Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Trick

2007-06-29T19:16:45Z

Anagramer: New page: In cards (and particularly in the games hearts and bridge), a trick is when one player wins one round of cards. In both of hearts and bridge, the success of the...

In cards (and particularly in the games [[hearts]] and [[bridge (card game)|bridge]]), a trick is when one player wins one round of cards. In both of hearts and bridge, the success of the hand depends on the number of tricks won.

[[Category: Games]]

Bridge (card game)

2007-06-28T18:54:40Z

Anagramer: New page: Bridge is a four-person card game in which two partners pair up and play with each other. Each player gets 13-cards. The players all bid on how many tricks they can win. The...

Bridge is a four-person [[card]] [[game]] in which two partners pair up and play with each other. Each player gets 13-cards. The players all bid on how many [[trick]]s they can win. The partnership that wins the bid than has to make their [[bid]]. The winning bidder's partner places down his or her cards down and becomes the [[dummy]]; that is the bidder gets to play the dummy's cards. Points are alloted as to how many tricks are won.

[[Category:Games]]

User talk:Anagramer

2007-06-27T18:21:16Z

Anagramer: I guess I'll just happen to welcome myself.

Vacancies dusk ropes: Cupcake sins savored

Well, I know what "vacancies dusk ropes" is. [[User:DanH|DanH]] 16:27, 26 June 2007 (EDT)

== I guess I'll just happen to welcome myself. ==

Since no one appears to be polite enough, I just welcome myself.

Hello, Anagramer, and welcome!

{{welcome}}

Why, thank you Anagramer. It's nice to be welcomed. [[User:Anagramer|Anagramer]] 14:21, 27 June 2007 (EDT)

Moderates

2007-06-26T20:21:39Z

Anagramer:

Moderates were a middle-of-the-road political faction or group during the French Revolution. The French National Assembly established a constitutional monarchy and, in 1791, adopted a new constitution that created a Legislative Assembly. Three factions quickly formed in the new Legislative Assembly, known as the [[radicals]] (liberals), moderates (centrists) and [[Conservatives (1700s French Political party)|Conservatives]], similar to those political movements today in the United States.

The three factions sat in different sections of the large assembly hall, with the [[radicals]] (liberals) sitting on the left, the moderates sitting in the center, and the Conservatives sitting on the right. That gave rise to the left-center-right terminology that we still use today in the United States to describe these three political groups.

The number of people who consider themselved moderates in the United States today outweighs those who consider themselves liberal or conservative, and that number has remained constant since the middle 1970s.<ref>http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=444</ref>

<references/>

User talk:Edtropolis

2007-06-22T20:44:10Z

Anagramer: Anagram of your name

If you want to ask me why Wikipedia Sucks or other things. Please click the '''+''' tab and let your voice be heard.

== Anagram of your name ==

An anagram of your name is "spoiled rot." [[User:Anagramer|Anagramer]] 16:44, 22 June 2007 (EDT)

Music

2007-06-22T20:38:56Z

Anagramer: /* History */ fix

[[Image:Musicalnotes.jpg|right]]

[[Music]] (Middle English ''musik'', from Anglo-French ''musike'', from [[Latin]] ''musica'', from [[Greek]] μουσικη ''mousike'') is an [[art]] form consisting entirely of organized [[sound]] interspersed with periods of silence.<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=Music Music] defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.</ref> It takes its name from three [[Greek mythology|Greek]] goddesses known as the ''[[Muses]]'', who specialized in stimulation of an artist's or poet's mind.

Music is the highest of all the arts, and the one best able to stir human emotion. Depending on what sort of work of music one composes, interprets, or hears, it can build a person up in spirit, or break it; make a person happy, or sad; inspire a person to greatness, or lead him into very challenging temptation. It is the art form to which the [[Bible]] gives its strongest endorsement, and to which the Bible pays the greatest attention. At the same time, it is arguably the most dangerous of all the arts, when misused.<ref name=Brown>Brown, Alan B.: telephone interview conducted on 1 March 2007 with user [[User:TerryH|TerryH]]</ref>
== What is music? ==

Strictly speaking, ''music'' means sound having any organization at all, while ''noise'' is purely random sound. But the roots of these two words suggest that ''music'' ought to mean that which makes one think and feel something new and significantly different, while ''noise'' (from the same root from which we get the verb ''I annoy'') is merely a distracting, disturbing, or often physically damaging sound. Some modern composers have attempted to stretch the definition of music by using noises in a manner that they insist is organized. Whether such a work product properly falls under the heading of "music" is debatable.

