Japanese Music Essay

There are two forms of music recognized to be the oldest forms of traditional Japanese music. They are shÃ… myÃ…  (Ã¥ £ °Ã¦ËœÅ½ or è  ²Ã¦ËœÅ½?), or Buddhist chanting, and gagaku (é›…æ ¥ ½?) or orchestral court music, both of which date to the Nara and Heian periods.[citation needed] Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period[citation needed]. Kagura-uta (ç ¥Å¾Ã¦ ¥ ½Ã¦ ­Å'), Azuma-asobi(æ  ±Ã© Å ) and Yamato-uta (Ã¥ ¤ §Ã¥â€™Å'æ ­Å') are indigenous repertories. TÃ… gaku (å” Ã¦ ¥ ½) and komagaku originated from the Chinese Tang dynasty via the Korean peninsula[citation needed]. In addition, gagaku is divided into kangen (ç ® ¡Ã¥ ¼ ¦) (instrumental music) and bugaku (舞æ ¥ ½) (dance accompanied by gagaku). Originating as early as the 13th century are honkyoku (æÅ" ¬Ã¦â€º ² â€Å"original pieces†). These are single (solo) shakuhachi (Ã¥ ° ºÃ¥â€¦ «) pieces played by mendicant Fuke sect priests o f Zen buddhism[citation needed]. These priests, called komusÃ…  (â€Å"emptiness monk†), played honkyoku for alms and enlightenment. The Fuke sect ceased to exist in the 19th century, but a verbal and written lineage of many honkyoku continues today, though this music is now often practiced in a concert or performance setting.[citation needed] The samurai often listened to and performed in these music activities, in their practices of enriching their lives and understanding[citation needed]. Traditional music[edit source | editbeta] Biwa hÃ… shi, Heike biwa, mÃ… sÃ… , and goze[edit source | editbeta] The biwa (ç  µÃ§  ¶ – Chinese: pipa), a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant performers (biwa hÃ… shi) (ç  µÃ§  ¶Ã¦ ³â€¢Ã¥ ¸ «) who used it to accompany stories.[citation needed] The most famous of these stories is The Tale of the Heike, a 12th-century history of the triumph of the Minamoto clan over the Taira[citation needed]. Biwa hÃ… shi began organizing themselves into a guild-like association (tÃ… dÃ… ) for visually impaired men as early as the thirteenth century. This guild eventually controlled a large portion of the musical culture of Japan.[citation needed] In addition, numerous smaller groups of itinerant blind musicians were formed especially in the Kyushu area[citation needed]. These musicians, known as mÃ… sÃ…  (ç› ²Ã¥Æ' § blind monk) toured their local areas and performed a variety of religious and semi-religious texts to purify households and bring about good health and good luck. They also maintained a repertory of secular genres. The biwa that they played was considerably smaller than the Heike biwa (Ã¥ ¹ ³Ã¥ ® ¶Ã§  µÃ§  ¶) played by the biwa hÃ… shi.[citation needed] Lafcadio Hearn related in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things â€Å"Mimi-nashi Hoichi† (Hoichi the Earless), a Japanese ghost story about a blind biwa hÃ… shi who performs â€Å"The Tale of the Heike† Blind women, known as goze (çž ½Ã¥ ¥ ³), also toured the land since the medieval era, singing songs and playing accompanying music on a lap drum.[citation needed] From the seventee nth century they often played the koto or the shamisen. Goze organizations sprung up throughout the land, and existed until recently in what is today Niigata prefecture.[citation needed] Taiko[edit source | editbeta] Taiko performing The taiko is a Japanese drum that comes in various sizes and is used to play a variety of musical genres.[citation needed] It has become particularly popular in recent years as the central instrument of percussion ensembles whose repertory is based on a variety of folk and festival music of the past. Such taiko music is played by large drum ensembles called kumi-daiko. Its origins are uncertain, but can be stretched out as far back as the 7th centuries, when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its existence. China influences followed, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese.[5] Taiko drums during this period were used during battle to intimidate the enemy and to communicate commands. Taiko continue to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and ShintÃ… . In the past players were holy men, who played only at special occasions and in small groups, but in time secular men (rarely women) also played the taiko in semi-religious festivals such as the bon dance. Mod ern ensemble taiko is said to have been invented by Daihachi Oguchi in 1951[citation needed]. A jazz drummer, Oguchi incorporated his musical background into large ensembles, which he had also designed. His energetic style made his group popular throughout Japan, and made the Hokuriku region a center for taiko music. Musicians to arise from this wave of popularity included Sukeroku Daiko and his bandmate Seido Kobayashi. 1969 saw a group called Za Ondekoza founded by Tagayasu Den; Za Ondekoza gathered together young performers who innovated a new roots revival version of taiko, which was used as a way of life in communal lifestyles. During the 1970s, the Japanese government allocated funds to preserve Japanese culture, and many community taiko groups were formed. Later in the century, taiko groups spread across the world, especially to the United States. The video game Taiko Drum Master is based around taiko. One example of a modern Taiko band is Gocoo. Min’yÃ…  folk music[edit source | editbeta] A Japanese folkswoman with hershamisen, 1904 Main article: Min’yÃ…  Japanese folk songs (min’yÃ… ) can be grouped and classified in many ways but it is often convenient to think of four main categories: work songs, religious songs (such as sato kagura, a form of Shintoist music), songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals (matsuri, especially Obon), and children’s songs (warabe uta). In min’yÃ… , singers are typically accompanied by the three-stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi. Other instruments that could accompany are a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13-stringed zither known as the koto. In Okinawa, the main instrument is the sanshin. These are traditional Japanese instruments, but modern instrumentation, such as electric guitars and synthesizers, is also used in this day and age, when enka singers cover traditional min’yÃ…  songs (Enkabeing a Japanese music genre all its own).[6] (For a detailed English-language study of all aspects of min’yÃ… , see the 395-page book by David Hughes.)[6] Terms often heard when speaking about min’yÃ…  are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time rhythm (though performers usually do not group beats). The typical folk song heard at Obon festival dances will most likely be an ondo. A fushi is a song with a distinctive melody. Its very name, which is pronounced â€Å"bushi† in compounds, means â€Å"melody† or â€Å"rhythm.† The word is rarely used on its own, but is usually prefixed by a term referring to occupation, location, personal name or the like. Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Komori uta are children’s lullabies. The names of min’yo songs often include descriptive term, usually at the end. For example: Tokyo Ondo, Kushimoto Bushi, Hokkai Bon Uta, and Itsuki no Komoriuta. Many of these songs include extra stress on certain syllables as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe). Kakegoe are generally shouts of cheer but inmin’yÃ… , they are often included as parts of choruses. There are many kakegoe, though they vary from region to region. In Okinawa Min’yÃ… , for example, one will hear the common â€Å"ha iya sasa!† In mainland Japan, however, one will be more likely to hear â€Å"a yoisho!,† â€Å"sate!,† or â€Å"a sore!† Others ar e â€Å"a donto koi!,† and â€Å"dokoisho!† Recently a guild-based system known as the iemoto system has been applied to some forms of min’yÃ… ; it is called. This system was originally developed for transmitting classical genres such as nagauta, shakuhachi, or koto music, but since it proved profitable to teachers and was supported by students who wished to obtain certificates of proficiency and artist’s names continues to spread to genres such as min’yÃ… , Tsugaru-jamisen and other forms of music that were traditionally transmitted more informally. Today some min’yÃ…  are passed on in such pseudo-family organizations and long apprenticeships are common. See also Ainu music of north Japan. Okinawan folk music[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Ryukyuan music Umui, religious songs, shima uta, dance songs, and, especially kachÄ shÄ «, lively celebratory music, were all popular. Okinawan folk music varies from mainland Japanese folk music in several ways. First, Okinawan folk music is often accompanied by the sanshin whereas in mainland Japan, the shamisen accompanies instead. Other Okinawan instruments include the sanba (which produce a clicking sound similar to that of castanets), taiko and a sharp finger whistling called yubi-bue (æÅ'‡ç ¬â€º?). Second, tonality. A pentatonic scale, which coincides with the major pentatonic scale of Western musical disciplines, is often heard in min’yÃ…  from the main islands of Japan, see minyÃ…  scale. In this pentatonic scale the subdominant and leading tone (scale degrees 4 and 7 of the Western major scale) are omitted, resulting in a musical scale with no half-steps between each note. (Do, Re, Mi, So, La in solfeggio, or scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6) Okinawan min’yÃ… , however, is characterized by scales that include the half-steps omitted in the aforementioned pentatonic scale, when analyzed in the Western discipline of music. In fact, the most common scale used in Okinawan min’yÃ…  includes scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Traditional instruments[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Traditional Japanese musical instruments * Biwa (ç  µÃ§  ¶) * Fue (ç ¬â€º) * Hichiriki (ç ¯ ³Ã§ ¯ ¥) * Hocchiku (æ ³â€¢Ã§ « ¹) * HyÃ… shigi (æ‹ Ã¥ ­ Ã¦Å" ¨) * Kane (é Ëœ) * Kakko (éž ¨Ã© ¼â€œ) * KokyÃ… « (èÆ' ¡Ã¥ ¼â€œ) * Koto (ç  ´) * Niko (ä ºÅ'èÆ' ¡) * Okawa (AKA Ã…Å'tsuzumi) (Ã¥ ¤ §Ã© ¼â€œ) * RyÃ… «teki (ç «Å"ç ¬â€º) * Sanshin (ä ¸â€°Ã§ ·Å¡) * Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) (Ã¥ ° ºÃ¥â€¦ «) * Shamisen　 (ä ¸â€°Ã¥â€˜ ³Ã§ ·Å¡) * Shime-Daiko (ç ·  Ã¥ ¤ ªÃ© ¼â€œ) * Shinobue (ç ¯  Ã§ ¬â€º) * ShÃ…  (ç ¬â„¢) * Suikinkutsu (water zither) (æ ° ´Ã§  ´Ã§ ªÅ¸) * Taiko (i.e. Wadaiko)Ã¥ ¤ ªÃ© ¼â€œÃ¯ ½Å¾Ã¥â€™Å'Ã¥ ¤ ªÃ© ¼â€œ * Tsuzumi (é ¼â€œ) (AKA Kotsuzumi) ————————————————- Arrival of Western music[edit source | editbeta] Traditional pop music[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: RyÃ… «kÃ… ka, KayÃ… kyoku, and Enka After the Meiji Restoration introduced Western musical instruction, a bureaucrat named Izawa Shuji compiled songs like â€Å"Auld Lang Syne† and commissioned songs using a pentatonicmelody.[citation needed] Western music, especially military marches, soon became popular in Japan.[citation needed] Two major forms of music that developed during this period were shoka, which was composed to bring western music to schools, and gunka, which are military marches with some Japanese elements..[citation needed] As Japan moved towards representative democracy in the late 19th century, leaders hired singers to sell copies of songs that aired their messages, since the leaders themselves were usually prohibited from speaking in public. The street performers were called enka-shi.[citation needed] Also at the end of the 19th century, an Osakan form of streetcorner singing became popular; this was called rÃ… kyoku. This included the first two Japanese stars, Yoshida Naramaru and Tochuken Kum oemon..[citation needed] Ichiro Fujiyama, influentialryÃ… «kÃ… ka singer Westernized pop music is called kayÃ… kyoku, which is said to have and first appeared in a dramatization of Resurrection by Tolstoy. The song â€Å"KachÃ… «sha no Uta†, composed by Shinpei Nakayama, was sung by Sumako Matsui in 1914. The song became a hit among enka-shi, and was one of the first major best-selling records in Japan.[citation needed] . RyÃ… «kÃ… ka, which adopted Western classical music, made waves across the country in the prewar period..[citation needed] Ichiro Fujiyamabecame popular in the prewar period, but war songs later became popular when the World War II occurred..[citation needed] KayÃ… kyoku became a major industry, especially after the arrival of superstar Misora Hibari.[citation needed] In the 1950s, tango and other kinds of Latin music, especially Cuban music, became very popular in Japan.[citation needed] A distinctively Japanese form of tango called dodompa also developed. KayÃ… kyoku became associated entirely with traditional Japanese struc tures, while more Western-style music was called Japanese pop ( or simply ‘JPop’).[citation needed] Enka music, adopting Japanese traditional structures, became quite popular in the postwar period, though its popularity has waned since the 1970s and enjoys little favour with contemporary youth.[citation needed] Famous enka singers include Hibari Misora, Saburo Kitajima, Ikuzo Yoshi and Kiyoshi Hikawa. Art music[edit source | editbeta] Western classical music[edit source | editbeta] Western classical music has a strong presence in Japan and the country is one of the most important markets for this music tradition.[citation needed], with Toru Takemitsu (famous as well for his avant-garde works and movie scoring) being the best known.