The Rock Sketch

The Rock Sketch

From NPR News

U.S. Will Lose ‘All Credibility’ If Congress Rejects Nuclear Deal, Kerry Says

http://n.pr/1SxZjq0

Claude Debussy – Printemps, L 61 (Suite symphonique)

Claude Debussy – Printemps (Suite symphonique)

Charles Roussin

Published on Apr 12, 2013

Claude Debussy – Printemps (Suite symphonique)
Orquestra Sinfônica de Minas Gerais – (OSMG)
Regência: Charles Roussin

Leonid Kogan – Schumann – Fantasie in C major, Op 131

Classical Vault 1

Published on Aug 17, 2013

Robert Schumann
Fantasie in C major, Op 131
(arranged for violin and piano)

Leonid Kogan, violin
Andrei Mytnik, piano

Live recording, 1953

today’s holiday: Osorezan Taisai

Osorezan Taisai

Mt. Osore, located on the Shimokita Peninsula in the north of Honshu, Japan, is a spiritual center for many Japanese. It is known as a place where departed souls congregate. During the Osorezan Taisai Festival, or Osorezanrei Grand Festival, people flock to the mountain at Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, where psychics endeavor to summon the spirits of the dead by chanting. The priests who cross the weathered slopes of the mountain in procession add to the festival’s grim and ghostly atmosphere. More… Discuss

quotation: Miguel de Cervantes

I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Discuss

today’s birthday: Gregor Mendel (1822)

Gregor Mendel (1822)

Mendel was an Austrian monk who laid the mathematical foundation for the science of genetics. While working in his monastery’s garden in 1854, he began planning the experiments that led him to identify the basic principles of heredity. By crossing different varieties of pea plants, he determined that each parent plant contributes a “factor”—now known as a gene—to its offspring for a particular trait. His findings went unrecognized until the 20th century, when they were rediscovered by whom? More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Battle of Peachtree Creek (1864)

Battle of Peachtree Creek (1864)

In the spring of 1864 during the American Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman began preparing his troops for their first major attack on the defenses of Atlanta, Georgia. Just days after taking command of a Confederate army in that area, General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attacked Sherman’s troops as they crossed the nearby Peachtree Creek. Most historians consider the attack a grave error, as the Union troops routed Hood’s army. What went wrong for Hood? More… Discuss

YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men’s Christian Organization (YMCA) was founded in London in 1844 and has as its objective the development of values and behaviors that are consistent with Christian principles; membership is not limited to Christians, however, and women and girls have been accepted as members since World War II. In North America, the YMCA is usually perceived to be primarily a community sports facility, but in practice it utilizes a broad range of other programs, such as what? More… Discuss

word: cinder

cinder

Definition:	(noun) A fragment of incombustible matter left after a wood or coal or charcoal fire.
Synonyms:	clinker
Usage:	Ella loved to read by the fire; her cruel stepsisters dubbed her “Cinderella,” since her face was often blackened with cinder dust. Discuss.

From France 24 :

Angry French farmers blockade Mont Saint-Michel

http://f24.my/1IfzKdT

San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin pushes back against tech-led gentrification

San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin pushes back against tech-led gentrification

http://gu.com/p/4ana5?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

California crackdown on Chinese immigrants alarms rights groups

California crackdown on Chinese immigrants alarms rights groups

http://gu.com/p/4an8e?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Cuba to raise flag in Washington as embassy reopens after half a century

Cuba to raise flag in Washington as embassy reopens after half a century

http://gu.com/p/4anq4?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

How US and Iran were drawn apart

How US and Iran were drawn apart

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33531598

How Iran fell out with the West

How Iran fell out with the West

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33552911