Duel Research Articles

Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto by Maria Pavlova

Reviewed by: Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto by Maria Pavlova Francesco Lucioli Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto. By Maria Pavlova. (Italian Perspectives, 47) Cambridge: Legenda. 2020. xiv+282 pp. £75. ISBN 978–1–781883–47–1. In the Inamoramento de Orlando by Matteo Maria Boiardo and the Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, Otherness is mainly represented by Saracens. However, as Maria Pavlova explains in the Introduction to her book (pp. 1–15), scholars have usually highlighted an opposition between Boiardo's admired representation of the Saracen world and its negative portrayal in Ariosto's poem, and have interpreted these different approaches in the light of the historical, political, and religious transformations that took place in Italy between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Pavlova aims to challenge this reading by reconsidering the close relationship between Italy and the Islamic world through an original postcolonial perspective, and by reading the two poems in the context of the literary tradition to which they belong. The first chapter (pp. 17–65) offers an in-depth analysis of how the Saracens' religion and culture were perceived and represented in chivalric literature and early modern Italian society. Through a close reading of the two Orlandos alongside French and Italian chivalric texts and in the light of the international relationships between Ferrara and the Turks, it is clear that Boiardo's and Ariosto's portrayals of the Islamic faith—as a false but not an evil cult—and their appreciation of Saracen culture, particularly chivalric values, are perfectly in line with both the previous literary tradition and the contemporary political interest in the East. The core of the book is then divided into two sections, with two chapters dedicated to Boiardo (pp. 66–126) and two to Ariosto (pp. 127–215). Both are preceded by an overview of the numerous Saracen characters included in the poems (also listed in the useful appendixes at the end of the book, pp. 225–46). The section dedicated to the Inamoramento de Orlando aims to highlight the intertextual nature of Boiardo's characters (many of the most important Saracens of his work come either from the Spagna or from the Aspramonte), even though 'the debt that Boiardo owes to the Italian Carolingian tradition is not limited to borrowed characters and names. He also appropriates themes, situations and stock characters, and in doing so, he often gives them a different meaning, subverting traditional stereotypes' (p. 89). Boiardo introduces new Saracen characters (such as Agricane, Sacripante, and Angelica) that are destined to embody the main topics of his poem—as well as of Ariosto's poem—such as love, honour, cortesia, vitality, and desire for glory, and also challenges previous chivalric works to reshape the dynastic protagonist Ruggiero, the Saracen to whom Boiardo attributes two ancient ancestors: Hector of Troy, to whom he is related through his Christian father, and Alexander the Great, to whom he [End Page 260] is connected through his Saracen mother, as explained in the Aspramonte. The section dedicated to the Orlando furioso begins with an analysis of the differences between Boiardo's and Ariosto's Paganìa (the latter is wider, as demonstrated by the inclusion of Sweden and Norway within the Christian world). Besides, through the Saracen characters—and particularly the new ones, such as Fiammetta and Isabella—Ariosto problematizes the topic of love, which was generally presented as a positive experience in the Inamoramento de Orlando. He also changes the representation of some of Boiardo's Saracens, such as Marsilio and Dardinello, probably following in this respect other chivalric texts (e.g. Andrea da Barberino's Aspramonte). These insights introduce a case study, namely the final duel between Ruggiero and Rodomonte. Through sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts dedicated to duels, Pavlova recognizes in Rodomonte the moral winner of this final confrontation because he remains loyal to his values, unlike Ruggiero, who, on the contrary, betrays his faith and his lord. This exemplifies the fact that 'at the core of the ending of the Furioso lies the theme of betrayal', which is again 'one of the central themes in the Aspramonte, a crucial text for both Boiardo and Ariosto...

Reakcije hrvatskih novina i crkvene reakcije na dvoboj između narodnjaka Izidora Kršnjavoga i pravaša Milana Pavlovića 1885.