[citation needed] Also famous is the conductor Seiji Ozawa. Since 1999 the pianist Fujiko Hemming, who plays Liszt and Chopin, has been famous and her CDs have sold millions of copies.[citation needed] Japan is also home to the world’s leading wind band.[citation needed], the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, and the largest music competition of any kind, the All-Japan Band Association national contest.[citation needed] Western classical music does not represent Japan’s original culture. The Japanese were first exposed to it in the second half of the 19th century, after more than 200 years of national isolation during the Edo Period.[citation needed] But after that, Japanese studied classical music earnestly to make it a part of their own artistic culture. Orchestras * Gunma Symphony Orchestra * Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra * Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra * Japan Philharmonic Orchestra * Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra * Kyoto Symphony Orchestra * Kyushu Symphony Orchestra * Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra * New Japan Philharmonic * NHK Symphony Orchestra * Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa * Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra * Sapporo Symphony Orchestra * Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra * Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra * Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra * Tokyo Symphony Orchestra * Yamagata Symphony Orchestra * Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra Composers * RentarÃ…  Taki (1879–1903) * Kosaku Yamada (1886–1965) * Kiyoshi Nobutokiï ¼Ë†1887-1965ï ¼â€° * Yasuji Kiyose (1900–1981) * Masao Ohki (1901–1971) * SaburÃ…  Moroi (1903–1977) * Kunihiko Hashimoto (1904–1949) * TomojirÃ…  Ikenouchi (1906–1991) * Yoritsune Matsudaira (1907–2001) * Hisato Ohzawa (1907–1953) * ShirÃ…  Fukai (1907–1959) * Hisatada Otaka (1911–1951) * Akira Ifukube (1914–2006) * Fumio Hayasaka (1914–1955) * Minao Shibata (1916-1996) * YoshirÃ…  Irino (1921-1980) * Sadao Bekku (1922–2012) * Ikuma Dan (1924–2001) * Yasushi Akutagawa (1925–1989) * Roh Ogura (1926–1990) * Joji Yuasa (born 1929) * Toshiro Mayuzumi (1929–1997) * Akio Yashiro (1929–1976) * Teizo Matsumura (1929–2007) * Toru Takemitsu (1930–1996) * Makoto Moroi (born 1930) * Hikaru Hayashi (1931–2012) * Yuzo Toyama (born 1931) * Akira Miyoshi (born 1933) * Toshi Ichiyanagi (born 1933) * Maki Ishii (1936–2003) * Shigeaki Saegusa (born 1942) * Shin-ichiro Ikebe (born 1943) * Takashi Yoshimatsu (born 1953) * Akira Nishimura (born 1953) * Toshio Hosokawa (born 1955) Jazz[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Japanese jazz From the 1930s on (except during World War II, when it was repressed as music of the enemy)[citation needed] jazz has had a strong presence in Japan.[citation needed] The country is an important market for the music, and it is common that recordings unavailable in the United States or Europe are available there. A number of Japanese jazz musicians have achieved popularity abroad as well as at home.[citation needed] Musicians such as June (born in Japan) and Dan (third generation American born, of Hiroshima fame), and Sadao Watanabe have a large fan base outside their native country. Lately, club jazz or nu-jazz has become popular with a growing number of young Japanese.[citation needed] Native DJs such as Ryota Nozaki (Jazztronik), the two brothers Okino Shuya andOkino Yoshihiro of Kyoto Jazz Massive, Toshio Matsuura (former member of the United Future Organization) and DJ Shundai Matsuo creator of the popular monthly DJ event, Creole inBeppu, Japan as well as nu-jazz artists, Sleepw alker, GrooveLine, and Soil & â€Å"Pimp† Sessions have brought great change to the traditional notions of jazz in Japan. Some of the newer bands include Ego-Wrappin’ and Sakerock along with more experimental musicians such as Otomo Yoshihide and Keiji Haino. ————————————————- Popular music[edit source | editbeta] J-Pop[edit source | editbeta] Main article: J-pop J-pop, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a loosely defined musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles, which led to bands such as Happy End fusing rock with Japanese music.[7] J-pop was further defined by Japanese New Wave bands such as Yellow Magic Orchestra andSouthern All Stars in the late 1970s.[8] Eventually, J-pop replaced kayÃ… kyoku (â€Å"Lyric Singing Music†, a term for Japanese pop music from the 1920s to the 1980s) in the Japanese music scene.[9]The term was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music. Dance and disco music[edit source | editbeta] Further information: Eurobeat and Para Para Momoiro Clover Z is known for its innovative dance performances.[10] In 1984, American musician Michael Jackson’s album Thriller became the first album by a Western artist to sell over one million copies in Japanese Oricon charts history.[11] His style is cited as one of the models for Japanese dance music, leading the popularity of Avex Group andJohnny & Associates.[12] In 1990, Avex Trax began to release the Super Eurobeat series in Japan. Eurobeat in Japan led the popularity of group dance form Para Para. While Avex’s artists such as Every Little Thing and Ayumi Hamasaki became popular in 1990s, new names in the late 90s included Hikaru Utadaand Morning Musume. Hikaru Utada’s debut album, First Love, went on to be the highest-selling album in Japan with over 7 million copies sold, whereas Ayumi Hamasaki became Japan’s top selling female and solo artist, and Morning Musume remains one of the most well-known girl groups in the Japanese pop music industry. Momoiro Clover Z is known for its energetic dance performances. They are heavily choreographed and feature acrobatic stunts.[13] The energetic performances also incorporate elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies.[14] Although the girls’ voices are not very stable when coupled with an intense dance, they never lipsynch.[15] A 2013 survey shows that Momoiro Clover Z attracts the highest level of interest of all the femaleidol groups in Japan.[16] Rock[edit source | editbeta] In the 1960s, Japanese rock music bands imitated Western rock musicians such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones, along with other Appalachian folk music, psychedelic rock,mod and similar genres; this was called Group Sounds (G.S.). John Lennon of The Beatles later became one of most popular Western musicians in Japan.[17] Group Sounds is a genre of Japanese rock music that was popular in the mid to late 1960s.[citation needed] After the boom of Group Sounds, there were several influential singer-songwriters. Nobuyasu Okabayashi was the first who became widely recognized.[citation needed] Wataru Takada, inspired by Woody Guthrie, also became popular.[citation needed]. They both were influenced by American folk music but wrote Japanese lyrics. Takada used modern Japanese poetry as lyrics, while Kazuki Tomokawa made an album using Chuya Nakahara’s poems. Tomobe Masato, inspired by Bob Dylan, wrote critically acclaimed lyrics.[citation needed] The Tigers was the most popular Group Sounds band in the era. Later, some of the members of The Tigers, The Tempters and The Spiders formed the first Japanese supergroup Pyg. Homegrown Japanese folk rock had developed by the late 1960s.[citation needed] Artists like Happy End are considered to have virtually developed the genre. During the 1970s, it grew more popular.[citation needed] The Okinawan band Champloose, along with Carol (led by Eikichi Yazawa), RC Succession and Shinji Harada were especially famous and helped defin e the genre’s sound. Sometimes also beginning in the late sixties, but mostly active in the seventies, are musicians mixing rock music with American-style folk and pop elements, usually labelled â€Å"folk† by the Japanese because of their regular use of the acoustic guitar. This includes bands like Off Course, Tulip, Alice (led by Shinji Tanimura), Kaguyahime, Banban, and Garo. Solo artists of the same movement include Yosui Inoue, Yuming, and Iruka. Later groups, like Kai Band (led by Yoshihiro Kai) and early Southern All Stars, are often attached to the same movement. Yellow Magic Orchestra in 2008 Several Japanese musicians began experimenting with electronic rock in the early 1970s. The most notable was the internationally renowned Isao Tomita, whose 1972 album Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock featured electronic synthesizer renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs.[18] Other early examples of electronic rock records include Inoue Yousui’s folk rock and pop rock album Ice World (1973) and Osamu Kitajima’s progressive psychedelic rockalbum Benzaiten (1974), both of which involved contributions from Haruomi Hosono,[19][20] who later started the electronic music group â€Å"Yellow Magic Band† (later known as Yellow Magic Orchestra) in 1977.[21] Most influentially, the 1970s spawned the electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, led by Haruomi Hosono. In the 1980s, Boà ¸wy inspired alternative rock bands like Shonen Knife, Boredoms, The Pillows and Tama & Little Creatures as well as more mainstream bands as Glay. In 1980, Huruoma and Ry Cooder, an American musician, collaborated on a rock album with Shoukichi Kina, driving force behind the aforementioned Okinawan band Champloose. They were followed by Sandii & the Sunsetz, who further mixed Japanese and Okinawan influences. Also during the 80s, Japanese metal and rock bands gave birth to the movement known as visual kei, represented during its history by bands like X Japan, Buck-Tick, Luna Sea,Malice Mizer and many others, some of which experienced national, and international success in the latest years. In the 1990s, Japanese rock musicians such as B’z, Mr. Children, Glay, Southern All Stars, L’Arc-en-Ciel, Tube, Spitz, Wands, T-Bolan, Judy and Mary, Asian Kung–Fu Generation, Field of View, Deen, Ulfuls, Lindberg, Sharam Q, The Yellow Monkey, The Brilliant Green an d Dragon Ash achieved great commercial success.[citation needed] B’z is the #1 best selling act in Japanese music since Oricon started to count.[citation needed], followed by Mr. Children.[citation needed] In the ’90s, pop songs were often used in films, anime, television advertisement and dramatic programming, becoming some of the best-selling forms of music in Japan.[citation needed] The rise of disposable pop has been linked with the popularity of karaoke, leading to criticism that it is consumerist: Kazufumi Miyazawa of The Boom said â€Å"I hate that buy, listen, and throw away and sing at a karaoke bar mentality.† Of the visual kei bands Luna Sea, whose members toned down their on-stage attire with on-going success, was either very successful, while Malice Mizer, La’cryma Christi, Shazna, Janne Da Arc, and Fanatic Crisis also achieved commercial success in the late ’90s.[citation needed] Green Stage of the Fuji Rock Festival The first Fuji Rock Festival opened in 1997. Rising Sun Rock Festival opened in 1999. Summer Sonic Festival and Rock in Japan Festival opened in 2000. Though the rock scene in the 2000s is not as strong, newer bands such as Bump of Chicken, Sambomaster, Flow, Orange Range, Remioromen,Uverworld, Radwimps and Aqua Timez, which are considered rock bands, have achieved success. Orange Range also adopts[clarification needed] hip hop. Established bands as B’z, Mr. Children, Glay, and L’Arc-en-Ciel also continue to top charts, though B’z and Mr. Children are the only bands to maintain a high standards of their sales along the years. Japanese rock has a vibrant underground rock scene,[citation needed] best known internationally for noise rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt Banana, as well as stoner rock bands such as Boris and alternative acts such as Shonen Knife (who were championed in the West by Kurt Cobain),Pizzicato Five and The Pillows (who gained international attention in 1999 for the FLCL soundtrack). More conventional indie rock artists such asEastern Youth, The Band Apart and Number Girl have found some success in Japan[citation needed], but little recognition outside of their home country. Other notable international touring indie rock acts are Mono and Nisennenmondai. Punk rock / alternative[edit source | editbeta] Further information: Japanese hardcore Early examples of punk rock in Japan include SS, The Star Club, The Stalin, Inu, Gaseneta, Bomb Factory, Lizard (who were produced by the Stranglers) and Friction (whose guitarist Reck had previously played with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before returning to Tokyo) and The Blue Hearts. The early punk scene was immortalized on film by Sogo Ishii, who directed the 1982 film Burst City featuring a cast of punk bands/musicians and also filmed videos for The Stalin. In the 80s, hardcore bands such as GISM, Gauze, Confuse, Lip Cream and Systematic Death began appearing, some incorporating crossover elements.