text:
Leith, Ontario

Leith is an unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, named after Leith, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of the Owen Sound Bay, an inlet (sound) on the south shore of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. Owen Sound Bay is a broad valley that cuts through the Niagara Escarpment. The valley preceded the last great Ice Age, but was broadened by the action of the glacial ice, then by the erosive forces of the Sydenham and Pottowatomi rivers. During his preliminary survey of Lake Huron in 1815, Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen named it "Owen's Sound" for his brother, Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen.

Located approximately 9 kilometres northeast of the city of Owen Sound in the municipality of Meaford, Leith was established in the mid-1800s on Bothwells Creek where it empties into the Sound. John Telfer, who was appointed the Crown Land Agent for this area in 1840, bought and moved to Leith in 1846 when the settling of the community began. Leith was twice more sold, from Telfer to James Wilson of Galt in 1854, and from Wilson to Adam Ainslie in 1857. Leith is flanked by the larger Hibou Conservation Area to the west, and by the smaller Ainslie Wood Conservation area to the northeast [Grey-Sauble Conservation Authority]. Hibou boasts two natural sandy beaches, and 2.5 kilometres of nature trails across from the water. There are also many trails from the road to the water's edge, all in close proximity to Leith. A plan to incorporate Leith was created in the 19th century but was never executed. Today Leith is a quiet hamlet with many year-round residents and some summer cottagers. Leith residents enjoy easy access to the waters of Georgian Bay.

When the wind blows from the northeast, the sound of the waves crashing along the shoreline is audible throughout the hamlet. At one time a pier capable of serving sailing ships and schooners existed on the northeast side of the mouth of Bothwells Creek. "Ainslie Wharf" was Adam Ainslie's grand enterprise to make Leith a major Great Lakes port. Built in 1861 of cribbed stone and oak posts, the dock was further extended in 1870 to accommodate bigger ships. Grain and cattle, hogs and sheep, cords of maple beech and elm were shipped from this magnificent dock. However, exposure to the open Georgian Bay to the north-northeast eventually caused the destruction of the pier. November storms, winter ice and two ship disasters at the dock weakened it, eventually making it a dangerous structure which the townsfolk tore down after Ainslie's death. All that remains in the water are a collection of old wooden pilings, serving principally as perches for waterfowl and an obstacle to pleasure boaters. A superior harbour in the city of Owen Sound, at the end of the inlet, eventually led to the demise of Leith as a commercial port. There is a small public gravel beach in Leith and public access to small craft boating from Telfer Creek. The mouth of Bothwells Creek is now protected habitat for large schools of baby trout.

Leith is renowned for the beauty of its landscape, both at the water's edge, and in the surrounding countryside. The old Leith Church is the site of the grave of Tom Thomson, a noted Canadian landscape painter who died in mysterious circumstances at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park in 1917. Thomson was a friend of the Group of Seven, famous landscape painters many of whose works are on permanent display at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. He grew up in Leith. Leith was also the favourite summer place for artist Carl Ahrens (1862-1936), one of Canada's foremost landscape painters, whose works can still be viewed at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, and other galleries throughout Canada and Britain.

In the late 1850s and early 1860s there was a grist mill and a flour mill, an oatmeal mill at Keefer's Creek, a tannery, three stores, a distillery, a dock and several store houses, a church and cemetery, several frame houses, a hotel and stables, a tavern, and both picnic and cricket grounds, as well as a boot and shoe maker, blacksmith, four carpenters and shingle makers, a teacher and a postmaster. Mail began to arrive in Leith in 1853, and was delivered from Sydenham (Owen Sound) post office by steamboat bi-weekly to Ainslie Wharf. By 2004 only one of the stores remained and the post office had closed. Until 2013 the Bays River Restaurant operated in the building which was once the golf course club house and dance hall. On a clear day the view from the restaurant across the mouth of the Owen Sound inlet is spectacular. The scenic Bayshore Road cuts through the hamlet of Leith and continues along the shoreline for many miles, serving various small laneways for cottagers and shoreline residences.

Leith is well known for sport fishing. In 1921 sea lamprey or lamprey eel (Petromyzon marinus) invaded the Great Lakes through the Welland Canal, though, significantly reducing the numbers of lake trout and whitefish. While the lake trout have largely vanished from Lake Huron, rainbow trout and salmon still exist in the lake. Since 1988 a species native to Asia, zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), have invaded the Great Lakes, and the Owen Sound area has not been spared. Swimmers at Leith have received cuts to their bare feet from the very sharp shells of these little molluscs. In the 1990s the Great Lakes were again invaded by the round goby, a small bottom-dwelling fish, which feasts on zebra mussels along with fish eggs and native baby trout. Round gobies can often be observed feeding in the shallow waters at the bridge over Bothwells Creek in Leith. The zebra mussel population has been kept at bay.

An area on the Georgian Bay water between Owen Sound and Leith, simply marked with a green buoy, is known by local salmon and trout anglers as "Thomson's Hole". The fishing hole has garnered some of the area's best fishing and is a popular fishing stop during the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular Derby. The fishing hole is known for its extreme depth and its plentiful fishing but is also a popular sailing area.

In 1997, a stained glass window designed by Ellen Simon entitled "Nativity Scene" circa 1954 in the United Church in Leith was illustrated on the U.S.-rate Canada Postage stamp in the Christmas series. The window remains in the Leith Church today and is viewable when the church is open.

The old Leith Church closed in 1969, as did the old Leith Golf Course in the 1970s. The Leith congregation now worships at the United Church just up the hill in Annan. The Leith church building fell into disrepair for a number of years. However, since 1992 the church and nearby cemetery have been declared a designated heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act. The church has been refurbished and is now maintained by a vigorous, energetic and strong community of volunteers known as the "Friends of Leith Church" [FOLC]. The church is occasionally opened for special events and regular fundraising continues to maintain the building. Due to the excellent acoustics, the church building is regularly used for musical concerts during the spring, summer and fall period (Leith Summer Festival). It has a seating capacity of 180 and is particularly renowned for chamber music ensembles.

title: Leith, Ontario


text:
Aragua

Aragua State (Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national park which is called Henri Pittier. The capital is Maracay, other important cities include Turmero and El Limón.

Aragua State covers a total surface area of 7,014 km2 and, based on the 2011 census information, the estimated population of Aragua State in 2012 is 1,630,308 inhabitants.

Etymology
The name of the state comes from an indigenous word of Cumanagoto (Caribbean) origin, which is used to refer to the Chaguaramo, a type of palm from the region [quotation required] However, according to Carlos Blanco Galeno, a chronicler from Turmero, it derives from the Cariban aregua, and this de are ('site') and gua which in turn derives from ogun ('my thing'), so it would mean 'my place, my country'. This same word inspired the name of the Aragua River, an important tributary of Lake Valencia.

History
The land where the city of Maracay is located today was granted to Sebastián Díaz Alfaro in the 16th century. After his death the land passed to his son Mateo. At that time these lands were known as Valle de Tucupío and Tepatopo and were used as cattle grazing lands. Towards Tucupío, Tapatapa, Guey and El Rincón, sugar cane and cocoa were planted.

By the year 1700 about 40 families inhabited the valley, which went to Bishop Diego de Baños y Sotomayor to choose a parish, which was equivalent to giving consistency to the official population center.

On March 5, the city of Maracay was founded, taking its name from the Maracay River. Maracay suffered the vicissitudes of the emancipatory revolution, being of special interest the events of 1812-13 that took place at the La Trinidad hacienda. Later, in 1816 and 1818, there was the assault of La Cabrera and the battle of Maracay where the patriotic troops were defeated. The Federal War also left its mark on the town, seriously affecting the surrounding countryside. In addition, there was a terrible plague epidemic, apparently caused by the decomposition of fermented indigo, which claimed many victims.

The beginnings of Maracay's urban and economic transformation began during the administration of General Juan Vicente Gómez, who resided in the city from the beginning of his government. In 1898, La Victoria was designated as the capital of the state and later, in 1917, it was moved to Maracay, a status it still retains.

Conquest and Spanish Colonial Era
Aragua was part of the Province of Caracas from 1555.

European groups later penetrated the area of Aragua than what is now Carabobo or Miranda. It was in the last decade of the 16th century when the Spanish began to implant encomiendas in the Valleys of Aragua. By 1620 all the lands of Aragua were divided among some 40 encomenderos, who lived primarily in the Valley of Caracas.

Maracay was founded in 1701.

By 1780 La Victoria was a town with about 800 Indians who only spoke Spanish and more than 4 thousand people from other groups, including Spaniards, Creoles, mestizos, blacks and Zambos.

