It is a natural wonder whose most fascinating history is currently being made.
With China on the rise, the Pacific is ascendant with cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and the long cluster of towns down the Silicon Valley.
Simon Winchester takes us from the Bering Strait to Cape Horn, the Yangtze River to the Panama Canal, and to the many small islands and archipelagos that lie in between.
Following his acclaimed Atlantic and The Men Who United the States, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature.
Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.
The Magi came “from the east” bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Although the account does not mention the number of Magi, the three gifts has led to the widespread assumption that there were three. In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the Magi often number twelve.
The three Magi developed distinct characteristics in Christian art, represented the three ages of man, and three geographical and cultural areas. Caspar is old, normally with a white beard, and gives the gold. Melchior is middle aged, giving frankincense. Balthazar is a young man, and gives myrrh. Their ages were often given as 60, 40 and 20 respectively.
Mostly in northern Europe, beginning from the 12th century, Balthazar is increasingly dark skinned.
The Basilica of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna was erected by Theodoric the Great as his palace chapel. It was dedicated in 504 AD to “Christ the Redeemer”.
The Three Magi, Byzantine mosaic c.565, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy (restored 18th century). As here Byzantine art usually depicts the Magi in Persian clothing which includes breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps
Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked ‘Oh, you aren’t even ripe yet! I don’t need any sour grapes.’
People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves.
The Fox and the Grapes is one of the Aesop’s fables. The expression “sour grapes” originated from this fable.
Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable tension, which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.
Friedrich Froebel encouraged each child to persevere in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
Illustration by Walter Crane for “The Man That Pleased None” from Baby’s Own Aesop, a children’s edition of Aesop’s fables 1887
A man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”
So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”
So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”
Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor Donkey of yours, you and your hulking son?”
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.
“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them:
“Please all, and you will please none.”
Aesop lived from about 620 to 560 BCE and is famous for fables including: “The Goose With the Golden Eggs”, “The Fisher”, “The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey” and “The Sick Lion”.
The Gräfenroda company of Griebel can look back on a long tradition of production of garden gnomes.
Philipp Griebel founded his own company back in 1874 and was involved in work on development of the famous garden gnome from 1880 to 1890.
In the museum today, visitors can follow both the history of the company and the story of this lovable little fellow, from an animal and a fairytale figure to a garden gnome, and can judge the quality of the gnomes for themselves.
There are many ways to use the Johari model in learning and development.
Johari is a very elegant and potent model, and as with other powerful ideas, simply helping people to understand is the most effective way to optimise the value to people. When people really understand it in their own terms, it empowers them to use the thinking in their own way, and to incorporate the underlying principles into their future thinking and behaviour.
A Johari window is a psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955. It’s a simple and useful tool for understanding and training:
self-awareness
personal development
improving communications
interpersonal relationships
group dynamics
team development; and
inter group relationships
It is one of the few tools out there that has an emphasis on “soft skills” such as behaviour, empathy, co-operation, inter group development and interpersonal development. It’s a great model to use because of its simplicity and also because it can be applied in a variety of situations and environments. read more
three key ideas
individuals can build trust between themselves by disclosing information about themselves – self-disclosure and exposure,
they can learn about themselves and come to terms with personal issues with the help of feedback from others – this is feedback solicitation,
teams collectively are unaware of feelings, latent abilities, aptitudes and experiences and through collective or mutual discovery, can help people to fulfil more of their potential, achieve more, and contribute to organisational performance.
The Johari Window model also known as the “Johari Window” demonstrates the process of giving and receiving feedback, improving self-awareness, personal development, group development and understanding relationships between individuals within a group.
The Johari Window model is especially relevant today as a communication model that can be used to improve understanding between individuals within a team or in a group setting where emphasis is increasingly placed on, and influence of soft’ skills, behaviour, empathy, cooperation, and inter-group development.
The first years of a child’s life are of critical importance to their success.
Parents participate in workshops, where they discuss discipline, developmental milestones, and age-appropriate activities to foster early literacy.
Meanwhile, their three-year-olds play together in small and large groups under the guidance of trained staff, learning socialization skills and having fun singing, doing arts and crafts, and listening to stories.
educating parents on child development and fostering a strong sense of community among participants
Yellow-Red-Blue was created by Wassily Kandinsky in 1925. The primary colors on the painting feature squares, circles and triangles and there are abstract shapes mixed in with these. There are also straight and curved black lines that go through the colors and shapes. This is to help provoke deep thought in the person viewing the piece.
This simple visual identification of forms and the main coloured masses present on the canvas is only a first approach to the inner reality of the work, whose appreciation necessitates deeper observation – not only of forms and colours involved in the painting but their relationship, their absolute and relative positions on the canvas and their harmony.
In 1925, Kandinsky taught the basic design class for beginners and the course on advanced theory at the Bauhaus. He also conducted painting classes and a workshop in which he augmented his colour theory with new elements of form psychology.
The last portion of the brewery was an agreeable surprise to us, and one I think I should refer to.
We found a number of children at play in a playground attached to a handsome building containing various rooms, where the children received instruction in the well known system of Kindergarten by a staff of teachers.
We were informed that the employees had the privilege of sending their children here free of charge, to be looked after during the day.
We were very much impressed by our visit to this brewery, and came away with feelings of admiration for the careful planning and working details of the brewery, as well as for the generosity and consideration which the firm were showing to their workpeople.
Theodor Froebel (1810–93) and his son Otto (1844–1906) were two of the most significant artistic and commercial gardeners of nineteenth century Switzerland. The work of these key figures paved the way for the profession of landscape architecture.
After having been trained in his native Thuringia, Theodor Froebel came to Zurich in 1834. There, as the first university gardener, he played an influential role in the planning and construction of the new Botanical Garden. By 1835 he had started his own business, and he left his position at the university in 1841. The rest of his professional career was determined by two complementary practices: on the one hand public and private clients engaged him for the planning and construction of parks and gardens, and on the other hand he ran his own business including a tree nursery and greenhouses. His son Otto completed his training at his father’s business, as well as at renowned firms in other European countries. After Otto had entered into the family business in 1865 the plant collection grew, as did the number of the gardens planned and realized.
The planning of public parks and private gardens undertaken by Theodor and Otto Froebel provides information about the role of these two men as garden designers. The business model was transformed from a modest commercial operation to a prestigious business enterprise active across Europe.
This provides a context for the creative work of Theodor and Otto Froebel and helps clarify their significance.
Theodor Froebel was one of the five nephews for whom Friedrich Froebel founded his first school in 1816 at Griesheim in the Principality of Schwarzburg Rudolstadt.