[citation needed] The independent scene also included a diverse number of alternative/post-punk/new wave artists such as Aburadako, P-Model,Uchoten, Auto-Mod, Buck-Tick, Guernica and Yapoos (both of which featured Jun Togawa), G-Schmitt, Totsuzen Danball and Jagatara, along with noise/industrial bands such as Hijokaidan andHanatarashi. Ska-punk bands of the late nineties extending in t he years 2000 include Shakalabbits and 175R (pronounced â€Å"inago rider†). Heavy metal[edit source | editbeta] Japan is known for being a successful area for metal bands touring around the world and many live albums are recorded in Japan. Notable examples are Judas Priest’s Unleashed in the East, Iron Maiden’s Maiden Japan, Deep Purple’s Made in Japan and Dream Theater’s Live at Budokan. From the international bands, such as Angra, Sonata Arctica and Skylark especially with their singerKiara Laetitia have had major success in Japan.[citation needed] Japanese heavy metal bands started emerging in the late 1970s, pioneered by bands like Bow Wow, formed in 1975 by guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto, and Loudness, formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki. Although there existed other contemporary bands, like Earthshaker, Anthem and 44 Magnum, their debut albums were released only around the mid eighties when metal bands started getting a major exposure. First oversease live performances were by Bow Wow in 1978 in Hong Kong and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, as well played at the Reading Festival inEngland in 1982.[22] In 1983, Loudness toured United States and Europe, and started focusing more on an international career. In 1985, the first Japanese metal act was signed to a major label in th e United States. Their albums Thunder in the East and Lightning Strikes, released in 1985 and 1986, peaked at number 74 (while number 4 in homeland Oricon chart), and number 64 in theBillboard 200 charts respectively.[23][24] Till the end of the eightes only two other bands, Ezo and Dead End, got their albums released in the United States. In the eighties few bands had a female members, like all-female band Show-Ya fronted by Keiko Terada, and Terra Rosa with Kazue Akao on vocals. In September 1989, Show-Ya’s album Outerlimits was released, it reached number 3 in the Oricon album chart.[25] Heavy metal bands reached their peak in the late ’80s and many disbanded until the mid-1990s. Concert of pioneer of visual kei, X Japan atHong Kong in 2009 after their 2007 reunion. In 1982, some of the first Japanese glam metal bands were formed, like Seikima-II with Kabuki-inspired makeup, and X Japan who pioneered the Japanese movement known as visual kei, and became the best-selling metal band.[26] In 1985, Seikima-IIs album Seikima-II – Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal was released and although reached number 48 on the Oricon album chart exceeded 100,000 in sales, first time for any Japanese metal band. Their albums charted regularly in the top ten until mid ’90s. In April 1989, X Japans second album Blue Blood was released and went to number 6, and after 108 weeks on charts sold 712,000 copies.[27] Their third and best-selling album Jelaousy was released in July 1991; it topped the charts and sold 1.11 million copies.[27] There were released more two number one studio albums, Art of Life and Dahlia, a singles compilation X Singles, all selling more than half a million,[28] and since the formation had thirteenth top five singles, disbanding in 1997.[29] Extreme metal[edit source | editbeta] Japanese extreme metal bands formed in the wake of American and European wave, but didn’t get any bigger exposure until the ‘90s, and like overseas the genre is usually treated as an underground form of music in Japan.[citation needed] First thrash metal bands formed in the early ’80s, like United, whose music also incorporates death metal elements, and Outrage. United’s first international performance took place in Los Angeles at the metal festival â€Å"Foundations Forum† in September 1995 and had few albums released in North America. Formed in the mid ‘80s, Doom played a gig in the United States in October 1988 at CBGB, and was active until 2000 when disbanded. The first bands to play black metal music were Sabbat, who is still active, and Bellzlleb, who was active until early ‘90s. Another notable act is Sigh. Doom metal has also gained an audience in Japan. The two best-known Japanese doom metal acts are Church of Misery and Boris, b oth of whom have gained considerable popularity outside the country. Hip-Hop[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Japanese hip-hop Hip-hop is a newer form of music on the Japanese music scene. Many felt it was a trend that would immediately pass. However, the genre has lasted for many years and is still thriving. In fact, rappers in Japan did not achieve the success of hip-hop artists in other countries until the late 1980s. This was mainly due to the music world’s belief that â€Å"Japanese sentences were not capable of forming the rhyming effect that was contained in American rappers’ songs.†[30] There is a certain, well-defined structure to the music industry called â€Å"The Pyramid Structure of a Music Scene†. As Ian Condry notes, â€Å"viewing a music scene in terms of a pyramid provides a more nuanced understanding of how to interpret the significance of different levels and kinds of success.†[31] The levels are as follows (from lowest to highest): fans and potential artists, performing artists, recording artists (indies), major label artists, and mega-hit stars. These different levels can be clearly seen at a genba, or nightclub. Different â€Å"families† of rappers perform on stage. A family is essentially a collection of rap groups that are usually headed by one of the more famous Tokyo acts, which also include a number of proteges.[32] They are important because they are â€Å"the key to understanding stylistic differences between groups.†[33] Hip-hop fans in the audience are the ones in control of the night club. They are the judges who determine the winners in rap battles on stage. An example of this can be seen with the battle between rap artists Dabo (a major label artist) andKan (an indie artist). Kan challenged Dabo to a battle on stage while Dabo was mid-performance. Another important part of night clubs was displayed at this time. It showed â€Å"the openness of the scene and the fluidity of boundaries in clubs.†[34] Electropop and club music[edit source | edi tbeta] See also: Electronic music, Synthpop, and Electro music Electronic pop music in Japan became a successful commodity with the â€Å"Technopop† craze of the late 70s and 80s.[citation needed], beginning with Yellow Magic Orchestra and solo albums ofRyuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono in 1978 before hitting popularity in 1979 and 1980. Influenced by disco, impressionistic and 20th century classical composition, jazz/fusion pop, new wave and technopop artists such as Kraftwerk and Telex, these artists were commercial yet uncompromising.[citation needed] Ryuichi Sakamoto claims that â€Å"to me, making pop music is not a compromise because I enjoy doing it†. The artists that fall under the banner of technopop in Japan are as loose as those that do so in the West, thus new wave bands such as P-Model and The Plastics fall under the category alongside the symphonic techno arrangements of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The popularity of this music meant that many popular artists of the 70s that previously were known for acoustic music turne d to techno production, such as Taeko Onuki and Akiko Yano, and idol producers began employing electronic arrangements for new singers in the 80s.[citation needed] Today, newer artists such as Polysics pay explicit homage to this era of Japanese popular (and in some cases underground or difficult to obtain) music.[citation needed] And the all trio girls band Perfume,who debuted with Tokuma Japan in 2005,are also a techno-pop band, taking on electronic, dance and pop music taking on Auto-Tune, vocoders, and electrohouse upon their signing to a major label. They are currently considered as one of the most popular bands in Japan. Roots music[edit source | editbeta] In the late 1980s, roots bands like Shang Shang Typhoon and The Boom became popular. Okinawan roots bands like Nenes and Kina were also commercially and critically successful. This led to the second wave of Okinawan music, led by the sudden success of Rinkenband. A new wave of bands followed, including the comebacks of Champluse and Kina, as led by Kikusuimaru Kawachiya; very similar to kawachi ondo is Tadamaru Sakuragawa’s goshu ondo. Latin, reggae and ska music[edit source | editbeta] Further information: Japanese reggae and Japanese ska Other forms of music from Indonesia, Jamaica and elsewhere were assimilated. African soukous and Latin music, like Orquesta de la Luz (ã‚ ªÃ£Æ' «Ã£â€š ±Ã£â€š ¹Ã£â€š ¿Ã£Æ' »Ã£Æ'‡ãÆ' »Ã£Æ' ©Ã£Æ' »Ã£Æ' «Ã£â€š ¹), was popular as was Jamaicanreggae and ska, exemplified by Mice Teeth, Mute Beat, La-ppisch, Home Grown and Ska Flames, Determinations, and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Noise music[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Japanoise Another recognized music form from Japan is noise music. The noise from this country is called Japanoise. Its most prominent representative is Masami Akita with his project Merzbow. Theme music[edit source | editbeta] Theme music composed for films, anime, Tokusatsu, and Japanese television dramas are considered a separate music genre. Several prominent musical artists and groups have spent most of their musical careers performing theme songs and composing soundtracks for visual media. Such artists include Masato Shimon (current holder of the world record for most successful single in Japan for â€Å"Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun†),[35] Ichirou Mizuki, all of the members of JAM Project, Akira Kushida, Isao Sasaki, and Mitsuko Horie. Notable composers of Japanese theme music include Joe Hisaishi, Michiru Oshima, Yoko Kanno, Toshihiko Sahashi, Yuki Kajiura, KÃ… tarÃ…  Nakagawa and Yuuki Hayashi. Game music[edit source | editbeta] See also: Video game music, Chiptune, and Bitpop When the first electronic games were sold, they only had rudimentary sound chips with which to produce music. As the technology advanced, the quality of sound and music these game machines could produce increased dramatically. The first game to take credit for its music was Xevious, also noteworthy for its deeply (at that time) constructed stories. Though many games have had beautiful music to accompany their gameplay, one of the most important games in the history of the video game music is Dragon Quest. Koichi Sugiyama, a composer who was known for his music for various anime and TV shows, including Cyborg 009 and a feature film of Godzilla vs. Biollante, got involved in the project out of the pure curiosity and proved that games can have serious soundtracks. Until his involvement, music and sounds were often neglected in the development of video games and programmers with little musical knowledge were forced to write the soundtracks as well. Undaunted by technological limits, Sugi yama worked with only 8 part polyphony to create a soundtrack that would not tire the player despite hours and hours of gameplay. Another well-known author of video game music is Nobuo Uematsu. Even Uematsu’s earlier compositions for the game series, Final Fantasy, on Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System in America) are being arranged for full orchestral score. In 2003, he even took his rock-based tunes from their original MIDI format and created The Black Mages. Yasunori Mitsuda is a highly known composer of such games as Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, Chrono Cross, and Chrono Trigger. Koji Kondo, the main composer for Nintendo, is also prominent on the Japanese game music scene. He is best known for the Zelda and Mario themes. Motoi Sakuraba is also another well-known video game composer. He is known for composing the Tales Series, Dark Souls, Eternal Sonata, Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Golden Sun, and theBaten Kaitos games, as well as numerous Mario Sports games. Yuzo Koshiro is also noted for his work with games, having composed electronic music-influenced soundtracks for games like Revenge of Shinobi and the Streets of Rage series. The techno/trance music production group I’ve Sound has made a name for themselves first by making themes for eroge computer games, and then by breaking into the anime scene by composing themes for them. Unlike others, this group was able to find fans in other parts of the world through their eroge and anime themes. Today, game soundtracks are sold on CD. Famous singers like Hikaru Utada, Nana Mizuki and BoA sometimes sing songs for games as well, and this is also seen as a way for singers to make a names for themselves. ————————————————- See also[edit source | editbeta] * J-pop * Visual kei * All-Japan Band Association * Buddhist music * Chindonya * Enka * Group Sounds * Japanese hardcore * Japanese hip hop * Japanese ska * Japanoise * Oricon * RyÃ… «kÃ… ka * Shibuya-kei * ShintÃ…  music * Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra * List of Japanese rock bands * List of Japanese hip hop musicians * List of J-pop artists * In scale * Voice acting in Japan

