ties with the official authorities of the Russian Empire, considering them to be the incarnation of the Antichrist. They refused to pay taxes, avoided conscription and instead of state-issued passports carried their own, which were just pieces of paper with pithy religious slogans like "The Lord is the protector of my life: who am I to be afraid of?" The only effective way of resisting the enormous power of the Antichrist for them was perpetual flight from the powers that be and their servants, so most of them did not have a permanent domicile and kept wandering all their lives. The Beguny who maintained such a peripatetic lifestyle were called mirootrechentsi (those who have renounced the world). However, there emerged among the Wanderers a large faction that actually stayed in one place. The houses of the so-called strannopiimtsy (the hospitable ones) were offered as temporary shelters to those Beguny who followed the practice of wandering. Quite often the latter were concealed in specially designed hiding places.
It is in such a house that Kolya's father and later Kolya himself find shelter and solace. In the Beguny's parlance the house-shelter is called a ship and its owner the helmsman. The last name of the helmsman who welcomes the two descendants of Gogol in his solitary abode lost amid the sun-scorched takyr (the Central Asian equivalent of the salt flat) somewhere in Kazakhstan is Kapralov. He has inherited the last name from the previous owner of the house who also received it through the hereditary chain stretching all the way back to the original house owner. Kapralov believes that the wandering Beguny weave with their footsteps the giant net that God will use shortly before the Last Judgement to catch the pure and the repentant part of humanity. He will deposit the saved ones into the new arc, which will come to a stop at Mount Moriah where the One and Only Temple of One and Only God will be built. It will be the earthly prototype of the Heavenly Jerusalem. The metaphor of a ship applied to Kapralov's house is miraculously reified in a strange episode that could be viewed as either a mystical journey or a collective hallucination. In a letter to Uncle Peter Kolya recounts how one day a mini-version of the Great Flood hits the steppe in which the house is located and in order to survive the deluge, Kapralov, Kolya and Sonya quickly transform the adobe hut into a navigable ship. The helmsman is sure that the hour of the final battle between the forces of good and evil is near, explaining to his tenants that their ship is going to join the fleet of similar floating houses of the Beguny somewhere near Chelyabinsk. The next day, however, the waters recede and the crew of of the newly-minted arc find themselves not on a mountain, but in the same steppe just a couple of kilometres away from their original location.
After settling in Kazakhstan and being exposed to the Beguny's beliefs ardently espoused by the helmsman, Kolya never returns to the idea of completing Dead Souls. It is obvious that he doesn't believe anymore in the conceit that finishing his famous ancestor's masterpiece might save the Russians from the never-ending cycles of oppression and authoritarian rule. What he chooses instead is the individual salvation sought through pious living and regular animal sacrifice harking back to the biblical times. Near the house there is a vast caldera, a bowl-shaped depression formed by the inward collapse of a volcano, which is regarded by Kapralov and Kolya as an analogue of Dante's Inferno. The sacrificial animal is a scapegoat laden with gurdjans (leather sacks) stuffed with rocks symbolising the sins of the ship dwellers as well as those of other people. The poor beast is led down the terraced slopes of the caldera to the sulphur lake at the bottom signifying the waters of the Cocytus, and is left to die from starvation and exhaustion as the heavy burden prevents it from climbing back to the surface. As opposed to Dante's Inferno, and in keeping with the specific character of the Soviet version of Hell, Kapralov has divided the depression into fourteen circles instead of nine, corresponding to the number of sections and subsections in Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code used against those suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. With time, the corpses of the goats strew the slopes of the caldera, creating a ghastly spectacle that, as if in conformity with Isakiev's bizarre theory, makes up a palindrome with the macabre sight of another group of dead animals that were sacrificed to the improvement of the Soviet infrastructure:
The path descends to the Cocytus, — the last road of the scapegoats. Their sulfur-coated mummies lie along it, bringing to mind the bones of a million and a half camels, bleached by wind and rain, which frame each kilometre of the railroad to Karaganda like a decorative border.