Alexander von Humboldt referred to the fact that the population by 1800 in the area of the valleys of Aragua - which at that time included both sides of Lake Valencia - was mostly composed of brown and creole people, apart from zambos and slaves and that there were still approximately 5000 registered Indians, most of whom were concentrated in Turmero and Guacara. None of them spoke their ancestral languages anymore.

19th century
Aragua was created as a province on February 11, 1848 when it was separated from that of Caracas, with a territory similar to that which today encompasses the current state of Aragua and composed of La Victoria, Turmero, Maracay, Villa de Cura and San Sebastian, having the city of La Victoria as its capital.

In 1864 Aragua became an independent state until 1866, when it merged with Guárico to form the state of Guzmán Blanco. Its capital changed to Villa de Cura in 1881. Finally in 1899 Aragua recovered its status as an autonomous state

20th century
In 1917 its capital was moved from La Victoria to Maracay. The dictator Juan Vicente Gómez stayed most of his time in Maracay and it was there that he died in 1935.

Its definitive limits were established by protocols signed with the bordering states at different times: in 1909 (Miranda), 1917 (Carabobo) and 1933 (Guárico).

In 1989 he elected his first governor under direct universal and secret elections which ended the practice of having a government designated from the central government in Caracas.

Geography
Aragua borders the Caribbean Sea to the north, with its coastline backed by the fast-rising central Cordillera mountain range. Codazzi Peak reaches over 2400 m above sea level. Much of the rest of the state is made up of fertile valleys used for intensive agriculture, apart from in the extreme south where the flats of the central Llanos region begin. On the western border is Lake Valencia.

The main rivers in the state are the Aragua, the Guárico, the El Limón, the Tuy, the Pao and the Turmero. They flow into the Caribbean Sea, Lake Valencia, or feed the vast Orinoco River network. The Camatagua reservoir is one of the main reservoirs supplying Caracas.

Geology
Four natural regions can be distinguished in the entity: the coastal mountain range, the depression of Lake Valencia, the inland mountain range, and the Central Wavy Plains. In the depression of Lake Valencia, recent sedimentary formations predominate, while the mountainous areas present others that are highly affected by metamorphic processes, although in the presence of nuclei with more conserved igneous and sedimentary rocks. In the mountain ranges of the Interior chain, galleys can be observed, as spurs of that mountain range, which smoothen their forms towards the South until they enter the formation of the plains.

Area
The region has an area of 7,014 km², most of which is mountainous, and represents 0.76% of the Venezuelan territory. The maritime coast of the state extends from Turiamo Bay in the west to Puerto Maya in the east, corresponding to the central section of the Coastal Range. The southern zone of the state runs from the southern piedmont lands of the Caribbean mountain range, through the curve of the 100 meter level that separates the Llanos Altos from the Llanos Bajos to the depression of the Unare River and the San Carlos River that separates it from the Llanos Altos Occidentales.

Relief
One of the largest reliefs in the world crosses the state of Aragua, in an east-west direction, two parallel mountain ranges, separated from each other by a central depression, which determines the existence of three well-differentiated physiographic regions, which follow each other from north to south. The northern end is hilly with the central stretch of the Litoral mountain range that culminates with El Cenizo peak at 2,436 meters above sea level and Codazzi peak at 2,426 meters above sea level.

Hydrography
The hydrographic network of the state is part of three major points: the tip of the Caribbean Sea, formed by the rivers; San Miguel, Ocumare, Cata, Gaurapito, Aroa and through the river Tuy, the rivers of its upper basin: the Orinoco river basin, formed by the high point and part of the middle point of the Guárico river and the middle part of the Memo river and finally, the endorheic point of the Valencia lake where the Aragua, Turmero, Maracay, Caño Grande, Tapatapa, Tocorón and Las Minas rivers pour their waters. In the latter, the surface courses have been considerably reduced, as it is no longer possible to use the water from these rivers for human consumption. These rivers have now become the main collectors of wastewater discharges, both for urban industrial and agricultural use.

Climate
Due to its diversity in relief and altitudes that it possesses in all its extension, there are different thermal floors in which the temperature tends to have different climatic characteristics and temperatures that decrease with the increase of the altitude, in the coastal strip dominates a semi-arid and warm climate, as it is evidenced in Turiamo and Puerto Maya, Although orographic rainfall occurs at elevations on the northern flank of the Serranía de Litoral, allowing for cooler and more humid conditions, which make possible the formation of cloud forests in the Henri Pittier National Park, local conditions allow for greater humidity and warmer temperatures in some coastal coves, such as Chuao, Choroní and Ocumare, which are used in traditional cocoa plantations.

At the altitudes of the Coastal Range, an isothermal climate is expressed, reaching in Colonia Tovar, at 1,900 meters above sea level, an average annual temperature of only 15.4 °C and rainfall of 1,000 mm per year. In the depression of Lake Valencia and the valleys of Aragua, warmer conditions are recognized. In Maracay, at 545 meters above sea level, an average annual temperature of 25 °C and annual rainfall of 834 mm are recorded, with a well-defined dry season. In the plain sector, there is a rainy tropical savanna climate, with an average rainfall of 1,100 mm, a rigorous dry season and average annual temperatures of 26 °C.

Soils
The lands of the valleys of Aragua are rich in minerals, as well as fertile; even the mountainous areas are suitable for certain types of crops. There you can find soils with a medium accumulation of organic matter and clay. The banks of the lake show a formation of calcium content due to the presence of fossils. Due to these characteristics, the soil of the state of Aragua is one of the most fertile in the country.

Vegetation
Vegetation ranges from abundant foliage trees, present in the cloud forests of the Henri Pittier National Park, on the Litoral mountain range, to thorny scrub in the coastal area. In the areas of valleys and savannahs, grasses predominate, accompanied by trees such as kapok, cedar and saman.

Politics and government
As a federal state, it is autonomous and equal in political terms to the other members of the Federation, it organizes its administration and public powers through the Constitution of Aragua State, which was adopted in 2002. The same establishes the division of powers into executive and legislative. This Constitution can only be reformed totally or partially by the legislative power of Aragua, and to be approved, they need the absolute majority of the state deputies.

Executive branch
It is composed of the governor of Aragua and a group of state secretaries who are appointed by him. The governor is elected by the people by direct and secret vote for a period of four years and with the possibility of immediate re-election for an equal period, being in charge of the state administration.

Since direct elections for Venezuela state governors in 1989, Aragua has been governed by the Movement for Socialism and PODEMOS (1989 - 2008). The current governor is Daniela González of the PSUV.

Like the other 23 federal entities of Venezuela, the State maintains its own police force, which is supported and complemented by the National Police and the Venezuelan National Guard.

Legislative power
The State Legislature is the responsibility of the Legislative Council of the unicameral Aragua State, elected by the people through direct and secret vote every four years, being able to be reelected for new consecutive periods, under a system of proportional representation of the population of the state and its municipalities, the State has 9 main deputies and their substitutes, of which 8 belong to the opposition and 1 to the officialism according to the elections held in December 2015. The governor is accountable for his actions to the legislative council and must report to it, which approves the regional budget.

Municipalities and municipal seats
Aragua comprises eighteen municipalities (municipios):
 * 1) Flag of Bolívar Municipality, Aragua.svgívar (San Mateo)
 * 2) Bandera Camatagua Aragua.PNGagua (Camatagua)
 * 3) Bandera Municipio Francisco Linares Alcántara.jpgisco Linares Alcántara (Santa Rita)
 * 4) Bandera de Maracay.svgdot (Maracay)
 * 5) Bandera Jose Angel Lamas.PNGé Angel Lamas (Santa Cruz)
 * 6) Bandera Jose Felix Ribas Aragua.PNGé Félix Ribas (La Victoria)
 * 7) Bandera José Rafael Revenga.PNGé Rafael Revenga (El Consejo)
 * 8) Bandera del municipio Libertador (Aragua).svgtador (Palo Negro)
 * 9) Bandera Mario Briceño Iragorri Aragua.PNG Briceño Iragorry (El Limón)
 * 10) Flag of Ocumare de la Costa de Oro municipality.webpre de la Costa de Oro (Ocumare de la Costa)
 * 11) Bandera de san casimiro.jpg Casimiro (San Casimiro)
 * 12) Bandera de San Sebastián de los Reyes (Aragua-Venezuela).png Sebastián (San Sebastián)
 * 13) Bandera Santiago Mariño Aragua.PNGago Mariño (Turmero)
 * 14) Bandera Santos Michelena Aragua.PNGs Michelena (Las Tejerías)
 * 15) Bandera del Municipio Sucre de el estado Aragua.svg (Cagua)
 * 16) Bandera de la Colonia Tovar.svg (Colonia Tovar)
 * 17) Bandera de Urdaneta (Aragua).svgeta (Barbacoas)
 * 18) Bandera de Villa de Cura.jpga (Villa de Cura)

Demographics
Aragua State, with 8.28% of the country's total population, is the sixth most populated state in Venezuela. The total population of the state was 2,093,224 inhabitants in 2015. The population is located on the coast and in the lower valleys. The valleys of Aragua are one of the most populated regions of Venezuela, due to the rapid process of industrialization of the city of Maracay and its important metropolitan area of more than 2.1 million inhabitants, of which a little more than 230,000 inhabitants, are part of its area of influence spread between the states of Carabobo and Guárico.