Note that music is ''not'' limited to such sounds that a human being might produce by fashioning an instrument for the making of a simplified or otherwise organized sound and then "playing" said instrument. The chirping of birds and certain insects may properly be called music, especially if the sound produced is particularly pleasant to the listener. Furthermore, some of the most sophisticated music attempts to imitate the sounds made by birds, insects, and other animals.

== Basic music theory ==
: ''Main Article: [[Music theory]]''
Classically, music consists of ''tones'', ''melodies'', ''counterpoint'', and ''rhythm''. A ''tone'' is the purest form of sound, having a single [[frequency]]. However, pure tones in music are rare. Most tones present themselves to the human ear together with ''overtones'', which typically are small-[[integer]] multiples of the basic frequency (the ''fundamental tone'').

=== Notes, intervals, and scales ===
Two tones played together form an ''interval''. The simplest of all intervals is the ''octave'', formed by two tones, one of whose frequencies is the exact double of the other. The full collection of tones that one can play between the two notes of an octave is called a ''scale.'' In Western music, most scales are ''semi-tonal'', with twelve tones between the octave notes. (The high end of the octave is considered a repetition of the low end, but at twice the frequency.) [[Oriental]] music commonly has ''quarter-tonal'' scales, with twenty-four separate tones within an octave. Quarter tones are often difficult to distinguish for a Western listener, and such music, as a result, tends to suggest the sinuous movement of a snake.

The [[Greece|Greeks]] recognized early that fundamental tones in music have a simple and strict [[mathematics|mathematical]] relationship. As mentioned, the octave consists of two notes, one at double the frequency of the other. At ''triple'' the frequency, one hears a low fundamental tone, and a higher tone that is past the octave but roughly midway toward the second octave. If one then divides the high-tone frequency by two, one creates the interval called the ''perfect fifth'' or ''dominant'' interval, one of the most common intervals used in Western music. One can test this relationship by striking a note on a [[piano]] while holding down another key that is one octave higher than the perfect fifth. The second note will sound in sympathy with the first--because it is resonating with the overtone from the first note.

=== Melody and counterpoint ===
''Melody'' is the series of notes that most closely captures the attention of the listener: the 'tune' one hums along with.

''Counterpoint'' is a specific technique for creating secondary melodies that intertwine with and compliment the main melody. When two or more notes sound at the same time, it is called a ''chord,'' and the distance between the notes is the ''interval.'' In the western 12-note scale common usage, an interval is often expressed in relative terms, using the eight notes that make up an octave and prefixing 'major' or 'minor' to account for the interstitial notes. For instance, the interval between 'C' and 'E' is a ''3rd'' because 'E' is the 3rd note in the major scale of C. One-half step below that is a ''minor 3rd,'' although this exact same note could also be called a ''major 2nd''.

Many of the feelings and emotions that music can evoke are a result of the tension between the ''harmonic'' sound of some intervals, and the ''dissonant'' sound of others. During the development of western music, certain rules were established for proper melodic counterpoint, and these rules specified how intervals (chords) could change over time in the music. For example, in the chants of Gregorian Monks, chords containing certain intervals, like 7ths, were required to 'resolve' to their harmonious natural key, while other intervals, like minor 5ths, were deemed ugly and even considered evil, and banned from use in liturgic music. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) represents the pinnacle of this style of strict rule-based composition, as many of his keyboard compositions and all of his sacred work adhere to the rules of counterpoint. From the height of the Baroque era (1700's) to the present, the history of western music has unfolded as each generation of composers has pushed the boundaries of these these rules right up to, and then in the 20th century, way beyond, all limits.

In modern popular music, the bass line is often seen as an example of counterpoint. Another, more accurate example would be dueling guitar leads.

=== Rhythm ===
''Rhythm'' consists of all aspects of music that suggest ''forward movement.'' Most music contains a regularly repeating sequence of ''beats'', or strong elements, that typically lead with a ''down beat'' followed by any of a small number of slightly weaker beats. A down beat and its weaker beats form a ''measure.'' Usually, all measures in a piece of music have the same number of beats.

A note in music is described not only by pitch, or frequency, but also by duration. Notes in Western music have names that typically describe how long they would sound in a typical measure. ''Whole notes'' are so called because normally they would sound for the full measure. ''Half notes'' would sound for half the measure, ''quarter notes'' for a fourth of the measure, and so on. A note may also carry a ''dot'' to the right of it, that indicates that the note is to sound for one and one-half times its usual duration.

