Pagodas in Play analyzes the treatment of China in the imaginative and spectacular world of eighteenth-century Italian opera. It shows how Italians used perceptions of Chinese culture to address local and transnational developments, particularly Enlightenment and secular reform initiatives. Its focus on the texts and performance practices of opera, an entertainment form accessible to a wide public, reveals cultural operations and identities harder to detect in non-fictional reformist writings, the texts traditionally privileged to explain Italian mediations of Enlightenment ideas. In its close reading of nine libretti of the most salient Settecento operas treating China (opere serie and opere buffe by authors including Metastasio, Zeno, Goldoni and Lorenzi), Pagodas in Play differentiates Italian iterations of Chinese culture from French and English counterparts. It further challenges certain tenets of orientalism, showing how it operates when nationalist and/or colonialist projects are absent, and how orientalist practices in eighteenth-century Italy exhibit early on the complexity some scholars locate only in the twentieth century. Adrienne Ward teaches Italian literature and culture at the University of Virginia.

This book is an overview of the ongoing revolution in tabletop gaming design and culture, which exploded to unprecedented levels of vitality in the 21st century, leading to new ways of creating, marketing, and experiencing a game. Designers have become superstars, publishers have improved quality control, and the community of players is expanding. Most importantly, new and old players have started engaging with the games in a more meaningful way. The book explores the reasons for these changes. It describes how games have begun to keep players engaged until the end. It analyzes the ways in which traditional mechanics have been reimagined to give them more variety and complexity, and reviews the unprecedented mechanics found and perfected. Very interesting is the exploration of how games have performed novel tasks such as reducing conflict, fostering cooperation, creating aesthetic experiences, and telling stories. The book is aimed at scholars, dedicated and aspiring fans, and game designers who want to expand their toolbox with the most up-to-date innovations in the profession.

Tigers, Mountains and Pagodas The story of a special and adventurous life At the end of 1923 Stanley Robins passed out of Sandhurst as a prize-winning cadet. He was commissioned into the North Staffordshire regiment, at the time based in British India. Stanley was "thrilled" at this posting as he saw army service in India as the gateway to a "special and adventurous life"; and so it turned out to be. In India Stanley became an expert and highly knowledgeable big game hunter, especially of tigers, including man-eaters and gained a deep affinity with the Indian Jungle and its wildlife. He became a lifelong friend of Jim Corbett; the greatest of the big game hunters. Like Jim he was to be an advocate for wildlife conservation and condemned post World War II hunting methods, especially in Africa. Army postings sent Stanley to the dangerous and volatile North-West Frontier, where "no man's life was safe". He was decorated for gallantry in one of the hardest fought operations on the Frontier. Despite the dangers of nearly constant action against the war-like border tribes he gained a deep knowledge of its people, the country and the culture. Whenever military postings allowed he was keen to visit and learn about the India that had put a "spell" on him; its varied peoples, culture and history and to visit the areas of India rarely seen by most Europeans. As international tensions grew in the late 1930s Stanley was transferred to what became the 14h Army in Burma, playing a vital part in the Allied fighting withdrawal from the "Land of Pagodas" and was decorated for his distinguished service. He was the last man out of Rangoon and the first through the Taukkyan Roadblock, by which the Japanese army hoped to trap Allied forces in Burma, in their lightning campaign. During the Allied liberation of Burma Stanley was personally selected by General Slim, commander of the 14th Army, to ensure effective, critical and growing logistical support for Allied forces, US, Chinese and British, in their advance against the Japanese. At Indian independence Stanley's actions and decisions on that day prevented what might have been a massacre of Europeans and loyal Indian Army soldiers at Nagpur.

Seven songs on the CD are the core of seven lessons that also include multi-cultural selections. The music selections reinforce the national music standards for the Music Educator's National Conference for pre-K, 1st and 2nd grade children. A Listening Map for each orchestral selection is included to help motivate and focus students along with creative activities.

