A gong is an East and Southeast Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc, hit with a mallet. The gong's origin is China's Western Regions, sixth century. Scientific and archaeological research has established that Burma, China and Annam were the four main gong manufacturing centres of the ancient world; the gong found its way into the Western World in the 18th century when it was used in the percussion section of a Western-style symphony orchestra. A form of bronze cauldron gong known as a resting bell was used in ancient Greece and Rome, for instance in the famous Oracle of Dodona, where disc gongs were used. Gongs broadly fall into one of three types: Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular discs of metal suspended vertically by means of a cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bossed or nipple gongs have a raised centre boss and are suspended and played horizontally. Bowl gongs rest on cushions, they may be considered a member of the bell category.

Gongs are made from bronze or brass but there are many other alloys in use. Gongs produce two distinct types of sound. A gong with a flat surface vibrates in multiple modes, giving a "crash" rather than a tuned note; this category of gong is sometimes called a tam-tam to distinguish it from the bossed gongs that give a tuned note. In Indonesian gamelan ensembles, some bossed gongs are deliberately made to generate in addition a beat note in the range from about 1 to 5 Hz; the use of the term "gong" for both these types of instrument is common. Suspended gongs are played with hammers and are of two main types: flat faced discs either with or without a turned edge, gongs with a raised centre boss. In general, the larger the gong, the larger and softer the hammer. In Western symphonic music, the flat faced gongs are referred to as tam-tams to distinguish them from their bossed counterparts. Here, the term "gong" is reserved for the bossed type only; the gong has been a Chinese instrument for millennia.

Its first use may have been to signal peasant workers in from the fields, because some gongs are loud enough to be heard from up to 5 miles away. In Japan, they are traditionally used to start the beginning of sumo wrestling contests. Large flat gongs may be'primed' by hitting them before the main stroke enhancing the sound and causing the instrument to "speak" sooner, with a shorter delay for the sound to "bloom". Keeping this priming stroke inaudible calls for a great deal of skill; the smallest suspended gongs are played with bamboo sticks or western-style drumsticks. Contemporary and avant-garde music, where different sounds are sought, will use friction mallets, bass bows, various striking implements to produce the desired tones. Rock gongs are large stones struck with smaller stones to create a metallic resonating sound. By far the most familiar to most Westerners is the chau bullseye gong. Large chau gongs, called tam-tams have become part of the symphony orchestra. Sometimes a chau gong is referred to as a Chinese gong, but in fact, it is only one of many types of suspended gongs that are associated with China.

A chau gong is made of bronze, or brass. It is flat except for the rim, turned up to make a shallow cylinder. On a 10-inch gong, for example, the rim extends about 1⁄2 inch perpendicular to the surface; the main surface is concave when viewed from the direction to which the rim is turned. The centre spot and rim of a chau gong are left coated on both sides with the black copper oxide that forms during manufacture. Chau gongs range in size from 7 to 80 inches in diameter; the earliest Chau gong is from a tomb discovered at the Guixian site in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. It dates from the early Western Han Dynasty. Gongs are depicted in Chinese visual art as of the 6th Century CE, were known for their intense and spiritual drumming in rituals and tribal meetings. Traditionally, chau gongs were used to clear the way for important officials and processions, much like a police siren today. Sometimes the number of strokes was used to indicate the seniority of the official. In this way, two officials meeting unexpectedly on the road would know before the meeting which of them should bow down before the other.

The tam-tam was first introduced as an orchestral instrument by François-Joseph Gossec in 1790, it was taken up by Gaspare Spontini and Jean-François Le Sueur. Hector Berlioz deployed the instrument throughout his compositional career, in his Treatise on Instrumentation he recommended its use "for scenes of mourning or for the dramatic depiction of extreme horror." Other composers who adopted the tam-tam in the opera house included Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Richard Wagner. Within a few decades the tam-tam became an important member of the percussion section of a modern symphony orchestra, it figures prominently in the symphonies of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich and, to a lesser extent, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev. Giacomo Puccini used tam-tams in his operas. Igor Stravinsky expanded the playing techniques of the tam-tam in his The Rite Of Spring to include short damped notes, quick crescendos, a triangle beater scraped across the front of the instrument.