The paper briefly introduces the relevant aspects of the political and ecclesiastical scene in Civil Croatia (Banska Hrvatska) in the mid-1880s. Emphasis is accorded to the socio-political status of Izidor Kršnjavi and his Copernican political turn, reflected in his decision to join the People’s Party in 1884 at a time of rising Hungarian influence. Hungarian dominance was encouraged by Károly KhuenHéderváry, the new ban (royal governor). This in turn led to the strengthening of the Statehood Right Party on the nationalist end of the political spectrum. The roles of Kršnjavi’s former political patron and Đakovo Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer from the Independent People’s Party and Zagreb Archbishop Josip Mihalović are also presented. Using archival materials from Kršnjavi’s Bequest, themes such as the violation of the Croatian territorial parliament’s dignity, the insulted honour of People’s Party member Vaso Pauković and other personal grounds are examined. These may have been the underlying motives which led to the pistol duel between Kršnjavi, a member of the People’s Party, and Statehood Right Party member Milan Pavlović in 1885, after insults were hurled on the floor of Parliament. The course of the parliamentary debate culminating in a verbal altercation between Vaso Pauković and Milan Pavlović is also described in detail. The paper underscores the intersection between politics (People’s Party, Statehood Right Party, Independent People’s Party), the Croatian media (Sloboda, which featured contributions from Statehood Right Party leader Ante Starčević; Pozor and Narodne novine, which backed the People’s Party and Independent People’s Party respectively; and the Church-backed Katolički list) and the Church (Mihalović vs. Strossmayer, and the lower ecclesiastical structures personified by Mijo Smetiško, the director of the Archdiocesan Theological Seminary). To a large extent, and sometimes exclusively, they reflected the previous, politically conditioned a priori premises acted out by the participants in these events. How these premises manifested themselves is demonstrated on the basis of archival materials (from Kršnjavi’s post as lecturer at the Theology Faculty and his later reminiscences on the duel and the associated circumstances) and the official aspect of the penalties stipulated for duels and the time and manner of their enforcement. In the case of Mihalović’s letters to the Apostolic See, they were cast aside and therefore generated no internal canonical disputes at that time. In the case of Croatia’s territory as a whole, they largely reflected the previous political, i.e., partisan, classification of their protagonists and commentators. This clearly stems from what they said (or did not) about the individuals involved in the case and their actions and the necessary official repercussions.

The Federal Invasion of Pickens County, April 5-7, 1865: The Burning of the Courthouse and Skirmish at King's Store

The Federal Invasion of Pickens County, April 5-7, 1865The Burning of the Courthouse and Skirmish at King's Store Scott W. Owens (bio) April 6, 1865, proved to be a tumultuous day in the waning life of the Confederacy. What remained of the Confederate government, President Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, had moved by rail from Richmond to Danville, Virginia. In the Trans-Mississippi Department, Major General John A. Wharton discussed military affairs in his district with Colonel George W. Baylor, commanding the Second Texas Cavalry, in Wharton's hotel room in Houston, Texas; a sharp disagreement arose, and in the ensuing argument, Colonel Baylor shot and mortally wounded the general. Engagements between Confederate and Union forces erupted at Natural Bridge, Florida, and at Flat Creek and High Bridge, Virginia. In the latter fight, Confederate Brigadier General James Dearing and Union Brigadier General Theodore Read engaged in a rare pistol duel between opposing mounted general officers; Read was killed and Dearing mortally wounded.1 [End Page 3] Elsewhere in the Virginia theater, at Saylor's Creek, southwest of Petersburg, Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia clashed with the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac under major generals Phillip Sheridan and Horatio Wright. Wright's corps took some eight thousand Confederates as prisoners of war, including Ewell, in this calamitous Confederate defeat, the last meeting between elements of these two armies.2 In Pickens County, Alabama, nearly two thousand combatants fought for hours in driving rain, lightning and thunder, and deepening mud on the southern boundary of the county at Sipsey Bridge, Sipsey Swamp, and King's Bridge. The Union cavalry brigade of Brigadier General John T. Croxton and the Confederate command of Brigadier General Wirt Adams clashed in this series of encounters, with dozens of casualties on both sides. Miles away to the west, in the heart of the county, a Federal cavalry detachment burned the county courthouse in Carrollton and took many citizens prisoner in skirmishes south of the town. Though the destruction of the Pickens County seat of government by the Union mounted detachment is well-known, the details of this episode have not been elaborated, nor has the confusion of the dates of these incidents found correction.3 Two weeks earlier, Major General James H. Wilson and his command had embarked from Union-occupied northwest Alabama on a mounted invasion into the heart of the Confederacy. Wilson marched southward with three divisions of cavalry, 13,500 sabers [End Page 4] armed to a man with Spencer repeating carbines. The largest mounted raiding force of the war, which set out in conjunction with the Union campaign for Mobile, drove into central Alabama to lay waste to the military-industrial sites in the Deep South, the foundries and arsenals of Selma on the Alabama River with the iron works, depots, and mines which supplied arms, ordnance, quartermaster equipment, and ammunition for the armies and navy of the Confederate States. When the Federal horsemen reached Elyton (now Birmingham) on March 30, 1865, Wilson ordered Brigadier General John T. Croxton, commanding First Brigade of the First Division, Cavalry Corps, Department of the Mississippi, to detach his brigade from the invading Union cavalry corps.4 Major General Wilson directed Croxton to march his brigade, composed of the Second Michigan Cavalry, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, Sixth Kentucky Cavalry, and Fourth Kentucky Mounted Infantry, to Tuscaloosa. There the First Brigade would destroy the University of Alabama, which was now a military college training officers for the Confederate army, as well as the warehouses, factories, foundry, and other facilities of war at that place. After marching southwest from Elyton, Croxton found his direct approach to Tuscaloosa blocked by a division of Confederate cavalry nearly double his numbers. The rear guard of the Federal brigade fought a delaying action against this overwhelming Rebel force under Brigadier General William "Red" Jackson on April 1. Croxton then retreated northeastward and crossed the Warrior River forty miles above the Druid City. By [End Page 5] the night of April 3, the Federal cavalry had entered Northport, the village across the Warrior River opposite Tuscaloosa, assaulted the bridge guards...

Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda

Reviewed by: Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda Patricia Herrera HAMILTON: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL. Book, music, and lyrics by Lin Manuel-Miranda. Directed by Thomas Kail. Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York City. Disney Plus, streaming, July 4, 2020. Since its off-Broadway debut at the New York Public Theater in early 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton has become a theatrical phenomenon of historic proportions, achieving staggering levels of critical and commercial success. I have had the great fortune of seeing Hamilton onstage a couple of times and have enjoyed this artistic masterpiece, but as I have written before, that pleasure comes with some caution and trepidation. By detaching from the narrative of slavery and disavowing Black bodies and their experiences, Hamilton brings the white body back to life, glossing over the racial terror saturating American history. While Disney’s early release of Hamilton is certainly beneficial in terms of accessibility, these shortcomings are far more pronounced. In the wake of 2020’s racial injustice protests and the coronavirus lockdowns, when gasps of grief and rage grew even louder, the show’s closing image of Eliza’s gasp took on a whole new meaning. Wrestling between pleasure and urgency, the craft of theatre remains as a source of “revolution and revelation” (as the Schuyler sisters desire). Under the direction of Thomas Kail, who also directed the stage version, the film is a firsthand look at the actual stage production at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Rather than emulating the form and style of cinema, the film is an immersive live-captured version of a Broadway musical. Televiewers come close to experiencing what it feels like to be on the stage as a performer or in the theatre as an audience member from the comfort of their homes. While the film indeed offers a great approximation of theatre, the cinematic form, as is true for most live-recordings, can’t replace the liveness nor capture the give-and-take between actors and audience. What remains is a valuable historical document preserving the original cast on film and underscoring the collaboration of the creative team. Shot in three days in June of 2016, when the cast was performing the show to sold-out audiences on a nearly daily basis, Kail captures both the scope and intimacy of Hamilton. He employed nine cameras, some placed in the audience, others overhead, and another set in the rear of the stage. The wide shots allow for a fuller theatrical experience. The spare, evocative set design of David Korins and stunning choreography of Andy Blankenbuehler stand out as central elements of the musical. The large two-story wooden scaffold with coils of nautical ropes and pulleys hanging in front of the brick wall underscores America being built from its foundation and how Hamilton and other immigrants came by ship. The film accentuates even more the physicality of the ensemble. Actors move above the stage, descend onto the platform, and stand on a turn-table-floor, offering the musical more expressive complexity to the subtext. Alex Lacamoire’s score, blending the rhythms of hip-hop, rock, and Golden Age Broadway, heightens the audio experience. The film beautifully captures theatre-making at its best, particularly in the final duel scene. The scratchy-rewinding-of-time along with the countdown punctuates Hamilton’s death. Ariana DeBose theatrically heightens this moment when she grabs the invisible bullet that will kill the title character in mid-air and the ensemble freezes in a series of tableaux. As the turntable-floor rotates ever so slightly, the ensemble reenacts flashes of Hamilton’s life in slow-motion. The camera shifts from wide shots to close-ups capturing those moments sometimes not visible to the naked eye. Sitting in the far-off theatre seat, I missed the intensity of the spittle flying from King George III (Jonathan Groff). Now seeing his uptight posture up close against his spittle filled that moment with so much more humor. The wide shots and close up also helps capture the emotional intensity of the conclusion. Towards the end, Eliza speaking [End Page 83] Click for larger view View full resolution Lin-Manuel Miranda is Alexander Hamilton...

