text:
Taba language

Taba (also known as East Makian or Makian Dalam) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea group. It is spoken mostly on the islands of Makian, Kayoa and southern Halmahera in North Maluku province of Indonesia by about 20,000 people.

Dialects
There are minor differences in dialect between all of the villages on Makian island in which Taba is spoken. Most differences affect only a few words. One of the most widespread reflexes is the use of in Waikyon and Waigitang, where in other villages  is retained from Proto-South Halmaheran.

Geographic distribution
As of 2005, Ethnologue lists Taba as having a speaking population of approximately 20,000; however, it has been argued by linguists that this number could in reality be anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000. The language is predominantly spoken on Eastern Makian island, although it is also found on Southern Mori island, Kayoa islands, Bacan and Obi island and along the west coast of south Halmahera. There has also been continued migration of speakers to other areas of North Maluku due to frequent volcanic eruptions on Makian island. The island itself is home to two languages: Taba, which is spoken on the eastern side of the island, and a Papuan language spoken on the western side, known alternatively as West Makian or Makian Luar (outer Makian); in Taba, this language is known as Taba Lik ('Outer Taba'), while its native speakers know it as Moi.

Speech levels
Taba is divided into three different levels of speech: alus, biasa and kasar.

Alus, or 'refined' Taba, is used in situations in which the speaker is addressing someone older or of greater status than the speaker themselves.

Biasa, or 'ordinary' Taba, is used in most general situations.

The Kasar, or 'coarse' form of Taba, is used only rarely and generally in anger.

Phonology
Taba has fifteen indigenous consonant phonemes, and four loan phonemes:. These are shown below:

Syllables may only have complex onsets at the beginning of morphemic units. The minimal Taba syllable consists of just a vowel, while the maximal indigenous syllable structure is CCVC (there are some examples of CCCVC from Dutch). The structure CCVC, however, is only found in syllables which occur at the beginning of morphemes; non-initial syllables have a maximal structure of CVC. The vast majority of words are mono- or disyllabic.

All consonants except, , , and can be geminated. Geminates can occur word-initially, e.g., tala to meet vs. ttala  we (inclusive) meet. Some speakers degeminate to. Initial fricative clusters can be metathesized or assimilated (e.g., can become  or ).

Taba has five vowels, illustrated on the table below. The front and central vowels are unrounded; the back vowels are rounded.

Word order
Taba is, predominantly, a head-marking language which adheres to a basic AVO word order. However, there is a reasonable degree of flexibility.

'I broke this tool.'

Taba has both prepositions and postpositions.

Pronouns
In Taba, pronouns constitute an independent, closed set. Syntactically, Taba pronouns can be used in any context where a full noun phrase is applicable. However, independent pronouns are only used in reference to animate entities, unless pronominal reference to inanimate patients is required in reflexive clauses.

As mentioned, independent pronouns are generally used for animate reference. However, there are two exceptions to this generalisation. In some circumstances an inanimate is considered a 'higher inanimate' which accords syntactic status similar to animates. This is represented as in English where inanimates such as cars or ships, for example, can be ascribed a gender. This is illustrated below in a response to the question 'Why did the Taba Jaya (name of a boat) stop coming to Makian?':

Ttumo i te ndara

'We didn't catch it enough.'

The Taba Jaya, a boat significant enough to be given a name, is accorded pronoun status similar to animates. The other exception occurs in reflexive clauses where a pronominal copy of a reflexive patient is required, as shown below:

Bonci ncayak i tadia

bonci n-say-ak i ta-dia

peanut 3SG-spread-APPL 3SG SIM-REM

'Peanut (leaves) spread out on itself like that.'

Non-human animates and inanimates are always grammatically singular, regardless of how many referents are involved. In Taba, pronouns and noun phrases are marked by person and number.

Person
Taba distinguishes three persons in the pronominal and cross-referencing systems. Person is marked on both pronouns and on cross-referencing proclitics attached to verb phrases. The actor cross-referencing proclitics are outlined in the following table. In the first-person plural, a clusivity distinction is made, 'inclusive' (including the addressee) and 'exclusive' (excluding the addressee), as is common to most Austronesian languages.

The following are examples (4–10) of simple actor intransitive clauses showing each of the proclitic prefixes.

The alternation between proclitic markers indicates number, where in (4) k= denotes the arrival of a singular actor, while in (7) a= indicates the arrival of first-person plural actors, exclusionary of the addressee, and is replicated in the change of prefix in the additional examples.

Number
Number is marked on noun phrases and pronouns. Taba distinguishes grammatically between singular and plural categories, as shown in (3) to (9) above. Plural marking is obligatory for humans and is used for all noun phrases which refer to multiple individuals. Plurality is also used to indicate respect in the second and third Person when addressing or speaking of an individual who is older than the speaker. The rules for marking number on noun phrases are summarised in the table below:

The enclitic =si marks number in noun phrases. =si below (10), indicates that there is more than one child playing on the beach and, in (11), the enclitic indicates that the noun phase mama lo baba, translated as 'mother and father,' is plural.

Wangsi lalawa lawe solo li

'The children are playing on the beach.'

Nim mama li babasi laoblak

'Your mother and father are calling you.'

Plural number is used as a marker of respect not only for second-person addressees, but for third-person referents as seen in (12). In Taba, it has been observed that many adults use deictic shifts towards the perspective of addressee children regarding the use of plural markers. Example (13) is typical of an utterance of an older person than those they are referring to, indicative of respect that should be accorded to the referent by the addressee.

Ksung Om Nur nidi um li

'I went into Om Nur's house.'

Nim babasi e lo li e?

'Where is your father?'

Pronominal affixes
All Taba verbs having actor arguments carry affixes which cross-reference the number and person of the actor, examples of proclitics are shown above. In Taba, there are valence-changing affixes which deal with patterns of cross-referencing with three distinct patterns. The dominant pattern is used with all verbs having an actor argument. The other two patterns are confined to a small number of verbs: one for the possessive verb, the other for a few verbs of excretion. This is discussed further in Possession below.

Possession
Taba does not, as such, have possessive pronouns. Rather, the possessor noun and the possessed entity are linked by a possessive ligature. The Taba ligatures are shown below:

Adnominal possession
Adnominal possession involves the introduction of an inflected possessive particle between the possessor and the possessed entity; this inflected possessive, formally categorised as a 'ligature', is cross-referenced with the number and person of the possessor. This ligature indicates a possessive relationship between a modifier noun and its head-noun. In Taba, adnominal possession is distinguished by reverse genitive ordering, in which the possessor noun precedes the noun referring to the possessed entity.

In many contexts the possessor will not be overtly referenced.

Example of reverse genitive ordering in Taba:

ni mtu

3SG.POSS child

'His/her child.'

Obligatory possessive marking
In Taba, alienable and inalienable possession is not obligatorily marked by the use of different forms, though this is common in many related languages. However, there are a number of seemingly inalienable entities which cannot be referred to without referencing a possessor.

For example: meja ni wwe

table 3SG.POSS leg

'The leg (of the table).'

Verbal possession
Verbal possession in Taba is generally indicated through the attaching of the causative prefix ha- to the adnominal possessive forms. The possessor then becomes actor of the clause, and the possessed entity becomes the undergoer. This method of forming a possessive verb is very unusual, typologically, and is found in almost no other languages.

'That goat, I own it.'

Negation
Like other Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken in the Maluku Islands, Taba uses different particles to negate declarative and imperative clauses; declaratives are negated using te, while imperatives are negated using oik. In both cases the negative particles are clause-final, a placement which is posited to be the result of contact with non-Austronesian Papuan languages.

Negation of declaratives using te
Declarative clauses are negated using the particle te, which follows all other elements of the clause except for modal and aspectual particles (these are discussed below). Examples (15a) and (15b) show negation of an actor intransitive clause, while (16a) and (16b) give negation of a non-actor bivalent clause (i.e. a clause with two undergoer arguments); te has the same clause-final placement regardless of the clause structure.

Nhan akla

'She's going seawards.'

Nhan akla te

'She's not going seawards.'

Nik calana kudak asfal

nik ak-lacalana kuda-k asfal

1sg.POSS trousers be.black-APPL bitumen

'My trousers are blackened with bitumen.'

Nik calana kudak asfal te

nik ak-lacalana kuda-k asfal te

1sg.POSS trousers be.black-APPL bitumen NEG

'My trousers are not blackened with bitumen.'

Negation of complex sentences can be ambiguous — see example (17), where te can operate on either just the complement clause khan 'I'm going' or to the whole clause complex kalusa khan 'I said I'm going':

Kalusa khan te

'I said I'm not going.' / 'I didn't say I'm going.'

Negative existential clauses

Te can serve as the predicator of a negative existential clause, with no verb required. It can occur immediately following the noun phrase that refers to whatever is being asserted as non-existent, as in (18):

Nik dalawat te

nik dalawat te

1sg.POSS girlfriend NEG

'I don't have a girlfriend.'

However, a discourse marker is generally interposed between the noun phrase and te. This marker expresses something about how the non-existence of the noun phrase's referent relates to the discourse context, or alternatively indicates the speaker's attitude towards the proposition. In (19), the discourse marker mai (glossed as 'but') is used to indicate that the non-existence of tea, sugar and coffee in the household described by the speaker is counter to one's expectations that a normal household would have these items:

Te mai te; gula mai te; kofi mai te

tea but NEG sugar but NEG coffee but NEG

'There's no tea; there's no sugar; there's no coffee.'

Complex negative modal / aspectual particles

Taba has three complex negative particles which, in addition to negation, express mood or aspect; these are formed by the modal and aspectual particles attaching onto te as clitics. The three particles are tedo (realis negative), tehu (continuative negative), and tesu (potential negative).

tedo (realis negative)

Tedo is a compound of te and the realis mood marker do, and expresses a more emphatic negation than plain te. In (20), it is used to emphasize the absolute nature of the prohibition against making alcohol in the Muslim community of the speaker:

Mai ane lpeik saguer tedo.

'But here they don't make palm wine with it anymore.'

tehu (continuative negative)

Tehu is a compound of te and the continuous aspect marker hu, and can be roughly translated as 'not up to the relevant point in time': this may be either the time of utterance (i.e. 'not yet', 'still not'), or some other time relevant to the context of the utterance, as in (21). Unlike the potential negative tesu, tehu does not express any expectations about the likelihood of the negated event or state occurring in the future.

