Felt

Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres such as wool or synthetic fibres such as acrylic. There are many different types of felts for industrial, technical, designer and craft applications. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can vary in terms of fibre content, colour, size, thickness, density and more factors depending on the use of the felt.

Many cultures have legends as to the origins of felt making. Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.

Feltmaking is still practised by nomadic peoples (Altaic people: Mongols; Turkic people) in Central Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt (Gers), while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile.

Felt Bicycles

Felt Racing is an American bicycle manufacturer based in Irvine, California. Felt produces road, mountain, track, bmx, cyclocross, electric bicycles, and cruiser bikes. All design is completed in the USA and the majority of production comes from Asia. The company also has a strong reputation in the time trial/triathlon bike area. area and for several years provided bicycles to UCI teams in the Tour de France. Felt still supports several professional level race teams including Hincapie Racing and Team Twenty 16.

History

Felt was founded by Jim Felt in early 1994 when Felt products were distributed by Answer Products. Felt nearly disappeared from the domestic market following a fallout with Answer after a 7-year relationship. The brand was relaunched in 2001 as an independent company.

Technology

Felt has developed several unique bicycle technologies. For its time trial/triathlon bikes, Felt has developed the Bayonet Fork, which utilizes an external steerer in front of the head tube for additional stiffness and aerodynamic efficiency. Felt has also developed the Equilink suspension system for its full-suspension mountain bikes.

Felt (album)

Felt is the debut studio album by Anchor & Braille, the side-project of Anberlin lead vocalist, Stephen Christian. The album was released through Christian's own label Wood Water Records and Federal Distribution on August 4, 2009 and was produced, engineered and mixed by Aaron Marsh from fellow Florida-based band Copeland.

Felt debuted at number 30 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.

Release and promotion

Felt is the first release on Christian's own record label, Wood Water Records. Wood Water is distributed by Anberlin's record label Universal Music Group. The album's title was explained by Christian in a press release by the label, "I named the record Felt at the request of a friend because the meaning, much like the songs on the record, has two different levels; a surface and a deeper. The first meaning of the word ‘Felt’ is the past tense of the word ‘feels’ because these songs are all past memories, which I have learned, mourned, and grown from. The second meaning of ‘felt’ is the fabric which connotates a very sensual imagery, hopefully much like the music and melodies themselves."

Cathedral (album)

Cathedral is an album by Castanets, released on October 19, 2004 through Asthmatic Kitty. Part of the album was recorded live and includes a dozen local musicians. Led by Raymond Raposa, this is the band's first foray into studio recording, which he described as 'a really protracted, uncomfortable process'. The release features guest-vocals by Brigit DeCook and Liz Janes. The material was partly recorded in a remote cabin in Northern California. Raposa had planned to publish a novel to accompany the album, which failed to surface.

Critical acclaim

Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork.com compared Raposa's writing on Cathedral to that of the poet Seamus Heaney. She described the album as a collection of 'deep gothic ballads' of 'country music [that] should sound like death, and more specifically, death-by-murky-submersion'. Heather Phares of allmusic.com referred to the religious overtones of the album, describing it as 'spiritual searching' and as having 'a certain dark theatricality'. Justin Cober-Lake at popmatters.com described Cathedral as having 'lo-fi production [which] helps develop the darkness of Castanets’ music. [It] sounds as if it was recorded in the desert at night, which suits the pre-technology fears of the album'. Jon Pit from Dusted Magazine called it 'another welcome installment in the folk renaissance' although he described Raposa's vocals as 'lacklustre'.

Cathedral (board game)

Cathedral is a two-player abstract strategy board game in which two factions ("dark" and "light") vie for territorial supremacy within the bounds of a medieval city. The game is produced by Chrisbo I.P. Holdings Limited in New Zealand.

History

Cathedral was invented between 1962 and 1979 by Robert Moore (16 August 1942 – 19 June 1998), a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Inspiration for the game was provided by Christchurch Cathedral and its environs in Christchurch, New Zealand. From the air, Moore was fascinated by the way the cathedral and neighbouring buildings intricately fitted together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He conceived of a game involving players trying to build interlocking buildings around a cathedral.

In 1979 Moore presented a prototype version of his game to Brightway Products, a New Zealand wooden toy and game company. Two versions of the game were originally created: a "formal piece" using three-dimensional wooden models of mediaeval buildings and towers; and an "abstract piece" consisting of two-dimensional squares. The formal piece proved more popular and is the only version produced today; in Standard, Tournalux (larger), and Grandelux (larger and higher quality) versions. The game was also recreated from as early as 1985 (from Mattel) in a more consumer accepted version in plastic moulded version with very highly detailed parts as well as a grided locking system added to the board.

Cathedral (novel)

Cathedral is a 1981 novel by Nelson DeMille.

On St. Patrick's Day, a group of renegade Northern Irish revolutionaries, led by a man named Brian Flynn, seize St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and hold as their hostages two churchmen, an ex-IRA peace activist, and a British government man.

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