text:
The Duke of Wellington had chosen the battlefield well, this is where Napoleon would be defeated for the last time. It was 9 miles south of Brussels, Wellington knew he had to stop Napoleon reaching the city. His army was 24,000 strong and made up of British, Dutch, Prussian and other smaller Germanic states. He positioned his army on a ridge overlooking a wide open plain of farmland. Three farm complexes stood on the plain. Perfect to fortify and resist the oncoming French army. The Napoleon had 41,000 soldiers under his command. This was going to decide the fate of Europe for 100 years. Private Smith was stationed at the chateau of Hougoumont, to the extreme right of the battlefield. The house was surrounded by a high wall with an orchard within it's grounds. The company knew that would be the first to engage the French. This was Smith's first full scale battle, he had only joined the army 3 months before. At 10am on the morning of the 18th of June the battle began, the French artillery roared into life, pounding the ridge. Private Smith loaded his musket and waited for the oncoming assault to begin. From his position on the wall he could see an area of ground and trees further towards the French. He knew they would be coming through the trees and into the open ground if they were to capture the farm house.

As the thunder of guns continued he could heard the distant march of French soldiers foot steps and the sounds of horns and trumpets. Out of the wood came hundreds of troops charging at the wall. He stood firm and waited for the signal to fire from his captain. The French opened fire as they got to the open ground at them. Once the soldiers were only a few feet away did the captain give the order to open fire. The air instantly become thick with smoke as dozens of muskets fired at once. Smith couldn't see who he was aiming at but he knew his bullet hit it's target. The noise of the battle grew louder and louder. Wave after wave of soldiers charged the walls and every time the British repelled the attacks. The chaos and confusion of battle began to effect Smith. Again and again he loaded and fired, never knowing if he had hit his target.

As Smith continued to fight for his life the French managed to break the north gate and stormed into the courtyard. Luckily the Coldstream Guards arrived in time to reinforce and drive back the enemy. The fighting continued into the afternoon. Private Smith's ammunition was beginning to run out and many of his friends had been killed or wounded. He sat inside the chateau looking out towards the rest of the battle. Far away on the top of the ridge he saw great squares of men repelling many waves of the famous French cavalry. Down on the plain great lines of soldiers marching up towards the ridge but were being pounded by British cannon fire. Looking over the orchard he saw a group of French infantry men climbing over a low wall, he took up his musket and opened fire. The infantry men took cover behind the trees and returned fire. The smoke of Smith's gun masked his view. A comrade came running into the room and over to the window to give cover fire. Suddenly Smith felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, looking down he saw blood bleeding out and soaking his jacket on his right side. He has been hit. Some more men from his company helped him move into another room. Laying down on the floor the pain grew more and more intense. Private Smith closed his eyes knowing that he wasn't going to open them again.

title: [HF] Waterloo

question: Who is Private Smith?

answer: Private Smith is a soldier fighting in his first full scale battle

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: Brussels, Belgium

question: How does the chaos and confusion of battle affect Smith?

answer: Private Smith can't tell if he is hitting his targets.

question: How does the story end?

answer: Private Smith is mortally wounded in battle.

question: What day of the week is it?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Private Smith is stationed with the Duke of Wellington's army at the chateau of Hougoumont, preparing to fight against Napoleon's army. He is a new soldier and this is his first full scale battle. Smith fights for his life against the French, but eventually succumbs to a mortal wound.


split: test

text:
Dear Julia,

High school fucking blows.

That might be a bit of an understatement. It doesn't really blow, per say, only tear apart everything you've ever thought to be true about life. There's no more skipping homework assignments, slacking off on upcoming tests, or missing class for being sick. There's no such thing as free time or relaxation anymore. There's no place in this eight-month period of time for video games, friends, or parties. If you're like me and have to support yourself because your family can't afford to, you also have to work a job, which means every waking moment of your life is dedicated to hard work, homework, and the elusive 4.0 GPA.

There's no time for flirting, romance, or a girlfriend. All of those things merely amount to wasted time, and every fleeting minute is time you could spend brushing up on a recent topic, or even looking ahead to what you could be learning in the future! You could set me up on a date, pay for everything, even taxi me around so I could save my precious money for gas, and I'd still wonder how this helps me find the derivative of the function f(x).

Mallory Fishmann was the answer I was looking for. She fucked up all of the above.

Ever hate a girl so much you wanted to rape her? No? Good.

No sane person ever goes out and rapes someone. Rape is bad. Everyone knows that. It's one of those things that frequents the nightly news, commonly enough to where we dismiss it because it's just "one of those bad things that happens". That sure didn't stop Mallory from getting my brother thrown in jail, though.

Ryan was a great guy. Starting running-back on the football team, a solid 3.8 GPA off the field, and (as the ladies put it) 'devilishly handsome'. He made the ladies swoon and sigh, gawk and giggle, but he never really paid much attention to it. He had more important things to do in life, like volunteer at the local crisis ministries to help deliver groceries to the less fortunate. He was the perfect example of the perfect human being God graced this Earth with. To Portland, Oregon, he was a hero. To 1309 Knoxville Court, he was my twin brother.

In the typical cliche fashion, I'm obviously the exact opposite of Ryan. I sit at my computer playing video games and making YouTube videos. I'm pasty, scrawny, and my choice of clothing was about as far "off-fleek" as humanly possible. Both of my past relationships have been total busts. One was suicidal, and the other was bipolar, bisexual... and suicidal. I'd practically given up on girls. I mean, who needs them? Who needs the warm, tender embrace of a woman, with her soft hands slowly gliding across the surface of my skin, her eyes drawing me closer and closer to her face, her lips so enticing and...

I haven't given much thought to girls recently.

Ryan and I were only similar in the fact that we really didn't pay attention to love for a while. It was only during my Junior year that I started to branch out and try hanging out with some of the girls from the anime club. For Ryan, he basically had his pick of the crop when it came to a girlfriend. He could point to any girl, say her name, and wet floor signs would appear out of nowhere. I've literally seen fights between girls arguing over who he winked at, but that's at the far end of the psycho-cheerleader spectrum. He could have chosen any girl in the school, but he chose the one girl that wouldn't even give him a second glance: Mallory.

You should've seen the way he acted around her. Ryan went from a man of confidence to, well, ME in an instant. He didn't know how to talk, how to act, and this only made Mallory laugh at him. But, in his oh so persistent mind, this never stopped him. He spent weeks talking to her and working up the courage to ask her out, and she said no. Ryan was shattered, but not completely broken. They stayed friends long enough for the second attempt at dating, to which Ryan got a positive response. Was it the hardest thing he's ever done? Not at all. But for him, dating Mallory was like getting a full ride to Stanford: the ultimate jackpot.

They were honestly really good together. They seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company, and I was happy for him. I was dating some girl in band during that point in our lives (her name was Sarah. Ended up being a total whore and dating my best friend later. I'm not salty at all), and generally life was good. Until Mallory fucked it up.

Or, rather, claimed that Ryan fucked HER up.

One day the police showed up at our door. Our dad answered, and immediately Ryan was ushered out the door into the luminescent cop car parked outside. Dad demanded to know what happened, and learned the hard 'truth': Ryan had raped Mallory, and there was enough evidence to take her claim to court. As the cop and my brother rolled out of the driveway, my dad pulled out his phone to call my mom and find out what to do. She didn't answer. She never answered anymore. I blame it on the twenty-something year old bellhop from that one hotel in the Bahamas they stayed at on their anniversary. Jerk.

Ryan lost the case. He was tried as an adult and sentenced for five years, three on good behavior. Ryan went to prison, Mallory went home, and I became the twin brother of "the guy who raped that chick".

There's a reason I told you about how they met. I don't think he did it. I think Mallory is a liar, and that I unfortunately got the stupid backlash from Ryan's arraignment. So you know how I said that my first statement was an understatement? Let me amend that:

High school "unwillingly and forcefully" fucking blows.

title: [RF] Dear Julia...

question: Who is this letter written to?

answer: It is written to Julia.

question: Who wrote the letter?

answer: The twin brother of Ryan wrote the letter.

question: What does Mallory accuse Ryan of doing?

answer: She accuses him of raping her.

question: What does the narrator believe?

answer: He believes that Mallory lied.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator writes a letter to Julia about how much he hates high school. He blames his hate for high school on Mallory. Mallory was the girl that his twin brother, Ryan, liked. Mallory accuses Ryan of rape and Ryan is tried in court as an adult and goes to jail. The narrator believes that Mallory lied.


text:
Education in Gabon is largely based on the French educational system. On the federal level, it is regulated by two Ministries: the Ministry of Education, which is in charge of Pre-school through to High School, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Innovative Technologies, which is in charge of universities and professional schools.

