Understanding Jazz Essays - Jazz Genres, African-American Music

Understanding Jazz Understanding Jazz A mellow vibration lingers throughout a smoke-filled room, as eloquent music escapes the callused fingers of relaxed musicians. The tempo speeds up and grows into a fusion of spontaneous and uneven chords, exploding with rhythmic soul and life. The sound of jazz embraces the room. Jazz is primarily a dazzling, spellbinding, introspective beauty. The musician and the listener find they can derive meaning from the music. The music exists first, and its meaning is defined later. When a jazz musician is improvising, he is spontaneously composing, and at that moment his music is completely subjective. He must imagine the future in his music. He cannot transcend the subjectivity of the improvisation because it is created while it is being played. Every performance is new, giving it a fresh and exciting twist. Life cascades from the music, giving it emotion. The audience can feel the depression of the blues, the hype of swing, the funk of bebop and hard bop, and the dazzle of numerous instruments. The coolness of jazz invades and captures the mind with brilliant originality. Jazz is the future of itself. What that means is that within each improvisation there the entire body of black music --- ancient to the present --- is at work. Jazz exists only in the present, be cause it is like Heraclitus' river --- it can never be played exactly the same way twice. If jazz has any purpose, it is a way to discover, to create, and to define a missing part within human beings of what it means to be human. In this sense, jazz could be called an existential art. Jazz musicians create their essence by playing jazz, as Eric Dolphy claimed: I'll never leave jazz. I've put too much of myself into jazz already, and I'm still trying to dig in deeper. Besides, in what other field could I get so complete a scope to self-expression? To me, jazz is like part of living, like walking down the street and reacting to what you see and hear. And whatever I do react to, I can say immediately in my music. The other thing that keeps me in jazz is that jazz continues to move on. There are so many possibilities for growth inside jazz because it changes as you change (Dolphy, liner notes, Far Cry, December 21, 1960). The subjective quality to jazz is explored most successfully in Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea. Sartre describes how Roquentin first feels when he hears the old Path? jazz record, played with a sapphire needle. He describes the notes as living as ephemerons, and then dying before the listener. It is almost sacrificial: For the moment, the jazz is playing; there is no melody, only notes, a myriad of tiny jolts. They know no rest, an inflexible order gives birth to them and destroys them without even giving them time to recuperate and exist for themselves. They race, they press forward, they strike me a sharp blow in passing and are obliterated. I would like to hold them between my fingers only as a raffish languishing sound. I must accept their death; I must even will it. I know few impressions stronger or more harsh (Sartre, 21). After Roquentin heard the jazz record, there is silence and he realizes in the existential event which has just taken place that the Nausea has disappeared. He says: When the voice would heard in the silence, I felt my body harden and the Nausea vanish (22). What he feels at that moment is the connection between his own humanity and the music on the jazz record. When she sings, he understands all at once, in what Charlie Parker called an epiphany, that existence and the ability to make choices is very brief, and then dies. The second time he hears the record, he only hears it for a moment, and the feeling returns: Now there is this song on the saxophone. And I am ashamed. A glorious little suffering has just been born, an exemplary suffering. Four notes on the saxophone. They come and go, they seem to say: You must be like us, suffer in rhythm. All right! Naturally I'd like to suffer that way, in rhythm, without complacence, without self-pity, with an arid purity (174). The suffering Sartre describes is eliminated by the jazz, the act of listening to the