Karlheinz Stockhausen used a 60" Paiste tam-tam in his Momente. A nipple gong has a central raised bos

Visapur Fort is a hill fort near Visapur village in Maharashtra, India. It is a part of the Lohagad-Visapur fortification, it is located in Pune district, 5 to 6 km from Malavli Railway station out of which 3 km is steep road. It has an elevation of 1084 meters above sea level, it is built on the same plateau as Lohagad. It was built during 1713-1720 CE by the first Peshwa of Maratha Empire. Visapur fort was built much than Lohagad but the histories of the two forts are linked. In 1818, when reducing the Peshwa's forts, the strength of Lohagad and its fame as the treasury of the Maratha kingdom, caused the English to make special preparations for its attack. A detachment of 380 European and 800 native soldiers, with a battering train, summoned from Konkan, were joined by artillery from Chakan, two other British battalions. On 4 March 1818, Visapur occupied. Making use of its higher elevation and proximity to Lohagad, the British troops set up their cannons on Visapur and bombarded Lohagad, forcing the Marathas to flee.

Thus, in 1818, Lohagad-Visapur was taken over by the British in 1818 AD and placed under the command of a Colonel Prother. Considering, the strategic importance of Visapur, both the north and the south gateways were blown up, except a few huts, nothing was left standing. In contrast, most of Lohagad fort is still intact. Visapur Fort is larger and at a higher elevation than its twin fort- Lohagad. Within the fort are caves, cisterns of water, a decorated arch and old houses; these two roofless buildings surrounded by outer or veranda walls said to have once been Government offices. The ruins of a large stone-built house are known as the Peshwa's palace. In addition to a huge carving of Hanuman, there are several temples dedicated to him scattered all over the place. There is a well. In 1885, near the north wall there was an iron gun ten feet long and of four-inch bore, marked with the Tudor Rose and Crown, flanked by the letters E. R; this is a gun of Queen Elizabeth's reign taken as bounty from an English ship and presented to the Peshwa by Kanhoji Angre or some other commander of the Maratha Navy.

Like other guns on the fort it has been disabled by breaking off its trunnions. Close to it are the remains of an old Mahadev shrine. Unlike the inner structure, majority of its wall is still intact. At a moderate pace, it takes two hours to walk along the winding Visapoor walls, it is high and strengthened by towers along the west face. In other parts, the wall varies from 3 feet thick fortification, backed by masonry platforms where the slope of the hill is easy, to a mere parapet of dry stone where the plateau ends in a precipice. Two massive bastions still flank the ruined central gate. Bhaja Caves - 2 km from Malavli, once home to Buddhist monks. Karla Caves Lonavala - 20 km, a famous and scenic hill station. Aamby Valley City - 22 km from Lonavala. Lohagad Pawna Lake Camping near Lohgad fort; the cheapest and convenient way to reach the fort is via railways. The nearest railhead to Visapur Fort is Malavli station, well connected to Mumbai and Pune via local trains. From Malavli station shared auto/taxi are available for the base village of Visapur Fort List of forts in Maharashtra 6) Visapur fort video

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 108 is the monthly meat bill of a cook, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet; the document was written on 28 September in either 183 or 215. It is housed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia; the manuscript is dated to the 24th year of an emperor, more Caracalla than Commodus. If Caracalla is meant it would date the papyrus to 215 rather than 183, it contains a list in two columns of the different kinds of meat supplied to the cook during the month of Thoth and part of the preceding month. The measurements of the fragment are 153 by 125 mm, it was discovered by Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898. Cook's account. Thoth 4th, 24th year, 4 pounds of meat, 2 trotters, 1 tongue, 1 snout. 6th, half a head with the tongue 11th, 2 pounds of meat, 1 tongue, 2 kidneys. 12th 1 pound of meat, 1 breast. 14th, 2 pounds of meat, 1 breast.

