Beethoven Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Beethoven - Research Paper Example Whereas he remains one of the most well recognized and famous classical composers, scholars still debate what the ultimate cause of Beethoven’s hearing loss might have been. Beethoven himself described its onset as a troublesome ringing in his ears. Medical professionals at that time as well as today believe that the condition could have been brought on by an acute illness that he suffered during early adulthood. Whatever the cause, Beethoven began to experience a noticeable level of hearing loss by the age of 26. Scholars are aware of this due to the fact that it was at this age that Beethoven first mentioned that the hearing loss was troubling him in his correspondence to friends and family. As one might expect, for someone as passionate about music as was Beethoven, such a loss was tantamount to complete and total defeat and desolation. Within his own correspondence it was noted that he even experienced suicidal thoughts at times due to the fact that the hearing loss was af fecting his ability to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude. As such, bouts of severe depression ensued by which Beethoven contemplated ending his life. However, the hearing loss was gradual and Beethoven was not aware at any one particular point during the hearing loss process that he would ultimately be entirely and completely deaf.... lthough a definitive date does not exist by which Beethoven completely and entirely could be considered deaf, it is widely reported that the first time he experienced complete and total deafness was at the premier of the 9th symphony; arguably his magnum opus. At this time, Beethoven reportedly went out on the stage at the conclusion of the symphony and was greeted by rapturous applause. However, due to the fact that he could not hear this, he felt initially that his work was a commercial and professional failure and began to cry heavily.1 Even this debacle and embarrassment was not enough to discourage Beethoven from performing publically. Several public performances with Beethoven as a featured musician took place following the debacle of the 9th Symphony. However, during the performance of the Piano Concerto No. 5, Beethoven was forced to allow his student Carl Czerny to perform as he could no longer hear the music or the beat and keep time with the other musicians. Though it is t rue that Beethoven was not completely and entirely deaf at this stage, he was unable to hear certain pitches of music and could only hear the very lowest bass notes. Recent scholarship into Beethoven’s music after the year 1814 notes the fact that his loss of hearing helped to alter the music after this period of time as compared to the music composed before it. What is meant by this is that the music prior to 1814 included something of an equal composition of both high pitches and low pitches within the score. Although it is true that there remain a profound number of high pitches within Beethoven’s music post 1814 (or after the time in which acute hearing loss profoundly impacted upon the way in which he composed music), it can be readily noted that as a direct result of his hearing

Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer Project

Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer Project (a) Introduction 1.1 This career episode is based on my design and fabrication project carried out during the penultimate year of my bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering at Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering (Anna University Affiliated)-Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu state, India. Established in 2001, it is a self-financed and one of the best engineering institutes in Tamil Nadu. The project was completed over a period of 3 months from December 2012 to March, 2013. (b) Background 1.2 The project on Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer was carried out in order to understand and implement theories in gear change application. Its purpose was to analyze the various steps involved and to provide recommendations for a real world use of this technology. I carried out this project as a part of a group of four people. In this project, a push button was used to activate/deactivate a solenoid valve and at the time of gear changing, the switch was triggered and the solenoid valve was activated. This in turn causes the compressed air to go through the pneumatic cylinder. The compressed air pushes the pneumatic cylinder as it passes through a tube and henceforth changes the gear from one speed to the other with the help of a gear box arrangement. 1.3 The automatic gear changing structure is relatively useful in low cost automation in all automobiles. Pneumatic systems work at higher speeds and the manpower requirement is reduced due to this project. The design and the implementation of this project in the real world application was made and a detailed report was submitted. This project work was supervised under Mr. Manoj Kumar, the associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering. As it was an open ended project, I had to look up through several online journals, document reviews and also took guidance from the head of the department on various projects and ideas. The project time was quite limited and had to be come up with a proper design plan before the actual start of the project. This proved to be quite a challenging task as this was the first real world project in my career. However, I was completely aware of the fact that, these would be the kind of challenges and problems I would face in real life as a professional engineer. Some of the duties I was involved in during the course of this project were as follows: I carried out an extensive study on various materials relating to the pneumatic systems. Since, there was no specific consensus on the selection of compressors, I had to select the one that best suited the requirements of the project while considering all the technical aspects. I also dealt with the equipment suppliers on behalf of my team to purchase the necessary materials needed for the project. I attended meetings with my supervisor to discuss individual observation and the progress of the project. I presented this project to the department faculties and also completed an extensive project report. (c) Personal Engineering Activity As a first step of the project, I explained my thoughts on doing this project to my supervisor. I carried out my research regarding the project and presented him the importance of the project before carrying out the project.