Maria Bird

Maria Bird was born Mary Edith Bird (pronounced Marie) on 24 August 1891 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and died in the village where she lived for most of her life, Westerham, Kent, June 1968 aged 76. She is a descendent of Francis Bird the scluptor and Colonel Christopher Bird who was Colonial Secretary at Cape Town Castle (who has a famous landmark named after him in Kirstenbosch, South Africa - Colonel Bird's Bath). Her mother brought her children from South Africa to Great Britain to be educated and Maria attended a Scottish convent. Following school she studied the Dalcroze Eurhythmics music and dance method under Émile Jaques-Dalcroze in Dessau.

Maria Bird helped found BBC Children's Television with her collaborator and companion Freda Lingstrom with whom she set up Westerham Arts, the production company commissioned by the BBC to produce TV pieces including The Woodentops (TV series) (1955), Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men (1952) and Andy Pandy (1950). Westerham Arts was based in Chartwell Cottage (owned by Bird and Lingstom and subsequently bequeathed to the National Trust). It neighbours the Chartwell Estate. Maria and Freda built a shed in their garden where their famous puppet annimations were made. In addition to TV production she was a writer, narrator and musician.

Birds (Marius Neset album)

Birds (released March 25, 2013 in Oslo, Norway by the label Edition Records – EDN1040) is the 4'th album of the Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset.

Critical reception

The review by Neil Spencer of the British newspaper The Guardian awarded the album 5 stars, the review by Terje Mosnes of the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet awarded the album dice 6, the review by Carl Petter Opsahk of the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang awarded the album dice 5, and the reviewer Ian Mann of the Jazz Mann awarded the album 4.5 stars

According to Mosnes, with this album, Neset takes further steps on his way to the Jazz sky. The brilliant compositions and the musical skills of this band are extraordinary. It is only to look forward to the next move of this great jazz musician and composer.

NRK Jazz critique Erling Wicklund, in his review of Neset's album Birds states:

BBC Music critique Peter Marsh, in his review of Neset's album Birds states:

Track listing

Personnel

Rooster (zodiac)

The Rooster (simplified Chinese: 鸡; traditional Chinese: 雞/鷄) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Rooster is represented by the Earthly Branch character 酉. The name is also translated into English as Cock or Chicken.

Years and the Five Elements

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Rooster", while also bearing the following elemental sign:

Basic astrology elements

See also

References

List of EastEnders characters (2007)

The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2007, by order of first appearance. A new family were introduced in this year, with Zainab Masood, Masood Ahmed, Shabnam Masood and Tamwar Masood creating the Masood clan. Heather Trott was introduced, and the Mitchell family was extended, with Ronnie Mitchell and Roxy Mitchell as a fiery new double act. August saw the arrival of Tanya Branning's drug-addicted sister Rainie Cross. Scott Maslen joined the soap opera as Jack Branning in October, and his nephew Oscar Branning was born in December.

DI Kelly

Detective Inspector Kelly, played by Ian Burfield, is a police detective at Walford Police Station. In 2007, he investigates the death of Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) and subsequently arrests Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) for her murder following the funeral. He arrests May Wright (Amanda Drew) for abducting Summer Swann, and also Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) on suspicion of murdering his fiancée Stella Crawford (Sophie Thompson). He appears when he is investigating Jay Brown's stabbing. In August 2008 he investigates the murder of Jase Dyer (Stephen Lord) and interrogates Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) as a key witness. In July 2010 he informs Liz Turner (Kate Williams) that a body found in Albert Square is that of her son Owen (Lee Ross), and takes his ex-wife Denise Johnson (Diane Parish) in for questioning. Denise is released without charge. Kelly later informs Denise's family that her car has been discovered abandoned by a canal, and then that the body of a woman was pulled from the canal along with Denise's mobile phone. Lucas identifies the body as Denise's, however, Kelly still believes somebody else was involved in Owen's murder.

Maria (goose)

Maria is a maleToulouse Goose (Anser anser), formerly living in Echo Park, Los Angeles who became the subject of news reports in 2011 after forming an unusual association with a local resident, named Dominic Ehrler.

Maria, named by locals and assumed to be female, was familiar to users of the park for several years as a goose which preferred the company of humans to that of his own species, often pecking at homeless people or following walkers and runners around.

Ehrler, a retired salesman, first encountered Maria at Echo Park lake in the summer of 2010 when the bird began to follow him on his daily walks around the lake, readily accepting food from him and soon becoming so attached that he would wait beside the road every morning for Ehrler to arrive at the park. Maria would walk alongside and possessively 'protect' Ehrler from other park users and their dogs and would also attempt to follow him from the park, flying closely behind him as he rode away on his scooter, necessitating attempts to distract the goose, or lock him behind a fence when leaving, to avoid being followed all the way home.

Maria (album)

Maria is a 1995 critically acclaimed album by Canadian singer and songwriter Jane Siberry. It was her first album not to include any musical contributions from longtime collaborators such as Ken Myhr, John Switzer and Rebecca Jenkins.

Information

The album ends with "Oh My My," a 20 minute-plus ode that gathers the themes from the entire album. Rolling Stone wrote: "[I]n this heap of Siberjazz you realize that everything that has arisen on Maria has indeed converged and that you've actually been led on an unforgettable walk in a garden facing fall with a tour guide who's sure-footed in her wobbly pace. Awesome."

Maria was her last major label album. In 1996, Siberry started her own independent record label, Sheeba Records, and has released all of her subsequent recordings on that imprint.

Reception

Rolling Stone wrote about Maria: "[H]ot damn, the girl's back in the driver's seat with Maria...This is vintage Siberry: scissor-kicking around the soul's messiest spots in search of anything hinting toward redemption... That's exactly what this album's about: the pull of life. Not specifically the good or the bad or the ugly but just the pull and the subsequent release"

Maria (play)

The play Maria, a portrait of the sordid underbelly of Soviet society during the Russian Civil War, was written by Isaac Babel during the mid-1930s.

Plot

Maria is set in Saint Petersburg during the Russian Civil War. In the aftermath of the October Revolution, the once iron clad Russian class system has disintegrated. The plot focuses on the aristocratic Mukovnin family and their attempts to adapt to the hardships of war communism and chaos. The elderly General Mukovnin is writing books about Russia's military history, where he criticizes the harsh treatment of common soldiers under the Imperial Russian Army. He sympathizes with Lenin's Bolsheviks and regards them as "gatherers of the Russian lands" akin to Ivan Kalita. His daughter, the ditzy and superficial Ludmila, is hoping for an advantageous marriage with Isaac Dimshits, the Jewish mob boss who dominates the city's black market food supply. Her cousin, Katya Felsen, is unhappy and pessimistic about the new regime, despite having an affair with a senior Soviet Army officer. The General's eldest daughter, Maria, is an idealistic Communist and a political officer assigned to the Soviet Army. During the entire play, she is away on the front and is quoted, but never seen.