In Tim O’Brien Essay

In Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story,† the author tries to humanize war by letting the reader know how absolutely difficult telling a war story is. He does this by giving many unsolicited pieces of advice about how to tell a true war story, but many of them directly contradict each other or do not make sense when compared side-by-side. In giving these pieces of advice, he is also telling war stories that either do or do not fit his own criteria. And yet, he humanizes the people involved in fighting this war by giving the reader these lessons. One great example of this is when he tells the story of Rat Kiley and Lemmons. O’Brien begins by telling the reader that â€Å"a true war story is never moral†(O’Brien). He continues with, â€Å"If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie† (O’Brien). Then he tells us first the story of Rat Kiley writing this letter to the sister of his best friend who died. Kiley pours his heart out to this woman and she never writers back, and he has a derogatory comment about the sister. This certainly is not uplifting, but Rat Kiley has been humanized. The reader can somewhat imagine writing this letter and understands what it would take to write a letter like this, and then to have it unacknowledged. While O’Brien tells us almost nothing directly of the character of Rat Kiley, the reader learns mounds of information about his character nonetheless. O’Brien continues on to tell us about the death of Lemmons, and then he explains that even his own telling of the story is subjective. What he thinks he saw versus what might have actually happened are two different things. We didn’t know Lemmons, but again, we feel like we know something of his character from hearing this story. O’Brien is able to provide such beautiful or not so beautiful characterizations of these men without really telling the reader anything. But these men are humanized for us. They are not statistics in a war; they are real men. Another lesson O’Brien teaches is that â€Å"In a true war story, if there’s a moral at all, it’s like the thread that makes the cloth. You can’t tease it out. You can’t extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning. † He tells us that true war stories do not generalize but they make us feel it in our stomachs. We can’t generalize to something simple like â€Å"War is hell. † He then tells us another story of Rat Kiley when he slowly slaughters the water buffalo. The reader is horrified, but also at some level understands why Rat Kiley did this. The water buffalo becomes a symbol of the breakdown during war itself. The incredible need for violence and retribution is strong. It is a horribly sad story of the slaughter of an animal. But based on what we already know about just what Rat Kiley has been through, we understand him on some gut level. War is hell, but it is also mystery and beauty. â€Å"Though it’s odd, you’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead. † The reader can understand this and understand the characters better because of it. These men are not monsters; they are just men. They are fighting a terrible war and are forced to do terrible things, but they are human. â€Å"At the hour of dusk you sit at your foxhole and look out on a wide river turning pinkish red, and at the mountains beyond, and although in the morning you must cross the river and go into the mountains and do terrible things and maybe, die, even so, you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world could be and always should be, but now is not† (O’Brien). This passage describes all men in war, and even though Rat Kiley has done terrible things, we understand a little bit about what he must be thinking. We understand how these men value their lives even more because of war. In O’Brien’s unique way, these men are truly humanized. By providing the reader with various instructions throughout the story about what a true war story isn’t and what a true war story is, these men are deeply humanized. The reader understands from Tim O’Brien that war is never as simple as it seems, and neither are the men who fight the war. He tells us horrible stories about these men, and yet, these stories help us to understand the men better. With the commentary O’Brien provides about how to write a true war story, the reader understands so many things. We understand that these â€Å"true† war stories may not even actually be true in the most common sense of the word. We understand that, no matter what, they are never simple. The lessons are never clear. They are not pretty, and if they are, they are not true. In other words, the characters of war are as complex as the reasons we fight wars. While it would be nice to have a tidy moral, there are none. At the bottom of it all are human lives. These men are not heroes and they are not monsters.

Eligibility Rules

An eligibility rule for the Salvation Army is all applicants to have to have children under 18 living with them. HACK does not require you to have children, however, you do need to have a referral from another non-profit organizations. Another eye difference between the two agencies would be the criminal back ground check. The Salvation Army specifies â€Å"anyone convicted of a felony, violent offence or sexual offence will not be accepted into the program. † (testosterone, 2014).Whereas HACK_A merely mentions that they will conduct a background check. The biggest difference between the two is that the Salvation Army is very specific with their requirements. For example, they do not accept anyone who is not practicing sobriety, or at least been sober for 12 months, and requires proof. They also require all children to be enrolled in school, but do not accept home schooling as a form of school. The HACK_A does not mention sobriety as a part of their eligibility rules.A similar ity between both agencies would be they both provide services to help the participants achieve the ultimate goal of becoming independent, and maintaining a permanent living situation. Also, both agencies mention that participants must meet the low income guidelines. However, HACK mentions their applicants have to meet the very low income guidelines which is listed as $28,550 according to their link (1 person). Whereas, the Salvation Army has heir income requirements listed as low income.