Manganco ne dukon tehu

manganco ne dukon te-hu

long.time PROX eruption NEG-CONT

'For a long time there hadn't been an eruption.'

Tehu also often appears at the end of the first clause in a sequence of clauses, indicating whatever is referred to by the first clause has not still occurred by the time of the event(s) or state(s) referred to by the following clauses.

Karna taplod tehu, manusia loas do.

'Because the mountain had still not erupted when everyone fled.'

tesu (potential negative)

Tesu is formed by suffixing -su, expressing the potential mood, to te. Although tesu is similar to tehu in that it encodes the meaning 'not up to the relevant point in time', it also expresses an expectation that the event referred to will occur in the future: this expectation is made explicit in the free translation of (23).

Sedi ne dumik tesu

sedi ne dumik te-su

garden.shelter PROX be.complete NEG-POT

'This garden shelter is not yet finished.' [but I expect it to be finished later]

Tesu shares with tehu the ability to be used at the end of the first clause in a sequence of clauses, and also carries a similar meaning of incompletion; in addition, it encodes the expectation that the event referred to by the first clause should have happened by the event(s) of the following clauses. This expectation does not need to have actually been fulfilled; the breakfast that was expected to be cooked in the first clause of (24) was, in reality, never cooked due to the ensuing eruption.

Hadala mosa tesu, taplod haso nak.

'Breakfast was still not cooked (although I had every expectation that it would be) when it erupted again.'

Unlike the modal and aspectual markers which are used to form the other complex negative particles, su is not attested as a free morpheme elsewhere; however, it is likely related to the optional final -s of the modal verb -ahate(s) 'to be unable', which appears to be derived historically from te having fused onto the verb -ahan 'to be able'. When used with a final -s, as in (25b) compared with (25a), this modal verb encodes the same meanings expressed by tesu:

Irianti nasodas nahate

'Irianti is not allowed to smoke.'

Iswan nasodas nahates

'Iswan is not allowed to smoke (now. But he will be allowed to in the future).'

Negation of imperatives using oik
Imperative clauses are negated using the admonitive particle oik. This particle appears to be derived from a verb oik 'to leave something behind'; however, this verb requires actor cross-referencing, whereas the particle is never cross-referenced. Bowden (2001) posits that the imperative use of oik has developed from the use of the independent verb in serial verb constructions, with the morphological elements being lost in the process of grammaticalization. The particle is shown in (26), while the verbal use (with cross-referencing) is shown in (27):

Hmomas meu komo mai hmomsak meu calana oik

'Wipe your hands, but don't wipe them with your trousers.'

Nim suka moik nim sagala ane?

'Do you want to leave your stuff behind here?'

Using negative particles as question tags
Yes–no (polar) questions can be posed with either positive or negative polarity; positive polarity questions operate in much the same way as in English, while negative polarity questions, which are formed using forms of the negative marker te as question tags, work in a different manner. An example of a positive polarity question is given below in (28a), while (28b) shows a negative polarity question:

Masodas pa ne?

'Do you smoke?'

Masodas pa te?

'Do you smoke or not?'

The answers to the positive polarity may be either Jou/Ole ('Yes, I do smoke') or Te ('No, I don't smoke'); when responding to the negative polarity question, the answers are either Jou/Ole ('Yes, I do not smoke'), Te ('No, I do smoke').

Demonstratives and directionals
Taba has two systems which are both involved in marking deixis: the demonstrative and the directional systems. Although compared to other Austronesian languages Taba is typologically unusual in that its grammar involves little morphology, this is not the case when it comes to demonstratives and directionals. Both of these systems involve root morphemes which can occur either on their own or with affixes, creating a large variety of meanings.

Demonstratives
There are two demonstrative roots in Taba: ne, which expresses proximity to the speaker, and dia (or shortened form da), which expresses distance from the speaker. Each of these roots can be combined with a variety of morphemes to produce different nouns and pronouns, as follows:

Note: the three different categories of similative nouns refer to the three different registers of Taba, which have been ascribed the following meanings: biasa ('normal'), alus ('fine/respectful') and kasar ('coarse').

Root forms
Root forms ne and dia have a deictic function with respect to the speaker, and can express the speaker's physical, textural, temporal or even emotional and spiritual distance from something. These forms, when used on their own, occur immediately after the noun phrase to which they refer, much like the equivalent forms in many other Malayo-Polynesian languages. Examples of the root forms functioning as such can be seen below:

pakakas ne

tool PROX

'this tool'

kurusi da

chair DIST

'that chair'

Demonstrative root forms in Taba, like in most other languages, can also be used to refer to concepts previously mentioned in a conversation, as per the following example:

Ndadi dukon ne taun halim do.

'So the eruption was five years ago.'

Although the demonstrative roots are a closed class and most clearly mark deixis, they also belong to a slightly larger class of deictics, including the directional root ya ('up'). When this directional root is used deictically, it implies that both the speaker and hearer hold some common knowledge about the referent.

Directionals will be discussed in further detail in the next section. See below an example of ya functioning deictically:

Malcoma yak ni foto ya

'Send me the photographs (that I have just referred to, and which we both know about'

Demonstrative pronouns
Taba has four demonstrative pronouns, each formed through the affixation of a pronoun to the demonstrative root. This process, as well as the rough English translation for each pronoun is outlined in the table below: Taba's demonstrative pronouns can also be used to refer to a concept previously mentioned in a conversation, or a series of previously described events, as shown in the next two examples:

Idia Minggu

i-dia Minggu

3SG-DIST Sunday

'That was Sunday'

Lai tam idia

'We had just seen all of this (for the first time)'

Locative nouns
Taba has two locative nouns, formed by the prefixation of a-. The formation of these nouns and their rough English translations can be found in the table below: Here are two examples showing the locative nouns in use, occurring after the noun to which they refer:

Si ane te

Si a-ne te

3PL LOC-PROX NEG

'He wasn't there'

Peda adia loka ni umpo lema

peda a-dia loka ni um-po le-ma

machete LOC-DIST banana 3SG.POSS NOM-down land-VEN

'The machete is there, landwards from the bottom of the banana tree'

Similative nouns
Taba has eight similative nouns, which differ between the language's three registers. Many other Austronesian languages have similative noun equivalents, but Taba is unique in that it has such a high number. The eight different forms can be found in the table below, where the labels ascribed to each register by Taba speakers are as such: biasa ('normal'), alus ('fine/respectful') and kasar ('coarse'). Below is an example of a similative noun occurring naturally in a conversation:

Napnap um ni llo ya mlongan tane

yapyap um ni llo ya mlongan ta-ne

ash house 3SG.POSS inside REC be.long SIM-PROX

'The ash inside the house was as deep as this'

Similative nouns in Taba can also occur as single-word utterances and as adverbs, as in the following examples:

Tadia!

ta-dia

SIM-DIST

'It's done like that!', 'I've done it!', 'Tadaa!' etc.

Tit tpe tane

tit t-pe ta-ne

1PL.INCL 1PL.INCL.do SIM-PROX

'We do it like this'

Directionals
As for the directional system, Taba has five basic semantic categories. These, along with their roughly translated English equivalents are: ya ('up'), po ('down'), la ('sea'), le ('land') and no ('there'). Like demonstratives, directionals in Taba can be affixed to express more complex meanings, namely motion towards or from a direction, position in a direction, and parts of something that are oriented in a particular direction. This kind of morphology is unusual within Taba, but typologically common compared to many other Austronesian languages. It is worth noting that while the directional roots in Taba can have rough English translations, utterances containing them will often have senseless meanings if translated directly into English.

All Taba directionals formed by affixation can be found in the table below. The essive forms refer to static location in a particular direction and the allative forms refer to motion towards a particular direction. The venitive forms refer to motion away from a particular direction and the nominalised forms refer to parts of something that are oriented in a particular direction.

Essive forms
Essive directionals in Taba, as stated above, signify static location in a particular direction. These forms can have a larger range of functions when compared with the other directionals. Namely, they can occur as verb adjuncts, both with a locative phrase and alone. They can occur either before or after a verb, or to modify a noun phrase. Shown below is an example of the essive forms being used in a sentence:

Sama lo John nalusa ni abu nwom lawe

'Just like you (John) said the ash (from the eruption) fell in Australia'

Allative forms
Allative directional forms in Taba express movement towards a particular direction. These forms can occur on their own, after the verb as an adjunct, or at the head of a locative phrase. Examples of these two functions occurring in natural speech are shown below:

Ncopang akla

'It descended to the sea'

Malai lhan appo

'Then they went downwards'

Venitive forms
Venitive directional forms in Taba express movement away from a particular direction. These forms are much freer in word order and can occur at many different places within a clause, serving to modify verbs, as seen in the next two examples:

Noma noma turus manusia lwom

'From here and there the people came'

Nyoa khan lama, polisisi ltahan yak

{3sg=search (almost)} 1sg=go sea-VEN police-PL 3pl=find 1sg

'I'd almost come back from Moti when the police found me'

Venitive forms can also occur in utterances without any verbs, such as in the following example:

Motor Payahe lema yak

motor Payahe le-ma yak

boat Payahe land-VEN 1sg

'I came on the boat from Payahe'

The suffix -ma, used to form venitive directionals is likely derived from the word *maRi ('come'), that has been reconstructed for Proto-Austronesian.>

Nominalised forms
Nominalised directional forms in Taba signify parts of an object that are oriented towards a particular direction. These forms are always possessed by and occur after the noun relative to which the location is being expressed. This is illustrated in the following two examples:

Kapal ya pso nuso lawe Botan ni umpo lawe

'There was a ship following along underneath Halmahera'

I ntongo {'Happy Restaurant'} ni kle

'He's staying landwards from the 'Happy Restaurant''

List of glossing abbreviations
This section contains only the glossing abbreviations that appear in this article. For a full list, see List of glossing abbreviations.  SIM:simultaneous aspect PROX:proximal demonstrative ADMON:admonitive mood

Name taboo (aroah)
As is common with many Melanesian people, Taba speakers practice ritual name taboo. As such, when a person dies in a Taba community, their name may not be used by any person with whom they had a close connection. This practice adheres to the Makianese belief that, if the names of the recently deceased are uttered, their spirits may be drastically disturbed. The deceased may be referred to simply as 'Deku's mother' or 'Dula's sister'. Others in the community with the same name as the deceased will be given maronga, or substitute names.