Any one of these notes may carry a beat, and a measure may have any number of beats. Thus every piece of music commonly carries at least one ''time signature'' describing how many beats a measure has, and which type of note carries one beat. The most common time is "four-quarter time" (four beats per measure, with the beat given to the quarter note), which is therefore called "common time." Other commonly used time signature include three-quarter, six-eighth, nine-eighth, or rarely, two-half (called ''Alla breve'' or "cut time"). Even rarer are the time signatures with prime numbers of beats (other than three-quarter), including five-quarter or even eleven-eighth.

''Tempo'' (Italian for "time") describes how frequently the beats occur. The typical tempo signature is a drawing of the note that has the beat, followed by the number of beats per minute.

Notes may be ''accented'' at any time. In fact, often the accent will fall on the weak beat and make the beats seem to sound out-of-sequence. The result is ''syncopated'' rhythm.

The genre of music called [[rock and roll]] features a unique rhythm convention: the ''backbeat.''<ref>[http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/12/07/RockRules Normative Backbeat] at Tbray.org</ref> This is a third beat, in four-quarter time, that is stressed even more strongly than the down beat. This produces a profound sense of restlessness in the listener.

== Types of instruments ==
: ''Main Article: [[Musical instruments]]''

== History ==
The [[Bible]] suggests that music actually began in [[heaven]], and that the first musician was [[Satan|Lucifer]], then the chief of [[God]]'s messengers, or [[angels]]. According to Scripture, after Lucifer fell, his choir fell with him.

Human music goes back to [[antediluvian civilization]]. The Bible specifically credits [[Jubal]], son of [[Lamech the Murderer]] by his wife [[Adah]], with introducing music to mankind.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=5|verses=19-21|version=KJV}}</ref>

The earliest ''post''-diluvian records of music have been found in [[Iraq]] and [[India]], and date at least from the time of [[Abraham]]. They probably were made shortly after the construction of the [[Tower of Babel]].

Almost every culture and religious movement has its own particular form of music. Some forms are richer and more sophisticated than others. The [[Hebrew]] people, and especially the children of [[Jacob|Israel]], have some of the grandest of all musical traditions. Mentions of "singing to the Lord" abound in the Old Testament. The most specific testimony to the power of music over human emotions is surely contained in the story of King [[Saul]] and how he came to recruit the young [[David]] as his armorbearer and personal musician.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_Samuel|chap=16|verses=14-23|version=KJV}}</ref>

King [[David]], at the height of his reign, once had a ''four-thousand-voice choir'' to assist in the worship of [[God]]. The Book of [[Psalms]] is in fact a collection of lyrics for some of the first worship songs in Israelite tradition. (Most of these came from David, but at least one comes from [[Moses]].) The [[Song of Solomon]] is a grand ballad of love that most scholars regard as a type of the love of [[Jesus Christ]] for His elect.

The Greeks, when [[Alexander the Great]] accepted the surrender of [[Jerusalem]] in his wars of conquest, introduced their own brand of music to the region--which the Jews largely resisted. But music was highly prominent throughout the Greek world--and later in the [[Rome|Roman]] world following Rome's conquest of Greece. The Greeks' contributions to music theory influenced artists for centuries to come, and still have a strong influence today, especially on composers who prefer to adhere to the classical traditions of music.

The earliest Greek music was associated with Greek [[theater]]. Beginning with the fall of Rome, however, music became largely liturgical. The primary influence remained the [[Roman Catholic Church]] until the twin movements of the Renaissance and the Reformation, each of which introduced a countervailing tradition.

From that time forward, most scholars divide music into "classical" music (composed primarily to achieve a high art) and "popular" music (composed for the masses and tending to achieve wide, but ephemeral, appeal).<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/popular%20music Popular music] defined at the Free Dictionary</ref>

"Classical music" tends to rely more on written notation, as a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any particular interpretation of it. In current practice, such music is performed in concerts where the audience is expected to remain respectfully silent and the performers dress formally; however, in the past such music was often performed at salons and other informal private gatherings. In addition, the increasing importance of the written transmission of such music has reduced the role of improvisation, which was extremely important through the beginning of the "Romantic" era. Classical music also displays great musical complexity through the use of varied rhythms, chord progressions, counterpoint, and other compositional techniques, while maintaining a deep emotional content.

