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Previous Years
2004 Backpacking Light Staff Picks
2005 Backpacking Light Staff Picks
Another year has gone by and it is time once again for the BackpackingLight staff to come up with their lists of favorite pieces of gear. Some have commented that it is getting noticeably tougher to come up with three piece of gear that have become most favored and most depended upon over the past year. But in due time the staff came up with their lists and this is the result.
This isn't an "Editor's Choice" or formal endorsement, just a list of gear we like.
Enjoy – and don't forget to add your own 2007 favorites in the forum below. –Your BPL Eds
|Backpacking Light Staff Member
|Favorite Pieces of Gear
|Ryan Jordan
|Inov-8 Roclite GTX 390 Shoes
|Google Docs
|FireLite 1100 Titanium Cookpot
|Ben Smith
|GoLite Ion backpack
|FireLite Mini Firesteel
|Bozeman Mountain Works Cocoon UL 60 Hoody
|Roger Caffin
|Silnylon 2-man single skin tent
|H-frame pack
|Sleeping bag
|Carol Crooker
|Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape
|Komperdell Carbon Featherlite Poles
|Alpacka Yukon Yak Raft
|Alan Dixon
|Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn Tarp
|jacks 'R' Better Stealth Universal Quilt
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 Trekking Poles
|Rick Dreher
|Suunto Observer altimeter-barometer-compass watch.
|FireLite SUL Long-Handled Titanium Spoon
|Trangia Alcohol Burner
|Doug Johnson
|Bozeman Mountain Works Stealth 0 Nano Tarp
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 Trekking Poles
|Hennessey Hammock Backpacker A-Sym backpacking hammock
|Mike Martin
|Fenix L0D Flashlight
|Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch Zip T
|Flexair Ultralight Pillow
|Steve Nelson
|Cassin Ghost Ice Axe
|Ursack S29
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek Plus Trekking Poles
|Will Rietveld
|Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape
|Trail Designs Caldera Cone
|Vasque Velocity Trail Shoes
|Alison Simon
|SmartWool Women's Microweight NTS Zip-T
|Oware Dixon Double, Two Person Bivy Sack
|Trader Joe's Dried Dragon Fruit
|Don Wilson
|Arc'Teryx Gamma LT Pants
|FireLite Mini Firestarting Kit
|Patagonia R1 Hoody
Ryan Jordan, Publisher – Bozeman, Montana
|Inov-8 Roclite 390 gTX Shoes
|Early snows and cold mountain temperatures means that my winter kit came out early this year. I've ditched the waterproof sock concept in lieu of something simpler, drier, and more durable: my feet have found happiness in Inov-8 Roclite 390's. It's a mid-height shoe (at 26 oz/pair, I have a hard time calling it a boot!) that provides plenty of flexibility for forward motion with just enough stability to make trekking on ultralight snowshoes a dream, even while traversing steep slopes. With thick socks and a high gaiter, I'm still carrying only about a pound on each foot. Compare that to the Sorel craze 20 years ago where I was lugging three pounds a foot. That's progress I can get pretty excited about.
|Google Docs
|I know, it's hardly to be considered in the genre of outdoor gear, but the ability to collaborate LIVE with my expedition teammates for gear list planning has added a lot to my enjoyment of trip planning. Here's how we do it: create a gear list template in a Google Spreadsheet, then copy that template to new pages in the sheet. Assign an expedition member's name to each page, and simply use this single Web document to create your gear list. The concept works so well for collaboration that Backpacking Light has now adopted the technology for its Wilderness Trekking courses. It's a great way to keep your gear list up to date with everyone as your departure date nears, and it's a lot of fun as well: just watch for the offloading of gear as someone nudges their list a little lighter than everyone else. It's like an avalanche, and can get pretty competitive.
|FireLite 1100 Titanium Cookpot
Backpacking LIght
|I admit my bias towards ultralight cookware, and although this reflects shameless promotion to the hilt, I can't help but love a pot that fits my favorite stove perfectly. With this pot, my Bushbuddy Ultra, and a FireLite Mini Firestarting Kit, I feel like I've finally arrived at something near the perfect solution for long-distance wilderness travel. The pot is big enough to fill up most of a one-liter Nalgene bottle for a little extra wintertime sleep comfort, and holds a hearty meal when calorie demands increase after a week or two of hard trekking. Fire is bliss and this pot holds it well.
Ben Smith, Managing Editor – San Antonio, Texas
|GoLite Ion backpack
|This little pack ditches virtually every feature I've come to take for granted. No pockets, no compression, little padding, and no drawstring closure. I've thought about adding a compression system, or sewing some simple, light side pockets on… but then I realize that I'd wind up filling those pockets up. It requires a lot of restraint for me to use this pack on anything but an overnighter, and strangely enough, the discipline required to pack my water bottle away out of reach (I am not a fan of hydration systems) really keeps me attentive to both water sources and my hydration routine. This pack takes a pedestrian hike (or pre-trip planning session) and turns it into a challenge.
Weight: 9 oz
|FireLite Mini Firesteel
|For years I've relied on a little canister stove to boil my water and cook my food. I've recently converted to wood fire cooking, and the FireLite is the coolest firestarter I've used. Compared to larger firesteels, the Mini throws an impressive and dense cluster of sparks, and the compact size is fine for my medium-sized hands (a guy with bigger mitts might have trouble hanging on to it). The Tinder-Quik tabs aren't the longest-burning tinder bundles, but they might be the easiest to light. I carry a couple of larger "waxier" tinder tablets to supplement the Tinder-Quiks in wetter conditions.
Weight: 0.81 oz
|Bozeman Mountain Works Cocoon UL 60 Hoody
|This hooded pullover really hits the mark for me. The original Cocoon pullover model was tempting, but the lack of a hood allowed me to demonstrate self-control. When Ryan announced the availability of the UL 60 Hoody, my wife rolled her eyes in resignation – the BMW box was on my doorstep a few days later. I had high expectations – the original Cocoon was highly regarded, and I assumed the Hoody would be the ultimate UL synthetic jacket. I can say with certainty that it has met those expectations. It's light, warm and is the perfect companion for a hoodless sleeping bag or quilt.
Weight: 10 oz
Roger Caffin, Technology Editor – Sydney, Australia
My favorites for this year are all items I made myself. I'll justify my selection in two ways. First: I wanted these particular bits of gear so much I went to the effort of making them. Second: the change from my previous conventional heavy-weight gear meant the weight of the big three went from 8.00 kg (17.64 lb) down to 2.55 kg (5.62 lb), a reduction of 5.45 kg (12.0 lb). Is it any wonder I like these items?
|Silnylon 2-man single skin tent
|This tent has very generous space for my wife and me, with a groundsheet space of 2.2 x 1.2 m (7.2 x 3.9 ft) and an internal height of about 1.0 m (39 in). The groundsheet space is fully screened with insect netting all around, adequate to keep out the notorious Australian bush flies. It has good ventilation, with roof-height vents at both ends as well as ground-level clearance all around. In addition there are vestibules at each end: I use the rear one to store our packs and the front one for all our cooking. It may be only single-skin, but with the right guy ropes in place this tent has taken severe storms and snow.
Weight: 1.2 kg (42.4 oz)
|H-frame pack
|I have used several packs with a hip belts, but I don't find the hip belt ever to be much use. It seems I have narrow hip bones which just don't support the conventional hip belt. I have always had good success with H-frame packs – I started making them when I was a Boy Scout. This one uses Easton arrow shafts for the frame and light but abrasion-resistant waterproof X-Pac fabric for the bag. I sealed all the seams on the inside with tape, so the bag is highly waterproof by itself. I don't bother with a pack cover. While the pack only weighs 800 g, it has carried winter base-camp loads up to 26 kg without much trouble (I had problems: it didn't). The X-Pac fabric is tough enough to withstand the worst of the Australian scrub too – that aspect has been well tested.
Weight: 800 g (28.2 oz)
|Sleeping bag
|My wife and I have some conventional commercial winter sleeping bags for snow use and some 'light' commercial bags for summer use, but both are far too heavy. They use cheap Asian fabrics for the shell, and those fabrics are heavy. So I made two summer shells from Pertex Microlight fabric, with baffles, and each one came to just 250 g (8.8 oz). I put 300 g (10.6 oz) of 800 loft down in each one. Despite the initial intention that these would only be for summer, my wife and I have used these down to the freezing point (and in the snow). By wearing thermals and snuggling together we have been quite warm enough. Since making these we have switched to using them as quilts, with three advantages. There is far more room under a quilt than inside a sleeping bag for the same weight. The bag does not get stretched over our knees so the down does not get squashed there. And since we have two quilts, we can layer one on top of the other when it is really cold.
Weight: 550 g (19.4 oz)
Carol Crooker, Editor-at-Large – Phoenix, Arizona
|Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape
|The Gatewood Cape is a marvel. Ron Moak of Six Moon Designs has created a shelter enclosed on all sides with a zip vestibule for 10.9 oz (measured) with enough covered area and sitting height to make all 5'10" of me happy – and I haven't even used it as a cape yet!
Weight: 10.9 oz
|Komperdell Carbon Featherlight Poles
|I love these poles! They feel light in my hands (8.9 oz/pair with baskets) and are stiff enough to give me complete confidence when putting my full weight on them. The straps are wide, comfortable and rugged enough to bear my weight.
Weight: 8.9 oz/pair (with baskets)
|Alpacka Yukon Yak Raft
|My decked Yukon Yak is 5 lbs 12 oz of fun. It folds small enough to fit in the bottom of a 2000 ci pack with room left over to carry everything needed for an overnight raft trip. Even though it's tiny, I've run class 3 drops in it and ferried another adult and a child across a reservoir.