Education is compulsory for children ages 6 to 16 years[1] under the Education Act. Most children in Gabon start their school lives by attending nurseries (_Crèche_), then kindergarten (_Jardins d'Enfants_). At age 6, they are enrolled in primary school (_école primaire_) which is made up of six grades. The next level is secondary school (_école secondaire_), which is made up of seven grades. The intended age at graduation is 19 years. Graduates of secondary school can apply for universities or other institutions of higher learning, such as engineering schools or business schools.

Approximately 9.6% of Gabon's government budget goes to education. The school life expectancy is 13 years, from Grade 1 to Grade 13. The baccalaureate is the second diploma of value. French is the language of education.[2]

Day Care to Secondary School

Primary School is composed of six grades: Cours Préparatoire (C.P.) 1 and 2, Cours Élémentaire (C.E.) 1 and 2, and Cours Moyen (C.M.) 1 and 2. The curriculum consists of French, Mathematics, History, Geography, Civics, Science and Physical Education. Heavy emphasis is put on French and Mathematics (12 hours each compared to an average of 3 hours each for the remaining sub, and an added Arts and Manual education class is introduced. This is in preparation for the Certificat d'Études Primaires (CEP) national exam, which officially sanctions primary school graduation. In addition the Concours d'Entrée en sixième is used to determine in which public secondary schools students will be routed, based on their performance. It is also used for determining eligibility to the secondary school stipend. The simplest way to graduate from Primary School is to pass both the CEP and Concours, and be less than 13 years old.

Gabon's main cities of Libreville, Port-Gentil, Franceville, Oyem, Mouila and Tchibanga account for more than 95% of all Day Care and Pre-kindergarten schools in the country. As a result, there is a difference in skill and age among children introduced to C.P.1. This difference results in the average age of students from rural areas being higher per grade level than the average age of students from cities.

Secondary School

Secondary school consists of seven grades: sixième (6e), cinquième (5e), quatrième (4e), troisième (3e), seconde (2nde), première (1ere) and terminale (tle). The first four grades are called “Collège” or “Premier Cycle”. Premier Cycle and Second Cycle combined make up a “Lycée”. In the last Collège grade, 3e, students are enrolled in a national exam called “Brevet d'Études du premier cycle” (B.E.P.C.). This exam originally served to determine eligibility to enroll in the Second Cycle, but is now only used to obtain an official diploma, as students go to 2nde based solely on their 3e grades. Secondary school graduation is sanctioned by a national exam called “Baccalauréat”.

There are several types of secondary schools in Gabon. The most common schools are general education and technical education public Lycées and Collèges, such as the Lycée National Leon Mba (LNLM),[3] the Collège Bessieux, or the Lycée Technique National Omar Bongo (LTNOB) and the Collège d'Enseignement Technique, which is part of LTNOB. The second group consists of private secondary schools and the third is made up of international schools such as the Lycée Blaise Pascal,[4] which add international topics to their curriculum and also prepare students for international diplomas. All public and private secondary schools are required by the government to identify a school uniform for students to wear. The only schools that are not required to impose a uniform are international schools.

Admission and Assessment

To be enrolled in 6e in a general education public secondary school, students must be at most 13 years old and pass the CEP. Distribution in the schools is done by education boards, based on exam grades. The Concours was introduced to determine eligibility for the secondary school stipend, which, as of the 1970s, is being distributed to any student enrolled in a public secondary school, who maintains a passing grade every trimester. Students who do not pass the CEP must repeat the year regardless of their class grades. Students who failed in two successful years are not allowed to enroll in public school. In addition, students who are older than 13 are not allowed into general education public secondary school, regardless of their exam grades. Those students are routed to a technical school where they can learn a trade in 4 years, the most common certificates from technical Collèges being for mechanics, plumbers and electricians.

The option for students who do not meet the official requirements for public schools is to enroll in private schools, which have their own eligibility rules. There is no official requirement for transferring to a public school, thus many students who do not meet the requirements for entrance in 6e get back in the public school system through transfers at later grade levels. Classes that will take a national exam at the end of the school year, 6e and tle, also participate in a practice exam called “examen blanc”, in addition to the regular monthly assessments. The examen blanc is implemented by the school in which the students are enrolled. Aside from the practice exam, report cards are due every trimester.

General baccalaureates

General baccalaureates include:

-   A1 whose concentrations are French Language, philosophy and mathematics;
-   A2 whose concentrations are French Language and foreign languages;
-   B whose concentration is Economics;
-   C whose concentrations are Mathematics and Physics;
-   D whose concentrations are Mathematics, Physics and Biological and Earth Sciences;

Technical baccalaureates

Technical baccalaureates include:

-   E whose concentration is Mathematics and Technologies
-   F1 whose concentration is Mechanical Construction;
-   F2 whose concentration is Electronics;
-   F3 whose concentration is Electrical Technologies;
-   F4 whose concentration is Civil Engineering;
-   G1 whose concentration is Administration
-   G2 whose concentration is Management
-   G3 whose concentration is Marketing

Universities and higher institutions in Gabon

-   Omar Bongo University
-   (Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku)[5]

-   Health Sciences Medical School (Université des Sciences de la Santé)
-   International Centre of Medical Research of Franceville (Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville)
-   Forestry National School, Libreville
-   National School of Law (école nationale de magistrature)
-   Higher School of Education (école normale supérieure)
-   Secretary Learning National School (École Nationale de Secretariat)
-   Polytechnic Engineering School of Masuku (École Polytechnique de Masuku)
-   African Institute of Computer Science (Institut Africain d’Informatique)
-   Business National Institute (Institut national des sciences de gestion)
-   Institute of Economics and Finance (Institut de l’Economie et des Finances)
-   National Administration School (École Nationale d'Administration)

Academic Scholarships for Gabon Students

In 1967, the government of Gabon created an academic scholarship program for college eligible students. All students who passed the baccalaureate exams were eligible for a scholarship if accepted at any public or private university anywhere in the world. The scholarship provided full tuition support and housing and food assistance to students. Funding for the program came from the budget of the Ministry of Finance. In 1981, the government created a free standing agency “Direction Generale des Bourses et Stages”(DGBS),[6] to regulate and administer the scholarship. The DGBS introduced several reforms to the program, the most notable in 1990, which set stricter rules for eligibility.

La Bourse and other Government Programs

The government of Gabon has implemented several programs dating back to the late 1960s aimed at encouraging education. The most enduring program of the Ministry of Education is the secondary education stipend. Primary school students who pass the CEP and the Concours are eligible once enrolled in 6e for a government stipend delivered every trimester, as long as they maintain a passing overall grade throughout their secondary path. Students who did not pass the Concours are not allowed the stipend on the first trimester in 6e, but become eligible as long as they maintain a passing grade thereafter. Funding for the stipend comes from the Ministry of Education budget. The stipend is commonly referred to as “La Bourse” and is the most popular program among students, who have started riots when the government failed to deliver the money on time. The second most popular program has been free bussing of any students wearing a school uniform. This program is very popular among parents due to the long distances children have to travel to go to school. A proposal in 2006 to terminate the program drew the ire of parents and then President Omar Bongo personally guaranteed the program would go on.

Another program was to deliver school supplies to primary and secondary school students at the beginning of the school year. This program was stopped in 1990 due to lack of funding. Yet another program was the delivery and administration of school uniforms to all students enrolled in public schools. This program has been stopped several times, but has been revived as of the school year 2010–2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] Accueil - Lycée Blaise Pascal de Libreville

[5] “Gabon”. http://www.labogabon.net/ustm/index.html/

[6]

title: Education in Gabon

question: Explain the tiers of education in Gabon.

answer: Education in Gabon is compulsory for kids from ages 6 to 16 under the law. In the early years, the children start their education by attending nurseries and then kindergarten. Primary school starts at age 6. Primary school is made up of six grades, from which students graduate to the next level which is secondary school. Graduates of secondary school can go on to apply for university places or other institutions of higher learning like engineering schools or business schools.

question: Summarize the admission process for children to be admitted into secondary schools in Gabon.

answer: The minimum age for acceptance into public secondary school is 13 years old. The child must also pass the CEP to be considered for a place. Students who fail the CEP must repeat the years even if they have high class grades. Those who fail the CEP twice are not allowed into public schools. Also, students over 13 are also not allowed into public school regardless of exam grades. Such students are routed to technical school to learn a trade. graduates from such colleges usually end up working as mechanics, plumbers, and electricians. Another route for those who do not meet the requirement for public schools is to apply to private schools, which have their own eligibility rules.

question: What is the penalty for those who refuse to attend school?


text:
In chess, the MUZIO GAMBIT, sometimes called the POLERIO GAMBIT, is an opening line in the King's Gambit in which White sacrifices a knight for a large lead in and chances. It begins with the moves:

    1. e4 e5
    2. f4 exf4
    3. Nf3 g5
    4. Bc4 g4
    5. 0-0

White offers a knight, aiming to exploit Black's weakness on the f-file[1] to attack the black king. Other possibilities for White's 5th move are 5.Bxf7+ (Lolli Gambit), 5.Nc3 (McDonnell Gambit), 5.d4 (Ghulam Kassim Gambit), and 5.Ne5 (Salvio Gambit), but 5.0-0! is generally reckoned to be White's strongest option,[2][3] and in fact 4.Bc4 (rather than 4.h4) is usually played with the intention of playing a Muzio. Black can avoid the Muzio with 4...Bg7, and this has sometimes been recommended as a safe and practical over the board choice.[4]

The _Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings_ classifies the Muzio Gambit under code C37.