Race and ethnicity
According to the 2011 Census, the racial composition of the population was:

The population in the region is very diverse, due to the influence of immigration that existed from the 1950s until the present day. Most of its population is a product of the mixing between Spaniards and local natives or Spaniards and Africans. In the northern part of the state, where the highest population density and the largest urban area in the state are found, the majority of whites are present, especially in the municipalities: Tovar, Mario Briceño Iragorry and Girardot.

The Municipality of Tovar, in the north of the state, is populated almost entirely by white people of German descent, since this was the site of the Tovar Colony, a town founded by Germans who immigrated to Venezuela in the nineteenth century.

Transport
There are a total of 2,170.5 km of trunk, local, branch and sub-runner roads in the state, of which 47.7% are paved, the most important being the regional highway in the center (Trunk 1) that connects it with the states of Carabobo, Miranda and the Capital District; Trunk 2 that crosses the state from north to south and connects it with the state of Guárico, and the local ones 6 and 7 that go to the coast of Aragüa.

Handicrafts
In the state there are small towns like Colonia Tovar, Magdaleno, La Villa, Tocorón, Palo Negro, among others. Here you can enjoy a rich artisan heritage typical of their beliefs, lifestyle and wealth, but each town in the region is full of artists and cultured people who in their small workshops manage to enrich the streets and homes with their works and their Creole handcrafted candy, also has in the central area with one of the most representative groups of contemporary craftsmen of the urban feeling located in the corridors of the Museum of Anthropology and History of Maracay.

Traditional Events

 * Velorio de Cruz de Mayo.
 * La Llora.
 * Toro de colores
 * San Juan Bautista.
 * Los Pastores del Niño Jesús de El Limón and Chuao.
 * Los Diablos Danzantes de Cuyagua, Cata, Ocumare, Turiamo and Chuao.(In Venezuela there are 11 Brotherhoods of which 5 are from Aragua).
 * Burras Tradicionales.
 * Joropo Central.
 * Parranda Central
 * Gorilas de San Mateo.
 * Jokilis y Gorilas de la Colonia Tovar.

Museums
Mario Abreu Museum of Contemporary Art (MACMA): with an important collection of plastic arts from the 20th century.
 * Museo Aeronáutico de Maracay: Military and civil aeronautical technology museum created in 1963 in the spaces where the Aragua Air Base and the first Military Aviation School in the country used to operate.
 * Museum of Anthropology and History of Maracay: Museum of archaeological findings of the states of Aragua and Carabobo that were found as of 1889 during the government of General Guzmán Blanco, when the main towns and cities began to be built.
 * CADAFE Museum: this museum is located in the parish of Choroní, in the Girardot municipality.
 * Colonia Tovar History and Craftwork Museum: one of the most important and interesting attractions of Colonia Tovar is its museum. In it, its creator, the city's chronicler, Professor Néstor Rojas, has put a great deal of his life into showing visitors and residents a piece of the history of the Colony.
 * Museo Nacional de Suelos CENIAP: This museum is located in El Limón de Maracay. It has more than 600 soil micromonolites and 11 macromonolites from 20 states in Venezuela. A micromonolite is a small representation of a soil profile accompanied by information regarding the profile (horizons and characterization) and information regarding the collection site of the samples (climate, landscape, use, etc.).

Theatres

 * Teatro Ateneo de Maracay: the original name was the "Teatro Circo Maracay" the work was sent to build by General Juan Vicente Gomez to the meridian Epifanio Balza Davila, its architecture is based on the Art Deco style, but due to the bad temper of General Gomez this does not have a particular style.
 * Maracay Opera House: the work was entrusted to the architect Luis Malaussena, who together with Carlos Raúl Villanueva developed the monumental project full of sobriety within its spectacular nature where horizontal lines predominate while some free spaces compensate for the heaviness of this predominance.

Tourism
The state of Aragua is famous within Venezuela especially for the variety and beauty of its beaches, natural monuments, extensive green areas and for the Colonia Tovar, a territory colonized by the Germans.

Henri Pittier National Park
It is the oldest park in the country, since it is the first national park decreed in Venezuela, originally created in 1937 with the name of Rancho Grande and renamed in 1953 with the name of that Swiss geographer, botanist and ethnologist, who arrived in Venezuela in 1917 and classified more than 30 thousand plants in the country. The park has an irregular and abrupt topography. Its geological constitution is basically of metamorphic igneous rock. Likewise, there are rocky coastal environments. Its altitude ranges from sea level to 2430 m at Cenizo peak. Orchids, ferns and climbing vines abound.

Pico Codazzi Natural Monument
It is one of the highest peaks of the Coastal Range and is characterized by rainforest vegetation on its slopes. It takes its name from the Italian naturalist-cartographer and geographer Agustín Codazzi who arrived in Venezuela in 1827. It was he who promoted the mobilization of German farmers to that area, giving rise to the Colonia Tovar.

Natural heritage

 * Onoto Hot Springs
 * Villa de Cura Hot Springs.
 * Bay of Cata.
 * Bay of Turiamo
 * Choroní.
 * Ocumare.
 * Ensenada de Café.
 * Chuao.
 * Cuyagua.
 * Ensenada Juan Andrés.
 * Ensenada Puerto Maya.
 * Lake of Valencia.
 * Tasajera Mountains.
 * Manantial La Peñita and El Banco.
 * Codazzi Peak.
 * Aroa.

Built heritage

 * Sindoni Tower.
 * Ateneo de Maracay Theatre.
 * House of Culture of Maracay.
 * Culture House of La Victoria.
 * Casona de Santa Rita.
 * Colonia Tovar.
 * Institute of Anthropology and History of the State of Aragua
 * Aeronautical Museum.
 * Archaeology Museum.
 * Museum of Fine Arts.
 * History Museum.
 * Military History Museum.
 * Casa del Ingenio San Mateo
 * Ornithological Museum.
 * Maracay Opera House.
 * Zoo of Maracay.
 * El Limón Tower

Sports
The Tigres de Aragua, a team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, represents the state and plays in Maracay. Aragua F.C. Is A Soccer Club In Maracay
 * Soccerball shade.svg Aragua Fútbol Club
 * Basketball Clipart.svg Toros de Aragua
 * Volley-ball andrea bianc 01.svg Aragua Voleibol Club
 * Baseball.svg Tigres de Aragua
 * Ru ball marron.svg Proyecto Alcatraz Rugby Club

Regional Television

 * TVS
 * TeleAragua
 * TVR
 * ICT TV
 * NOVA TV
 * Aragua TV

Newspapers
The main newspapers are:

 * El Aragüeño.
 * El Siglo.
 * El Periodiquito.
 * El Clarín de La Victoria.
 * Ciudad MCY.

Radio

 * Aragueña 99.5 FM
 * Rutas 90.7 FM

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Aragua


text:
Urukagina

Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( URU-KA -gi.na; c. 24th century BC, middle chronology) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, Lugalanda.

He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a legal code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found. In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libations for the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so.

He also participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with Uruk. In the seventh year of his reign, Uruk fell under the leadership of Lugal-Zage-Si, énsi of Umma, who ultimately annexed most of the territory of Lagash and established the first reliably documented kingdom to encompass all of Sumer. The destruction of Lagash was described in a lament (possibly the earliest recorded example of what would become a prolific Sumerian literary genre), which stressed that "the men of Umma ... committed a sin against Ningirsu. ... Offence there was none in Urukagina, king of Girsu, but as for Lugal-Zage-Si, governor of Umma, may his goddess Nisaba make him carry his sin upon his neck". Lugal-Zage-Si himself was soon defeated and his kingdom was annexed by Sargon of Akkad.

Reforms
Urukagina's code has been widely hailed as the first recorded example of government reform, seeking to achieve a higher level of freedom and equality. It limited the power of the priesthood and large property owners, and took measures against usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure (of people's property and persons); as he states, "The widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man". Here, the word "freedom" ("ama-gi"), appears for the first time in recorded history.