"Popular music" on the other hand, tends to be more accessible to the general public through the use of simpler forms and relatively simple compositional techniques. Much popular music is the product of modern business enterprise, as opposed to folk music (created by ordinary people for their own enjoyment) or classical music (which was originally written for religious practice or for the entertainment of the nobility).

These two genres; however, are not necessarily distinct, as composers such as [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] would often incorporate themes from "popular music" of their time into their works. Other classical composers like [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] and [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]] were well-known for their use of jazz idiom in works like the Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra and [[Rhapsody in Blue]]. On the other hand, popular music has borrowed many themes from classical works (one notable example is "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by [[Procol Harum]]). In addition, "popular music" is not necessarily simpler than classical, as forms like jazz and progressive rock make use of complex time signatures that do not often occur in classical works, and some popular musicians like [[Frank Zappa]] are considered serious composers in their own right.

=== Different uses of classical and popular music ===
Classical music has typically found these uses:

# As an aid to worship, by placing the listener into a proper frame of mind for worship or instill in the listener a proper appreciation of the grandeur and glory of [[God]] and of the listener's own place in relation to Him.
# For the entertainment of the nobility; or, in more recent times, by commission from a particular group of people (often an orchestra or a university).
# To rally troops, either during training, on the march, or in battle.
# To celebrate military victory or the reign of a king, usually the one presently on the throne.
# Occasionally as a supplement to various forms of [[theater]]. Originally (especially in the Greek era) this meant the open-air live theater of classical fame. Today such music might accompany a live stage performance or several scenes in a [[motion picture]].

Popular music, on the other hand, is typically used:

# For entertainment, and more particularly for financial remuneration.
# Very frequently as a supplement to modern [[theater]] in all its forms, including stage, [[motion picture|motion pictures]], and especially [[television]].
# As a powerful aid of [[propaganda]], and the closely related use in [[advertisement]].
# Rarely, to rally troops. One popular artist who achieved great distinction by winning acceptance of his music by military bands was [[Glenn Miller]].

Both forms of music can be used as propaganda, as in some of the works of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (although this is debated; see the article on Shostakovich for a more complete discussion).

All types of music are often used as an accompaniment to dancing. This was as true in the past as it is today, all over the world, whether in the discos of American nightclubs or the salsa bars of Latin America. Today, people may dance to Maddonna )the female recording artist), while a generation ago people were dancing to the works of Duke Ellington and Sammy Nestico. Before that, the waltzes of Strauss were popular, while in the Baroque era (1650-1750), the dance suite was a popular compositional form. Dancing to music, whether melodic or rhythmic in nature, often plays a ritualistic role in societies across the world.

== The power of music over human emotion ==
Music has a very powerful effect on the emotions of the listener. Music relies on [[sound]], and if "faith comes through hearing," then so does emotion. Music can instantly bring joy or sorrow, ecstasy or despair, and far more quickly than can any other form of art. Many musical composers insist that their music merely expresses emotions. This does not do music justice. Music does more than express emotions; it induces them.<ref>[http://www.musica.uci.edu/mrn/V3I1S96.html MuSICA Notes III(1), Spring 1996]</ref>

The amateur botanist Dorothy L. Retallack, in [[1973]], claimed to have found that music can have an effect on plants. "Positive" music (that produces joy or contentment) supposedly made plants flourish and even "reach" for, or grow toward, such music. Negative music (that produces frustration, restlessness, or especially anger and rage) supposedly caused plants to "recoil" (grow away) from the music, and prolonged or repeated exposure debilitates and eventually killed plants, or so she said.<ref>Retallack, Dorothy L. ''The Sound of Music and Plants''. Devorss and Company, June 1973, 96 pp., paperback. ISBN 0875161707</ref><ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/ About Positive and Negative Music] from the Dovesong Foundation</ref>

No botanist has ever reproduced Retallack's claimed results. But the effects on animals and humans are far better documented and much more profound than any effect on plants that Retallack ever claimed. That animals, and especially [[dog]]s and [[cat]]s, recoil in horror from the sound of a poorly trained voice, is proverbial (and in fact the animals might be reacting to a sound that is not merely grating but acutely and physically painful to their ears). The Dovesong Foundation has found evidence for musical preferences by cattle<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Cows%20and%20Classical%20Music.asp Cows Prefer Classical Music]</ref> and cetaceans.<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Steinhart_Dolphins.asp Dolphins Don't Like Rock] (The article refers to the classic [[dolphin]] (family [[Cetacea]]), aka "porpoise," not the fish of that name.)</ref>

Music has also had a profound and well-documented effect in human history. The history of warfare includes a rich history of martial music. More recently, music has now found a use in the healing of negative emotional states and even as an aid to the healing of physical disabilities.<ref>[http://www.musictherapy.org/ The American Music Therapy Association]</ref>

Commercial enterprises always attempt, at great expense of time, money, and effort, to find and deploy forms of music that will enhance worker productivity or cause prospective customers to behave in a manner calculated to make them purchase their goods and/or services. The pop selections played in supermarkets are a prime example.