History

The opening was originally analysed by Giulio Cesare Polerio in the late 16th century;[5] the first recorded game is by the Neapolitan player Geronimo Cascio in Alessandro Salvio's _Il Puttino_, published in 1634.[6] The name “Muzio Gambit” originated with the early 19th-century English chess writer Jacob Sarratt, who misattributed the opening to Cascio's contemporary Mutio d'Allesandro in his translation of _Il Puttino_. In its original form, White used Italian-style free castling, placing the king on h1 and rook on f1, for an even stronger attack since checks by a queen or bishop on the g1–a7 diagonal are no longer available as a defence.

The opening reached its peak popularity in the mid 19th century, the Romantic era of chess, when sacrifices and early attacks were considered the pinnacle of chess art. Its popularity declined with the improvements in defensive technique exemplified by players such as Louis Paulsen and Wilhelm Steinitz; however, it is still occasionally seen, usually at amateur level.

Analysis

1. E4 E5 2. F4 EXF4 3. NF3 G5 4. BC4 G4 5. 0-0 GXF3

    If Black postpones taking the knight with 5...d5, White obtains a strong attack beginning either 6.exd5 or 6.Bxd5.[7]

6. QXF3 QF6 (diagram)

    “The thematic starting position in the Muzio. Black's last move is very definitely best since it not only barricades the f-file but also impedes the formation of a white pawn centre with d4.”[8] A sideline is 6...Qe7, where White's strongest reply begins 7.d4 Nc6 8.Nc3 as in Steinitz–Anderssen (), London 1862.[9][10] Walter Korn gives simply 7.d3! followed by 8.Nc3 for slight advantage to White.[11]

    GM Dmitry Andreikin played the rare move 6...Bh6 against Hikaru Nakamura in the 2010 World Blitz Chess Championship, eventually losing.[12] Marović and Sušić wrote that 6...Bh6 is unhelpful to Black, due to 7.d4 Qh4 8.Nc3 Ne7 9.g3 fxg3 10.hxg3 Qh3 11.Rf2.[13] According to Keres, Black is less than after 6...Bh6 7.d4 Qf6 8.e5 Qf5 9.Nc3.[14]

7. E5

    “The most logical. With this extra sacrifice of a pawn White opens up new lines for attack.”[15] A more reserved continuation is 7.d3 Bh6 8.Nc3 Ne7, when 9.e5! Qxe5 10.Bd2 to the 7.e5 main line, whereas 9.Bxf4 Bxf4 10.Qxf4 Qxf4 11.Rxf4 f5! leads to an advantage for Black.[16] Also possible is 7.c3 Nc6 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Bxf7+ Qxf7 10.cxd4 Bh6 11.Nc3 d6 12.Nd5 Be6 13.Nxf4 Bxf4 14.Bxf4 0-0-0 15.d5 Bd7 16.Qc3 Qf6 17.e5 Qg7 18.Rae1 (18.e6}}) 18...Bb5 19.Rf2 Ne7 20.Qa5 Nxd5= (Korchnoi).[17]

7... QXE5

    and now White's main choices are 8.Bxf7+ and 8.d3:

Double Muzio: 8.Bxf7+!?

8. BXF7+!?[18]

    This is known as the DOUBLE MUZIO, “the best version of the Muzio” according to Keene.[19] It is very dangerous against an unprepared opponent; however, its has been called into question.[20]

8... KXF7 9. D4 (diagram) QF5

    Traditionally, the most popular move has been 9...Qxd4+; then after 10.Be3 Qf6 11.Bxf4 British correspondence grandmaster Peter Millican asserts that the position is “objectively equal”,[21] while Scottish grandmaster John Shaw says “If I was guaranteed to reach this position, I would recommend 4.Bc4 and the Muzio...”. Shaw sharply criticises 9...Qxd4+ which “grabs a meaningless pawn, opens another line for White's attack and makes the black queen vulnerable on the dark squares”;[22] grandmaster Neil McDonald even goes so far as to suggest that 9...Qf5 may be the only playable move.[23]

    After 9...Qf5, Shaw cites the game Showalter–Taubenhaus, New York 1889,[24] which continued 10.g4 Qg6 11.Nc3 Nf6 12.Bxf4 d6 13.Bg3 Kg7, as an example of a successful defence by Black. Yakov Estrin suggests 11.Bxf4 Nf6 12.Be5 d6 13.Bxf6 Bxg4 14.Qg2 Rg8 15.Kh1 Bf5 16.Qd5+!, assessing the position as better for White. McDonald disputes this assessment, saying Black should win after 16...Kxf6 17.Nc3 Nc6 18.Rxf5+! Ke7![25] Both Millican and Shaw recommend 10.Bxf4 rather than the “loosening” 10.g4,[26] though Shaw describes it as “unconvincing” after 10...Nf6.[27]

Main line: 8.d3

8. D3 BH6 9. NC3 NE7 10. BD2 NBC6 11. RAE1 QF5

    White was believed to be better until this move was suggested in 1858 by a Milwaukee player identified only as “W.S.”;[28] previously 11...Qc5+ had been played. Louis Paulsen introduced the new move during his match with leading Austrian master Ignatz Kolisch in 1861, winning the game after a well-conducted defence.[29][30]

12. ND5 KD8

    with continuations:
    -   13.Qe2 (a move attributed to the British amateur R. E. Lean, sometimes misidentified as “Maclean”) and now:
        -   13...Qe6 14.Qf2 (neither 14.Nxe7, 14.Qf3, nor 14.Bc3 is better) 14...Qf5= (draw by repetition); if 14...Qg4 15.h3 Qg6 16.Bxf4 White is better (Znosko-Borovsky).[31]
        -   13...b5 14.Nxe7 (according to Tim Harding, 14.Bxf4! gives White the advantage[32]) 14...Qc5+ 15.Rf2 (Berger[33]) Qxe7 (Korchnoi gives 15...Nxe7!,[34] whereas Keene gives 15...Nxe7 16.Bc3 Re8 17.Bxf7 Rf8 18.Bd4![35]) 16.Qh5 Qg5 17.Qxf7 bxc4! 18.Bc3 Rf8! 19.Bf6+ Qxf6 20.Re8+ Rxe8 21.Qxf6+ Ne7 22.Qxh6 cxd3 23.cxd3 Rb8 24.Qxh7 Rb6 25.b3 Ng6 with clear advantage for Black.[36]
    -   13.Bc3 and Black has three satisfactory squares for the attacked rook:

    :* 13...Rg8 14.Rxe7 Nxe7 15.Bf6 Re8 16.g4 Qg6 17.Qe2 Bf8 18.g5 d6= (Bilguer).[37]

    :* 13...Re8, here White has tried 14.Bf6 and 14.Nf6, but best is 14.Qe2 Qe6 15.Qf3 Qf5 16.Qe2= (drawn by repetition, Keene–Pfleger, Montilla 1974).[38][39]

    :* 13...Rf8! 14.g4 Qg6 15.h4 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 f6 17.Qe2 Ne5! 18.g5 Bxg5! (analysis by Panov) where Black has the advantage and a attack.[40][41]

Other 8th moves for White

8. NC3 QD4+ 9. KH1 QXC4 10. D3 QC6 11. QXF4 F6 with equality.

    Analysis by Korn.[42]

[1]

[2] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 34

[3]

[4] Shaw, pp. 197–99

[5] _The New Handbuch – IV_, _The British Chess Magazine_, Volume 11, December 1891, p. 544

[6]

[7] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), pp. 27–28

[8] Keene (1993), p. 157

[9] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 29

[10]

[11] Korn (1982), p. 7 n. i

[12]

[13]

[14] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 28

[15]

[16] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), pp. 29–30

[17] Matanović 1997 (Vol C), p. 205 n. 21

[18] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 30. “This second piece sacrifice is worthy of attention.”