16th, 3 pounds of meat. 17th, 2 pounds of meat, 1 tongue. 18th, 1 tongue. 21st, 1 paunch. 22nd, 1 paunch, 2 kidneys. 23rd, 2 pounds of meat, 1 paunch, 2 trotters. 26th, 1 tongue. 30th, 1 breast. And before this on Mesore 18th, 2 pounds of meat, 1 paunch, 2 kidneys. 21st, 1 breast. 23rd, 1 half a head with the tongue, 2 kidneys. 24th, 2 pounds, 2 kidneys. 25th, for Tryphon 2 pounds, 1 ear, 1 trotter, 2 kidneys. 29th, 2 pounds, 2 trotters, 1 tongue. 2nd intercalary day, 1 tongue. 3rd, 1 breast. Oxyrhynchus Papyri Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 107 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 109 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: B. P. Grenfell. Oxyrhynchus Papyri I. London: Egypt Exploration Fund

I Am Love is a 2009 Italian romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino, set in Milan around the year 2000. The film follows an haute bourgeois family through changing times and fortunes, its disruption by the forces of passion, it is the first installment in Guadagnino's self-described Desire trilogy, preceding A Bigger Splash and Call Me by Your Name. The cast is led by Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi. Producers Swinton and Guadagnino developed the film together over an 11-year period; the film's soundtrack uses pre-existing compositions by John Adams. The film premiered in September 2009 at the Venice Film Festival, followed by showings at various film festivals around the world, it first went on general release in Italy in March 2010, followed by the UK and Ireland in April 2010. In the United States it had only a limited release in June 2010, before being released on DVD in October 2010; the film received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 83rd Academy Awards.

The wealthy Recchi family are second-generation textile manufacturers in Milan. Tancredi Recchi and his wife Emma are hosting a formal dinner party for Tancredi's still-formidable but ailing father, Edoardo Sr. patriarch and founder of the family business, celebrating his birthday. As the many servants bustle about, the family note with disappointment the news that Edoardo Jr. Tancredi and Emma's eldest son, lost his race the day of his grandfather's birthday. Edoardo Jr. arrives from that race. She is Eva, of the prominent Ugolini family. Edoardo Jr.'s young adult siblings and Elisabetta, complain of yet again being served "ukha", Edoardo Jr.'s favourite dish, a special soup his mother Emma, Russian by birth, has made for him since childhood. The grandfather announces he is passing the family business to his son, who has long worked with him, unexpectedly, to Edoardo Jr. At the dinner, who attends school in London, presents her grandfather with one of her artworks, a photograph, despite a tradition of presenting one another paintings.

He is disappointed, but encouraged by his glamorous wife Allegra "Rori" Recchi to gloss over his disappointment. During the birthday celebration, Edoardo Jr. receives a surprise visit from Antonio, the chef who defeated him in the race earlier that day. Antonio brings a beautiful cake as a gift, Edoardo, flattered by the gesture, introduces him to his mother. After the party, while Emma is running errands, she discovers a CD, with a note from Elisabetta to her brother Edoardo revealing that Elisabetta is a lesbian, she tells her brother of an encounter with a woman. Meanwhile, Edoardo Jr. visits Antonio in Antonio's father's restaurant. They make plans to open a restaurant together on some property Antonio's father owns in San Remo. Months Emma is having lunch at Antonio's restaurant with Rori and Eva, she is aroused while relishing a prawn dish he prepares for her. Elisabetta returns to Milan, with her hair cut short, invites Emma to go with her to Nice to look for a venue for Elisabetta's art exhibition.

While stopping in San Remo en route to Nice to surprise her daughter, Emma spots Antonio, follows him, speaks to him outside of a book shop. She goes with him to his house in the hills above the city, they begin their affair. Meanwhile, Edoardo Sr. has died, in London, Edoardo Jr. struggles as his father and other family members seek to sell the family business they inherited from Edoardo Sr. to foreign investors. Edoardo Jr. visits his sister and tells her of the future of the business and his opposition to the sale. On her second trip to San Remo, under the pretext of discussing a menu for the formal dinner she will host for the foreign investors who are buying the Recchi family business, Emma spends the day with Antonio, the two enjoy passionate lovemaking. Emma tells Antonio. Antonio cuts Emma's blonde hair, a long lock of which falls unnoticed to the terrace, where Edoardo Jr. finds it during his own visit after the London meeting. They cook together, Emma teaches him to make ukha. On the night of the dinner at the Recchi villa for the investors, a conversation between Edoardo Jr. and Eva is overheard, revealing she is pregnant with his child.