Fertility Treatment and Twinning: Dueling Risk Factors for Congenital Heart Defects?

To elucidate the associations among assisted reproduction (in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection), twinning, and

Propaganda and Reception in Nineteenth-Century Music Criticism: Maurice Schlesinger, Henri Herz, and the Gazette musicale

In the mid-1830s, Henri Herz (1803–88) was an internationally renowned pianist, but his reputation today, for the most part, is that of a second-rate musician who wrote trivial variations on opera themes. This enduring picture of Herz was painted first in France in 1834 by the Gazette musicale. The Gazette’s campaign has been understood by modern scholars as a conspicuous moment in a broad aesthetic shift away from French salon music and toward high German Romanticism, and the Gazette has garnered praise for its prescience. But a closer examination of the Gazette’s articles, the events surrounding the coverage such as a pistol duel and a libel case, contemporary correspondence, and Herz’s publishing record indicate that the Gazette’s negative treatment of Herz was not an organic assessment of his output, but rather a revenge scheme orchestrated by the Gazette’s owner and Herz’s former publisher, Maurice Schlesinger (1798–1871). As a case study, the Gazette’s Herz campaign exposes the endemic corruption of the nineteenth-century press that has been portrayed as an unseemly rarity rather than a central component of historical criticism’s production. But taken more broadly, the Gazette’s articles on Herz highlight limitations in the history of reception. This article turns to media studies to explore the problematic relationship between propaganda and reception and shows how the Gazette, and other nineteenth-century journals, are still manipulating our cognition.

The Living Force: An Ecological Reading of How the Force Regards Its Adherents

Drawing on the new canon, this article explores the ecological nature of the Force to evaluate the abilities and actions of its most visible adherents, the Jedi and the Sith. Through particular attention to prophecy and animal taming, this article demonstrates that the near extinction of the monastic Jedi resulted from a failure to adhere to the will of the Force, which then empowered the predatory Sith to cull the Jedi and balance the environment. Close readings of Coruscant, Dagobah, and other planets offer insight into the Force’s nature, which clarifies Palpatine’s deposal of the Jedi while corrupting Anakin Skywalker, unpacks Yoda’s exile, illuminates technological relics manifested by the living Force, and explicates the final duel of Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Early history of transylvania medical college: The saga of a disputed autopsy precipitating a duel and grave robbing.

At the beginning of the 19th century, there were only five medical schools in America. The Medical Department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, was the first in the West; however, it had few students or faculty until it was restructured in 1815. In 1817-1818, three of its faculty members (Benjamin Dudley, Daniel Drake, and William Richardson) quickly developed a highly dysfunctional relationship. Dudley tried to have Richardson fired, with Drake blocking this. Drake then criticized Dudley's performance of a coroner's autopsy, resulting in both parties publishing derogatory comments about each other. Dudley then challenged Drake to a pistol duel but Drake, not believing in dueling, declined. Richardson, wanting to defend his friend's honor, accepted the challenge and was mortally wounded in August 1818. Dudley, a prominent surgeon, saved his life. Both Dudley and Richardson were important Kentuckian Freemasons and the brotherhood felt compelled to punish them for un-Masonic behavior. Drake left and started his own medical school in Cincinnati in 1819, in direct completion with and destabilizing Transylvania's school. This saga is dissected in the context of the bizarre history of dueling as part of the Code of Honor by which gentlemen in the Old South often resolved their differences. The essay analyzes the autopsy dispute and reviews politics within the medical school, the University, and newer competing medical schools. Transylvania's medical school was recognized as one of the best in the US during the first half of the 1800s, but by 1859, it had permanently closed its doors. Clin. Anat. 32:489-500, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Inheritance of the Little Dragon: Contributions to the Concept of the Combat Duel in the Work of Bruce Lee