Despite these apparent attempts to curb the excesses of the elite class, it seems elite or royal women enjoyed even greater influence and prestige in his reign than previously. Urukagina greatly expanded the royal "Household of Women" from about 50 persons to about 1500 persons, renamed it the "Household of goddess Bau", gave it ownership of vast amounts of land confiscated from the former priesthood, and placed it under the supervision of his wife, Shasha (or Shagshag). In his second year of reign, Shasha presided over the lavish funeral of his predecessor's queen, Baranamtarra, who had been an important personage in her own right.

In addition to such changes, two of his other surviving decrees, first published and translated by Samuel Kramer in 1964, have attracted controversy in recent decades. First, he seems to have abolished the former custom of polyandry in his country, on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with rocks upon which her crime is written. Second is a statute stating that "if a woman says [text illegible...] to a man, her mouth is crushed with burnt bricks." No comparable laws from Urukagina addressing penalties for adultery by men have survived. The discovery of these fragments has led some modern critics to assert that they provide "the first written evidence of the degradation of women".

Excerpt of some regulations from the Reform document

 * From the border territory of Ningirsu to the sea, no person shall serve as officers.
 * For a corpse being brought to the grave, his beer shall be 3 jugs and his bread 80 loaves. One bed and one lead goat shall the undertaker take away, and 3 ban [about 18 liters] of barley shall the person(s) take away.
 * When to the reeds of Enki a person has been brought, his beer will be 4 jugs, and his bread 420 loaves. One barig [about 36 liters] of barley shall the undertaker take away, and 3 ban [about 18 L] of barley shall the persons of ... take away. One woman's headband, and one sila [about 1 L] of princely fragrance shall the eresh-dingir priestess take away. 420 loaves of bread that have sat are the bread duty, 40 loaves of hot bread are for eating, and 10 loaves of hot bread are the bread of the table. 5 loaves of bread are for the persons of the levy, 2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Girsu. 490 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Lagash. 406 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels, and 1 sadug vessel of beer are for the other lamentation singers. 250 loaves of bread and one mud vessel of beer are for the old wailing women. 180 loaves of bread and 1 mud vessel of beer are for the men of Nigin.
 * The blind one who stands in ..., his bread for eating is one loaf, 5 loaves of bread are his at midnight, one loaf is his bread at midday, and 6 loaves are his bread in the evening.
 * 60 loaves of bread, 1 mud vessel of beer, and 3 ban of barley are for the person who is to perform as the sagbur priest, king, or god.

Praise poem of Urukagina
Some insight into Sumerian values can be gained from praise poems written for kings. While the kings may not always live up to this praise they show the type of achievements that they wished to be remembered by. Extracts below praise Urukagina who appears as a social reformer, getting rid of gross abuses of power that had taken hold in Lagash.

 * 1) Since time immemorial, since life began, in those days, the head boatman appropriated boats, the livestock official appropriated asses, the livestock official appropriated sheep, and the fisheries inspector appropriated.... The shepherds of wool sheep paid a duty in silver on account of white sheep, and the surveyor, chief lamentation-singer, supervisor, brewer and foremen paid a duty in silver on account of young lambs. . . These were the conventions of former times!
 * 2) When Ningirsu, warrior of Enlil, granted the kingship of Lagash to Urukagina, selecting him from among the myriad people, he replaced the customs of former times, carrying out the command that Ningirsu, his master, had given him.
 * 3) He removed the head boatman from control over the boats, he removed the livestock official from control over asses and sheep, he removed the fisheries inspector from control....
 * 4) He removed the silo supervisor from control over the grain taxes of the guda-priests, he removed the bureaucrat responsible for the paying of duties in silver on account of white sheep and young lambs, and he removed the bureaucrat responsible for the delivery of duties by the temple administrators to the palace.
 * 5) The... administrators no longer plunder the orchards of the poor. When a high quality ass is born to a shublugal, and his foreman says to him, "I want to buy it from you"; whether he lets him buy it from him and says to him "Pay me the price I want!," or whether he does not let him buy it from him, the foreman must not strike at him in anger.
 * 6) When the house of an aristocrat adjoins the house of a shublugal, and the aristocrat says to him, "I want to buy it from you"; whether he lets him buy it from him, having said to him, "Pay me the price I want! My house is a large container—fill it with barley for me!," or whether he does not let him buy it from him, that aristocrat must not strike at him in anger.
 * 7) He cleared and cancelled obligations for those indentured families, citizens of Lagash living as debtors because of grain taxes, barley payments, theft or murder.
 * 8) Urukagina solemnly promised Ningirsu that he would never subjugate the waif and the widow to the powerful.

Lament about the fall of Lagash to Umma
Urukagina participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with Uruk. In the seventh year of his reign, Uruk fell under the leadership of Lugal-Zage-Si, énsi of Umma, who ultimately annexed most of the territory of Lagash and established the first reliably documented kingdom to encompass all of Sumer. The destruction of Lagash was described in a lament (possibly the earliest recorded example of what would become a prolific Sumerian literary genre), which stressed that:

""the man of Umma (Lugalzagesi) ... committed a sin against Ningirsu. ... Offence there was none in Urukagina, king of Girsu, but as for Lugal-Zage-Si, governor of Umma, may his goddess Nisaba make him carry his sin upon his neck" (alternatively – "may she carry his sin upon her neck")."

Lugal-Zage-Si himself was soon defeated and his kingdom was annexed by Sargon of Akkad.

title: Urukagina


text:
Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not the first artist to record the sites, but he was the foremost painter of them for the remainder of the 19th century.

Bierstadt was born in Prussia, but his family moved to the United States when he was one year old. He returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the second generation of the Hudson River School in New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along the Hudson River. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. Bierstadt was an important interpreter of the western landscape, and he is also grouped with the Rocky Mountain School.

Early life and education
Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Rhine Province, Prussia, on January 7, 1830. He was the son of Christina M. (Tillmans) and Henry Bierstadt, a cooper. His older brothers were prominent stereo view photographers Edward Bierstadt and Charles Bierstadt. Albert was just a year old when his family immigrated to New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1831. He made clever crayon sketches in his youth and developed a taste for art.

In 1851, Bierstadt began to paint in oils. He returned to Germany in 1853 and studied painting for several years in Düsseldorf with members of its informal school of painting. After returning to New Bedford in 1857, he taught drawing and painting briefly before devoting himself full-time to painting.

Career
In 1858, Bierstadt exhibited a large painting of a Swiss landscape at the National Academy of Design, which gained him positive critical reception and honorary membership in the Academy. Bierstadt began painting scenes in New England and upstate New York, including in the Hudson River Valley. He was part of a group of artists known as the Hudson River School.

In 1859, Bierstadt traveled westward in the company of Frederick W. Lander, a land surveyor for the U.S. government, to see those western American landscapes for his work. He returned to a studio he had taken at the Tenth Street Studio Building in New York with sketches for numerous paintings he then finished. In 1860, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Design; he received medals in Austria, Bavaria, Belgium, and Germany.

In 1863, Bierstadt traveled west again, this time in the company of the author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, whose wife he later married. The pair spent seven weeks in the Yosemite Valley. Throughout the 1860s, Bierstadt used studies from this trip as the source for large-scale paintings for exhibition and he continued to visit the American West throughout his career. The immense canvases he produced after his trips with Lander and Ludlow established him as the preeminent painter of the western American landscape. Bierstadt's technical proficiency, earned through his study of European landscape, was crucial to his success as a painter of the American West and accounted for his popularity in disseminating views of the Rocky Mountains to those who had not seen them.

During the American Civil War (1861 to 1865), Bierstadt was drafted in 1863 and paid for a substitute to serve in his place. By 1862, he had completed one Civil War painting Guerrilla Warfare, Civil War based on his brief experiences with soldiers stationed at Camp Cameron in 1861. That painting was based on a stereoscopic photograph taken by his brother Edward Bierstadt, who operated a photography studio at Langley's Tavern in Virginia. The painting received a positive review when it was exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Association at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 1861. Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey observed that the painting, created from photographs, "is quintessentially that of a voyeur, privy to the stories and unblemished by the violence and brutality of first-hand combat experience."

Financial recognition confirmed his status: The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, completed in 1863, was purchased for $25,000 in 1865, the equivalent of almost $400,000 in 2020.

In 1867, Bierstadt returned to Europe, arriving in London where he exhibited two landscape paintings in a private reception with Queen Victoria. He then travelled through Europe for the next two years, painting new works while also cultivating social and business contacts to sustain the market for his art on the continent. For example, he painted Among the Sierra Nevada, California in his Rome studio, displaying it in Berlin and London before having it shipped to the U.S. His exhibition pieces both impressed European audiences and furthered the idea of the American West as a land of promise during a period when European emigration to the U.S. was increasing. Bierstadt's choice of grandiose subjects was matched by his entrepreneurial flair. His exhibitions of individual works were accompanied by promotion, ticket sales, and, in the words of one critic, a "vast machinery of advertisement and puffery."

