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Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)

The Field of Mars (Ма́рсово по́ле) is a large square in the centre of Saint Petersburg. Over its long history it has been alternately a meadow, park, pleasure garden, military parade ground, revolutionary pantheon and public meeting place.

The space now covered by the Field of Mars was initially an open area of swampy land between the developments around the Admiralty, and the imperial residence in the Summer Garden. It was drained by the digging of canals in the first half of the eighteenth century, and initially served as parkland, hosting a tavern, post office and the royal menagerie. Popular with the nobility, several leading figures of Petrine society established their town houses around the space in the mid eighteenth century. Under Peter the Great it was laid out with paths for walking and riding, and hosted military parades and festivals. During this period, and under Peter's successors it was called the "Empty Meadow" and the "Great Meadow". Empresses Anna and Elizabeth built their Summer Palaces here, and it was redeveloped into a pleasure park with pavilions and walkways for promenading. Theatres were built on the land during this period, and with the imperial patronage, the square became the "Tsaritsyn Meadow". New townhouses and palaces developed along the square's boundaries and across its frontage onto the Neva. During the reigns of Emperor Paul I and his son Alexander I, the square took on more of a martial purpose, with the construction of military monuments in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In acknowledgement of this, and its role in hosting military reviews and parades, it was renamed the "Field of Mars" in 1805. (Renaming took place in 1818, not 1805, according to the Oxford Revised edition of War And Peace)

The square was part of the further development of the area by architect Carlo Rossi in the late 1810s, involving new buildings around the perimeter, and the extension of streets and frontages. During the nineteenth century the Field of Mars alternately hosted large military reviews, and public festivals. Sports and other leisure activities took place into the early twentieth century. After February 1917 the square became the ceremonial burial place of a number of those killed during the February Revolution. Construction of a memorial, the Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution, took place between 1917 and 1919 at the centre of the Field of Mars. The monument became the centre of an early pantheon of those who died in the service of the nascent Soviet state, and burials of some of the dead of the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, as well as prominent figures in the government, took place between 1917 and 1933. Between 1918 and 1944 the Field of Mars was renamed the "Victims of the Revolution Square". The square was laid out with vegetable gardens to help feed the city during the siege of Leningrad, and also hosted an artillery battery. Restorations took place after the war, including the installation of the first eternal flame in Russia. In the post-Soviet period the Field of Mars has become a popular location for demonstrations and protests.

Location
The square covers an area of nearly 9 ha. Bordering the Field of Mars to the north are the Marble Palace, Suvorov Square, the and the Saltykov Mansions, separated from the square by Millionnaya Street. To the west are the of the Pavlovsky Regiment. The Moyka River forms the boundary to the south, across from which is the Mikhailovsky Palace and Garden. The east side is bounded by the Swan Canal, which separates the Field of Mars from the Summer Garden.

Petrine park
In the early 18th century the land which eventually became the Field of Mars was a marshy area with trees and shrubs, lying between the Neva to the north, and the Mya (now the Moyka) and Krivusha (now the Griboyedov Canal) rivers to the south. With the establishment of the imperial residence in the Summer Garden in 1704, the area became a buffer zone separating the royal property from the rest of the city. Between 1711 and 1721 two canals, the Swan, and the Red, were dug to the east and west respectively with the purpose of draining the land. This created a roughly rectangular parcel of land, initially called simply Pustoi (Пустой), meaning "Empty" - after the trees that grew here were felled, and from the 1720s, the "Great Meadow" (Большой Луг). A tavern was built in the northwestern part of the land in 1712, being rebuilt in 1714 as a post office. Between 1713 and 1717 the area hosted the royal menagerie, containing various birds and animals, including an elephant. With the construction of the Red Canal, the menagerie was transferred to Hamovaya Street (now Mokhovaya Street). With the completion of the Red Canal in 1721, the western edge of the Big Meadow became a popular site for the nobility to construct large townhouses. Those that settled in the area included Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Alexander Rumyantsev, Adam Veyde, and Pavel Yaguzhinsky, and Peter the Great's daughter, Elizabeth Petrovna. With the canals dug to carry away water, the land was soon drained, and on the orders of Peter the Great, it was levelled, cleared and sown with grass, with alleys laid out for walking and riding. The Great Meadow became a location for military parades and festivals. Celebrations of the 1721 Treaty of Nystad were held here, with a triumphal arch built to commemorate the treaty. The area became known as "Amusement Field" (Потешное поле). The Gottorp Globe was initially installed on the field shortly after its arrival in Saint Petersburg, housed in the former elephant quarters. A special building was constructed for it, and opened to the public for a time, before the globe was moved to the Kunstkamera on Vasilyevsky Island in summer 1726.

Imperial meadow
During the reign of Empress Catherine I, the field was termed the "Meadow in front of the Summer Palace" (Луг перед Летним дворцом), and during the reigns of her successors Empress Anna and Empress Elizabeth, it became the site of their Summer Palaces, designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Under Empress Anna, the land was used to host military exercises and parades for two weeks every autumn. After these parades the officers dined in the Summer Palace, while the soldiers ate on the meadow. In February 1740 Empress Anna ordered repairs and improvements to the square, including the planting of trees and the removal of some buildings. Architect Mikhail Zemtsov designed 24 garden pavilions, and oversaw the laying out of new paths and tree planting carried out by Harmen van Bol'es and his apprentice Ilya Surmin. A fountain decorated with dragons, dolphins, and mascarons by Konrad Osner was placed in the centre of the square. Further work took place in the early reign of Empress Elizabeth, with new walkways and tree planting. The square became known as the "Promenade" (Променад), and it continued to house attractions and kiosks on public holidays. It was still a popular location for the houses of the rich and powerful, with the former residence of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp presented by Empress Elizabeth to her favourite, Alexei Razumovsky. Also with their houses here at this period were the court physician Jean Armand de Lestocq and the military commander Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin. In 1750 a theatre, designed by Rastrelli, was built on the square, replacing an earlier one that had stood on the corner of the Catherine Canal and Nevsky Prospect but had burnt down in 1749. The new theatre was of wooden construction on a stone foundation, and had three tiers of boxes. It was built by 353 soldiers of the garrison regiments, and was completed on 25 April. It hosted its first performance, a comedic opera, on 3 May, becoming the first opera house in Russia. It eventually fell into disrepair and was demolished towards the end of the eighteenth century. From 1751 the area in front of the Summer Palace became known as the "Tsaritsyn Meadow". It also hosted the Maly Theatre on the banks of the Moyka, and was the venue of a German troupe led by Karl Knipper, which performed with the pupils of the city's Foundling Home. It was rebuilt in October 1781 by order of Catherine the Great, and continued to host performances. Ivan Dmitrevsky, an actor in the troupe, and later its director, arranged for it to present the first productions of comedic works by Denis Fonvizin, including The Brigadier and The Minor. The theatre also hosted performances of Catherine's own plays, and the first performance of Pierre Beaumarchais's The Barber of Seville in Russia. The Maly Theatre was eventually demolished in 1797 on the orders of the new emperor Paul I. The Theatrical Bridge, part of the Tripartite Bridge, is a reminder of the theatre's existence.

The city continued to expand during the second half of the eighteenth century and large townhouses and palaces were built along the northern boundary of the meadow, along the Neva embankment. The Marble Palace was the first, built between 1765 and 1785. Yury Felten designed the three-storey Lombard building to replace the Razumovsky residence on the west side of the meadow, at the junction with the prestigious Millionnaya Street. A severe flood in 1777 damaged or destroyed many of the features of the Promenade, after which military parades began to be held once more. This largely completed the destruction of the lawns and vegetation. The Red Canal was filled in during 1780, becoming a roadway, which was given the name Tsaritsynskaya Street in 1798. Expansion across the meadow's Neva frontage continued in the 1780s with the construction of the service wing of the Marble Palace, and the and the Saltykov Mansions.

Military parade ground
In 1799 an obelisk designed by Vincenzo Brenna was installed in the centre of the field in honour of Pyotr Rumyantsev, and in 1801 Mikhail Kozlovsky's Suvorov Monument was unveiled on the south side of the field. During the brief reign of Paul I, the Tsaritsyn Meadow was used mainly for military parades and drill, with his son, Alexander I transferring the land from the city authorities to the military. On 16 May 1803 carousels, booths and other amusement pavilions were erected on the land as part of the celebrations of the centenary of the founding of Saint Petersburg. The martial nature of the area was reinforced with the renaming of the Tsaritsyn Meadow as the "Field of Mars" in 1805, commemorating Mars, the God of war in Roman mythology, whom Kozlovsky had depicted Alexander Suvorov as on his monument. The new name also referenced the Campus Martius in Rome and the Champ de Mars in Paris, drawing parallels and asserting that Saint Petersburg was also to be considered as a great European capital. The name "Tsaritsyn Meadow" however continued to appear on some maps up until 1917. Pushkin acknowledged the military connection in his 1833 poem The Bronze Horseman; "I love the military vigour Paraded on the Field of Mars: Stout-hearted foot troops and hussars In orderly and pleasing figure; Torn battle colours held on high; Smart ranks in measured rhythm swaying; Glint of brass helmets, all displaying Proud bullet scars from wars gone by." Military use trampled the remaining grassy surface to dust, which when raised by the soldiers' boots, blew across the city, often settling in the trees of the nearby Summer Garden, and earning the Field of Mars its nickname of the "Saint Petersburg Sahara".