The Inheritance of the Little Dragon: Contributions to the Concept of the Combat Duel in the Work of Bruce Lee

Failed Dueling of P.N. Miliukov

Failed Dueling of P.N. Miliukov

Dueling Relationships

Dueling Relationships

To Duel or Not to Duel? That Is a [Futuristic] Question

Abstract The Russian futurists were masters of scandal and provocation as ways of promoting their ideas, and their exhibitions, disputes, and performances often caused public outrage. One of the little-known scandals took place on the opening night of Pink Lantern cabaret in Moscow on October 19, 1913. Following Vladimir Mayakovsky’s taunting declamation of his poetry and Konstantin Balmont’s improvised speech honoring the futurists, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova engaged in a confrontation with the public already irritated by the provocative performances and alcohol. As a result, Goncharova slapped a gentleman across the face, which led him to challenging Larionov to a duel. Larionov refused the challenge, however, in a bizarre twist, Goncharova counter-challenged, causing the discussion of what is and is not futuristic behavior. Using newspaper articles, interviews, and futurists publications, the paper analyzes this scandal through the prism of Commedia dell’Arte. Recognizing Mayakovsky as the red clown and Larionov as his naïve and cowardly white counterpart, the spectators experienced the cognitive dissonance when Goncharova as the futuristic Columbine took center stage and challenged the public to a duel. Looking at this incident in the broader context of dueling in European history, the paper also addresses the role of the duel in Russian culture and juxtaposes Goncharova’s never-acted-upon challenge with the tragic final duel of Alexander Pushkin fought to defend the honor of his wife and Goncharova’s namesake.

El duelo de amor en las novelas amorosas de Gabriel García Márquez

Duel is a word in Spanish with three different definitions: duel in terms of a battle; duel as mourning in terms of facing the absence of a person; and, as a verb, it is conjugated with the meaning of pain. This article plays with the three meanings of this word in order to study two loving novels: Love in Times of Cholera and Of Love and Other Demons. Both novels are from author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The characters studied are Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza in the first novel and Cayetano Delaura and Sierva Maria de Todos los Angeles in the second one. These characters face love, in terms of a painful combat against society and themselves. Also, they suffer in their bodies the havoc of love because they get sick with cholera or rabies. And, finally, they live and cry the pain of love because they suffer the absence of the loved one.

Beneficium, iustitia e imperium tra passato, presente e futuro

The section of Cicero’s De Officiis on the circulation of benefits according to justice implies a redefinition of traditional customs ( mores ) through the identification of an unbridgeable distance between past and present. Indeed, in the second book of the treatise ( 2.26-30), the author seems to outline a of Roman power sub specie beneficii , a history in which the relinquishment of the practice of benefiting allies ( beneficium in socios ) is connected with the rise of a cruelty towards citizens ( crudelitas in cives ) embodied by Sulla. In Cicero's view, this is the crucial historical moment in which iniuriae replaced beneficia . The contrast between beneficium and iniuria reflects the opposition between bellum iustum and bellum iniustum , and these two antithetical conceptual poles correspond to a temporal dialectic between distant past and recent past/present. As concerns Cicero's connection between the preservation of Roman power and the practice of beneficentia , a major point of comparison is offered by Sallust's overview of the history of Roman customs and institutions in Cat . 6-13. In fact, b eneficium , iustitia and imperium are three pivotal elements which lay the foundations of Cicero's and Sallust's reflection on cultural history. In spite of their different intellectual perspectives and goals , both authors connect beneficence and offence, beneficium and iniuria , with two opposite temporal dimensions – past and present, respectively – and point out the relationship of these two notions to iustitia and imperium . Interesting evidence about the roots of the practice of beneficium and its application to conquered peoples is also provided by Virgil's Aeneid . In his epic poem dealing with the very origins of Rome, just a few moments before the final duel between Aeneas and Turnus, Virgil offers a typical example of leniency towards the defeated enemies ( beneficium in victos ). In Book 12 (175-194 ), Aeneas proposes to Latinus a pact which presents Rome as a paradigmatically merciful power. Further c onspicuous evidence on the concession of political benefits to foreign peoples comes from Caesar's Commentaries , which show the fundamental importance of beneficentia to Rome's domestic and foreign policy . U nder the dictatorship of Caesar, however, such a traditional practice was significantly undermined . After his victory in the Civil War, in fact, the dictator put special emphasis on his concession of the benefit of life as a gift for t he vanquished , thus intentionally assimilating beneficium in cives and beneificium in victos. A similar anomaly was fully perceived by Cicero , who alludes to the dangers of Caesar's leniency in several letters written to Atticus in 49. In light of such long-term developments , the prescriptive section on beneficentia in Cicero's De Officiis seems to play a truly critical role, for, on the one hand, this section recalls the paradigmatic value of the past as an ideal age of benefit-exchanges, and, on the other hand, it puts forth a new model of beneficium for the sake of future generations.

