A scythe (/ˈsaɪð/ or /ˈsaɪθ/) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops. It has largely been replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper and the Greek Titan Cronus are often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe.
Etymology
"Scythe" derives from Old English siðe. In Middle English and after it was usually spelt sithe or sythe. However, in the 15th century some writers began to use the sc- spelling as they thought (wrongly) the word was related to the Latin scindere (meaning "to cut"). Nevertheless, the sithe spelling lingered and notably appears in Noah Webster's dictionaries.
Structure
A scythe consists of a wooden shaft about 170 centimetres (67 in) long called a snaith, snath, snathe or sned (modern versions are sometimes made from metal or plastic). The snath may be straight, or with an "S" curve, but the more sophisticated versions are curved in three dimensions, allowing the mower to stand more upright. The snath has either one or two short handles at right angles to it – usually one near the upper end and always another roughly in the middle. A long, curved blade about 60 to 90 centimetres (24 to 35 in)) long is mounted at the lower end, perpendicular to the snath. Scythes always have the blade projecting from the left side of the snath when in use, with the edge towards the mower. In principle a left-handed scythe could be made, but it could not be used together with right-handed scythes in a team of mowers, as the left-handed mower would be mowing in the opposite direction.
Mini-Cons are a human-sized race and faction of power-enhancing transforming robots first introduced in various Transformers series. Pioneered for the Transformers: Armada toy line, Mini-Cons have since been sold under the Transformers: Energon, Transformers: Universe, Transformers: Cybertron and Transformers: Classic lines. In some cases, the word may also be spelled "Minicon" and they are known as "Microns" in Japan.
Unicron Trilogy
Mini-Cons are a race of small, roughly human-sized Transformers capable of powerlinxing with a larger Transformer to impart extra abilities or greatly increase their strength. Their origins vary depending on the continuity in which they appear. Sometimes, they are creations of Unicron and other times they are creations of the Last Autobot or the descendants of Micronus Prime. However, there are times where their origins are not explained and are portrayed in different characterizations.
Throughout the different incarnations of the Transformers franchise, the Mini-Cons origins, characteristics and personalities vary, depending on continuity. For example, in the original Armada cartoon, Unicron created the Mini-Cons to be mindless tools, sent to Cybertron as an agitating element to the Transformers' civil war. The power-enhancing "smart tools" would be unleashed upon the populace, who would snap them up and bond with them, and the war would only get more destructive, as Unicron drank in the negative psychic energies from the death and destruction. As the Mini-Cons had been designed to form mental bonds with other life forms, when the human Rad touched the Mini-Con who he knew from the future as High Wire, High Wire apparently formed his bond then, with Rad and through the Mini-Cons' shared "soul dimension", the Linkage, sentience and free will spread throughout the Mini-Cons, forming "souls", and crippling Unicron's plans drastically. Most Mini-Cons had limited verbal capabilities, causing much controversy among fandom.
A Slayer, in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (both created by Joss Whedon), is a young female bestowed with mystical powers that originate from the essence of a pure-demon, which gives her superhuman senses, strength, agility, resilience and speed in the fight against forces of darkness. She occasionally receives prophetic dreams in the few hours that she sleeps.
The opening narration in the Buffy series states "Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer."
While, in the series, they are commonly referred to as "Vampire Slayers", even by Watchers and vampires themselves, the Slayer may operate as a defender against any and all supernatural threats.
The reputation of the Slayer is well-known and revered, even throughout other dimensions. The notion of The Slayer has been compared to the equivalent of a Demonic "Boogey-Man," incredibly feared and considered by most to be essentially unconquerable.
Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation (see castaway).
Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think or rest without being disturbed. It may be desired for the sake of privacy.
A distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. In this sense, these two words refer, respectively, to the joy and the pain of being alone.
Health effects
Symptoms from complete isolation, called sensory deprivation, often include anxiety, sensory illusions, or even distortions of time and perception. However, this is the case when there is no stimulation of the sensory systems at all, and not only lack of contact with people. Thus, by having other things to keep one's mind busy, this is avoided.
Still, long-term solitude is often seen as undesirable, causing loneliness or reclusion resulting from inability to establish relationships. Furthermore, it might even lead to clinical depression. However, for some people, solitude is not depressing. Still others (e.g. monks) regard long-term solitude as a means of spiritual enlightenment. Indeed, marooned people have been left in solitude for years without any report of psychological symptoms afterwards.
Solitude is a historic home located on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. The earliest section was built about 1808, and expanded through the mid-19th century. It is a two-story, "L"-shaped, five bay, log and frame dwelling with a hipped roof. Also on the property are the contributing stone spring house with log superstructure and log kitchen or office. In 1872, the Solitude land became the central campus of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the house, after the death of its owner in the following decade, was used for faculty housing until the 1970s, when it became a classroom and office facility. The house is situated in a landscaped park adjacent to the central campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
After Solitude's listing on NRHP, decade-long research and archaeology commenced to further study the main house, property, and overall site to extrapolate further historical information and evaluate what would be needed to restore the house and outbuildings. These efforts culminated in a 2000 Master's thesis by Michael Pulice, a then-Master's of Science candidate in Virginia Tech's Architecture Department, now the chief architectural historian for the Western Regional office (Salem, VA) of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Pulice concluded in his thesis that the remaining log outbuilding, long believed to be either a doctor's office or kitchen, is a surviving slave cabin and servants quarters.
Frank Duval (born November 22, 1940, Berlin) is a German composer, conductor, record producer, songwriter and singer.
Born into an artists' family, he studied as an actor and dancer, but also sang with his sister, Maria. By the 1960s, Duval was also composing music, both orchestral and pop, and his first soundtrack, for an episode of the German serial Tatort, was broadcast in 1977. From his 1979 first album, Die Schönsten Melodien Aus Derrick und der Alte, the song "Todesengel" became a moderate hit.
During the 1980s, Duval released several soundtracks, as well as proper artist albums (with occasional lyrical help from his wife, Kalina Maloyer). He was in the German charts several times, with "Angel of Mine" (a number one hit in 1981), "Ways" (1983), "Lovers Will Survive" (1986), and "When You Were Mine" (1987).
Duval wrote songs for Ivan Rebroff, Alexandra, Karin Huebner, Margot Werner, Klaus Löwitsch, and Maria Schell.