[19] Keene (1993), p. 159

[20]

[21]

[22] Shaw (2013), p. 198

[23] McDonald (1998), p. 62

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 33

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35] Keene (1993), p. 158

[36]

[37] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), pp. 31–32

[38]

[39]

[40] Matanović 1997 (Vol C), p. 205 n. 19

[41] Korchnoi & Zak (1986), p. 32

[42] Korn (1982), p. 7 n. j

title: Muzio Gambit

question: What does the text say about the popularity of the Muzio gambit chess move?

answer: The move appeared in the 16th century and was recorded in a few texts. It gained popularity in the mid 19th century when early attacks were widespread but it declined with the improvements in defensive techniques. Now it is occasionally seen at the amateur level.


text:
Essential amino acids in plant food

ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS (EAAS) are amino acids which are necessary to build PROTEINS in an organism but can not be synthesized by the organism itself and us such must be provide in the diet. In case of humans there are 9 EAAs: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.[1]

The source of complete EAAs are both ANIMAL and PLANT-BASED FOOD. The content of EAAs in plants vary as there is a huge variety of plants. Looking at EAAs content in foods,[2][3] in general plants have much lower content of proteins than animal food. Some of the plant-based foods do not contain a full composition of EAAs for example: some sprouts, mango, pineapple, lime and melon. Rich in proteins are all kinds of nuts, seeds, beans and peas. The composition of EAAs in selected plant foods as well recommended dietary allowances (RDA[4]) are shown in the table below.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Histidine   Isoleucine   Leucine   Lysine   Methionine   Phenylalanine   Threonine   Tryptophan   Valine   Total EAAs content

                                                                                + Cysteine   + Tyrosine
  ---------------------------------- ----------- ------------ --------- -------- ------------ --------------- ----------- ------------ -------- --------------------
  RDA                                700         1400         2730      2100     1050         1750            1050        280          1820     12880

  Chicken, breast, raw               839         1104         1861      2163     821          1718            1009        283          1165     10963

  Soybeans, mature seeds, raw        1097        1971         3309      2706     1202         3661            1766        591          2029     18332

  Cashew nuts, raw                   456         789          1472      928      755          1459            688         287          1094     7928

  Pumpkin and squash seed, roasted   770         1265         2388      1220     922          2790            985         569          1559     12468

  Beans, white, mature seeds, raw    650         1031         1865      1603     605          1921            983         277          1222     10157

  Peas, mature seeds, raw            586         983          1680      1771     468          1669            813         159          1035     9164

  Quinoa, raw                        407         504          840       766      512          860             421         167          594      5071

  Wheat, durum                       322         533          934       303      507          1038            366         176          594      4773

  Rice, white, raw                   153         281          538       235      286          565             233         75           397      2763

  Tofu, raw, regular                 221         435          713       452      137          787             402         120          446      3713
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  : EAAs content in plant foods[5](mg/100g) in comparison to RDA[6](for a 70-kg man (mg)) and chicken breast¹

_¹Chicken was chosen as it is the most eaten animal food and it has one of the highest amount of EAAs among animal-based foods._

Soybeans have the highest content of EAAs but another important factor is the composition of EAAs. As we can see the quantity of some EAAs is lower. For example, pumpkin seeds despite high total EAAs content have a low content of lysine. A good indication is to calculate the food sample that meets the WHO's requirement of EAAs intake. A table below shows the smallest sample food required to provide all EAAs according to the RDA for each individual EAA.

  Chicken   Soybeans   Cashew   Pumpkin seeds   Beans   Peas    Quinoa   Wheat   Rice    Tofu
  --------- ---------- -------- --------------- ------- ------- -------- ------- ------- -------
  156 g     90 g       226 g    172 g           173 g   224 g   325 g    693 g   893 g   766 g

  : Amounts of sample foods required to provide a minimum amount of each EAA to equal the RDA (for a 70-kg man)

Soybeans have the smallest sample food that provide complete protein, smaller than for several animal foods.[7] Food samples for nuts, seeds, beans, and peas are bigger than one of chicken, and in case of rice, the sample is simply unpractical - the known fact is that cereals are not the main source of proteins.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

title: Essential amino acids in plant food

question: What does the text say about where essential amino acids can be found?

answer: The source of complete EAAs are both animal and plant based food. The content of EAAs in plants vary as there is a huge variety of plants. Plants usually have a lower content of proteins than animal food. Plants that are rich in proteins are all kinds of nuts, seeds, beans and peas. Soybeans have the highest content of EAAs for plant food.

question: What does the text say about the difference between plant versus animal food?

answer: EAAs can be found in both animal and plant food. In general, plants have much lower content of proteins than animal food. Soybeans have the smallest sample food in research that provide complete protein. This is smaller than for several animal foods. Food samples for nuts, seeds, beans and peas are bigger than one of chicken. Chicken was chosen for this research as it is the most eaten animal food and has one of the highest amounts of EAAs among animal-based foods.

question: What does the text say about a vegan diet?


text:
FANNIN COUNTY is a county in the far northeast of the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,915.[1] The county seat is Bonham.[2]

The county was named for James Fannin,[3] who commanded the group of Texans killed in the Goliad Massacre during the Texas Revolution. James Bonham (the county seat's namesake) sought Fannin's assistance for the Battle of the Alamo, but Fannin was unable to provide it.

The county was created in 1837 and organized the next year.[4][5] Fannin County is a part of the Texoma region.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.9%) are covered by water.[6] It is drained by Bois D'Arc Creek and Sulphur River.[7]

Major highways

-   [] U.S. Highway 69
-   [] U.S. Highway 82
-   [] State Highway 11
-   [] State Highway 34
-   [] State Highway 50
-   [] State Highway 56
-   [] State Highway 78
-   [] State Highway 121

Adjacent counties

-   Bryan County, Oklahoma (north)
-   Lamar County (east)
-   Delta County (southeast)
-   Hunt County (south)
-   Collin County (southwest)
-   Grayson County (west)

National protected area

-   Caddo National Grassland

Demographics

As of the census[8] of 2000, 31,242 people, 11,105 households, and 7,984 were families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile (14/km²). The 12,887 housing units averaged 14 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.56% White, 7.96% African American, 0.92% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 2.81% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races. About 5.61% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of 2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups were 48.50% English, 16.10% Welsh, 11.00% German, and 7.25% Irish.

Of the 11,105 households, 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were not families. About 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51, and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was distributed as 23.20% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,501, and for a family was $42,193. Males had a median income of $31,140 versus $23,101 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,066. About 9.90% of families and 13.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.70% of those under age 18 and 16.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

-   Bailey
-   Bonham (county seat)
-   Ector
-   Honey Grove
-   Leonard
-   Pecan Gap (mostly in Delta County)
-   Ravenna
-   Savoy
-   Trenton (small part in Grayson County)

Towns

-   Dodd City
-   Ladonia
-   Whitewright (mostly in Grayson County)[9]
-   Windom

Ector, Texas, City, Pop.695 Savoy, Texas, City Honey Grove, Texas, City Bonham, Texas, County Seat Pop. 10,000 +

Unincorporated communities

-   Bug Tussle
-   Duplex
-   Elwood
-   Gober
-   Hilger
-   Ivanhoe
-   Mulberry
-   Randolph
-   Telephone
-   Warren

Politics

  Year                               Republican                                  Democratic                                  Third parties
  ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ---------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |79.3% _9,548_   style=“text-align:center;” |17.7% _2,132_   3.0% _364_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |75.5% _8,161_   style=“text-align:center;” |23.0% _2,486_   1.5% _157_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |69.2% _8,092_   style=“text-align:center;” |29.6% _3,464_   1.2% _138_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |66.0% _7,893_   style=“text-align:center;” |33.5% _4,001_   0.6% _66_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |58.7% _6,074_   style=“text-align:center;” |39.7% _4,102_   1.6% _164_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |39.7% _3,495_   style=“text-align:center;” |48.6% _4,276_   11.7% _1,025_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |26.1% _2,510_   style=“text-align:center;” |43.3% _4,164_   30.6% _2,941_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |43.7% _4,024_   style=“text-align:center;” |56.0% _5,163_   0.3% _27_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |51.5% _4,692_   style=“text-align:center;” |48.3% _4,399_   0.2% _15_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |37.1% _3,196_   style=“text-align:center;” |61.4% _5,284_   1.5% _131_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |26.3% _2,102_   style=“text-align:center;” |73.2% _5,845_   0.5% _38_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |61.9% _3,826_   style=“text-align:center;” |37.1% _2,295_   1.0% _60_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |22.1% _1,585_   style=“text-align:center;” |54.8% _3,931_   23.1% _1,661_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |16.9% _1,219_   style=“text-align:center;” |83.0% _5,976_   0.1% _5_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |30.0% _1,844_   style=“text-align:center;” |69.8% _4,282_   0.2% _12_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |29.8% _1,910_   style=“text-align:center;” |70.2% _4,504_   0.1% _6_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |28.1% _2,099_   style=“text-align:center;” |71.8% _5,363_   0.0% _3_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |7.8% _553_      style=“text-align:center;” |86.8% _6,132_   5.4% _380_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |9.5% _677_      style=“text-align:center;” |83.5% _5,984_   7.0% _502_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |9.6% _792_      style=“text-align:center;” |90.4% _7,478_   0.1% _6_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |6.6% _368_      style=“text-align:center;” |93.3% _5,242_   0.1% _7_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |7.9% _460_      style=“text-align:center;” |91.8% _5,338_   0.3% _17_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |45.6% _2,122_   style=“text-align:center;” |54.3% _2,525_   0.1% _4_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |10.1% _653_     style=“text-align:center;” |86.6% _5,596_   3.3% _213_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |21.3% _1,103_   style=“text-align:center;” |66.8% _3,461_   11.9% _618_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |11.2% _471_     style=“text-align:center;” |83.0% _3,493_   5.8% _245_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |7.3% _227_      style=“text-align:center;” |85.0% _2,661_   7.7% _241_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[10]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

title: Fannin County, Texas

question: What other name could the county have been given?