title: Taba language


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/WJOWSA

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was - deleted

WJOWSA
Speedy delete non notable garbage. tagged it {delete} but it gets removed. drini ☎ 18:20, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete Wikipedia is not the place to coin neologisms. You 18:33, Jun 6, 2005 (UTC)
 * Not Garbage - You have a poorly programmed bot, that does not recognize a word that is in use on Automotive Message boards. Please fix your bot. 141.157.157.100  18:46, 6 Jun 2005
 * Been in use for years - This term was coined in the late 90's, and in still in constant use today. (12.42.63.59 18:49, 6 Jun 2005
 * Yes, however, Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Look at WP:WIN for some of Wikipedia's official policies. drini ☎ 18:54, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * delete neologism Dunc|☺ 18:58, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, but not speedy--doesn't fit criteria. Meelar (talk) 19:11, Jun 6, 2005 (UTC)
 * Scimitar : WJOWSA! How can anyone think this is an encyclopedia article. Delete. --Scimitar 19:35, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Mgm|(talk) 19:48, Jun 6, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, idiosyncratic Internet slang. If it was at all common it would have more than 160 Google hits. ZOMG has managed 43,400 for crying out loud. DopefishJustin (･∀･) 21:36, Jun 6, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, Source http://www.urbandictionary.com <-- Shouldn't it be a dictionary article then? If you've looked at urbandictionary, it's full of the kind of stuff wikipedia deletes anyway....or was when i went there ~2 years ago. Anyway, not notable....and if it were, it should've been in wikipedia instead. By the way, isnt it spelled wowsa?

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages.  Please do not edit this page .

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

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/WJOWSA


text:
Material culture of the Manasir

The material culture of the Manasir is very basic and primarily relies on the by-products of palm tree cultivation (cf. Date cultivation in Dar al-Manasir). Date trees not only constitute the main source of income and an important supply of nutrition in Dar al-Manasir, but the Manasir also make intelligent use of all different parts of the palm tree. From it they produce diverse household items, garden tools and building material for their traditional mud houses. (cf. Architecture in Dar al-Manasir).

What follows is a list of raw materials gathered from the date palm and the products that can be manufactured from them.

Garidah (جريدة)
Garidah is the midrib part of the palm leaf. In order to be used as a raw material the Garidah is stripped of its leaflets and spikes and its broad petiole is removed. Garidat are an esteemed raw material for the production of robust containers and furniture.

The Manasir use it to manufacture small boxes (Sunduq, صندوق) in which they carry vegetables to the weekly market at Suq Salamat (سوق سلمات). Additionally, Garidah is a good fencing material used for making small hutches called Qafas (قفص) to protect the chicken against wild animals. The Manasir also use it as roofing material to thatch their traditional mud houses (Galus, جالوص).

Sa'fah (سعفة)
Sa'fat are the leaflets of palm leaves and the most important raw material for a variety of household items including baskets for use in gardening.

Household items of particular cultural and practical significance are woven mats called Burush (sing. Birsh, برش). Mats that are called Segagah (سجاجة) are two ells wide and are laid out on the traditional beds called 'Anqarib (عنقريب). A plain uncoloured Segagah is kept aside in every household to be used for washing and carrying the body of a deceased. A second type of Segagah is dyed in different colours and laid out by the bride groom during bridal night and further marriage festivities. It is reused for the period of forty days (ربع) after a woman has given birth and during which she is not supposed to leave the house. A different kind of Birsh can be found in many households and in community places such as the guest house (Madeifah, مضيفة) of the village. It is four ells long and will be rolled out on the floor during banquets or for prayers. It is called Birsh Ruba'i (برش رباعي). The best Burush are woven from the leaves of Mishriq palm trees prominent for their soft and flexible leaflets, although leaflets of other varieties are added for higher durability (cf. Date cultivation in Dar al-Manasir). Old Burush are reused for mending holes in the ceiling or for supporting small window openings in the rooms.

Another very specific mat has a circular shape with a central hole the size of a head. It is called Nutu' (نطع). Once a week most Manasir women apply a "smoke mask" called Dukhan (دخّان) to their face and body. They burn the wood of Acacia seyal (Talh; طلح) in the kitchen hearth or a buried earthen pot in the courtyard. When the burning wood starts to produce smoke the woman will place herself on the Nutu' above the hole, covered by a big piece of coarse fabric and fumigate parts of her body until the upper skin peels off. As a result of this weekly procedure the colour of her skin will appear more pale (cf. CROWFOOT 1918:127-128). The Dukhan can also be used for medical purposes burning additional wood of Acacia ehrenbergiana (Salam; سلم) and Balanites aegyptiaca (Higlig; حجليج).

One very common household item made from palm leaflets is the Mi'laq (معلاق), also called Mishle'ib (مشلعيب). It is a simple loop big enough to hold a food container. It is made from two crossed straps of plaited palm leaflets. The Mi'laq is hanging freely from the ceiling, from wooden beams in the courtyard or in doorways. It is a simple and effective local utensil to protect small quantities of food from animals.

Another storage device made from palm leaflets is the Shedifah (شدفة), a tightly plaited container for storing sorghum (Dhurah or 'Ayish, ذرة or عيّش).

For their work on the fields the Manasir generally rely on a minimum of equipment. The most important and much diversified objects are baskets made from palm leaflets. A multitude of different sizes with somehow similar shapes are in use, each type of basket meant for certain materials to be carried in. The Quffah (قفّة) is the most common basket and used for carrying dates and clothes. The Kunshibr (كونشبر) is a slightly smaller basket in which earth (Turab, تراب) and manure (Maruq; ماروق) are transported (cf. NICHOLLS 1918:24). A proper builder and cultivator (Turbal, تربال – both working with mud and therefore not further distinguished by the Manasir) is expected to employ his own Kunshibr.

The Ghutaiah (غتاية) is another very common small basket used to carry dates and seeds. Its size is exactly defined, since this basket is used as a local measurement for sorghum. Ghutaiat are exceptionally tightly plaited from leaflets of Gau palm trees (cf. Date cultivation in Dar al-Manasir). The Saqataiah (سقتاية) is a multipurpose basket, its size in-between a Quffah and a Ghutaiah (سقتاية لاها قفّة ولاها غتاية).

Special baskets are used for mounting on animals. The Bedouin Manasir have large containers for transporting sorghum on the back of camels called Qalibah (قليبة).

A very particular funnellike basket is the Rahal (رحل). It is always used in pairs, attached to the sides of a donkey by placing a transverse wooden stick through their handles. Rahal are used to carry manure, mud or dates. The lower end of the funnel consists of a narrow hole (about 10 cm wide) that is plugged with a piece of cloth or Lif (ليف). In order to unload the cargo the plug is simply pulled out from below. Nowadays Rahal are mostly substituted by a combined pair of reworked plastic sacks of wheat.

Other items plaited from palm leaflets are the Tabaq (طبق), a flat tray for winnowing wheat and sorghum during the threshing process and a small fan called Hebabah (هبابة), for heating the coal during the preparation of the traditional coffee (Gabenah, جبنة).

Lif (ليف) or Ashmiq (أشميق)

The connective tissue between young fronds, which eventually develops into a dried brown vascular bundle of rough fibre, attached to the lower edges of the midribs ensheathing the trunk, makes up a very durable tough fibre (cf. ZAID 2002).

Lif can be woven to different strengths of ropes called Hibal (sing. Hibl, حبل). Ropes are used for the handles of baskets, the bridles for donkeys and camels, for carrying water containers attached to a stick and to string the frames of the traditional beds.

Lif, preferably from Gau date trees is also used as a soft but durable filling material called Lihaf (لحاف). Among the older Manasir Lihaf is preferred to cotton for filling mattresses and considered very healthy. Lif is further employed to fill of the lower parts of donkey saddles in order to prevent sores by friction and called Libdah (لبدة) or Bedidah (بديدة – the "ة" can be substituted by a "ى"). The Bedouin Manasir employ Lif for the same purpose in their camel saddles and call it Tillah (تلّة).

Lif further plays an important role in the Sudanese coffee tradition as the straining plug Lifei (ليفي) in the spout of the Gabenah (جبنة).

Sabitah (سبيطة)
The fruit bunch of the female palm tree is also called Shakhlub (شخلوب) and consists of a central stem and about 100 to 150 strands of spikelets. The whole cluster can be used as a broom to sweep the ground whereby it is called Hanquqah (حنقوقة).

But also some of the finest basketry of the region is created by wrapping palm leaflets, preferably of the Dum palm around a strand of spikelets. The resulting strand is spirally plaited to dishes. They are either used as a Kabbet (كبّت) for covering meals or the earthen water containers (Sir, زير), or as a Tabaq (طبق) in the shape of flat bowl for serving the traditional Kisrah bread (كسرة) on special occasions. The central part of Tabaqat can be worked from leather. Straps of cloth or plastic may be added to the leaflets in order to make the work more colourful and water resistant.

Other raw materials
Apart from the listed by-products of palm trees, wood of other trees and the leather of the animals are used by the Manasir to manufacture tools and household items.

The finest but rarely found handicraft of the region are big bowls (Tabaq, طبق), skillfully crafted out of the soft wood of Faidherbia albida (Haraz, حراز). Haraz wood is also used for the lower parts of donkey saddles. Nowadays the practise of fine wood carving has declined rapidly, one reason being the shortage of the particularly suitable Haraz tree.The most common agricultural tools in Dar al-Manasir are the Turiah (طورية), a hoe with an angular blade that proves very functional in opening and closing irrigation channels, and a small sawed sickle. Whereas the blade of the Turiah is bought from outside and often even imported from China, all wooden handles are locally produced. A different local impediment entirely manufactured from wood is the rake-like Arbil (اربيل) used for levelling the ground.Very popular among the Bedouin Manasir is the Qirbah (قربة), a hose made from the entire skin of a goat. Filled with a liquid it becomes moist and flexible. The Qirbah is hung in a shady windy place, either from the ceiling, a beam or on a wooden tripod. Due to constant evaporation its content is cooled down considerably. The riverain Manasir employ the Qirbah primarily for cooling fermented milk since their water is cooled in huge permeable earthen jars called Sir (زير). These jars are placed in the shadow of a tree or lined up in a row in isolated covered mud structures called Masirah (مزيرة).

