Wooden Slats Research Articles

Perencanaan Rumah Minimalis Ramah Lingkungan di Kelurahan Poris Plawad Utara, Cipondoh, Tangerang, Banten

Poris Plawad Utara, Cipondoh, Tangerang, Banten is a densely populated area, this is due to the large number of incomers who live or reside there. Due to those conditions, there is a must to educate the residents to have plan in designing the healthy and environmentally friendly home. It needs to pay an attention for aspects of the surrounding environmental conditions in planning a healthy and environmentally friendly residence, such as circulation of the sun, wind movement, availability of open areas and other environmental aspects to meet residential needs for thermal comfort. To achieve these ideal conditions, it is a necessary to pay an attention to the natural ventilation circulation system and natural lighting. From the results of the research carried out, it can be concluded that the ideal building orientation is facing east-west, in this direction, the sunlight shines throughout the day. If the light intensity is high, vegetation can be planted in the area around the building with shady and cooling tree species, it can also provide alternatives to the building structure such as making wooden slats in the direction of the sun to reduce glare and maximize openings to circulate air from outside the room. To provide natural coolness to the building, distance is created in between each the building so that the wind can move freely in the room.

Testing the Biodegradability and Biodegradation Rate of Bio-based Film Products in Composting Environment

Bio-based film products have a considerable interest as a replacement for petroleum synthetic polymers of plastics. They are manufactured with a blend of corn starch such as Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) and Poly Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate (PBAT) based raw materials that have been specifically engineered to facilitate the process of biodegradation and compost ability. Hence, biodegradable polymers have been regarded as a promising solution to tackle the pollution caused by the wide use of conventional polymers. As the main responsible institute for integrating environmental considerations into the country‘s development process, the Central Environment Authority of Sri Lanka has taken an action to ban food wrappers (lunch sheets) made from conventional polymers in Sri Lanka. Thus, this study was to determine the biodegradability of bioplastic materials lunch sheets, available on the Sri Lankan market that are labeled as 100% biodegradable but not certified as compostable. The other specific objectives are to identify the biodegradability rate of each brand of lunch sheets, categorize those lunch sheets according to their biodegradability and finally get an idea to determine the optimum conditions for the biodegradation of a bio- based lunch sheet. In this study, the test was carried out in a controlled composting environment located in Gampaha–Dompe Green Park. Three different brands of biodegradable bio-based film products were tested together with cellulose paper as the positive control and nonbiodegradable lunch sheet (LDPE) as the negative control. The project length was 15 weeks. Samples were placed into frames which are made of wooden slats as width=280 mm, length=340 mm and height=50 mm and a 1x1 mm polyethylene mesh was fixed onto the frames. The methodology adopted was based on the study conducted in the Czech Republic in 2016. The emphasis was put on discovering whether bio-based film products are biodegradable or not. The biodegradability of each bio-based film product was tested using Visual inspection; the decomposed samples were inspected visually comparing with initial samples, Weight loss measurement; the initial weight and the weight after decomposition were measured using an analytical balance, FTIR and TGA analysis. Furthermore, the quality of the compost was analyzed using quality parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, moisture, organic carbon%, nitrogen%, phosphorous%, potassium%, C/N ratio and S. The visual inspection of Sample C revealed large cracks and porous structure than Sample A and Sample B. Positive control was completely digested and the negative control stayed as it is. According to the weight loss measurement analysis, the positive control totally degraded and degradation order was Sample C>Sample A>Sample B. The TGA only suggested a partial degradation of samples. FTIR analysis indicated that the positive control was totally biodegradable, Sample B and sample C partially biodegradable and Sample A and negative control were not biodegradable. Based on the results it can be concluded that bio- based film products have not decomposed completely but their color, texture changed. Sample B exhibited the highest degradation rate and exhibited a high degree ofdecomposition. The degradation rate can be summarized as Positive control>Sample B>Sample C>Sample A> Negative Control respectively. The main conclusion from this study is that the biodegradation of bioplastics materials strongly depends on both the environment in which they are placed and the chemical nature of the material. 
 Keywords: Biodegradation, Biobased film products, Composting environment