answer: It may be implied that the county could also have been named James County.

question: Who was James Fannin?

answer: James Fannin commanded the group of Texans killed in the Goliad Massacre during the Texas Revolution.

question: Summarize the demographics of the county.

answer: According to the census of 2000, 31,242 people reside in the county out of which 86.56% are White and 0.26% were Asians. 23.20% of the population is under the age of 18 while the median age is 38 years. On an average, every household makes about $34,501.

question: Summarize the geography of the county.

answer: The county is 0.9% covered by water and is drained by Bois D'Arc Creek and Sulphur River.


text:
We all have those moments of utter brain freeze. You go to do something but your brain turns into a cabbage and you mess up the intended task to varying disastrous degrees. The most memorable time this happened to me was a few years back. I finished up on the toilet then threw my phone in the bog and stuck a wad of used tissue paper in my back pocket. I had to throw out the jeans and even when I finally managed to fish my phone out the toilet it was completely non-functional. So that was the worst one. But it happens. Every few days or so.

Last week, though, I heard about a friend of a friend – Mikey. He woke up, kissed his alarm clock and clapped his wife over the head. She was, of course, raging but Mikey hadn’t a clue what just happened. After frantically apologising, he got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later to his wife in the bedroom with white dried toothpaste spread throughout his hair and a blue sticky liquid in the gaps between his teeth. The day continued just like this. Mikey pissed in his Weetabix, poured milk down the toilet, told his boss he fancied her daughter and stubbed his cigarette out in his mother-in-law’s urn.

It reached the point where Mikey, the poor bastard, locked himself in his bedroom after he finished work and tried to shut out all possible occurrences of him making a hash of things. But he dreamt of it. He dreamt of making toast for spiders and crushing his daughter with his clenched fist. He couldn’t go on like that, if it continued the next day he’d seek professional help.

The next day came and Mikey was petrified to do anything. He pulled over his duvet then opened his curtains. Good start but these things are largely interchangeable. Next, he carefully opened the door and took the bins out. Again, easy stuff – but promising nonetheless. He returned to his bedroom and stuffed his wife’s face into a bowl of dog food then fucked his dog. Yes, everything truly was back to normal for Mikey.

title: [HM] Cabbagehead

question: What was the most memorable time the narrator had brain freeze?

answer: One time they had accidentally put used toilet paper in their back pocket, and put their phone in the toilet.

question: Who is Mikey?

answer: Mikey is a friend of a friend of the narrator's who had an extreme case of brain freeze that caused him to do disastrous things.

question: What couldn't Mikey go on like?

answer: He couldn't stop accidentally mixing things up. For example, he kissed his alarm clock when it went off and hit his wife on the head.

question: Why was Mikey petrified to do anything?

answer: He was scared he would make drastic mix ups of things like he had done the previous day.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator discusses when the brain freezes up and causes you to mess up your intended tasks to varying disastrous degrees. They explain the case of a mutual friend named Mikey who had his brain freeze up for consecutive days. For example, he woke up and kissed his alarm clock and hit his wife on the head. Mikey feared that his life would never go back to normal. However, when he shoved his wife's face in dog food and had sex with his dog, he realized things were indeed back to normal for him.


text:
The MENUS-PLAISIRS DU ROI () was, in the organisation of the French royal household under the Ancien Régime, the department of the Maison du Roi responsible for the “lesser pleasures of the King”, which meant in practice that it was in charge of all the preparations for ceremonies, events and festivities, down to the last detail of design and order.

The controller of the Menus-Plaisirs

At the king's _lever_, the _premier gentilhomme de la chambre_ (First Gentleman of the Bedchamber), controller of the Menus-Plaisirs, was invariably in attendance, to hear directly from the king what plans were to be set in motion; by long-standing convention, he was a duke; though he was not a professional, it was up to him to determine the appropriate designs. The duke in charge of the Menus et Plaisirs du Roy was an important court official, quite separate from the Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi, who was an architect or aristocrat in charge of all building operations undertaken by the Crown. The dukes in charge might leave the design process entirely to the professional _intendant_ in charge, whose right-hand man was the _dessinateur du cabinet et de la chambre du Roy_; so did two dukes with military careers, Louis-François-Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (1696-1788), appointed _premier gentilhomme_ in 1744[1] and Emmanuel-Félicité, duc de Durfort-Duras (1715–89), made _premier gentilhomme_ (and _pair de France_) in 1757.[2] But Louis-Marie-Augustin, duc d'Aumont (1709–82), appointed _premier gentilhomme de la chambre_ in 1723, a position he held until the king's death in 1774, was a noted connoisseur of objets d'art and the arts of life, though not, apparently, of paintings.[3] The duc d'Aumont appointed the renowned gilt-bronze maker Pierre Gouthière _doreur ordinaire_ of the Menus-Plaisirs in 1767 and appointed the architect Bellanger to the Menus-Plaisirs in the same year.[4] For most of the reign of Louis XVI, the _intendant_ of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi was Papillon de la Ferté, whose journal (published in 1887) throws a great deal of light on the organization of court ceremony.[5]

Design

Many designers were required at the Menus-Plaisirs. From the sixteenth century on, a main responsibility of court architects in Europe was the occasional design of lavish ephemeral settings for processional entries, for masques and ballets, for the structures that supported fireworks and illuminations on nights of grand fêtes for dynastic marriages and births, or to design the catafalque for a state funeral. Architects like Leonardo, Giulio Romano and Inigo Jones were engaged in projects that were of great moment in expressing the prestige of the court, but which have left little behind, except designs and some commemorative engravings, produced under the supervision of the Cabinet du Roi.[6] The architect Charles-Nicolas Cochin worked for several years for the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, 1735–51, making detailed renderings for the engravers of architectural designs by the Slodtz brothers.[7] and François-Joseph Bélanger began his career in 1767 working at the Menus-Plaisirs, both designing ephemeral decorations for court entertainments.

In the later reign of Louis XIV, the architect in charge of the Bâtiments was Jules Hardouin-Mansart, but the wholly independent artistic force at the menus-plaisirs until his death in 1711 was Jean Bérain, whose brevet in 1674 covered his responsibilities “for all sorts of designs, perspectives, figures and costumes that it would be required to make for plays, ballets, chases at the ring, carousels...”[8] The purview of the Menus-Plaisirs did not normally extend to furniture, but among its expenses in 1692 were “the Furniture and the silversmiths' work for the apartments of the King”[9]

Personnel

Within the Menus-Plaisirs, a hierarchical structure prevailed, with an _Intendant_[10] supervising the whole and a _Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi_ in charge of the orderly production of designs. The _Cabinet du Roi_—in the seventeenth-century sense of _cabinet_ as collection of works of art and curiosities—was organized by Colbert, who gave formal structure to all the official arts under Louis XIV. The _Cabinet du Roi_ provided the commemorative engravings, which are often our only record, and sold them.[11] The functions of design and commemoration overlapped, needless to say. The position was extremely influential: both Jean Bérain and his son, and later Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, the genius of the extreme rococo, followed by the Slodtz brothers, one after another, 1750-64. The appointment of the neo-classical architect-designer Michel-Ange Challe in 1764 marked a turning point: through his designs for the Menus-Plaisirs, neoclassicism was introduced at the French court.[12]

Expenses

In addition to these extraordinary expenses, which interest the historian of taste, the journal of the last _Intendant_ of the Menus-Plaisirs, Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté (1727-1794) describes as well the ordinary expenses, for the Menus-Plaisirs dispensed the salaries of the _Premiers Gentilshommes de la Chambre_, the _Grand Maître de la Garde-Robe_, the king's doctor, the _médecin de la Chambre_, the personnel of the Menus-Plaisirs and the king's musicians. Ordinary expenses entailed the constant renewal of the King's wardrobe and that of the Dauphin, religious ceremonies of all kinds, the king's carriages, small royal gifts like snuffboxes, tents and pavilions for outdoor events.

