VAN GOGH PARTY at T.R.A.C.S

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Your taxi to T.R.A.C.S: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/194/110/1007

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh 
30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890 was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. However, he was not commercially successful, and his suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty.

Born into an upper-middle-class family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet and thoughtful. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling, but became depressed after he was transferred to London. He turned to religion and spent time as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. He drifted in ill health and solitude before taking up painting in 1881, having moved back home with his parents. His younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguished his later work. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed, he created a new approach to still lifes and local landscapes. His paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. During this period, he broadened his subject matter to include series of olive trees, wheat fields and sunflowers.

Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions and though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly and drank heavily. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor, when in a rage, he severed part of his own left ear. He spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, he came under the care of the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet. His depression continued and on 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later.

Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide and exists in the public imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius, the artist "where discourses on madness and creativity converge". His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his painting style came to be incorporated by the Fauves and German Expressionists. He attained widespread critical, commercial and popular success over the ensuing decades, and is remembered as an important but tragic painter, whose troubled personality typifies the romantic ideal of the tortured artist. Today, Van Gogh's works are among the world's most expensive paintings to have ever sold at auction, and his legacy is honoured by a museum in his name, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the world's largest collection of his paintings and drawings.

Noorderplantsoen

Noorderplantsoen is an urban public park in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands, situated slightly north of the city center. Its name is Dutch for northern public garden.

History

In 1874 the Vestingswet was passed. This law allowed cities to expand outside of the city walls and fortifications. Since the fortifications were no longer in use, they were transformed into a public park. The earth ramparts were incorporated in the park architecture and the moats were turned into ponds. The architecture is of an English garden style, characterized by meandering paths and serpentine ponds, inspired by wild nature. The shape of the park still reflects the former purpose of the area: the long but narrow park curves around the old city. The park includes an Art Nouveau bandstand and a small restaurant.

Until the mid-90s the Noorderplantsoen was split up by a busy road, but a referendum in 1994 decided - with a narrow majority - to close this road for motorized traffic.

Events

Every year a number of events take place in the Noorderplantsoen, of which the Noorderzon Theater Festival is well known. This cultural event takes place at the end of August and is visited by over 125,000 visitors. Many theater, dance and music groups from The Netherlands and abroad perform during this 11-day festival.

Another well-known event in the Noorderplantsoen is the plantsoenloop. This run through the park is held annually in October or early November and attracts about 500 runners. In 2007 the 50th edition of the plantsoenloop took place.

Weather Party at T.R.A.C.S

Snapshots of the Weather Party. Tim played a great set of the weather songs. The Trivia about Weather Songs was little hard so next time I will use (or make myself) the trivia questions of our regular Trivia Artist, Beep Carter.

Tim with his first Bento Mesh head, Does he not looks handsome?

WEATHER PARTY at T.R.A.C.S

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Your taxi to T.R.A.C.S: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/194/110/1007

World Meteorological Day

The date of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization in 23 March 1950 has been named World Meteorological Day. This organization announces a slogan for World Meteorology Day every year, and this day is celebrated in all member countries. 

World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March to commemorate the entry into force in 1950 of the convention that created the World Meteorological Organization. The day also highlights the contribution that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services make to the safety and well-being of society.
Many different activities and events are organized for this occasion.

World Meteorological Day

Theme for 2019 is The Sun, the Earth and the Weather and reflects the core purpose of WMO and the essential role of NMHSs in monitoring the Earth System in order to deliver daily weather forecasts and advise policy makers about climate variability and change. In doing so, the WMO community supports actions that protect lives and property from extreme weather and builds long-term climate resilience.

The Sun, the Earth and the Weather 23 March 2019

The Sun delivers the energy that powers all life on Earth. It drives the weather, ocean currents and the hydrological cycle.

It shapes our mood and our daily activities. It is the inspiration for music, photography and art.

WEATHER

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the lowest level of the atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.

Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley Cell, the Ferrel Cell, the Polar Cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 100 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by the Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.

 

Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. The Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns.

Studying how the weather works on other planets has clarified how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind.

Baroque Party

Snapshots are made by Tim.

Baroque Party at T.R.A.C.S

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Your taxi to T.R.A.C.S: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/194/110/1007

I Want You Bach

When Jackson 5 and Bach were funky way before Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk! -"I Want You Bach"-The Piano Guys.

And what if Bach wrote "Last Christmas"? (Baroque cover version)

A whiter shade of Bach

BAROQUE

The Baroque is a highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the mid-18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain and Portugal, then to Austria and southern Germany. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called rocaille or Rococo, which appeared in France and central Europe until the mid to late 18th century.

Music and ballet

The term Baroque is also used to designate the style of music composed during a period that overlaps with that of Baroque art. The first uses of the term 'baroque' for music were criticisms. In an anonymous, satirical review of the première in October 1733 of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, printed in the Mercure de France in May 1734, the critic implied that the novelty in this opera was "du barocque," complaining that the music lacked coherent melody, was filled with unremitting dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was a musician and noted composer as well as philosopher, made a very similar observation in 1768 in the famous Encylopedié of Denis Diderot: "Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians."

Common use of the term for the music of the period began only in 1919, by Curt Sachs, and it was not until 1940 that it was first used in English in an article published by Manfred Bukofzer.

The baroque was a period of musical experimentation and innovation. New forms were invented, including the concerto and sinfonia. Opera was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's mostly lost Dafne, produced in Florence in 1598) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Louis XIV created the first Royal Academy of Music, In 1669, the poet Pierre Perrin opened an academy of opera in Paris, the first opera theater in France open to the public, and premiered Pomone, the first grand opera in French, with music by Robert Cambert, with five acts, elaborate stage machinery, and a ballet.  Heinrich Schütz in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century.

The classical ballet also originated in the Baroque era. The style of court dance was brought to France by Marie de Medici, and in the beginning the members of the court themselves were the dancers. Louis XIV himself performed in public in several ballets. In March 1662, the Académie Royale de Danse, was founded by the King. It was the first professional dance school and company and set the standards and vocabulary for ballet throughout Europe during the period.

Several new instruments, including the piano, were introduced during this period. The invention of the piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) of Padua, Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. Cristofori named the instrument un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"), abbreviated over time as pianoforte, fortepiano, and later, simply, piano.

Some composers and examples

• Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Canon in D (1680)
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), The Four Seasons (1725)
• George Frederic Handel (1685–1759), Water Music (1717), Messiah (1741)
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703–1707), Brandenburg Concertos (1721), St Matthew Passion (1727