ÂÂ   The present scenario gear changer plays a vital role in automobiles.ÂÂ   Manual transmissions have become uncommon in many cases of cars sold across Australia, North America and some parts of Asia. However, they remain dominant in parts of Europe and other developing countries. Hence, I did an analysis on the present day vehicles equipped with automatic transmission option and those that are not and further highlighted the importance of the project in the present and future of automobiles as well as in certain machineries. After deciding on the project, I carried out numerous literature reviews in order to come up with an appropriate design plan and to acquire the necessary equipment needed for the project. However, the articles and writings published on the topic was quite limited and were available for only specific cases.ÂÂ   As my project was regarding the project pneumatic gear changer, I did my extensive research on the pneumatic side of the project. Furthermore, I reviewed the advantages of pneumatic system and discussed with my supervisor for the usability in the project. Pneumatic system and was best considered due to its following reasons: The pneumatic system power output could be easily controlled Over loading does not affect the pneumatic systems The pneumatic system could be used at varying working temperatures Transportation of air through pipelines over long distances can be easily done with pneumatics in place. Pneumatics enables high working speeds It is a system which requires minimal upkeep. In this project, I used a reciprocating compressor as the key component for the supply of compressed air. I selected the appropriate equipment for the project after evaluating the suitability of information acquired from several sources. A compressor is an instrument that sucks in air and gas at an optimum pressure and deliverers the air back at a higher pressure as the output. It was very important for my project to select the appropriate compressor as pneumatic systems operate primarily on the supply of both compressed air and pressure into the system. Moreover, I had to make sure, clean conditions were maintained during the phase of the project as warm and moist air could result in precipitation of condense from the compressed air. The following is the schematic diagram of pneumatic auto gear changer used in this project. Figure 1: Schematic diagram of pneumatic auto gear changer I also considered an important element for this project which was the push button. The push button switch was fixed near the driving seat of the vehicle. Besides this, I had set up an air tank with fully filled compressed air in it. Prior to gear changing, the solenoid valve was activated by triggering the switch. The compressed air streamed from the air tank to the pneumatic cylinder as the solenoid valve was open. Likewise, at the time of compressed air inlet into the cylinder, the pneumatic cylinder moved forward and the gear box liver moved along automatically from one position to the next. The gear box liver was further activated which allowed the vehicle running at different speeds. I have highlighted the advantages of this type to my supervisor and was duly approved and appreciated by him. They are as follows: It required simple maintenance cares A safe system for the automobile. Easy to Handle. Low cost automation project Repairing was easy. Easy replacement. However, some of the disadvantages of this type were as follows: Initial cost was high. The system was a complicated one. During the course of this project, I used a control valve to control the flow direction within the system. I also used a 3/2 single acting solenoid valve, having one inlet, outlet and an exhaust port. The air entered the pneumatic single acting solenoid valve once the push button was activated. Moreover, I introduced a pneumatic shifter to the whole design as it works through compressed air power. So once the gear changing signals were received, the pneumatic shifter opens or closes the magnetic valve assembly. The compressed air flows into the system once these valves are open, or thrusts it out thereby creating the effect of shifting gear mechanism. More compressed air into the system allowed the gear to be shifted up and the gear shifted down as the air was let. Furthermore, I used an on-board tank to get this compressed air to the cylinder even though I knew re-routing the engine exhaust could be a possibility and be economically viable however, it would result in lower performan ce as most of the oxygen present in the exhaust gas would already be burnt. Figure 2: Schematic of a 3/2 single acting solenoid valve After the analysis on various aspects of this project, I discussed my project outcomes and my results.ÂÂ   Putting all the information to use, I wrote the final report titled Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer and presented this to my department professors and to the head of the department. (d) Summary This project presented me with the opportunity to understand the applications of theoretical knowledge that I had acquired in class rooms to implement in a real world project.ÂÂ   Discussions during the project with the supervisor provided great insight to challenges presented throughout the project.ÂÂ   The challenges uncovered were resolved by use of appropriate technical skills. This project also helped me understand the working and execution of any engineering project and served as a stepping stone to the real world. Overall, I am very happy that I could contribute myself effectively to this project at its various stages and also helped to secure the highest possible grade for this project.

