Oka (mass)

The oka, okka, or oke (Ottoman Turkish اوقه) was an Ottoman measure of mass, equal to 400 dirhems (Ottoman drams). Its value varied, but it was standardized in the late empire as 1.2829 kilograms. 'Oka' is the most usual spelling today; 'oke' was the usual contemporary English spelling; 'okka' is the modern Turkish spelling, and is usually used in academic work about the Ottoman Empire.

In Turkey, the traditional unit is now called the eski okka 'old oka' or kara okka 'black okka'; the yeni okka 'new okka' is the kilogram.

In Greece, the oka (οκά, plural οκές) was standardized at 1.282 kg and remained in use until traditional units were abolished on March 31, 1959—the metric system had been adopted in 1876, but the older units remained in use. In Cyprus, the oka remained in use until the 1980s.

In Egypt, the monetary oka weighted 1.23536 kg. In Tripolitania, it weighed 1.2208 kg, equal to 2½ artals.

The oka was also used as a unit of volume. In Wallachia, it was 1.283 liters of liquid and 1.537 l of grain (dry measure). In Greece, an oka of oil was 1.280 kg.

Oka cheese

Oka is a semi-soft washed rind cheese that was originally manufactured by Trappist monks located in Oka, Quebec, Canada. The cheese is named after the town. It has a distinct flavour and aroma, and is still manufactured in Oka, although now by a commercial company. The rights were sold in 1996 by Les Pères Trappistes to the Agropur cooperative. It is also manufactured in Holland, Manitoba, by Trappist Monks at the Our Lady of the Prairies Monastery, which is located 8 miles southeast of Holland.

It originated in 1893. Since that time, Quebec has become a major producer of Canadian Cheese. Oka cheese has a pungent aroma and soft creamy flavour, sometimes described as nutty and fruity. The cheese, which is made from cow's milk is covered with a copper-orange, hand-washed rind. Its distinct flavour sets it apart from more common cheeses such as colby and cheddar, and does not go through a cheddaring process.

There are four types of Oka cheese, regular, classic, light and providence. 'Regular' Oka can be made from both pasteurized and raw cow's milk. It is a pressed, semi-soft cheese that is surface ripened for some 35 days. The 'Classic' is ripened for an additional month. Aging is done in refrigerated aging cellars. The cheese rounds are placed on cypress slats and the cheeses are periodically turned and hand washed in a weak brine solution. 'Providence' Oka is of a much more creamy and soft texture then either 'Classic' or 'Regular', while 'Light' is similar to 'Regular', but with a lower percentage of fat.

Oka (automobile)

VAZ-1111 Oka (Russian: Ока ВАЗ (СеАЗ, КамАЗ)-1111) is a city car designed in the Soviet Union in the later part of the seventies by AvtoVAZ. It entered production in 1988 powered by a 650 cc (40 cu in) SOHC two-cylinder engine. While developed at AutoVAZ by a team led by Yuri Kuteev, no production models were built there. Instead, manufacturing was outsourced to SeAZ factory in Serpukhov and ZMA in Naberezhnye Chelny (formerly owned by Kamaz and now owned by SeverstalAvto). Massive plans were in place for a new plant in Yelabuga, but these failed to materialize. The car was also produced in Azerbaijan by the Gyandzha Auto Plant. The name comes from the Oka River in Russia upon which Serpukhov is situated.

History

This affordable, lightweight and simple automobile replaced the air-cooled, rear-engined ZAZ Zaporozhets 966-968 series models as "the people's car". SeAZ factory specialized in building purpose-built vehicles for handicapped drivers and by the 1970s their offering was the SZD, a spartan, boxy two-seat sedan powered by a motorcycle engine. Despite being noisy and smoky, the SZD was, nevertheless, very popular with mobility-challenged drivers many of whom were WWII veterans and, being such, received their vehicles free of charge. When engineers in Serpukhov under factory manager Alexander Popov (who told Minavtoprom (the automotive ministry) SeAZ needed a new product) conceived the Oka, they turned to their VAZ colleagues for help. The project was approved in 1983.

Massé

Massé is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also

Massé, a billiards cueing technique - see Glossary of cue sports terms#massé

Massè

Massè is an arrondissement in the Plateau department of Benin. It is an administrative division under the jurisdiction of the commune of Adja-Ouèrè. According to the population census conducted by the Institut National de la Statistique Benin on February 15, 2002, the arrondissement had a total population of 16,902.

References

Coordinates: 7°09′28″N 2°32′37″E / 7.15778°N 2.54361°E / 7.15778; 2.54361

Mass in B minor

The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) by Johann Sebastian Bach is a musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the Latin Mass. The work was one of Bach's last compositions, not completed until 1749, the year before his death. Much of the Mass gave new form to vocal music that Bach had composed throughout his career, dating back (in the case of the "Crucifixus") to 1714, but extensively revised. To complete the work, in the late 1740s Bach composed new sections of the Credo such as "Et incarnatus est".

It was unusual for composers working in the Lutheran tradition to compose a Missa tota and Bach's motivations remain a matter of scholarly debate. The Mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime; the first documented complete performance took place in 1859. Since the nineteenth century it has been widely hailed as one of the greatest compositions in musical history, and today it is frequently performed and recorded.Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach archived this work as the Great Catholic Mass.