Queen Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler

Queen Isabella II of Spain Was a Controversial Ruler Background Isabella, who lived during troubled times for the Spanish monarchy, was the daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784 - 1833), a Bourbon ruler, by his fourth  wife, Maria of the Two Sicilies (1806 - 1878).  She was born October 10, 1830. Her Fathers Reign Ferdinand VII became king of Spain in 1808 when his father, Charles IV, abdicated.  He abdicated about two months later, and Napoleon installed Joseph Bonaparte, his brother, as the Spanish king. The decision was unpopular, and within months Ferdinand VII was again established as king, though he was in France under Napoleons control until 1813.  When he returned, it was as a constitutional, not absolute, monarch. His reign was marked by quite a bit of unrest, but there was relative stability by the 1820s, other than having no living children to pass his title to.  His first wife died after two miscarriages. His two daughters from his earlier marriage to Maria Isabel of Portugal (his niece) also did not survive infancy. He had no children by his third wife. He married his fourth wife, Maria of the Two Sicilies, in 1829. They had first one daughter, the future Isabella II, in 1830, then another daughter, Luisa, younger than Isabella II, who lived from 1832 to 1897, and married Antoine, Duke of Monpensier. This fourth wife, Isabella IIs mother, was another niece, daughter of his younger sister Maria Isabella of Spain.  Thus, Charles IV of Spain and his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma, were Isabellas paternal grandparents and maternal great-grandparents. Isabella Becomes Queen Isabella succeeded to the Spanish throne on the death of her father, September 29, 1833, when she was just three years old.  He had left directions that  Salic Law  would be set aside so that his daughter, rather than his brother, would succeed him. Maria of the Two Sicilies, Isabellas mother, supposedly had persuaded him to take that action. Ferdinands brother and Isabellas uncle, Don Carlos, disputed her right to succeed.  The Bourbon family, of which she was a part, had until this time avoided female inheritance of rulership. This disagreement about succession led to the First Carlist War, 1833-1839, while her mother, and then General Baldomero Espartero, served as regents for the underage Isabella. The military finally established her rule in 1843. Early Uprisings In a series of diplomatic turns, called the Affair of the Spanish Marriages, Isabella and her sister married Spanish and French nobles. Isabella had been expected to marry a relative of Prince Albert of England. Her change in marriage plans helped alienate England, empower the conservative faction in Spain, and bring Louis-Philippe of France closer to the conservative faction. This helped lead to the liberal uprisings of 1848 and to Louis-Philippes defeat. Isabella was rumored to have chosen her Bourbon cousin, Francisco de Assis, as a husband because he was impotent, and they largely lived apart, though they did have children.  Her mothers pressure has also been credited with Isabellas choice. Rule Ended by Revolution Her authoritarianism, her religious fanaticism, her alliance with the military and the chaos of her reign - sixty different governments - helped bring about the Revolution of 1868 that exiled her to Paris. She abdicated on June 25, 1870, in favor of her son, Alfonso XII, who ruled beginning in December 1874, after the First Spanish Republic collapsed. Even though Isabella occasionally returned to Spain, she lived most of her later years in Paris, and she never again exerted much political power or influence. Her title after abdication was Her Majesty Queen Isabella II of Spain. Her husband died in 1902.  Isabella died  April 9 or 10, 1904. You can also read about Queen Isabellas in History  on this site, in case this Isabella isnt the one you were looking for

Altruistic athlete Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Altruistic athlete - Essay Example His hope was to raise $1 from every Canadian to fight cancer. In a letter he wrote to the Canadian Cancer Society, â€Å"I’m not a dreamer, and I’m not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.† (terryfox.org) On April 12, 1980, Terry began his Marathon of Hope in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Terry ran for 143 days and covered 3,339 miles before he was forced to stop just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, because his cancer had spread to his lungs. He had to stop and return to British Colombia for treatment. On September 2, 1980, one day after Terry was forced to stop running, Chairman and CEO of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts sent a telegram to the Fox family. He wrote, â€Å"You started it. We will not rest until your dream to find a cure for cancer is realized.† (terryfox.org) Terry received many awards for his efforts, among them are the Companion of the Order of Canada, The Order of the Dogwood award (British Columbia’s highest civilian award), the Lou Marsh Award for outstanding athletic accomplishment, and The Sword of Hope, given him by the American Cancer Society. Shortly before his death, Terry Fox 2 finally realized his dream. As the Canadian population reached 24.1 million, his Marathon of Hope fund reached $24.17 million.