Bierstadt's popularity in the U.S. remained strong during his European tour. The publicity generated by his Yosemite Valley paintings in 1868 led a number of explorers to request his presence as part of their westward expeditions. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad also commissioned him to visit and paint the Grand Canyon and surrounding region.

Despite his popular success, Bierstadt was criticized by some contemporaries for the romanticism evident in his choice of subjects and for his use of light, which they found excessive. Some critics objected to Bierstadt's paintings of Native Americans based on their belief that including Indigenous Americans "marred" the "impression of solitary grandeur."

His wife, Rosalie, was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1876, and Bierstadt spent increasing amounts of time with her in the warmer climate of Nassau in the Bahamas until her death in 1893. He also maintained travel between the western United States, Canada, and his studio in New York.

Though his painting career continued later into his life, Bierstadt's work fell increasingly out of critical favor and was increasingly attacked for its theatrical tone. In 1882, a fire destroyed Bierstadt's studio at Irvington, New York, and, with it, many of his paintings. Bierstadt was a prolific artist, having completed over 500 paintings during his lifetime. Yet by the time of his death on February 18, 1902, the taste for epic landscape painting had long since subsided. Bierstadt was buried at the Rural Cemetery in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and remained largely forgotten for nearly 60 years.

Posthumous reception
Interest in Bierstadt's work was renewed in the 1960s with the exhibition of his small oil studies. Modern opinions of Bierstadt have been divided. Some critics have regarded his work as gaudy, oversized, extravagant champions of Manifest Destiny. Others have noted that his landscapes helped create support for the conservation movement and the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. His work has been placed in a favorable context, as stated in 1987:

"The temptation (to criticize him) should be steadfastly resisted. Bierstadt's theatrical art, fervent sociability, international outlook, and unquenchable personal energy reflected the epic expansion in every facet of western civilization during the second half of the nineteenth century."

On the other hand, his work has also been criticized as largely an imaginary depiction of nature, and even "soulless" in its execution.

Existing work

 * 1853 – Majesty of the Mountains
 * 1855 – The Old Mill
 * 1855 – The Portico of Octavia
 * 1855 – Westphalia
 * 1858 – Lake Lucerne, c. 1853, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 * 1859 – The Wolf River, Kansas, c. 1859, oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
 * 1861 – Echo Lake, Franconia Mountains, NH, Smith College Museum of Art, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts
 * 1863 – The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York
 * 1864 – Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall, oil on canvas, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, California
 * 1864 – Valley of the Yosemite, oil on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
 * 1865 – Looking Down Yosemite Valley, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
 * 1866 – Yosemite Valley, Oil on canvas on panel-back stretcher, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
 * 1866 – On the Hudson River Near Irvington, 1866–70, oil on paper, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
 * 1866 – A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie, oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York
 * 1868 – Connecticut River Valley, Claremont, New Hampshire, 1868, oil on canvas, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
 * 1868 – In the Sierras, Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
 * 1868 – Among the Sierra Nevada, California, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
 * 1869 – Glen Ellis Falls, oil on canvas, Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey
 * 1870 – Sierra Nevada Morning, oil on canvas, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
 * 1870 – Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast, oil on canvas, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
 * 1870 – Laramie Peak, oil on canvas, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York
 * 1871 – Domes of Yosemite, c. 1871, St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
 * 1874 – Giant Redwood Trees of California, c. 1874, oil on canvas, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
 * 1875 – Mount Adams, Washington, 1875, oil on canvas, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 1876 – Mount Corcoran, c. 1876–77, oil on canvas, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 * 1888 – The Last of the Buffalo, oil on canvas, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 * 1889 – Alaskan Coast Range, c. 1889, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
 * 1891 – The Last of the Buffalo, c. 1891, vintage photogravure, Valley Fine Art Gallery, Aspen, Colorado
 * 1895 – The Morteratsch Glacier Upper Engadine Valley – Pontresina

Legacy and honors

 * Because of Bierstadt's interest in mountain landscapes, Mount Bierstadt and Bierstadt Lake in Colorado are named in his honor. Bierstadt was probably the first European to visit the summit of Mount Blue Sky in 1863, 1.5 miles from Mount Bierstadt.  Bierstadt named it Mount Rosa, a reference to both Monte Rosa above Zermatt and, Rosalie Ludlow, his future wife, but the name was changed from Rosalie to Evans in 1895 in honor of Colorado governor John Evans, and again in 2023 to Blue Sky.
 * In 1998, the United States Postal Service issued a set of 20 commemorative stamps entitled "Four Centuries of American Art", one of which featured Albert Bierstadt's The Last of the Buffalo. In 2008, the USPS issued a commemorative stamp in its "American Treasures" series featuring Bierstadt's 1864 painting Valley of the Yosemite.
 * William Bliss Baker, another landscape artist, studied under Bierstadt.

title: Albert Bierstadt


text:
Pierre Auguste Cot

Pierre Auguste Cot (17 February 1837 – 2 August 1883) was a French painter of the Academic Classicism school.

Life and career
Cot was born in Bédarieux, Hérault, and initially studied at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse before going to Paris. He studied under Leon Cogniet, Alexandre Cabanel and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. In 1863 he made a successful debut at the Salon, and from the 1870s, his popularity grew quickly.

Cot enjoyed the patronage of the academic sculptor Francisque Duret, whose daughter he married, and of Bouguereau, with whom he had also worked. Bouguereau painted a portrait of Cot's daughter, Gabrielle. Bouguereau had dined with the Cot family to celebrate Gabrielle's marriage to an architect named Zilin. The artist made a gift of the painting to the wife of Duret, Gabrielle's grandmother.

Cot won various prizes and medals, and in 1874 was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

He died in Paris at the age of 46. He is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Works

He created several works of lasting popularity, including  Springtime, featuring two young lovers sitting upon a swing, and The Storm. Both these paintings are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; The Storm belongs to the museum while Le Printemps is owned privately.

Cot also was renowned for his portraits, which made up the majority of his work. The more enduring figurative work, such as The Storm, is comparatively rare. Shortly after his death at the age of forty-six (2 August 1883), a subscription was undertaken for a commemorative monument to the artist, which was erected at Bédarieux in 1892.

Selected works

 * Dionysia (1870), Chi-Mei Museum, Taiwan
 * Ophelia (1870)
 * The Gypsy or La Bohémienne (1871)
 * Springtime or Le Printemps (1873), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
 * The Storm or L'Orage (1880), Metropolitan Museum of Art
 * The Reading Light or La Liseuse (about 1880)
 * Portrait of Madame Mas (1882)
 * Mireille (1882), Musée Fabre, Montpellier
 * Charity for My Sister, Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Students

 * Ellen Day Hale (1855–1940)
 * Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (1856–1942)

title: Pierre Auguste Cot


text:
Nadine Blacklock

Nadine Blacklock (1953–1998) was a nature photographer best known for her detailed nature photography of the Lake Superior area. She was married to Craig Blacklock, a well-known photographer in his own right. She died in a car accident on Highway 61 near Two Harbors, Minnesota.

The Blacklock Nature Sanctuary was founded in 1994 by Nadine Blacklock, along with her husband Craig Blacklock, as well as Les and Fran Blacklock. The Sanctuary is dedicated to preserving undeveloped land in Minnesota and providing artists and naturalists with working space. One site, in Moose Lake, Minnesota is situated on over 550 acre of land with a Sanctuary residence. The residence is a fully furnished two-bedroom house with workstation and photo darkroom, plus there are two additional studio spaces. The second site with a one-room cabin is next to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park on Lake Superior.

The Blacklock Nature Sanctuary has an annual Artist Fellowship Program through a grant from the Jerome Hill Foundation to support Minnesota artists.

title: Nadine Blacklock


text:
Craig Blacklock

Craig Blacklock (born 1954) is a nature photographer best known for his book The Lake Superior Images. His father, Les, and late first wife, Nadine, were also successful nature photographers. Blacklock has published eighteen books of photos, including several co-authored with Nadine, one of which, 1995's The Duluth Portfolio, won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. He produced A Voice Within: The Lake Superior Nudes, with his current wife, Honey, as the model, which won an IPPY award as the best photography book from over 1300 independent publishers.

Blacklock primarily used 4x5 film cameras during his early career, and is now fully digital. Blacklock currently lives in Moose Lake, Minnesota, where he runs Blacklock Photography Galleries. His newest book, which also is accompanied with a video, is ST. CROIX & NAMEKAGON RIVERS — The Enduring Gift, with an introduction by the late Vice President, Walter F. Mondale. This book won two gold IPPYs among its seven book awards. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing.

title: Craig Blacklock


text:
Kanon (video game)

Kanon is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 4, 1999, for Windows as an adult game. Key later released versions of Kanon without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Switch. The story follows the life of Yuichi Aizawa, a high school student who returns to a city he last visited seven years prior, and he has little recollection of the events from back then. He meets several girls and slowly regains his lost memories. The gameplay in Kanon follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters by the player character. The game once ranked as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms.