Weight: 5 lb 12 oz
Alan Dixon, Editor-at-Large – Washington, D.C.
|Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn Tarp
|I haven't used a tent at all year. Why? The Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn has finally convinced my frequent hiking partners, my wife and my son, to tarp camp with me (I usually tarp camp when solo hiking). Under the large coverage of the SpinnTwinn we've weathered many days of heavy rain, thunderstorms and high winds in the Sierras, High Uintas, and a freak rainstorm in Southern Utah. Even with all the wet weather, both my wife and son are happy to take the SpinnTwinn out again.
The low weight of the SpinnTwinn allows me to go sub-5 pound with folks that wouldn't normally make this base pack weight. The SpinnTwinn provides generous shelter and gear storage for two people for about 4 ounces per person. Current tarptent style shelters are four times that weight with less protected area. The SpinnTwinn has great ventilation and great views. I rarely need to pitch the tarp low. There's enough room in the front of the tarp for two to sit side by side, cook dinner, and enjoy watching the storm. The SpinnTwinn dries much faster than a soaked tent. It doesn't stretch nearly as much when wet as silnylon shelters and thus requires less tweaking when it rains. If it does need adjustment the included Lineloc buckles make it easy without having to move stakes.
Weight: 8.4 oz
|Jacks 'R' Better Stealth Universal Quilt
|The Jacks 'R' Better Stealth Universal Quilt (JRB Stealth) is a key piece of gear when I get my skin-out weight below 5 pounds. The JRB Stealth has a slit in the middle, so it can also be worn as an insulating poncho. JRB labels the Stealth as a summer quilt and rates it to +40° to 45° F. I've successfully slept into the 30's under this quilt with no insulating clothing (your mileage may vary).
Like Francis Tapon in his CDT Yoyo, the JRB Stealth is both my "sleeping bag" and my sole insulating garment (Francis used a much warmer version just now available as "The Rocky Mountain Sniveller Quilt"). The poncho/quilt system works well when I hike without stopping during the day. It eliminates about a half pound to a pound for an insulating garment like a down or synthetic high loft jacket (in cold weather, I hike fast enough to stay warm with a light wool shirt and a wind/rain jacket). In camp, I use the quilt briefly as a garment to stay warm while I cook and do chores morning and evening. Otherwise, I'm sleeping under it. (The JRB system works. I have a feeling I need to get a Rocky Mountain Sniveller Quilt to complete my set of all three weights of the JRB Poncho/Quilts) At $200 for a sub-one-pound sleep system with 800 fill power down, the JRB Stealth is an UL bargain.
Weight: 15.5 oz
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 Trekking Poles
|Finally, strong trekking poles that are the lightest in their class. The new 2007 gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 trekking poles use a stronger and stiffer tapered shaft that adds no weight to the previous version of the poles. These are strong enough for anything trail hiking can dish out. At 2.4 ounces each, they are about ¼ the weight and cost less than most high quality UL aluminum and carbon trekking poles. The Lightrek 3 poles pair beautifully as shelter supports for my SpinnTwinn (shared tarp) or my Bozeman Mountain Works Stealth 1 NANO (solo tarp).
Weight: 4.8 oz/pair
Rick Dreher, Gear Editor – Sacramento, California
|Suunto Observer altimeter-barometer-compass watch.
|The Observer is a comprehensive, accurate and fairly easy-to-learn navigation watch. The altimeter, which reads in 1-meter/3-foot increments, is temperature-compensated and quite accurate, exhibiting less drift than many competing altimeters. It stores up to 99 trip logs, dividable by "laps," that preserve date, elapsed time, and total elevation gained and lost. Very nice for reviewing the day's hike. The compass can be calibrated for declination and for use anywhere on the globe. It displays bearing, cardinal bearing, bearing tracking, and north-south arrow.
No less critical, the Observer has a very readable display with effective backlight. And, unlike many other Suunto models and competing watches, it isn't large enough to host a dinner salad. The watch and controls are nicely contoured (no digging into my flesh) and the rubber wristband on my stainless steel model is strong and comfortable (all stainless and all titanium models also available). The user-replaceable battery lasts about two years. Nits: some features are not so intuitive to learn and use, there's no profile graph, no hourly chime and no countdown timer. The alarm has never proven loud enough to wake me.
Weight: 80 grams
|FireLite SUL Long Handled Titanium Spoon.
|How can something so light and seemingly simple be so very useful? The FireLite (the second version from BPL) is great for both cooking and eating. The spoon's bowl is cunningly contoured for maximum utility in digging out food from pot and bag corners without abusing my mouth when eating. It stirs food and scrapes pots better than more traditional, pointy spoon designs. The incredibly thin metal is reinforced by a dimple that runs the handle's length, making it stiff enough for the task. The perforation at the tip means it can be hung or strung. The extra length means it's not fitting in any typical pot or pan, but that's a very minor annoyance compared to the utility it provides. So light is this thing I'm pretty sure if I packed ten, my pack would lose weight.
Weight: 11 grams
|Trangia Alcohol Burner.
|I rediscovered this venerable and classic all-brass stove this season. Paired with a tripod stand, foil windscreen and titanium pot, it's hot enough, adjustable enough, and holds enough fuel to cook a real meal in complete silence. Leftover fuel is preserved for next meal using the screw-on cap.
Controlling and snuffing the flame with the adjustable cap ("simmer ring") can be a challenge (newer models have a helpful tab mine lacks). While ghoulishly "heavy" compared to popular soda can burners, the Trangia keeps me in the world of cooking, as opposed to boil-and-sit. That, and its beautiful brass construction make that extra two or three ounces seem not so bad.
Weight: 111 grams
Doug Johnson, Trekking Systems Editor – Redmond, Washington
|Bozeman Mountain Works Stealth 0 Nano Tarp
|At 3.1 ounces with seam sealer, this is the lightest full-size tarp on the market. Combined with a lightweight bivy, it is an easy way to get ultra-low base weights while still being able to carry a full rain jacket, instead of using a poncho tarp. Besides that, it's Cuben fabric is very strong and with its catenary cut, it holds up remarkably well to strong winds. I love this tarp!
Weight: $159.99
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 trekking poles
|This is a highly refined product. The last generation of Lightrek poles were already a favorite with many staff for their reliability, ultra light weight, and comfortable degree of flex. The new Lightrek 3 are even better, with made in the USA tapered carbon shafts, increased stiffness while retaining a degree of vibration-absorbing flex, and a 0 increase in weight. The new Lightrek 3 poles keep Gossamer Gear at the forefront of the ultralight trekking pole market.
Weight: $130
|Hennessy Hyperlight Backpacker A-Sym backpacking hammock
|What happens when you take the ever-popular Hennessy Ultralight Backpacker A-Sym hammock and you trim over 5 ounces without affecting durability? You go HYPERLIGHT! This hammock has everything you need: full bug and rain protection, the super-sano bottom entry system, quick set-up and take down, reasonable gear storage, and loads of available aftermarket options so you can hammock virtually anywhere and in any conditions. The best part of the Hennessy Hyperlight Backpacker A-Sym is the most comfortable nights' sleep that you'll ever have in the backcountry; the Asymmetrical cut gives a flatter sleeping position and the length is comfortable for my 6'1" height. This hammock is a dream. (Now, if we can only get Tom Hennessy to bring his prototype Cuben rainfly to market- it shaves an additional 7.4 ounces!!!)
Weight: $219.95
Mike Martin, Techniques Editor – Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
|Fenix L0D Flashlight
|The progress in LED lighting technology continues to amaze me. The latest generation of the Fenix L0D flashlight uses the newest "Rebel" LED from Luxeon and produces a claimed 60 Lumens of light output at the highest setting. This is double that of the prior generation model with a Luxeon III LED. The kicker? It does this with no reduction in battery life (8.5 hours low, 3.5 hours medium, and 1 hour high). To put this in perspective, the high setting of the L0D is brighter than my Princeton Tec EOS that's over four times heavier. It's plenty bright for off-trail nighttime navigation. The competition between Philips (makers of Luxeon) and CREE to produce the most efficient LEDs has been great news for consumers, and I expect next year we'll see even better technology. The L0D uses an AAA battery like all of my other winter electronics, so I don't have to carry more than one kind of spare. It works equally well as a hand-held light, or headlamp when clipped to the brim of a hat. I wish the clip were a bit sturdier, but I'm happy to live with it to gain all the other advantages of the light.
Weight: 0.8 oz (measured) with clip and lithium AAA battery
|Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch Zip T
|The Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch Zip T has a unique combination of features that sets it apart from the plethora of other expedition weight base layers. First is its impressive warmth to weight ratio. The stretchy collar seals in warmth around the neck, while the body provides 4 mm of insulation for the same weight as many mid-weight base layers. Second is the Powerstretch fabric. It's 12% Lycra content makes it more absorbent than pure polyester base layers. This is obviously a drawback if it becomes saturated during an unplanned swim, as it will take a very long time to dry. But much like wool base layers, with smaller amounts of moisture like those typically generated from perspiration, the absorbency buffers the collection and evaporation of moisture, reducing "flash-off" chilling and extending its comfort range. Finally, the Zip T is designed to be reversible with a double-sided front zipper. This further extends the comfort range by allowing the user to wear it "smooth side out" for maximum wicking and warmth, or "fuzzy side out" to make it cooler by holding more moisture near the skin and trapping less air.