The next major redevelopment of the area was in 1818, with architect Carlo Rossi including it in the development of his architectural ensemble to the south, centred around the Mikhailovsky Palace estate. The Rumyantsev Obelisk was removed to Vasilyevsky Island while the monument to Suvorov was relocated to a new square, later named Suvorov Square, north of the Field of Mars on the Neva embankment, and between the Marble Palace and the Saltykov Mansion. Between 1817 and 1821 a large building alongside the west of the square was built to the design of Vasily Stasov to house the, with the western ensemble completed with houses between the Moyka and the south of the Pavlovsky Regiment building. In 1823, as part of the redevelopment of the land around the Field of Mars and the Mikhailovsky Palace, Sadovaya Street was extended up to the eastern edge of the Field of Mars, joining the pathway running parallel to the Swan Canal, and connecting with Millionaya Street which crossed the northern boundary. From the 1820s the Field of Mars became the main site for military parades in Saint Petersburg. Reviews of the Guard Corps were held every May, prior to the Imperial family's departure for its summer residences, along with parades to mark important events. On 23 September 1829 a prayer service was held after the Russo-Turkish War, and a parade in 1831 celebrated the end of hostilities with Poland following the November Uprising. This parade was depicted in a painting by Grigory Chernetsov, now held in the collections of the Russian Museum. Another review was held on the field on 21 April 1856, marking the ceremonial disbanding of regiments of the national militia that had been raised for service in the Crimean War. Georgiana Bloomfield, wife of the British ambassador John Bloomfield, described the May 1846 review on the field:

"I saw a wonderful sight: Emperor Nicholas displayed 40 thousand troops on the Field of Mars. The day was beautiful and clear, and I had a great place by the window in the palace of the Prince of Oldenburg. At one o'clock all the troops lined up and the emperor with his retinue, which included all the military diplomatic corps, including my husband, rode up to the ranks, the troops shouted 'Hurray!' and the sound of such a multitude of voices shook the air. The Sovereign then approached the Summer Garden and all the troops defiled before him: first the light artillery, then the infantry, behind them cavalry, accompanied by heavy artillery ..." The May military parades ceased during the reign of Alexander III but resumed under his son Nicholas II.

Festival grounds
From 1869 folk festivals once more began to be held on the Field of Mars, marking such events as Maslenitsa, Easter, the Emperor's name day, the coronations of new emperors, and on 30 August, the feast day of the city's patron saint, Alexander Nevsky. Booths, carousels and other entertainments were erected on the field. The newspaper Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya described the 1869 fair:

"People's holidays, as they are now arranged on the Tsaritsa Meadow, have recently been instituted here. The chief of police, adjutant general F. F. Trepov, is responsible for this noble business. Tents, carousels, swings are built, poles are erected, a folk theatre, or rather a stage for it, is set up. The spectators are placed standing in the open air. Barrels are sent from breweries. A German sausage maker stands nearby and offers hot sausages at bargain prices. Theatre lovers are crowded in front of the stage for a long time and await the performance of 'Filatka and Miroshka'. The farce is played briskly..." The artist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky recalled visiting a fair on the field when a child:"Approaching the Field of Mars, where the booths stood, already from the Chain Bridge and even earlier, from Panteleimonovskaya, I heard the shaking of the human rumble and a whole sea of sounds - horns, and the squeak of whistles, and the mournful sound of the street-organ, the accordion, and the banging of tambourines, and individual cries — all this drew me on, and with all my strength I hurried my nanny to get there as quickly as possible. The booths could already be seen behind the bare trees of the Summer Garden - these tall yellow plank stands stretched in two rows along the entire Field of Mars, and on all of them tricolour flags flew, and behind the booths there were spinning swings and ice mountains, also with flags at the top." Prior to 1872 Admiralteyskaya Square had also been used as a venue for festivals, but the laying out of the Alexander Garden meant that there was no space for the booths, and the Field of Mars became the sole venue in the city. As well as entertainments, sports competitions were also held, with activities such as climbing a greasy pole, and walking on a spinning log. In 1867, concerned about the high levels of drunkenness in the city, authorities placed restrictions on the sale of alcohol during public holidays. In August 1867 some 100,000 people gathered on the Field of Mars, without a single arrest for drunkness. In 1892 a 12-year-old received a set of china for winning the spinning log competition. Festivals were held on the occasions of the parades of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments from 1897, until 1907 when festivals on the Field of Mars were banned. It was around this time that a tower was built on the field to house a telescope. A proposal was made to construct a bicycle track on the Field of Mars, but it ultimately failed to gain sufficient funding. Sporting events continued to be held on the field during the early twentieth century. It hosted the world championship in speed skating in winter 1903, and in 1913 the first inter-city hockey match was held here. The Saint Petersburg team "Sport" were beaten 2:6 by an English club. A reinforced concrete skating rink was built that year to a design by Yevgeny-Karl Schröter, though the entrance fee was comparatively expensive at 55 kopecks in the afternoon, 1 ruble 10 kopecks in the evening. The building was considered to detract from the existing architectural ensemble, and was dismantled shortly afterwards. Another attraction appeared in the winter of 1910-1911 with reindeer brought onto the field and offered to citizens for riding. Vyacheslav Popov, a wealthy Komi, had lost most of his herd to disease. He brought the remaining animals to Saint Petersburg, quartering them on the Field of Mars, and offering them for public rides for five kopecks per lap. As a result, he made some money, and was also granted an audience with Nicholas II. Various proposals were made to develop the Field of Mars during the early twentieth century. One proposal in 1906 was for the creation of a building, designed by architect Marian Lalewicz, to house the State Duma. Another was for an opera house using designs by Victor Schröter, and a 1909 project suggested the creation of a park or garden with a monument to Emperor Alexander II designed by I. S. Kitner. Other failed proposals included that in 1913 to return the Rumyantsev Obelisk to the Field of Mars, and the creation of a shopping centre with a hotel, a restaurant and a post office. Despite these rejections, several projects did come to fruition. In 1909, Franz Roubaud's panoramic painting "The Defence of Sevastopol" was displayed on the Field of Mars in a special pavilion designed by Vasily Shene. A telescope was installed on the field to allow citizens to observe the solar eclipse on 17 April 1912. Also prior to the outbreak of the First World War the Urania Observatory and a summer cinema, named "American Mountains", were located on the field. During the war the field was used to store stacks of firewood.

Revolutionary burials
After the February Revolution, the Petrograd Soviet decided to create an honorary communal burial ground for those who had been killed in the unrest, and the Field of Mars was selected. An important consideration was the plan to site the putative Constituent Assembly on the Field of Mars, which would then overlook a monument to those who had died in the revolution. Four large graves were dug in the centre of the Field of Mars. The burials were scheduled to take place on 5 April 1917, but prior to this news circulated that there would not be any funeral rites. Relatives of the dead hurried to claim and bury them in other cemeteries with the traditional rites. Ultimately only 184 victims were buried on the Field of Mars, comprising 86 soldiers, 9 sailors, 2 officers, 32 workers, 6 women, 23 people for whom social status could not be determined, and 26 unknown dead. The city soviet declared 5 April a day off work, and many citizens turned out to accompany the funeral processions, which carried the dead from the hospitals and chapels across the city. The graves had been prepared by blasting trenches in the frozen ground, with the lowering of each coffin marked by a cannon shot from the Peter and Paul Fortress. By one estimate some 800,000 people attended the funerals. A competition for the design of the memorial was won by Lev Rudnev and the Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution was opened on 7 November 1919. Epitaphs by Anatoly Lunacharsky, People's Commissar of Education, were inscribed around the memorial.

Soviet pantheon
The burials of the dead of the February Revolution started a trend for the Field of Mars to become a pantheon of those who died in the service of the revolution and the achievement of Soviet power. The first individual burial, that of V. Volodarsky, took place on 23 June 1918. Volodarsky, a member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, had been assassinated three days earlier. Further burials took place later that year, when a number of the dead of the October Revolution were interred. Other interments over the following years included Moisei Uritsky, chairman of the Petrograd Cheka who was assassinated in August 1918; Semyon Nakhimson, who was killed in the Yaroslavl Uprising in July 1918; Civil War commander A. S. Rakov in 1919 and All-Russian Central Executive Committee member in 1920. The Field of Mars continued to be used as a military parade and training ground during this period, hosting a review of the first "red officers" on 18 September 1918. On the first anniversary of the October Revolution the Field of Mars was renamed the "Victims of the Revolution Square", and was sometimes called "The Square of the Graves of the Victims of the Revolution." The layout of the square was further developed following the installation of the monument, with gardens and pathways to the design of Ivan Fomin. The first Subbotnik, a Saturday devoted to volunteer work, was held on 1 May 1920, with 16,000 city inhabitants working to plant more than 60,000 bushes and trees on the square, laying paths and alleys, and removing waste. On 19 July 1920 the Field of Mars was visited by delegates of the 2nd World Congress of the Comintern, led by Vladimir Lenin. The redesign was completed in 1921, and on 25 October the square was transferred to the city's Garden and Park Administration. In 1922 the Comintern and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee proposed creating a monument to the October Revolution, but the project was never carried out. The last burial on the square, that of the secretary of the Leningrad city committee of the CPSU, took place on 8 October 1933.

Wartime use and postwar memorial
The square was laid out with vegetable gardens during summer 1942 to help feed the city during the siege of Leningrad. There were also six anti-aircraft batteries located on the field, as well as trenches to provide shelter from bombardments. The square's former name, the Field of Mars, was restored on 13 January 1944. It underwent further reconstruction between 1947 and 1955, with an eternal flame lit in the centre of the square on 6 November 1957, in memory of the victims of various wars and revolutions. The flame, lit from the open-hearth furnace of the Kirov Factory, was the first eternal flame in Russia. The flame from the Field of Mars was also used to light the eternal flame at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery on 9 May 1960, and at other memorials in Saint Petersburg. The flame was delivered to Moscow in 1967 and on 8 May lit the eternal flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall.

Post-Soviet period
The square was once more reconstructed between 1998 and 2001. Over 3,800 new bushes and trees were planted, and the paths and lawns were repaired. The Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution was also restored, being relit on 14 November 2003 with a flame once again taken from the Kirov Factory's furnace. By the early 2000s, with parking and transport around the city becoming problematic, proposals have occasionally been made to build a car park under the Field of Mars. The presence of graves has led residents to oppose these plans. In 2014 the memorial was restored by experts from the.