Study on the Heat and Mass Transfer Characteristics of Humidifiers in Humidification–Dehumidification Desalination Systems

The humidifier plays a key role in a humidification–dehumidification (HDH) desalination system; it directly affects both the freshwater production efficiency and energy consumption ratio of the system. In this study, for a humidifier in an HDH system, a heat–mass coupled differential equation model of spray water and air on the surface of the packing material was established, and the effects of parameters such as the spray water temperature (tw), mass flow rate of spray water (mw), air temperature (ta), and air mass flow rate (ma) on the humidification performance of humidifiers composed of eight different types of packing materials were investigated. The results show the following: (1) Under the same inlet spray water and air conditions, the humidification performance of different packing materials from good to bad is as follows: cellulose paper, polypropylene, hackettes, saddles, snowflakes, wooden slats, polyvinyl chloride, gunny bag cloth. (2) Increasing the tw can significantly improve the humidification performance. To achieve higher humidification energy efficiency, it is recommended to increase the tw to above 80 °C. (3) With the increase in the mw, although the humidification efficiency (εhum) decreases slightly, the humidification rate (mhum) increases, and the specific humidification energy ratio (ηhum) decreases accordingly. To maintain a high mhum and a low ηhum, it is advisable to control the mw at not less than 0.5 kg/s. (4) Increasing the humidifier inlet ta can improve the mhum, εhum, and ηhum, although not as effectively as increasing tw. (5) Increasing the ma can improve mhum and εhum. However, it simultaneously increases the ηhum. The results of this study can provide theoretical guidance for the selection of efficient packing materials and the optimization of humidifier operating conditions in HDH desalination systems.

Sensorium

Sensorium

The Death of Alexander the Great

The Death of Alexander the Great Zak Salih (bio) When they pass Mr. Nestor’s house, Mike asks his parents to turn on WMMS. A boy again, at twenty-one, in the back-seat of his parents’ car, his own car in the front drive with its broken transmission, asking Mom and Dad to play some music. Through their cigarette smoke, he watches the morning release the Cleveland suburbs from sleep. Cars and buses flash silver on their way downtown. Trees lie wrecked on lawns after last week’s storm. A mackerel cat stalks a finch along the eaves of the corner store. Mike’s mother turns the radio on. “—of 271 American lives lost this week, a stark report that—” She quickly changes the station. “—remains had recently arrived in New York City for her funeral, barred to reporters and the public, who nevertheless lined up to pay respects to the woman they said could make even the most rock-hearted man cry.” “So sad,” his mother says. She blows smoke out into the morning and starts to whistle “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Dead soldiers. Dead film stars. No one, on this station or WMMS or any other, says a word about Alexander, as if the brief mention Mike caught on the television news last night, between a segment on his brother and other hometown war heroes and sick elephants at the Metroparks Zoo, had been a mixed signal from another state, another universe. An old woman out for a morning walk in Trumbull Park had found the body left like litter in the meadow. A body later identified as Alexander Rush. Mike said nothing when he heard the name. He sat on the sofa and sucked his cigarette dry and remembered Alexander’s advice. Never look sad. They won’t pay for a crybaby. [End Page 107] The police mentioned guns, gangs, heroin. Mike’s father, high on his oldest son’s celebrity, scoffed. A woman held shaking hands to her face, spoke of a son she felt she’d never known, and Mike tried to find Alexander in the gaps between her fingers. During the weather, the lotto numbers, Mike thought of the cautionary films from high school about what heroin did to a body. The bleary eyes, the needle marks like bug bites, the inexplicable rage and paranoia. But Alexander hadn’t been angry or suspicious. His arms had been clean of everything save the scattered moles Mike liked to count when he was too nervous to look into Alexander’s eyes. Alexander had no need for heroin in Trumbull Park. The other boys, maybe. But not Alexander. Breathing in the backdraft of his parents’ exhaust, Mike yearns for his own pack of cigarettes, which he’s forgotten at home, which he can see on the garish yellow felt of the armchair in his bedroom. Sure, he could bum one of his mother’s White Horses or his father’s Solents, but Alexander had exclusively smoked Rothmans, which means Mike exclusively smokes Rothmans. To do otherwise, especially this morning, would feel sacrilegious. Goddamn cigarettes on the goddamn chair, he thinks. His mother brought the ugly beast home last year from an estate sale. A chair for listening to your music, she had said. Mike had seen right through the gift, of course, all the way down to her desperate desire to keep him safe from the violent world to which she’d handed over George, now off flying his planes somewhere in Southeast Asia. It was broken, too, the chair. The springs had long lost their tension, the weak wood slats on its underside felt ready to snap. Still, the chair wasn’t without its use. One evening, when Alexander was a no-show at the school, Mike had come home to his room, turned up WMMS, and pulled the slats out of the chair, one by one, like rotten teeth. Here, under a stack of bath towels, he stored the shoebox that held the money he’d made, his mother’s gift an illicit bank for the illicit income he had hoped to one day present to Alexander like an offering before a king...