Essay --

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The idea that the world is a global village did not strike me as true until my fifteenth birthday. My father gifted me a computer, and suddenly, the internet opened up a mine of information for a young boy who had been restricted to much localized until then. The computer and internet soon became indispensible for my school assignments, and my own idiosyncratic researches. When it came to selecting an area of Engineering for my undergraduate studies, the choice was clear: computer science. In my undergraduate studies, I benefited from the breadth of Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science (a pioneer college affiliated to Kakatiya University in India). The curriculum at KITS exposed me to the entire gamut of computer science courses thus laying a strong foundation for the fundamentals. During the first two years, I was fascinated by programming subjects such as C, OOPC and Data Structures. During my third year I also learned Java and Theory of Computation. During the fourth year, I was fascinated by subjects such as computer networks, network security and encryption algorithms like the International Data Encryption Algorithm. I also became involved with various extra-curricular activities such as organizing blood bank donations and playing Lawn-Tennis. This resulted in a slight dip in my grades, but I soon acquired the art of balancing the curricul ar with the extra-curricular, and graduated with 71.5% in distinction with first class. My main areas of interest are Computer Networks, Software Programming and Database Management Systems. As a part of my curriculum, we with a team of four members successfully completed a main project â€Å"Retrieval of Best Fit Component using Genetic Algorithm† frond end and... ...d new ways of doing things. The international education will give me the training and the calibre to meet the global clients. I look forward to being an active member of the student community at your University. Therefore, I truly feel that the most natural way to justify my passion is to persue a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. I would regard my admission in PSU not only a great honour but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to work hard. In conclusion, I would like to add that the essence of University education lies in the synergetic relationship between the student and his department. I feel that post graduate study at your University will be the most logical extension of my academic pursuits and a major step towards achieving my objectives. I would be grateful to you if I’m accorded the opportunity to pursue my master’s at your institution.

Last Sacrifice Chapter Ten

WHEN YOUR BOYFRIEND IS A dream-walker, you pick up a few lessons. One of the most important is that doing physical things in dreams feels exactly like doing them in the real world. Say, like kissing someone. Adrian and I had shared a number of dream- kisses intense enough to spark my body wanting to try a whole lot more. Although I'd never actually attacked someone in a dream, I was willing to bet a punch here would feel just as painful as a real one. Without hesitation, I lunged toward Victor, uncertain as to whether I should sock him or choke him. Both seemed like good ideas. Turned out, I did neither. Before I could reach him, I slammed into an invisible wall–hard. It both blocked me from him and bounced me back at the impact. I stumbled, tried to regain my footing, but instead landed painfully on the ground. Yup–dreams felt just like real life. I glared at Robert, feeling a mix of both anger and uneasiness. I tried to hide that last emotion. â€Å"You're a spirit user with telekinesis?' We'd known that was possible, but it was a skill neither Lissa nor Adrian had mastered yet. I really didn't like the idea that Robert might have the power to throw objects around and create invisible barriers. It was a disadvantage we didn't need. Robert remained enigmatic. â€Å"I control the dream.' Victor was looking down at me with that smug, calculating expression he excelled at. Realizing what an undignified position I was in, I leapt to my feet. I kept a hard stance, my body tense and ready as I wondered if Robert would keep the wall up continuously. â€Å"Are you done with your tantrum?' asked Victor. â€Å"Behaving like a civilized person will make our talk so much more pleasant.' â€Å"I have no interest in talking to you,' I snapped. â€Å"The only thing I'm going to do is hunt you down in the real world and drag you back to the authorities.' â€Å"Charming,' said Victor. â€Å"We can share a cell.' I winced. â€Å"Yes,' he continued. â€Å"I know all about what happened. Poor Tatiana. Such a tragedy. Such a loss.' His mocking, melodramatic tone sparked an alarming idea. â€Å"You †¦ you didn't have anything to do with it, did you?' Victor's escape from prison