Weight: 8.8 oz (measured, size large)
|Flexair Ultralight Pillow
|The addition of this single item on my gear lists may forever exclude me from joining the elite sub-five-pound SUL club, but it's my favorite luxury in my pack. Sure, I've spent nights with my head on a wadded up jacket, rolled up pack… even my shoes. But for less than an ounce, I can have a real pillow and a good night's sleep. Durability is fair – I've gone through several and expect them to last about 10 nights on average. Larger versions are available with single and even ridiculously luxurious dual chambers. But I've found the simple, small, single-chambered version to be plenty comfortable when inflated properly. Plus, it's a bit less likely to evoke sneers from my sleep-deprived pillowless hiking companions with 0.6 ounce lighter packs than mine.
Weight: 0.6 oz (measured)
Steve Nelson, Winter Systems Editor – San Francisco, California
|Cassin Ghost Ice Axe
|The Ghost is a lightweight aluminum ice axe meant for non-technical use. The open shaft drives me nuts (it collects snow), and I wouldn't even think of using it for true technical mountaineering, but I sure do find it handy, and it goes on all of my winter trips. I've used it to self arrest, chop steps, anchor my tent or other gear, chip and pry out snow stakes and other items from ice and hard packed snow, and sundry other uses around camp. It's been surprisingly durable over four seasons of use, and I expect it to last for many more. For similar use, consider ice axes from Camp or the ULA "potty trowel."
Weight: 9 oz
|Ursack S29
|There's no perfect, do-it-all food containment solution, but the Ursack S29 Spectra bag and its liner are, in my opinion, the most flexible. I appreciate having a modular system that lets me add or remove the weight and bulk of the liner when it's not required, and a bag that can compress down as food is consumed, or be counterbalanced like a traditional bag if desired. In researching my article in the "Bear" issue of our print magazine, I discovered that every single portable system has been breached even when used properly, including the latest BearVault and old Garcia canisters, and when those are broken into, the bear gets the food. The Ursack is not approved for all areas, and if a bear gets a hold of it, your food may end up crushed or slobbered on – but it's unlikely to be exposed and consumed. Used with care and caution, the Ursack is a fine choice that saves many ounces and is an easier carry than hard-sided canisters.
Weight: 15 oz for bag, 12 oz for liner
|Gossamer Gear Lightrek Plus Poles
|I love these poles. Super-light, with carbon fiber shafts, Kork-o-lon grips, and a Leki-compatible tip, they go on every one of my backpacking and snowshoeing trips. I screw snow baskets onto the tips for winter, trekking baskets the rest of the year, and have used them in very challenging conditions with great success. I particularly like the feel of the grips – they don't get sweaty, and the shape allows both gripping the shaft and gripping the top with comfort. As a single section pole they lack some flexibility in usage, but gain simplicity and save weight. They're not infallible – the older version of the tips fractured in cold weather, and I've had the shaft on the newer, thicker version break once, but use them with moderate care and they're surprisingly durable. Gossamer Gear has a solid warranty, sending replacements for true failures, and a reasonable purchase price for a single new pole when you break one yourself.
Weight: 5.4 oz/pair for 115 cm poles with trekking baskets and keeper loops
Will Rietveld, Packing Systems Editor – Durango, Colorado
|Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape
|Weighing a scant 12.5 ounces with tieout cords and titanium stakes, the Gatewood Cape serves as rainwear, pack cover, and shelter. I really like it because it not only saves a lot of weight, but also provides a better solo shelter than a poncho-tarp. In shelter mode, there's more headroom and there's no need to take along a lightweight bivy for spindrift protection, so that's another 6 ounces saved. In rainwear mode, it has all the advantages and disadvantages of a poncho – it covers me and my backpack, but it flaps in the wind and it blocks the view of my feet. It's not the best rainwear option for off-trail hiking and prolonged rain. Overall, it's very well designed and a great piece of gear to use when only showers are expected.
Weight: 11 oz
|Trail Designs Caldera Cone
|The Caldera Cone serves as both windscreen and potstand. It holds a cook pot by its upper lip, so the pot is completely enclosed in the cone for maximum wind protection and heat transfer. Caldera Cones are available sized to fit most popular lightweight cook pots, from solo to group size. I tested several early prototypes of the Caldera Cone at high elevations (up to 13,000 feet), leading to the production version, which provides excellent wind protection and performance at high altitude. I camp in the alpine zone a lot, so good wind protection is a necessity. The photo shows trout poaching in the Caldera Cone at 12,100 feet elevation. Weighing just 2 ounces for the Cone plus alcohol burner, the Caldera Cone is now my preferred cooking system. Its only disadvantage is that the Cone needs to be carried in a protective drink cup, which is a bit bulky for packing.
Weight: 1-2 oz (depending on pot size)
|Vasque Velocity Trail Shoe
|I have tested quite a few trail shoes, and this one stands out. Granted, the performance of a trail shoe depends a lot on the fit, and I was able to obtain a perfect fit in this shoe, which is available in a wide width. The Velocity has a stiffer molded TPU plate, giving it good stability and pronation control, which is especially noticeable when hiking on rough trails or off-trail. A dual density EVA midsole provides good shock absorption. The upper is plenty durable for hiking through sliderock, and its grippy lugged outsole gets great traction. It's also quite light at 14 ounces/shoe (men's 9). For my feet, the Velocity is my preferred hiking shoe.
Weight: 28 oz
Alison Simon, Editorial Assistant – Washington, D.C.
|Smartwool Women's Microweight NTS Zip-T
|As someone who is has never been able to wear wool, the Microweight T has rocked my world. Perhaps it's the jersey knit that Smartwool uses; perhaps it's the fine fibers of the ultra lightweight merino wool. Whatever it is, the Microweight T works well in a wide range of conditions. I can comfortably wear this top on a backpacking trip into the desert, the snow, or just a nice fall day hike. The Microweight T has a half zip down the front for venting but a collar high enough to protect your neck from the sun.
However, the best part of this garment is that it keeps me stink-free. In a moment I will never forget, after backpacking and climbing in desert canyons for six days and seeing no one, we ran across a group of hikers who had also been out for six days. As we walked away, one of the women in the other group commented, "Wow, she really didn't LOOK like she's been out for six days". I can comfortably say that she, on the other hand, did.
Weight: 5.6 oz
|Oware Dixon Double, Two Person Bivy Sack
|I'm the nester in the family. When we arrive at a campsite, my primary focus is on putting together our trail home for the night. With our new double-wide bivy sack, I've taken nesting to a whole new level. Tents are nice and sleeping bags are comfy, but the double bivy is nest heaven. With it, you get all the benefits of a shelter without being confined in any manner by, well, the shelter. It allows me to finally sleep under the stars at night.
The Oware Dixon Double has a Pertex Quantum top and Silnylon bathtub bottom. It has "nanoseeum" bug netting panel in the hood with a tie-out to keep it off your face. The Bivy protects us from wind and ground moisture, keeps dew and light rain off our down quilt, keeps dirt out and keeps cold drafts from creeping under the edges of our shared quilt. The defined area inside the bivy puts an end to quilt hogging.
Weight: 10.5 oz
|Trader Joe's Dried Dragon Fruit
|We used to be addicted to Trader Joe's (TJ's) unsweetened dried mango-the perfect trail food. My husband loved to tell stories about how the mango was "tradable in desperate situations for just about anything" (I never quite understood what that actually meant). But after a long reign as king of trail food dried mango has a successor, TJ's dried dragon fruit.
Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or pitahaya fruit comes from the vinelike pitaya cactus. It can weigh from 150-600 grams and the flesh, which is eaten raw, is mildly sweet. Eating the fruit is sometimes likened to that of the kiwifruit due to a prevalence of sesame seed-sized black crunchy seeds found in the flesh of both fruits which make for a similar texture upon consumption. It's slightly sweet with exotic and unfamiliar flavors followed with light crunch from the seeds. While one would like to associate many health benefits to something so strange and delicious, there actually is at least one tangible benefit; it seems to lower glucose levels in type 2 diabetics. Move over mango.
Weight: 4.0 oz
Don Wilson, People/Places Editor – Tucson, Arizona
|Arc'Teryx Gamma LT Pants
|These pants have been on the market for some time, but I acquired my first pair this year. They are only slightly heavier than supplex nylon pants, but are far more weather resistant and warmer. I've used my pair constantly for two months – in heat, cold, snow and rain. They are adaptable to a very broad set of conditions. The slight stretch in the material helps to make them mobile and very comfortable. And they come in tall sizes, another plus for me.
Weight: approx 12 oz (varies by size)
|FireLite Mini Firestarting Kit
|This kit is available from the BPL gear store. Since I started using this kit to make cook fires and campfires, I have a whole new relationship with fire. I'm liberated from matches and lighters, which is a good thing. These kits are reliable in all sorts of weather, and have helped me fine-tune my fire making skills. Truly one of the best things to change in my kit this year.
Weight: 0.81 oz (23 g)
|Patagonia R1 Hoody
|This versatile product has been much discussed on the BPL forums. The R1 Hoody is the perfect companion for aerobic activity in cool and cold weather. The very breathable R1 fabric is warm, but stays remarkably dry. The sleeves and torso are cut with extra length to keep you covered while you are active. And the sleeves also have thumb loops to keep your wrists and hands partially covered. The hood fits snugly and wraps your neck, chin and noggin in warmth. The very deep chest zipper allows significant venting when you need it. An excellent product.
Weight: about 11 oz, depending on size


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Son's memory inspires thousands of acts of kindness
A Lincoln couple's forgiveness is helping spread comfort to those touched by tragedy, and joy to those who take their message to heart.
Second graders at Campbell Elementary School in Lincoln took time to fill out cards recently; cards of compassion.
"I am 7 years old," wrote Jake. "Some of us are very worried about you."
"I care about you," wrote Erica. "Hopefully, this letter will make you smile."
The class will send their letters to the families of a small town in Connecticut reeling from a horrifying tragedy.
"So I could do something for them to make them feel better," explains Emily.