Hidden Green by Miklós Erdély

Hidden Green by Miklós Erdély

Bending and energy absorption performance of novel openwork wooden panels

In many scientific studies, beams reinforced with synthetic fiber ribbons are modeled, wood composites and materials are designed, and structures made with hollow core boards are developed. However, no research was conducted on increasing the width of the flat wooden panels by modeling an openwork structure and obtaining them from solid panels of smaller width. The research aimed to determine the impact of wood species and inclination angle of the side walls on the stiffness, strength, and ability to absorb the energy of the new openwork panel made of curvilinear wooden slats. Three-point bending tests were performed numerically and verified experimentally. It has been shown that the stiffness of the openwork panels was lower compared to solid panels. No cracks in the glue line were observed. Walnut openwork panels demonstrated the best energy absorption capacity. Therefore, it is recommended that the openwork panels be made out of walnut and beech wood, rather than ash and oak. It is also more advantageous for the panel’s construction to use the 11° inclination angle of the side walls.

At Times I Didn't Drown

At Times I Didn't Drown

High-Rise Building Construction Progress Measurement from Top View Based on Component Detection

The construction progress of a high-rise building is hidden by clutter such as formwork, wood slats, and rebar, making it difficult to measure its progress through existing automated techniques. In this paper, we propose a method to monitor the construction process of high-rise buildings. Specifically, by using the target detection technique, unfinished building components are identified from the top view, and then the identified components are registered to the BIM elements one by one. This is achieved by comparing the position relationship between the target detection results and the projection area of the BIM elements on the imaging plane. Finally, the overall construction progress is inferred by calculating the number of identified and registered components. The method was tested on a high-rise building construction site. The experimental results show that the method is promising and is expected to provide a solid basis for the successful automatic acquisition of the construction process. The use of top view reduces occlusion compared to similar methods, and the identification of the unfinished component makes the method more suitable for the actual construction sites of high-rise buildings. In addition, the combination of target detection and rough registration allows this method to take full advantage of the contextual information in the images and avoid errors caused by misidentification.

Can pasture defoliation management targets be similar under full sun and shaded conditions?