Following the game's release, Kanon made several transitions into other media. Two manga series were serialized in Dengeki Daioh and Dragon Age Pure. Comic anthologies, light novels and art books were also published, as were audio dramas and several music albums. Toei Animation produced a 13-episode anime television series in 2002 and an original video animation (OVA) episode in 2003. Kyoto Animation produced a 24-episode anime series in 2006. The 2006 anime was licensed and dubbed in English by ADV Films in 2008, but the license was given to Funimation after ADV's closure. The 2006 anime plays on the association between Kanon and the musical term canon by using Pachelbel's Kanon D-dur, or Canon in D major, as a background piece at certain instances throughout the series.

Gameplay
Kanon is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Yuichi Aizawa. Much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. Kanon follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.

There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. After Mai's scenario is completed, a replay of her route will offer an additional choice to play through Sayuri's back-story. Jun Maeda, who worked on the scenario for Kanon, commented in March 2001 that the Japanese public may have fallen under the impression that Key makes soothing games because of Kanon's influence, but Maeda affirmed that there was not one person who worked on Kanon who thought that.

In the adult versions of the game, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Yuichi and a given heroine having sex. Later, Key released versions of Kanon without the erotic content. The versions that include the adult content have one explicit sex scene in each of the five main story routes, in addition to one fantasy scene. Outside of these, there are two scenes with nudity. Yūichi Suzumoto, a scenario writer who worked on later Key titles, commented that the sex scenes in Kanon are very self-contained, and can be easily removed without altering the story. Maeda remarked that the sex scenes were not written with reproduction in mind.

Setting and themes
There are several important locations featured in the Kanon story, though the location names are seldom mentioned explicitly in Key's works. The events of the story occur during winter, and since it often snows periodically over the course of the entire story, the city is always presented covered in a layer of snow. The shopping district is featured throughout the story when the characters go into town, and especially whenever Ayu appears in the early story. The high school where Yuichi and the other main characters attend, including the school grounds, is shown predominantly in Shiori's and Mai's stories, and is otherwise a general setting where Yuichi interacts with other characters.

There are recurring themes that appear throughout the story. A music theme is present, as the episode titles from the 2006–2007 anime have parts in their titles related to music, such as overture and introit. Miracles play a large part in the story; Kanon's plot line and characters are influenced by various instances where miracles occur. The act of promising and keeping promises is found throughout the story. Yuichi eventually makes important promises to the five main girls while at the same time fulfilling past promises he had made with four of them when he used to visit the city as a kid.

One of the motifs in the story is amnesia, or memory loss; three of the main characters—Yuichi, Ayu and Makoto—suffer from amnesia in varying degrees; this is used as a plot device to advance the story. Another motif deals with the favorite foods of the five main heroines. Newtype USA stated in an article on Kanon that "it's when the characters are eating something really tasty that they seem most beautiful and alive", despite the somber setting and overall tone of the series. These five foods of choice are: taiyaki (Ayu), strawberries (Nayuki), nikuman (Makoto), ice cream (Shiori), and gyudon (Mai).

Main characters
The player assumes the role of Yuichi Aizawa, the protagonist of Kanon. He is a cynical 17-year-old high school student, and is known to play jokes on the girls his age he knows and interacts with throughout the story. Despite this, Yuichi is very loyal and will go to great lengths to please others, even at the expense of his own time and money. He generally has a selfless personality and does not ask much from others in return for what he does for them. Ayu Tsukimiya, the main heroine of Kanon, is a short, strange, and mysterious girl immediately recognizable by her winged backpack, red hair band, and tendency to refer to herself with the masculine first-person pronoun boku (僕). She has a fondness for eating taiyaki, and is notorious for her catchphrase, "ugū" (うぐぅ), which she mutters as an expression of various negative emotions such as frustration, pain, and fear. Yuichi's first cousin Nayuki Minase, another of Kanon's heroines, has been in love with him since childhood, and must learn how to deal with her feelings, especially with the threat that he may fall in love with one of the other girls. Nayuki talks noticeably slower than those around her, and has constant trouble waking up in the morning except on a few occasions when she is up before Yuichi, much to his surprise.

Yuichi is accosted a few days after arriving in the city by Kanon's third heroine Makoto Sawatari, a young girl who has lost her memories, but despite this she is sure that she holds a grudge against Yuichi from when he last visited the city. Makoto has a mischievous side and constantly plays pranks on Yuichi. She has an affinity towards the spring and once wished that it would stay spring forever. Yuichi coincidentally runs into Shiori Misaka, another heroine and first-year high school student suffering from an unexplained illness since birth. Her affliction has caused her to become very physically weak, and she is almost always absent from school because of it. She tries to be strong in the face of her condition, and gets along well with others, even though she does not know very many people her age due to her condition. The fifth and final heroine in Kanon is Mai Kawasumi, a third-year student of the same high school that Yuichi attends. She has a cold attitude towards almost everyone, but despite this, she is actually a very kind and caring person; she "punishes" someone who makes a playful joke about her by giving them a light karate chop to the head.

Story
Kanon's story revolves around a group of five girls whose lives are connected to the same boy. Yuichi Aizawa is a second-year high school student who had visited the city where the story takes place seven years prior to Kanon's beginning. The story opens on Wednesday January 6, 1999 when Yuichi arrives in the city and is very detached from it and its inhabitants. Prior to his return, it is decided that he is to stay with his first cousin, Nayuki Minase, and her mother, Akiko. After his long absence, Yuichi has forgotten almost everything except minor details of what happened seven years before and is in need of being reminded of what he left behind. Nayuki initially tries repeatedly to jog his memory, but is unsuccessful. Throughout the story, as he learns about the supernatural undertones of the city, Yuichi is reminded of the events of seven years ago.

On the day after Yuichi's return, he is out with Nayuki who is showing him around the city. Nayuki remembers that she has to buy things for dinner, but Yuichi is reluctant to go into the store with her. Moments after Nayuki leaves him waiting on the sidewalk, a strange girl named Ayu Tsukimiya collides with him with little warning. Upon recovering, she drags him away to a nearby café and confesses to inadvertently stealing a bag filled with taiyaki after being accidentally scared away by the salesman before she had a chance to pay. They decide to meet up again another day and Ayu scampers off. A few days after he has been in the city, Yuichi is accosted by a girl named Makoto Sawatari who has lost her memories, though still remembers that she has a grudge against him from when he last visited the city. After she collapses in the street, he takes her home and learns about her situation. Akiko gives her permission to live with them for the time being, which is against Yuichi's plan to hand her over to the police.

Another girl who is connected to Yuichi's past is Mai Kawasumi who attends his high school as a third-year. She takes it upon herself to fight and defeat demons at night while the school is deserted. Due to this, she is constantly blamed for accidents because she never denies them, being too sincere to say anything and knowing that no one will believe that there are demons in the school. Yuichi coincidentally meets a fifth girl named Shiori Misaka who he gets to know along with the other four heroines in the story. She has suffered from an unexplained affliction since birth which makes her weak to the point of missing school because of it. Yuichi starts to talk with her more after noticing her in the school courtyard one day. It turns out that Shiori stands outside on the school grounds nearly every day because she wants to meet someone dear to her.

Development
Most of Kanon's development staff originally worked for the visual novel publisher Nexton under the brand Tactics. After the release of the brand's third game One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, most of Tactics' staff left Nexton to pursue work in another publishing company where they could have the freedom to produce their next game. Itaru Hinoue, who had previously worked at Visual Arts once before, introduced Key's founding members to the president of Visual Arts, Takahiro Baba. Baba gave the developers the freedom they desired, and they officially transferred to Visual Arts where they formed Key on July 21, 1998, and started production on Kanon. The planning for the visual novel was headed by Naoki Hisaya who was also one of two scenario writers with Jun Maeda. Hisaya wrote the scenarios for Ayu, Nayuki and Shiori, while Maeda wrote the routes for Makoto and Mai. Art direction was headed by Key's artist Itaru Hinoue who worked on the character design and computer graphics. Further computer graphics were split between three people—Dinn, Miracle Mikipon, Shinory—and background art was provided by Torino. The music in the game was composed by OdiakeS, Shinji Orito and Jun Maeda. Kanon was the first and last visual novel developed by Key that two of the main staff—Naoki Hisaya, and OdiakeS—worked on before pursuing a similar line of work in other visual novel studios.

