Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- ("not") and μέθυστος méthystos ("intoxicated"), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. The ancient Greeks wore amethyst and made drinking vessels decorated with it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. It is one of several forms of quartz. Amethyst is a semiprecious stone and is the traditional birthstone for February.

Structure

Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO₂) and owes its violet color to irradiation, iron impurities (in some cases in conjunction with transition element impurities), and the presence of trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus it is suitable for use in jewelry.

Hue and tone

Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. The best varieties of amethyst can be found in Siberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and the far East. The ideal grade is called "Deep Siberian" and has a primary purple hue of around 75–80%, with 15–20% blue and (depending on the light source) red secondary hues. Green quartz is sometimes incorrectly called green amethyst, which is a misnomer and not an appropriate name for the material, the proper terminology being prasiolite. Other names for green quartz are vermarine or lime citrine.

Amethyst (Billy Hart album)

Amethyst is an album by American jazz drummer Billy Hart recorded in 1993 and released on the Arabesque label.

Reception

AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars with its review by David R. Adler stating, "there's plenty of beautiful music on the album, plenty of representative brilliance from all these fine players, and even a substantial amount of originality and vision".

Track listing

All compositions by Billy Hart except as indicated

Personnel

References

Vampire

A vampire is a being from folklore who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures. Undead beings, vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures, the term vampire was not popularized in the west until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as shtriga in Albania, vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to what can only be called mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

Vampire (car)

The Vampire was a jet-propelled car that currently holds the outright British land speed record, driven by Colin Fallows to a mean speed of 300.3 mph (483.3 km/h) on July 5, 2000 at Elvington, Yorkshire, England.

Vampire was 30 feet (9.1 m) long and consumed from 7 to 10 UK gallons of fuel per mile. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Orpheus turbojet engine, it could accelerate from standstill to 272 mph (438 km/h) in six seconds, a personal best set at Santa Pod Raceway.

Vampire was originally constructed by Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge, a pioneer British drag racer, as one of a pair of identical match-race jet dragsters in 1981. The sister car "Hellbender" was involved in a crash in 1986 in which Mark Woodley, an experienced dragster driver, was killed.

Vampire crashed in 2006 during shooting of a segment for the television show Top Gear, severely injuring its driver, Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. Hammond's peak speed was higher than the official British land speed record, recording a top speed of 314 mph (505 km/h). However, he did not officially break the British record as, according to the rules, two runs in different directions and an independent observer are required. Hammond crashed on his seventh run. Jeremy Clarkson joked that Hammond would have created the record for the fastest crash but would have needed to repeat the crash in the opposite direction.

Vampire (1979 film)

Vampire is a 1979 television film directed by E. W. Swackhamer and co-written and produced by Steven Bochco.

Plot

A handsome millionaire vampire with an irresistible power over women becomes hunted by two vampire killers in modern day San Francisco.

References

External links