Case 6.11 whitewater west industries limited Study

6.11 whitewater west industries limited - Case Study Example In order to meet their demand, relatively larger area of at least 6,040 to 6,970 square meters is required. Upon the analysis of WhiteWater West Industries Limited, three production sites are investigated. Further analysis is required as to which production site needs to be acquired which must fulfill the company’s strategic objectives. Due to increase in the demand in volumes for the fiber water slides, WhiteWater West Industries Limited needs a production facility of around 6,040 to 6,970 square meters. In order to acquire that much place, three different site locations namely Hiram-Walker, Build Option and Abbotsford Site were narrowed down by the management of WhiteWater West Industries Limited. In the following paragraphs, each site will be analyzed briefly. This site is not too far from the existing production site. In nine months time, this location can be prepared for the commercial production of the fiber water slides. This site benefits that in future if expansion is required, this site can provide more area to expand the production plants and facilities. Cost totaling around $1,571,875 will be required to avail this production facility. This option requires WhiteWater West Industries Limited to build a manufacturing factory, which is perfect in every sense. However, in order to find such site which is so perfect, is a hectic matter which could cause substantial time of around one year and a total cost of $,4464,425. This site has its own benefit of being near Vancouver, Seattle and Portland markets, so the customers from those areas can be catered easily if this site is selected. However, some drawbacks also pertain to this site such that hardships in mobilizing the labor from the existing place to this place. For those workers who do not want to work on this place, need other financial assistance causing more cost to WhiteWater West Industries Limited. Along with this, this site will not provide any

Employment Trends in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employment Trends in Canada - Essay Example In between the years 1994 to 1998 about 1 million jobs were created and in 1999 alone more than 391,000 new jobs were created. (Economy Overview, 2001) This rise in the employment rate of the country reflects a profound economic boom in the country. The instrumental factor behind this economic and employment boom was the resurgence of the manufacturing sector and to a more extent, globalization. Globalization lead to the infusion of specialized trade, technological sectors into the country, hence leading to the creation of a serviced based economy. This resulted in the generation of a whole new species of workers, the "knowledge workers". The knowledge workers were people having a college or an university degree and in time proved to be indispensible to the country that was seeking new horizons to modernize itself and expand its economy. Overall till the end of the year 1999 Canada's unemployment rate was down to a low of 7.6% on the average. . (Economy Overview, 2001) What these current trends of employment in Canada brings into the forefront is the rate of growth of employment in the country is a direct effect of globalization with knowledge-based industries and services based economy as the key generators of employment.

Arabic ceramics art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arabic ceramics art - Essay Example over, most cultures remain principally noted for their ceramics such as Chinese, Greek, Mayan, Persian, Korean, and Japanese cultures as well as contemporary western cultures. Islamic art refers to the art of civilization grounded on the Islamic religion. Arab Muslims launched a series of conquests in the 600s and combined all countries they conquered into a unitary civilization. Initially, Arabs themselves had minimal art; however, amid the conquests, the Arabs came into contact with flourishing ceramic art of Persia, Syria, and Egypt (Savory 89). The blending of the cultural influences yielded a distinctive form of Arabic ceramic art prominent between the years 800 and 1700. Arab artists developed many techniques, the bulk of which remain still in use today. For instance, Arabs engraved pots into a slip, or an earthly coating under the glaze. The engraving mainly displayed religious symbols in calligraphy, and in some instances planted their famed gold stamps right to the exterior of the slip. After the engraving, the ceramic art designers would add many layers consisting of transparent glazes (Ali 106). Another magnificent method that Arabic artists employed in ceramics included encompassed painting with a metallic pigment, mainly on a white or blue glaze (Savory 90). This technique is referred to as luster painting. Luster painting persisted into the early medieval era, with increased designs of animals and humans incorporated into final pieces. Another form of ceramic work emanating from early medieval era encompasses fritware that created pieces resembling Chinese porcelain (Ali 107). All through the late, medieval and late Arabic periods, pottery continued to imitate Chinese designs with ceramic designs becoming more advanced with time. Right from the 8th to 18th centuries, glazed ceramics were a prominent part of Islamic art, especially in the shape of elaborate pottery prominent in dynamic Persian and Egyptian pre-Islamic traditions (Ali 108). The

Teaching Philosophy Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Teaching Philosophy Statement - Essay Example Due to this, I believe that education should be handled specifically and not generally. This does not necessarily mean that each student should have his or her own teacher, but it simply means that each student should be given attention by the teacher individually depending on their learning capability. I believe that my duty as a teacher entails steering my students on how to gain education by guiding them on how to be knowledgeable by emphasizing that the only way they will be triumphant in their school life is if they accept that the teacher will only guide them through their education and he or she is not he actual source of education. In order to gain knowledge, students need to acquire information through research and practicing what they have learnt. The young generation is the hope for a better tomorrow. Due to this, I believe that rectifying past mistakes in education will see to it that everyone has a better future. Perspectives in the past where teachers are viewed as authority figures should not exist anymore. I aim at creating a personal relationship with my students, where they will view me as a friend who is there to guide them into a bright future. This relationship will ensure that students aim at excelling in their school work in order to have a successful future and not as a result of the punishment they expect from me if the do not. One major function of education is to promote peace and harmony. I believe that as a teacher, I should promote unity and understanding among my students. This means that I will ensure that all my students have tolerance with each other irrespective of ones ethnicity, nationality, gender and race. I will do this by using methods such as group assignments. I will give my students group assignments which must be done as a group. I will ensure that these groups are composed of students from different backgrounds, hence embrace diversity. This will be a vital

MGT 407 Module 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGT 407 Module 5 - Essay Example Finance and security are other possible departments that may participate in the program along with HR. Risk assessment, standards and procedures, defined roles, designated official, communication, internal reporting and program assessment are the areas that should be according to the article covered by any such corporate ethics program. Ethics particularly in the context of Human Resources generally refer to the principles or laws distinguishing between right or wrong conducts. The recent decades in the USA there has been almost a mushrooming of ethical crises. It is more likely true that in the present era of communication coverups are harder to effectively carry out and hence such instances are being revealed although they have been around for ages. Misrepresentation, Covering up details of anomalies, cheating in essence have been discovered to have proliferated all the layers of corporate America. And surprisingly in many cases these are understood to be almost necessary practices for growth. Blossoming profit making practices by managers via utilization of insider information on shareholder details and stock have emerged as common place. In the face of such falling standards, the role of the HR professional has assumed an unprecedented importance. It is the responsibility of the HR department to create proper e thical codes of conduct, introduce ethical training through different programs as well as employing officers who specialize in ethics. Unethical actions on the part of any employee(s) affects all related customers, employees, shareholders and managers alike. An Employee has to make a many choices each day which if unethical can greatly harm the companys reputation, productivity as well as profits. Such actions can be of various forms and shapes. Utilization of company resources for personal gains (using company phone lines to make personal calls), failing to report

Banking Regulations And The Current Financial Crisis Essay

Banking Regulations And The Current Financial Crisis - Essay Example Thus we can say that even a stable banking system with all proper regulations in place failed to stop such a financial crisis from occurring. The paper intends to trace out the reasons behind such a failure with the help of findings and analysis and the relevant steps undertaken for this. Reasons behind failure of banking regulations Economists and policy makers of various countries have tried to find the conditions which led to the crisis. They tried to find out those faulty policies and the incorrect measures taken by the bank that led to its failure of crisis prevention. It was found that at the time of the crisis the interest rate was really low. Financial investors in such a scenario became optimistic regarding the prices of assets along with the underlying risks. The banking regulations directed towards changes in financial landscape led to extension of leverage and this made accurate risk prediction more difficult. Investors transformed into risk lovers and excessive risk taki ng began in the markets (Caruana). Neither banking regulations nor effective supervision could stop such a phenomenon. The fragmented banking regulation again proved to be wrong. No connection could be traced out in the activities of regulated and non regulated markets. All over the markets and institution there was prevalence of asymmetric information. Some loopholes existing in the legal procedures were also equally responsible (Caruana). The macroeconomic policies implemented during this time were inadequate. The easy liquidity banking policy made structures of debts, especially the heterogeneous ones more incomprehensive. Criticisms have been against the supervisory regulations of bank. Easy loans were given to individuals without careful examination of the underlying default risks (Neuman). Monetary policies were framed in such a way that cash flow becomes easy across the economy. Such an instance is proved by statistical evidence. Table1: Data showing low interest rate policy adopted by the banks Source: Neuman The interest rate considered is for the Euro zone. The data is for short term real interest rate which continued till 2005. Such data shows that banks have adopted a low interest rate policy during the given years. This paved the way for easy liquidity. The banking regulations of 2004 led to significant credit expansion and credits involving high risks became the main reasons for initiating such crisis. It first led to subprime losses in March 2008 with Bear Sterns incurring huge subprime related losses. Ultimately Federal Reserve had to take over the firm. Detoriation of subprime loan holdings eventually culminated into the crisis. Banking sectors have earlier avoided such high risk alerts generated by the economists in 1999 (Nichols, Hendrickson and Griffith). Easy financing act of 2005 became the strategy for banking operations. During this time some big American and European banks even violated banking regulations by setting up companies for s uch short term financing purpose. Such companies were not disclosed in balance sheets. Banking sectors however did not pay attention to the fact that such a low interest rate policy regime adopted by banks in 2003 after European Central Bank followed suit was slowly increasing

The Attack On 911 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Attack On 911 - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the 911 attack is known as the worst terrorist that the American history that changed the lives of the citizens and the world at large. The attack refers to a sequence of well- organized terrorist attacks that were instigated by the Al Qaeda in New York City. Terrorists hijacked two passenger airlines and flew them into buildings in suicide attacks. Two planes were crashed into the World Trade Centre and two hours following the attack the two Towers caved in. The fires and debris fully or partially destroyed the structures that were in the surrounding. Another airline crashed into the West wing of the Pentagon resulting in its partial destruction. The fourth airliner crashed in Pennsylvania but was meant to crash in Washington D. C. Most Americans were interested in finding out the individuals who were behind the worst terrorist attack in history. Investigation showed that nineteen terrorists hijacked four airlines and all of them were from the Middle East. It was clear that all of them belonged to the renowned Al Qaeda terrorist faction that was headed by Osama bin Laden who was among the most sought-after terrorists in the modern times. Al Qaeda is known to be a well- organized terrorist group that practices extreme Islam practices. Members of this group are also immensely opposed to Western nations mainly the United States. They termed the 9/11 attack as a revenge mission against the US.