Context ​Defoliation management targets applied to forages under the full sun have not yet been properly evaluated for shaded environments such as occur in integrated crop–livestock systems with the presence of trees. Aims This study aimed to determine defoliation targets under full sun and shaded environments for the shade-tolerant perennial summer grass hybrid Axonopus catharinensis (giant missionary grass), widely used in pasture systems of South Brazil and Argentina. Methods Four pre-defoliation canopy heights (15, 25, 35 and 45 cm) and four defoliation severities (20%, 40%, 60% and 80% reduction in pre-defoliation canopy height) were evaluated. Plants were grown in 0.15 m3 wooden boxes filled with sand/vermiculite substrate (1:1 v/v) and irrigated with a complete nutrient solution. An artificial shade structure was made with wooden slats, reducing light intensity by 50% for shaded plants. Key results Herbage accumulation decreased by 54% in shaded plants compared with those under full sun. Regardless of the light environment, the lowest crude protein content (<150 g/kg dry matter) and the highest neutral detergent fibre content (>650 g/kg dry matter) were observed when the defoliation target height was >35 cm. Both shaded and full sun environments showed decreases in tiller density when defoliation severity was >60% of pre-defoliation canopy heights. Conclusions Pre-defoliation canopy heights >35 cm and defoliation severity >60% of pre-defoliation canopy height should be avoided when managing A. catharinensis, regardless of the light environment. Implications Recommended targets may be easily implemented by livestock producers and are similar for full sun and shade environments.

Broiler breeders roosted more on slats than on perches during the laying period

Roosting on elevated areas is part of natural chicken behaviour, and therefore perches are required for broiler breeders in some countries. However, elevated slats may also meet the behavioural requirements. To date, hardly any research has been done on broiler breeder preferences for roosting on slats or perches. An experiment was conducted between 40 and 60 weeks of age (WOA) to observe the relative preference for elevated roosting places (slats and perches) in female Ross 308 broiler breeders, housed in 24 floor pens with each 26 females and 3 males at start. The birds could choose to roost on elevated wooden slats (30% floor surface) and on 2 plastic rectangle perches with rounded edges (total 4 m). Pens were further equipped with littered floor area, a drinking line above the slats and a nest box. Due to practical limitations, the litter, drinking lines and nest boxes could not be excluded as roosting areas. The number of birds per roosting place (slats, perches, drinking line, inside nest box and litter) were counted weekly, half an hour after lights went off. Three random birds per pen were marked to measure individual preference for roosting place over time. Breast blisters and feather cover of marked birds were scored at 45, 50, 55 and 60 WOA. The majority of the birds roosted on the slats (51.5 ± 1.4%), followed by the perches (23.9 ± 1.2%), drinking line (11.2 ± 0.7%), nest box (9.2 ± 0.7%), and litter (4.2 ± 0.8%). Generally, the preference for a certain roosting place was constant during the laying period and almost 80% of the birds were observed on the same roosting place at 15 of the 20 observations. More and severe breast blisters were found in birds roosting on the drinking line and perches, respectively, compared to the slats. Feather cover of birds roosting on slats was worse compared to the birds on the perches. The results of this study indicate that broiler breeders roosted more on slats rather than on perches, which is also more beneficial for their health. Furthermore, the broiler breeders roost consistently on their preferred place.

Study of mass transfer in liquid desiccant for dehumidifiers packed by using conventional wooden slats

To reduce electricity consumption, heating ventilation from the airconditioning sector focuses on developing alternative solution electrically-driven vapour-compression system. The liquid desiccant air-conditioning system represents energy efficiency. It is more environmentally friendly as an alternative technology for the dehumidification process, especially in cases with high latent loads to maintain air quality under reduced conditions for comfortable. This technology is more efficient than the vapour compression system in hot and humid climates like Indonesia. This study carries out an experimental investigation to find out how much moisture removal with using a liquid desiccant to absorb humidity in the air and to know general types of correlations for heat and mass transfer in the contactor for the air solution. In this experiment, liquid desiccant will be passed through wooden slats to determine the physical and thermophysical properties of the air. The general equation will be verified by the experimental results using a curve that fits this expected. The result is a decrease in the humidity in the air. It is known from the amount of moisture absorbed by the drying liquid, and the highest is 336.49 g / s and the lowest is 19 g / s. So it can be concluded that the drying liquid that is exposed to air and passing through wooden slats effective removes moisture.

