West

West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.

Etymology

The word "West" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages (ouest in French, oest in Catalan, ovest in Italian, oeste in Spanish and Portuguese). As is apparent in the Gothic term vasi (Visigoths), it stems from the same Indo-European root that gave the Sanskrit vas-ati (night) and vesper (evening) in Latin.

Navigation

To go west using a compass for navigation, one needs to set a bearing or azimuth of 270°.

West is the direction opposite that of the Earth's rotation on its axis, and is therefore the general direction towards which the Sun appears to constantly progress and eventually set.

Moving continuously west is following a circle of latitude.

Cultural

The phrase "the West" is often spoken in reference to the Western world, which includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, and the United States of America.

West (TV series)

West is a Canadian documentary television series which aired on CBC Television from 1973 to 1974.

Premise

This series of National Film Board of Canada productions featured life on the Canadian prairie provinces (Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan).

Scheduling

This half-hour series was broadcast Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. from 19 December 1973 to 17 April 1974. There were rebroadcasts from 23 June 1974, Sundays at 1:00 p.m..

Episodes

West, Texas

West is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,807. It is named after T.M. West, the first postmaster of the city.

The city is located in the north-central part of Texas, approximately 70 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 20 miles north of Waco and 120 miles north of Austin, Texas, the state's capital.

History

The first settlers of northern McLennan County arrived in the 1840s. They were farm and ranch families drawn from the east by the rich lands made available by the government sale of land to build schools in Texas. The area farmers cultivated the land and grew cotton, wheat, and grain sorghum, and raised cattle. The farming community centered around a freshwater spring that became known as Bold Springs. In 1860, Bold Springs had a population of about 300 and provided services such as a blacksmith, churches, and a post office.

The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was laid between Hillsboro and Waco in the fall of 1881. The path of the railroad passed through land owned by Thomas West, who had moved to the area in 1859. He farmed land that he had purchased and served as postmaster of Bold Springs. A train depot was built on the land he sold to the railroad company and the land running beside the tracks was divided into small sections and sold to people wanting to start businesses. The new depot included a post office, and from that time forward it was known as the West Post Office. Mr. West served as postmaster and opened the first general store. He became a successful businessman and later owned a hotel, a furniture store, and a bank.

Orienta (album)

Orienta is an album by The Markko Polo Adventurers released in 1959. The album was produced by Simon Rady, arranged and conducted by Gerald Fried and recorded in stereo in Hollywood, California. The album uses a combination of sound effects and Asian-inspired music to tell humorous vignettes. Its suggestive cover art features a photograph by Murray Laden.

Overview

Orienta was the work of three music industry professionals with a long history of involvement in exotica and easy listening music. Producer Simon Rady (1909-1965) was coming off the huge success of The Music from Peter Gunn, which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's album chart, and won the inaugural Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959. Associate producer Michael H. Goldsen was one of the industry leaders in popularizing Hawaiian music and was later inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. The album was arranged and conducted by Gerald Fried, a Juilliard School-trained oboist who later went on to fame as a composer of music for motion pictures and television, including the 1960s series Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Gilligan's Island, and the 1970s miniseries Roots.

Oriental, North Carolina

Oriental is one of nine incorporated municipalities in Pamlico County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 900, according to the 2010 census. It is part of the New Bern, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The area was settled by Native Americans, who fished and farmed in the creeks and river long before Europeans arrived. Today, fewer than 1 percent of the town's residents are Native American. Land records date grants from the King of England to colonial farmers, and several current residents of the area can trace their family’s genealogy to these times. The area was the haunt of pirates in the early days of European dominance. The famous pirate Edward Teach or Blackbeard made his home in Bath to the North of Oriental. The Midgettes (also Midyettes) and other old families that still have descendants in the town came much later, in the late 19th century.

The town of Oriental was named after the Sailing Steamer Oriental. Built in Philadelphia in 1861, the ship was used as a Federal transport ship in the Civil War. She met her fate a year after being launched, run aground in May 1862, when she was wrecked off Bodie Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras. Her passengers and crew were saved.