Public meeting place
By the mid-2000s, the Field of Mars had become a popular location for demonstrations and protests on issues such as political prisoners, fair elections, anti-corruption measures, etc. This status was acknowledged in December 2012 when the square was designated a "Hyde Park" by the Governor of Saint Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko, making it a "specially designated place in the city for the collective discussion of socially significant issues and the expression of citizens' public sentiments." A particularly large rally was held on 12 June 2017, attended by over ten thousand people. Police detained 658 people, including, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, and several journalists. In August 2017 Poltavchenko revoked the "Hyde Park" status of the Field of Mars, citing the nature of the burials and memorial made it an inappropriate location for rallies.

Extinguishing of the Eternal Flame
In December of 2023, a group of three boys, identified as immigrants from Uzbekistan, extinguished the Eternal Flame by placing snow over it. According to the Russian Interior Ministry, the boys and their families will be expelled back to Uzbekistan due to the discovery that they did not have proper documentation to live in Russia.

title: Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)


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A Prefect's Uncle

A Prefect's Uncle is an early novel by author P. G. Wodehouse, one of his school stories for children. It was first published on 11 September 1903 by A & C Black. An American edition was issued by Macmillan from imported sheets in October 1903.

The action of the novel takes place at the fictional public school Beckford College, a boarding school for boys.

The title alludes to the arrival at the school of a mischievous young boy called Reginald Farnie, who turns out to be the uncle of the older "Bishop" Gethryn, a prefect, cricketer and popular figure in the school. His arrival, along with that of another youngster, Wilson, who becomes a personal servant to Gethryn's friend Marriott, leads to much excitement and scandal in the school, and the disruption of some important cricket matches.

Plot
Gethryn is the Head-prefect of Leicester's House in Beckford and is friends with Marriott, another prefect. Marriott's aunt has asked him to look after the son of a friend, though the new boy, Wilson, proves to be capable of defending himself. Wilson becomes Marriott's fag (a junior student who performs errands for a senior student). Gethryn's aunt asked him to meet his uncle at the train station. Gethryn is surprised that his uncle, Farnie, is four years younger than him. Farnie is entering the school, having transferred between several schools, in each case because he was expelled or his father was dissatisfied with the school. The students in the Upper Fifth form are required to enter a poetry contest, and this year, the subject is the death of Dido. Lorimer, who is in the Upper Fifth, cannot write poetry, so his friend Pringle offers to write the poem for him. Against school rules, Farnie goes to a village to play billiards, and loses money. He borrows two pounds from Monk, a notorious troublemaker, who tells Farnie to pay him back four pounds later.

Monk is disappointed when Farnie does not become one of his cronies, and demands his loan get repaid or he will reveal that Farnie broke bounds to play billiards. While Gethryn is playing for Beckford against the Marylebone Cricket Club, Farnie takes four pounds out of Gethryn's charity collection box and leaves the money in Monk's study. Since Wilson sees Farnie in Gethryn's study and will probably realize later who took the money, Farnie decides to run away. He leaves a note for Gethryn and thinks he might as well take the other six pounds in the box too. The match against the M.C.C. starts well for Beckford, who bat first. During the lunch break, Gethryn sees Farnie's note. Gethryn believes he can catch up to Farnie on his bicycle and bring him back before the next innings. However, the match takes a bad turn for Beckford and the first innings soon ends. Since Gethryn cannot be found, Lorimer is brought in as a substitute fielder, but is not allowed to bowl. The team loses without Gethryn. Gethryn meanwhile encounters obstacles but finally brings back Farnie, who can only return six pounds. To protect his uncle, Gethryn refuses to explain why he left. Norris, the cricket captain, bars Gethryn from playing for the school team.

Pringle visits Colonel Ashby, a family friend. The Colonel shows him a book of poems containing a poem about the death of Dido. Pringle copies the poem and gives it to Lorimer, pretending he wrote it. Monk and his mob dislike Gethryn because Gethryn stopped them from bullying Wilson. Eight of them are in the cricket team for Leicester's and they refuse to play in the inter-house cricket cup unless Gethryn resigns his captaincy of the house team, but Marriott and Reece advise Gethryn to get junior House members to play instead, including Wilson. Marriott suggests Gethryn focusing on improving their fielding, since Gethryn, Reece and Marriott can handle the batting and bowling. On the day Jephson's plays against Leicester's, Norris, who is in Jephson's, underestimates Leicester's and misses the match. After Leicester's wins, Norris realizes he acted much like Gethryn did with the M.C.C. match. He reinstates Gethryn in the school team, but is still unhappy that Gethryn will not explain his actions.

Mr Wells, a friend of the Headmaster, selects Lorimer's poem as the prize winner. Mr Lawrie, the master of the Sixth, recognizes the poem as his own. The Headmaster questions Lorimer about this, and Lorimer then talks to Pringle, who reveals he copied the poem. They confess to the Headmaster. The Headmaster gives them a light punishment of two extra lessons, though this prevents them from playing in the cup for the School House. Leicester's defeats the School House and wins the cup. The winter term starts and the cricket season is over, but Leicester's has been united by their cricket cup victory and Monk leaving the school. Farnie has also been taken out of the school by his father, but repaid the four pounds to Gethryn. Gethryn feels he can now tell Reece and Marriott what happened the day of the M.C.C. match. Wilson hears Gethryn's story, and decides he should tell Norris. In a rugby match, Norris passes the ball to Gethryn, allowing him to make a dramatic score. He explains that Wilson told him the story and all is well between them again.

Characters
Students at Beckford:
 * Alan Gethryn, nicknamed "the Bishop", the Head-prefect of Mr Leicester's House in the Sixth form, member of the First Eleven and First Fifteen, also appears in "Personally Conducted"
 * Marriott, a prefect of Leicester's and Gethryn's friend who shares a study with him
 * Reginald Farnie, Gethryn's supercilious uncle who is four years his junior, member of Leicester's House and the Upper Fourth form
 * Percy V. Wilson, Marriott's reliable fag, member of Leicester's House and the Lower Fourth form
 * Pringle, a member of the School House, the school cricket team and the Remove who enjoys disagreeing with others and giving people advice
 * Lorimer, a prosaic student in the Upper Fifth form who shares a study with Pringle in the School House
 * Reece, a member of Leicester's and the First Eleven who tends to be reminded of long stories
 * Norris, the Head of Jephson's and Beckford cricket captain
 * Jack Monk, a disreputable member of Leicester's in the Remove, often makes trouble along with his friends and acquaintances or "the Mob"

Beckford staff and other characters:
 * The Rev. James Beckett, the Headmaster of Beckford and the housemaster of the School House
 * Mr Jephson, a schoolmaster in charge of the school cricket and a housemaster (of Jephson's House)
 * Mr Lawrie, the master of the Sixth form, who wrote a book of poetry under a pseudonym
 * Mr Mortimer Wells, an old pupil of the Headmaster's and the judge in the poetry contest
 * Colonel Ashby, a friend of Pringle's father

About the author: P.G Wodehouse was born on October 15, 1881, Guildford, Surrey, England and has died on February 14, 1975, Southampton, New York, U.S. Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. Wodehouse spent happy teenage years at Dulwich College, to which he remained devoted all his life. He wrote books from 1902- 1975. Many of his books are comedy or romantic comedy.

Publication history
The novel is dedicated "To W. Townend". The first edition was published with eight page illustrations by R. Noel Pocock. The American edition was issued by Macmillan, New York, in October 1903, from imported sheets. An American edition was also issued by Macmillan in 1924 from imported sheets.

A Prefect's Uncle was included in The Pothunters and Other School Stories, a collection of Wodehouse's first three published book-length works. It was published in January 1986 by Penguin Books. The other works included in the book are The Pothunters and Tales of St. Austin's.

The novel was reprinted on 17 June 2004 by R A Kessinger Publishing.

The text was released under Project Gutenberg in 2004.

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

title: A Prefect's Uncle


text:
Għajn Tuffieħa Tower

Għajn Tuffieħa Tower (Torri t'Għajn Tuffieħa) is a small watchtower in Għajn Tuffieħa, limits of Mġarr, Malta. It was completed in 1637 as the second of the Lascaris towers. The tower is mostly intact although it is threatened by coastal erosion and was damaged during a storm in 2023.

History

Għajn Tuffieħa Tower was built in 1637 on the cliffs overlooking Għajn Tuffieħa Bay close to Mellieħa and Mġarr on the northwest coast of Malta. The tower has Lippija and Nadur Towers in its line of sight.

The tower was designed by the Italian architect Vincenzo Maculani. It is almost identical to Lippija Tower, having a square plan and two floors topped by a flat roof with a parapet. Each floor has a single room, and access to the upper floor was originally by a wooden ladder.

Għajn Tuffieħa Tower was built on the site of a medieval watch post. It was originally armed with a ½-pounder gun, and its garrison consisted of a captain and three men, who were paid by the Università, the government officials in charge of Malta at the time.

Present day

The tower was in poor condition until it was restored in 2000 with the support of the Director of Public Projects and Din l-Art Ħelwa. In 2012, vandals sprayed graffiti on two sides of the tower; this has since been removed.

The tower continued to be renovated by the Gaia Foundation, and it opened to the public in 2013 as part of a peace grove containing over 20 species of indigenous plants. The Gaia Foundation is reportedly no longer active, and as of 2023 there is no entity responsible for the tower's upkeep.

The tower is threatened by coastal erosion, and cracks can be seen on the cliffs upon which the tower is built. The terrain may be dangerous for walkers, as some people have lost their life on the rocks in the immediate vicinity of the tower.