Use of Palm Wastes as Alternative Flooring Materials in Broiler Chickens Houses under Prevailing Conditions in New Valley

A total number of 180 one day old chicks of cobb broiler were used to investigate the effects of different types of floor made from palm wastes on growth performance and carcass traits of broiler. The study included six groups of treatments; (wheat straw litter, wire net, plastic net, wooden slats, palm fiber mate and palm stem slats floors). The achieved results showed that the floor types had significant (P≤0.05) effect on final body weight and feed conversion. Wooden slats and palm stem slats floors had significant superiority of body weight and gain over the broiler reared on wire net, plastic net and palm fiber mate floors. Also, feed conversion of broiler reared on wheat straw litter, plastic net, wooden slats and palm stem slats floors had significant superiority values over the broiler reared on wire net and palm fiber floors. Birds reared on wheat straw litter, wooden slats and palm stem floors had significantly higher carcass percentage as compared to those of wire net . The lowest percentage of abdominal fat is recorded for broilers raised on wire net floor, plastic net and palm fiber net floors in comparison with those raised on wheat straw . Broilers raised on wheat straw litter, wooden and palm stem slats floor had significantly lower leg problems than those of birds raised on wire net floor and palm fiber net floors. From the economic efficiency, it could be concluded that wooden slats and palm stem slats floors best being used for managing broilers.

Campana Brothers’ strategies and procedures in practices in the discipline of Furniture Design

This research problematizes design issues involving articulations between creative methodologies (BAXTER, 2011; LOBACH, 2001; MUNARI, 2015) and creative processes (DELEUZE, 1987). Therefore, some procedures adopted by contemporary artists shall be used as resources, such as appropriation, displacement and reinvention. This here investigation aims to offer a theoretical basis for the practices presented in the course of interior design, more specifically in the discipline of furniture design, in the form of creative workshops for the development of projects.
 One of the ways to present these practices and workshops is based on the adoption of such strategies by designers Fernando and Humberto Campana, founders of the Campana brand and acknowledged in the domestic environment and abroad as well since the 1980s. In their pieces, these professionals incorporate the concepts of transformation, reinvention, appropriation and displacement.
 Their broad portfolio brings together proposals ranging from handicrafts to industry, as they incorporate concepts of reuse, as well as connections between art and sustainability. Among the unusual materials and procedures they adopt, there are PVC hoses transformed into the finish / coating of an armchair named Anemone, in allusion to the tentacles of the aquatic plant. There are also stuffed animals, fabric dolls and bubble wrap, which are displaced from their everyday / functional use to form the Banquet Armchair – which mocks the countless plush animals that materialize the seat; – the Multitude Armchair – in reference to the agglomeration of cloth dolls that cover it –; and the Bubble-Plastic Chair, whose back and seat are made of the material that would normally pack it. There are also wooden slats functionally destined to the packaging of fruit and vegetables at street fairs, appropriated by the designers for the construction of design objects such as the Favela Chair, evidenced by the disorganization in the shape and sizes of the slats used.
 This practical approach that reaches across design and art differs from rationalist design methodologies. These are practices that seek to contribute to the expansion of the reference repertoire, in addition to stimulating creative processes impregnated with critical thinking, posing questions about the functional and commercial meaning of objects, in addition to the possibility of assigning new significations and poetics to whatever is being projected. It is also worth mentioning that in the current scenario of crisis and value assessment that have been crossing the prevailing modes of production since the industrial era, the need to question creative and productive fields has been gaining strength, always with a view to generating critical reflections and promoting results of social relevance.