It's another act of kindness that has grown from the response of another tragedy, one that hit closer to home.
"There was this amazing love that was released when I saw my son at the coroner's office," explains Shelley Freeman. She and husband, Paul, lost their son, Cameron, to a drunk driver in November 2010. Cameron was two weeks shy of his 22nd birthday.
The anger and venom that spewed from some in the public following the crime shocked and trouble the Freemans.
"To have this intrusion of this negative anger and vengeance did not fit where we were at," said Shelley.
The Freemans told KETV Newswatch 7's Andrew Ozaki they wanted to see Zachary Harrison held responsible for his actions, but they did not hate the 23-year-old.
During sentencing, the Freemans did something few parents would.
"I looked at him and mouthed the words, I forgive you," said Shelley. "And I know he acknowledged it. And that felt good. That felt good."
In that act of compassion, a movement began, now known as the Cameron Effect. Do seven acts of kindness and write them down for others to see.
"It was Cameron's birthday December 7 and it just seemed so right, the number 7," explained Shelley. "You ask people to do seven acts of kindness instead of one act of negative."
Two years later, thousands of good deeds have been written on cards. Many of those were honored on December 7 during one of Sheldon Art Gallery's monthly events.
"Kid's writing, "I'm not going to hit my sister. Ha!" said Paul, describing the small acts they see. They also see big acts, like from Jay Armbrister, the detective who investigated the fatal crash.
Armbrister has talked to thousands of students about what can happen when good people make bad choices.
"It just kind of gnawed at me," said Armbrister. "I thought, there has to be something I could do."
That prompted Nick Hernandez, and the group Positivity Matters, to promote and organize this year's events. Those included making giant quilts from the cards of kindness, and embedding wildflower seeds in other cards that could be planted in the spring.
"Sort of symbolism of the ripple effect," said Hernandez. "Who knows how kindness will grow."
Like to the children at Campbell Elementary. Their cards of kindness will spread from their multipurpose classroom to a community that desperately needs support.
"Because I wanted to make them feel better," explained Jared.
For more information about the Cameron Effect, visit http://www.cameroneffect.com/.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I have heard this following quote quite randomly from many devotees that newly moved into the temple. "I have learned more here in one week (or month) then I have learned in the past 10 years!" This spontaneous quote is heard quite often when new devotees come to the temple frequently or move into to the temple as a full monks (ladies included). One of the reasons for this is that there is so much facility to inquire about the details of Krishna Consciousness, which covers practically every aspect of knowledge. Prabhupada has suggested that we should study his books for 2 hours a day. But when one is in the association of others who are also reading Srila Prabhupada's books then the number of reading hours we have access to multiplies exponentially. At Connect I can ask a question about Krishna and it like I have a great research team dedicated to giving me an answer. Not just one answer but many wonderful answers from different angles. I am really thankful that such a facility is available on the internet for all.
ISKCON Utah Spanish Fork Temple
Hare Krishna
Your humble servant,
Nityananda Chandra Das
- NityānandaChandra's blog
- 447 reads
Mon, 12/17/2007 - 07:22 — thirtho
ofcourse... i m a new comer but i m repecting ur word
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 15:59 — Krishnaowned
This IS My Temple!
I've said this more than once ... without all these wonderful devotees, I would not be anywhere near where I am now. You've all been SO wonderful!
Mon, 12/17/2007 - 03:05 — japaholic
mine too
Connect is my wondeful temple.
I knew about Krishna.com since day one I became KC but for some reason it just dint occur to me to join connect. After a while I started praying to Krishna for devotees association, one day I just joined & here I am associated with all humble devotees. Ever since I joined I have learnt a lot about Krishna, cleared my doubts.
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 15:45 — Navasi
What time is Mongol Arotike Nityananda Chanrdra!!????
lol :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 17:54 — NityānandaChandra
Ha Ha it is always the
Ha Ha it is always the auspicious hour here at Connect.
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 18:00 — Navasi
Oh Good! :)
Ah Ha Ha!....
so glad to hear that! yes, I'd have to agree,
around here it's pretty much auspicious all the time!!!
:) :) :)
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 14:36 — Radwinters
Me Too
I'm also very thankful for this resource. In the past I read a lot of books on Krishna but never really felt that I was "connected" because I had never known any devotees. Now I get to find some over the Internet and I can only conclude that Krishna is using this medium for His will.
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 14:32 — Go-Seva
Jaya Connect!
Hare Krishna~ I feel very fortunate that the wonderful devotees at Krishna.com have created this "virtual temple" for those of us who are aspiring servants of the servant, and who live too far from a temple to regularly attend. Reading and learning from the forums, the blogs and the glorious devotees themselves have brightened my spiritual life immensely. I am sure that this magnificient association of devotees will help me in my journey.
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 15:17 — abrennan
: )
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
Mon, 12/24/2007 - 12:54 — Anand_Gurdas
California Cheese Commercial
Have any of ya'll seen the TV commercial?
Its got a duck chanting "ooommmm" and the cow walks up and says "no you're doing it all wrong, its MMMmmooooooo" (and the duck still can't get it right!"
Very cute
Mon, 12/24/2007 - 15:38 — abrennan
Hey, that cow Stole my
Hey, that cow Stole my line
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 18:01 — Navasi
Chanting Cows
Antony's a chanting cow I guess lol lol lol :)
Sun, 12/16/2007 - 14:28 — Navasi
This Temple
Hare Krishna, Dear Nitynanda Chandra,
Yes, I agree with you on this, I feel this way too....
It is exactly like a temple, connect.
A temple is where devotees come together to serve Krishna and learn about Krishna together... and that's what we do here...
I have always felt like this was just like a temple, this connect community we are all so fortunate to be a part of...
Wonderful example that.... :)
"Iskcon Connect Internet World"
(all we need now is a picture of it!)
Maybe one of our resident artists will paint a picture of a 'virtual temple' for us to use! :) :) :)


text:
Preliminary Materials
At this very moment, countless dicks compete for your attention. Some archived and waiting to be accessed through the same internet search tools you use to find new restaurants, some directed at you personally through the same applications through which you tell your family you are doing just fine. Surely, in your 5-block radius, someone is in the process of organizing his, her, or their junk for a photo, and someone has, to their disdain or delight, on a phone or computer that looks remarkably like yours, just laid their eyes on one.
Despite its omnipresence, the dick pic is remarkably under-theorized. Besides the click-bait paradigm of pathologizing individual senders (albeit sometimes deservedly), the aesthetics, history, and (yes) cultural significance of dick pics has yet to be worked out. But I'm taking up the task today. With a bit of panic and a lot of excitement about debasing my philosophical heroes, I will attempt to place the dick pic at the intersection of anatomical and juridical photography, the #selfie, pornography, and finally, the global brand.[1]
Photo Forensis
Even while the Tumblr Critique My Dick Pic urges its users to think beyond size (and, crucially, beyond gender), it seems essential to remember that measurements—size, width, length, girth, whatever—are some of the dick pic's primary obsessions. Consider how many include a lighter or pencil for scale—or, most literally, are framed against a measuring tape (as in a mug shot). This desperation to quantify persists despite the reams of seemingly excellent advice that sex partners couldn't care less, and the intuitive or experiential evidence that some particularly endowed forms do not function during sex. Size seems inherent to the dick pic's peculiar forensics.
Why the obsession with measurements? In the now-familiar narrative, photography served the essential modernist drive to link vision and truth. Allan Sekula's seminal text "The Body and The Archive," essential for discussing our collective compendium of single body parts, traces photography's perceived truth-function to its mobilization by the police. Indeed, the interpretive conventions of the photograph were established within phrenology and physiognomy, two disciplines bent on interpreting the body's "truths" through its measurements, most often to diagnose criminal or medical pathologies. Of course, during a period of European colonial expansion and in the midst of the emergence of Darwin's theory of evolution, the "truths" photography exposed were often classist, racist, and sexist fictions intended to legitimate class, racial, and gender differences "on organic ground."[2]
Two architects of the medical and criminological image serve as instructive examples for the dick pic's hermeneutics. In the late 1800s, French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon invented a schema for identifying suspected criminals that required their photo archived according to 11 measurements of their body—identification made possible through calculated comparison. Embedding each new photo in this expanding archive, Bertillon called for what Sekula described as "a massive campaign of inscription, a transformation of the body's signs into a text." That dick pics are, on some level, streams of textual 1s and 0s makes this inscription literal.
Around the same time, as Sekula tells it, Francis Galton, the founder of eugenics, invented the composite photograph as a tool to determine a generic criminal type. Galton would take a series of photos on one piece of film and underexpose each according to the ratio of photos in the series so that, he argued, only the visual similarities would emerge. Here, the process called for by Bertillon is inverted: the archive is embedded in the photograph. Galton's methodology is a disturbing precursor of the algorithmic tools that construct our every photo, separating the signal from the noise according to predictive data generated by prior images. Each dick pic, then, bears the marks of all others that came before.[3]
Dick pics suggest that masculinity as we know it was a product of modernity's visual regime. Not only did modernity seek "a biologization of existing class relations," pathologizing the proletariat, as Sekula wrote, but a biologization of existing gender relations as well. It's not that modernity created the demand for a visual basis for masculinity—for centuries, at-birth gender assignments have violently enforced a binary schema on a continuum of genital cues. What modernism added to the farce of gender was the absurd idea that masculinity could exist as a rational quality on a scale, which makes some "more men" than others, and it proliferated the even more absurd idea that that "more" could be marked by the visual cue of a larger cock. At the heart of a dick pic, then, is a profound anxiety about value and the modernist notions that have governed our world.[4]
The dick pic, though, is rarely just about genitals. The discourse around 19th Century medical and juridical photos was characterized by a constant anxiety about extraneous information, prompting a need for what medical scholar Martin Kemp calls "visual pointing."[5] The crumpled sheets, bad lighting, and dirty bathroom floor of the average dick pic take the place of the extraneous details of fashion and setting in the early medical or juridical photo. The very conventions of the genre—and the lack of visual information in the average cock—ultimately promote the ground over the figure of the dick, and, by the logic of conspicuous consumption, highlight mise-en-scène—and not the dick itself—as the ultimate assessor of the dick pic's impact or import. In Suzannah Biernoff's words, "as historical and cultural artifacts, they inadvertently reveal too much."[6]


text:
She wrote:
"Andrew Delbanco classifies as 'cant' the statement that 'dairy is a feminist issue. Milk comes from a grieving mother.' I wonder which of these facts about dairy production he disputes: (1) mammals produce milk only after giving birth; (2) female cows produce milk only if they have recently calved; (3) people cannot take the milk if the calf drinks it; (4) dairy farmers therefore remove calves from their mothers within days of birth; (5) both mother and child resist and protest this separation; (6) mothers often bellow and moan for days thereafter; (7) mothers sometimes go to extreme lengths to locate and re-unite with their calves; (8) dairy farmers utilize restraints to prevent them from doing so.