Extend order about ((Identifying and Evaluating a Model for Thesis

Extend order about ((Identifying and Evaluating a Model for Integrating Physical and Virtual Identity Access Management Systems) ) - Thesis Example Steinfield explained an advantage of the integration of physical with virtual services and stated that it causes the â€Å"death of distance† [53]. This analogy implies that distance is irrelevant for the modern man since organizations do not need to establish a physical establishment to provide services, rather it can be done on a remote basis with the aid of internet technology. Steinfield further explained the ‘death of distance’ with the economic perspective; virtual services tend to incur lesser expenses for the organization as compared to the physical ones since there are lesser operational and management costs [53]. Steinfield also stated that the level of trust tends to increase if the virtual services are accompanied with physical ones too, therefore, it can be stated that there regulates a lesser degree of trust around the virtual services as compared to the physical ones [53]. Woodworth defined physical identity as the physical characteristics or the external attributes that are possessed by the individual [84]. Oracle included a discussion regarding an access management system in one of their white papers and stated that it was based on the authentication and verification of physical identities; the examples of physical identities that are implemented in this system are biometrics, RFID, smart cards [85]. Woodworth discussed virtual identities and stated that â€Å"virtual spaces and the tools within† that are used for â€Å"identity construction and the self-presentation† of the individual [84]. With respect to the definition by Woodworth [84], it can be stated that if the tools within the virtual spaces are used to authenticate the users on the basis of any proof of identity then it can be termed as a virtual identity. For example, a smart card is a physical identity, however if this identity is read in an online environment with the

A Strategic Plan for Personal Development Assignment

A Strategic Plan for Personal Development - Assignment Example Conclusion Abstract Leadership can be defined as the various processes that people of authority practice to influence their peers or subordinates to agree and understand how to improve performance and interpersonal communication to achieve collective objectives (Jones & Goffee, 2007).Leadership in the contemporary society has various definitions that relate to good communication and achieving set objectives (Daft, 2011). Some leaders incorporate the use of psychological techniques such as emotional intelligence to impact good leadership abilities among employees. I desire to be a leader can influence other people towards goal attainment and shares the same objective with peers. Introduction I believe such leadership will help me motivate my subordinates towards attainment of common objectives and enhance interpersonal communications (Daft, 2011). Leadership process is either interactive or linear. An interactive process is a two-way communication where leaders and their peers or foll owers communicate by raising concerns and receiving a direct feedback. A linear leadership process is an authoritative form of leadership where leaders make decisions and implement changes without consulting their followers (Daft, 2011). Leaders influence their peers, subordinates and other stakeholders. ... Trait in leaders implies that some people have the right personality, values, motives and skills to be good leaders. Literature Review a. Process versus trait Process in leadership implies that skills and abilities are acquired through education, coaching and mentoring (Jago, 2006). Leadership process is available to all hardworking and reformed entrepreneurs willing to change their cognitive and behavioral aspect of life. Leaders can learn from other famous and successful leaders how to become the best in their organization. Emotional intelligence is also essential while learning how to become an influential and effective leader. Most business leaders shape their skills with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and changing their behavior to accommodate diverse culture and behavior exhibited by other people in an organization (Daft, 2011). Coaching and mentoring in a leadership process is very important because successful leaders shape the minds and behavior of young and aspiring leaders to become influential. Mentoring is a process where decisions are affected by the experienced leaders before any action is implemented. The mentor acts as counselor to an aspiring leader by listening and giving sound advice that is needed to achieve set objectives of becoming a good leader (Sindell & Hoang, 2001). Trait in leadership is an added value, which is innate in nature (Goffee & Jones, 2006). Some people are born with leadership personalities, values and physical characteristics. There are leaders that speak fluently and influence people with both spoken and written word. Some leaders are extroverts, which imply that they socialize with all employees, stakeholders and customers to acquire new views and concerns from