Experimental Studies on the Flameproofing Efficiency of Some Inorganic Substances upon the Inflammation of Wood and Fibrous Materials

Preventing forest and steppe fires, as well as reducing damage from them, is unthinkable without the development and application of effective fire protective measures. Studies show, that there is a limited number of technological methods used to fight forest fires in the arsenal of forest fire services, for example, mineralized strips are most often used as a fire barrier or controlled counterfire of territory is organized. These measures either do not have sufficient efficiency, or they have increased danger themselves. There is another possibility ofcreating a fire barrier by reducing the fire hazard of forest debris by treating them with fire retardants similar to that used for the production of building materials. The paper presents the results for a study of the use of potential fire-retardant materials to reduce the ability to ignite wood (slats 10x10) and plant fibrous materials (flax hemp twine). Based on the analysis of literature data, substances based on aluminium, boron, magnesium and sodium chloride were selected as fire retardant materials. A method for investigating the fire-retardant action of the substances under study has been developed, which makes it possible to record the time of ignition of the samples from a constant power ignition source. A criterion for the fire-retardant action of the substances under study (> 20 min) has been developed, which is determined from the limiting combustion time of fragments of forest debris that can be carried by convective flows from fire and wind. Multiple studies of samples treated with flame retardants have been carried out. It was shown that substances based on aluminium and boron have the greatest fire-retardant effect, while magnesium and chlorine did not show a serious fireretardant effect. An additive fire retardant effect in case of repeated processing was revealed; it is similar to the use of more concentrated compositions. It is noted that more ample amount of fire-retardant materials is required for the protection of fibrous materials, than for wood samples, which, apparently, is the effect of the developed surface of the sample.

Autonomous anchoring for robotic construction

Advances in construction automation have tended to focus on either automating conventional earthmoving equipment or on the discrete assembly of superstructure elements. Neither paradigm has addressed anchoring introduced material into soil, a critical task for virtually all useful structures. Simple anchoring can be achieved by driving posts (discrete linear elements) or sheet piles (interlocking profiles) into the ground, serving as a foundation for a later superstructure. In this paper we present Romu, a wheeled robot that uses a combination of a vibratory hammer and its own body mass to drive both posts and piles into the ground. We report on the effects of hardware parameters on pile driving performance, and demonstrate operation in both controlled and natural environments. Romu is first configured to drive interlocking sheet piles. In addition to their utility as foundations, such walls could be useful directly as check dams, interventions used to prevent erosion and promote groundwater recharge in arid regions. We use simulations based on real-world terrains to explore the potential impact of a fleet of such robots deployed over a large watershed region, using a simple reactive approach to dynamically determine dam placement. Romu is then configured to drive a range of readily available building materials that commonly serve as posts. These include wooden slats that can be used for sand fencing, an intervention used to collect wind-blown sand to build barrier dunes. Post driving performance is characterized for a range of materials, and finally the use case of sand fencing is evaluated using physical tests at 1:10 scale in order to predict its potential impact. To broaden the utility of such robots in field settings, directions for future work include refinement of the hardware for improved operation in more terrains, increased capabilities for fuller autonomy, and integration with other construction tasks for more complex projects.

Profitability and Sustainable Use of Traps for Amazon Shrimp (Macrobrachium amazonicum) From the Amazon River

The objective of this study was to evaluate the profitability, productivity and selectivity of traps used for the capture of freshwater prawn using different spacings between the laths. This study was developed in the estuary of the Amazon River near Santana island, Amapá, Brazil. Collections were conducted using traps called “matapi”, which are cylindrical shrimp traps made with wooden slats or laths, with funnel-shaped entrances at both sides, and the spacings between the laths ranged between 1 to 10 mm in 1 mm increments. Each trap was covered with a net called a “sobrematapi”, or trap cover. The length of carapace in centimeters and the weight in grams were measured for all specimens. The shrimp were categorized into small, medium, and large size classes. Selectivity curves were used to determine selectivity for the different lath spacings. Traps with lath spacing below 7mm should be considered as being predatory because they allow for the capture of small individuals, with more than 50% of these being captured using spacings from 1 to 5mm. Despite the fact that spacings between 8 and 10mm captured lower quantities of shrimp, this enabled the capture of larger specimens with a similar total biomass yield, and this spacing is considered to be the most ecologically and economically viable. In order to minimize the capture of young shrimp without drastically affecting economic yield, it is suggested that shrimp trap lath spacings be above 6mm.

