Wikipedia Trail: from Halloween to A Midsummer Night's Dream

Happy Halloween! (Pixabay)

Halloween
It is a no big surprise why I chose Halloween as a topic for this post.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  Who does not like bobbing for apples, going to a haunted warehouse.  Some times I wish I was still young enough to go trick-or-treating.  However, that does not stop my from dressing up.

Trick-or-treating
So to night is cold and it is raining.  So I have not had a lot of trick-or-treaters.  The people I work with will be happy because they get all the left over candy.  Apparently, trick-or-treating became popular in the United States in the late 1920s.  Although it did slow down during World War 2 because of the sugar rationing.

William Shakespeare
Shakespeare mentions All Hallows Tide, which is an older more religious version of the modern day Halloween.  He is without a doubt one of my favorite writers.  St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V is one of the most powerful and inspiring speeches I have ever heard. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream
This is my favorite Shakespeare plays.  It is a fun and light hearted comedy.  It was written in 1595 or 1596, which is early in his career.  It has one of best characters ever, a fairy named Robin Goodfellow (Puck).  His best scene is at the where he basically tells the audience if they did not like the play, perhaps it was just a dream.

Wikipedia Trail: from Orion to Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte in 1969 (Wikimedia Commons)

Orion (constellation)
I chose to start with Orion because it is my favorite constellation.  Many different cultures have names and meanings attached to Orion, especially his belt.  The Rig Veda refers to Orion as Mriga or the Deer.  Spain and most of Latin America call the belt Las Tres Marías or The Three Marys.  The Lakota call the belt Tayamnicankhu or spine of a bison.

Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is a star in the Orion constellation.  It is also called Alpha Orionis.  Betelgeuse is a red super-giant.  It is cool and bright.  It also pulsates so it's mass changes with time.  Also, it is the name of the main character from Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice
This is one of my favorite movies of all time.  It is a comedy-fantasy directed by Tim Burton released in 1988.  Michael Keaton starred as the ghost Betelgeuse also called Beetlejuice.  This movie also features one of my favorite singer/songwriters  Harry Belafonte.

Harry Belafonte
I grew up listening to Harry Belafonte is a kid.  At age 91 Harry Belafonte has done so much more for the world than most people realize.  He was a major contributor in the Civil Rights Movement.  He bank rolled the Freedom Riders.  He was part of the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963.  He was honorary co-chair for the Women's March on Washington held on 1-21-17.  A few months later in 2017, I had the privilege to hear him speak at OU Catlett Music Center.

Wikipedia Trail: Ludwig van Beethoven to Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica

Ludwig van Beethoven (Wikimedia Commons)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven is my favorite composer.  He was an extremely important figure in the transition of music classical to romantic.  The Ninth symphony is one of the most beautiful and powerful pieces of music ever written.  He identified with the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment.

Age of Enlightenment
Also known as the Age of Reason from 1715 to 1789.  This was when absolute monarchy and the power of the church declined.  The main ideas of this time were liberty, progress, constitutional government, and the separation of church and state.  

Science in the Age of Enlightenment
This is when the first encyclopedias and dictionaries appeared.  The number of universities increased.  Science was introduced to the masses through public lectures and coffeehouses.  Reflecting telescopes lead to the discovery of planets.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, written by Sir Isaac Newton.  It is a collection of three books.  Sometimes it is shortened to Principia.  It includes important concepts such as Newton's laws of motion and Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

Wikipedia Trails: Vincent van Gogh to Edgar Degas

Cafe Terrace at Night (Wikimedia Commons)

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh is my favorite artist.  He is considered a post-impressionist artist.  Despite struggling with mental illness most of his life he created 2,100 pieces of art.  Café Terrace at Night is my favorite.  Starry Nights is probably his most famous.

Claude Monet
He is one of the founders of Impressionism.  Most critics did not care for the style at the time.  One of them coined the term as an insult.  However, Monet and other artists like him took the word and made it their own.  Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge is my favorite.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Another famous impressionists.  He was friends with Monet, and sometimes they would paint together.  They both discovered that shadows are a reflection of color, which is known as diffused reflection.  Luncheon of the Boating Party is my favorite.