Antonio prepares ukha. When Edoardo sees this dish served, he realizes his mother is having an affair with Antonio, he leaves the dinner table in a fury. Emma follows him alongside the pool she tries to talk to him. At this point they speak Russian. In pulling away from Emma's outstretched hand Edoardo loses his balance, strikes his head on the edge of the pool's stone trim, falls into the pool, he dies in hospital. At the cemetery following the funeral, Tancredi tries to console Emma, she tells him. He responds by telling her "You don't exist." Emma changes her clothes while her housekeeper helps her pack her things to leave. Before she leaves, she exchanges a knowing glance with her daughter, who it appears understands her mother's desire to follow her heart. Eva, who has hardly been noticed by Edoardo's family since his death, clutches her abdomen as she calls out to Eduardo Jr.'s siblings and grandmother, revealing her pregnancy. When the family members look back into the foyer where Emma was standing, she is gone.

During the final credits and Antonio are seen lying together in

Kroonstad is the third largest city in the Free State and lies two hours drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, is used as a synonym of the town itself, it is the second-largest commercial and urban centre in the Northern Free State, an important railway junction on the main line from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Maokeng is Sesotho and means "place of the thorn trees". Kroonstad was established in 1855 by the Irish pioneer Joseph Orpen, was the first founded after the independence of the Orange Free State. While Kroon means "crown", this was in fact the name of a horse. A lover of animals, Orpen had witnessed the incident, named the infant settlement in honour of the unfortunate creature; the ford in question came to be known as Kroondrift. During the Second Boer War, from 13 March to 11 May 1900, the city became the capital of the Orange Free State, subsequently the site of a British concentration camp to accommodate Boer women and children; the main industry of Kroonstad is agriculture.

It is the centre of a rich agricultural district, producing maize, wheat and meat products and wool. The Bloemhoek Dam supplies much of its water needs. A caravan park and many more camp sites on the banks of the willow-lined Vals River are frequented by anglers and watersport enthusiasts. Leisure opportunities are plentiful in Kroonstad, where visitors can enjoy golf on the 18-hole course in the town, lion tours and interaction with lion and tiger cubs at the Boskoppie Lion and Tiger Park, fishing in the well stocked Vals River or on the Bloemhoek Dam, boating on the Serfontein Dam. Horseriding and hiking trails are available. Kroonstad lies directly on the N1, bypasses the town to the east. Other regional roads in the town are the R34 to Odendaalsrus, the R76 to Steynsrus, the R721 to Vredefort and the R82 to Heilbron. Kroonstad Railway Station serves the town and is located on the important railway junction from Cape Town to Johannesburg via Bloemfontein. On 4 January 2018, a passenger train, operated by Shosholoza Meyl, collided with a truck on a level crossing near Kroonstad/Hennenman.

The train was derailed, at least one of the carriages caught fire. Twenty people were killed and 260 were injured. Kroonstad is served by a small airport with no passenger flights. Shopping in Kroonstad is characterised by typical high street shopping; the development of the new Kroonstad Waterfront Mall is underway, Maokeng Mall, Panorama Plaza, Checkers Centre, Shoprite Centre and Pick'n'Pay centre. Kroonstad is said to be one of the Free State’s loveliest towns and lies on the banks of the Vals River, a tributary of the Vaal two hours’ drive from Johannesburg, it is situated in an area characterised by open spaces and an abundant variety of vegetation that makes it beautiful. Kroonstad is a quaint town that serves as a good stop over en route between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, lying as it does at the halfway mark. Kroonstad offers an array of activities that include flea markets, a tea garden, fishing on the Vals River or at the Bloemhoek Dam, walking trails and lion tours and lion and tiger interaction at Boskoppie Lion and Tiger park.