[Information by 'Abdallah Ahmad al-Hassan Abu Qurun from Mideimir (عبدالله أحمد الحسن أبو قرون من مديمر) on the western bank of the Nile, Halimah Hassan al-'Aqib from Khaliwah (حليمة حسن العقيب من خليوة في سور) and Al-Tahir 'Uthman al-Tahir from Musari' (الطاهير عثمان الطاهير من مزارع في سور) on Sur Island

References and external links

 * Crowfoot, J. W. (1918): "Customs of the Rubatab". In: Sudan Notes and Records, Vol.1. pp. 119–134.
 * Nicholls, W. (1918): "The Sakia in Dongola Province". In: Sudan Notes and Records, Vol.1. pp. 21–24.
 * Qasim, A. SH. (2002): Qamus al-Lahgah al-'Amiya fi al-Sudan. 3rd ed. p. 1076. (عون الشريف قاسم (2002): قاموس اللهجة العامية في السودان. الطبعة الثالثة. الدار السودانية للكتب. س 1076)
 * Salih, A. M. (1999): The Manasir of the Northern Sudan: Land and People. A Riverain Society and Resource Scarcity. 282 p.
 * Zaid, A. (ed.) (2002): Date Palm Cultivation. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 156, Rev. 1
 * Homepage of Dar al-Manasir
 * Gallery of Dar al-Manasir
 * Al-Turath al-Sha'ibi li-Qabilah al-Manasir
 * Diwan 'Abqariah al-Manasir. Li-Ustadh Ibrahim 'Ali al-Sha'ir
 * Homepage of the Humboldt University Nubian Expedition (H.U.N.E.)

title: Material culture of the Manasir


text:
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot

Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot FRS (10 May 1803 – 17 January 1890) was a Welsh landowner, industrialist and Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive ironworks, served by railways and a port, which was renamed Port Talbot. He served as a Member of Parliament for Glamorgan constituencies from 1830 until his death in 1890, a sixty-year tenure which made him the second longest serving MP in the nineteenth century. He was Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, from 1848 to 1890.

Background
Talbot was descended from the Earls of Shrewsbury, through Hensol Castle, Talbot's Castle and Lacock Abbey. The family had bought Margam Abbey and its extensive 18725 acre parish of Margam during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Having then married with the Mansels of Oxwich and Penrice, the Talbots had become Glamorgan’s largest resident landowners, with estates totalling 34000 acre in that county alone. Their home estate at Margam included ancient metal workings, and extensive mineral rights across Margam, Kenfig and Aberavon. Talbot's father acquired the estate at Penrice, where having rebuilt Penrice Castle by 1820 the annual rent revenues reached £15,000.

Early life
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot was born at Penrice, Swansea, the son of Thomas Mansel Talbot, and Lady Mary Lucy, the daughter of Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester. When his father died in 1813, Christopher was only ten years old, so his estates at Penrice and Margam were held in trust until he came of age in 1824. His governess for some time was Agnes Porter. He was educated at a private school in Dorset, and then at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford, from where he graduated in 1824 with a 1st class honours degree in mathematics. He then undertook a Grand Tour of Europe. His favourite activities were yachting, racing and hunting. In 1823 he was elected a member of the Royal Yacht Club (later the Royal Yacht Squadron), and he was its Vice Commodore from 1851 to 1861.

Early parliamentary and public career, 1830-1868
Nine members of the Mansel family had sat in Parliament from the early sixteenth century and the family were seen in aristocratic circles as Glamorganshire's natural representatives at Westminster. Talbot's father, however, had shown no interest in becoming an MP but after his death in 1813, the family reasserted its political influences when his mother's second husband, Sir Christopher Cole was elected as county member in 1817. This was commonly regarded as a family arrangement until C.R.M. Talbot was ready to enter political life.

Even in 1817, however, there was some opposition to Cole's election. At the meeting in Bridgend where the new member was returned unopposed, George Tennant, a Swansea industrialist, struck a note of discontent.

"Will you not, at some convenient time, avail yourself of those well-known means which are always at hand to enable you to retire from your post, when the infant legislator of the House of Margam shall be ripe for action, and thus surrender back the situation which you hold as a trust for that family by, whose interests you have been principally supported throughout the present election."

As widely expected therefore, Talbot virtually inherited the role of Member of Parliament for Glamorganshire in 1830 upon the retirement of his stepfather. Although nominally considered a Liberal, Talbot exercised considerable independence for most of his long political career, and his freedom to operate outside of party structures only became limited by the parliamentary reforms which occurred in the latter part of his time in the Commons, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Although firmly of the Whig wing of the Liberal Party, Talbot had shown signs of support for more radical policies long before the Gladstonian takeover of the party in the 1860s. In 1853 he voted in favour of the ballot. Two years later he supported the abolition of church rates, and in 1856, voted along with the Swansea member Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn in support of Irish disestablishment.

Industry and transport
Talbot recognised that improved transport could stimulate industrial growth, and as Member of Parliament he introduced a Bill in 1834 to improve the old harbour at Aberavon; two years later, a further Bill provided for the harbour's expansion and a change of name to Port Talbot in his honour. He also encouraged the development of Swansea docks, and pioneered the introduction of railways to south Wales, being chairman and a shareholder in the South Wales Railway Company, which was acquired by the Great Western Railway in 1863, with Talbot joining the board of the GWR.

Talbot also invested in the area's extractive and metal production industries. The Port Talbot ironworks opened in early 1831, part of the industrialisation then taking place across south Wales; copper had been smelted at nearby Neath since 1584, and there were tinworks and ironworks at Pontardawe.

In 1869 aboard his private yacht Lynx he attended the opening of the Suez Canal, accompanied by members of his family and several guests. When he was in Egypt, Gladstone offered him a peerage, but he declined on this and two other occasions. He was adjudged the wealthiest commoner of his time.

Margam Castle
Over a five-year period from 1830, Talbot set about redeveloping the family estate at Margam Castle. The mansion was designed in the Tudor Gothic style by architect Thomas Hopper (1776–1856), while Edward Haycock (1790–1870) was supervisory architect and designed parts of the interior and exterior of the house, the stables, terraces and lodges. Talbot also took a keen interest in the project, encouraging his architects to borrow elements from Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire (ancestral home of the Talbots and home to his cousin William Henry Fox Talbot) and Melbury House in Dorset (home of his mother's family, the Fox-Strangways, Earls of Ilchester). Margam Castle is a Grade I listed building owned by Neath and Port Talbot County Borough council.

Talbot encouraged his relations William Fox Talbot and John Talbot Dillwyn Llewellyn in the development of photography and was himself a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Later parliamentary career, 1868-1890
Talbot, like his fellow county member, Sir Hussey Vivian, were not opposed to parliamentary reform. The Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884, together with the redistribution of boundaries for the 1885 General Election, led to the enfranchisement of increasing numbers of industrial workers. In time this was to revolutionise the politics of Glamorgan, but the immediate impact was to increase the Liberal Party's hold on the county and make the election of a Conservative, in most seats, almost inconceivable.

On redistribution of parliamentary seats in 1885, he was elected for Mid Glamorganshire, a predominantly mining constituency, which included the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore valleys Despite his venerable status the Liberal Association initially considered other candidates including Gwilym Williams and J. Carvell Williams.

Talbot, at this time, was asked by William Abraham for his views on the election of labour representatives to the House of Commons, and specifically the desirability of a labour member representing the new Rhondda constituency. Talbot replied as follows:

"I am of opinion that there has always hitherto been a great dearth of such members in the House of Commons, and that if a few really able men were elected, the proceedings in Parliament would be all the more likely to give satisfaction to the bulk of the labouring classes. We have plenty of employers of labour in the House, and many amongst them who profess to have the interest of their men at heart, and we have also a large number who from sentimental or philosophical motives advocate the promotion of the welfare of the people. But none of these men possess that intimate acquaintance with the peculiarities and specialties of mining operations which men who have themselves had experience as workmen in the mine have acquired, and they are often led in consequence to legislate on what they believe to be the interest of their constituents, but in what really is to their injury. Hence it is that I believe the presence of real working men in the House would be of vast advantage to the community at large, and I should be very glad to hear that the electors in the new Rhondda division entertained the same feeling, and were likely to send one of their own body to represent them."

Even though Talbot had reconciled himself with Gladstonian Liberalism to a significant extent, he had very little time for subjects relating specifically to Wales. He refused to take any part in the campaigns for Welsh disestablishment and Welsh intermediate education, in contrast to his fellow Glamorgan member, Hussey Vivian. Above all, he was firmly opposed to the Cymru Fydd movement. which demanded Welsh Home Rule.

Having initially opposed Irish Home Rule, there was criticism of his standpoint, particularly in the Maesteg area. He complained to his fellow county member, Hussey Vivian, that he had a meeting with Maesteg Liberals and although they were friendly to his face, 'I am told that [they] became quarrelsome after I left, and suggested various substitutes'. A few weeks later, however, a meeting of the Association at Briton Ferry which, significantly, was not attended by delegates from some industrial districts, unanimously re-adopted Talbot, stating that he had 'made great progress towards the views they, as an association, held'.

Although at heart a Liberal Unionist, Talbot also supported a range of Gladstonian policies and this was undoubtedly a factor in preventing opposition at the 1886 General Election.

He retained his seat until his death, becoming Father of the House of Commons. He was described as "a tall, elderly gentleman ... wearing a long woollen comforter" in Sir Henry Lucy's Diary of the Salisbury Parliament for 10 June 1888 which was published in book form in 1892.

Talbot was the last Whig aristocratic landowner to represent Glamorgan in the House of Commons and, upon his death in 1890, he was succeeded by Samuel Thomas Evans, the nonconformist son of a Skewen tradesman, and a prominent radical.

Legacy and family
On 31 October 1880, Talbot laid the foundation stone of Maesteg Town Hall, Maesteg. He gave £500 (£ today) towards the building fund, and the miners of the valley agreed to levy themselves a day's wages towards the cost.

In Llanfair, his name still survives in "Talbot Terrace". In 1865 there was a public house in the village called the "Talbot Arms."

Talbot married Lady Charlotte Butler, daughter of The 1st Earl of Glengall, at Cahir House, County Tipperary, on 28 December 1835. She died at Malta on 23 March 1846, where the Talbots were on their yacht Galatea.