During the night of 9–10 February 2023, the tower was damaged during Cyclone Helios. Some of its masonry collapsed amidst gale-force winds and heavy rain, leaving a hole within the tower's upper section.

title: Għajn Tuffieħa Tower


text:
TelecityGroup

Telecity Group plc (formerly TelecityRedbus and before that Telecity), was a European carrier-neutral datacentre and colocation centre provider. It specialised in the design, build and management of datacentre space. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Equinix in January 2016.

History
Telecity Group plc was the result of the uniting of three separate companies – TeleCity Limited, Redbus Interhouse Limited and Globix Holdings (UK) Limited. TeleCity Limited was founded by Mike Kelly and Anish Kapoor from Manchester University in April 1998 and opened its first data centre in Manchester. At that time 3i Group made an investment of £24 million in the Company.

In July 1998, Redbus Interhouse Limited was incorporated, and commenced operations in its first data centre in London Docklands in July 1999. By March 2000, Redbus Interhouse Limited floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and in June 2000, TeleCity Limited’s parent company, TeleCity plc floated on the London Stock Exchange.

In September 2005, TeleCity plc was taken private by 3i and Oak Hill and by October of that year Telecity Group plc was incorporated and became the holding company of Telecity plc and its group companies in November 2005. In January 2006 Telecity Group acquired Redbus Interhouse plc, a rival business, resulting in the two business, TeleCity and Redbus, trading under the name of TelecityRedbus. Later in 2006 Telecity Group plc bought the European assets of the US-based Globix Corporation.

Following a rebranding exercise implemented in August 2007, TeleCity, Redbus and Globix (UK) began to trade under the name TelecityGroup. In October Telecity Group plc listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

In August 2010, TelecityGroup acquired Internet Facilitators Limited (IFL), a provider of-carrier neutral data centres in Manchester. In August 2011 TelecityGroup acquired Data Electronics, which operates two carrier-neutral data centres in Dublin, and in September 2011 UK Grid, a carrier-neutral data centre operator in Manchester was acquired.

TelecityGroup has announced it is expanding its data centre capacity across Europe. At the end of 2011 the company had 68 MW of available customer power and this will be increased to 124 MW by 2016. As part of this expansion the first phase of a new 9 MW data centre was opened in Amsterdam (Southeast AMS 5) in early 2012, and on 2 July 2012 Ed Vaizey, UK Minister for Communications, officially opened the first phase of a 21 MW expansion at the company's London Powergate facility.

In August 2012, TelecityGroup acquired Tenue Oy, a provider of carrier-neutral data centres in Helsinki, Finland. In November 2012 TelecityGroup acquired Academica, a data centre and IT services operator, also active in Finland since 1996, giving the enlarged TelecityGroup Finland a total of three data centres and 2MW of operational capacity; 7MW of additional capacity will be opened in two new facilities in due course.

In May 2013, TelecityGroup acquired SadeceHosting, a provider of data centre and hosted services in Istanbul, Turkey and in November 2013, TelecityGroup acquired 3DC, an independent data centre provider in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In August 2014, Telecity’s founder Michael Tobin left the company following reported tensions with the board of directors.

In February 2015, it was announced that Telecity would merge with Interxion, purchasing it in a $2.2 billion deal, thus creating a joint data-center operator, with a combined value of $4.5 billion. According to the two CEOs, a deal promised to deliver around $600 million in synergy savings.

In May 2015, US data company Equinix announced it would be acquiring TelecityGroup for £2.35 billion ($3.6 billion), which would terminate Telecity’s deal with Interxion. Reuters reported that the acquisition of Telecity by Equinix would create the largest data center company in Europe. On 13 November 2015, the European Commission granted clearance for the Equinix offer to acquire Telecity. As part of this acquisition, the European Commission required divestment of eight of the datacentre sites on competition grounds, and these sites were sold to Digital Realty for $874 million.

In January 2016, Equinix announced that it had completed the Telecity acquisition in a transaction valued at approximately $3.8 billion. The addition of Telecity data centers more than doubled Equinix's capacity in Europe, making the company the region's largest retail colocation provider.

Operations
The company operated 37 data centres, located in several European cities:

 * Amsterdam – 6 (Gyroscoopweg, Science Park, Southeast Amsterdam 2 (Zuidoost), Amstel Business Park, Duivendrechtse kade - Southeast Amsterdam 5 - (Zuidoost))
 * Dublin – 4 (City West Business Campus, Kilcarbery Park, Northwest Business Park Unit 2, Northwest Business Park Unit 14)
 * Frankfurt – 2 (Lyoner Strasse, Gutleutstrasse)
 * Helsinki – 5 (Hiomo, Suvilahti, Sinimäki, Viikinmäki, Hansa)
 * Istanbul - 1 (SadeceHosting)
 * London – 8 (Prospect House - Tottenham Court Road, Oliver’s Yard - Old Street, Powergate - Acton and in Docklands, Sovereign House, Meridian Gate -, Bonnington House, 8&9 Harbour Exchange  and 6&7 Harbour Exchange.
 * Manchester – 4 (Willams & Kilburn House, Reynolds House, Synergy House, Joule House)
 * Milan – 3 (Via Savona, Basiglio, Via Cascia)
 * Paris - 3 (Energy Park, Victor Hugo, Condorcet)
 * Sofia - 1 (Sofia-1)
 * Stockholm - 2 (Stockholm 1- Bromma, Stockholm 2 - Skondal)
 * Warsaw - 2 (Warsaw 1(LIM), Warsaw 2)

title: TelecityGroup


text: User talk:69.243.246.164

title: User talk:69.243.246.164


text:
Gore Place

Gore Place is a historic country house, now a museum, located at 52 Gore Street, Waltham, Massachusetts. It is owned and operated by the nonprofit Gore Place Society. The 45 acre estate is open to the public daily without charge; an admission fee is charged for house tours. A number of special events are held throughout the year including an annual sheepshearing festival and a summer concert series.

The mansion was built in 1806 as a summer home for Massachusetts lawyer and politician Christopher Gore. In this house the Gores entertained various notables including the Marquis de Lafayette, Daniel Webster, and James Monroe. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 in recognition of its architectural significance as a large-scale Federal style country house, and for its well-preserved domestic staff quarters, which illustrate the changing role of domestic labor over time.

Christopher Gore
Christopher Gore (1758–1827) was a Massachusetts lawyer, banker, statesman, and Federalist politician. Educated at Harvard, Gore made a fortune speculating in American Revolutionary War debt in the 1780s, becoming, according to John Quincy Adams, the wealthiest lawyer in the country. In the 1790s he embarked on a career in politics and diplomacy, winning one term as Governor of Massachusetts in 1809. He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1813 and was elected to that body in 1814, serving until ill health prompted his resignation in 1816.

Beginning of the Waltham estate
In 1785 Gore married Rebecca Amory Payne. She was the daughter of Edward Payne, a wealthy Boston merchant and banker. In 1786 they used the funds from her dowry to purchase a tract of roughly 50 acre in Waltham, Massachusetts, for use as a country estate. The estate was expanded by further purchase until it was 400 acre in size. In 1789 the Gores realized a windfall from his financial speculations and acquired the trappings of high society in Massachusetts. In 1789 they purchased a mansion on fashionable Bowdoin Square in Boston, and in 1793 they had the house on the Waltham property torn down and had it replaced with buildings suitable for a summers estate: a wood-frame mansion, said to be in the style of noted Federal style architect Samuel McIntire, and carriage house.

Fire and new construction
In 1796 Gore was appointed by President George Washington to be a commissioner in London dealing with maritime issues pursuant to the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain. The Gores spent the years from 1796 to 1804 in Europe. In 1799 they were informed that the Waltham house had been destroyed by fire and began planning a replacement. The carriage house was not affected and still stands on the property. In 1801 the couple went on an extended tour of Europe, including a six-month stay in Paris. During this stay they met architect Jacques-Guillaume Legrand, with whom they struck up a good relationship.

Rebecca Gore was particularly interested in architecture, and six months after their return to London had sketched out plans for a new building. In October 1802 Gore sent some of her sketches to his friend Rufus King, who was vacationing in Paris, requesting that Legrand draft plans from them. Although there is no definitive evidence that Legrand drafted the plans used in construction, the house as built has details that are part of his architectural vocabulary. It also betrays the influence of English architect Sir John Soane, some of whose designs the Gores may have seen on tours of England. They may also have seen his Sketches in Architecture, published in 1793.

The Gores returned to Massachusetts in 1804 and construction on the house began in March 1805; it was completed in 1806 at a cost of $23,000. Many of the mansion's construction materials, including the bricks, were shipped from England and rafted up the Charles River to the Waltham site. During the construction the Gores lived in a wing of the old house that had survived the fire; this remnant was then moved to the center of Waltham.

Mansion
The mansion consists of a central block with symmetrical wings on either side. Each wing consists of a narrow section, or hyphen, with a slightly wider pod at its end. The total length is about 190 ft; the main block, which includes oval protrusions, measures 68 by 40 feet, the hyphens are 40 by 21 feet, and the pods at the ends of the wings are 20 by 32 feet. The main block is $2 1/2$ stories high, while the wings are $1 1/2$ stories. The building is faced in brick made in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Although it was originally shingled in wood, the roof is now made of slate.

The main block and east wing are devoted to public and family space, while the west wing is entirely devoted to servant quarters and facilities.

Carriage house
The 1790s carriage house is a 70 by 40 foot rectangular two story building with a hip roof. It is divided into three sections: the western end was used to store carriages, the eastern to stable horses, and the center, with high doors to facilitate the entry and exit of tall carriages was used for harnessing the carriages. The stable area had seven stalls, and includes distinctive features to facilitate the removal of waste and the supply of food to the animals. The tack room separated the stalls from the central area, also serving to isolate the smell of the stables from the rest of the building.

The building was originally located near the entrance to the property, but was relocated in 1968 to facilitate the widening of Gore Street. It has been adapted by the Gore Place Society for use as a function space.

