John Adams- On the Transmigration of Souls free essay sample

For many, attending a performance of John Addams new piece â€Å"On the Transmigration of Souls† written for the New York Philharmonic is like being invited to a party but being given the wrong address as a cruel prank. Early on, one realizes a mistake has been made, one grave enough to potentially ruin the entire evening. All is not lost on this musical experiment, however, which presents itself as a rambling, rather over-zealous source of mockery. What makes it all so frustrating is that everything (save for the music) is perfect: the elegant setting of the auditorium, the acoustics, the warm tonal qualities of the instruments, and the pristine pitch of the Oregon Symphony Choir. The piece, an orchestral homage to September 11, is intriguing in its nature but fails to lift itself from its initial melodramatics, languishing instead in its pretentious and overtly-modern filth. The precision of the symphony is undeniably honed, and although executed marvelously, â€Å"Transmigration† simply looms over ones head, like a pinata which spills forth Brussel sprouts instead of candy. We will write a custom essay sample on John Adams On the Transmigration of Souls or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If â€Å"On the Transmigration of Souls† teaches us anything, it is to find the humor in any scenario, no matter how disappointing; although this joke is on us, we are all afforded a hearty laugh in retrospect.

Greek Goddess Athena, Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom

Greek Goddess Athena, Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom She sums up many of the Greeks gifts to Western culture, from philosophy to olive oil to the Parthenon. Athena, daughter of Zeus, joined the Olympians in a dramatic way and figured in many founding myths, including taking an active part in the Trojan War. She was the patron of the city of Athens; its iconic Parthenon was her shrine. And as the goddess of wisdom, the strategy of war, and the arts and crafts (agriculture, navigation, spinning, weaving, and needlework), she was one of the most important gods to the ancient Greeks. The Birth of Athena Athena is said to have emerged fully formed from the head of Zeus, but there is a backstory. One of Zeus many loves was an Oceanid named Metis. When she became pregnant, the King of Gods remembered the danger he posed to his own father, Cronos, and in turn, how Cronos dealt with his father Ouranos. Wary of continuing the cycle of patricide, Zeus swallowed his lover. But Metis, in the darkness of Zeus interior, continued to carry her child. After some time, the King of Gods came down with a royal headache. Calling upon the blacksmith god Hephaestus (some myths  say it was Prometheus), Zeus asked that his head be split open, whereupon sprang gray-eyed Athena in her glory. Myths About Athena Befitting the patron of one of Hellas greatest city-states, Greek goddess Athena appears in many classic myths. Some of the most famous ones include: Athena and Arachne: Here, the Goddess of the Loom takes a skilled but boastful human down a peg, and by transforming Arachne into tiny, eight-legged weaver, invents the spider. The Gorgon Medusa: Another tale of Athenas vengeful side, the fate of Medusa was sealed when this beautiful priestess of Athena was wooed by Poseidon in the goddess own shrine. Snakes for hair and a petrifying gaze ensued. The Contest for Athens: Once again pitting the grey-eyed goddess against her uncle Poseidon, the contest for the patronage of Athens was decided for the god who bestowed the best gift to the city. Poseidon brought forth a magnificent (salt water) spring, but wise Athena gifted an olive tree- a source of fruit, oil, and wood. She won. The Judgement of Paris: In the unenviable position of judging a beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, the Trojan Paris put his money on the one Romans would call Venus. His prize: Helen of Troy, nà ©e Helen of Sparta, and the enmity of Athena, who would tirelessly back the Greeks in the Trojan War. Athena Fact File Occupation: Goddess of Wisdom, Warcraft, Weaving, and Crafts Other Names: Pallas Athena, Athena Parthenos, and the Romans called her Minerva Attributes: Aegis- a cloak with the head of Medusa upon it, spear, pomegranate, owl, helmet. Athena is described as gray-eyed (glaukos). Powers of Athena: Athena is the goddess of wisdom and crafts. She is the patron of Athens. Sources: Ancient sources for Athena include: Aeschylus, Apollodorus, Callimachus, Diodorus Siculus, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Nonnius, Pausanias, Sophocles and Strabo. A Son for a Virgin Goddess: Athena is a virgin goddess, but she has a son. Athena is credited with being part-mother of Erichthonius, a half-snake half-man creature, through an attempted rape by Hephaestus, whose seed spilled on her leg. When Athena wiped it off, it fell to earth (Gaia) who became the other part-mother. The Parthenon: The people of Athens built a great temple for Athena on the acropolis, or high point, of the city. The temple is known as the Parthenon. In it was a colossal gold and ivory statue of the goddess. During the annual Panathenaia festival, a procession was made to the statue and she was clothed in a new outfit. More: Since Athena was born without a mother sprung from her fathers head in an important murder trial, she decided that the role of the mother was less essential in creation than the role of the father. Specifically, she sided with the matricide Orestes, who had killed his mother Clytemnestra after she had killed her husband and his father Agamemnon.

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Knowledge Management - Essay Example The paper talks about knowledge management that has been developed as a tool as well as an effective strategy that focuses on using of data, information and knowledge among the people in an organization. It therefore concentrates on creating, sharing and utilizing the data or information that are either stored in database or documented in scripts or papers, and converting them to useful forms of knowledge for the benefits of the organization. Data is un-processed information, and when these are gathered, analyzed, interpreted and recorded in documents or database, it becomes information. Knowledge occurs when people gain information and are processed for the use of them in the organization. For several years, organizations have been solely depending on documents for recording and analyzing the data as well as information, but in recent years, technologies have got major significance and roles in the knowledge management landscape due to the advances in information technology. Tacit a nd Explicit knowledge are common terms in knowledge management literature. Knowledge can be classified as either explicit or tacit. This classification is based on where the data, information and knowledge are stored. According to this classification, knowledge management is a process of storing and making them used for the business throughout the papers, documents, data base as commonly referred as explicit knowledge. Information and knowledge that exists in people’s mind are known to be part of tacit knowledge. ... Tacit and Explicit knowledge are common terms in knowledge management literature. Knowledge can be classified as either explicit or tacit. This classification is based on where the data, information and knowledge are stored. According to this classification, knowledge management is a process of storing and making them used for the business throughout the papers, documents, data base as commonly referred as explicit knowledge. Information and knowledge that exists in people’s mind are known to be part of tacit knowledge (Noe, p. 170). Knowledge that are stored in computers assisted by certain specially built software are very similar to that of tacit knowledge, despite the fact that they are commonly referred as explicit, because they can easily be processed than that of papers or documents. Though both papers and technology data base together are known as explicit forms, technology has made tremendous changes and brought greater conveniences in the field of knowledge managemen t, because technology made knowledge management an easy process. Tacit knowledge is more valuable and possesses greater significance in terms of its effectiveness to business, because knowledge that exist in people’s mind can easily be processed, transferred, shared and converted to more useful forms. People may need more efforts in identifying suitable information from the documents or computers, analyzing them, summarizing and interpreting and finally using them for the business purposes. In short, knowledge management comprises of creation, sharing and using of information and knowledge, that are stored either in papers, documents, database or