Talbot's only son Theodore died in 1876 following a hunting accident. Hence the dedication to St. Theodore of an Anglo-Catholic parish in the east of Port Talbot. It was therefore his daughter Emily Charlotte Talbot (1840–1918) who inherited her father's fortune and became just as notable in the development of ports and railways. Another daughter, Olive Talbot, founded an Anglican theological college in Aberdare which subsequently moved to Cardiff Road, Llandaff; it was called St. Michael's College. Lt.-Col. Sir John Mansel Miller was his great-grandson.

title: Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot


text:
Duets (film)

Duets is a 2000 American road trip film co-produced and directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by John Byrum. The motion picture features an ensemble cast with Gwyneth Paltrow, Huey Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Maria Bello, Angie Dickinson, Scott Speedman, and Andre Braugher among others. The movie "revolves around the little known world of karaoke competitions and the wayward characters who inhabit it."

Plot
The story revolves around unrelated pairs of people who spend time in karaoke bars across the United States in the week leading up to a big contest in Omaha.

Ricky Dean, a hustler on the karaoke circuit, travels from town to town feigning ambivalence of karaoke, then winning both the contests and side bets with locals. Detoured by a phone call, he travels to Las Vegas for the funeral of an ex; while there, he meets his daughter Liv, with whom he has not had contact for many years.

Seeking a father figure after her mother's death, Liv joins him against his wishes on the road, both singing solos at karaoke bars. They are involved in a bar fight when one of Ricky's marks retaliates.

Depressed California salesman Todd Woods, so exhausted from business travel he does not even know what city he is in. Arriving home, his wife Candy and two children are too self-absorbed to even say hello. He walks out on his family and his old life, driving aimlessly. He wanders into a karaoke bar in New Mexico, where a fellow participant offers beta blockers to help him overcome his anxiety and stage fright. Todd gets hooked on the drugs as he keeps driving.

In Utah, Todd picks up hitchhiker Reggie Kane, a charismatic but violent fugitive convict, who recently robbed at gunpoint a truck driver who gave him a lift. They form an unlikely friendship after Reggie reveals a beautiful singing voice during a duet at a karaoke bar. Todd's mental health deteriorates further as Reggie tries to keep him out of trouble; he first has to drag Todd out of a hotel when he threatens the clerk with a gun; then, after he causes a standoff at a service station, Reggie shoots and kills the attendant. Reggie arranges for Candy to meet them in Omaha, but an emotionless Todd rejects her, insisting he is finished with his former life.

Cincinnati-based underachieving cab driver and once aspiring priest Billy goes on a drinking binge after catching his partner cheating on him. He meets Suzi Loomis, a broke drifter who gets by on karaoke contest prizes and sexual favors. Neither respects the other's lifestyle, but Billy nonetheless agrees to drive her to California, stopping at karaoke bars for her to compete along the way.

All three pairs end up at the Omaha contest, each having won the right to compete there for $5,000 after winning in a smaller town. Finally accepting his daughter, Ricky invites her to perform a duet of her mother's favorite song, "Cruisin'". Billy discovers that Suzi has stage fright when he finds her in the ladies' room, vomiting, but he convinces her to compete. Reggie sees the police arrive, investigating the service station shooting. Performing an a cappella version of "Free Bird", he pulls his gun on stage, prompting police to shoot him; putting the full blame for the service station shooting on Reggie, and freeing Todd to return to his family.

After the contest, Billy and Suzi continue on their way to California. Billy invites Liv (with whom he had been flirting at the contest) and Ricky to join them, and they resolve to take a slight detour to another karaoke contest in Nevada. Todd and Candy fly home together on his frequent flyer miles.

Cast

 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Liv Dean
 * Huey Lewis as Ricky Dean
 * Maria Bello as Suzi Loomis
 * Andre Braugher as Reggie Kane
 * Paul Giamatti as Todd Woods
 * Scott Speedman as Billy Hannan
 * Lochlyn Munro as Ronny Jackson
 * Angie Dickinson as Blair

 * John Pinette as Finals singer
 * Michael Bublé as Finals singer
 * Maya Rudolph as Omaha Hostess
 * Keegan Connor Tracy as Shelia
 * Kiersten Warren as Candy Woods
 * Marian Seldes as Harriet Gahagan
 * Brent Butt as Hotel clerk
 * Aaron Pearl as Buddy
 * Steve Oatway as Ralph Beckerman

Production
Bruce Paltrow spent several years trying to get the project started. The film was produced outside Disney's main production channels and was acquired and financed by Buena Vista Film Sales and was distributed through Hollywood Pictures.

This was the only time Gwyneth Paltrow and her producer/director father Bruce Paltrow worked together on a film project, and it was also Bruce Paltrow's last production before his death.

Brad Pitt was first cast in Speedman's role, but, after he and Gwyneth Paltrow announced the end of their off-camera romance, Pitt decided not to take the role.

Film locations
The film locations include Las Vegas, Nevada; British Columbia, Canada; and Los Angeles, California.

Reception
The film received a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes according to 92 critics, with the consensus being "Duets suffers from sloppy direction and stretches credibility. Also, the characters are uninteresting and it's hard to care about what happens to them."

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a thumbs down on his television program, and wrote on his newspaper review, "Duets has little islands of humor and even perfection, floating in a sea of missed marks and murky intentions." Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times, described the film as "six characters in search of a movie. Any movie will do..."

Critic Bob Graham, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, liked the spirit of the film and the acting, and he wrote, "Cut 'Duets' some slack. This is an appealing, and ultimately moving, ensemble comedy/drama about ordinary folks whose one chance at anything resembling stardom is a karaoke contest...The fable style is a fragile one. The Ally McBeal test probably applies here. Fans of that show are likely to give themselves over to Duets, too."

Variety critic Todd McCarthy singled out Giamatti's work and character, writing, "Giamatti gets the lion's share of Byrum's good lines and if the film is to go over with auds, it will be largely due to this character and performance, which reps one of the funniest sustained rants against the lowest common denominator in American culture that has been seen in ages."

Overall, many critics echoed Stephanie Zacharek's review in Salon.com. She wrote, "Its three interlocking stories don't find the right rhythmic balance, and some of the dialogue is stiff and mannered." Zacharek did praise the acting and the film's message. She added, "In that respect, the way Duets treats its characters is refreshing. There are brief moments when it reminds us that plenty of people enjoy karaoke at the expense of their audience (during one scene an Asian businessman warbles tunelessly in the background), but Duets isn't out to make anyone look ridiculous."

Distribution
The producers marketed the film using the following tagline: "Six lost souls in search of a little harmony."

The film was first presented at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2000. When released nationwide on September 15, 2000, it suffered at the box office. The first week's gross sales at the box office was $2,002,588 (581 screens) and the total receipts for the run were $4,734,235.

In its widest release the film was featured in 583 theaters and the film was in circulation for seven weeks. The production budget was $16,000,000.

Home media
A VHS videocassette and DVD of the film was released on May 8, 2001 by Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment. The DVD contained additional features: a commentary track by director Bruce Paltrow and producer Kevin Jones, additional scenes, conversations with director Bruce Paltrow, and a multi-angle music video of "Cruisin'."

A bare bones Blu-ray version of the film was released on May 15, 2012 from Mill Creek Entertainment. Kino Lorber, porting over the bonus material on the DVD, re-released it on Blu-ray on May 5, 2019.

Soundtrack
An original motion picture soundtrack album was released on September 12, 2000, by Hollywood Records. The CD contained twelve tracks, including original music composed for the film by David Newman. Actors Huey Lewis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti, and Maria Bello all performed the songs featured in the film, while professional vocalist Arnold McCuller sings all of Andre Braugher's parts including the a cappella version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".

The soundtrack spawned two hit singles in Australia, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis' "Cruisin'" which spent two weeks at No. 1. and Paltrow's "Bette Davis Eyes" which hit # 3 there. Cruisin' did even better in New Zealand, spending five weeks at No. 1.

Michael Bublé has a cameo singing "Strangers in the Night", but the song is not included on the soundtrack.

title: Duets (film)


text:
Milton Reckord

Milton Atchison Reckord (December 28, 1879 – September 8, 1975) was an officer in the Maryland Army National Guard and United States Army. The longtime Adjutant General of Maryland, he was a veteran of the Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, and World War II. Reckord attained the rank of major general, and was a recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal (four awards) and the Bronze Star Medal. In addition, Reckord received the French Legion of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre with palm for his World War I service, the French Croix de Guerre with palm for his World War II service, the French Legion of Honor (Officer), and the British Order of the Bath (honorary Knight Commander). In 1961, Governor J. Millard Tawes conferred on Reckord a state promotion to lieutenant general, and continued serving as adjutant general until retiring in 1966.

Early life
Reckord was born to John and Lydia (Zimmerman) Reckord at their home in Harford County, Maryland. He commenced work at his father's milling plant in 1896 upon his graduation from Bel Air High School.

Military career
Reckord expressed desire to serve in the military, but, at the request of his mother, delayed entry into service until he turned 21. He enlisted in Company D, 1st Maryland Infantry, Maryland National Guard on February 15, 1901, and would eventually rise to command the same company when he was commissioned as a captain in December 1904. As a major, in 1916, Reckord was given command of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Maryland Infantry, which deployed to the Mexican border and served in the Mexican Expedition commanded by Gen. John J. Pershing. When the 29th Infantry Division was created on the eve of World War I in 1917, Reckord was given command of one of its regiments, the 115th Infantry, which saw combat during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In 1920, he was appointed Adjutant General of the Maryland National Guard and, in 1934, while still serving as Maryland's Adjutant General, he assumed command of the 29th Infantry Division.

During the years between the First and Second World War, Reckord was a leading advocate for increasing the role of the National Guard in the United States' national defensive strategy. From 1923 to 1925, he served as president of the National Guard Association of the United States. In 1933, he authored legislation that permanently gave National Guard personnel status as both state and federal troops. Reckord was mobilized for World War II with the 29th Infantry Division in February 1941 and took a leave of absence from his post as Maryland's Adjutant General. Deemed by the Army to be too old to command a division in combat, he was relieved of command and assigned as the commander of the III Corps Area. He later deployed overseas and was named Theater Provost Marshal, European Theater of Operations.

After World War II, Reckord returned to his post as the Adjutant General of Maryland. He received a state promotion to Lieutenant General from Governor J. Millard Tawes in 1961, and continued to serve as Adjutant General until his retirement in 1966.