had triggered a lot of fear and paranoia amongst the Moroi. They'd been convinced he was coming for them all. Knowing the truth about the escape, I'd dismissed such talk and figured he'd simply lie low. Now, remembering how he'd once wanted to start a revolution among the Moroi, I wondered if the queen's murderer actually was the most evil villain we knew. Victor snorted. â€Å"Hardly.' He put his hands behind his back as he paced the room and pretended to study the art. I again wondered how far Robert's shield extended. â€Å"I have much more sophisticated methods to accomplish my goals. I wouldn't stoop to something like that–and neither would you.' I was about to point out that messing with Lissa's mind was hardly sophisticated, but his last words caught my attention. â€Å"You don't think I did it?' He glanced back from where he'd been studying a man with a top hat and cane. â€Å"Of course not. You'd never do anything that required that much foresight. And, if what I've heard about the crime scene is true, you'd never leave that much evidence behind.' There was both an insult and a compliment there. â€Å"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. I've been worrying about what you'd think.' This earned me a smile, and I crossed my arms over my chest. â€Å"How do you guys even know what's happening at Court? Do you have spies?' â€Å"This sort of thing spreads throughout the Moroi world quickly,' said Victor. â€Å"I'm not that out of touch. I knew about her murder almost as soon as it happened. And about your most impressive escape.' My attention mostly stayed on Victor, but I did cast a quick glance at Robert. He remained silent, and from the blank, distracted look in his eyes, I wondered if he was even aware of what was being said around him. Seeing him always sent a chill down my spine. He was a prominent example of spirit at its worst. â€Å"Why do you care?' I demanded. â€Å"And why the hell are you bothering me in my dreams?' Victor continued his pacing, pausing to run his fingertips along the harp's smooth, wooden surface. â€Å"Because I have a great interest in Moroi politics. And I'd like to know who's responsible for the murder and what their game is.' I smirked. â€Å"Sounds like you're just jealous someone else is pulling the strings besides you for a change. No pun intended.' His hand dropped from the harp, back to his side, and he fixed his sharp eyes on me, eyes the same pale green as Lissa's. â€Å"Your witty commentary isn't going to get you anywhere. You can either let us help you or not.' â€Å"You are the last person I want help from. I don't need it.' â€Å"Yes. Things seem to be going quite well for you, now that you're a hunted fugitive and on the run with a man that many still believe is Strigoi.' Victor gave a calculated pause. â€Å"Of course, I'm sure you don't mind that last part so much. You know, if I found you two, I could probably shoot you and be welcomed back as a hero.' â€Å"Don't bet on it.' Rage burned through me, both at his insinuation and because he'd caused so much trouble for Dimitri and me in the past. With great force of will, I replied in a low, deadly voice: â€Å"I am going to find you. And you probably won't live to see the authorities.' â€Å"We already established murder isn't in your skill set.' Victor sat down in one of the cushioned chairs, making himself comfortable. Robert continued standing, that out-of-it expression still on his face. â€Å"Now, the first thing we need to do is determine why someone would want to kill our late queen. Her abrasive personality is hardly motivation, though I'm sure it didn't hurt. People do things like this for power and advantage, to push their agendas through. From what I hear, Tatiana's most controversial action recently was that age law–yes, that's the one. The one making you scowl at me like that. It stands to reason that her murderer opposed that.' I didn't want to comply with Victor at all. I didn't want a reasonable discussion with him. What I wanted was some indication of where he was in real life, and then, I wanted to take a chance on slamming into that invisible wall again. It'd be worth the risk if I could do some damage. So, I was a bit surprised when I found myself saying, â€Å"Or, whoever did it wanted to push something worse through–something harsher on dhampirs. They thought her decree was too soft.' I admit, catching Victor Dashkov off guard was one of the greatest joys of my life. I had that satisfaction now, seeing his eyebrows rise in astonishment. It wasn't easy proposing something a master schemer like him hadn't already considered. â€Å"Interesting,' he said at last. â€Å"I may have underestimated you, Rose. That's a brilliant deduction on your part.' â€Å"Well, um †¦ it wasn't exactly my deduction.' Victor waited expectantly. Even Robert snapped out of his daze and focused on me. It was creepy. â€Å"It was Tatiana's. I mean, not her deduction. She