Nursing Essays Progressive Urge Incontinence

Nursing Essays Progressive Urge Incontinence Care study of a woman with a care issue which related to the module content. You are expected to analyse the evidence base, which informs choices and practice and evaluates client care, making recommendations for improvement. Introduction In this essay we shall consider the case of Mrs.J. a 32 yr. old primigravid mother who has had a totally uneventful pregnancy. She is a large caucasian lady with a BMI of about 30. Her blood pressure and biochemistry were normal throughout her pregnancy. She is a non-smoker. Her major problem was that she has suffered from progressive urge incontinence as her pregnancy progressed, which developed into stress incontinence by about the 33rd week. She subsequently had a normal vaginal delivery of an 8lb 2oz baby boy, which proved to be unexpectedly rapid so there was no time to do an episiotomy. She suffered a few small 1st degree tears. Post natally her stress incontinence got very much worse and now ( six months post delivery) it is a major problem for her. Stress incontinence Stress incontinence is a common post partum condition which can occur over a full range of severity from subclinical to catastrophic. It is usually described as â€Å"the involuntary passage of urine associated with a sudden, or impulse, rise in the intra-abdominal pressure† (Arya et al.2001) It occurs in about 11-13% of post partum women (Cammu et al 1997)). Other authorities such as Norton (1996) put the prevalence of the condition in the whole adult population at about 40 per 1000. The Continence Foundation (2000) estimates that there are about 3 million women who are over the age of 40 who suffer from varying degrees of the condition. Aetiology of the condition Pelvic floor trauma during childbirth has been recognised for a long time as being a major contributory component (if not an actual cause) of stress incontinence. Many studies have been done to try to ascertain the most effective modalities of treatment and others have looked at the factors associated with pregnancy and childbirth which are germinal to the condition. In this essay we shall consider the work that has been done in specific relation to the case of Mrs.J. The first factor to consider in respect of Mrs.J. is the fact that she is pregnant. This may seem to be blindingly obvious at first sight, but it has only recently begun to be recognised that quite apart from post natal and delivery-related factors, there are a number of antenatal factors that relate directly to stress incontinence. Rortveit (et al 2003) produced a carefully executed study which pointed to the fact that, even if no other factors were apparent, pregnancy, by itself, was an independent variable for the development of stress incontinence. This study showed an increased incidence of 1.7 times the incidence for nulliparous women when corrected for all other variables. This study supersedes (in both time and quality) previous studies by Nielsen (1988) and Olsen (1997) which looked at the same issue but could not produce a statistically significant answer. If we consider the actual mode of delivery we see that Mrs.J. had a fairly precipitate delivery of a large baby without the benefit of an episiotomy. We might observe that she was fortunate not to sustain a major perineal tear. There have been many studies (of variable quality) which have looked at the issue of the relationship between the mode of delivery and the eventual incidence of stress incontinence. A recent study by Burgio (2003) found that there were a number of independent variable factors that were predictors of an eventual increased incidence of stress incontinence. These included â€Å"smoking during pregnancy, length of time spent breast feeding, a vaginal delivery, the use of forceps to assist delivery , the frequency of urination prior to delivery and BMI†. In specific relation to Mrs.J. we can see that a number of these identified factors are present. She had a vaginal delivery, suffered from urge incontinence prior to delivery and has a high BMI. Other factors such as a large birth weight baby, (Groutz et al.1999) precipitate delivery (Perry et al 2000) and lack of episiotomy (Reilly et al. 2002) have also been identified by other investigators as being potent causative agents in the development of stress incontinence. The study by Perry (et al 2000) considered the intra-partum factors that influenced the eventual incidence of stress incontinence and concluded that factors such as a precipitate delivery (together with malpresentations and malrotations) increased the incidence of perineal floor damage which was a prime factor in the aetiology of stress incontinence. This factor was examined further by Reilly (et al. 2002) who came to the conclusion that episiotomies exert a protective effect on the perineum (by minimising damage in labour and by allowing the various structures to be safely surgically repaired), and the presence of an episiotomy statistically reduced the eventual incidence of stress incontinence. The issue of the relationship between BMI and stress incontinence was settled by Seim (et al 1996) whose study showed a statistically significant increase in the incidence of stress incontinence with increasing BMI. The study by Handa (et al. 2000) ties many of these factors together in a well constructed and meticulously executed study. The additional factors that this study can add to our discussion are the relationship between birth weight, head circumference and speed of delivery to the eventual development of stress incontinence. All of these factors are found to be positively associated with its development. Care issues We have examined the literature on the subject and have been able to identify the various factors that are relevant to the case of Mrs.J. In line with the guidance of reflective practice (Gibbs 1998) we can reflect on the factors that may have contributed to the subsequent morbidity in Mrs.J. and equally consider how they could have been minimised or avoided so that further practice can be guided by the experience. Equally, we must not loose sight of the fact that it is not just the mechanical management of a case that is important, it is the understanding of why decisions are made and the appreciation of the evidence-base that defines those decisions (Kuhse et al 2001). Some of the factors that are relevant to Mrs.J. are potentially avoidable, such as the increased BMI. Sensible pre-natal or antenatal advice to loose some weight may well have reduced her risk factors (not only for stress incontinence, but also