Death and burial
Record died at Fort Howard Veterans Hospital in Fort Howard, Maryland, on September 8, 1975. He was buried at Mountain Christian Church Cemetery in Joppa, Maryland.

Family
In 1910, Reckord married Bessie Payne Roe. They were the parents of a daughter, Gladys Atchison Reckord. Mrs. Reckord died on January 17, 1943, and Reckord never remarried. After retiring, he resided in Ruxton, Maryland, with his daughter and her husband, H. Frederick Jones Jr.

Memberships
In his military life, Reckord was a leader of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), and served as its president from 1923 to 1925. In the years after World War II, Reckord was chairman of the NGAUS Committee on Legislation, and was the first individual to be appointed a life member of the NGAUS Executive Council. He was also a member of the Adjutants General Association of the United States (AGAUS), the 29th Infantry Division Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, and the Army and Navy Club.

In his civilian life, Reckord was a member of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) beginning in 1920, and served on the organization's Executive Council and as its executive vice president. He served as president of both the Maryland Jockey Club, which owned Pimlico Race Course, and the Hartford Agricultural and Breeders Association, which owned Havre de Grace Racetrack. In addition, he belonged to the Freemasons, Maryland Club, Baltimore Country Club, Advertising Club of Baltimore, and Racquet Club of Washington, D.C.

Legacy
The Reckord Trophy is a prize awarded annually to the Army National Guard battalion(s) that achieves the highest standards of training and readiness. The Reckord Trophy is one of the highest peacetime awards given to National Guard units. The Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland is named after General Reckord.

Honors
Reckord was the recipient of several honorary degrees, including: Franklin & Marshall College (LL.D., 1943); Western Maryland College (Doctor of Military Science and Tactics, 1943); the University of Maryland (LL.D., 1944); and Pennsylvania Military College (LL.D., 1944).

Reckord Armory, a recreation and athletics building on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, was named for Reckord in 1961.

There is also a National Guard facility in the town of Bel Air, Maryland known as Reckord Armory. No longer used for military activities, it is now a facility for public events including weddings, trade shows, and business meetings.

In 1950, Reckord was the first recipient of the National Guard Association of the United States Distinguished Service Medal. Also in 1950, Reckord received the American Legion's Distinguished Service Medal.

Awards and medals
Reckford's decorations include the following:

title: Milton Reckord


text:
Virginia–Highland

Virginia–Highland (often nicknamed "VaHi") is an affluent neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, founded in the early 20th century as a streetcar suburb. It is named after the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue, the heart of its trendy retail district at the center of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is famous for its bungalows and other historic houses from the 1910s to the 1930s. It has become a destination for people across Atlanta with its eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as for the Summerfest festival, annual Tour of Homes and other events.

In 2011 readers of Creative Loafing voted Virginia–Highland "Best Overall Neighborhood." In June 2011, Atlanta Magazine designated Virginia Highland "favorite neighborhood overall". In 2012 readers of Creative Loafing voted VaHi "Best Walkable Neighborhood". In 2020, Southern Living editors named Virginia–Highland number 4 on their “The South’s Best Neighborhoods” list.

Name
Newspaper articles from the early 1920s refer to the "Virginia Highland" section of Atlanta with regard to the area around the intersection of Virginia and Highland avenues. Later in the 1920s, southeast of this intersection, the "Virginia Highlands" (with an "s") subdivision was built. However, neither term appeared again in the press until the 1970s.

During the revolt against the construction of the I-485 freeway through Morningside and what is now Virginia–Highland, a pro-highway group called themselves the "Highland–Virginia Civic Association", claiming to speak for the neighborhood. When Joe Drolet and other residents formed a group to oppose the highway in Fall 1971, they chose the name "Virginia–Highland Civic Association". With the victory of the anti-highway forces, the Virginia–Highland name stuck and the press started to use it to refer to the entire neighborhood between Amsterdam, Ponce, Piedmont Park and Druid Hills.

Around Atlanta, "Virginia–Highland", "Virginia Highlands" and "the Highlands" are all commonly heard. However, "Virginia–Highland" is the official name of the neighborhood. The other terms are included in some business names, but are technically incorrect.

The term VaHi, imitating the New York style of naming neighborhoods (SoHo, TriBeCa), first was used in the Atlanta newspapers in 1998. It is now in common use as a shortened, playful form or in URLs of neighborhood media and organizations (examples are www.vahi.org).

History
The first record of settlement of the area that is now Virginia–Highland was in 1812, when William Zachry bought and built a farm on 202.5 acre of land there. In 1822 he sold his farm to Richard Copeland Todd (1792–1850). Todd's brother-in-law Hardy Ivy settled in 1832 in what is now Downtown Atlanta and the road between their two farms came to be known as Todd Road (a portion of which still exists in Virginia–Highland).

"Nine Mile Circle"
In the 1880s, Georgia Railroad executive Richard Peters and real estate developer George Washington Adair organized the Atlanta Street Railway Company. Their first project was the Nine Mile Trolley, which started serving the area sometime between 1888 and 1890. At first, patrons used this streetcar line to visit "the countryside" outside the city, and the line stimulated later development in the area. Adair built his home at 964 Rupley Drive (still standing and divided into upscale apartments). The iconic curves in the street at the intersections of Virginia Ave. with N. Highland and Monroe are remnants of the trolley line, which required gentle curves. The Trolley Square Apartments (now "Virginia Highlands [sic] Apartments") near Virginia and Monroe were built on the site of trolley maintenance facilities.

Residential development
The first land to be subdivided in what is now Virginia–Highland was Highland Park in the 1890s, located on either side of Ponce de Leon Ave. between today's Barnett St. and N. Highland Ave. The majority of the houses and streets in Virginia–Highland were constructed between 1909 and 1926. In 1916 the Arc Light Controversy raged between neighbors on Adair Ave. and N. Highland Ave.

Commercial development
Some businesses opened around the intersection of Virginia and N. Highland starting in 1908, with many more opening starting in 1925. At the same time development started in the Atkins Park commercial district around St. Charles. Ave. and N. Highland, including the present-day Atkins Park Restaurant (1922), which reportedly got what is now Atlanta's oldest liquor license when it became a bar and restaurant in 1927. Between 1928 and 1930, the Howard Dry Cleaning Company and the Phelps Millard Grocery opened, anchoring the Amsterdam and N. Highland business district. The Samuel N. Inman School, named after the nineteenth-century cotton merchant, was built in 1923. In 1924, fire station 19 was built on N. Highland at Los Angeles Ave.

Streetcar service to Virginia–Highland ended around 1947, along with all of the other trolley lines into and out of central Atlanta.

Decline
Virginia–Highland, like most intown Atlanta neighborhoods, suffered decline starting in the 1960s as residents moved to the suburbs. Less-affluent residents moved in, some single-family houses were turned into apartments, and crime increased. Some businesses closed and were replaced by lower-rent tenants such as pawn shops. Others, such as Moe’s and Joe’s (which opened in 1947) and Atkins Park Restaurant, stayed open. Many buildings deteriorated.

Failed proposal of I-485 and alternative development

What could have been the death knell for the neighborhood sounded in the mid-1960s, when the Georgia Department of Transportation proposed building Interstate 485 to connect what is now Freedom Parkway through the neighborhood and to what is now Georgia 400 at Interstate 85. It would have included an interchange at Virginia Avenue where John Howell Memorial Park is today. Despite the I-485 proposal moving forward, a few middle-class families began moving back into the neighborhood, renovating homes.

In Fall 1971, Joseph (Joe) Drolet and others founded the Virginia–Highland Civic Association (VHCA), whose mission was to defeat I-485, and registered the association with the Georgia Secretary of State on August 22, 1972. They along with residents of Stone Mountain, Inman Park, and Morningside finally defeated I-485, and became a political force to be reckoned with. The current Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) system is an outgrowth of these events. In 2009, the original north/south freeway (connecting 675 to 400) was again put on GDOT's to-do list, but this time running in a tunnel underneath the neighborhoods, with buildings to vent exhaust fumes and smog above ground.

Between 1972 and 1975, property values increased from 20 to 50 percent. Home ownership levels rose 20 percent. A tour of renovated homes started in 1972. The Georgia Department of Transportation began selling properties it had acquired for I-485, virtually all of them for infill housing. The 3 acre of land on Virginia Avenue where 11 houses had been taken and demolished to make way for a Virginia Avenue exit, however, was finally opened in 1988 as John Howell Memorial Park, in memory of Virginia–Highland resident and anti-freeway activist John Howell, who died from complications of HIV in 1988.

In the early 1980s, Atkins Park restaurant was renovated. Meanwhile, Stuart Meddin bought and renovated the 1925 commercial block at North Highland and Virginia.

In 1988, the turn-of-the-century trolley barns on 5 acres on Virginia Avenue on the east side of the BeltLine Eastside Trail (today's Virginia–Highland Apartments) were torn down despite the City Council and VHCA's attempts to save them. Although previously assuring local residents that he favored saving the historic structures, Mayor Andrew Young then vetoed the resolution, and the Council's vote of 11-3 was not enough to override it. Young cited the discovery of asbestos in the buildings and other hazardous materials on the property.

Metro-wide destination
As the neighborhood continued to regentrify, property values increased rapidly; the shops and restaurants became progressively more upscale. Towards the end of the 90s, the neighborhood-oriented character of the business districts gave way to businesses serving patrons from across greater Atlanta. Virginia–Highland wrestled with traffic and parking issues. Apartments affordable to students became more difficult to find.

In 2000, a spat among organizers and a shakeup in the organizing committee made local headlines. However, Summerfest did continue as usual in 2001 as one of Atlanta's highest profile neighborhood festivals.

Preservation and balance
In November 2006, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation added Virginia–Highland to its list of "places in peril" due to an acceleration of teardowns and infill projects by real estate developers and newcomers to the area. However, Virginia–Highland remains one of the most architecturally historic, distinct and vibrant neighborhoods in Atlanta.

Residents, through the VHCA, succeeded in getting the city council to pass zoning legislation prescribing development that fits the scale of the streets, rolling back loose zoning ordinances passed in the 1960s. The new zoning also prescribes a maximum number of each type of establishment – restaurants, bars, retail and other types.