"Dairy is the product of the exploitation for profit of the reproductive capacities of female bodies. To consider this a feminist issue is a defensible political position. Cows share with us the basic brain architecture responsible for emotion. The idea that mother cows do not grieve when their children are removed from them, and are not grieving still as machines suck the milk from their bodies--that is cant."
When I read the review, I noticed that the words labelled "cant" are directly from the Sexual Politics of Meat Slide Show. I show this powerful image from Peaceful Prairie.
Recently, a young woman came up to me after I showed The Sexual Politics of Meat Slide Show. She told me that her baby had died at birth and how awful it felt to have full breasts and milk for her baby, but not a baby to feed. When people want to know why she is vegan, she feels it is such a personal decision, informed by tragedy, it is hard to speak of it. But she knows herself how milk comes from a grieving mother.
Sometimes, in the midst of a busy day, when we are already involved in acts of justice and compassion, adding to the list of tasks the writing of a letter may seem expendable task. pattrice told me that one day she was eating a tomato salad and reading the Book Review when she came upon the disparaging sentence. And she knew she had to write a letter to the editor in response.
Her letter was published on September 16, 2012 with another great letter responding to "'The Victims' Revolution.'" Link to it and help keep its ideas before people!
pattrice blogs at http://blog.bravebirds.org


text:
- no upcoming events available
Recital Room, Churchill College
St Martin's in the Fields
Chapel Choir of Churchill College
Brandenburg Baroque Soloists
Mark Gotham, conductor
Tickets from the 'Brandenburg Choral Festival' or St Martin's in the Fields websites:
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry, retiring collection
The Dome at Murray Edwards
Mozart: Violin Concerto No.4
Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole
Massenet: Meditation from Thaïs
Mozart: Symphony No.40 in G minor.
Soloists: Jonathan Lee and Christopher Leighton
Conductors: Anna Bennett and Joanna Ward
Recital Room, Churchill College
James Micklethwaite, first year student at Churchill and member of the world-famous King's College choir, will be performing a half-hour, varied programme of tenor songs, including combining some favourites with some lesser-known gems.
The Chapel at Churchill College
The Cantabrigians present "An Evening of English Composers".
We have a cracking concert lined up this Friday to open our Easter term recital series. 'The Cantabrigians', a group of professional female singers and many of them ex-Cambridge Choral Scholars, perform choral works in what promises to be a lovely starter to this term's music events at Churchill.
Programme includes:
Miss a Brevis - Britten
Ave Maria - Holst
Works by Jonathan Dove and Andrew Downes
Free entry, retiring collection for CamCRAG (Convoy Refugee Action Group).
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry
Recital Room, Churchill College
Tchaikovsky: String quartet No. 1 in D major (1st 3 movements)
Bridge: Three Idylls for String Quartet
Danish traditional: Peat Dance
Featuring Churchill college's Eleanor Winpenny and Andrea Case
Free entry
Recital Room, Churchill College
As part of the college's pre formal recital series, Churchill MCR member and former Organ Scholar Edward Lilley performs a series of works on the college's fine Rubio harpsichord.
Louis Couperin, Unmeasured prelude in A major
Jean-Philippe Rameau - Suite in A minor from 'Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin' (1727)
1. Allemande
2. Courante
3. Sarabande
4. Les Trois Mains
5. Fanfarinette
6. La Triomphante
7. Gavotte avec les Doubles de la Gavotte (Gavotte with six variations)
Edward is a first-year PhD student in astrophysics at the Institute of
Astronomy. He was the organ scholar of the Chapel at Churchill College
from 2012 to 2016, during which time he read Natural Sciences. He
currently studies the harpsichord with Douglas Hollick.
Free entry
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry
Recital Room, Churchill College
Admission free (retiring collection). Refreshments will be provided.
Join Karl Schwonik and his trio for their final performance in
Cambridge. This exciting concert of traditional, original and
contemporary jazz will also feature a special appearance by luminary and
local-legend Stuart Barr!
Karl Schwonik - Drums
Chris McMurran - Piano
Fred Smith - Bass
Featuring: Stuart Barr - Spoken Word
"...Schwonik colors the [music] with an active imagination and serious
- Frank Alkyer, DownBeat Magazine
*Karl Schwonik*
Named one of Calgary's 'Top 40 Under 40', YAMAHA Drum Artist and legally
blind drummer Karl Schwonik grew up on a farm near Gwynne, Alberta,
Canada. As a child, he was exposed to a wide range of musical situations
ranging from jazz to polka. Fresh out of high school, Schwonik embarked
on a tour with 2-time Canadian Country Music Award Nominee,
Heather-Dawn. This was followed by an invitation to study at the Banff
Centre where Schwonik was the youngest participant ever in the long-term
career residency programme.
Schwonik has an extremely active schedule; he has completed over thirty
substantial tours throughout North America as a leader. In his travels,
Schwonik has performed in country barns, world-class jazz clubs and
concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center. His
third of four recordings on Chronograph Records, 1+4, was number one on
Canadian jazz radio charts for nearly 2 months. Both 1+4 and Schwonik's
first album, Visions From the Farm, were nominated for a Western
Canadian Music Award for 'Jazz Recording of the Year'.
In 2008, Schwonik founded the Wetaskiwin Jazz Society
(WJS) in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The WJS strives to build
awareness for the arts in the central Alberta region with its three main
programs: the Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp, Jazz-in-Schools and a series of
community concerts. In 2011, Schwonik joined the Board of Directors for
the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA). The AFA is a government
agency responsible for disbursing nearly $30M annually in grants and
scholarships to artists and arts organizations in Alberta.
In demand internationally as both a guest artist and instructor,
Schwonik has taught students of all ages at over two hundred educational
institutions. Among the many honours, awards and distinctions Schwonik
has received are: winning the TD Grand Jazz Competition at the Montreal
International Jazz Festival; the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta's
Emerging Artist Award; the VSA Arts International Young Soloist Award;
the AFM International Diversity Award; and the Queen's Jubilee Award.
The list of supporters of his projects, research and initiatives
includes the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the
Arts, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Anne
Burrows Music Foundation and numerous others.
Recital Room, Churchill College
J. S. Bach Sonata no.1 for Viola da Gamba and Keyboard
( Cello and Piano)
Rachmaninov Andante from Sonata for Piano and Cello
Manuel de Falla Four Songs from "Suite Popular Espanola" transcribed for Cello and Piano
The Recital will last approximately half an hour.
Free entry, retiring collection.
Recital Room, Churchill College
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Suite in D major (descant recorder & harpsichord)Nicola Matteis
Preludio; Balletto; Air & Variation(? - c1707)
Lamento (harpsichord)Johann Jacob Froberger
Sopra la dolorosa Perdita Real Msta. Di Ferdinando IV (1616-1667)
Ré de Romani
Sonata in G minor Op 1 No. 3 (1724)Francesco Barsanti
(treble recorder & harpsichord)(c1690 - ?)
Adagio; Allegro; Largo; Gavotta
Fantasia 7 in D major (voice flute)Georg Philipp Telemann
Alla francese - Presto(1681-1767)
Fantasia, Set 3 No. 5 in G minor (harpsichord)G P Telemann
Sonata in D minor (treble recorder & harpsichord)G P Telemann
Affettuoso; Presto; Grave; Allegro
Dr Férdia Stone-Davis has an MMus from Trinity College of Music, London, where she studied recorders with Philip Thorby and Rebecca Miles. Upon graduating she had lessons with Pamela Thorby. Recent performances include Queen's University, Belfast, the University of Huddersfield (International Computer Music Conference), the University of Göttingen, Germany, and the University of Cambridge.
With an international reputation as a specialist in early keyboard instruments, Douglas Hollick studied with Peter Hurford, Marie-Claire Alain and Gustav Leonhardt. He has played widely both here and abroad, and teaches in Clare and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge. Recent years have seen him playing fortepiano as well as organ, harpsichord and clavichord, complementing his interest in the music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Douglas was awarded a year 2000 Churchill Fellowship to visit North Germany and Denmark researching organs and other keyboard instruments of Buxtehude and the young J S Bach. His recordings on Riverrun Records are Harpsichord and organ music of Christophe Moyreau, Buxtehude, master and pupil, recorded in Buxtehude's church of Sct Mariae at Helsingør in Denmark, Music from the period of the French Revolution for harpsichord, square piano and organ, and Music of the Baroque avant-garde for harpsichord and organ released in July 2007 as a tribute to Buxtehude in his tercentenary year. He has just recorded a further organ CD on the Metzler organ of Trinity College Cambridge, with works from the Andreas Bach Buch including the Passacaglias of both Buxtehude and Bach. This is due for release later this year. See www.rvrcd.com
Free entry
Recital Room, Churchill College
The Hill Chorus is a community choir run by the music societies of the 'hill colleges'. It is open to the whole, extended community: staff, students, fellows, friends, and locals! We sing a range of music both sacred and secular, ancient and modern. Rehearsals are weekly, on Wednesday evenings, starting October 4th, in the Recital Room. We generally sing one, relaxed, informal concert per term featuring a variety of short items. There are no auditions or prerequisites so give it a try whether you're pitch perfect or tone deaf! Contact: Kim Ward email@example.com
Recital Room, Churchill College
An Evening of traditional Persian music.