for other conditions such as hypertension and eclampsia). Other factors such as the size of her baby are clearly unavoidable, although, given the fact that it was known that the baby was large, it would have perhaps been sensible to have considered and performed an episiotomy to allow controlled descent of the head together with avoidance of potential damage to the perineum. We have not got any information on prophylactic measures that could have helped reduce the incidence of stress incontinence in the case of Mrs.J. Pelvic floor exercises have been shown to exert a beneficial effect on the incidence of stress incontinence. There is evidence to show that both ante natal (Salvessen et al 2004) (Morkved et al 2003) and post natal (Chiarelli et al. 2002) pelvic floor exercises will reduce the incidence of post partum stress incontinence. It would appear that the effect of these exercises is accumulative. In short, the more that are done, the better the result. It would also appear that antenatal exercises are marginally more effective than post natal ones (Wilson et al. 2001). There is also considerable evidence to show that patient compliance with pelvic floor exercises is not intrinsically good and that high rates of encouragement are required to achieve good patient compliance. (Viktrup et al. 1992) This really comes under the heading of empowerment and education of the patient. If the patient realises why they are being asked to do something, there is a much greater chance that they will do it than if they are simply told to do something. (Marinker 1997) Some sources argue that pelvic floor exercises create a strong pelvic floor that could hinder delivery. This argument was shown to be false by Slavessen (et al 2004) who conclusively showed that a strong pelvic floor actually helps to control the descent of the head and minimises perineal damage Recommendations for improvement We have discussed the case of Mrs.J. and examined the evidence to support the identification of the risk factors that are relevant in her case. We have also looked at the possibility of correcting those factors in subsequent management. To a large extent we have considered the possibilities for improvement as we have discussed the various issues that are relevant. One issue that we have not covered however, is the fact that it is very easy for a midwife to overlook the fact that a patient has developed stress incontinence. (Mason et al 2001). Women are surprisingly reluctant to discuss the issue and often believe that they are unusual in developing, what they see as a very embarrassing and awkward complaint. The corollary of this is that midwifes should be aware that they can easily overlook a source of considerable morbidity simply because they don’t specifically enquire about it. References Arya LA, Jackson ND, Myers DL, Verma A. 2001 Risk of new-onset urinary incontinence after forceps and vacuum delivery in primiparous women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;185:1318-23. Burgio, Halina Zyczynski, Julie L. Locher, Holly E. Richter, David T. Redden, Kate Clark Wright 2003 Urinary Incontinence in the 12-Month Postpartum Period Obstet. Gynecol., Dec 2003; 102: 1291 – 1298 Cammu H, Van Nylen M. 1997 Pelvic floor exercises in genuine urinary stress incontinence. Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct 1997; 8: 297-300 Chiarelli, P.and Cockburn,J. 2002 Promoting urinary continence in women after delivery BMJ 2002 324:1241 Continence Foundation. 2000 Making the case for investment in an integral continence service: a source book for continence services London: CF, 2000. Gibbs, G (1998) Learning by doing: A guide to Teaching and Learning methods EMU Oxford Brookes University, Oxford. 1998 Groutz A, Gordon D, Keidar R, Lessing JB, Wolman I, David MP, et al. 1999 Stress urinary incontinence: prevalence among nulliparous compared with primiparous and grand multiparous premenopausal women. Neurourol Urodyn 1999;18:419-25. Handa, V; Harvey, L; Fox, H; Kjerulff, K 2000 Parity and route of delivery: Does caesarean delivery reduce bladder symptoms later in life? Am. J. Obtet. Gynae Volume 191(2) August 2000 p 463–469 Kuhse Singer 2001 A companion to bioethics ISBN: 063123019X Pub Date 05 July 2001 Marinker M.1997 From compliance to concordance: achieving shared goals in medicine taking. BMJ 1997;314:747–8. Mason L, Glenn S, Walton I, Hughes C. 2001 Womens reluctance to seek help for stress incontinence during pregnancy and following childbirth. Midwifery. 2001;17:212-221. Morkved,S. Bo, K. Schei,,B et al Pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy to prevent urinary incontinence: a single -blind randomised controlled trial American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2003 Vol. 101(2) p313-319 Nielsen CA, Sigsgaard I, Olsen M, Tolstrup M, Danneskiold-Samsoee B, Bock JE. 1988 Trainability of the pelvic floor. A prospective study during pregnancy and after delivery. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1988;67: 437-40 Norton C. 1996 Commissioning comprehensive continence services, guidance for purchasers. London: Continence Foundation, 1996. Olsen AL, Smith VJ, Bergstrom JO, et al. 1997 Epidemiology of surgically managed pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Obstet Gynecol 1997;89:501-6. Perry S, Assassa RP, Dallosso H, Shaw C, Williams K, Uzman U, et al. 2000 An epidemiological study to establish the prevalence of urinary symptoms and felt need in the community: the Leicestershire MRC incontinence study. J Public Health Med 2000; 22: 3 Reilly ETC, Freeman RM, Waterfield MR, Waterfield AE, Steggles P, Pedlar F. 2002 Prevention of postpartum stress incontinence in primigravidae with increased bladder neck mobility: a randomised controlled trial of antenatal pelvic floor exercises. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 2002;109: 68-76. Rortveit G, Daltveit AK, Hannestad YS, Hunskaar S. 2003 Urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery or cesarean section. N Engl J Med 2003;348:900–907. Salvesen, Kjell, Mà ¸rkved, Siv 2004 Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy BMJ Volume 329(7462) 14 August 2004 pp 378-380 Seim A, Silvertsen B, Eriksen BC, Hunkskaar S. 1996 Treatment of urinary incontinence in women in general practice: observational study. BMJ 1996; 312: 1459-1462 Viktrup L, Lose G, Rolff M, Barfoed K. 1992 The symptom of stress incontinence caused by pregnancy or delivery in primiparas. Obstet Gynecol 1992;79:945-9. Wilson L, Brown JS, Shin GP, Luc KO, Subak LL. 2001 Annual direct cost of urinary incontinence. Obstet Gynecol 2001;98:398–406.

