The Lost History of Union Films (Day Twenty-Two)

As long-time, opinionated viewer of film and a second-hand film historian, today's featured article on Wikipedia finds my knowledge quite wanting. The article is somewhat tragic. (Warning: If founded, please rewind.)

Union Films "was a film production company located in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). Established by ethnic Chinese businessmen Ang Hock Liem and Tjoa Ma Tjoen in 1940, it produced seven black-and-white films before [dissolving] in 1942; all are thought to be lost. The company's films were directed by four men, mostly ethnic Chinese, and launched the careers of actors such as Rendra Karno and Djoewariah."

Established during the revival of the Indies film industry, Union released its first film, Kedok Ketawa, in July 1940. This was followed by a series of films penned by Saeroen which were increasingly oriented towards the Indies' growing intelligentsia and attempted to distance themselves from the theatrical conventions which were common in the contemporary film industry. This continued after Saeroen left for Star Film in 1941, with Union's final two productions emphasizing realism. Following the Japanese occupation of the Indies in March 1942, Union was dissolved, though its films continued to be screened into the mid-1940s.

The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople: A Macrohistory (Day Twenty-One)

So, today's featured article on Wikipedia showcases the macrohistorical import of a given event.

The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 "was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borderlands, while Byzantine strength was sapped by prolonged internal turmoil."

After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city's blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. This allowed Constantinople to be resupplied by sea, while the Arab army was crippled by famine and disease during the unusually hard winter that followed.

The second Arab siege of Constantinople was far more dangerous for Byzantium than the first as, unlike the loose blockade of 674–678, the Arabs launched a direct, well-planned attack on the Byzantine capital, and tried to cut off the city completely from land and sea.... The Arab failure was chiefly logistical, as they were operating too far from their Syrian bases, but the superiority of the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire, the strength of Constantinople's fortifications, and the skill of Leo III in deception and negotiations also played important roles.

The writing of history occurs through erasing possible future narratives, and most of the time, just few hurdles against one and a few breaks for another will suffice sketch a plot.  

The outcome of the siege was of considerable macrohistorical importance. The Byzantine capital's survival preserved the Empire as a bulwark against Islamic expansion into Europe until the 15th century, when it fell to the Ottoman Turks. Along with the Battle of Tours in 732, the successful defense of Constantinople has been seen as instrumental in stopping Muslim expansion into Europe. As military historian Paul K. Davis wrote, "By turning back the Moslem invasion, Europe remained in Christian hands, and no serious Moslem threat to Europe existed until the fifteenth century. This victory, coincident with the Frankish victory at Tours (732), limited Islam's western expansion to the southern Mediterranean world." ...Consequently, military historians often include the siege in lists of the "decisive battles" of world history.

Watch a random TED video

Oh and random I did...

I chose a letter at random  (well, not at random, I chose C because I figured it offered the highest probability of getting a talk on cats). 

I typed into YouTube "TED Talk C" and the first thing to pop up was this:

However, I wasn't fully satisfied, so I watched this one as well:

 

The Literary Work of E. W. Hornung (Day Twenty)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia centers on Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921), "an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London." After spending much of his life on the sickly side of health, he fell ill from influenza on a journey to the south of France and died on 22 March 1921, at age of only 54.

Four generalizable takeaways come from this article.

First, how the great influence of one can now be little known, let alone mentioned:

Much of Hornung's work fell out of favour as time passed; Rowland observed that "all of Hornung's other works have been forgotten, with the possible exception of Stingaree, but the cricketing Cracksman continues to enthral". The idea of a criminal as a positive character was one of Hornung's legacies, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism states that "critics have also interpreted Raffles as a prototype of the antihero in modern crime fiction". The academic Frank Wadleigh Chandler, describing Raffles's death, writes that "all his creator's attempts to portray him as a hero, rather than an anti-hero, deservedly fail." Valentine highlights one aspect of the stories was the mix of "devilry and daring" demonstrated by Raffles; in this respect he was a literary "forerunner of The Saint, James Bond and other insouciant types". The writer Colin Watson agrees, and called Hornung "a precursor of [Ian] Fleming".

Second, how one's work may carry on, yet never not changed:

The character continued in book form: the writer Philip Atkey, under the pseudonym Barry Perowne, obtained permission from the Hornung estate to continue the Raffles stories, and seven more novels followed between 1933 and 1940, with Raffles transformed from a gentleman thief to a tough adventurer.

Third, how regardless of the voluminous nature of one's work only a few themes either exist or are emphasized:

The academic Nick Rance identifies three categories of Raffles stories: "the rise of the New Woman", in which Raffles either escapes from romantic entanglements, or uses the infatuations of a woman in order to achieve his aims; "the rise of the plutocracy", in which Raffles steals from the nouveau riche as much as the upper classes; and those stories that seek "to reaffirm or re-establish a sense of middle-class identity". The last category is based on Raffles not being a member of "Society", only being accepted because of his cricketing ability and associated fame.