Recital Room, Churchill College
The Orchestra on the Hill (OotH) brings together instrumentalists from the 'Hill Colleges' to play chamber orchestral music to a high-standard (about Grade 8) and for occasional collaborations with Inter Alios. OotH is always keen to recruit from new players, especially brass and strings! OotH also provides great opportunities to conduct and pay concerti. Rehearsals are on Sundays, 1-3pm in the recital room, with a first, open, one hour rehearsal on Sunday 8 th October.
Contact: OotH President, Rachel Leedham firstname.lastname@example.com
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
The 'Inter Alios' choir is a joint venture between Churchill College where it serves the Christian Chapel at Churchill College, and Murray Edwards College where it serves the 'Humanist Happenings' Series: a new format which is broadly similar to chapel services, but with no theological content. A typical event features a short address on a topical theme, partnered with music and poetry to match. The choir thus provides its members with an opportunity to experience the traditional (Christian) Cambridge Choral Scholar experience and to sing the great works of that repertoire, while also participating in the creation of a new and unique offering. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Recital Room, Churchill College
Our first Friday concert of the term is a special event to celebrate the musical ability of our new students.
This recital will be given by talented freshers performing their favourite works. If you are interested in performing, contact the Concert Series Co-ordinator, Jack Mainwaring (jm2013).
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
With the 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham
The 'Humanist Happenings' are peaceful events with music, poetry, and a short address all organised around a topical theme.
Free and unticketed.
Music by Gibbons, Kate Whitley and others
Recital Room, Churchill College
This concert will feature performances by applicants for the college's music bursaries.
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
With the 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham
The 'Humanist Happenings' are peaceful events with music, poetry, and a short address all organised around a topical theme.
Free and unticketed.
Music by Liszt, Brahms and Lennon/Ono
Recital Room - Churchill College
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry, retiring collection.
The Chapel at Churchill College
Charity jazz concert for The Medaille Trust, which supports the fight against trafficking of women and men.
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
With the 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham
The 'Humanist Happenings' are peaceful events with music, poetry, and a short address all organised around a topical theme.
Free and unticketed.
Jazz improvisation and music by Schubert
Recital Room, Churchill College
Supported by Churchill Jazz Band.
Recital Room, Churchill College
Jos Eckert is the pseudonym for Jocelino Rodrigues, a singer-songwriter originally from Portugal who is doing his Ph.D. in Engineering at Churchill. Jos is an artist whose music has been described as a juxtaposition of acoustic folk melodies with pop sensibilities and bluesy undertones. Come support his original music at 7h30pm on Friday the 24th of November at the Music Centre's Recital Hall.
Be sure to follow Jos on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jos.eckert.music/
Free entry, retiring collection.
The Chapel at Churchill College
The Churchill College Chapel Choir perform a plethora of festive works for the musical highlight of the chapel year, followed by mince pies and mulled wine.
The Chapel at Churchill College
Schubert, Franz: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759, the 'Unfinished'
Schubert, Franz: Entr'acte No. 1 from Rosamunde, D.797
– Interval –
Brahms, Johannes: Eine deutsches Requiem, op.45, Movements 1–3
The 'Orchestra on the Hill' with the 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham
This concert marks the 150th anniversary of the Brahms Requiem with a concert on the exact date and a programme curated in response to that premiere.
Tickets £8 / £5 / £3 available on the door.
Programmes: £1 for hard copy, or digital version available free here.
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
Peaceful events with music, poetry and a short address all organised around a topical theme. With 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham.
Address by Dame Barbara Mary Stocking, DBE
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry, retiring collection.
Fellows' Drawing Room, Murray Edwards College
Peaceful events with music, poetry and a short address all organised around a topical theme. With 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham.
Address by Dr Mary Joannou.
Recital Room, Churchill College
Free entry, retiring collection.
Peaceful events with music, poetry and a short address all organised around a topical theme. With 'Inter Alios' choir, dir. Mark Gotham.
Address by Professor Andrew Webber


text:
Balzac's Paris
A promenade through the monumental
heart of Paris in the time of Balzac, as described
through some of his works, and as documented in maps
and engravings of
The Vernon Duke Collection
Special Collections Department
University of California Library
Balzac's Paris
A Guided Tour
Honoré de Balzac is the first novelist to place Paris,
the great capital city of his time, at the heart of his work.
Balzac's life (1799-1850) spanned a period of intense
urban development, begun by Napoléon I and carried
forward by King Louis-Philippe. And yet the majority of transformations
that created the Paris tourists know today took place after
Balzac, during the time of the Second Empire and Baron Haussmann,
and the Third Republic.
We have chosen Balzac's Paris because
it sits on a historical cusp. Balzac felt, and reveled in,
the dynamics of change. But he did not live long enough to
witness the creation of the urban landscape most of us associate
with Paris today. Almost all today's familiar sites—the
railroad stations, the grands boulevards, the Eiffel Tower
and Sacre Coeur—were absent. What is more, those monuments
that were present existed in settings unimaginable today.
The Arc de Triomphe was in a wooded area at the gates of the
city. The Champs Elysées was a bucolic place of promenade.
The Place de la Concorde had none of today's familiar
statues and fountains. The Palais des Tuileries blocked today's
perspective on the Arc du Carrousel and Louvre.
Indeed, between the Tuileries and Louvre there existed a maze
of streets, unthinkable to those who have witnessed the great
perspective today from Pyramid to Arch of the Defense, themselves
unthinkable monuments to an inhabitant of Balzac's world.
Moreover, the Louvre complex, as it was in Balzac's
time, would be unrecognizable to us today, lacking the wings
completed under Napoléon III. Finally, the heart of
Paris—the Ile de la Cité and attendant left bank—lacked
the neat boulevards of Baron Haussmann's later renovation
and remained a clutter of buildings and narrow winding streets.
If Balzac glories in the new constructions taking place on
the right bank, the left bank he knew was still the medieval
Had we a time machine to transport us physically to Balzac's
Paris, we would discover a dynamic yet totally alien
place. Where Balzac mentions monuments and places that seem
familiar, we need to look again. The documents displayed from
the Vernon Duke Collection—either taken from contemporary
histories and guidebooks or reproduced from such books—allow
us to see, wander in and explore the maps of Balzac's
Paris. We invite the viewer to retake the central
circuit of today's tourist: Arc de Triomphe—Louvre—Ile
de la Cité—Quartier Latin. This time this trip
becomes an exercise in defamiliarization.
A complete Table
of Contents is provided detailing the list of components
within this exhibit. We invite the viewer to compare descriptions
of Paris in Balzac's novels with contemporary documents—maps,
engravings and other visual materials—located in the
Vernon Duke Collection, some
800 books, maps and documents on the history of Paris, located
in the Special
Collections Department of the UC
Riverside Library. We hope to convey the same sense of
unfamiliarity in the familiar to viewers of this exhibition.


text:
California 100.00%
District 4 — California State Assembly
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State assembly members introduce and vote on new laws, hold hearings, and draft the state budget. They are elected to two-year terms.
For this office, only the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary election advance to the general election. The two candidates may be from the same political party.
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Matthew L. Nelson
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It seems that these little primates are becoming big fans of the night vision camera! I was standing right in the window with a normal video camera for this one! They're getting brave!
Tag Archives | accommodation near game reserve
Here come the bushbabies!
Whilst the bushbabies love to hang out in our sandforest here in Hluhluwe, they tend to run off at the sight of humans. But now winter is coming and they have suddenly got very confident… Be prepared for regular updates from these cheeky little monkeys!!
Our Accommodation in Hluhluwe!
For those of you who haven't found this post via the main website of our Hluhluwe accommodation, this is what you have to look forward to when you book at Umkhumbi Lodge. A walk along a winding path (lit by fairy nights at light) leads to your home from home. And don't worry about […]
Did You Know – Flat Lizard
Did You Know – Narina Trogon
Narina Trogon factsheet is this weeks factsheet, see below
Did You Know – King Cricket
Check out his weeks nature factsheet – this week King Cricket
Did You Know – Lion
Check out the wildlife factsheet below! This week is the Lion, and it is on two pages!
Did You Know – Hippopotamus amphibius
See below for this weeks South African animal factsheet!
Did You Know – Skink
Check out this weeks factsheet on Typical Skinks – Trachylepis (Mabuya).
Did You Know – Kudu
Here it is, another factsheet in our South African Wildlife collection. This week is the Kudu – join in the fun next week with the Monday Wildlife quiz on our Umkhumbi Lodge Facebook page.


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BACnet® has turned the corner. The industry is no longer playing a wait-and-see game to assess whether the Building Automation and Control networks protocol delivers as promised.
BACnet stands for Building Automation and Control Network. BACnet is the standard that was developed by ASHRAE in conjunction with building management organizations, system users and building system manufacturers specifically for building automation and control equipment. In 1995, after years of development and revision, the ASHRAE Board of Directors ratified and published the standard as ASHRAE 135-1995. The standard was submitted to ANSI and, in 1995, it also became an American National Standard, ANSI/ASHRAE 135-1995.