Macbeth essay :: essays research papers

Macbeth is one of the most gruesome plays ever in the history of theater and play writing. Throughout the play, there were various acts or quotes that gave example of the dark and bloody theme of the play. One of the many themes of this play, is fair is foul, foul is fair. This theme shows how foul play and evil helps the characters succeed in their lives. Many times, this foul play gets the characters into trouble. The theme fair is foul, foul is fair is a great theme to express the feeling and tone set in this play   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the play begins, three witches are gathered together chanting fair is foul, foul is fair. Right in the beginning the mood is set in a gloomy tone. A bloody man then came in to report that Macbeth and Banquo had fought. For Macbeth’s bravery, Duncan made Macbeth thane of Cawdor. This is a good thing because it gave Macbeth more power. The bad part is that later Macbeth will kill Duncan to become king. Not to long after, Macbeth looks at the weather and says, â€Å"So foul and fair a day I have not seen.† This refers to the gloomy weather that has come over, which also helps in setting the tone. In the play, Macbeth also mentions, â€Å"If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir.† This basically means that if Macbeth is crowned as king, he will not have a problem with that, but he is not going to go out of his way to become the king. Lady Macbeth had a few things to do or say, which incorporated into the theme fair is foul, foul is fair. Lady Macbeth is a woman, but is meaner, and fiercer than a man. She also casts spells to make herself even more evil and manly. This phase slowly declines as the play goes on, and she becomes more and more afraid of what she has done. Also, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to look like an innocent flower, but be serpent under it. This is a great example of fair is foul, foul is fair. She is basically telling Macbeth to look kind and innocent, but to act out his evil that is deep down inside of him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death is also an object used to fit into this theme in various parts of the play.