In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the reception of such waves and their perception by the brain.[1] Only acoustic waves that have frequencies lying between about 20 Hz and 20 kHz, the audio frequency range, elicit an auditory percept in humans. In air at atmospheric pressure, these represent sound waves with wavelengths of 17 meters (56 ft) to 1.7 centimeters (0.67 in). Sound waves above 20 kHz are known as ultrasound and are not audible to humans. Sound waves below 20 Hz are known as infrasound. Different animal species have varying hearing ranges. Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gasses, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound, and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician, while someone working in the field of acoustical engineering may be called an acoustical engineer.[2] An audio engineer, on the other hand, is concerned with the recording, manipulation, mixing, and reproduction of sound. Applications of acoustics are found in almost all aspects of modern society, subdisciplines include aeroacoustics, audio signal processing, architectural acoustics, bioacoustics, electro-acoustics, environmental noise, musical acoustics, noise control, psychoacoustics, speech, ultrasound, underwater acoustics, and vibration.

In the first full-length study of Wallace Stevens's word-play, Eleanor Cook focuses on Stevens's skillful play with grammar, etymology, allusion, and other elements of poetry, and suggests ways in which this play offers a method of approaching his work. At the same time, this book is a general study of Stevens's poetry, moving from his earliest to his latest work, and includes close readings of three of his remarkable long poems--Esthetique du Mal, Notes toward a Supreme Fiction, and An Ordinary Evening in New Haven. The chronological arrangement enables readers to follow Stevens's increasing skill and changing thought in three areas of his "poetry of the earth": the poetry of place, the poetry of eros, and the poetry of belief. Poetry, Word-Play, and Word-War in Wallace Stevens shows how, in setting words at play and in conflict, Stevens could upset the usual relations of rhetoric, grammar, and dialectic, and thus the book contributes to the current debate about logical and a-logical uses of language. Cook also places Stevens within the larger context of Western literature, hearing how he speaks to Milton, Keats, and Wordsworth; to such American forebears as Whitman, Emerson, and Dickinson; and to T. S. Eliot, his contemporary. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Jeeyoon Kim is a professional concert pianist who has performed in venues like Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society in San Francisco, and the Stradivari Society in Chicago. As an accomplished performing artist and award-winning music educator, she credits her success to key disciplines, practices, and mindsets that she lives out every day. In Whenever You’re Ready, she gives readers a personal glimpse into her life, shares wisdom and insights she’s gained from her experiences, and shows people how to achieve their own personal and professional success. Structured like one of the concerts she performs, this self-help book starts with a prelude and contains five movements, each focused on a different theme, such as forming habits and boosting creativity. Each movement is followed by a quick intermission that takes readers through a mini master class to help them gain an appreciation of classical music. Before every performance, Jeeyoon prepares herself mentally, emotionally, and physically in the green room. She knows she’ll soon step onto the stage, where people have come to see what she has to offer the world. In the final moment when she’s backstage and about to meet her audience, she notes that someone, with their hand on the stage door, always waits for her cue. “Whenever you’re ready . . .” they tell her. She nods, they open the door, and it’s time for her to perform. This book is about helping readers prepare themselves mentally, emotionally, and physically for their own performances. Whether they are hoping to land a job, practicing for a speech, training for a marathon, or trying to accomplish a goal, Jeeyoon’s book will offer them advice, encouragement, and practical exercises they can use to help them perform at their best and achieve their dreams. With warmth, honesty, and compassion, Jeeyoon speaks to readers who are in their own green rooms and invites them to live the life they hope for.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country located in Southeast Asia. It borders China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Laos. The country has a diverse population of over 54 million people, comprised of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Myanmar is known for its beautiful landscapes, rich history, and unique culture. The country's economy is largely based on natural resources such as oil, gas, precious stones, and timber. Despite facing political turmoil over the past several decades, Myanmar is making efforts to transition into a more democratic nation and attract foreign investment. With its unique cultural heritage and natural beauty, Myanmar is becoming an increasingly popular destination for tourists.