Landscaping
The gardens, according to Charles W. Eliot (father of noted American landscape designer Charles Eliot), show the influence of English landscape architect Humphry Repton, whose Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening just predates the Gores' presence in England. In keeping with Repton's philosophy, the estate did not have many formal garden areas, and was instead laid out with broad lawns, discreet smaller gardens, and shaded paths that skirted the edges of the property.

History
The property's recorded history of ownership dates to early colonial times, when Waltham was part of Watertown. When Watertown was laid out in 1630, its first minister, George Phillips, was granted a 40 acre lot which would become the core of the Gore estate. The estate passed through a variety of hands (including members of the Garfield family who were ancestors of United States President James Garfield, and Revolutionary War soldier Jonathan Brewer) before the Gores purchased it in 1786. From 1744 the property included a tavern, and the area was known as Davenport's Corner, after Jonathan Davenport, the first proprietor.

The Gores occupied the property until 1834, when Rebecca Gore died (Christopher Gore having died in 1827). They entertained numerous high-profile guests, including President James Monroe, Daniel Webster, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

The couple had no children, and according to their wills the contents of the property were auctioned off. The estate was purchased by Theodore Lyman, who built a farmhouse on the farmlands between the mansion and the Charles River. This structure was occupied by the head farmer of the estate, and was moved to its present location in the 20th century after the city took part of the estate by eminent domain for another road project. Lyman made a number of changes to the landscaping of the estate, including the construction of a formal garden area to the north of the main house.

The estate next passed through a succession of private hands, until it was acquired in 1921 by the Waltham Country Club. It established a golf course and tennis courts on the estate, but these initiatives failed during the Great Depression and the estate fell into disrepair.

In 1935 the bank that took the property planned to sell off the estate for housing, but preservationists from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England), the Trustees of Reservations, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts organized a drive to preserve the property. After a fundraising campaign the property was purchased by the Gore Place Society. The Society acquired 75 acre of the original estate, and has rehabilitated its structures. About 30 acre of the estate were leased to Raytheon, and are not open to the public. The rest of the estate is open to the public; house tours are offered for a fee.

title: Gore Place


text:
Talk:In Sickness and in Health

I had to make one change. Winston, the home help, made his first appearance during the first series of In Sickness and in Health in 1985, a series in which Dandy Nicholls (Else Garnett) did perform though it was to be her last. Her final episode was the Christmas show of 1985 where Winston is pushing her wheelchair at the church meal which they were all invited to. User:AlfredG (no not the real Alf!) 28-08-05

I was wandering does anyone know anything about the epiosde Else dies in? Would love to know what happens in it. December 7, 2005.

I also have wandered about that episode.. 2/5/06

Need Fact Check
This article has many questonable facts. Was BBC really going to cancel in 1985 after Nicholls died? And I dont think that Alf and Miss Hollingberry were engaged when the show ended in 1992. H.J. Bellamy 18:10, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Disambiguation needed!
This desperately needs a disambiguation with this page, which refers to an album:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Sickness_and_In_Health

The only difference between the two at the moment is that one capitalizes the word "in" and the other doesn't! 69.208.253.52

 * Now done. --A bit iffy 10:49, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Down Under?
I remember seeing an episode of this where Alf went to Australia. Not sure if it was a BBC production or if it was made by an Australian TV network under license. It had Warren Mitchell & some of the original cast. I was young at the time and only remember Alf stumbling out of a car in the middle of the bush. Does anyone else remember this? British TV shows often used to transfer out to Australia and get remade with the same cast members - Are You Being Served was one. 80.4.202.8 (talk) 20:00, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

It's talked about briefly in the article: "...in the Fourth series they travelled to the Outback to meet Mrs Hollingberry's long lost brother and to get married".kow (talk) 20:39, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for that - I missed it because it says "Outback" and the episode I saw was in the bush, not outback. I've now of course realised that for non-Australians these words are probably used to mean the same thing! (i.e. Australian countryside, whereas Australians would use outback = desert; bush = forest) 80.4.202.8 (talk) 21:31, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

title: Talk:In Sickness and in Health


text:
User:Afroz~enwiki

Hey, my name is Afroz Iqbal. I live in Quetta, Pakistan and love cricket. I've been using Wikipedia for a long time now and finally decided to contribute to it too.