Limits

The Menus-Plaisirs were not in charge of the essential furniture of the royal palaces, which were the province of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne. An exception is instructive: the design of the jewel cabinet made as a wedding present for the wedding of the Dauphin Louis to Marie-Antoinette was considered part of the design of the festivities as a whole; thus in the Menus-Plaisirs, the design was entrusted by the duc d'Aumont to Belanger in 1769, well in advance of the wedding. It was delivered on 1 May 1770.[13]

Music division on the rue Bergère

The music required for these entertainments was also a concern of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi. Beginning in 1762 the music section was established on a large site extending north from the rue Bergère and west of the rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. The facilities included what had previously been the theatre of the Opéra-Comique at the Saint-Laurent Fair.[14] The site was soon expanded until it reached the rue Richer on the north.

In 1784 Papillon de la Ferté organized the École Royale de Musique, which was housed in buildings on this site on the rue Bergère, and in 1793 the Institut National de Musique, responsible for training instrumentalists of the National Guard bands, was also located here. The two institutions were merged into the Conservatoire de Musique in August 1795. A new Conservatory Concert Hall was added in 1811. Under the French Second Empire a different theatre with the name Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs was constructed at 14 Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris.[15][16]

Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs du Roi in Versailles

[The meeting of the Estates General, in the Salle des États, 5 May 1789]

Under Louis XV a structure was erected in the town of Versailles to house the multiple activities of the Menus-Plaisirs. It still stands, at 22, avenue de Paris, now rendered famous as the site of the Estates-General of 1789, at which the opening moves of the French Revolution were played out. A provisionally fitted-out space was arranged in the building to seat the Assembly of Notables in 1787, and again in 1788. Then, to accommodate the press of representatives of the three estates, in the Estate-General, a grander but still temporary Salle des États designed by Pierre-Adrien Pâris was set up in one of the two courtyards of the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs. The old Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs is now the home of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles.

Menus-Plaisirs at the court of Russia

In Moscow, near the Kremlin's walls, between the Komendantskaïa Tower and the Troïtskaïa Tower, stands the PALAIS DES MENUS PLAISIRS (Потёшный Дворец or Потёшный Двор), built in 1652 for the father-in-law of Tsar Alexis, the boyar Ilya Miloslavsky, who lived in it for sixteen years. After his death, the structure was enlarged and converted into a site for spectacles and concerts, taking its new name, and served to house members of the imperial family: here the future Peter the Great received his elementary education.[17]

Notes

[1] Eriksen 1974

[2] Eriksen 1974 notes that though the catafalque for the king and queen of Spain, at the funeral in Notre-Dame, 15 January 1760, marked the first appearance in court circles of neoclassical design, it is not clear whether the duc de Durfort de Duras played any role in its design.

[3] At the sale of his collection after his death, in 1782, purchases were made on behalf of Marie-Antoinette.

[4] Eriksen 1974:148-49

[5] Alain-Charles Gruber, _Les Grandes Fêtes et leurs Décors à l'Époque de Louis XVI_ (Geneva: Droz) 1972.

[6] In addition, extensive descriptions were published after each notable event in the _Mercure de France_.

[7] Carter E. Foster, “Charles-Nicolas Cochin and Festival Design for the Menus-Plaisirs” _Master Drawings_ 39.3 (Autumn 2001), pp. 260-278; p. 276 note 3 gives a bibliography concerning Cochin's work for the Menus-Plaisirs.

[8] "_pour toutes sortes de desseins, perspectives, Figures et habits qu'il conviendrait Faire pour les Comedies, Balets Courses de bagues et Carousels..."_ (Fiske Kimball, _The Creation of the Rococo_ [Philadelphia] 1943, p. 40.)

[9] “les Meubles et l'argenterie pour les appartements du Roi” (Kimball 1943:40).

[10] Until 1762 there was also a _Contrôleur_; the post of _Intendant_ (held by Papillon de la Ferté at the time) was exchanged for a _Commissaire_ in 1780. (Boysse 1887:5

[11] The _Cabinet du Roi_ as a publishing venture was examined by C. Ferraton, “Les fêtes de Louis XIV et le cabinet de planches gravées fondé par Colbert” _Bulletin des Musées de France_ 12.5 (September–October 1947), pp 26-28.

[12] Gruber 1972.

[13] Eriksen 1974:plate 448.

[14] Wild 1989, p. 258; Gourret 1985, pp. 81–84

[15] Wild 1989, pp. 258–262.

[16] Anne Bongrain and Yves Gérard, _Le Conservatoire de Paris, des Menus-Plaisirs à la Cité de la musique, 1795-1995_ (Paris:Buchet-Chastel) 1999.

[17] (French Wikipedia)“Palais des Menus Plaisirs”

title: Menus-Plaisirs du Roi

question: What does the text say about Menus-Plaisirs du Roi?

answer: Menus-Plaisirs du Roi was the department of the Maison du Roi which is responsible for the "lesser pleasures of the King". In practice, this meant that they were in charge of all the preparations for ceremonies, events, and festivities.

question: What does the text say about architects?

question: What does the text say about the king?


text:
DIETHER DE LA MOTTE (30 March 1928 – 15 May 2010) was a German musician, composer, music theorist, music critic and academic teacher.

Life

Born in Bonn,[1] de la Motte studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold[2] from 1947 to 1950, composition with , choral conducting with Kurt Thomas, and piano. From 1950 to 1959 he was a lecturer for composition, theory of form and piano at the Düsseldorf Kirchenmusikschule. From 1955, he wrote music reviews for the _Rheinische Post_. From 1959 to 1962, he worked as an editor at Schott Musikverlag in Mainz.[3] He took courses at Darmstädter Ferienkurse, with Ernst Krenek, among others.[4]

From 1962, de la Motte taught composition and music theory at the Musikhochschule Hamburg and was appointed a professor there in 1964.[5] In 1972, he became president of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. In 1982 he was appointed professor at the Musikhochschule Hannover. In 1988, he accepted a call as professor of music theory, a new chair at the Wiener Musikakademie, where he taught until 1996.[6] Among his students were Detlev Glanert, Clemens Kühn, , Manfred Trojahn[7] and .[8]

De la Motte was married to Helga de la Motte-Haber.[9] They lived in Vienna until 2006 when they moved back to Berlin.[10] He died there at the age of 82.[11]

Work

The compositional output of de la Motte encompasses almost all genres and ranges, from traditional forms such as stage work, orchestral, vocal and chamber music to experimental events, performances and pieces with ground-breaking ideas.[12] His opera _Der Aufsichtsrat_, to a libretto by , was premiered at the Staatsoper Hannover on 1 February 1970.[13][14] He wrote an opera _so oder so_ (_Like This or That_), five scenic variations to his own libretto, which was first performed at the Hamburg State Opera on 10 April 1975.[15][16]

Besides his compositional work, de la Motte is widely known as a music theorist. His writings belong to the standard literature for students of music and musicology. He wrote fundamental books on musical analysis, counterpoint and harmony.[17][18] His archive is held by the Akademie der Künste, containing autographs and prints of both compositions and written publications such as monographies, essays and lectures, his correspondence with Gottfried von Einem, Wolfgang Fortner, Hans Werner Henze, Friederike Mayröcker and Bernd Alois Zimmermann, concert programs, reviews and photographies.[19]

Publications

-   _Hans Werner Henze. Der Prinz von Homburg_.[20] Schott, Mainz 1960
-   _Harmonielehre._ Bärenreiter-Verlag Karl Vötterle, Kassel/Basel/Tours/London, und Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1976; additional editions: Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Wiesbaden 1977, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2004, .
-   _Musikalische Analyse. Textteil u. Notenteil._ 2 volumes. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1978, .
-   _Kontrapunkt. Ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch._[21] Bärenreiter, Munich 1981 u. dtv, Munich 2002, .
-   _Musik bewegt sich im Raum. 16 Konzepte für Laien-Professionals aus Musik, Sprache, Sprachmusik und Bewegung._[22] Moeck, Celle 1987, .
-   _Melodie. Ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch._[23] dtv, Munich 1993, .
-   _Musik Formen. Phantasie, Einfall, Originalität._[24] Wißner, Augsburg 1999, .
-   _Wege zum Komponieren. Ermutigung und Hilfestellung._[25] Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, .
-   _Gedichte sind Musik. Musikalische Analysen von Gedichten aus 800 Jahren._[26] Bärenreiter, Kassel 2002, .