Caldera of Gorely Volcano in the southern part of Kamchatka Peninsula. Image Source
The Abyss of Hell (1480s) by Sandro Botticelli. The image of the drawing is used as part of the cover art of the first edition of Return to Egypt.
While living in Kazakhstan, Kolya continues correspondence with the other Gogols. The excerpts from the letters appearing closer to the end of the book reveal a particular agitation among the Gogol clan with regard to the meaning of the Soviet period in Russian history within the Exodus narrative. There is unanimous agreement that the Soviet project proved to be a return to Egypt for the Russian nation. However, the opinions on the true nature of Egypt as well as on the aftermath of the journey back across the Red Sea vary. For Uncle Svyatoslav Egypt is akin to the Heavenly Jerusalem which descended upon the earth. He views it as a man-made paradise that sprang up in the middle of the desert thanks to the collective labour of workers, and Lenin, the architect of the Soviet version of Egypt, is comparable if not superior to Jesus Christ. For Uncle Ferentz and Uncle Artemy coming back to Egypt can only mean a voluntary return to slavery. For them Lenin is just another cruel pharaoh, which is corroborated by the fact that his body was turned into a mummy after death. As Artemy succinctly puts it:
The Plagues of Egypt — locusts, droughts, rivers of blood — were beyond count. We built hundreds of Pithoms and Ramseses, learnt again to deify the pharaoh, to erect tombs, and, when he departed to the world of eternal rest, to mummify his body. The latter proved to be the toughest of all. For more than twenty years lasted the fight with the mould on the skin of God Ra's son, but we defeated it.
The brief excerpts of the letters merge into a continuous but dissonant chorus, each voice trying to come up with the persuasive explanation of the dire straits of the chosen people, splitting hairs over the symbolic meaning of historical personages and major events, mostly tragic, within the whole theological model pieced together from sacred and secular texts, pseudo-science, philosophy and superstition, which increasingly begins to resemble a drawn-out round of some kind of Glass Bead Game, a virtuosic but utterly useless juggling with ready-made concepts that does not necessarily yield anything new.
Perhaps the greatest revelation for Kolya comes from the allegorical anecdote told him by a certain Yevtikheyev who used to serve time in the same labour camp as his father and Kapralov. In fulfilment of Kapralov's request, Kolya visits Yevtikheyev in a nursery home in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The story dates back to the old man's childhood when his mother would tell him of the flooding of the Nile as if it was taking place in their Cossack village. Herein lies a valuable if bitter lesson for Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (the Second) as well as his relatives: if they had become reconciled with the fact that regaining the Promised Land was a chimera and stopped their futile hermeneutic speculation that had been consuming too much of their time and effort, they would have regained at least peace and serenity, which in earthly Egypt might be the next best thing to the eternal repose in the Heavenly Jerusalem. There is even something soothing in the sound made by the River Nile at night. Yevtikheyev and his mother learnt how to listen to it, so the others could have too.
This entry was posted in Fiction, Reviews and tagged A. A. Ivanov, Beguny, Chichikov, Dante, Dead Souls, Возвращение в Египет, Exodus, Kazimir Malevich, Nikolai Gogol, Old Believers, Return to Egypt, Russian, Tash Hauli Palace, The Appearance of Christ Before the People, The Divine Comedy, The Government Inspector, The Inspector General, Vladimir Sharov. Bookmark the permalink.
4 Responses to Return to Egypt (Возвращение в Египет) by Vladimir Sharov
languagehat says:
Thanks for this! I very much look forward to giving Sharov a try, but I guess I'd better start with The Rehearsals.
The Untranslated says:
Yes, The Rehearsals is a good starting point. If you don't like it, you are unlikely to enjoy Return to Egypt.
George Salis says:
Great article! I look forward to reading Sharov's translated works, and hopefully/eventually this one. Any idea regarding the state of literature censorship in Russia? I know that in China it's still as bad as ever, if not worse.
Thanks for reading my review! I think the worst censorship now is the self-censorship of the writers, but it is not as bad as in China, of course. And there are ridiculous requirements, like integrating into the cover design the label "18+" if the book contains swear words or "inappropriate" content.
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