Stochastic Duel with Several Types of Weapons

This paper attempts to study a 'Stochastic Duel' model wherein each of the contestants has got more than one type of weapons. The ultimate probability of win for each of them is evaluated and the results for a few particular cases are given.

Contradictory Fin-de Siècle Reform: German Masculinity, the Academic Honor Code, and the Movement against the Pistol Duel in Universities, 1890–1914

The pistol remains the weapon of cripples, the senile, and those infected with a communicable disease. The murder instrument of the highwayman, the dastardly, insidious pistol, is the preferred weapon of the officer.—Hugo Böttger, Editor of theBurschenschaftliche BlätterEven though fraternity men glorified their duels with swords, a series of frivolous pistol duels with deadly ends led students to organize a movement against pistol duels that swept German universities in 1902 and 1903. Students argued that pistol duels violated the rules of reason, morality, and religion—and were thus also purportedly un-German. Male students organized assemblies, made passionate speeches, and passed resolutions in opposition to the pistol duel. They then sent these resolutions to the War Ministers in Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony. Burschenschaft fraternity men built on their long tradition of liberal political activism and convened assemblies in Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Freiburg, Giessen, Greifswald, Halle, Kiel, Königsberg, Leipzig, Marburg, Munich, Rostock, and Tübingen and passed resolutions inspired by the movement. Some of these assemblies drew large numbers of students, for example, 600 students in attendance in Leipzig, 1,500 in Munich, and 1,500 in Freiburg. In Berlin, leaders of 67 organizations representing 2,400 members signed petitions against the pistol duel. Other universities not included were majority Catholic institutions, such as Münster or Würzburg, where the opposition to all forms of the duel was even stronger as a result of the Catholic Church's prohibition against dueling. Reaching universities throughout Germany, this movement united students from across the political spectrum.

Horatio’s Philosophy in Hamlet

Horatio’s Philosophy in <i>Hamlet</i>

Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors and tumor therapy

Mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR) inhibitors have the anti-tumor ettect,which have been known early.The traditional mTOR inhibitors include rapamycin and its derivatives,which have been applied in clinical use early.Nowadays,some new small molecule inhibitors such as the PI3K/mTOR duel inhibitor,Torinl,one after another are found to play a unique role in the tumor therapy. Key words: Neoplasms; Antineoplastic agents; TOR serine-threonine kinases

&lt;i&gt;Titus Redux&lt;/i&gt;, and: &lt;i&gt;Hamlet, Prince of Darkness&lt;/i&gt;, and: &lt;i&gt;Pulp Shakespeare&lt;/i&gt; (review)