said it directly–well, that is, the note she left for me did.' Why was I rambling in front of these guys? At least I surprised Victor again. â€Å"Tatiana Ivashkov left you a note with clandestine information? Whatever for?' I bit my lip and turned my attention over to one of the paintings. It showed an elegant Moroi woman with those same jade green eyes most Dashkovs and Dragomirs shared. I suddenly wondered if perhaps Robert had formed this dream in some Dashkov mansion from their childhood. Movement in my periphery made me instantly turn back to the brothers. Victor rose and took a few steps toward me, curiosity and cunning all over him. â€Å"There's more. What else did she tell you? She knew she was in danger. She knew this law was part of it †¦ but it wasn't the only thing, was it?' I remained silent, but a crazy idea began forming in my mind. I was actually considering seeing if Victor could help me. Of course, in retrospect, that wasn't such a crazy notion, considering I'd already busted him out of prison to get his help. â€Å"Tatiana said †¦' Should I say it? Should I give up the secret even Lissa didn't know? If Victor knew there was another Dragomir, he might use that knowledge for one of his schemes. How? I wasn't sure but had long learned to expect the unexpected from him. Yet †¦ Victor knew a lot of Moroi secrets. I would have enjoyed watching him and Abe match wits. And I didn't doubt that a lot of Victor's inside knowledge involved the Dragomirs and Dashkovs. I swallowed. â€Å"Tatiana said that there was another Dragomir. That Lissa's dad had an affair and that if I could find whoever this is, it'll give Lissa her power back on the Council.' When Victor and Robert exchanged shocked looks, I knew my plan had backfired. Victor wasn't going to give me insight. Instead, I'd been the one to just yield valuable information. Damn, damn, damn. He turned his attention back to me, his expression speculative. â€Å"So. Eric Dragomir wasn't the saint he so often played.' I balled my fists. â€Å"Don't slam her dad.' â€Å"Wouldn't dream of it. I liked Eric immensely. But yes †¦ if this is true, then Tatiana is right. Vasilisa technically has family backing, and her liberal views would certainly cause friction on a Council that never seems to change their ways.' He chuckled. â€Å"Yes, I can definitely see that upsetting many people–including a murderer who wants to oppress dhampirs. I imagine he or she wouldn't want this knowledge to get out.' â€Å"Someone already tried to get rid of records linking Lissa's dad to a mistress.' I again spoke without thinking and hated myself for it. I didn't want to give the brothers any more info. I didn't want to play like we were all working together here. â€Å"And let me guess,' said Victor. â€Å"That's what you're trying to do, isn't it? Find this Dragomir bastard.' â€Å"Hey, don't–‘ â€Å"It's just an expression,' he interrupted. â€Å"If I know you two–and I feel confident I do– Vasilisa is desperately trying to clear your name back at Court while you and Belikov are off on a sexually charged adventure to find her brother or sister.' â€Å"You don't know anything about us,' I growled. Sexually charged indeed. He shrugged. â€Å"Your face says it all. And really, it's not a bad idea. Not a great one either, but not bad. Give the Dragomir family a quorum, and you'll have a voice speaking on your behalf on the Council. I don't suppose you have any leads?' â€Å"We're working on it,' I replied evasively. Victor looked at Robert. I knew the two didn't have any psychic communication, but as they exchanged glances, I had a feeling they were both thinking the same thing and confirming with each other. At last, Victor nodded and turned back to me. â€Å"Very well then. We'll help you.' He made it sound like he was reluctantly agreeing to do me a big favor. â€Å"We don't need your help!' â€Å"Of course you do. You're out of your league, Rose. You're wandering into a nest of ugly, complex politics–something you have no experience with. There's no shame in acknowledging that, just as I'm not ashamed to admit that in an irrational, ill-planned fist fight, you would certainly prove superior.' Another backhanded compliment. â€Å"We're doing just fine. We have an Alchemist helping us.' There. That would show him who was out of whose league. And, to my credit, he did look slightly impressed. Slightly. â€Å"Better than I expected. Has your Alchemist come up with a location or any lead yet?' â€Å"She's working on it,' I repeated. He sighed in frustration. â€Å"We're going to need time then, aren't we? Both for Vasilisa to investigate Court and you to start tracking this child.' â€Å"You're the one who acts like you know everything,' I pointed out. â€Å"I figured you'd know something about this.' â€Å"To my chagrin, no.' Victor didn't really sound all that put out. â€Å"But as soon as we get a thread, I assure you, I'll be essential in unraveling