International Relations Theory Book Review on The Pentagons New Map by Essay

International Relations Theory Book Review on The Pentagons New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett - Essay Example Most significantly, the events of September 11, 2001 have prompted a reappraisal of the global threat dynamic that had existed prior to that date. Moreover, the continued destabilization of certain regions in the world such as Africa has given rise to a culture of war, and retribution in the region, a culture that is bread early in the hearts, minds and behaviors of its youngest members. Two works that address these concerns, Thomas Barnett's The Pentagon's New Map, and Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, expose the dangers and the deleterious effects of disconnection, the former on a global level and the latter on a personal level. In reviewing these two works, this paper will highlight some of the responses and reactions to the phenomena of disconnection and alienation both strategically and in terms of a personal narrative. Barnett's hawkish approach to foreign policy is borne out of a growing concern that the fundamentally dynamic nature of globalization is splitting, swiftly and irrevocably, the world into two paradigmatically opposed groups. The first represents what he refers to as the "Core," or functioning core of globalization. This group includes North America, most of South America, Japan, Australia and Europe, India, and China (Barnett 174). Constituting approximately 4 billion people, this Core is marked by relatively stable governments, rising standards of living and more deaths due to suicide rather than murder. This core represents the communicatively networked, financially robust and mostly secure regions of the world. These regions lie in fundamental contradistinction to the "Non-Integrating Gap" or Gap. These Gap populations include, parts of southwest and southeast Asia, the Middle East, almost all of Africa, and the Balkans. These Gap populations are marked with politically repressiv e regimes, mass and socially omnipresent conflict, and widespread poverty and disease. Ishmael Beah is a former child-warrior from Sierra Leone, and discusses his mind-blowing experiences as a young solider for the RUF in his memoir. The work recounts the horrible atrocities that he both was witness to and perpetrated in his unfortunate position. The rest of his family, brutally murdered in a village raid his isolation and disconnection from family and friends, and his introduction to a dark world of murder, death, and drugs permanently ripped away from Beah any innocence that childhood offers. Recounting both the making and unmaking of a child-solider: from the consumption of a dangerously explosive drug cocktail of cocaine and gun-powder called "brown brown," to the mass indiscriminate killings of civilians and enemy combatants alike and finally to the rescuing by UNICEF field workers-Beah's calm delivery belies a devastatingly isolating and alienating experience in the forests of Sierra Leone. The primary thrust of Barnett's argument is that a reimagining of the World Map must be undertaken by the Pentagon and other security agencies, if the United States and by extension the rest of the Core is to remain secure. Prior to September 11, 2001 threat analysis models assumed that only countries of similar military and economic stability could represent legitimate threats to American sovereignty. Thus throughout the Cold War, we prepared

Crusades and Holy Land Essay Example for Free

Crusades and Holy Land Essay * In 1905, Pope Urban saw an opportunity for power and decides to help the leader of the Byzantine Empire by killing the turks. As the Pope is Christian, he doesnt want power in hands of infidels (infidels are people who dont believe in Christianity), and as Turks are Muslim and did not believe in the same ideas as the pope he wanted to kill them. * In 1096, Peter the Hermit (a French monk) started the peoples crusade which was made up mainly by poor peasants and farmers. Peter the Hermit was known to be a great speaker so he motivated people to fight for the Holy Land. This crusade was not successful since they were not trained, they all died killed by the Turks. * in 1096-1099 brothers, Godfrey and Baldwin of Bouillon set off the first crusade. They created the first Crusader State at Edessa. They captured Antioch. Disagreements over the rule of Antioch slowed their progress and split their forces, but in August 1098 crusaders reached Jerusalem and the attack lasted over a month, by then its keepers surrendered. One of the brothers died, Godfrey, so Baldwin became the first King of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. * European lords worked to keep rule over Edessa (when a crusader state was attacked, the Holy Order of Knights fought back). In the second crusade (1147-1149), King Loous VII and Emperor Conrad III instead of protecting Edessa, they wanted to overtake Damascus, and their poorly organized attack resulted into failure. Most crusaders returned home, while those who stayed tried to protect their Holy Land, Jerusalem. * During 1187-1192, in the third crusade, Saladin (Turkic ruler) rose to power, he believed that everyone who was not Muslim should leave Jerusalem. In order to counterattack, europeans united forces against Muslims (this time three kings united: King Richard the Lionheart, Emperor Fredirick Barbarossa and King Phillip II). Fredirick Barbarossa died and King Phillip returned to Europe, leaving King RIchard fightning for Jerusalem. * King Richard kept trying to gain control, however Jerusalem never fell. He decided to form a relationship with his foe, Saladin. After multiple tries, he couldnt get control, but he made an agreement with Saladin, Muslim empire had the control over Jerusalem, however Christians had the right to enter the Holy Land and visit their shrines. * In 1198 Pope Innocent III called for a new crusade, it was led by French knights and they were set out for the Holy Land, however in 1202 they got distracted by Venetian lords who convinced them to capture the wealth and splendor of the Eastern Orthodox Constantinople instead of the Holy land. * The Fifth Crusade, led by King Andrew II, went first to the Holy Land and then to Egypt, but it failed. * Frederick II led the Sixth Crusade, which was successful in the reclaiming of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (in 1228). However, the kingdom was plagued by civil war which made vulnerable to Muslim attacks. * After 1244, Jerusalem would never again become Christian, Crusades still tried but failed. The last state of Christianity fell in 1291 to the Mamluk Empire.