Release history
Kanon was released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, in limited and regular editions, playable on a Windows PC as a CD-ROM. The limited edition came bundled with the remix album Anemoscope remixing background music tracks featured in the visual novel. Key released an all ages version on January 7, 2000, for Windows. An updated adult version called the Kanon Standard Edition was released on November 26, 2004, with added support for Windows 2000/XP as a DVD-ROM. The Standard Edition incorporates the extra graphics added to the earlier all ages version of the game, and other technical changes such as more save slots. An all ages version of the Standard Edition was released on January 28, 2005. An updated all ages version of Kanon compatible for Windows Vista PCs was released by Key on July 31, 2009, in a box set containing five other Key visual novels called Key 10th Memorial Box. Another all ages updated version compatible for Windows 7 PCs called Kanon Memorial Edition was released on April 30, 2010.

The first consumer console port of the game was released for the Dreamcast on September 14, 2000, by NEC Interchannel. A PlayStation 2 (PS2) version was released on February 28, 2002, also by NEC Interechannel. The PS2 version was re-released as a "Best" version on December 22, 2004. The PS2 version was bundled in a "Key 3-Part Work Premium Box" package together with the PS2 versions of Air and Clannad released on July 30, 2009. An adult version playable as a Blu-ray Disc was released on December 16, 2011, by Asoberu! BD-Game, a brand of Visual Arts.

Prototype through VisualArt's Motto released a version playable on SoftBank 3G mobile phones on October 27, 2006, and another version playable on FOMA mobile phones in December 2006. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) version of the game was released in Japan on February 15, 2007, by Prototype. The first release of the PSP version came with a special DVD featuring a message from five of the voice actors and a recompiled opening video from the video game version. The five voice actors on the DVD included: Mariko Kōda as Nayuki Minase, Akemi Satō as Shiori Misaka, Mayumi Iizuka as Makoto Sawatari, Yūko Minaguchi as Akiko Minase, and Tomokazu Sugita as Yuichi Aizawa. Yui Horie as Ayu Tsukimiya voiced the short introduction of the DVD, but was not featured in the contents of the DVD itself. A downloadable version of the PSP release via the PlayStation Store was released by Prototype on November 9, 2009. A version playable on Android devices was released on November 30, 2011. An adult version for Android devices was released in January 2013. A version playable on iOS devices was released on April 4, 2013. In the original release, there was no voice acting for the characters, but in the later versions produced for the Dreamcast and PS2, full voice acting was included. The only exception was Yuichi, who was not voiced in either version. However, the PSP release features voice acting for Yuichi, provided by Tomokazu Sugita. Prototype released a Nintendo Switch version in Japan on April 20, 2023.

Visual Arts and Prototype have announced a Windows release for Kanon distributed via Steam with English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese language support.

Light novels
Five adult light novels written by Mariko Shimizu and published by Paradigm were released in Japan between October 1999 and August 2000. The cover art and internal illustrations were drawn by Itaru Hinoue, the artist who drew the artwork in the visual novel. The basis for each novel was one of each of the five heroines and had titles that were taken from the musical themes pertaining to each character in the original game. The first two released were Yuki no Shōjo (雪の少女) and Egao no Mukougawa ni (笑顔の向こう側に) in December 1999. The third was Shōjo no Ori (少女の檻) released in April 2000 and the fourth novel was titled The Fox and the Grapes (Makoto), released two months later. The final novel titled Hidamari no Machi (日溜りの街) was released in August 2000. Paradigm re-released the five novels in conjunction with Visual Arts under their VA Bunko imprint, which removed the erotic scenes, starting with Yuki no Shōjo on June 27, 2009, and ending with Hidamari no Machi on December 26, 2009. To make up for the missing erotic content, Shimizu wrote additional content for each volume. A sixth novel titled Kanojotachi no Kenkai (彼女たちの見解) for the supporting character Sayuri Kurata written by Shimizu and illustrated by Zen was released on March 31, 2011.

Trading card game
Following the release of the original visual novel, Key collaborated with TI Tokyo to release the Kanon Trading Card Game. The game was showcased through Comiket, with the original beta cards and promotional materials appearing in winter 1999. This release would also be expanded to include the Air Trading Card Game, based on Key's followup visual novel, Air, alongside several expansions to the core game.

Drama CDs and radio shows
A set of five drama CDs were released between September 29, 2000, and April 27, 2001, with each volume focusing on a different heroine. A set of five anthology drama CDs were released between December 22, 2001, and May 25, 2002, with each volume again focusing on a different heroine. A radio show to promote the Dreamcast port of Kanon titled Kanon: The Snow Talk Memories Yuki Furu Machi no Monogatari (Kanon -The snow talks memories- 雪降る街の物語) broadcast 13 episodes between October 6 and December 29, 2000. The show, produced by Movic, was hosted by Yukari Tamura and Tomoko Kawakami, the voices Mai Kawasumi and Sayuri Kurata, respectively. A radio drama titled Minase-sanchi (水瀬さんち) broadcast 53 episodes between October 6, 2001, and October 5, 2002. The show, which was broadcast on TBS Radio and Radio Kansai, was hosted by Yūko Minaguchi, the voice of Akiko Minase, and narrated by Atsushi Kisaichi. The voice actors from Kanon were also featured as guests. Five CD compilation volumes containing all of the show's broadcasts were released between August 30, 2002, and April 26, 2003.

Manga
The first Kanon manga illustrated by Petit Morishima was serialized in MediaWorks' manga magazine Dengeki Daioh between the February 2000 and July 2002 issues. The individual chapters were later collected into two separate tankōbon volumes published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Comics imprint released in September 2000 and on July 27, 2002. There are six chapters in total, three in each volume. Aside from the prologue in volume one and the epilogue in volume two, the other four chapters concern four of the main heroines. From chapters one through four, the main heroines presented are: Shiori Misaka, Makoto Sawatari, Mai Kawasumi and Ayu Tsukimiya. To make up for Nayuki not getting a chapter of her own, the story is altered in that Nayuki is in most of the scenes Yuichi is in. The first manga is different from the visual novel in that Shiori's, Makoto's, and Mai's stories are not told in their entirety. Near the end of each of these girls' stories were originally intended to give the viewer the remaining answers, but the manga version ends these girls' stories prematurely. This was due to the manga putting more focus on Ayu's story.

The second manga illustrated by Kinusa Shimotsuki, under the main title Kanon: Honto no Omoi wa Egao no Mukōgawa ni (Kanon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に) with the subtitle each regret of Kanon, was serialized between volumes two and seven of Fujimi Shobo's Dragon Age Pure magazine sold between June 29, 2006, and October 20, 2007, respectively. The first volume was released in Japan on April 1, 2007, and focused on Nayuki's story. The second volume was released on December 8, 2007, and focused on the other four heroines. There are nine chapters in total, five in volume one and four in volume two.

There have also been many releases of manga anthologies produced by different companies and drawn by a multitude of different artists. The first volume of the earliest anthology series, released by Ichijinsha under the title Kanon Comic Anthology, was released in November 2000 under their DNA Media Comics label. Volumes for this series continued to be released for another two years, ending in December 2002 with the 14th volume; an additional 15th volume was released later in February 2007. Ichijinsha also released two more volumes of anthology collections of four-panel comic strips titled Kanon 4-koma Kings in April and June 2001. Softgarage released an anthology in a single volume in December 2002 titled Kanon Anthology Comic. In April 2004, Ohzora released an anthology composed of works based on both Kanon and Air titled Haru Urara: Kanon & Air.

Between June and August 2004, Ohzora also released five separate volumes of manga based on Kanon drawn by five separate artists. Ohzora later collected some of the previously published manga anthologies into two volumes titled Kanon Anthology Comics Best Selection released in December 2006 and January 2007. Additionally, Ohzora released another 13 volumes of an anthology series titled Kanon under their Twin Heart Comics label. The now-bankrupt publisher Raporto also released 21 manga anthology volumes titled Kanon under their Raporto Comics label between November 2000 and October 2002. The last manga anthology, a collection of four-panel comic strips released in a single volume by Enterbrain titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Kanon, was released in January 2007 under their MC Comics label. Each of the anthology series are written and drawn by an average of 20 people per volume.

Anime
The first Kanon anime was produced by the Japanese animation studio Toei Animation and directed by Naoyuki Itō. Thirteen episodes were produced and aired in Japan on Fuji TV between January 31 and March 28, 2002. The series also later aired on Kansai TV. Later, a single original video animation (OVA) episode titled "Kanon Kazahana" was released in March 2003. The anime series and OVA used the songs "Florescence" and "Flower" for the opening and ending themes, respectively. While it does not appear as the ending theme in the first 12 episodes or in the OVA, the game's ending theme "Where the Wind Reaches" is used as the ending theme for the series in episode 13. Additionally, the game's opening theme "Last regrets" is played near the end of episode 13 during the flashback scene.