it.' He walked over to his brother and patted Robert's arm comfortingly. Robert stared back adoringly. â€Å"We'll visit you again. Let us know when you have something useful, and then we'll meet up with you.' My eyes widened. â€Å"You'll do no such–‘ I hesitated. I'd let Victor escape in Las Vegas. Now he was offering to come to me. Maybe I could repair that mistake and make good on my earlier threat to him. Quickly, I tried to cover my lapse of speech. â€Å"How do I know I can trust you?' â€Å"You can't,' he said bluntly. â€Å"You've got to take it on faith that the enemy of your enemy is your friend.' â€Å"I've always hated that saying. You'll always be my enemy.' I was a bit surprised when Robert suddenly came to life. He glared and stepped forward. â€Å"My brother is a good man, shadow-girl! If you hurt him †¦ if you hurt him, you'll pay. And next time you won't come back. The world of the dead won't give you up a second time.' I knew better than to take the threats of a crazy man seriously, but his last words sent a chill through me. â€Å"Your brother is a psycho–‘ â€Å"Enough, enough.' Victor again gave Robert a reassuring pat on the arm. Still scowling at me, the younger Dashkov brother backed off, but I was willing to bet that invisible wall was back in place. â€Å"This does us no good. We're wasting time–which is something we don't have enough of. We need more. The monarch elections will start any day now, and Tatiana's murderer could have a hand in those if there really was some agenda going on. We need to slow down the elections–not just to thwart the assassin, but also to give all of us time to accomplish our tasks.' I was getting tired of all this. â€Å"Yeah? And how do you propose we do that?' Victor smiled. â€Å"By running Vasilisa as a candidate for queen.' Seeing as this was Victor Dashkov we were dealing with, I really shouldn't have been surprised by anything he said. It was a testament to his level of craziness that he continually caught me unprepared. â€Å"That,' I declared, â€Å"is impossible.' â€Å"Not really,' he replied. I threw my hands up in exasperation. â€Å"Haven't you been paying attention to what we've been talking about? The whole point is to get Lissa full family rights with the Moroi. She can't even vote! How could she run for queen?' â€Å"Actually, the law says she can. According to the way the nomination policy is written, one person from each royal line may run for the monarch position. That's all it says. One person from each line may run. There is no mention of how many people need to be in her family, as there is for her to vote on the Council. She simply needs three nominations–and the law doesn't specify which family they come from.' Victor spoke in such a precise, crisp way that he might as well have been reciting from a legal book. I wondered if he had all the laws memorized. I supposed if you were going to make a career of breaking laws, you might as well know them. â€Å"Whoever wrote that law probably assumed the candidates would have family members. They just didn't bother spelling it out. That's what people will say if Lissa runs. They'll fight it.' â€Å"They can fight it all they want. Those who are denying her a Council spot base it on one line in the law books that mentions another family member. If that's their argument, that every detail must count, then they'll have to do the same for the election laws– which, as I have said, do not mention family backing. That's the beauty of this loophole. Her opponents can't have it both ways.' A smile twisted at Victor's lips, supremely confident. â€Å"I assure you, there is absolutely nothing in the wording that prevents her from doing this.' â€Å"How about her age?' I pointed out. â€Å"The princes and princesses who run are always old.' The title of prince or princess went to a family's oldest member, and traditionally, that was the person who ran for king or queen. The family could decide to nominate someone else more fitting, but even then–to my knowledge–it was always someone older and experienced. â€Å"The only age restriction is full adulthood,' said Victor. â€Å"She's eighteen. She qualifies. The other families have much larger pools to draw from, so naturally, they'd select someone who seemed more experienced. In the Dragomir case? Well, that's not an option, now is it? Besides, young monarchs aren't without precedence. There was a very famous queen–Alexandra–who wasn't much older than Vasilisa. Very well loved, very extraordinary. Her statue is by the Court's church.' I shifted uncomfortably. â€Å"Actually †¦ it's, um, not there anymore. It kind of blew up.' Victor just stared. He'd apparently heard about my escape but not all of the details. â€Å"It's not important,' I said hastily, feeling guilty that I'd been indirectly responsible for blowing up a renowned queen. â€Å"This whole idea about using Lissa is ridiculous.' â€Å"You won't be the only one who