The zoning aims to preserve a vibrant mix of enterprises while keeping control noise, parking and traffic issues but also addresses specific problems which came up in 2005-2008:
 * Avoiding Virginia–Highland suffering the same fate as Buckhead Village, where a large number of bars opened, eventually attracting crime from other areas of the city.
 * Fighting a liquor permit for the 700-seat Hilan Theatre ).
 * Opposing "The Mix@841" project at 841 N. Highland Ave., originally proposed to be 80 feet tall.

In December 2008 the VHCA bought the land for New Highland Park, a small 0.41 acre park at N. Highland and St. Charles.

In Autumn 2010, a rash of seven muggings occurred, statistics which were far lower than those of the 1980s when the neighborhood was edgy, but in 2010 shaking up the neighborhood. Partly in response, the local security patrol, FBAC, expanded patrol coverage to the entire neighborhood. Shortly thereafter in Nov. 2010 Charles Boyer was murdered during a mugging, for which the "Jack Boys" were indicted in Jan. 2011. Police continued to step up patrols and since then Virginia–Highland has returned to its status as one of Atlanta's lower-crime neighborhoods.

Currently the neighborhood is enjoying adjacent development projects including a new biking and walking trail along the BeltLine Eastside Trail from Piedmont Park to Inman Park, as well as the redeveloped Ponce City Market, the old Sears building, now a major multi-use development. Behind Ponce City Market is Historic Fourth Ward Park, opened in 2011.

In July 2014 the Atlanta City Council accepted the Virginia–Highland Civic Association's master plan, as a result of which the plan becomes part of the City of Atlanta’s Comprehensive Development Plan.

Location
Virginia–Highland is bounded on the north by Amsterdam Avenue and the neighborhood of Morningside, on the east by the Atlanta city limit/Briarcliff Road and the Druid Hills neighborhood, on the south by Ponce de Leon Avenue and the Poncey–Highland neighborhood, and on the west by the BeltLine Eastside Trail which is the border with Piedmont Park and Midtown.

Atkins Park
Within these boundaries is Atkins Park, a neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Atlanta recognizes Atkins Park as a separate neighborhood, however, Atkins Park is a part of the Virginia–Highland Civic Association.

St. Charles-Greenwood
St. Charles-Greenwood had its own neighborhood association in the 1980s, but was then absorbed into Virginia–Highland.

Commercial districts

Virginia–Highland is one of many intown Atlanta neighborhoods characterized by commercial space of two sorts:
 * groups of small commercial units clustered at corner where the streetcars used to stop (e.g. N. Highland Ave. at St. Charles and Virginia)
 * commercial space in former warehouses and industrial buildings, especially, but not exclusively, along the BeltLine Eastside Trail (e.g. Amsterdam Walk and Ponce de Leon Place)

Such "streetcar corner" nodes are located at Virginia at North Highland — the neighborhood's namesake and main shopping and dining area, well known since the 1990s for its restaurants, St. Charles at North Highland, Amsterdam at North Highland, and Virginia at Rosedale Drive. Amsterdam Walk, a shopping and entertainment complex built in what was originally part of the Campbell Coal Company warehouse. Ponce de Leon Place also has a concentration of warehouse space converted to commercial use.

Just across the BeltLine Eastside Trail from the western border of Virginia–Highland are two major strip malls, Midtown Place and Midtown Promenade. Adjacent is the former Sears building, now Ponce City Market, with office, retail and residential space, and a gourmet food hall.

Architecture

Virginia–Highland is best known for its oldest residences – the Craftsman bungalows that line the streets closest to which or on which the Nine Mile trolley ran: Virginia Avenue, North Highland Avenue, St. Charles Avenue, etc. Other architectural styles include English Vernacular Revival and Colonial Revival, and other house types include English Cottage and American Foursquare.

Besides the churches noted below, some other landmarks of note are:
 * Fire station 19 (1924), built in 1924 in the bungalow style. Atlanta's oldest operating fire station at 1063 N. Highland Ave.
 * The Adair mansion at 964 Rupley Drive, now divided into condominiums.
 * Briarcliff Hotel (1925) (photo), 1050 Ponce De Leon Ave. at N. Highland.
 * The Colonnades residential building
 * the Hilan Theatre (1932)
 * Atkins Park Tavern (1922)
 * Belly, a delicatessen, formerly the Atkins Park Pharmacy (1914), later Fleeman's Pharmacy

Virginia–Highland and Atkins Park are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), with Atkins Park having in addition the status of historic overlay district which, unlike a NRHP listing by itself, actually provides for measures to enforce preservation. The VHCA is investigating the possibilities of designating Virginia–Highland a historic overlay district as well.

Government
Virginia–Highland is a neighborhood of Atlanta, which unlike in many other cities, are officially defined and organized and given specific areas of control. The Virginia–Highland Civic Association consists of a volunteer board and oversees matters controlled at the neighborhood level such as community festivals, community safety, beautification, and efforts to improve parks, sidewalks, etc. As noted above, the Atkins Park neighborhood, while having its own neighborhoods association, participates in the VaHi association much as if it were part of VaHi. Planning, building permits, etc. are controlled by the Neighborhood planning unit F, which also includes Morningside-Lenox Park, Piedmont Heights and Lindridge-Martin Manor.

Crime prevention
Virginia–Highland serves as a model for other neighborhoods of Atlanta in implementing a comprehensive range of safety measures:
 * Virginia–Highland is part of APD patrol zone 6.
 * FBAC is the neighborhood security patrol, funded by members, run by volunteers and staffed by off-duty APD officers.
 * The VaHi Civic Association organizes a neighborhood watch program via its Safety Team.
 * VHAlerts is a system which leverages the text-message features of Twitter to allow members to text-message all other members in case of a dangerous situation in the neighborhood.

Parks

Virginia–Highland borders:
 * Atlanta's landmark Piedmont Park (vastly expanded in 2011)
 * the Eastside Trail, part of the BeltLine, a former railroad line, now a 22-mile trail around the central neighborhoods of Atlanta. The BeltLine features dozens of outdoor artworks along its length through the Art on the BeltLine project.

Within the boundaries of Virginia–Highland are:
 * John Howell Memorial Park, along Virginia Ave. between Barnett and Arcadia Streets
 * Orme Park, bounded by Brookridge Dr. and Elkmont Dr., through which Clear Creek runs
 * North Highland Park, which the civic association bought in 2008 and were developed in 2012 as an eco-friendly park and rain garden

In 2014, residents cleaned up and beautified the unpaved alley between St. Charles Avenue and Ponce, and it is now known as Maiden Trail.

"Neighborhood Arboretum"
Virginia–Highland has one of seven Atlanta "neighborhood arboreta", which are in fact walking routes of trees (identified by markers) in yards, sidewalk planting strips, and parks. A brochure maps out the route and the trees along each route, as well as educating visitors about the trees.

Festivals
On the first weekend in June, the Virginia–Highland Civic Association (VHCA) hosts the yearly Virginia–Highland Summerfest arts and music festival, which also includes a popular road race, and is one of the largest art festivals in the Southeastern United States and one of Atlanta's most popular neighborhood festivals. VHCA also organizes the annual Virginia–Highland Tour of Homes in December. In May, A Taste of the Highlands in John Howell Park features samplings from favorite neighborhood restaurants and live music. Every March or April, the North Highland Mile (formerly Morningside Mile) race and block party takes place.

Film and television
Portions of the films Life as We Know It (the bakery portrayed was the real-life Belly General Store) and Trouble with the Curve (George's restaurant) were filmed in Virginia–Highland. Portions of the pilot for the "B.E.T." network's Being Mary Jane were filmed at 780 N. Highland Ave. in April 2012.

Religion
Virginia–Highland is home to a number of churches:
 * Church of Our Saviour (Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian) – current building mid-1930s
 * Druid Hills Presbyterian Church – built 1923, expanded 1940, 1963
 * First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church – built 1924
 * Virginia–Highland Church UCC – built 1923

The Chabad Intown synagogue is located on Ponce de Leon Place.

Eruv
The Virginia–Highland eruv covers nearly all of Virginia–Highland as well as part of the Morningside-Lenox Park neighborhood up to E. Rock Springs Road/E. Morningside Drive. The eruv is "marked off" by defining utility poles as "sides of the doorways" and the wires as the "lintels" (tops of doorways). Within its boundaries observant Jews are allowed to do certain things on the Sabbath that they would not normally be allowed to do outside the home, such as carry keys or food.

Education
The community is zoned to Atlanta Public Schools.

Zoned schools include:
 * Springdale Park Elementary
 * David T. Howard Middle School
 * Midtown High School

Transportation
Virginia–Highland is served by the following MARTA bus routes which also connect it to MARTA rail lines:
 * 2 along Ponce de Leon to North Avenue rail station or to both Inman Park and Candler Park/Edgewood rail stations
 * 6 along Briarcliff to Emory or to Inman Park rail station
 * 16 along N. Highland (southbound turns onto Ralph McGill ending at Five Points rail station)
 * 36 from Midtown rail station, Virginia Avenue, north on N. Highland, east on Decatur to Emory, Decatur and Avondale rail station
 * 99 west from Monroe and Virginia along 10th Street to Midtown rail station; south from Monroe and Virginia along Boulevard

The neighborhood was long served by streetcar line #15 which later became bus line #45. Bus line 45 was discontinued in 2010.

Noted residents
Noted residents of Virginia–Highland, past and present, include:
 * Margaret Edson, 1999 Pulitzer Prize winner for the play Wit, as of February 2012 a social-studies teacher at Inman Middle School
 * Don Lemon, CNN journalist, author
 * Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns, the story of African American migration from the South to the North
 * Dr. Leila Denmark lived on Kentucky Avenue and then Hudson Drive in the 1930s and 1940s. Dr. Denmark was the world's oldest practicing pediatrician until her retirement in May 2001 at the age of 103. At her death in 2012 she was the 4th-oldest verified living person in the world.
 * Green B. Adair (c. 1837-1914), fertilizer magnate, had his summer house at what is now the Adair Mansion from 1895-1911.
 * Richard Copeland Todd (1792–1852), Atlanta pioneer. In 1822 Todd and his wife Martha settled a homestead located at what is now 816 Greenwood Avenue.

title: Virginia–Highland


text:
Gerald Haslam

Gerald William Haslam (March 18, 1937 – April 13, 2021) was an author focused on rural and small towns in California's Great Central Valley including its poor and working-class people of all colors. A native of Oildale, California, Haslam has received numerous literary awards.