Edgar Degas
He was considered a founder of the impressionism.  However, he did not care for the term, and preferred to be called a realist.  Originally he wanted to be a history painter.  I am glad he changed his mind because his art is so beautiful.  After the Bath, Woman Drying Her Nape is my favorite.

Wikipedia Trail: Santa Fe to Metropolitan Opera

Crosby Theater at the Santa Fe Opera House (Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Fe, New Mexico
I go to Santa Fe at least once a year.  People have lived there since 900 BCE.  The Spanish established a colony there in 1610.  It is the oldest capital in the United States.  Currently, there is a large artist community.

Santa Fe Opera
Every time I visit in the summer I go to the Santa Fe Opera at least one time during my stay.  It is a beautiful open air opera house.  There have been three theater in the same spot since it opened in 1957.  The season is during the summer.  This allows big name singers perform there during the off season at other houses.  Crosby Theater is the third theater, and it opened in 1998.

Figaro Systems
Figaro systems is a Santa Fe based company that provides electronic titling on the seat backs of chairs for opera houses.  The system provides libretto translations in eight different languages.  The system can be found in opera houses all over the world.  Some famous house include Santa Fe Opera, Metropolitan Opera House (New York City), and the Royal Opera House (London).

Metropolitan Opera
One of my bucket list items is to see an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House.  The Met was founded in 1880.  The current location is Lincoln Center in the upper west side of Manhattan.  It is a huge opera house.  It can seat 3,732 people, with an additional 245 people standing in the at the back of the main floor and top balcony.  During the off season the American Ballet Company uses the theater.

Wikipedia Trail: Reynolds Number to Tornado

Tornado (Wikimedia Commons)

Reynolds Number

Reynolds number is extremely important to aerospace engineer majors.  The point at which air flow over an airfoil (wing) transitions from laminar flow to turbulent flow is the Reynolds number.  In other words it is a ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces.  As far as airfoil testing is concerned sea level is best.  That way air can be treated as a liquid.

Sea Level

Sea level is the average level where the oceans meet the land.  This is important for aircraft because sea level and atmospheric pressure is used for the altimeter.  An altimeter uses sea level to estimate the altitude the aircraft is flying.  On the ground the atmospheric pressure  is 29.92 inHg (inches of mercury)

Atmospheric Pressure

Also known as barometric pressure.  At sea level is 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch).  The higher in altitude, the lower the pressure.  Highest pressure is in Siberia.  Lowest pressure is in the middle of tropical cyclones or tornados.

Tornado

A tornado is a column of rotating air between a cloud and the ground.  In the northern hemisphere they always rotate counter clockwise.  In the southern hemisphere they always rotate clockwise.  The Fujita scale is one of the more common rating scales for damage that a tornado causes.  A tornado family is when one storm cell forms more than one tornado.

Wikipedia Trail: Working Time to Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR Signing Social Security Act (Wikipedia)

Working Time

So I chose this topic to start with because I currently work full time with the occasional mandatory overtime.  This week I have worked a total of 52 hours.  It is my personal opinion that 40 hours of work is more than enough.  The forty hour work week is a general trend of decreasing time spent at work.  Right now the United States ranks 14 in the world for average annual hours worked per worker at 1789 hours.

Time-and-a-half

Time-and-a-half is what I get when I work over 40 hours in a week.  So on this paycheck I will have 12 hours of extra pay.  This started with the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.  All things considered, I would rather have slept in today, and not go to work.

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

This act did a lot for hourly workers.  It prevents child labor, started the 40 hour work week, a national minimum wage, and overtime pay.  Over the years Congress and the sitting President have increased the minimum wage.  This act was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt"s New Deal.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Roosevelt is probably on of the most important figures in our nations history.  He presided over the great depression and World War 2.  Major new deal legislation included the Fair Labor Standards Act, Social Security, Glass-Steagall Act, and Federal Deposit Insurance Commission.  He created the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1942, to help with strategic planning during World War 2.

Wikipedia Trail: Complex Plane to Daniel Bernoulli

Graphical Representation of Euler's Formula (Wikipedia)

Complex Plane:

This is one of the main concepts my control systems class focuses on.  It simplifies a lot of the math.  This is accomplished by switching between cartesian coordinates and polar coordinates.  There are to parts to the complex number, the real part (x-axis) and imaginary part (y-axis).