Music has always been an adjunct to [[theater]]. This is especially true of the performing arts called ''opera'' and ''ballet'', but applies also to the use of music as an adjunct to a theatrical production, whether on the stage, as a [[motion picture]], or as a [[television]] show.

Music also has an obvious use in [[propaganda]], in which the propagandist seeks to manipulate people's emotions and stir them typically to rage and hostility against certain groups.

Finally, music can strengthen in the listener a curiosity about, or even a desire for, an act of sexual or other [[sin]].<ref>[http://cranach.worldmagblog.com/cranach/archives/2006/08/draft_linking_s.html Linking Sexual Music and Teen Behavior] by Gene Edward Veith at the [http://www.worldmagblog.com World Magazine Blog]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51496 Face the music, parents] at [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ WorldNetDaily] 12 August [[2006]]</ref> Sadly, this use of music is probably as old as "the oldest profession." Cultural critics observe, pointedly, that permissive cultures have permissive music, and non-permissive cultures avoid such music.

Yet for all this, music is still important in worship. If it were not, then it would not have received the favorable attention that the [[Bible]] clearly gives to it. As powerful a force for evil as it might be, music can be an equally powerful force to encourage the listener to worship, appreciate, and above all obey God and keep His laws--at least, as best as any human being is able.

== Traditions and principles for liturgical music ==
[[Saint Paul]] specifically exhorts his readers to employ music, and specifically "psalms, hymns, and spiritual odes," to bring them closer to God.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ephesians|chap=5|verses=19|version=KJV}}</ref> <ref>{{Bible ref|book=Colossians|chap=3|verses=16|version=KJV}}</ref> In this context, a ''psalm'' is not necessarily a chapter out of the Book of [[Psalms]]; it can be any song that primarily quotes any part of Scripture. ''Hymns'' are songs primarily of praise and magnification of [[God]]; they do not, however, directly quote Scripture in most of their lyrics, as "psalms" do. ''Spiritual odes'' are primarily personal testimonies, either of salvation or of one's own perception of God. ''Amazing Grace'', by John Newton, is a prime example. ''It Is Well With My Soul'', by Horatio Spafford, is one song that has features of a hymn ''and'' a spiritual ode.

The Rev. Alan B. Brown, MDiv, ThM, has studied liturgical music extensively. In his view<ref name=Brown/>, liturgical music ought to satisfy three prime tests:

# Are the lyrics ''accurate'', either when they quote Scripture or reflect [[Christian]] principles?
# Can you properly ''associate'' the lyrics and/or the notes with Godly things, as opposed to worldly things?
# Are the lyrics and/or the notes ''appropriate'' for worship in general, and in the setting of a particular celebration?

The actual notes to the tunes that, say, King David's choir might have sung, or his royal orchestra might have produced, are lost to us today. But the titles of many of the Psalms contain specific instructions, originally to the music director at King David's court, as to the type of tune and the types of instruments required. Hymnists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often set the Psalms and other portions of Scripture to music, often with very good effect. The best-known example is the ''Doxology'' (literally, "study in glory") that is a paraphrase of Psalm 100; the tune is called "Old Hundredth" and remains popular today.

== Controversies surrounding music today ==
Music perhaps has always been controversial, but the controversies surrounding music today rage with particular vehemence. The question of what is, and what is not, music is relatively tame. Different composers have always experimented with different music conventions, and always will. (And perhaps they must.) Many such experiments fail, in that the works produced draw only small audiences, and ultimately no one will play them, because no one will pay to listen to them or to have them played for other people.

Rather, the most raging controversy concerns certain genres of popular music that have provoked adverse political comment precisely because of the emotions they incite and the themes they sound, both in lyrics and in notes. Parents of adolescent and pre-adolescent children object to music that explicitly (mainly through its lyrics) exhorts its listeners to sexual sin. Members of various political interest groups object to music that they believe provokes its listeners to show ''disrespect'' for members of those groups.

