A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal, using tools to hammer and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, railings, light fixtures, sculpture, agricultural implements and religious items, cooking utensils and weapons; the place where a blacksmith works is called variously a smithy, a forge or a blacksmith's shop. While there are many people who work with metal such as farriers and armorers, the blacksmith had a general knowledge of how to make and repair many things, from the most complex of weapons and armor to simple things like nails or lengths of chain; the "black" in "blacksmith" refers to the black firescale, a layer of oxides that forms on the surface of the metal during heating. The origin of "smith" is debated, it may come from the old English word "smythe" meaning "to strike" or it may have originated from the Proto-German "smithaz" meaning "skilled worker." Blacksmiths work by heating pieces of wrought iron or steel until the metal becomes soft enough for shaping with hand tools, such as a hammer, an anvil and a chisel.

Heating takes place in a forge fueled by propane, natural gas, charcoal, coke, or oil. Some modern blacksmiths may employ an oxyacetylene or similar blowtorch for more localized heating. Induction heating methods are gaining popularity among modern blacksmiths. Color is important for indicating the workability of the metal; as iron heats to higher temperatures, it first glows red orange and white. The ideal heat for most forging is the bright yellow-orange color; because they must be able to see the glowing color of the metal, some blacksmiths work in dim, low-light conditions, but most work in well-lit conditions. The key is to have consistent lighting, but not too bright. Direct sunlight obscures the colors; the techniques of smithing can be divided into forging, heat-treating, finishing. Forging—the process smiths use to shape metal by hammering—differs from machining in that forging does not remove material. Instead, the smith hammers the iron into shape. Punching and cutting operations by smiths re-arrange metal around the hole, rather than drilling it out as swarf.

Forging uses seven basic operations or techniques: Drawing down Shrinking Bending Upsetting Swaging Punching Forge weldingThese operations require at least a hammer and anvil, but smiths use other tools and techniques to accommodate odd-sized or repetitive jobs. Drawing lengthens the metal by reducing one or both of the other two dimensions; as the depth is reduced, or the width narrowed, the piece is lengthened or "drawn out." As an example of drawing, a smith making a chisel might flatten a square bar of steel, lengthening the metal, reducing its depth but keeping its width consistent. Drawing does not have to be uniform. A taper can result as in making a woodworking chisel blade. If tapered in two dimensions, a point results. Drawing can be accomplished with a variety of methods. Two typical methods using only hammer and anvil would be hammering on the anvil horn, hammering on the anvil face using the cross peen of a hammer. Another method for drawing is to use a tool called a fuller, or the peen of the hammer, to hasten the drawing out of a thick piece of metal.

Fullering consists of hammering a series of indentations with corresponding ridges, perpendicular to the long section of the piece being drawn. The resulting effect looks somewhat like waves along the top of the piece; the smith turns the hammer over to use the flat face to hammer the tops of the ridges down level with the bottoms of the indentations. This forces the metal to grow in length much faster than just hammering with the flat face of the hammer. Heating iron to a "forging heat" allows bending as if it were a soft, ductile metal, like copper or silver. Bending can be done with the hammer over the horn or edge of the anvil or by inserting a bending fork into the hardy hole, placing the work piece between the tines of the fork, bending the material to the desired angle. Bends can be dressed and tightened, or widened, by hammering them over the appropriately shaped part of the anvil; some metals are "hot short". They become like Plasticine: although they may still be manipulated by squeezing, an attempt to stretch them by bending or twisting, is to have them crack and break apart.

This is a problem for some blade-making steels, which must be worked to avoid developing hidden cracks that would cause failure in the future. Though hand-worked, titanium is notably hot short; such common smithing processes as decoratively twisting a bar are impossible with it. Upsetting is the process of making metal thicker in one dimension through shortening in the other. One form is to heat the end of a rod and hammer on it as one would drive a nail: the rod gets shorter, the hot part widens. An alternative to hammering on the hot end is to place the hot end on the anvil and hammer on the cold end. Punching may be done to make a hole. For example, in preparation for making a hammerhead, a smith would punch a hole in a heavy bar or rod for the hammer handle. Punching is not limited to holes, it includes cutting and drifting—all done with a chisel. The five basic forging processes are combined to produce and refine the shapes necessary for finished products. For example

"Me and Liza" is a song by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright for his greatest hits album, Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright. The song is about Wainwright's relationship with Liza Minnelli, upset by his 2006 tribute concerts to her mother, Judy Garland, it premiered on BBC Radio 2's Weekend Wogan on January 12, 2014 and was released on January 20. "Me and Liza" reached a peak position of number 59 on Belgium's Ultratop singles chart. "Me and Liza" is about Wainwright's relationship with Liza Minnelli, upset by his 2006 tribute concerts to her mother, American actress and singer Judy Garland. Wainwright re-created Garland's concert album Judy at Carnegie Hall releasing his own live album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. Wainwright said of the song: "I have to be diplomatic with the track. Let's just say it's about arson. It's playful. A playful jab. Oh, you know a hit?" In a March 2014 interview published by Radio Times, Wainwright went into more detail: "I'm trying to be as chivalrous as possible here.