thinks so,' Victor said. â€Å"They'll argue. They'll fight. In the end, the law will prevail. They'll have to let her run. She'll go through the tests and probably pass. Then, when voting comes, the laws that govern those procedures reference a family member assisting with the vote.' My head was spinning by now. I felt mentally exhausted listening to all these legal loopholes and technicalities. â€Å"Just come right out and put it in simple language,' I ordered. â€Å"When voting comes, she won't be eligible. She has no family to fulfill the role required at the actual election. In other words, the law says she can run and take the tests. Yet, people can't actually vote for her because she has no family.' â€Å"That's †¦ idiotic.' â€Å"Agreed.' He paused. I don't think either of us ever expected to concur on something. â€Å"Lissa would hate this. She would never, ever want to be queen.' â€Å"Are you not following this?' exclaimed Victor. â€Å"She won't be queen. She can't. It's a badly written law for a situation no one foresaw. It's a mess. And it will bog down the elections so badly that we'll have extra time to find Vasilisa's sibling and find out who really killed Tatiana.' â€Å"Hey! I told you: There's no â€Å"we' here. I'm not going to–‘ Victor and Robert exchanged looks. â€Å"Get Vasilisa nominated,' said Victor abruptly. â€Å"We'll be in touch soon on where to meet you for the Dragomir search.' IT â€Å"Thats not–‘ I woke up. My immediate reaction was to swear, but then, remembering where I was, I kept my expletives inside my own head. I could make out Dimitri's silhouette in the corner, alert and watchful, and didn't want him to know I was awake. Closing my eyes, I shifted into a more comfortable position, hoping for true sleep that would block out the Dashkov brothers and their ridiculous schemes. Lissa running for queen? It was crazy. And yet †¦ it really wasn't much crazier than most of the things I did. Putting that aside, I let my body relax and felt the tug of true sleep start to take me down. Emphasis on start. Because suddenly, I felt another spirit dream materializing around me. Apparently, this was going to be a busy night.

Lego

Lego Lego is a line of plastic toys that can be constructed into specific sets, characters from movies or books, and anything you want it to be. The Lego Group started out in 1932 and today it's one of the world's leading toy companies, In 2016 alone, Lego made 12.4 billion dollars from only lego sets. Today they also have amusement parks with lego rides, stores, and statues made out of legos, such as a pirate ship, Hulkbuster, and Hulk. The man who started the lego group was known as Ole Kirk Kristiansen, who grew up with five brothers and five sisters. By the age of seven he was working for a local smallholder, then a few months later he began to work at a nearby farm. In the year 1903 he was apprenticed as a carpenter with his brother, and worked hard until 1911 when he completed his training. Ole Kirk Kristiansen buys Billund Maskinsnedkeri for DKK 10,000 when the area is just a bunch of small farms and store fronts. This factory manufactures doors, windows, kitchen cabinets, cupboards, coffins, chests of drawers, and tools for digging peat. They also contributed for larger projects, such as fixing farm machinery or constructing buildings, such as the local church. With this skill set and the help of a local architect, he built a new house for him, his wife, and his kids all while paying little to nothing.During the great economic crisis, Ole Kirk Kristiansen was still trying to sell carpentry, but almost nobody could afford his works, forcing him out of work. After that, his wife left him with 4 kids and no money to take care of them. To make easy money during the crisis, Ole Kirk Kristiansen began to make toys, first wooden cars, then airplanes and yoyos. After that he began to make ironing boards, ladders, and christmas tree stands. This did get him through the crisis, but he doesn't make any real profit and his family doesn't think his store is very important. Kristiansen asked his brothers and sisters to be guarantors for a loan that would secure his company's future, they asked him,† Can't you find something better to do?