Some listeners and music critics attempt to defend music as "amoral," that is, morally neutral. They maintain that music exists only for people to enjoy, not to make a political point. For some, indeed, music is an escape. To them, one who tries to infer a serious purpose in a given piece of music ought to abandon the attempt and simply enjoy it for what it is. This attitude recalls [[Mark Twain]]'s famous introduction to [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]:<blockquote>PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.<br><br>BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR,<br>Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.</blockquote>

The reaction of so many interested parties to various types of popular music today would seem to militate against that stance. Indeed, history is replete with examples of various pieces of music from earlier eras inciting their listeners to violence; [[Maurice Ravel]]'s signature work ''Bolero'', for example, was known to incite riots<ref>[http://www.kalvos.org/bazzr086.html Essay 86: Bolero v. Gliere, Round 1] by David Gunn, at Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar</ref>, as was [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s work ''The Rite of Spring''.<ref>[http://www.nottinghamphilharmonic.co.uk/notes/SRS.html The Rite of Spring] by the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra</ref>

Riots have also broken out at many rock-and-roll concerts, and often the responding law-enforcement authorities have been at a loss to determine the ultimate causes of those riots. The ''proximate'' cause typically is a one-on-one fight in which other concert attendees joined in--but what put the original combatants into a fighting mood, or causes others to join a fight that was, strictly speaking, not theirs, is far more difficult to explain. Perhaps too many of the listeners are worshiping the performers as if they were [[pagan]] [[idol]]s--a problem that, some say, composers like [[Franz Liszt]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] had to contend with. Perhaps the causes have as much to do with the subculture of which rock-and-roll music is a part, as with the music itself. Then, too, no [[physician]] has ever investigated the chronic, or long-standing, effects of a steady aural diet of different genres of music--beyond expressing concern that many listeners are listening to their music too loud and damaging their hearing with the sheer physical stress of the loud sounds. The only signs that anyone can study, if thry are signs of anything at all, are the statistics concerning psychological stress affecting, and substance abuse by, performers of various types of music. (Riots do not routinely break out at classical performances--at least, not since the ''Rite of Spring'' riot mentioned above. This might simply be due to wild behavior not being normative on the part of those who routinely patronize such music.)

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Music| ]]

Scrabble

2007-06-22T20:32:49Z

Anagramer:

'''Scrabble''' is an American [[board game]] invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1948. The purpose of the game is to make words using a set number of letter tiles on a 15 x 15 square board. Scrabble is arguably more popular than [[Monopoly (board game)|Monopoly]] and is played in over 175 official tournaments per year.

==History==
Alfred Mosher Butts invented the Scrabble [[crossword]] game in its current form in 1948 based, at least in part, on his previous games Lexiko and Criss Cross Words. He purportedly determined the frequency of the letter tiles in the game by counting letter usage in the New York Time. He began by selling them individually by mail order until he partnered with James Brunot and his newly formed Production and Marketing company.

The game struggled in its early years until sales began dramatically increasing in 1952. The game was purchased by Selchow & Righter in 1971. Following the windfall created by [[Trivial Pursuit]], and its subsequent crash, Selchow sold their properties to Coleco Industries in 1986. Coleco was subsequently acquired by Hasbro in 1988 and Scrabble has remained with them since.

Jim Kramer, a 48 year old proofreader from Roseville, Minnesota, is the reigning United States Scrabble Open champion (2006). <ref>[http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/cgi-bin/player.pl?given=Jim&surname=Kramer&exact=1 Jim Kramer Profile] at www.ScrabbleAssociation.com</ref>
==Gameplay==
The game consists of a bag, a set of tiles, and a board divided into a 15x15 grid. The tiles are each marked with one letter and a point value (except for two blank 'wildcard' tiles). The tiles are placed in the bag; each player removes 7 of them; the first player uses his or her tiles to form a word and places it on the board, either horizontally or vertically, intersecting the middle square. The player then draws more tiles from the bag, replacing the ones just played. The points on the tiles are totalled up and any (because the middle square is a 'double word score' square) doubled; that's the player's score for this turn. Play then rotates around the board with each player attempting to play his or her tiles to form words; after the first play, each word must use at least one tile already on the board.

Any tiles in direct contact with each other, either horizontally or vertically, must form valid words. If a single play forms multiple words (one horizontally and one or more vertically, or vice versa), points for all the formed words are awarded.

The following is a valid game after two plays:

T
SMALL
L
K

The following board position would not be permitted:

MICE
PRETZEL

MP, IR, and CE are not words, so MICE cannot be put on top of PRETZEL.

Playing all 7 tiles is called a 'bingo' and gives a 50 point bonus.