Euler's Formula:

Most concepts that engineers learn in school were developed by Leonhard Euler or one of the Bernoulli family.  Euler's Formula is one of the most important tools that an engineer can use.  It shows the relationship between trig functions and exponential functions.  

Johann Bernoulli:

Most of his work was the development of infinitesimal calculus.  The is is a fancy way of saying it is the study of continuous change with really small numbers.  He taught Euler when is was a kid.  Most of his sons became mathematicians.  

Daniel Bernoulli:

He is the son of Johann Bernoulli.  The aerodynamics class all aerospace engineer majors are required to take devoted to Bernoulli's Principle.  The most important thing to remember about Bernoulli's Principle is that when velocity increases, then pressure decreases.  This is the main concept for a wing in flight.

Wikipedia Trail: Control System to Led Zeppelin

The actual title of Led Zeppelin's fourth album (Wikimedia Commons)

Control Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

I chose control systems for this Wikipedia trail because that is engineering course that I am taking this semester.  It is my attempt to get back into school mood after the long weekend. A control system regulates the operation of other components or systems.  Some examples include cruise control on an automobile, or a thermostat on a heat and air system.  Most of my class is focused on feedback loops.

Feedback https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedback

A feedback loop is when the output returns to the input, which then influences the input.  So the feedback loop self-regulates.  There are two basic types of feedback loops, negative and positive.  Positive feedback is used to make audio systems.  An example of audio feedback system is rock music.

Rock Music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music

Rock music started in the 1950s, and originally was referred to as "rock and roll." Rock music's roots come from rhythm and blues.  Over time, it split into many different branches.  Some examples include punk, heavy metal, folk rock, and psychedelic rock.  Most rock songs have the verse chorus format with a 4/4 time signature. 

Led Zeppelin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin

The mighty Led Zeppelin was a four member band from Britain.  The four members are Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass and keyboardist), and John Bonham (drums).  They made 8 albums from 1968 to 1980.  They disbanded after the passing of John Bonham.  They are one of my favorite bands of all time.  In my opinion their music is timeless, it never grows old.

Wikipedia Trail: Kali to Brahman

Ashta-Matrika (Wikipedia)

Article 1: Kali, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

I started with article to help with my decision about my class project.  I am thinking about doing a story book about Kali.  Turns out that she is one of ten Mahavidyas, or group of Hindu Goddesses.  She most known for killing demons.  Over time she has also been viewed as a protector who grants liberation from life and death cycles.

Article 2: Devi Mahatmya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi_Mahatmya

This is the text that Hindu Goddesses appear.  It is divided into three episodes.  The first is about Devi in as Shakti (universal form), and is involved in creation.  The second episode is about Durga killing Mahishasura, and restoring order.  The third episode is about Kali coming out of Durga's head to kill three demons.  The image I used for this blog is from this Wikipedia article.

Article 3: Shakti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakti

Shakti is a concept or personification of feminime creative power.  Shaktism thinks that the Goddess is the supreme Brahman.  Other Godesses are just different aspects of her.  The Shakti Goddess is called Amma (mother).

Article 4: Brahman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman

Brahman is the highest universal principle in Hinduism.  It is also known as the ultimate reality in the universe.  It is mentioned with Atman (soul, self).  It is mentioned in the Vedas.

Wkipedia Trails: Durga to Vedas

Standing Ardhanari (Wikipedia)

Article 1: Durga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga

I started with article to help me decide if I want to do a storybook for my class project.  Durga is a cool mother/ warrior Goddess.  She was created by three other Gods to fight demons.  She is celebrated in the Durga puja.  It is festival that lasts for 9 days or 4 days.

Article 2: Devi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi

Devi is the Sanskrit word for Goddess.  The Devi Sukta from the Rigveda talks about the ultimate reality is a goddess.  Devi says she is the creature of earth and heaven, and lives there.

Article 3: Ardhanarishvara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhanarishvara

Ardhanarishvara is the combined form of Shiva and Parvarti.  The name means " the lord who is half woman."   The image above came from this article.  This deity is a popular and its image can be found in Shiva temples.  It symbolizes the balance of male and female energies.

Article 4: Vedas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas

It is a large ancient text from India.  Veda is Sanskrit for the word knowledge. They include mantras, stories, rituals, philosophy, and other stuff as well.  There a four major Veda texts.  The Rigveda is the oldest.