†Ole Kirk Kristiansen ended up having kids during the 1920s, but the kid who had the most effect on the family company was the third son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. He was helping his dad in the shop when he was only four years old. He always said his first memory in there was when they turned on the glue heater, and some wood shavings caught fire and burned the whole place down. The reason Ole Kirk Kristiansen and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen have different beginnings to their names is because people pronounced the name with the â€Å"Ch† and when casually spelling out the name they would use the â€Å"Ch† as well. Ole Kirk Kristiansen never minded the confusion but Godtfred was bothered by it so he had it legally changed to Christiansen.After World War II, Ole Kirk Kristiansen noticed that a new material for making toys was becoming more and more popular; plastic. Plastic was less more malleable than wood and could be acquired easier. Ole Kirk Kristiansen and other Danish toy manufacturers attended a demonstration of an injection-moulding machine in June of 1946, and the machine impressed Kristiansen so he made an order for an injection-moulding machine for his own shop. Ole Kirk Kristiansen's sons, who were all involved in the family company at the time, collectively disagreed with their fathers decision to invest money into this new technology. They thought while plastic could be used to make prettier toys, wood was the better material because it was the stronger of the two. Their father argued that if they got it right; they could produce toys for the whole world.In 1949, the first of the plastic lego bricks had begun production. They were known as Automatic Binding Bricks, but in 1951, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen changed the name to LEGO Mursten, or LEGO Bricks to further spread popularity of LEGO.By 1953 the LEGO company was ready to go international, starting with the Nordic countries, such as Sweden and Iceland. After that they turned to Europe; starting with Germany. At the time, Germany was the world's epicenter of toy production. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen during this time often said, â€Å"If we can conquer Germany, we can conquer the world!† In the end they did get to the whole world, but it did take them a while. In 1961, LEGO finally licensed an American company which would begin to sell around the country and in Canada. Once LEGO began to make a name for itself across the entire world, other people and companies started competition with LEGO, giving them a hard time. In 1960. Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen laid down the company rule: following the crucial decision to concentrate all efforts into the LEGO system, saying â€Å"No one must be able to do this better than us.† He also outlines all of their development so far, like this,†We know our idea is a good one. We want only the best †¦ we must make better bricks from even better material on even better machinery. We must get the best people that money can buy for our company.† In 1962, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen's cousin, Dagny Holm, joined the company and showed a very immense potential for model building with a skilled eye that seemed like it could make anything out of those bricks. She made buildings, castles, animals, people, and furniture. Her skill attracted the public eye and inspired anybody who worked with the LEGO product, making the company's golden age. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen came up with the idea to use his cousin's skill to make a display of LEGO models and contacted a few friends to startup the first LEGOLand. Thousands of pounds of earth and vegetation were removed to make ever-changing landscapes in the Miniland. The final product included a train, puppet theater, Native American camp, driving school, neighborhood, windmill, and church, all created by Dagny Holm and her creative team. Within the year of the first LEGOland's opening, around 625,000 people visit it to see the models or play with the thousands of LEGO bricks around the property.The LEGO company continued to expand and grow until today, where it is still achieving new things and breaking records every day. Almost everybody grew up playing with legos, either building the sets that they sell, playing with friends or making their own creations just for fun. You can ask almost anyone and they can tell you a few memories they have of playing with legos, whether it's going to Legoland to stepping on them getting out of bed. Today LEGO makes things called Lego Sets. They are meant to be little figurines or models from real life, movies, books, TV shows, and video games. Some examples of these Lego Sets are: hospitals, The Millenium Falcon, Helms Deep, The Death Star, and Space Ships. These sets are sold in boxes, which contain bags of pieces, big and small. Some of the are just meant to be walls, but some of the pieces are doors, stairs, cups, and windows. The sets always have a different number of pieces, depending on the size of the set. Sometimes the piece count is 50, other times it is over 1000. The box also contains a book of instructions, telling the builder where to put the pieces and when to move to other parts. People use these sets for many things. Some people put them up for observation in their rooms, other people play with them until they break, and a very special few people wait several years until that specific set isn't sold anymore and they sell it for a big price.