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[20] _Hans Werner Henze: der Prinz von Homburg: ein Versuch über die Komposition und den Komponisten_ on WorldCat

[21] _Kontrapunkt: ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch_ on WorldCat

[22] _Musik bewegt sich im Raum 16 Konzepte für Laien-Professionals aus Musik, Sprache, Sprachmusik und Bewegung_ on WorldCat

[23] _Melodie: ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch_ on WorldCat

[24] _Musik Formen: Phantasie, Einfall, Originalität: ins Ohr springend, für Aufmerksame, hineinversteckt_ on WorldCat

[25] _Wege zum Komponieren Ermutigung und Hilfestellung_ on WorldCat

[26] _Gedichte sind Musik: musikalische Analysen von Gedichten aus 800 Jahren_ on WorldCat

title: Diether de la Motte

question: What type of music is DIETHER DE LA MOTTE known for?

answer: The compositional output of de la Motte encompasses almost all genres and ranges, from traditional forms such as stage work, orchestral, vocal, and chamber music to experimental events, performances, and pieces with ground-breaking ideas.[12] His opera _Der Aufsichtsrat_, to a libretto by , was premiered at the Staatsoper Hannover on 1 February 1970.

question: Apart from his music for what other works was DIETHER DE LA MOTTE well known?

answer: De la Motte is widely known as a music theorist. His writings belong to the standard literature for students of music and musicology. He wrote fundamental books on musical analysis, counterpoint and harmony. His archive is held by the Akademie der Künste.

question: For what was DIETHER DE LA MOTTE's wife famous?


text:
I’m gonna be Frank, this sounds crazy, even to me, and I have been diagnosed bipolar one. I met this guy in Three west. Three west is a fancy military psych ward. This isn’t from my disorder but it’s in his memory and He don’t know why, so I am gonna share it here for him. I will share it, as a sci fi short story none of you would ever believe to be true.

The morning of February 14, 2004, Valentine’s Day, Valerian’s Birthday, the day T never expected to destroy his life. T was so excited, it was the day he finally got to respond for his worst day ever. The morning of September 11, 2001, T was on his way to school with his then crush Xan. Xan was so cute, she was wearing blue jeans and a cute tight white shirt and T was just so happy she had agreed to ride to school with him, finally. He was making a turn in his 1981 Carolla hatch, ugly white with even uglier wheels, no sound system or stereo, and power steering that didn’t always like to work.

The car decided that at this moment, that last problem would make an appearance, and the CD player between him and Xan also decided to skip. T, being a stupid 16 year old, reaches for the CD player with one hand while attempting to turn with the other and stare at Xan. The steering wheel stops turning smoothly and the car careens into a mailbox, sending glass and debris all over Xan. The car then slides across the road into the ditch on the other side slamming onto its side. T, being a super tough strong Jock, opens his driver door, slams the car back onto its tires, peels out of the ditch and drops Xan off at her dumb blonde friends driveway to catch the bus. By the time he gets to school the first tower had already fallen. He had gone home to get cleaned up and tell his mom what had occurred, they had no Tv in their house so T didn’t get the news until he walked into that hushed class.

The class was glued to the Tv. The smoke billowing from the towers rubble. Seconds later the news came, the pentagon had been hit. T’s father was currently working in DC. He ran out of the class room. He had to get home, he ran past teachers, security, and the principal, hopped in his beat up car with its crushed windshield and sped home.

That memory was what fueled T’s rage, his hate, his menace, for years while he lashed out at the system that wasn’t doing enough. He wrote report after report, got F after F for topic and subject not quality of research or production of point but he didn’t care anymore. He knew what he had to do. His Grand Father was in the Air Force in WW2 and he was gonna do the same. He just didn’t realize how closely that would occur till today.

As he cleared his head of the past, and looked at the next few steps too his future, T hugged his mom and his friend Valerian goodbye. No one else has found the time to come see him off. That Valentine’s Day would forever burn in his mind as his last day of civility. He spent basic training at the top of his class in all fields and even tested for SOCOM but decided the academy was his route. After technical training he was sent to his first duty station. This is where the story really begins.

T arrived in Alaska, the final duty station of his Grandfather as an Airman, his first. His grandfather had served as a bomber pilot in the 3rd Operations Group, Bombardment Group during WW2. He was so excited, he was going to make his father, and grandfather proud. The night his mother left is when the things started to get, weird. Today, T maintains that he has two memories of the events that occurred following July 17, 2004 and November 18, 2004.

To make matters worse T has been unable to find his official personnel file, DD-214, or Medical records since his discharge and transfer from Alaska back to VA. He has made several requests for the information. His pay stubs are missing, his GI bill payments come back as unfunded, his copy of his medical records mysteriously disappeared from his home along with his copy of his DD-214. He has odd dental work and a strange circular embellishment on his right cranium. No doctor will give him an x-Ray or cat scan even after being offered cash upfront as payment. He has been hospitalized forcibly twice as a civilian without reason and once as an airman. This poor man has been through it all.

In October of 2004 T is charged with heinous crimes as well as undergoes a testicular amputation preparation course, by November he is opened up and the testicle is removed. The first real memory he can describe is waking from that event. Everything between the night of July 18, 2004 and November 18, 2004 are described as “one memory is a picture with sound, and the other, a full on movie.” This will try to put together, in the best way possible, the duality of T’s memory from those times.

————

July 17, 2004

I am at a gas station with K. Two girls are broken down. I help them get their truck started by banging on the starter while K turns the key. I haven’t found out yet K is part of my soon to be Unit on Elmendorf. K and I drink all night with Athena and Shannon. K takes me back to the hotel my mom and I are staying at before I have to report for duty tomorrow. I call my brother at 0100 to freak out about the sun going down and coming up in the same freaking place. I pass out in the bed next to my mom.

July 18 2004

I report to Munitions Storage as ordered and meet up with White and K. K and I spend the morning meeting the airmen and getting accustomed to life at storage. Around 1300 we are sent to the FTAC.I remember falling asleep in a briefing from OsI at the FTAC center and waking up to be told I have been picked to leave in support of operation enduring freedom as part of TF Olympia. I get up and head to the deployment center and get my gear and am on a plane headed for Kuwait by 1800.

I also remember a picture of Athena and my watch saying 1800, a bottle of Soco 100, and a military ID that says she is 17 as we are driving onto base.

July 19 -27 2004

No picture memories of these dates but vivid video of loading and unloading Mk 82 pallets on a C-7 in Okinawa and Hawaii. Then heading to SK.

July 28 2004

Some where near the DMZ, I encounter my first live fire experience as NK forces attempt to over run a small OP we are restocking. My 7.5 ton truck is clearly stuck in a mud pit as I attempt to turn around. We were delivering T rounds for their MGs and mortar rounds. The SK forces cleared us out the mud quickly and we were back on our way. Picture memory of a strip club and a Quarters Order breech claim by an unknown Airman. Picture of me standing in front of a commander in FTAC being yelled at about what I did wrong. Audio memory of being lectured and me arguing I left after midnight so I didn’t breech the quarters orders of 24 hours from three days earlier.

July 31 - Aug 23 2004

Classified orders, Task Force Olympia, Baghdad.
Classified orders, Task Force Olympia, Fallujah
Classified orders, Task Force Olympia, Mosul

Aug 29, 2004

Picture memory: Truck, tires, burning flesh.TF Olympia patch on the ground.
Location: Mosul. Time 1800 local according wrist watch.

Picture memory: Athena and I having sex, Athena’s dependent ID saying she is 19 on my bed side.
Location: Chennault Ave, Elmendorf AK. 2200 local according to bedside clock.

September - October 2004

Picture memories of hospitals and briefing rooms
Locations: Ramstein, Virginia, Alabama, California, Alaska

Picture memories: drunk strip clubs all the time
Location: Anchorage Alaska

November 2004

Picture memories: OSI briefing rooms and hospital beds.

November 18, 2004

I remember waking up and the major telling me I may not be able to ever have children but the surgery was a success. Everything before this memory is so fuzzy. I don’t know what is real or fake. I am unable to find Athena for several months. I finally track her down, she claims we never dated and she doesn’t know who I am. Her military ID says she is 25 years old. Athena is the first and last person I remember being with and the only person I remember dating during that time. My new girlfriend Angie confirmed that Athena was indeed 25, and went to high school in Alaska with her. Athena was the child of a SF commander.
————-
So as you can see by reading his own accounts, it’s a little crazy. Out of respect to the source, I am omitting some events names and ranks. He is under the impression he did something or saw something that he shouldn’t have, T is also worried he might be a sleeper. His mind is really messed up. He can recite names and dates and places that can be fact checked. That is the weirdest part to me. His facts, check out.