title: User:Afroz~enwiki


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sean Howard

 This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was keep. a VfD is not a way to fix a NPOV problem. Woohookitty 09:00, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Sean Howard
This page is getting out of hand. Edits happen frequently, with both sides claiming POV bias. Propose locking until such time as everyone remembers that this is only the internet. Taoistlumberjak 19:52, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete unless his publisher and published works (ISBN) can be documented -- the article seems to suggest he is merely an on-line artist (it's hard to tell) -- and until the trifling controversies are either deleted from the article or asserted to be significant and documented.  Paul Klenk 20:03, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep - The only reason this keeps getting deleted is that no one has the guts to take a stand against SeanHoward and make it NPOV whether he damn likes it or not. NPOV is Wikipedia policy and no matter what the person the article is about says can change that. -Hoekenheef 20:20, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. BTW, the current revision seems OK to me POVwise? Sdedeo 20:31, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. It's been bumpy but I think we're finally getting close to something worth keeping. --Spinn2 20:41, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, obviously. VfD is not for resolving POV disputes in an article where an NPOV version must surely exist. -Splash 21:49, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. This is a vanity page for others to exert opinions on my character. I am just an online artist and my contributions have their own pages, making this entry superfluous. Controversies (recently removed and/or reduced before VfD) are insignificant and unworthy of mention now that I have retreated from public life (or else they would be mentioned on other people's pages as well, but are not). It's about me personally, making it impossible to keep NPOV or factually accurate. Wikipedia is not a place to nurture grudges. Delete. --SeanHoward 02:35, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * An entire sub-article could be given to PA's numerous controversies; for comparison, Strawberry Shortcake and Cayetano Garza make absolutely no mention of PA whatsoever, and record thereof doesn't seem to be available on Wikipedia at all. On the other hand, people complain whenever I redirect a cartoonist to his webcomic, and Howard happens to have two, making Howard's page more useful in the context of simply having an article on him. But despite being an even more notable personality in webcomics, Scott Kurtz's page redirects to PvP. No vote for now. Nifboy 07:22, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge the controversy section with all three of the following: A Modest Destiny, The Starship Destiny, and Penny Arcade. Redirect Sean Howard to his primary webcomic, A Modest Destiny. A Modest Destiny already links to the less notable sequel The Starship Destiny. And yes Nifboy, those other controversies ought to be mentioned on the Penny Arcade, Cayetano Garza, and probably Strawberry Shortcake articles. Dragonfiend 15:21, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Not the purpose of vfd. Trollderella 09:18, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. That the article on a notable subject is subject to POV disputes is not a reason to delete. Sjakkalle (Check!)  09:57, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. This is a viable article on a real subject. Mr. Howard simply wants it deleted becasue it no longer suits his purposes. CharlieFandango  (Check!)  10:46, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep; If there's a problem with edit wars, etc., try making a post on WP:RFC.  ral  315  17:49, August 29, 2005 (UTC)
 * Don't mistake this for purely a POV dispute. If it had not already been vfd, I would requested it myself on the grounds that this page unfairly singles me out amongst other webcomic creators for the sole purpose of keeping petty grudges alive, and contributes nothing to wikipedia that the entries on my webcomics don't already. It's not that it currently has POV issues, it's that it never will have anything but POV issues. I mention this only because it appears people are voting to keep it purely on the abstract principle that deleting a page doesn't solve edit wars - the issue is far complex than that. Unless some individual will stand up and take editorial responsibility for the material written in this page, it's just a convenience for personal slander. It's a POV entry. As the person the entry is about, is my wish to remain a private citizen and not a public figure to be ignored by wikipedia? --SeanHoward 19:19, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * I won't say "gave up your status as a private citizen," but when you decided to make a webcomic and put it on the internet, you basically said, "Hey, look at what I am doing!" Doing that basically makes you a public figure. Let me put it this way: If Bono suddenly decided to retire and become a private citizen, then that's all fine and dandy, yet people will still remember him as he was. Therefore they will write things about him and his life and music, and just because he goes away doesn't take away the memory of him. It's basically the same situation with you, Sean. You made yourself known and even now that you have decided to "retire," you will still be remembered for your comics, your strong stand against copyright violation, and the PA thing (unfortuantly). -Hoekenheef 22:22, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Your wish to have a particular page deleted will be considered along with all other editors' wishes. Once the page exists, it belongs to noone and noone can force its deletion — not even the subject. If you didn't want the page, you shouldn't have made it in the first place. WP:AUTO cautions as such. We have many pages that have permanent POV disputes on them. George W. Bush springs to mind. -Splash 23:17, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * He didn't create it, as far as I can tell. (And does this whole bullet belong on the discuss page? I don't know how that works for VfD pages.) --Spinn2 00:46, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * It's ok, almost anything goes in a VfD discussion. I thought he made it from reading the above comments. Clearly not, I'm sorry. But anyway, we don't delete articles just because someone doesn't like us having an article on them, unless it is in someway illegal. Charges of libel should be taken to the Wikimedia Foundation. -Splash 00:53, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * What would constitute illegal? Publishing the name of a minor without consent, like my daughter's name? How about the fact that the dispute in question is simply libel against my person, with Wikipedia being used to repeat such damaging claims from an authoritative source? If not illegal, then how about just useless? Since I don't talk about my personal life online, the only reasons this page is to talk about my comics - which have their own entries and are more than capable of representing themselves without an associated author's page - and to repeat libelous statements verbatim without regard to simple things like... I don't know... facts, evidence, investigation, morals, or competence? I mean, I'm the world's foremost expert on me. What good is an article which not only ignores that expertise, but stands completely in defiance of it? What good is an article which can be used to defame, attack, or otherwise slander me that I do not have the tools to easily and quickly correct? There's no reason for this article to exist, and unless someone is willing to take legal responsibility for what goes into this article as it goes in, it represents a dangerous threat to my privacy, my reputation, and my personal well being. People get extra privs to edit their own user pages against vandalism, and yet I am forced to sit by, banned due to reverting the same malicious vandalism four times in 24 hours? That is completely unacceptable. Delete this article or take some damn responsibility for what happens to it. --SeanHoward 03:24, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * "it represents a dangerous threat to my privacy, my reputation, and my personal well being." Oh really. Then let me ask you. Has anyone ever come straight up to your home and throw rocks at windows, spray painted a slander on your garage, or done "donuts" on your lawn because of any of this? I will say it again, when you decide to make a webcomic you said, "Hey, take a gander at me and my work!" Oh, plus asking for someone to take some "damn responsibility", I think the already have tried to, but you come behind them spewing things like, "Oh, don't mention any of my incidents with other webcomic authors because it will tarnish my reputation." Get over yourself, Sean. Yes, there will be POV problems with this are, and do you know why? It's because there are idiots here who believe it is fun and enjoyable to vandalism pages, but they are not the majority. The majority of users want to help make Wikipedia betterand that includes the Sean Howard article. -Hoekenheef 10:51, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes, I have had my personal property damaged and I have received very personal and detailed death threats over the very material which Wikipedia seems absolutely incapable of keeping straight. Is my moral peril not enough? When was the last time you had threats on your home answering machine? And I'm not complaining about obvious vandalism. That's not a problem. It's people who make subtle, but very malicious accusations on a webpage about me without having a damn clue what the hell really went on. Were you there? Did you read the email I sent to Gabe and Tycho? Did you see the forum avatars? Did you share PMs with the people who used them? Did you talk with the forum admin who dealt with it? Did you have an email conversation with Gabe or Tycho later? No. You didn't, which means you don't even remotely have half the facts and have exactly zero business writing about it. Nobody does, because I'm the only one with the facts - and here I am trying to actually share those facts, and I'm fought every damn step of the way by jerks like you. If wikipedia can't be used to actually share facts about my life on a webpage dedicated to facts about my life, what good is this wiki crap anyway? What recourse do I have to protect myself against wikipedia except to have the article simply deleted? --SeanHoward 02:32, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Well, for one, if the facts you have differ from what's written, the process of getting that changed is more presentation and discussion, and less vulgarity and invective. If you didn't let your anger push people away from you so much, you might have an easier time bringing them together. --Spinn2 03:33, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Maybe if you would calmly list the things that happened in the incident things would work out, the facts would be straight and we could all move on to other things. But having a fit is not going to solve the problem. -Hoekenheef 10:36, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * I did. The reason I showed up here was because hard facts were being changed into alleged facts. Something that absolutely did happen (and proven) was being changed to "may have" happened. I came in, wrote down all the facts, accompanied by two dozen links to evidence to back them up from third party sources, only to have that material changed. Then a quote is put in the thing which is taken COMPLETELY out of context and implies absolutely incorrect things. Then I get accused of POV simply because I'm the only one who is qualified to comment - there are no facts here that have been provided by anybody but me. I've spent literally years trying to clear my name of these baseless accusations, and you guys have a problem because the FACTS happen to agree with my side of the story and not the baseless slander of some guy who never even had a shred of evidence to support his side in the first place. Hell, even in this section, my comments have been changed - granted, they did use a word that you can see on NYPD Blue or The Daily Show, but it is dishonest. I said "shitload" because that word had exactly the sort of connotation that I wished to convey. Removing that word without notice changes the sentence. Wiki's policy tells me not to curse, but it tells you not to censor cursing. YOU CHANGED THE FACTS! It doesn't matter one bit what you think about me as a person. I could be, and am, the grumpiest person in the world, but you can't go changing facts and starting edit wars simply because you dislike me. Until you guys accept that I'm not only a primary source, but the only source period, this article will be nothing but conjecture and pure fantasy as you guys write what you think happened with exactly ZERO research or understanding of the topic at all. You write what you write because you hate me or because your search for NPOV tells you to discount the only source because HE WAS THERE, not because you have any factual evidence or anything intelligent to contribute. And Hoekenheef, it's amazing how quickly your tone changed. --SeanHoward 15:11, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * "Until you guys accept that I'm not only a primary source, but the only source period," Not true.  I would also accept Gabe as a primary source for information as well.--Leth 15:23, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * On some things yes. He can comment on relatively few things, actually. For instance, he'd be considered a secondary source on the actual forum discussions (if that. It's obvious he barely glanced at it). He would be a primary source on the email I sent him, but his interpretation of why things were written the way they were must be discounted. If the author says he wrote something and somebody disagrees, the author deserves the benefit of the doubt unless irrefutable proof exists otherwise. So, the amount of things that he can talk about with authority are few. It's a moot point anyway, because I don't see Gabe here, and you guys certainly aren't qualified to talk for him. --SeanHoward 16:00, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
 * It's not moot at all; it illustrates why people are giving you so much resistence when you say you have the facts and are the only source of facts. Here's a summary of how that conversation just went:
 * [Sean]: I am the only primary source.
 * [Leth]: Not true, Gabe is also a primary source.
 * [Sean]: So what, Gabe's not here.
 * The point is, you're not the only primary source. And when you insist you are, it reduces your credibility. Especially when you tell people that another primary source must be discounted simply because you say so.
 * Now, are you the only primary source currently available? This might be true, I don't know. But this does not appear to be the statement you made. What you said is that you're the only source qualified to report on many of these issues and that we, and Wikipedia, are at fault for not recognizing this simple truth. --Spinn 16:57, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Policy doesn't say not to censor cursing. It says to leave it in when it's relevant to the article (like there's no reason to bleep everything in the Fuck article, for example). But, you're right, I might've overstepped editing etiquette there. Were this an article, we'd've discussed my edit rather than your yelling at me.
 * Plus, if you want to open a discussion about breaking guidelines, I would love to participate. There are a whole lot of behavior guidelines you've been regularly knocking down that I'd love to discuss. --Spinn2 20:11, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * The section on avoiding profanity only covers writing articles with "brilliant prose". The section on Talk_page_guidelines doesn't say anything about profanity, but it does distinctly say "Don't misrepresent other people: As a rule, refrain from editing others' comments without their permission". You didn't just overstep. You jumped off. Besides, I use profanity well - you can say a lot with one word, more concise that way. "Wikipedia needs to show more responsibility" or "Wikipedia needs to show a shitload more responsibility". World of difference there, huh? I can't think of another word that would put emphasis on the right amount of disdain and distrust by which I judge wikipedia's responsibility and credibility. It's really quite pithy. It consists of pith. --SeanHoward 16:00, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
 * You may be right about this. I jumped the gun. I should have allowed your vulgarity to stand, lest I give people an inaccurate impression of you.
 * However, do now make the mistake of using this example to invalidate everything I have ever done. As I said, were this an article, it probably would've been raised in a point of discussion and I would've stood by it or backed down, as necessary. --Spinn 16:57, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Oh did my tone change? Hmmm...Maybe I was trying to reason with you in a calm way. Just a thought.-Hoekenheef 10:50, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

 * Keep. Even if people can't agree on all the POV issues the page still has useful information about the whole pixel art controversy, and it isn't worth scrapping the page and the history of squidi.net just because some people have strong feelings about who was in the right. Some people would prefer to just delete the article or bully others into removing it because they don't like its content. Worst case we could lock a stable version of the page that relies on the facts, but this isn't unresolvable. The entry contains the most relevant information there is about Squidi and the comic at the moment so long as it remains off the web.--BigCow 23:49, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, and those interested in the POV issues will, hopefully, reach consensus. As for Mr. Howard and the "public figure" issue, I'd just make the analogy to a free press and news media. Can a person prevent a newspaper from publishing a news story about them? Under U.S. law, no, given the after-the-fact remedies of libel and invasion of privacy causes of action. I do not see anything in the fact of existence of the article, or in the content of the current version, that is either libelous or invasive of Mr. Howard's privacy. MCB 07:09, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * A person cannot prevent a news story being written about them, however there are laws that pertain to what the press can print - laws which do not and can not apply to wikipedia. The press has editorial responsibility for what they print. They can be sued for damages if they print something inaccurate or unfairly damaging. On wikipedia, there is no one to take responsiblity. Yeah, there's "policy", but it's not enforced so much as encouraged, and edits are reverted after they are made public, not verified beforehand by an editorial staff with integrity and honor. I am not a particularly famous person and many of the facts about the controversies that people seem so insistant on putting on this page are little more than hearsay and vulgar misrepresentations. Because I'm not famous, the amount of people on this planet that could create a factual summary of events that only I was involved in can be counted on one hand (hell, one finger - me). Wikipedia editors without understanding or appreciation of the subject would find it impossible to properly represent facts and could be easily mislead with malicious edits. Simply put, I'm not famous enough for anybody but me to know what the hell is going on with my life, and I'm not interested in fighting to maintain this worthless article against jerks and vandals. Unless wikipedia can guarantee more responsibility than has been shown in the past three weeks, it has no business discussing my personal life at all. Period. Wikipedia isn't the press. Don't even remotely pretend that it is. --SeanHoward 08:04, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Keep - provided that some method of resolving the POV issues can be arranged. This seems likely. Nae'blis 21:34:26, 2005-08-30 (UTC)
 * Keep, make sure enough people keep an eye on it, and let's calm down a bit with the drama. Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 08:45, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, but make sure the entire PA incident is fixed. Also, work on making the entire thing more NPOV, and maybe lock it once it is.  The artice brings some useful information on Mr. Howard, and should not be deleted just because he 'says so'  Although I do believe he has a right to enforce some NPOV rules about it, it should remain.  Example:  Say J.K. Rowlings (or for that matter, anybody at all) does not approve of their listed entry for wikipedia, or does not want themselves featured within the database.  Such a desire is inconsistent to the desire of wikipedia itself, which is a database of information.  The deletion of information just because the subject does not want to be covered is rather fallacious.  Mr. Howard, you do exist, do you not?  If so, then wikipedia, as a source of information, is fairly duty bound to present information about you (or anybody) in a NPOV matter.  Fix the POV tendencies and lock the article if necessary.  But do not delete it. User: Scion of the Light
 * Merge and Redirect to his primary work. Hell, even Scott Kurtz only exists as a redirect to PvP. This article isnt even about Sean Howard, just his works, each of which already exist on separate pages. Pages on artists are expected to have some degree of biographical information and cite their sources. As far as I'm aware, there are no sources on Seans life other than the man himself, and including information from him would violate both Vanity and Verifiability. As such, there's no scope for this article to expand to the point of inclusion. GeeJo (t) (c) 07:18, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


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The Sign of the Twisted Candles

The Sign of the Twisted Candles is the ninth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. As the second volume written by Walter Karig, it was originally published in 1933 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Due to Karig having died in 1956, as of January 1, 2007, the 1933 book and the other two Nancy Drew books he wrote, have passed into the public domain in Canada and other countries with a life-plus-50 policy.