Fourth, how literature can and should utilize science for mutual benefit, not as an adversary:

Hornung kept abreast of scientific and medical developments, and was keen to incorporate them into his stories which, the critic for Contemporary Authors states, shows Hornung had "a streak of modernity and decided interest in new ideas". The Camera Fiend uses the modern technology of the camera as an instrument central to the plot, while the protagonist of The Crime Doctor uses psychology to identify criminals.

How to identify edible mushrooms

1. I am actually more scared about wild mushrooms after reading this

2. I am lazy and will just post the link: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/wild-mushrooms-what-to-eat-what-to-avoid 

The Stats behind Stan Musial (Day Nineteen)

As a big baseball fan, today's featured article on Wikipedia hits home.

Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial (/ˈmjuːziəl/ or /ˈmjuːʒəl/; born Stanisław Franciszek Musiał; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013) "was an American professional baseball player and Navy veteran of World War II. He was a Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and first baseman on the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 seasons, from 1941 through 1963. Nicknamed 'Stan the Man', Musial is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. He compiled 3,630 career hits, ranking fourth all-time and first in a career spent with only one team. With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he also is considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era. He hit 475 home runs during his career, was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, and won three World Series championship titles. He shares the MLB record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. He was also selected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2014."

MLB statistics

Hitting

Category

G

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

R

RBI's

BB

SO

Total

3,026 (6th)

10,972 (9th)

3,630 (4th)

725 (3rd)

177 (19th)

475 (28th)

1,949 (9th)

1,951 (6th)

1,599 (13th)

696

Category

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

OPS+

Total Bases

Runs Created

Total

.331 (32nd)

.417 (23rd)

.559 (20th)

.976 (14th)

159 (15th)

6,134 (2nd)

2,562 (3rd)

Fielding

Category	G	PO	A	E	DP	FP	RFg
OF	1,890	3,730	130	64	27	.984	2.04
Category	G	PO	A	E	DP	FP	RFg
1B	1,016	8,709	688	78	935	.992	9.25

Majungasaurus: A Biopsy (Day Eighteen)

Today's featured article on Wikipedia took me back to when in second grade my grandfather drove me 53 miles to our nearest theater to see Jurassic Park.  

Majungasaurus (/məˌdʒʌŋɡəˈsɔrəs/; "Mahajanga lizard") "is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The genus contains a single species, Majungasaurus crenatissimus. This dinosaur was briefly called Majungatholus, a name which is now considered a junior synonym of Majungasaurus."

Like other abelisaurids, Majungasaurus was a bipedal predator with a short snout. Although the forelimbs are not completely known, they were very short, while the hindlimbs were longer and very stocky. It can be distinguished from other abelisaurids by its wider skull, the very rough texture and thickened bone on the top of its snout, and the single rounded horn on the roof of its skull, which was originally mistaken for the dome of a pachycephalosaur. It also had more teeth in both upper and lower jaws than most abelisaurids.

Known from several well-preserved skulls and abundant skeletal material, Majungasaurus has recently become one of the best-studied theropod dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere. It appears to be most closely related to abelisaurids from India rather than South America or continental Africa, a fact that has important biogeographical implications. Majungasaurus was the apex predator in its ecosystem, mainly preying on sauropods like Rapetosaurus, and is also one of the few dinosaurs for which there is direct evidence of cannibalism.

Majungasaurus is perhaps most distinctive for its skull ornamentation, including the swollen and fused nasals and the frontal horn. Other ceratosaurs, including Carnotaurus, Rajasaurus, and Ceratosaurus itself bore crests on the head. These structures are likely to have played a role in intraspecific competition, although their exact function within that context is unknown. The hollow cavity inside the frontal horn of Majungasaurus would have weakened the structure and probably precluded its use in direct physical combat, although the horn may have served a display purpose. While there is variation in the ornamentation of Majungasaurus individuals, there is no evidence for sexual dimorphism.

Computed tomography, also known as CT scanning, of a complete Majungasaurus skull (FMNH PR 2100) allowed a rough reconstruction of its brain and inner ear structure. Overall, the brain was very small relative to body size, but otherwise similar to many other non-coelurosaurian theropods, with a very conservative form closer to modern crocodilians than to birds. One difference between Majungasaurus and other theropods was its smaller flocculus, a region of the cerebellum that helps to coordinate movements of the eye with movements of the head. This suggests that Majungasaurus and other abelisaurids like Indosaurus, which also had a small flocculus, did not rely on quick head movements to sight and capture prey.