Innovative Designs of Wooden Beams in Conditions Far North

In the conditions of the Far north of the country, the use of lightweight and environmentally friendly supporting structures of buildings and structures is ration-al. It is proposed to use innovative reinforced wooden beams, consisting of two symmetric across the width of the beams packets glued boards that are intercon-nected to the length of the coupling rods and wooden slats. Packets glued boards fitted with reinforcing elements in the form of longitudinal and transverse plates of composite material. The study was carried out using programmatically-SCAD computer, based on the method of finite elements. Comparative theoretical re-searches of an intense strained state wooden and fittings of wooden beams on the basis of results of the automated and manual calculation in compliance with exist-ing rules are conducted. The rational parameters of reinforcing elements and their location in the beam in the conditions of the Far north are determined.

Slapstick Violence and the Female Comedian in Early Cinema

Slapstick Violence and the Female Comedian in Early Cinema Tom Gunning (bio) specters of slapstick and silent film comediennes by maggie hennefeld A slap-stick was a theatrical prop introduced in the sixteenth century in commedia dell'arte; it consisted of two hinged wooden slats that produced a loud noise when slapped together. It accompanied pantomimes of violent slaps or punches with an exaggerated and artificial sound effect. Maggie Hennefeld, in her new book Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes, describes it this way: "a wooden stick that creates a jarring, violent sound while delivering a disproportionately mild blow to the body" (177). This "disproportion" between the actual physical blow and its aural report defines the comic effect of the device; the sound of a violent blow without its full physical effect. It also reveals something profound about the genre of comedy it named, essential to Hennefeld's approach to the genre: violence can be rendered comic through exaggeration but not denied. The slapstick migrated from Italian pantomime to international physical comedy, including the beatings of Punch and Judy puppet shows and live rough-and-tumble physical comedy. Even after the wooden device vanished, the term became generic for forms of physically violent comedy, especially as it moved from vaudeville and the music hall to the cinema. "Slapstick" now serves as a synonym for the gag comedy of the silent era, especially Chaplin and Mack Sennett, extending ultimately to Laurel and Hardy and even the Three Stooges and cartoons such as those featuring the battles of Road Runner and Wyle E. Coyote. Hennefeld's book deals not only with genre but also with gender. The comediennes she resurrects in this book moved through this violent and comic terrain clearly marked as women performing slapstick. [End Page 197] Although slapstick violence is widely acknowledged as a component of silent film comedy, scholarly discussion of the genre has focused primarily on the sight gag. Maggie Hennefeld's furiously original book returns the spectacle of violence to the center of its discussion. I will stress this aspect of her book more than the topic signaled by the second phrase of her title, "Silent Film Comediennes." The issues of comic violence and female performers and characters are intimately related, and there is no question Hennefeld makes an important intervention in feminist film studies. But her revival of the issue of violence in slapstick comedy goes beyond the survey of silent film comediennes that one might expect from the book's title. Hennefeld's feminist analysis burrows into the nearly oxymoronic issue of comic violence. This is not to shortchange her investigation of the nearly forgotten corpus of silent film comediennes. The book includes a detailed and useful appendix that lists silent films featuring comediennes that the author viewed, films that deserve to be better known. Certainly any future study of women in silent film comedy will have to draw on Hennefeld's pioneering work. But to reduce this book to a survey of this body of work misses its point. In contrast to some historical works, existing and still to come, dedicated to recovering this aspect of female creativity in silent film, Hennefeld's work is more interpretive and theory driven, more devoted to feminist theory than to historiography. I recall a panel at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, organized by Jennifer Bean some years ago, in which an important feminist scholar criticized the interest in early cinema as a distraction from the emphasis on feminist film theory that had had been so crucial to the early years of film studies. Hennefeld's thorough citing not only of women performers in early cinema but also of the contributions by women scholars to the study of early cinema makes clear how central this period of film history has actually been for feminist investigation. This book does more than this, probing the feminist stake not simply in early cinema but in the specific structures of slapstick comedy. However, there was a point to a feminist questioning of the historical turn in which the rediscovery of early cinema provided one of the pivot points. As valuable as the concentrated research into the women pioneers...