Plot summary
In the course of solving the mystery of an old man's disappearing fortune, Nancy both starts and ends a family feud and reveals the identity of an orphan of unknown parentage. This story focuses on Nancy's encounter with a 100-year-old man at The Sign of the Twisted Candles, a roadside inn and restaurant. Nancy and her friends, Bess and George, take afternoon tea there while waiting out a storm, where Nancy's roadster is blocked by a fallen tree. They encounter Asa Sidney, celebrating his 100th birthday, and the maid and waitress, Carol Wipple, mistreated by her adoptive parents, Frank and Emma Jemmit.

Nancy discovers Mr. Sidney is an elderly relative of Bess and George, and her willingness to communicate with him launches a family feud upon his death a few days later. This leaves Nancy without allies in the family, as the cousins refuse to associate with her.

Carol is named as the major benefactress, and Nancy sets out to prove Frank and Emma Jemmit have misappropriated property. Nancy also must discover why Asa was interested in young Carol. Meanwhile, relatives from the Sidney and Boonton families fight over the money.

While investigating, Nancy is reunited with her friends. Later, during the climax of the book, she is nearly killed when pushed from a ladder that had been laid against a tower window, illustrated in the original 1933 edition. Carol is discovered to be the great-niece of Asa Sidney; therefore she owns the rights to a number of inventions awaiting patents from Sidney. The family feud is resolved due to Nancy's discoveries.

Artwork
The original 1933 artwork is by the fashion illustrator Russell H. Tandy, illustrator for the Nancy Drew series from 1930 to 1949.

In the original edition, Nancy is shown meeting with Mr. Sidney in a simple summer dress and hat. This edition is noted for its internal art depicting Nancy pushed from a ladder. This illustration and two others were dropped in 1936 and subsequent editions.

Bill Gillies' 1950 cover art shows Nancy watching from a window as Frank Jemmit digs a hole outside. A more simply executed version of this image was used for half of the endpaper used from 1953 to 1959 (known as the 'Digger' endpaper). The endpapers show the digging man, while Nancy (in art adapted from The Secret of Red Gate Farm) hides behind a tree and watches.

The 1968 cover art shows a flip-haired Nancy near a candle with Asa glowering in the background. This art was also used as generic cover stock, in red, blue, and pink, for library binding or rebound library copies of all titles in the series.

title: The Sign of the Twisted Candles


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Talk:John McConnell

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Untitled
Look at what links here. Disambiguation is necessary.

title: Talk:John McConnell


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Template talk:User ha

I would like to know why there is now a deletion template included in this template, without any word for explanation. Hégésippe | ±Θ± 19:54, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

title: Template talk:User ha


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Talk:1602: New World

Untitled
SoM 19:55, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * support--DrBat 02:42, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

This article has been renamed after the result of a move request. Please don't just cut & paste the contents of a page into its new location. That is not okay. Dragons flight 19:23, September 5, 2005 (UTC)

Huh? Giant89 22:44, September 5, 2005 (UTC)

Recent edit
Is the breast thing really appropriate?-Giant89 03:23, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
 * What are you talking about? Konczewski 22:22, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:1602: New World


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Navel gazing

Navel-gazing or omphaloskepsis is the contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.

The word derives from the Ancient Greek words ὀμφᾰλός (omphalós, lit. 'navel') and σκέψῐς (sképsis, lit. 'viewing, examination, speculation').

Actual use of the practice as an aid to contemplation of basic principles of the cosmos and human nature is found in the practice of yoga or Hinduism and sometimes in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In yoga, the navel is the site of the manipura (also called nabhi) chakra, which yogis consider "a powerful chakra of the body". The monks of Mount Athos, Greece, were described as Omphalopsychians by J.G. Millingen, writing in the 1830s, who says they "...pretended or fancied that they experienced celestial joys when gazing on their umbilical region, in converse with the Deity".

However, phrases such as "contemplating one's navel" or "navel-gazing" are frequently used, usually in jocular fashion, to refer to self-absorbed pursuits.

title: Navel gazing


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A.M. (Wilco album)

A.M. is the debut studio album by the American rock band Wilco, released on March 28, 1995, by Sire Records and Reprise Records. The album was released only months after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, an alternative country band that was the predecessor of Wilco. Prior to its release, there was debate about whether the album would be better than the debut album of Son Volt, the new band of former Uncle Tupelo lead singer Jay Farrar.

Although A.M. was released before Son Volt's Trace, critical reviews were modest and initial sales were low. The album was later regarded as a "failure" by band members, as Trace was a greater success. It was the band's last album to be recorded in a purely alternative country style, as following the record the band began to expand their sound across multiple genres. It is also the only Wilco album to feature Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets as a lead guitarist.

Background and recording
Uncle Tupelo's final album, Anodyne, featured a new lineup for the band—a five-piece outfit with drummer Ken Coomer, bassist John Stirratt, and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston. Tensions mounted between singers Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, and Uncle Tupelo played its last concert on May 1, 1994, at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, Missouri.

Only days after the breakup, Tweedy decided to form a new group. He was able to retain the lineup of Uncle Tupelo sans Farrar, and rechristened the band Wilco. In mid-May, the band began to rehearse songs in the office of band manager Tony Margherita, and hired producer Brian Paulson, who produced Anodyne. Wilco first recorded demo tracks for the album at Easley studio in Memphis, Tennessee, in June. Stirratt recommended the studio based on previous experience as a member of The Hilltops, and Tweedy had heard of the studio through a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recording. Reprise Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros,, signed Jeff Tweedy after hearing the tapes, and recording for the album continued through August.

Tweedy was preoccupied with trying to establish Wilco as a viable band on the Reprise label, and decided to add another guitarist to the band. Brian Henneman, the lead singer for The Bottle Rockets, was brought into the recording sessions as a lead guitarist. Steel guitarist Lloyd Maines and bassist Daniel Corrigan also contributed to the album. Corrigan also photographed the band for the liner booklet. Howie Weinberg mastered the album, while Barbara Longo provided graphic design. Henneman had to leave the band shortly after recording the album, and was replaced by former Titanic Love Affair guitarist Jay Bennett. Tweedy also attempted to create a more collaborative environment than Uncle Tupelo, requesting songwriting contributions from other members. Stirratt submitted three songs, hoping to become a secondary songwriter for Wilco. However, although the songs were recorded as demos, only one ("It's Just That Simple") was selected to appear on the album, and was the only Stirratt song, and the only song by Wilco not to have lyrics written by Tweedy, to appear on any Wilco album.

The album's title is intended to reference Top 40 radio stations, and the tracks reflect a straightforward country-rock sound. The band members felt that they needed to establish themselves outside of the Uncle Tupelo fanbase. However, Tweedy later stated that in actuality, they were "trying to tread some water with a perceived audience." Tweedy wrote a song about the Uncle Tupelo breakup, but decided that he didn't want any material on that subject to appear on the album. (It can be argued, however, that first single "Box Full of Letters", as well as "Too Far Apart" allude to the dissolution of Farrar and Tweedy's friendship and working relationship.) Critic and author Greg Kot wrote in Wilco: Learning How to Die that "Tweedy's voice and personality are as modest as the arrangements; there's little sense of drama, and virtually no hint of risk." Tweedy attributes some of the straightforwardness of the album to his abuse of marijuana at the time. Shortly after the album, Tweedy stopped smoking pot, to which he credits the introspectiveness of further albums.

While Wilco was recording tracks, Farrar formed a band of his own, Son Volt. Son Volt signed to Warner Bros. Records and began recording their first album (also produced by Paulson), Trace, in November 1994. The fact that both Wilco and Son Volt began working on an album almost immediately after the Uncle Tupelo breakup caused debate among critics, fans, and Warner Bros. about which would be the better band. Joe McEwen, who originally signed Uncle Tupelo to a Warner subsidiary, felt that Wilco was taking a step backwards from the material on Anodyne. McEwen urged Richard Dodd, who had recently mixed Tom Petty's Wildflowers, to remix the album. Dodd emphasized Tweedy's vocals to increase the chances of success on radio.

Wilco began touring before the album was released. Their live debut was on November 27, 1994, at Cicero's Basement Bar in St. Louis, a venue where Uncle Tupelo had first received significant media attention. The band was billed for that concert as Black Shampoo, a reference to a 1970s B movie, and the show sold out. Wilco continued to tour for two hundred shows, culminating in a show at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1995. A.M. was released on Reprise Records on March 28, 1995.