Today, as an important administrative and educational centre, Kroonstad still boasts much of the inherent rugged beauty which led the Voortrekkers to establish the town where they did. Sporting facilities of all kinds are well catered for, notably for an Afrikaner folk sport; the headquarters of the SA Jukskei Council has been established here since 1951. The city is rich in historical sights. Kroonstad is an important agricultural service centre in the Free State with a predominantly agricultural-orientated economy served by a modern toll-road; this brings the PWV Region within two hours drive from Kroonstad as well as being accessible from the North West and the Eastern Free State. The Bloemspruit Monument 27°40′18″S 27°12′23″E commemorates those who died in the Kroonstad Concentration Camp, A Garden of Remembrance 27°39′05″S 27°14′19″E commemorates Allied soldiers fallen in the two World Wars. A blockhouse south of the city is a reminder of stages of the Second Boer War. Stone corbelled huts, refuges for the prehistoric inhabitants of the region, occur in various locations about the city.

In addition, San rock art and fossils are present in the region. Antjie Krog, poet Steve Komphela, football coach Jeffrey Ntuka, football player Sid James, actor Robbie Wessels, singer Fana Mokoena, actor & EFF politician Max du Preez, journalist David Kau, Comedian Banele Gaza, Record Producer By 1931, the Kroonstad municipal council had assumed a coat of arms, it was registered with the Orange Free State Provincial Administration in February 1967 and at the Bureau of Heraldry in April 1971. The arms were: Or, a tree on an island proper. An imperial crown was placed above the shield, but it was replaced with a golden mural crown in the 1960s; the supporters were a black wildebeest and a blesbok, the motto was Finis coronat opus. Kroonstad has two sister cities whose names are reminiscent of its own: - Braşov, a city in Romania - Kronstadt, a Russian seapo

Burang County is called Purang in Tibetan, the county capital is known as Burang or Purang in Tibetan and Taklakot in Nepali. It is an administrative division of Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Burang County has TAR's south-western border with Humla District. Further west, India's Uttarakhand State, Pithoragarh district borders. Buddhist and Jain pilgrims going to Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash enter from Nepal via Simikot, from India via Dharchula. Beyond the border with India, the county is bounded by other Ngari Prefecture counties Zanda to the west, Gar to the northwest and Gê'gyai to the north. To the east is Gamba County of Shigatse Prefecture, it has a population of some 9,657 people. Its capital and county seat is in Jirang, located only 20 kilometres from Nepalese territory but some 450 kilometres north-west of Kathmandu, it is an important Chinese customs point between Tibet and India. Much of the county consists of river valleys of mountains and lakes such as the Holy Mountain Kangrinboqê, The Naimonany Peak Gunrla and Lake Maponen Yamco Lake Manasarowar.

The Karnali River is a prominent geographical feature of the landscape. Wildlife seen in the far south-western Tibetan county are wild donkeys, wild yaks, yellow goats, rock goat, foxes and marmots, it seems that the Tegla kar near Burang was built during the Zhangzhung dynasty, conquered by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo in the early 7th century CE. It became the main fort of the Burang Kingdom, in the 10th century under King Kori, one of the two sons of Tashi Gon, King of the Guge Kingdom; the Guge and Burang kingdoms were separated about the late 11th century, when king Logtsha Tsensong founded an independent realm. In about 1330 the 13th king Sonam De took over the important Malla kingdom in western Nepal on the extinction of the local dynasty; the dynasty of Burang kings died out shortly before 1376. The territory was subsequently dominated in turns by the neighbouring kingdoms Mustang. Burang is an important barley-growing region and traditionally barley and salt from the salt lakes to the north of Taklakot made up the bulk of the trade to the south, while rice and a wide range of luxuries were traded back into Tibet from Nepal.

The local villagers carried the produce across the ranges into Nepal on caravans of sheep and goats during the summer and autumn. Sheep and goats are fitted with double packs which can carry up to 30 kg of barley or salt on the 3 week journey to the terai or low-lands of Nepal. In winter and early spring the region is in total isolation, cut off by heavy snow falls