Starting in 2006, Kyoto Animation, the animators of another Key game-turned-anime, Air, decided to animate a new adaptation of Kanon. This version, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and written by Fumihiko Shimo, aired between October 5, 2006, and March 15, 2007, on BS-i, containing 24 episodes. The series was later rebroadcast on TBS. ADV Films announced on September 21, 2007, at the Anime Weekend Atlanta anime convention that they have officially licensed the second Kanon anime series. ADV had previously posted a trailer for the series in August 2007, but was soon taken offline once the news had been spread on the Internet. The first English-dubbed episode was made available via streaming online at Anime News Network between December 23 and December 30, 2007. In July 2008, the licensing rights of the second Kanon anime were transferred from ADV to Funimation Entertainment (now known as Crunchyroll as of 2024) who continued to produce the series in North America. MVM Entertainment released Kanon on DVD in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2022.

The second TV Kanon animation features updated animation quality, and uses the same voice acting cast as the first anime, with the exception of Yuichi and Kuze. Unlike the first anime, the actual theme songs from the Kanon game are used for the second anime's opening theme, ending theme and soundtrack. There is one song featured as an insert song in episode 16 that did not come from the visual novel titled "Last regrets (X'mas floor style)" by Eiko Shimamiya from I've Sound's first album Regret. Other songs are used from the arrange albums released over the years, which include Anemoscope, Recollections, Re-feel, and Ma-Na.

Music
The visual novel has two main theme songs, the opening theme "Last regrets", and the ending theme "Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho" (風の辿り着く場所), both sung by Ayana. The lyrics for both songs were written by Jun Maeda, and arranged by Kazuya Takase of I've Sound. The five heroines have leitmotifs. Ayu's theme is "Hidamari no Machi" (日溜りの街); Nayuki's theme is "Yuki no Shōjo" (雪の少女); Makoto's theme is "The Fox and the Grapes"; Shiori's theme is "Egao no Mukōgawa ni" (笑顔の向こう側に); lastly, Mai's theme is "Shōjo no Ori" (少女の檻).

The first music album released was Anemoscope which came bundled with the original release of Kanon in June 1999. The next release was a single, "Last regrets/Place of wind which arrives", which contained the opening and ending themes plus arranged versions of three background music tracks and a male vocal version of the opening theme. A compilation album containing tracks from the two albums was released in December 2001 called Recollections. The game's original soundtrack was released in October 2002 containing 22 different tracks along with short versions of the two theme songs. A piano arrange album was released in December 2003 called Re-feel which contained five tracks from Kanon and five from Air. Excluding the first two albums, each of the albums released for the visual novel version were released on Key's record label Key Sounds Label; this is due to the first two albums being released before the label was formed.

The first anime's first original soundtrack was released in May 2002, and a second followed in July 2002. The first anime's opening theme is "Florescence" and the ending theme is "Flower", both sung by Miho Fujiwara; the maxi single containing the anime's opening and ending themes was released in June 2002. An album containing music box arranged tracks of music from the first anime was released in July 2003 called Orgel de Kiku Sakuhin Shū. The albums released for the first anime were produced by Frontier Works and Movic. A single was released in commemoration for the second anime called "Last regrets/Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho" which contained the game's original opening and ending themes in original, short, and remixed versions; the album was produced by Key Sounds Label.

Reception and legacy
According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the original Kanon release for Windows achieved its highest rank at number two in the ranking. Three years later in June 2002, the original release ranked in again at 45, and then again at 46 the following two weeks. The original release also made the ranking after that at number 41 in early July 2002. The Kanon Standard Edition premiered at number 16 in the rankings. The Kanon Standard Edition remained on the top 50 list for the next two months, achieving the rankings of 47 and 35. The all ages version of the Kanon Standard Edition premiered at number 42 on the national ranking, went up to 35 the next month, and did not appear on the rankings after that. The Dreamcast port sold 42,379 units in the first week and was the fourth top selling console game in Japan for that week. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms, not counting the PSP release.

Five days before the first PS2 release for Kanon, a PS2 printer called Tapis MPR-505 went on sale which enabled the user to print out game screens. Kanon was one of the three games supported at launch, the other two being America Ōden Ultra Quiz from DigiCube and Marle de Jigsaw from Nippon Ichi Software. The first PS2 release in 2002 was reviewed by the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu where the game received an overall score of 29/40 (out of the four individual review scores of 7, 8, 7, and 7). Yūichi Suzumoto commented in an interview in March 2001 that he felt the end of Kanon's story could be summed up as "the prince and princess live happily ever after. The end," resulting in an ending that does not expand on what could possibly happen afterwards. In the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, Kanon ranked fifth with 71 votes.

Characters from Kanon have appeared in several dōjin games not directly based on the Kanon series such as the Eternal Fighter Zero game by Twilight Frontier where most of the playable characters either came from Kanon or from One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. The dōjin game Glove on Fight featured at least two Kanon characters: Ayu Tsukimiya and Akiko Minase in a fighting style game along with various other characters taken from other media. The character Ayu Tsukimiya in particular is known to appear in works outside Kanon, such as in strip 67 of the webcomic Megatokyo where Ayu is shown eating taiyaki.

The second Kanon anime series was reviewed at Anime News Network where Theron Martin commented how the series is a "formulaic moe haremfest", and how the moe aspects of the series may make viewers "feel like they're drowning in a vat of gooey cuteness". The series is described as being similar to the anime television adaptation of Air, saying "Like Air, the first four episodes can be simply summarized as 'male lead arrives in town and kills time interacting with cute girls.' Unlike Air, however, these interactions can occasionally be very funny." Martin also compares Kanon to the anime adaptation of Shuffle! which is described as "bombing" where Kanon "works". The reviewer chalks this up to the characters "endear[ing] themselves to the viewer...far better than what Shuffle!'s do." Martin cites the transition between humor and serious content as a defining feature of the series. However, Martin comments how one of the series' flaws is how it "overplays the mundane cutesiness and moe cards at times" causing little to happen with the plot. Yuichi is described as being "too erratic to be fully credible" or easily believable. Despite the series' drawbacks, Martin still describes the series as "one of the best moe-centric series to date" and lauds Kyoto Animation's production values making Kanon "one of the prettiest-looking anime series of the past year". Martin adds another series comparison, citing Kanon as the "polar opposite of Gurren Lagann", which deals primarily in its action-oriented content.

title: Kanon (video game)


text:
Murphy O. Shewchuk

Murphy Orlando Shewchuk is a Canadian writer. He is a past National President of the Canadian Authors Association. He currently resides in Merritt, BC.

He grew up in the British Columbia gold-mining town of Pioneer Mines during the late 1950s. He developed a triple interest in outdoor exploration, photography and electronics while still a teenager. After a stint in the Royal Canadian Air Force in eastern Canada, he and his family moved back to B.C. for a job in electronics with writing and photography as major side interests.

In 1971, his work took him to Kamloops, British Columbia, where he began writing a weekly "Outdoor Scene" column for the Kamloops Sentinel. From the column, he moved on to features in BC Outdoors and other magazines.

Shewchuk has also been managing editor of the 12th and 13th editions of The Canadian Writer's Guide, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside of Toronto, Ontario.

In addition to a lifelong interest in writing, photography and exploring the mountains of western Canada, Shewchuk has been a workshop speaker at writer's conferences across Canada. He has received awards from the Outdoor Writers of Canada, the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association and the Canadian Authors Association.

He is one of the founding members and a current board member of the Nicola Valley Museum and Archives.

Publications

 * Exploring Kamloops Country (1973) Back country exploring in the Kamloops area.
 * Fur, Gold & Opals (1975) Rockhounding, history and back country exploring.
 * Exploring the Nicola Valley (1981) A guide to Merritt and the Nicola Valley.
 * Cariboo
 * The Craigmont Story (1983) The history of a mid 20th century copper mine.
 * Backroads Explorer Vol. 1: Thompson-Cariboo (1985) Lytton to Barkerville.
 * Backroads Explorer Vol. 2: Similkameen & South Okanagan (1988) Manning Park to Kelowna.
 * Coquihalla Country: An Outdoor Recreation Guide (1990) Hope - Merritt - Kamloops.
 * Okanagan Country: An Outdoor Recreation Guide. (1992) Osoyoos to the Shuswap.
 * Coquihalla Country: A Guide to the North Cascade Mountains and the Nicola Valley (Complete update - 1997).
 * Okanagan Trips & Trails: A Guide to Backroads and Hiking Trails in BC's Okanagan-Similkameen Region (co-authored with Judie Steeves in 1999).

title: Murphy O. Shewchuk


text: Talk:Oak

title: Talk:Oak