Commercial and critical reception
A.M. received modest reviews from critics. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone called the album "one hell of a country-guts debut", praising the influence of Gram Parsons and Neil Young on the music. However, the album still received a moderate three-and-a-half star rating. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a three-star honorable mention, but called it "realist defiance grinding sadly down into realist bathos." The Village Voice placed the album at position 34 on the 1995 Pazz & Jop critics poll. The band was disappointed by the critical reception, since Trace was met with better reviews. According to Henneman:

The first Son Volt record was pretty fucking good. It was like watching a prize fight at that point. Wow! He slammed him there! Ouch! What a counterpunch! It was exciting being on the sidelines watching these guys. It's like Jay had something to prove with that first album, an urgency to it that none of his albums since have had. I felt he had a chip on his shoulder, and it shows up in the music. It was stunning. It was humbling. I think that kicked Jeff in the ass.

A.M. hit number 27 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, whereas Trace peaked at number 166 on the Billboard 200; by 1997, Trace had outsold A.M. two-to-one. Wilco released "Box Full of Letters" as a single, but it received little airplay. For the only time in Wilco's career, ticket sales failed to meet expectations. As of 2003, the album had sold about 150,000 copies.

Track listing
All songs written by Jeff Tweedy unless otherwise noted.

 * 1) "I Must Be High" – 2:59
 * 2) "Casino Queen" – 2:45
 * 3) "Box Full of Letters" – 3:05
 * 4) "Shouldn't Be Ashamed" – 3:28
 * 5) "Pick Up the Change" – 2:56
 * 6) "I Thought I Held You" – 3:49
 * 7) "That's Not the Issue" – 3:19
 * 8) "It's Just That Simple" (John Stirratt) – 3:45
 * 9) "Should've Been in Love" – 3:36
 * 10) "Passenger Side" – 3:33
 * 11) "Dash 7" – 3:29
 * 12) "Blue Eyed Soul" – 4:05
 * 13) "Too Far Apart" – 3:44

Personnel

 * Jeff Tweedy - vocals (1-7,9-13), guitar (1,3,13), acoustic guitar (2,4-7,9-12), bass (8)
 * John Stirratt – bass (1-7,9,10,12,13), vocals (2,3,6,8), piano (6), acoustic guitar (8), organ (13)
 * Ken Coomer – drums (1-10,12,13), vocals (2)
 * Max Johnston – dobro (1,3,9,13), fiddle (2,10), vocals (2), mandolin (4,8,10,12), banjo (5-7)
 * Brian Henneman – guitar (1-9,12,13), vocals (2), small stoned guitar (10)
 * Daniel Corrigan – vocals (2)
 * Lloyd Maines – pedal steel guitar (1,6,8,11,12)
 * Wilco, Brian Henneman and Daniel Corrigan – handclaps, crowd noise, glass cheers (2)

Production

 * Daniel Corrigan – photography
 * James SK Wān – wardrobe
 * Richard Dodd – mixing
 * Barbara Longo – design
 * Brian Paulson – producer, engineer, mixing
 * Howie Weinberg – mastering
 * Wilco – producer, engineer
 * Bob Andrews – production coordinator

title: A.M. (Wilco album)


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The Password to Larkspur Lane

The Password to Larkspur Lane is the tenth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1933 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The actual author was ghostwriter Walter Karig in his third and final Nancy Drew novel and his final appearance for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Due to Karig's death in 1956, this book and his other two Nancy Drews, as of January 1, 2007, have passed into the public domain in Canada and other countries with a life-plus-50 policy.

1933 edition
The story opens with Nancy tending her prize delphiniums when a mysterious carrier pigeon lands in her yard. Nancy contacts the registry for the carrier pigeon.

Meanwhile, housekeeper Hannah Gruen takes a fall and must be treated at the local orthopedist's office. Her attending physician, Dr. Spires, confides to Carson Drew and Nancy that he was forced to tend an elderly woman for her shoulder under peculiar circumstances: the driver of a car blindfolded him when they drove him there, so he would not be able to guess her location, but the doctor believes their destination might have been someplace called Larkspur Lane. Events led him to believe the patient was being held prisoner.

The only clue to the woman's identity is a bracelet with a family crest. Nancy, of course, sets out to track the crest, discovering it belongs to the Eldridge family of St. Louis.

In the meantime, the pigeon registry contacts Nancy about the bird, suspecting criminality is involved. Effie Schneider, a foolish girl who serves as Hannah's substitute, gets in on the action when Nancy attempts to track the carrier pigeon's flight into the country. A ferocious woman attacks Nancy and steals the bracelet from her. Due to threats of intruders and increasing danger, the Drews temporarily retreat and accept Helen Corning's invitation to visit Sylvan Lake.

Coincidentally, Nancy rescues a young Eldridge child from a mishap at the lake and learns that an elderly relative is missing. Nancy and Helen explore the vicinity, finally finding "L.S. Lane". Near the little-used road is an estate surrounded by delphiniums and an electrified fence. Elderly patients are outside on the grounds. Mrs. Eldridge is also outside near the fence and reveals she is indeed a prisoner.

Nancy and Helen disguise themselves as an old lady and her nurse, and enter using the password "singing horses". Nancy reaches Mrs. Eldridge and rescues her. She sends Eldridge safely away with Helen before being imprisoned by the evil doctor and his partners, who kidnap wealthy, elderly people and force them to sign over money and securities.

Nancy escapes from her cistern jail and sabotages the crooks' getaway airplane just as the police arrive.

1966 revision
The word "The" is dropped from the title, and the front cover looks similar to the 1933 edition.

The plot is similar, although condensed. Bess and George are included in more of the action. A subplot involving supernatural events at Helen Corning Archer's in-laws' summer place on Sylvan Lake (ghostly blue wheels of rolling fire) leads Nancy there. The butler, Morgan, is involved in minor crimes as well. Bess accompanies Nancy in the rescue operation instead of Helen, with Bess dressing like a nurse and George the ailing party.

Film adaptation
In 1938, the story was used as the basis for Nancy Drew, Detective, the first of four Nancy Drew movies, starring Bonita Granville.

Television
An episode of the Nancy Drew television series is named "The Lady of Larkspur Lane". In the episode, Nancy, Ned and George visit the local insane asylum which is named Larkspur Lane.

Artwork
The original 1933 artwork is by the fashion illustrator Russell H. Tandy, illustrator for the Nancy Drew series from 1930 to 1949.

Tandy's original dust jacket artwork remained in print until 1962, long after most early volume dust jackets had been modernized for 1950s readers by illustrator Bill Gillies. The original art shows Nancy in a genuflection position wearing a very full, loose dress.

Collectors speculate publisher Grosset & Dunlap commissioned an updated illustration of the same scene during the transition from Gillies to new series artist Rudy Nappi in 1953. However, due to the presentation of Nancy posed crouching in a pencil skirt, the new painting may have shown an indiscreet display of her thigh where the slim skirt crept above Nancy's knees. Presumably, this was deemed inappropriate for American readers and the artwork was shelved. This art later appeared on British dust jackets for this volume in 1960.

title: The Password to Larkspur Lane


text:
User talk:Yrieithydd

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Dunc|☺ 19:56, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * How to edit a page
 * Help pages
 * Tutorial
 * How to write a great article
 * Manual of Style

title: User talk:Yrieithydd


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Calvin Coolidge Bridge

The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a major crossing of the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley. The bridge carries Route 9 across the river, where it connects to Interstate 91.

History and construction of the bridge
The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a five-span, single intersection Warren deck truss bridge with distinctive design on its granite-faced abutment pylons. Art Deco ornamentation on the pylons includes carved eagles and incised carved lettering. The bridge, a replacement of a previous structure destroyed in the 1936 flood, was funded under the Hayden Cartwright Act, one of the numerous federal aid programs designed to provide construction jobs during the Great Depression. It was designed by W & L Engineering Co. in conjunction with Maurice A. Reidy as consultant and Desmond & Lord as architects. The bridge was built by T. Stuart & Sons.

The bridge was named as a memorial to President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933), a longtime resident and former mayor of Northampton. Coolidge was elected to the State Senate and the governorship of Massachusetts before being elected President of the United States. A bronze memorial plaque of Calvin Coolidge is mounted on the northeast and southwest pylons.

The bridge features large, distinctive granite-faced pylons in the Art Deco style, measuring 15 by 27 feet at the base. On the northwest and southeast pylons are bronze doors that provide access to small rooms.

The 3+1/2 ft welded steel Art Deco bridge rail is mounted at the back of the sidewalk on the north side of the bridge and on the bridge parapet on the south side where there is no sidewalk. It is a weathered green color. Integral to the rail are light standard posts supporting cobra head luminaires. The cobra head luminaires replaced the original low-pressure sodium lamp fixtures developed by General Electric. These lamps were based on a European model and introduced to the U.S. market in 1933. However, the yellow/orange, monochromatic light produced by the luminaire ultimately became unpopular with the motoring public, and use of the lamps was discontinued as color-corrected light sources became available.

In 2001, the Massachusetts Highway Department began a major improvement of the Coolidge Bridge, that cost a total of $32 million which included:
 * Widening the bridge from 3 lanes to 4 lanes, i.e., 2 travel lanes in each direction
 * Replacement of the deteriorated bridge deck
 * Refurbishing the historic Art Deco bridge railing and integrated light fixtures
 * Cleaning and restoration of all granite facing
 * Installation of a new 5-foot sidewalk on the north side of the bridge
 * Repairing and improving the bridge approach roadways

In 2007 the Massachusetts Historical Commission determined that the Calvin Coolidge Bridge was not eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places but was eligible for listing as a contributing element in the (then) pending expansion of the Hadley Center Historic District. In 1994, the bridge was included as a contributing element to the Hadley Center Historic District.

The bridge is a major bottleneck in Hampshire County, with the busy Route 9 as the sole thoroughfare between the college towns of Northampton and Amherst.

The road approaching the bridge is known as Bridge St. in Northampton (eastbound) and Russell St. in Hadley (westbound).

title: Calvin Coolidge Bridge