I'm a big Liza fan and a big Judy fan and I can't say that Ms Minnelli has been too thrilled by my ovations. When I performed the Judy Garland show, she didn't get it. I could not tell you what's wrong, I suppose anything to do with her mother makes it difficult for her. My dad grew up with Liza for a couple of years in Beverly Hills, so they were friends as kids. I think I've become her recurring nightmare." Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound described the song as a "sultry, Bowie-esque pop-rock ballad". The song begins with a bass cymbal rhythm, accompanied by acoustic guitar; as a driving bass line emerges, lyrically Wainwright references his father's "connection" to Minnelli years ago. The chorus describes the "perils" that being members of well-known families. Wainwright sings that he and "Liza" are now friends, that he looks forward to their next reunion, that they will be "famous til the day that die". An "uplifting" horn section accompanies the final chorus. Whiteway noted that "Rufus leaves it until the final lines of the song to correct the inherent syntax errors, singing "Liza and I" as his iconic vocals fade out."

On January 12, 2014, BBC Radio 2's Weekend Wogan premiered "Me and Liza", the lead single for Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright. Wainwright's official website made the song available for streaming, via an embedded YouTube video, around the same time. Universal Music UK made it available to stream on SoundCloud; the single was released on January 20, 2014."Me and Liza" was promoted in the United Kingdom. On January 17, BBC London 94.9 included the song on its "Three Track Review". Weekend Wogan aired the track again, one week following its premiere, it aired on BBC Radio Wales, Graham Norton's BBC Radio 2 program, BBC Radio 6. In Canada, the single was included in new music rotations for CBC's radio networks and streams from January 29 – February 9, including the CBC Radio 2 roster and the "Adult Alternative" and "Canadian Songwriter" streams. Rock 95, an independent radio station based in Central Ontario, included "Me and Liza" on its "New Rock Hour" program; the Chilean radio station Duna 98.7 highlighted the song on their website.

An official lyric video was released for the song on February 24, 2014. Clash's Robin Murray called "Me and Liza" a "glamorous show tune, harking back to the glory days of the West End". Contactmusic.com said the song "kicks off with an understated bare driving beat before Rufus's trademark vocal comes sweeping over the top, building into a sumptuous, soaring chorus and climactic end". Gigwise's Andrew Trendell wrote that the track has an "addictive bassline and confident swagger", categorized it as one of the "poppier tones" on the album. David Smyth of the London Evening Standard called the song "perky" in his round-up of the week's "best new music". David Whiteway of Renowned for Sound awarded "Me and Liza" four out of five stars and said that, "set amongst the cream of his 16 year, 7 studio album career", the song could "reaffirm status as one of the great songwriters of his generation."In Belgium, "Me and Liza" entered the Ultratop singles chart at number 98 and reached a peak position of number 59.

For the week of January 24, 2014, the song entered CBC Radio 2's "Top 20" chart at number 20. The following week, Wainwright's rank on the chart increased by eight positions to number 12. In the two weeks following, "Me and Liza" jumped to number four fell two positions to number six. Digital download"Me and Liza" – 3:21 Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Casement Aerodrome or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the southwest of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole airfield of the Irish Air Corps, is used for other government purposes; the airport is the property of the Irish Department of Defence. Baldonnel Aerodrome is the home of the Garda Air Support Unit; the airfield was used by the Royal Flying Corps. It was part of the RAF's Ireland Command; the aerodrome was run by two pilots from the Royal Air Force. The airfield was the one from which the first successful east-west Atlantic crossing by a Junkers W33 aeroplane, the Bremen, took off on 12 April 1928 with Baron Hünefeld, Hermann Köhl and Captain James Fitzmaurice as co-pilot, as well as the first Aer Lingus flight took place on 27 May 1936, it was the destination at which Douglas Corrigan landed on his famous'wrong way' flight across the Atlantic on 18 July 1938. In February 1965 Baldonnel was renamed Casement Aerodrome in honour of the Irish nationalist Roger Casement, executed for treason by the British in 1916.

In 1995 it was suggested that it be used as a second commercial airport for Dublin for low-cost carriers such as Ryanair. Anti-war activists have accused the Government of allowing the aerodrome's use as a US military stopover hub, with recent protests leading to arrests and in March 2002, Michael Smith, the Minister for Defence, confirmed that since September 2001, 22 US military aircraft had landed at the aerodrome. There has been speculation since the early 2000s that Casement Aerodrome is used as an airport by the Central Intelligence Agency for their extraordinary rendition programme. Similar claims have been made with regard to Shannon Airport, but as Baldonnel is a military airport, it is impossible to verify. Queen Elizabeth II landed at Casement Aerodrome on 17 May 2011, beginning her state visit to Ireland. List of Irish military installations Airport information for EIME at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006. On Golden Wings - YouTube video documentary history of the Air Corp