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Katzenklavier
A cat organ (, ), also called cat piano (, ), is a hypothetical musical instrument which consists of a line of cats fixed in place with their tails stretched out underneath a keyboard so that they cry out when a key is pressed. The cats would be arranged according to the natural pitch (music), tone of their voices. Origins There is no official record of a cat organ actually being built; rather it is described in literature as a bizarre concept. This supposed instrument was described by the French writer Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin in his 1877 book ''Musiciana, extraits d'ouvrages rares ou bizarres'' (Musiciana, descriptions of rare or bizarre inventions): The instrument was described by German physician Johann Christian Reil (1759–1813) for the purpose of treating patients who had lost the ability to focus their attention. Reil believed that if they were forced to see and listen to this instrument, it would inevitably capture their attention and they would be cured: "A fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Society of Jesus, Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Joseph Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his vast range of interests, and has been honoured with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts".Woods, p. 108. He taught for more than 40 years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities that would become the Kircherian Museum. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades. Kircher claimed to have deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptian language, but most of his assumptions and translations in the field turned out to be wrong. He did, however, correctly establish the link between the ancient Egyptian and the Coptic language, Coptic languages, and some com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Betancourt
Michael Betancourt (born 1971) is a critical theorist, film theorist, art & film historian, and animator. His principal published works focus on the critique of digital capitalism, motion graphics, visual music, new media art, theory, and formalist study of motion pictures. Early life and education Betancourt was born in New Jersey in 1971. He enrolled at Temple University for film studies and received an MA in Film Studies at the University of Miami, studying under film historian William Rothman. He also received his Ph.D degree from the University of Miami in Interdisciplinary Studies, focusing on Art History, Communications/Film Studies, and History. In addition to scholarly work, he has written popular articles and reviews on art, art theory, and culture for magazines, including ''The Atlantic,'' ''Make Magazine,'' ''Miami Art Exchange'' and ''Art Scene''. Betancourt's father is the archaeologist Philip P. Betancourt and his brother is the author John Gregory Betancourt. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Python's Flying Circus
''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal humour, surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, who became known collectively as "Monty Python", or the "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. A feature film adaptation of several sketches, ''And Now for Something Completely Different'', was released in 1971. The series stands out for its use of Surreal humour, absurd situations, mixed with risqué and innuendo-laden humour, Visual gag, sight gags, and observational sketches without punch line, punchlines. Live-action segments were broken up with animations by Gilliam, often merging with the live action to form Segue#In film or broadcast news production, segues. The overall for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' is a 1988 fantasy adventure film co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce and Valentina Cortese. An international co-production of the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, the film is based on the tall tales of the 18th-century German nobleman, Baron Munchausen, and his wartime exploits against the Ottoman Empire. The film was a box office bomb, grossing only $8 million domestically and losing millions for Columbia Pictures. Despite this, it received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects. Plot In an unnamed war-torn European city in the "Age of Reason", as a large Ottoman army prepares an invasion outside the city gates, a fanciful touring stage production of Baron Munchausen's life and adventures is taking place. In a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Together they collaborated on the sketch comedy, sketch series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) and the films ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975, also co-directed), ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In 1988, they received the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award for BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. Gilliam transitioned to directing serious films with themes exploring imagination and oppositions to bureaucracy and authoritarianism. His films are some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Start Initiative
Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms * National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism * Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties, a series of arms reduction treaties between the US and USSR ** START I (1991) ** START II (1993) ** START III (1997), never signed into effect ** New START (2010), initiated to continue the effects of previous START treaties ** "START" (''The Americans''), a 2018 episode and the series finale of the period spy thriller ''The Americans'' * Simple triage and rapid treatment * Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak * Spanish Technical Aid Response Team * Stanislaus Regional Transit, predecessor to the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority Books and publications * ''STart'' (magazine), an Atari ST computer mag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence House
Clarence House is a royal residence on The Mall in the City of Westminster, London. It was built in 1825–1827, adjacent to St James's Palace, for the royal Duke of Clarence, the future King William IV. The four-storey house is faced in pale render. Over the years, it has undergone much extensive remodelling and reconstruction, most notably after being heavily damaged in the Second World War by enemy bombing during The Blitz. Little remains of the original structure designed by John Nash. It is Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England. The house is open to visitors for about one month each summer, usually in August. Clarence House serves as the London residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It has been Charles's residence since 2003. From 1953 until 2002 it was home to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and before her, it was the official home of her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II. History The house was built bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garden Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature food and beverages, and often conversation, music, dancing, or other forms of entertainment. Some parties are held in honor of a specific person, day, or event, such as a birthday party, a Super Bowl party, or a St. Patrick's Day party. Parties of this kind are often called celebrations. A party is not necessarily a private occasion. Public parties are sometimes held in restaurants, pubs, beer gardens, nightclubs, or bars, and people attending such parties may be charged an admission fee by the host. Large parties in public streets may celebrate events such as Mardi Gras or the signing of a peace treaty ending a long war. Types Balls Banquets Birthday party A birthday party is a celebration of the anniversary of the birth of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Dagg
Henry Dagg is a sound sculptor and builder of experimental musical instruments who formerly worked as a sound engineer for the BBC. His works include a pin barrel harp or '' sharpsichord'' which was commissioned for the English Folk Dance and Song Society, a pair of steel sculpturamusical gatesfoRochester Independent Collegeand an artificial " cat organ" (using squeaky toys in place of actual cats), which he played to the amusement of an audience of celebrities at a garden party hosted by Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and .... References British modern sculptors British experimental musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-musician-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squeaky Toy
A squeaky toy (also squeak toy, squeaker toy, or squeeze toy) is a soft, hollow toy made from flexible materials such as rubber or vinyl, and usually equipped with a small device known as a ''squeaker.'' Mechanism When the toy is squeezed, air is forced through the squeaker, resulting in a high-pitched sound, such as a squeak, or the sound of a toy horn or whistle. The tone and duration of the sound may depend on the size of the squeaker, the amount of air squeezed out of the toy, and the speed with which it is squeezed. When the toy is not being squeezed, it resumes its normal shape and re-inflates. Air returning into the toy through the squeaker may or may not make a sound, depending on the design of the squeaker and the speed at which air re-enters. The high-pitched noise produced by squeaky toys quickly attracts the attention of infants and small children, while their soft, squeezable nature makes them safe for young children to handle. Squeaky toys are also popular with p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