What Is The Main Purpose Of A Satellite Media Essay

What Is The Main Purpose Of A Satellite Media Essay A satellite is basically any object that revolves around a planet in a circular or elliptical path. The moon is Earths original, natural satellite, and there are many manmade (artificial) satellites, usually closer to Earth. The path a satellite follows is an orbit. In the orbit, the farthest point from Earth is the apogee, and the nearest point is the perigee. Artificial satellites generally are not mass-produced. Most satellites are custom built to perform their intended functions. Exceptions include the GPS satellites (with over 20 copies in orbit) and the Iridium satellites (with over 60 copies in orbit). Approximately 23,000 items of space junk objects large enough to track with radar that were inadvertently placed in orbit or have outlived their usefulness are floating above Earth. The actual number varies depending on which agency is counting. Payloads that go into the wrong orbit, satellites with run-down batteries and leftover rocket boosters all contribute to the count. This online catalog of satellites has almost 26,000 entries! Although anything that is in orbit around Earth is technically a satellite, the term satellite is typically used to describe a useful object placed in orbit purposely to perform some specific mission or task. In other words, satellite also refers to an artificial satellite also which is a man-made object that orbits the Earth or another body. Scientists may also use the term to refer to natural satellite. Natural Satellite Moon, the common noun, is used to mean any natural satellite. There are at least 140 moons within the solar system and in fact many others orbiting the planets of other stars. There is a standard model of moon formation from the same collapsing region of protoplanetary disk. This give rise to primary. There are also exceptions or variations in this regard. Several moons are thought to be captured asteroids; others may be fragments of larger moons collapsed by impacts, a portion of the planet itself blasted into orbit by a large impact. As most moons are known only through a few observations via investigations or telescopes, most theories about their origins are still uncertain. Artificial Satellites An artificial satellite is a manufactured object that continuously orbits Earth or some other body in space. Most artificial satellites orbit Earth. People use them to study the universe, help forecast the weather, transfer telephone calls over the oceans, assist in the navigation of ships and aircraft, monitor crops and other resources, and support military activities. Artificial satellites also have orbited the moon, the sun, asteroids, and the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Such satellites mainly gather information about the bodies they orbit. Piloted spacecraft in orbit, such as space capsules, space shuttle orbiters, and space stations, are also considered artificial satellites. So, too, are orbiting pieces of space junk, such as burned-out rocket boosters and empty fuel tanks that have not fallen to Earth. Artificial satellites differ from natural satellites, natural objects that orbit a planet. Earths moon is a natural satellite. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. Since then, the United States and about 40 other countries have developed, launched, and operated satellites. Today, about 3,000 useful satellites and 6,000 pieces of space junk are orbiting Earth. Satellite orbits Satellite orbits have a variety of shapes. Some are circular, while others are highly elliptical (egg-shaped). Orbits also vary in altitude. Some circular orbits, for example, are just above the atmosphere at an altitude of about 155 miles (250 kilometers), while others are more than 20,000 miles (32,200 kilometers) above Earth. The greater the altitude, the longer the orbital period the time it takes a satellite to complete one orbit. A satellite remains in orbit because of a balance between the satellites velocity (speed at which it would travel in a straight line) and the gravitational force between the satellite and Earth. Were it not for the pull of gravity, a satellites velocity would send it flying away from Earth in a straight line. But were it not for velocity, gravity would pull a satellite back to Earth. To help understand the balance between gravity and velocity, consider what happens when a small weight is attached to a string and swung in a circle. If the string were to break, the weight would fly off in a straight line. However, the string acts like gravity, keeping the weight in its orbit. The weight and string can also show the relationship between a satellites altitude and its orbital period. A long string is like a high altitude. The weight takes a relatively long time to complete one circle. A short string is like a low altitude. The weight has a relatively short orbital period. Many types of orbits exist, but most artificial satellites orbiting Earth travel in one of four types: (1) high altitude, geosynchronous; (2) medium altitude, (3) sun-synchronous, polar; and (4) low altitude. Most orbits of these four types are circular. A high altitude, geosynchronous orbit lies above the equator at an altitude of about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers). A satellite in this orbit travels around Earths axis in exactly the same time, and in the same direction, as Earth rotates about its axis. Thus, as seen from Earth, the satellite always appears at the same place in the sky overhead. To boost a satellite into this orbit requires a large, powerful launch vehicle. A medium altitude orbit has an altitude of about 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers) and an orbital period of 12 hours. The orbit is outside Earths atmosphere and is thus very stable. Radio signals sent from a satellite at medium altitude can be received over a large area of Earths surface. The stability and wide coverage of the orbit make it ideal for navigation satellites. A sun-synchronous, polar orbit has a fairly low altitude and passes almost directly over the North and South poles. A slow drift of the orbits position is coordinated with Earths movement around the sun in such a way that the satellite always crosses the equator at the same local time on Earth. Because the satellite flies over all latitudes, its instruments can gather information on almost the entire surface of Earth. One example of this type of orbit is that of the TERRA Earth Observing Systems NOAA-H satellite. This satellite studies how natural cycles and human activities affect Earths climate. The altitude of its orbit is 438 miles (705 kilometers), and the orbital period is 99 minutes. When the satellite crosses the equator, the local time is always either 10:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. A low altitude orbit is just above Earths atmosphere, where there is almost no air to cause drag on the spacecraft and reduce its speed. Less energy is required to launch a satellite into this type of orbit than into any other orbit. Satellites that point toward deep space and provide scientific information generally operate in this type of orbit. The Hubble Space Telescope, for example, operates at an altitude of about 380 miles (610 kilometers), with an orbital period of 97 minutes. Types of artificial satellites Artificial satellites are classified according to their mission. There are six main types of artificial satellites: (1) scientific research, (2) weather, (3) communications, (4) navigation, (5) Earth observing, and (6) military. Scientific research satellites gather data for scientific analysis. These satellites are usually designed to perform one of three kinds of missions. (1) Some gather information about the composition and effects of the space near Earth. They may be placed in any of various orbits, depending on the type of measurements they are to make. (2) Other satellites record changes in Earth and its atmosphere. Many of them travel in sun-synchronous, polar orbits. (3) Still others observe planets, stars, and other distant objects. Most of these satellites operate in low altitude orbits. Scientific research satellites also orbit other planets, the moon, and the sun. Weather Satellites Weather satellites help scientists study weather patterns and forecast the weather. Weather satellites observe the atmospheric conditions over large areas. Some weather satellites travel in a sun-synchronous, polar orbit, from which they make close, detailed observations of weather over the entire Earth. Their instruments measure cloud cover, temperature, air pressure, precipitation, and the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Because these satellites always observe Earth at the same local time of day, scientists can easily compare weather data collected under constant sunlight conditions. The network of weather satellites in these orbits also functions as a search and rescue system. They are equipped to detect distress signals from all commercial, and many private, planes and ships. Other weather satellites are placed in high altitude, geosynchronous orbits. From these orbits, they can always observe weather activity over nearly half the surface of Earth at the same time. These satellites photograph changing cloud formations. They also produce infrared images, which show the amount of heat coming from Earth and the clouds. Communication Satellites Communications satellites serve as relay stations, receiving radio signals from one location and transmitting them to another. A communications satellite can relay several television programs or many thousands of telephone calls at once. Communications satellites are usually put in a high altitude, geosynchronous orbit over a ground station. A ground station has a large dish antenna for transmitting and receiving radio signals. Sometimes, a group of low orbit communications satellites arranged in a network, called a constellation, work together by relaying information to each other and to users on the ground. Countries and commercial organizations, such as television broadcasters and telephone companies, use these satellites continuously. Navigation Satellites Navigation satellites enable operators of aircraft, ships, and land vehicles anywhere on Earth to determine their locations with great accuracy. Hikers and other people on foot can also use the satellites for this purpose. The satellites send out radio signals that are picked up by a computerized receiver carried on a vehicle or held in the hand. Navigation satellites operate in networks, and signals from a network can reach receivers anywhere on Earth. The receiver calculates its distance from at least three satellites whose signals it has received. It uses this information to determine its location. Earth Observing Satellites Earth observing satellites are used to map and monitor our planets resources and ever-changing chemical life cycles. They follow sun-synchronous, polar orbits. Under constant, consistent illumination from the sun, they take pictures in different colors of visible light and non-visible radiation. Computers on Earth combine and analyze the pictures. Scientists use Earth observing satellites to locate mineral deposits, to determine the location and size of freshwater supplies, to identify sources of pollution and study its effects, and to detect the spread of disease in crops and forests. Military Satellites Military satellites include weather, communications, navigation, and Earth observing satellites used for military purposes. Some military satellites often called spy satellites can detect the launch of missiles, the course of ships at sea, and the movement of military equipment on the ground. The life and death of a satellite Building a satellite Every satellite carries special instruments that enable it to perform its mission. For example, a satellite that studies the universe has a telescope. A satellite that helps forecast the weather carries cameras to track the movement of clouds. In addition to such mission-specific instruments, all satellites have basic subsystems; groups of devices that help the instruments work together and keep the satellite operating. For example, a power subsystem generates, stores, and distributes a satellites electric power. This subsystem may include panels of solar cells that gather energy from the sun. Command and data handling subsystems consist of computers that gather and process data from the instruments and execute commands from Earth. A satellites instruments and subsystems are designed, built, and tested individually. Workers install them on the satellite one at a time until the satellite is complete. Then the satellite is tested under conditions like those that the satellite will encounter during launch and while in space. If the satellite passes all tests, it is ready to be launched. Launching the satellite Space shuttles carry some satellites into space, but most satellites are launched by rockets that fall into the ocean after their fuel is spent. Many satellites require minor adjustments of their orbit before they begin to perform their function. Built-in rockets called thrusters make these adjustments. Once a satellite is placed into a stable orbit, it can remain there for a long time without further adjustment. Performing the mission Most satellites operate are directed from a control center on Earth. Computers and human operators at the control center monitor the satellites position, send instructions to its computers, and retrieve information that the satellite has gathered. The control center communicates with the satellite by radio. Ground stations within the satellites range send and receive the radio signals. A satellite does not usually receive constant direction from its control center. It is like an orbiting robot. It controls its solar panels to keep them pointed toward the sun and keeps its antennas ready to receive commands. Its instruments automatically collect information. Satellites in a high altitude, geosynchronous orbit are always in contact with Earth. Ground stations can contact satellites in low orbits as often as 12 times a day. During each contact, the satellite transmits information and receives instructions. Each contact must be completed during the time the satellite passes overhead about 10 minutes. If some part of a satellite breaks down, but the satellite remains capable of doing useful work, the satellite owner usually will continue to operate it. In some cases, ground controllers can repair or reprogram the satellite. In rare instances, space shuttle crews have retrieved and repaired satellites in space. If the satellite can no longer perform usefully and cannot be repaired or reprogrammed, operators from the control center will send a signal to shut it off. Falling from orbit A satellite remains in orbit until its velocity decreases and gravitational force pulls it down into a relatively dense part of the atmosphere. A satellite slows down due to occasional impact with air molecules in the upper atmosphere and the gentle pressure of the suns energy. When the gravitational force pulls the satellite down far enough into the atmosphere, the satellite rapidly compresses the air in front of it. This air becomes so hot that most or all of the satellite burns up. Importance of Satellite Satellites were exotic, top-secret devices. They were used primarily in a military capacity, for activities such as navigation and espionage. Now they are an essential part of our daily lives. We see and recognize their use in weather reports, television transmission by DIRECTV and the DISH Network, and everyday telephone calls. In many other instances, satellites play a background role that escapes our notice: Some newspapers and magazines are more timely because they transmit their text and images to multiple printing sites via satellite to speed local distribution. Before sending signals down the wire into our houses, cable television depends on satellites to distribute its transmissions. The most reliable taxi and limousine drivers are sometimes using the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) to take us to the proper destination. The goods we buy often reach distributors and retailers more efficiently and safely because trucking firms track the progress of their vehicles with the same GPS. Sometimes firms will even tell their drivers that they are driving too fast. Emergency radio beacons from downed aircraft and distressed ships may reach search-and-rescue teams when satellites relay the signal. Miniaturized satellite Classification: Minisatellite Microsatellite Nanosatellite Picosatellite Miniaturized satellites are artificial satellites of ordinarily low weights and small sizes, usually under 500Â  kg (1,100 lb.). While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass as given below. One reason for miniaturizing satellites is to reduce the cost: heavier satellites require larger rockets of greater cost to finance; smaller and lighter satellites require smaller and cheaper launch vehicles and can sometimes be launched in multiples. They can also be launched piggyback, using excess capacity on larger launch vehicles. Miniaturized satellites allow for cheaper designs as well as ease of mass production, although few satellites of any size other than communications constellations where dozens of satellites are used to cover the globe have been mass produced in practice. Besides the cost issue, the main motivation for the use of miniaturized satellites is the opportunity to enable missions that a larger satellite could not accomplish, such as: Constellations for low data rate communications. Using formations to gather data from multiple points. In-orbit inspection of larger satellites. Minisatellite The term minisatellite usually refers to an artificial satellite with a wet mass (including fuel) between 100 and 500 kg (220 and 1,100 lb.), though these are usually simply called small satellites. Minisatellites are usually simpler but use the same technologies as larger satellites. Microsatellite Microsatellite or microsat is usually applied to the name of an artificial satellite with a wet mass between 10 and 100 kg (22 and 220 lb.). However, this is not an official convention and sometimes microsat can refer to satellites larger than that. Sometimes designs or proposed designs of these types have microsatellites working together or in a formation. The generic term small satellite is also sometimes used. Nanosatellite The term nanosatellite or nanosat is usually applied to the name of an artificial satellite with a wet mass between 1 and 10 kg (2.2 and 22 lb.). Again designs and proposed designs of these types usually have multiple nanosatellites working together or in formation (sometimes the term swarm is applied). Some designs require a larger mother satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with nanosatellites. Picosatellite Picosatellite or picosat (not to be confused with the PICOSat series of microsatellites) is usually applied to the name of an artificial satellite with a wet mass between .1 and 1 kg (0.22 and 2.2 lb.). Again designs and proposed designs of these types usually have multiple Picosatellites working together or in formation (sometimes the term swarm is applied). Some designs require a larger mother satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with Picosatellite. The CubeSat design, with 1 kg maximum mass, is an example of a large Picosatellite . Cube Sat A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one liter (10Â  cm cube), weighs no more than 1.33 kilogram, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf electronics components. CubeSat isometric drawing Since CubeSats are all 1010 cm (regardless of length) they can all be launched and deployed using a common deployment system. CubeSats are typically launched and deployed from a mechanism called a Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD), also developed and built by Cal Poly. The P-POD is a rectangular box with a door and a spring mechanism. It is made up of anodized aluminum. They are mounted to a launch vehicle and carry CubeSats into orbit and deploy them once the proper signal is received from the launch vehicle. The P-POD Mk III has capacity for three 1U CubeSats however, since three 1U CubeSats are exactly the same size as one 3U CubeSat, and two 1U CubeSats are the same size as one 2U CubeSat, the P-POD can deploy 1U, 2U, or 3U CubeSats in any combination up to a maximum volume of 3U. CubeSats are being used for everything from environmental sensing and fundamental biology research to testing new space flight systems. Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) and cross section CubeSat forms a cost-effective independent means of getting a payload into orbit. Most CubeSats carry one or two scientific instruments as their primary mission payload. Several companies and research institutes offer regular launch opportunities in clusters of several cubes. ISC Kosmotras and Eurokot are two companies that offer such services. The biggest advantage of Nano- and Pico-satellites is that they are a bargain. Most of the cost saving comes at the launch stage. Unlike conventional satellites, they dont need a dedicated launch vehicle where they are the primary payload. Their affordability also comes from being built with off-the-shelf electronic circuit chips such as microprocessors and radio frequency transmitters and receivers. These are the same components that are inside smart phones, hand-held Global Positioning system units, and digital cameras.