Over the next six years, the standard underwent a number revisions and upgrades. In 2001, ASHRAE released an updated standard, ASHRAE/ANSI 135-2001. In 2003, BACnet became an international standard, ISO-16484-5.
Essentially, BACnet is a set of rules governing the exchange of data over a computer network to facilitate
interoperability of various building systems. The five interoperability areas are:
- Data sharing
- Alarm and event management
- Scheduling
- Trending
- Device and network management
As a common communication language, BACnet makes it possible for systems from different manufacturers and/or systems designed for different building automation and control functions to work together. BACnet equipment extends to controllers, gateways, routers and diagnostic tools, and provides a means to send data to a workstation.
Main Benefits for Building Owners
The benefits of interoperability within a BACnet-based facility are obvious. In theory, virtually any automated building control function can be monitored from a single operator workstation, regardless of the control system manufacturer and without the need for gateways that translate data between different systems. This simple, seamless interface levels the playing field between manufacturers and building owners, resulting in more competitive procurement of control systems.
Empowering end users through standardization was the primary motivator for ASHRAE to form a committee that led to BACnets creation. The standard is especially beneficial for large facilities and campus environments, where building control and automation is extensive.
BACnet devices are limited in their effectiveness unless they can carry messages over a data network. There are a number of ways that BACnet allows this: Ethernet, Arcnet,
LON,® MS/TP, and RS-232. The BACnet standard was amended in 1997 to include BACnet/IP. To date, BACnet/IP over Ethernet has been the most common choice of BACnet networking between systems from different vendors.
BACnet is a nonproprietary, open protocol communications standard. It can be applied to practically any type of system found in buildings today, including HVAC, lighting, life safety, access control, transportation and maintenance. By design, it can use a wide range of network technologies for communications. It is a written specification that includes everything from what type of cable must be used to how to initiate a particular information request or command. Its rules are specifically designed for building automation and control equipment, covering such tasks as how to request a temperature reading, send a status alarm or establish a fan schedule.
The approach that BACnet developers took when developing the standard was that for a system to be truly interoperable, there must be some standardized agreement covering two major areas: overall system operation and individual system components. They accomplished this by using an object-oriented approach in examining, controlling, modifying and interoperating with information in different devices. The BACnet object-oriented model has two major components: objects and services.
In BACnet, objects are collections of properties, each representing some bit of information. In addition to standard defined properties, objects may include vendor-defined properties as long as they function in accordance with the standard. BACnet also defines the expected behaviour from each property for that object. What makes the object-oriented approach work is that every object and every property as defined by the system is accessible in exactly the same manner.
The process of reading or writing to a property is what BACnet calls a service. Services are the methods used by any BACnet device when it communicates with another BACnet device, including retrieving information, transmitting information or communicating an action. The standard defines a wide range of services for accessing objects and their properties.
To help ensure that products developed by different manufacturers conform to the BACnet standard, a testing laboratory was established. The laboratory tests and certifies any device for conformance with the standard. The laboratory has also developed a complete set of testing procedures that are to be used by manufacturers.
BACnet is "a data communication protocol for Building Automation and Control networks." This data communication protocol is a set of rules developed by the BACnet committee at ASHRAE governing the exchange of data over a computer network. The rules take the form of a written specification that spells out what is required to conform to the protocol.
There are 5 different options for BACnet, each of which fills a particular niche in terms of the price/performance tradeoff. The first is Ethernet, the fastest at 10 Mbps with 100 Mbps also available. ("Mbps" stands for "millions of bits per second.") Ethernet is also likely to be the most expensive in terms of cost per device.
There are two forms of BACnet for Ethernet. One is called BACnet Ethernet for dedicated BACnet lines and the other is BACnet for TCP called BACnet/IP which can run on a non-dedicated Ethernet line. Next comes BACnet ARCNET at 2.5 Mbps. Both Ethernet and ARCNET can use a variety of physical media including coaxial cable, twisted pairs, even fibre optic cable.
For devices with lower requirements in terms of speed, BACnet defines the BACnet MS/TP (master-slave/token-passing) network designed to run at speeds of 1 Mbps or less over twisted pair wiring (RS-485). All of these networks are examples of "local area networks" or LANs. BACnet also defines a dial-up or "point-to-point" protocol called BACnet PTP for use over phone lines or hardwired RS-232 connections. A key point is that BACnet messages can, in principle, be transported by any network technology, if and when it becomes cost-effective to do so.
BACnet is Global
BACnet is not just an American phenomenon. It has steadily gained acceptance throughout the world. Recent surveys have revealed that BACnet installations are in nearly 100 countries and on every continent, including Antarctica. Thats because the inherent interoperability of BACnet and the many enhancements over the years have given end users unprecedented freedom to mix and match building control equipment from a growing array of manufacturers.
All recommended modifications to the ASHRAE standard are published openly and anyone can comment. Suggestions for improving BACnet come from professionals throughout the world. BACnet is truly living up to its original promise of making it easier to integrate building systems with diverse functions from different manufacturers. A global network of designers, manufacturers, installers, building owners and operators are more frequently turning to BACnet as a way to make all the unique systems within a building perform as a more cohesive entity. And it is rapidly becoming an international standard that is supported by technical experts from around the world. BACnet has been approved as ISO Standard 16484-5, it is a Korean national standard, and is a European pre-standard. BACnet Interest Groups have formed in Europe, the Middle East, AustralAsia and Russia to market the protocol and resolve
technical issues.


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Ivan Biliarsky
"Old Testament Models and the State in Early Medieval Bulgaria"
Anthony Cutler
"Protoplasts, Patriarchs and Prophets: The Old Testament in Ivory"
Nicholas de Lange
"The Greek Bible of the Byzantine Jews"
Elizabeth Jeffreys
"Old Testament 'history' and the Byzantine chronicle"
John Lowden
"Octateuch Illustration: Paradigms and Paradoxes"
Jane Dammen McAuliffe
"Connecting Moses and Muhammad"
Robert Ousterhout
"New Temples and New Solomons"
Georgi R. Parpulov
"The Psalms and Personal Piety in Byzantium"
Charlotte Roueché
"The Bible in the Byzantine Admonitory Tradition"
"Old Testament Models and the State in Early Medieval Bulgaria"
Ivan Biliarsky
After adopting Orthodox Christianity, the early medieval Bulgarian state moved away from the barbarian period of its history, and toward a new State identity based on the Byzantine model. In this way in the 9th-10th centuries Bulgaria passed through a period during which the State maintained some aspects of paganism, but was concomitantly creating a new Christian identity, although this interpretation of the state was not yet based on a vision of itself as being oecumenical as the Byzantine model purposed to be. We can perceive in the newly converted Bulgar state some traces of this ideological construct in rare historico-apocalyptical texts. The goal of these texts was to argue for the special place of the neophyte state and its people within the schema of the Christian world and its history leading toward mankind's progress toward salvation. We possess only small portions of these texts, which make their research quite difficult. That is why my main goal is to maintain that such an ideological construct did exist, and to propose some ideas about its characteristics.
As the entire barbarian world, which politically, militarily and ideologically opposed the increasingly disintegrating Roman Empire, the state of the Bulgars attempted to identify itself with the Children of Israel, the Chosen People. This was the only political and state model, which was based on Holy Scripture and which was different from the already existing Roman model of a Christian State. It stood in opposition to the universalism of the Romans/Byzantines, and was typical of barbarian kingdoms, which was strongly related to their ethnic composition. In my communication I present my observations on some historical and juridical texts, which could suggest to us some ideas about the ideology of early medieval Christian Bulgaria.
History has a special importance in the formulation of ethnic or national identity. During the transitional period from the pagan state to the emergence of an empire based on a Byzantine model, we note that there are some efforts to forge a link between the polytheistic past (= an ethnicity based on divine predecessors) and the neophyte people. This is demonstrated by the inclusion of mythological texts in the Christian chronicles, in order to include the recently converted people within the Biblical history of the People of the Covenant. We see this in the manner in which the list of the Bulgar Khans was preserved within the framework of a Christian universe in the text "Hellenic and Roman Chronicle," and from important data that we have from some other apocalyptic texts.
The epithet the "Chosen People" relates to the Israelites' special relationship to God, because of the law and covenant that was forged between them. This is why the Law has such a special importance in Jewish religion and culture, as well as the formation of the image of the New Israel in the newly Christianized peoples. We find analogies present in the barbarian kingdoms that confirm the same beliefs there. This is the reason one must pay special attention to the Slavic legal texts of the 9th-10th centuries and the Old Testament patterns presented in them.
Finally Bulgaria became a state with imperial pretensions based on the Roman/Byzantine model. These remained always in the realm of pipe dreams, but they strongly marked the ideology of medieval Bulgarian culture. This later development will not be the subject of this paper, which deals with this short historical period after the pagan epoch, when the remains of barbarian ethical spirit still dominated the recently converted Bulgar state, which was eager to perceive itself as the New Israel.
"Protoplasts, Patriarchs and Prophets:
The Old Testament in Ivory"
Anthony Cutler
Even if we make allowances for a large body of material that may have been lost, it is still remarkable that such favorite Early Christian and Early Byzantine scenes and figures as Noah's Ark, the Crossing of the Red Sea, Job, Jonah, etc. find no counterparts in Middle Byzantine ivories. Yet the number of OT scenes and persons depicted in this medium is more than double that of NT and Apocryphal themes. This abundance initially calls into question the sources employed by the carvers. Yet surely more important are the image of ivory derived from the OT and, above all, the roles played by the diverse iconographies ultimately dependent on this text. These vary from uses in which the OT material is clearly subordinate to NT imagery, through compositions in which it serves to parallel NT subject matter, to occasions on which it is entirely independent. Some explanations for the presence of Adam and Eve, Joseph, David and Joshua have been proposed in the past. But if the question of the OT's agency is to be confronted, the field as a whole needs to be surveyed.