Early life and education
Haslam was born in Bakersfield, California in 1937. The son of an oil worker, he grew up in nearby Oildale where Merle Haggard was a neighbor. He attended Garces Memorial High School before working as a farm field hand, a store clerk and an oil field roustabout and roughneck. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958 through 1960. He attended Bakersfield College 1955–57, 1960–61, then married Janice Eileen Pettichord in 1961. He later attended San Francisco State University, where he earned a B.A. in 1963 and an M.A. in 1965. Haslam also attended, and gave great credit to, Washington State University, 1965 and 1966. He completed a Ph.D. from The Union Graduate School (Cincinnati, OH), in 1980. He played college football, ran track and boxed in the Golden Gloves. He is a member of the Bakersfield College Track/Cross-country Hall of Fame.

Career
Haslam was a professor of English at Sonoma State University (SSU) from 1967 to 1997. After becoming a professor emeritus, he occasionally taught for the Oscher Lifelong Learning program (Sonoma State University). He taught part time at the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning at the University of San Francisco from 2001 to 2015.

Concurrent with his teaching at SSU, Haslam published numerous articles and stories in national and regional magazines. He was a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday magazine and was a Contributing Writer for the Los Angeles Times Sunday magazine, and continued to be an op-ed contributor to the Sacramento Bee. Haslam also served as a commentator for KQED-FM's "The California Report." His writing is widely anthologized.

With his wife Janice E. Haslam, Haslam examined the life of Senator S. I. Hayakawa (In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa) and the life of a Depression migrant (Leon Patterson: A California Story). Reviewer David Peck labeled Haslam "the quintessential California writer." ("Gerald Haslam. the Heartland's Voice," The Californians, Jan.-Feb., 1988).

Personal life
Haslam's wife, Janice Eileen Haslam, has edited all his books and co-authored three of them. They resided in Penngrove, California. They are the parents of Fred Haslam, lead developer of Sim City 2000; of "Anomalies" website developer Garth Haslam; and of magazine editor Alexandra Russell, who has been her father's partner on two books. His other two children—research biologist Simone Haslam Sawyer and Carlos Haslam, a vivarium manager -— are not involved in writing or publishing. He was also survived by 14 grandchildren.

According to Russell, Haslam died of prostate cancer at Petaluma Valley Hospital in Petaluma on April 13, 2021, aged 84, which was confirmed by an article in The Press Democrat. Haslam wrote his own obituary, which was discovered shortly after his death.

Literary awards

 * 2016 Eric Hoffer Legacy Fiction Award (from US Review of Books) for Grace Period
 * 2016 Eric Hoffer Culture Award, Honorable Mention, (from US Review of Books) for Leon Patterson: A California Story
 * 2013 Award of Merit (from the American Association for State and Local History) for In Thought and Action
 * 2013 S. I. Hayakawa Book Prize (from the Institute of General Semantics) for In Thought and Action
 * 2006 Josephine Miles Award (from PEN Oakland) for Haslam's Valley
 * 2005 Delbert and Edith Wylder Award (from the Western Literature Association)
 * 2004 Certificate of Commendation (from the California Arts Council)
 * 2001 Western States Book Award (fiction) for Straight White Male
 * 2001 Silver Medal (from FOREWORD magazine) for Straight White Male
 * 2001 Carey McWilliams Award (from the California Studies Association)
 * 2001 Certificate of Commendation (from the American Association for State and Local History) for Workin' Man Blues
 * 2000 Ralph J. Gleason Award (from Rolling Stone, BMI and NYU) for Workin' Man Blues
 * 1999 Distinguished Achievement Award (from the Western Literature Association)
 * 1994 Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for The Great Central Valley: California's Heartland
 * 1994 Award of Merit (from the American Association for State and Local History) for The Great Central Valley: California's Heartland
 * 1994 Bay Area Book Reviewers' Award for The Great Central Valley: California's Heartland
 * 1993 Benjamin Franklin Award (from Publishers' Marketing Association) for Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State
 * 1990 Josephine Miles Award (from PEN Oakland) for That Constant Coyote
 * 1989 Creative Writing Fellowship (from the California Arts Council)
 * 1988 Honorable Mention, SPUR Short Fiction Award (from Western Writers of America) for "The Estero"
 * 1985 Bernard Ashton Raborg Award (from AMELIA magazine) for "William Saroyan and the Critics"
 * 1983 Special Mention, Pushcart Prize (for "The Man Who Cultivated Fire")
 * 1971 Honorable Mention, Joseph Henry Jackson Award (for "Okies")
 * 1969 Arizona Quarterly Award (for "The Subtle Thread")

Fiction

 * Okies: Selected Stories (1st edition, 1973, New West Publications, 2nd ed, 1974; 3rd ed, Peregrine-Smith, 1975)
 * Masks: A Novel (Old Adobe Press, 1976)
 * The Wages of Sin: Collected Stories (Duck Down Press/ Windriver Books, 1980)
 * Hawk Flights: Visions of the West (Seven Buffaloes Press, 1983)
 * Snapshots: Glimpses of the Other California (Devil Mountain Books, 1985)
 * The Man Who Cultivated Fire (Capra Press, 1987)
 * That Constant Coyote: California Stories (Univ. of Nevada Press, 1990)
 * Condor Dreams & Other Fictions (Univ.of Nevada Press, 1994)
 * The Great Tejon Club Jubilee (Devil Mountain Books, 1996)
 * Manuel and the Madman (Thwack! Pow! Productions, 2000)
 * Straight White Male (Univ. of Nevada Press, 2000)
 * Haslam's Valley (Heyday Books, 2005)
 * Grace Period (Univ. of Nevada Press, 2006)

Non-Fiction

 * The Language of the Oil Fields (Old Adobe Press, 1972)
 * Voices of a Place: Social and Literary Essays from the Other California (Devil Mountain Books, 1987)
 * Coming of Age in California (Devil Mountain Books 1990; second, expanded edition, 2000)
 * The Other California (Capra Press, 1990; second, expanded edition, Univ. of Nevada Press, 1994)
 * The Great Central Valley: California's Heartland (with photographers Stephen Johnson & Robert Dawson; Univ. of California Press, 1993)
 * Workin' Man Blues: Country Music in California (With Alexandra Haslam Russell & Richard Chon, Univ. of California Press, 1999)
 * In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa (with Janice E. Haslam; Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2011)
 * Leon Patterson: A California Story (with Janice E. Haslam, Devil Mountain Books, 2014)

Anthologies edited

 * (ed.) Forgotten Pages of American Literature (Houghton-Mifflin, 1970)
 * (ed.) Western Writing (University of New Mexico Press, 1974)
 * (ed. with James D. Houston) California Heartland: Writing from the Great Central Valley (Capra Press, 1978)
 * (ed. with J. Golden Taylor, et al.) Literary History of the American West (Texas Christian University Press, 1987)
 * (ed.) Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State (University of Nevada Press, 1992; second edition, 1999)
 * (ed. with Alexandra R. Haslam) Where Coyotes Howl and Wind Blows Free: Growing Up in the West (Univ of Nevada Press, 1995)
 * (ed.) Jack London's Golden State: Selected California Writings (Heyday Books, 1999)

Booklets and Monographs

 * William Eastlake (Steck-Vaughn Southwest Writers' Series, 1970)
 * (ed.) Afro-American Oral Literature (Harper & Row, 1974)
 * Jack Schaefer (Boise State University Western Writers' Series, 1976)
 * Voices of a Place: The Great Central Valley (California Academy of Sciences, 1986)
 * Lawrence Clark Powell (Boise State University Western Writers' Series, 1992)
 * (with Stephen Glasser) Out of the Slush Pile (Poets & Writers Inc., 1993)
 * The Horned Toad (Thwack! Pow! Productions, 1995)
 * An Instructor's Guide to Where Coyotes Howl and Wind Blows Free (Univ. of Nevada Press, 1996)
 * Gerald Haslam in Conversation with Jonah Raskin (Sonoma County Literary Arts Guild, 2006)

title: Gerald Haslam


text:
Taba

Taba or TABA may refer to:

Places

 * Burundi
 * Taba, Bururi
 * Taba, Songa

 * Egypt:
 * Taba, Egypt, a town in Egypt near the Gulf of Aqaba
 * Taba Border Crossing, a border crossing between Taba in Egypt and Eilat in Israel
 * Taba Summit, a series of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority held in Taba, Egypt in 2001

 * Rwanda
 * Taba, Rwanda, a commune in Rwanda

 * Solomon Islands

 * Taba, Solomon Islands, a village in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

Others

 * Languages
 * Taba language, an Austronesian language spoken in the northern Maluku Islands of Indonesia

 * Others:
 * The Taba Game, a game with Greek origins popular among Argentinian gauchos
 * TABA – Transportes Aéreos Bandeirantes, a Brazilian airline from 1945 to 1950
 * TABA – Transportes Aéreos da Bacia Amazônica, a Brazilian airline from 1976 to 1999

title: Taba


text:
User:Fantom~enwiki/blog

I'm thinking of creating a blog, but it may not go ahead since not many people would probably read it and it would be taking advantage of Wikipedia's free server space. Of course, if you like the idea you can leave a comment here or on my talk page.

 * Although I know the previous comment came from an unsigned ip (may not be Fantom), I just wanted to point Official Policy on WP:WIN :
 * Wikipedia is not a free host or webspace provider

 * You may not host your own website, blog, or wiki at Wikipedia. If you are interested in using the wiki technology for a collaborative effort on something else, even if it is just a single page, there are many sites (such as Wikicities (http://www.wikicities.com/), SeedWiki (http://www.seedwiki.com/), Emergency Digital (http://www.emergencydigital.com) or Riters.com (http://www.riters.com/)) that provide wiki hosting (free or for money). You can also install wiki software on your server (http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/). Wikipedia pages are not:

 * 1. Personal homepages. Wikipedians have their own personal pages, but they are used for information relevant to working on the encyclopedia. If you are looking to make a personal webpage unrelated to encyclopedia work (e.g. posting your resume), please make use of one of the many free homepage providers on the Internet.
 * 2. File storage areas. Please upload only files that are used (or will be used) in encyclopedia articles; anything else will be deleted. If you have extra relevant images, consider uploading them to the Wikimedia Commons, where they can be linked from Wikipedia.
 * drini ☎ 18:27, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Please see WP:NOT and WP:BLOG. – TWG 09:46, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

title: User:Fantom~enwiki/blog