Reflection coaching

Reflection coaching Reflection is defined by Stenhouse 1975 p144 as ‘a capacity for autonomous professional self-development through systematic self-study. Discuss how a coach utilises reflective practise to enhance their coaching performance Reflection is used to improve coaching performance through a variety of ways. Kidman (2001: 50) describes reflection as â€Å"a particularly significant part of empowerment whereby coaches themselves take ownership of their learning and decision making†. The coach is therefore very active in gaining information which could be beneficial to them. Dewey (1919: 3) describes reflection as â€Å"turning a subject over in the mind and giving it a serious and consecutive consideration†. By analysing information repeatedly and seriously, in depth knowledge is gained from it. *(DANS)*Pollard (2002) believes that â€Å"‘Reflective teaching is applied in cyclical or spiralling process, in which teachers monitor, evaluate and revise their own practice continually.† By being dedicated in analysing oneself, analysing others is possible. A slightly different concept of reflection is introduced by Schon. The notion of, ‘reflection in action. Schon (1983; 50) â€Å"Athletes think about what they are doing, sometimes even while doing it†. Expanding on this Schon highlights phrases like, ‘Keep your wits about you and ‘thinking on your feet. Schons belief here is in game reflection is natural and beneficial. Gilbert and Trudel (2001) believe Schons idea as a â€Å"separate type of reflection†. They also offer a different type of reflection which they call â€Å"retrospective reflection-on-action† which is further described as â€Å"that which occurs outside the action-present†. Their belief is that coaches reflect on concerns in between practise sessions and that reflection â€Å"still occurs within the action-present, but not in the midst of activity†. So they firmly believe that reflection-on-action is totally different to reflection-in-action. Gilbert and Trudel (2001) consider reflection to utilise â€Å"a conceptual framework to understand how coaches draw on experience when learning to coach† Ghaye and Lillyman (2000) bring forward the idea that the core of reflection is carried out in a series of ‘frames. Role framing was the coaches role executed correct? Value framing examining if there was value-positions present? Temporal framing was the order of actions correct? Parallel process framing could the end result varied? Problem framing were problems noticed effectively? These frames provide a practical way of analysing sport practises. Reflective practise can provide an efficient apparatus for monitoring and assessment of athletes. Dewey (1916) who is considered heavily to be the ‘founder of reflection, gives three attributes which are needed in order to participate in reflective practise. Open-mindedness, described as â€Å"an active desire to listen to more sides than one, to give heed to facts from whatever source they come and to give full attention to alternative possibilities†. Whole-heartedness, which is being â€Å"absorbed in an interest†. Responsibility is also needed as consequences are accepted therefore â€Å"securing integrity in ones beliefs†. Deweys beliefs have stood strong for eighty years and still provide modern coaches with a basic outlook on what is needed to be an effective reflective coach. Methods of using reflective practise There are a few ways in which reflective practise is put into action. By using a variety of methods coaches can expand from the basics and look more in detail depending on the type of information that is required. Video analysis is one method used in order to aid reflective practise. A coach can record a session and therefore have exact details of what actions are taken. This allows for precise analysis in which athletes can also see themselves and what they could improve on. McKernan was a firm believer in video recording to aid coaching: ‘†¦might use a video recorder to trap teaching performance as evidence or ‘data to be analysed. More importantly, such a film becomes a critical documentary for reflecting on practice†¦research can be undertaken by reactive methods such as observers, questionnaires, interviews, dialogue journals or through such non-reactive techniques as case studies, field notes, logs, diaries anecdotal records, document analysis, shadow studies. McKernan (1996)(DANS) Using other coaches is one way reflective practise can be more reliable and efficient. Analysis speed is increased as more coaches can observe and acknowledge similar issues that arise and whilst opinions may be divided, an overview of general problems can be addressed more easily. This view is backed up by Gould, Giannani, Krane, Hodge (1990) â€Å"development of craft knowledge which can be fostered through the realms of practical experience and interaction with other coaches.† Using a cognitive based style, reflection can take place through demonstration. Coaches need to reflect on how demonstrations of skills are executed and the coach must ensure that when a learner is receiving a demonstration that it is of adequate quality for the athlete to learn and progress using reflection. Demonstrations Coaching points and ‘logs are a very basic and fundamental way of reflecting on a performer. By making key observations during a practise and after, a coach can identify the problem areas. The more experienced the coach the more this basic method is effective and less need for the more advanced methods. This kind of feedback is usually Benefits to using reflective practise â€Å"by reflecting on practise a coach may expose his or her perceptions and beliefs to evaluation, creating a heightened sense of self awareness, which in turn my lead to a certain openness to new ideas† (Hellison and Templin 1991: 9) Reflective practise can increase ability in perception and creativity. This is due to the self improvement the coach must make themselves but are rewarded through these attributes. These attributes could then be passed onto the learner and thus bridging a gap between coach and learner.(BOOK) (PDF)Anderson, Knowles and Gilbourne (2004) state that â€Å"reflective practice is the latest topical strategic method that could help sports coaches explore their decisions and experiences, aiding them to make sense of the situation and directly influence the learning process.† This is clear that reflective practise can be used in order to help sports coaches. It is also considered one of the more modern uses of coaching in order to achieve higher ability in a more demanding results driven environment. â€Å"Indeed, to maximise learning, critical reflection is the core difference between whether an individual repeats the same experience time and time again or learns from the experience in such a way that the individual is cognitively or affectively changed† (Boyde and Fales, 1983).(PDF) By using reflective practise Boyde and Fales suggest that there is a high chance of learning and developing skills rather than just repeating an experience with no eventual gain. They believe reflection is essential to this as without it there would be no way an individual would know if improvement took place or not. â€Å"if a coach takes the opportunity to understand the consequences, both positive and negative, of the decisions made during a training session, they are better able to rationalise their decisions when under pressure† (Kidman, 2001).(PDF) Kidman here links this in with Schons ‘refelction in action. This is necessary in high tempo environments and is vital in gaining a better decision making process. Whilst reflection is important before and during training or match environments, only ‘reflection in action can gain quick and often needed information to make decisions. â€Å"reflection is thought to have a potent role in helping to bridge the gap between education and knowledge that is generated through practice† (Ghaye Ghaye, 1998).(PDF) Making coaches acknowledge their achievements is possible via reflection as it is a conscious and active way of fortifying the positives and negatives of individual and group practise. Difficulties in using reflective practise Whilst there is lots of evidence to strengthen the idea that reflective coaching is a useful practise, there are certainly problems that need addressing and limitations which clearly show it is not a full proof method even when applied properly. Crum (1995) â€Å"If a practitioner holds a ‘training-of-the-physical view of coaching and believes his or her role is only to improve fitness and adopt a technical/utilitarian approach, then becoming a coach who reflects in depth is not going to be paramount†. Whilst reflective practise does have its place, it would seem that it is limited. Some areas such as social negotiation and mentality may be difficult to improve through reflection practise but in many environments that reflective practise is used these are vital skills. Playing in high tempo and contact sports require both of these skills in abundance and gaining it through the individual is the most logical approach but if reflective practise is used then the coach is providing the information and techniques which arent transferable to individuals in these areas. â€Å"As many coaches will testify, written reflection, usually in the form of ‘logs, are frequently sanitised to deliver what is deemed as being necessary knowledge, thus being corralled into conformity (Chesterfield, Jones, Mitchell, 2007), possibly stifling coach creativity.†(PDF) Whilst Hellison and Templin believe in reflection in opening creativity, the basic form of a ‘log could be evidence that reflection does hinder creativity. Conformity is compliance with what already exists, if coaches comply to current practises such as ‘logs then there is no space for new practises to be introduced and composed. (PDF)Johns (1995) argued that â€Å"reflective practice is profoundly difficult, and it is therefore necessary to have a detailed model that guides and supports coaches.† Reflection does require many skills and outside opinions to be useful. There is a certain amount of complexity that comes with reflecting before, during and after sessions. Gibbs six-staged cyclical model for example is a complex calculated formula designed to give detailed analysis and evaluation. Whilst this could be beneficial it is only useful to coaches with prior experience or high ability levels. So as a general overall practise reflection can be difficult. â€Å"Trust is a vital part of a reflective conversation and, according to Maister, Green, Galford (2002), trust is a two-way relationship where people can be honest and respect each others openness. Without a real trusting relationship with significant others (e.g. a tutor, mentor, supervisor, coach) personal reflections may stay ‘safe and predictable and the real issues may go unresolved.†(PDF) Social dynamic in any relationship is extremely important. The relationship between coach and athlete is as open to flux as every other relationship. Trust is vitally important and is open to change to high and low levels. If trust is broken then coach performance or athlete obedience could drop. Reflection here is then a problem if not enough trust is spread and responsibility fall onto other people to provide strength in connecting and creativity in avoiding playing the ‘safe option which could potentially break trust. Conclusion To conclude, I believe that reflection is a very useful practise for coaches to undertake in developing athletes. Reflection can take place before, during and after which makes it very flexible and adaptable to a variety of environments. The coach does however need a certain level of ability in order to reflect appropriately and constructively. Detail is paramount and a coach analysing a level too high above them will struggle using reflection. I personally believe that the best method of reflection is video analysis. I think this because it gives an exact recollection of technical display and thanks to modern technology is available at a wide range of levels. It is, however, important that a coach doesnt rely on one method such as video analysis. During a competition or quick based environment it may not be possible to use this method and therefore a variety of reflective methods should be learnt and applied by coaches. This will make them more rounded and adaptable to their environment. One thing that I found intriguing was the amount of reflection that the coach must put on themselves. This ‘self reflection is vital as if this isnt carried out coaches methods may stagnate or accurate analysis and therefore feedback for the athlete cannot be attained thus making the practise useless. coach needs adaptable refelective ability, depending on the athletes, age, gender, ability etc†¦.. To sum up †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.states and defines refelction very clearly â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†