"The Greek Bible of the Byzantine Jews"
Nicholas de Lange
The use of Greek Bible versions by the Jews of Byzantium is a subject shrouded in mystery. While we know a fair amount about the text of the Hebrew Bible current in Byzantium and the uses to which it was put, its Greek counterpart has left very few traces. Nevertheless the study of these scant remains is of great interest, from a number of points of view, most notably for the cultural history of Byzantine and Greek-speaking Jewry, for the history of the Greek Bible, and for the study of the medieval Greek language.
We shall begin from the better-known subject of the Hebrew Bible, which, from small and contested beginnings (cf. Justinian, Nov. 146), was gradually imposed upon or took root in Byzantine Jewish communities, so that by the end of the 9th century at the latest it seems to have become one of the basic texts of education in these communities (together with the Hebrew prayer book and the Talmud). A lectionary of biblical readings became an integral part of public worship for Jews in Byzantium, as indeed it was throughout the Jewish world.
What place did this development leave for the Greek Bible, which had previously been the sacred scripture of Greek-speaking Jews? It appears (always bearing in mind the scarcity of evidence) that Greek translations continued to play a number of roles throughout the middle ages, both in the synagogue and in the school.
Firstly, since Hebrew was not a spoken language, students studied the Hebrew Bible in Greek, and not on the basis of free, improvised translations but rather making use of existing translations, which may indeed have been learnt by heart.
Secondly, these translations may have been read out in the synagogue before or after the public reading of the Hebrew, whether as an aid to comprehension or as a concession to those traditionalists who may have wished to uphold the time-honoured usage of the Greek-speaking synagogue.
Thirdly, there are some indications that, at least in some places or on certain occasions, the Greek translation was read out instead of the Hebrew.
What were the Greek translations like? They were certainly not the same as those used in the Christian church. They were much closer to the ancient translation of Aquila, from which they were probably ultimately derived. The Hebrew from which they were translated was the masoretic text, and they were very faithful indeed to the diction (syntax and word order, and even paronyms) of the Hebrew. At the same time they freely admitted elements from the colloquial language.
These Greek translations were not unknown to Christians: we find references to them and even perhaps quotations from them in polemical texts against Judaism, and they are cited in marginal glosses to some Christian biblical manuscripts.
"Old Testament 'history' and the Byzantine chronicle"
Elizabeth Jeffreys
The Old Testament is fundamental to the Byzantine Christian world view, as is well demonstrated, for example, in the sixth century by Cosmas Indicopleustes' determination to make his account of natural phenomena accord with details from the Biblical narratives. More broadly, the Creation narrative provided a basis for understanding the natural world, while the more 'historical' elements gave a chronological framework to be interwoven with the ruler lists from Hellenic non-Christian traditions: all can be pressed into use for typological foreshadowings of the new order of the New Testament. The most obvious use of the Old Testament in Byzantine chronicles is indeed as an element in the ruler lists that are dominant in the early phases of the tradition and which underpin it to the end. However, some episodes are given particular emphasis. This paper proposes to look at two such episodes in the chronicle of John Malalas (III.13: the contest of Moses and Aaron with Iannes and Iambres; V.40-42: Hezekiah's defeat of Sennacherim) and to explore their primary context and their subsequent development, if any, by later writers.
"Octateuch Illustration: Paradigms and Paradoxes"
John Lowden
The Septuagint, with or without images, did not circulate in Byzantium in a handy single volume. Among the Old Testament books, only the Psalms, when combined with biblical canticles in the volume termed the Psalter, were frequently produced in versions with and without illustration. Indeed the Psalter was second only to the Gospels in the number of illustrated manuscripts produced in the Byzantine world. The surviving evidence shows that there were many alternative methods of Psalm illustration in addition to the characteristic marginal type. And yet the rich and varied evidence of Psalters has not been considered as a model for Byzantine approaches to Old Testament illustration, its production, consumption, audience and argument. Instead it is the small number of surviving illustrated Octateuchs, and their lost models, that have been proposed as exemplars of Byzantine methods and techniques of manuscript illumination. Why should this be so, and what difference does it make? These are the questions this paper sets out to answer.
"Connecting Moses and Muhammad"
Jane Dammen McAuliffe
The qur'anic landscape is populated with prophets, both biblical and non-biblical, and stories of earlier prophets serve several functions. They situate God's final prophet, Muhammad, as successor to a long line of individuals who have been favored with divine revelation. They vividly depict the punishments visited upon recalcitrant peoples who reject their prophets and the warnings these prophets deliver. They showcase spiritual luminaries who have secured special divine favor and whom all are urged to emulate. In this large qur'anic cast of pre-Islamic prophets none figures more prominently than Moses. Well over a hundred attestations and allusions appear throughout the Qur'an and taken together they allow a strikingly detailed portrait to emerge. That portrait, in turn, functions as a prefiguration. Repeatedly the Qur'an links the life and experiences of Muhammad with those of Moses, offering a typological interpretation of key episodes and events. The Moses narratives in the Qur'an provide us, therefore, with a prime entry point for probing the connections between the Qur'an and the Bible from multiple perspectives.
"New Temples and New Solomons"
Robert Ousterhout
At the Orlando, Florida, theme park, "The Holy Land Experience," the Temple of the Lord stands out as the dominant attraction. It is a grandiose building, apparently based on the Temple of Solomon. Nearby, the divine presence, the shekinah, is recreated nightly with smoke and lights. The Tomb of Christ, represented by General Gordon's Garden Tomb, simply pales by comparison. The striking contrast between the two may be exaggerated for one simple reason: the actual tomb still exists (and thus verisimilitude is in order), while the Temple does not.
The Temple of Jerusalem had disappeared long before the Byzantine period, but the idea of the Temple loomed large then as it does now. In a very general way, the sanctuary of a Byzantine church became an image of the Temple, even borrowing its terminology: ta hagia ton hagion. In Byzantine art, in scenes such as the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, the setting is the sanctuary of a Byzantine church, as for example in the inner narthex mosaics of the Chora.
The relationship of the sanctuary to the Temple is more metaphorical than mimetic, however, for although the descriptions of the Temple recorded in the Old Testament were known in the Byzantine period, there is no attempt to replicate its forms. How much did the descriptions of the Temple influence church planning? John Wilkinson has proposed that the proportional systems underlying the design of many Early Christian basilicas referred directly to the proportions of the Temple. Indeed, in his descriptions of the church at Tyre and at the Holy Sepulchre, Eusebius seems to follow the familiar description of the Temple.
In this paper, I would like to examine a few well-known examples of Byzantine architecture, for which the symbolism of the Temple figures prominently, and to question what the association with the Temple signified in each specific context, and how it was expressed in architectural terms. In the first part of the paper, I shall look at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, for which the description by Eusebius parallels contemporaneous exegetical writings. The contrast of the ruins of the Temple with Constantine's grand new complex emphasized the transformation from the Old to the New Covenant. At the same time, the Holy Sepulchre complex began to assimilate relics, dedications, and events associated with the Temple, signalling a subtle transformation in the symbolic relationship of the two Jerusalem buildings.
For the second part of the paper, I will turn to the thorny issue of the interpretation of Justinian's Hagia Sophia. Although its symbolism may be elusive, it signals the importance of the Old Testament to Byzantine imperial ideology. Just as Eusebius had done for Constantine's building, Procopius is quick to borrow the metaphor in his description of the church. The monumental discourse between Hagia Sophia and Anicia Juliana's church of H. Polyeuktos is instructive here, as Martin Harrison (and many others) have noted. The discourse, I will argue, was more about the construction of sacred kingship than about sacred topography. Clearly, both Juliana and Justinian understood the symbolic value of architecture, with which they could make powerful political statements.
"The Psalms and Personal Piety in Byzantium"
Georgi R. Parpulov
Continuous recitation of the Psalms was a key part of the ascetic routine of Byzantine monks and was often also practiced as a devotional observance by lay persons. My paper will review a selection of textual sources on the use of the Psalter in private piety: the Hypotyposis of Nicetas Stethatos, Chapter XXIX from the Pandects of Nikon of the Black Mountain, a Diataxis pseudonymously attributed to Saints Sabas and Theodosius, two letters of Patriarchs Luke Chrysoberges and Philotheos Kokkinos, and a Slavic preface to the Psalter attributable to Saint Sabas of Serbia. I will then examine the ways in which devotional use affected the form of manuscript Psalters in terms of page size, layout and segmentation of the text, rubrics, ornament, and accompanying images. Examples discussed include the Uspenskii Psalter (Saint Petersburg, NLR, Ms gr. 216), the Khludov Psalter (Moscow, SHM, Ms muz. 129), the Theodore Psalter (London, BL, Add. ms 19352), the Dumbarton Oaks Psalter and New Testament (DO, Ms 49), the Harvard Psalter (Houghton Library, Ms gr. 3), and the Dionysiou Psalter (Athos, Dionysiou, Ms 65).
"The Bible in the Byzantine Admonitory Tradition"
Charlotte Roueché
Nineteenth and twentieth century attitudes to biblical knowledge, and the status of the Bible, particularly in Protestant countries, have tended to encourage anachronistic expectations about the role of the Bible in the profoundly Christian society of Byzantium. Such expectations may blind us to the way in which the Bible was in fact used and even known. I intend to present some of the evidence for the role of florilegia of maxims as sources of biblical knowledge in Byzantium.