Let Us Never Forget

Let Us Never Forget Bob Blundell (bio) In a secluded forest near the city of Krakow, a young sentry stood watch. Muted rays of sunlight filtered through the pines casting a pale light on the soldier, just a boy of 17. A tattered grey uniform sagged over his thin frame and the silver eagle on his helmet was faded to the color of dust. The emblem, denoting him as an infantryman in the army of the Third Reich, had once been a symbol of pride and honor. But those days had long since passed. Though it was early Spring, a biting wind whispered softly through the treetops, and he raised his collar and peered up into a morning sky turned murky grey. He felt the moist sting of snowflakes on his cheeks and closed his eyes, reflecting on more tranquil times. His mind began to drift and for a moment he could see his loving mother's face, the noble lines of age etched above her lips, and the gentle creases beneath deep azure eyes. But soon the image faded, and he returned to this place and time. He wiped a smudge from his watch and stared pensively back toward the camp below him, watching the soldiers scurry about in preparation. Soon the trains would come, and the madness would begin. A tall SS colonel, hardened by years of combat in north Africa, strutted from the comforting warmth of his barracks and quietly surveyed the expanse of rail tracks stretching to the south. He lit a cigarette with his right hand and exhaled, sending a blue plume of smoke drifting into the frigid air. His left arm dangled uselessly at his side and a serpentine scar snaked along the length of his jaw. [End Page 349] Both were remnants of his service to the cause. He had been selected for this commission because he had spent his life devoted to the fatherland. But more important, there was a harsh coldness in his heart that suited this task well. Thin strands of ice clung to the barbed wire stretching around the camp, and he seemed to regard this curiously. He stood in the early morning mist, pacing and smoking his cigarette, then tossed it to the ground and began to shout orders to the troops. The young soldier and his comrades moved to their assigned positions, and within minutes the ground began to rumble, and the mechanical grind of the locomotive pierced the air as it lumbered toward the camp. Suddenly the face of the engine broke through a silver fog hovering over the tracks, and it crept toward them slowly like a great beast. It's bones creaked as its weight was absorbed by the steel rails, and when it finally came to a stop, it uttered a loud sigh like a mournful mother. The soldiers quickly began their business of unloading the cargo as terrified screams filtered through the tired wooden slats of the cars. The victims, men, women, and children poured through the narrow doors and some stumbled to the icy ground to be trampled by those behind them. The officer watched this melee with no emotion, then strutted to the entrance of the camp and waited while the people were herded into two lines. As the innocents marched past him, he studied them carefully as a farmer would view livestock for purchase. The strongest would be chosen for a slow death through starvation, and disease. The rest would be ushered into the buildings for disposal. The first group of women and children were herded into the courtyard by guards brandishing rifles with bayonets. The wet steel of the blades glistened like teeth in the morning mist, and the terrified shrieks of frightened children filled the air. After they had been carefully counted, they were ordered to remove their clothing. They slowly disrobed, dropping their garments to the snow, and as their bodies were exposed, the soldiers laughed, shouting taunts and jeers. The women huddled against one another, covering their breasts, and shivered under an icy mist that fell like tears from the sky. [End Page 350] Towels and bars of soap were distributed to some, and they...