Reviewed by: Titus Redux, and: Hamlet, Prince of Darkness, and: Pulp Shakespeare Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. Titus ReduxPresented by the New American Theatre and Not Man Apart-Physical Theatre Ensemble at Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, California, as part of the Radar L.A. Festival. June 16-19, 2011. Conceived, choreographed and directed by John Farmanesh-Bocca. Set by Jeffrey Eisenmann. Costumes by Allison Leach. Effects by Jason Collins. Lighting by Jessica Kohn. Sound by John Farmanesh-Bocca and Adam Phalen. With Jack Stehlin (Titus Andronicus), Belinda Strong (Tamora), Jennifer Landon (Lavinia), Dash Peppin (Demetrius), Vincent Cardinale (Chiron), Nicholas Hormann (Marcus Andronicus), John F. Bocca (Aaron), and Deus Xavier (Soldier). Hamlet, Prince of DarknessPresented by Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre, North Hollywood, California. May 20-June 24, 2011. Directed by Denise Devin. Costumes by Jeri Batzdorff. With Robert Walters (Hamlet), Amy Bartlett (Horatio, Rosencrantz), Jim Cox (Claudius), Frank Leone (Polonius), Melissa Okey (Gertrude), Clare Wess Yauss (Ophelia), Patrick O'Neill (Laertes), Rebecca Silberman (Bernardo, Guidenstern, Fortinbras), Evan Boelsen (Ghost, Player King, Grave Robber), and Irene Conde (Marcellus, Voltemand, Player Queen, Satan, Osric). Pulp ShakespearePresented by Her Majesty's Secret Players at the Theatre Asylum, Los Angeles, California. June 11-28, October 14-November 13, 2011, and ongoing. Directed by Jordan Monsell. Costumes by Kelly Bailey. Lighting by Aaron Lyons. Sounds by Brian Weiss. Fights by Aaron Lyons. With Dan White (Julius Winfield), Aaron Lyons (Vincent de la Vega), Nathaniel Freeman (Lord Marcellus Washburn), Sierra Fisk (Lady Mia Washburn), Christian Levatino (Sir "Butch" Coolidge), Brian Weiss (PumpkinPie), Liza deWeerd (Meadsweet), Justine Woodford (Fabianne), et al.. [End Page 207] As with any major metropolitan area, Los Angeles sees a good deal of summer Shakespeare. In 2011 alone, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hamlet, Love's Labors Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, and King Learwere among the two dozen straightforward presentations. Los Angeles also features many adaptations, often infused with the local culture (in our case, Hollywood), and the film and television influence could be seen clearly in several Shakespeare offshoots: besides the three reviewed here, there was As You Like It: The Musical!and the Troubadour Theatre Company's remounting of Fleetwood Macbeth, a blend of the Shakespearean tragedy and the eponymous band. The latter was an inspired bit of silliness that saw Macbeth sing "World Turning" during the banquet scene, "You Can Go Your Own Way" as a duet with Macduff during the final duel, and a remorseful yet wistful "Landslide" to close the show. The Royal Shakespeare Company this was not. Clearly alluding to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Titus Reduxpresented General Andronicus, returned from active duty in the empire's service and now "retired like an old tank." This adaptation reduced the scope of Shakespeare's play down to a single family's experience of posttraumatic stress syndrome. Throughout much of the play it was ambiguous whether the events were actually taking place or whether they were the imaginings of a soldier who has seen too much combat and whose government and family no longer values him. Titus's brother Marcus was presented as a conservative senator still in government service (a commercial for his re-election, ending with "I'm Marcus Andronicus, and I approve this message" ran several times during the show). As the family sat down to dinner, Titus cleared the plates and encouraged his sons Demetrius and Chiron to engage in bare-knuckle boxing on the dinner table. Tamora was presented as a Washington/military housewife, seething with anger at the death of her and Titus's eldest son in combat and at her husband's prolonged absence at war. Lavinia, their daughter doted on her father, and resented her mother during his long absence and the family collapsed into violence against one another. Aaron the Moor became a Muslim-American neighbor who may or may not be a terrorist and who may or may not be having an affair with Tamora. Titus repeatedly flashed back to moments of combat and, after leading his family in an extended dance number with American flags and patriotic...

An experimental investigation on effects of methanol blended diesel fuels to engine performance and emissions of a diesel engine

Considering strict restrictions on exhaust emissions of newly produced diesel engines, in this study, the effects of methanol and diesel fuel blends on compression ignition engine performance and exhaust emissions of a four cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, turbocharged diesel engine were experimentally investigated. Methanol-blended diesel fuels were ranged from 0 to 15% volumetric methanol content with an increment of 5%. The tests were performed by varying engine speed between 1000 min-1 to 2700 min-1 by an engine testing dynamometer. Results indicated that brake specific fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide emissions increased while brake thermal efficiency, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons decreased relative to single diesel fuel operation with increasing amount of methanol in the fuel mixture. Effects can be visualized by data which were 49 and 47.5 kW for power, 169 and 190 g/kWh for brake specific fuel consumption, 33 and 30% for brake specific thermal efficiency, 0.21 and 0.18% for carbon monoxide, 7.15 and 8.1% for carbon dioxide, 8.02 and 6.1 ppm for hydrocarbons, 385 and 418 ppm for nitrogen oxides at 1600 min-1 in order of standard diesel fuel operation and fuel blend with 10% methanol content. Key words: Methanol, diesel fuel, compression ignition, duel fuel, exhaust emission, emission reduction, combustion.