Certain marked squares double or triple the score for the whole word or just for the letter on that square.

Play ends when one player is out of tiles and no tiles remain in the bag. The player with the most points wins.

==Sources==
*[http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/home.cfm?page=history Scrabble History] - at www.Hasbro.com
*''Word Freak'' by Stefan Fatsis, 2001, Penguin Books

==References==
<references/>
[[category:board games]]

Creation Museum

2007-06-22T20:26:40Z

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[[Image:CMpix1.JPG|thumb|300px|The front of the Creation Museum while under construction in 2005.]]
The '''Creation Museum''' is a 60,000 square foot [[museum]]<ref name="creationmuseum" /><ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14122311/ Museum Brings Creationism to Life], MSNBC, says "50,000 square-foot-museum"</ref> that cost 27 million dollars to construct. It is located in Petersburg, [[Kentucky]], just outside of [[Cincinnati]], a location chosen due to having almost two thirds of the [[United States]] population within a 650-[[mile]] distance.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070520/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsreligion_070520222942 Dinosaurs frolic with Adam and Eve at creationism museum]</ref> Designed to promote a [[Young Earth Creationism|Young-Earth Creationist]] view of history with state of the art displays and presentations, it opened its doors to the public on May 28, 2007, exceeding expectations by receiving 4,000 visitors on the first day.

"The Creation Museum presents a 'walk through history'"<ref name="creationmuseum">[http://creationmuseum.org Creation Museum]</ref> with a basis on a literal understanding of [[Genesis]] chapter 1. The exhibits are designed, for "[a] fully engaging, sensory experience,"<ref name="creationmuseum" /> to illustrate [[Earth]]'s history and origin from a [[Young Earth Creationist]] perspective. The enterprise is supported by [[Ken Ham]], founder of [[Answers in Genesis]].

On its opening, the ''New York Times'' gave it a page one review which commented:
{{cquote|Whether you are willing to grant the premises of this museum almost becomes irrelevant as you are drawn into its mixture of spectacle and narrative. Its 60,000 square feet of exhibits are often stunningly designed by Patrick Marsh, who, like the entire museum staff, declares adherence to the ministry's views; he evidently also knows the lure of secular sensations, since he designed the "Jaws" and "King Kong" attractions at [[Universal Studios]] in [[Florida]].... The Creation Museum offers an alternate world that has its fascinations, even for a skeptic wary of the effect of so many unanswered assertions. He leaves feeling a bit like Adam emerging from Eden, all the world before him, freshly amazed at its strangeness and extravagant peculiarities.<ref>Rothstein, Edward (2007) "Museum Review: Adam and Eve in the Land of the Dinosaurs," ''The New York Times,'' May 24, 2007, p. 1; also [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/arts/24crea.html?_r=1&ex=1180670400&en=5856f2432a6c1&oref=slogin online].</ref>}}

==Controversy==
There has been much controversy since the Kentucky-based Creation Museum was announced. Lawrence Krauss (a physicist and astronomer<ref>[http://www.phys.cwru.edu/faculty/index.php?krauss Lawrence Krauss, Faculty Page]</ref>) stated that the museum is both a "fraud" and "hypocritical" because it "...repeatedly misrepresents the process and results of [[science]] and distorts the scientific record. Yet in every case it takes advantage of the technical wizardry of science to get its point across, with a series of dazzling [[animatronic]] displays and explanations"<ref> Kraus, L, 2007 quoted in "Museum of Misinformation", New Scientist, May 26th 2007, p24</ref>

Greg Neyman, of [[Answers In Creation]], expressed concern about non-[[Christian]] museum visitors. "They will see the museum, and recognize its faulty science, and will be turned away from the church. This will increase the already widening gap between the unchurched and the churched. ... [[Atheist]]ic people and organizations are increasingly attacking the [[church]], because they perceive that the findings of modern science cannot be reconciled with the [[Bible]]."<ref>Answers in Creation - Creation Museum Media Mania, March 30, 2007[http://www.answersincreation.org/rebuttal/aig/daily/2007/20070330_creation_museum.htm]</ref>

Ken Ham debated the issues raised by the Museum on The FOX News Channel’s TV program The O’Reilly Factor on 28th May.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/05/28/museum-news-oreilly Ken Ham on The O’Reilly Factor]</ref>

==Other Creation Museums==
*The [[Creation Evidence Museum]] in Glen Rose, [[Texas]], was established in 1984. According to its web site, the museum presents "scientific evidence for creation and design by a personal Creator", and "makes a unique contribution, demonstrating that man and dinosaur lived contemporaneously".<ref>Creation Evidence Museum[http://www.creationevidence.org/]</ref>

*[[Dinosaur Adventure Land]] in Pensacola, Florida, a "theme park" consisting of a discovery center and museum, was established in 2001. Its founder, minister [[Kent Hovind]], said "There are a lot of creationists that are really smart and debate the intellectuals, but the kids are bored after five minutes. You're missing 98 percent of the population if you only go the intellectual route." The site has no rides. Demonstrations include the Nerve-Wracking Ball, a bowling ball suspended from a rope. Visitors are challenged to stand at a specific location, while a park guide carefully launches the ball from another specific location, and demonstrate their "faith in God's laws"—in this case, that a swinging object will never come back higher than the point from which it took off—by standing without moving or flinching as the ball comes close to their face.<ref>Goodenough, Abby (2004), "Darwin-Free Fun For Creationists", ''The New York Times,'' May 1, 2004, p. 7</ref>

*A much more modest creation museum, the [[Big Valley Creation Science Museum]], is scheduled to open on June 5, 2007<ref>[http://www.bvcsm.com/ Big Valley Creation Science Museum], museum website</ref> in Big Valley, [[Canada]].<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKN2547663920070529 Canada's first museum of creation opens in Alberta], Reuters, May 29, 2007</ref> It includes displays on "[[Fossil]]s and the [[Great Flood|Flood]]," a set of [[England|English]] scrolls tracing the family of [[King Henry VI]] back to the [[Garden of Eden]], and illustrations of humans and dinosaurs coexisting. Big Valley is a small [[village]] located about 270 miles north of [[Alberta]]. The region is an historically important dinosaur fossil collecting area, where the "great Canadian dinosaur rush" occurred in the early 1900s<ref>[http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Alberta/dinoasaurvalley.htm Dinosaur Valley], Travel for Kids website</ref>, popular for [[school]] field trips and tourists interested in fossils; the area also includes the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology and Dinosaur Provincial Park.

*The [[Institute for Creation Research]] in Santee, [[California]] (near San Diego) has a small "Museum of Creation and Earth History" which has been operating since 1975 with an upgrade around 1992.<ref>[[John Morris|Morris, John]], [http://www.icr.org/article/3345/] ''Acts & Facts'', June 2007.</ref><ref>[[Henry Morris|Morris, Henry]], [http://www.icr.org/article/795/ ICR and The Word Of God] ''Back to Genesis'', December 1995.</ref>

==External links==

*[http://www.creationwiki.org/Creation_museum A list of over twenty museums about Creation.]

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Creationism]]

Maar

2007-06-22T20:13:13Z

Anagramer: fix

[[Image:Maar.jpg|thumb|300px|Aerial view towards the north of Ukinrek Maars, Alaska]]A '''maar''' is a low-relief, broad volcanic crater formed by shallow explosive eruptions. The explosions are usually caused by the heating and boiling of groundwater when magma invades the groundwater table. Maars often fill with water to form a lake.<ref>http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/maar.html</ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Geology]]

Crossword puzzle

2007-06-22T19:56:25Z

Anagramer: Redirecting to Crossword

#REDIRECT [[crossword]]

User:Anagramer

2007-06-22T19:08:16Z

Anagramer: New page: Some anagrams to solve: Vacancies dusk ropes; alias tick ironwork.

Some anagrams to solve:

Vacancies dusk ropes; alias tick ironwork.

Word search puzzle

2007-06-22T19:03:00Z

Anagramer: New page: A puzzle consisting of an array of letters in which words can be found across, down, backwards, diagonally. Usually the words are given. A wonderword puzzle is one in which the letters l...

A puzzle consisting of an array of letters in which words can be found across, down, backwards, diagonally. Usually the words are given. A wonderword puzzle is one in which the letters leftover will spell another word.

Crossword

2007-06-22T18:51:40Z

Anagramer: New page: A crossword (or crossword puzzle) consists of a series of boxes into which letters can be written. Clues are given. Words can go down or across, but the letters must match up..

A crossword (or crossword puzzle) consists of a series of boxes into which letters can be written. Clues are given. Words can go down or across, but the letters must match up..

Anagram

2007-06-22T18:47:41Z

Anagramer: New page: An anagram is the rearrangement of another set of letters. pardon me = mean drop

An anagram is the rearrangement of another set of letters.

pardon me = mean drop