So, take it as a grain of salt, but this poor man’s story deserves to be told. After his testicular removal he was systemically railroaded out of the military. He ended up going before a court martial and being exonerated of all charges with prejudice against his command for unlawful command influence, but not after spending 3 months in the brig for his own safety and others. He has many memories since of words setting him off for no reason. Weird flashbacks, and strange people randomly following him places. His paranoia even heightened my own at one point while I absorbed his tale of espionage and intrigue in the early 2000s.

He has, since discharge, struggled. Most recently he has been unemployed and collecting SSdI. Another one of the little things that makes him feel weird. He got his disability without an attorney, without the need for a hearing, and without even talking to anyone. He has been committed by judges who have apologized to him and said they had no choice. He has had doctors tell him he is not medically unstable and ask him which drugs he wants to take. He has also been forcibly taken by police with no charge and no outbursts. The poor man has been beaten senseless by the system he was so anxious to serve in 2004. If you are looking for light at the end of this story, there isn’t any, he has done everything he can to find the truth, the truth has eluded him the harder he tries.

He hasn’t given up, he now runs a small recording studio. He raises a small boy. He takes care of his niece and his fathers land. He is a good man still today, just confused, lost and broken. He is incapable of trusting even the schools with his son. He is scared of the internet and terrified of public appearances or employers. The man has been totally undone by the system he once swore to protect. No help, no real answers, just tranquilizers and indifference are his reward for his scars.

His story really got to me. T was an idealistic American boy. A Boy Scout, fire fighter, EMT, and Airman. He deserves more from the society he served his whole childhood. I hope this story entertained you. I hope his misery brings you some joy, you heinous monsters. Sorry, like I said, his paranoia got to me a little too.

title: [SF] Disgraced Soldier or Manchurian Candidate?

question: Explain what triggered "T" to join the air-force as an airman.

answer: During the September 11 attacks, T learned that the Pentagon, where his father worked, had also been hit. He raced home and the memory fueled his rage for years. His grandfather had been in the Air Force in WW2 and decided he was going to do the same. He was going to be an Airman as a way to make his father and grandfather proud.


text:
(SHORT STORY) WWWeb

The human foot has 250,000 sweat glands. The human foot has 26 bones, one quarter of all the bones in your body, and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. The average human walks 115,000 miles in their lifetime, which is nothing to say of the above average sweat junkie and cardio bunny. The foot is the base of your entire skeletal structure, which in turn keeps you from being just a puddle of gelatinous goo.

I am less useful to you than the human foot. My smooth skin, my circular jawline, the toe growing from my face where my nose should be. I am the human foot, but less useful.

I am the sentient beard to the face of Fiona Mack. That face, those blue eyes, plump lilac lips. Blonde hair, pale strawberry kissed skin. I am the veil that covers her, that shrouds her. I am Fiona Mack's mask.

I am a lot of things, but less useful.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Tumblr. YouTube. E-mail. The internet. How many hours do you spend online every single day? Five? Ten? Fifteen? How much of your every day life is spent in an alternate reality? A surreality? I know, I know. You're fine. You have it under control. You're not addicted.

You're delusional. You are the deluded state. You are the violent inebriation of denial. I assure you, I promise you, truly you are addicted. *This* is Fiona Mack.

She is the world's fly, caught in the spun web of a virtual reality. She is the vacant moth caught against the spider's silk, motionless and free of movement, resigned to her fate. I am hers, but she is not mine. I am the second moth, still unaware of my impending fate, flapping my wings madly to fight against what has already trapped me. I am Fiona's diversion, I am the second moth to her first. Just less useful.

37% of the internet is pornography. If this surprises you, clearly you haven't been paying enough attention. Visit a music website, harmless enough intentions, you're a fan of music and keep an ever vigilant eye on new releases. Normal enough.

But on the side of the page. Or the header of the page. Or the footer. Somewhere on the page, a busty blonde woman in her mid to late 30s peers seductively at you over thick-rimmed glasses pushed halfway down the bridge of her nose.

'Hot mature singles ready to fuck' the image says, attempting to coax you into believing that the image's subject is speaking directly to you. A smoky voice, the soft biting of her bottom lip, a lingering wink of her left eye. Your imagination sells her image to you. Without you ever knowing that you wanted it, the internet thrusts a masturbatory illusion directly in your face.

37% of the internet is fabricated sexuality. Officially. Unofficially? That's where the real story begins.

Games, games, games. A second life. A fantasy realm. A virtual reality. You swallow it all whole on faith alone, sure of its innocence. You ignore the rounded cleavage of your female game character bursting from her tight leathery corset, or you ignore your male game character's muscular abdomen visible via his open vest. It's a body, no. Better yet, it's a virtual body. There's no reality to it, no consequence.

Yet slowly but surely, these muscular tits or this toned abdomen become the focus of your life. And, in turn, you give these characters your own life and your own sexuality. They have you, and you are theirs.

The screen lights up your face, highlighting your features. The laptop warms your knees, or the phone slowly turns your hand into an irreversibly gnarled claw permanently clutching at a thin brick that may or may not remain there. You rarely look up.

'I love you,' I whisper to Fiona Mack. She fails to look up from her screen, enraptured. Caught in her web.

'Mmm,' she hums in reply, a response to merely suffice, as opposed to engage. She did not hear me, and rarely does.

'What would you like to do today?' I ask, eyes doe wide and hopeful of some real answer.

'Hmm?' She retorts, begging the question again that it might whizz by her once more. She is that first moth, and I am her second, an expectant spider looming above just waiting for its moment to pounce.

I am Fiona Mack's sacrifice, spotted wings still fighting against my capture, winged torso still wriggling and squirming to break free.

I am less useful than the human foot, but Fiona Mack will never know. She doesn't use either of us, she doesn't step forward or look up. She doesn't flex her toes, or smile. She only looks with deadened eyes, and holds with cold hands. She's just a moth.

She's just a moth.

title: [RF] WWWeb

question: Who is Fiona Mack?

answer: Fiona Mack is a woman.

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Is the narrator trying to draw a connection between the human body and the internet?

answer: The narrator is trying to show how people have gotten addicted to the internet and electronics.

question: Who is Fiona Mack's sacrifice?

answer: The narrator shows that Fiona does not respond to his statements and that is her sacrifice. She is unable to pay attention to her surroundings.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator tries to show how humans refuse to believe that we are indeed, addicted to the internet. He says we've become delusional.
He also points out that games shape our ideas a lot. We start to personify the character that we play in the games. And ultimately we start to lose our abilities as humans.


text:
Hide This Manuscript and Tell No One - short story [2975 words]
by Joanna Pogwash

"Dear Phillip:  As soon as you get this manuscript, hide it where no one will ever find it or even think to look for it and tell no one that you have it.  Do not take it to the Office and, whatever you do, do NOT put it in the safe.  Do not be seen leaving the house with it.  Above all, do not give the appearance of transporting anything of importance.  Insert it into your morning paper, tuck it under your arm, get on the trolley and ride to the station with as much indifference as you can.  Change platforms and be sure you are not followed.  Through a devious route, take the train and make your way to the countryside.  Hide it beneath the loose board in the floor of the old cabin where we stayed in our youth.  Do not return for it until at least five years have passed in order to make sure that no one suspects you might have it, for they will surely kill you to secure it.  When a full five years have passed, publish it as you see fit.  Do not take time to read it now.  Be patient.  Time will reveal all.  Do this last favor for a friend.  I cannot see it through myself, for I am most certainly dying from some poison they have fed me.  Farewell.  Elias."

"Yes, I said there were two envelopes, one inside the other.  White, not yellow, and old paper, not like you would find at any store today.  This was written on the outside of the inner envelope.  The outer envelope may have said Phillip at one time and perhaps the number 7, but I'm not sure.  Moisture has caused the ink to bleed and time has discolored the paper considerably."

"Of course I haven't opened it."

"No, I don't want to have anything to do with it."

"How should I know who it belongs to?  It must have been under the floor for long time from the looks of it."

"It's been a summer camp since my father was a kid."

"I don't know.  He never went there.  It was just for the rich kids.  Their parents dumped them off here to get rid of them for the summer."

"Dad and his friends would play tricks on the rich kids, like putting their clothes up a tree or fixing the seat in the outhouse to collapse.  Dad's stories are all I know about it."

"Even my kids have heard Dad's stories.  Everyone in town has."

"What else do you do at the barbershop all day but tell stories?"

"Of course, none of Dad's friends would have put it here."

"Can't you just send someone out here to take this off my hands so I can get back to work?  I've got lumber to unload and footers to pour."

"No, it doesn't look like a practical joke."

"Burn it?  Don't you want to know what's inside?"

"No, I don't care and I don't have time for this."

"You come out here, get it, and burn it yourself.  I'm not going to be arrested for destroying evidence."

"Of course I think we should give it to the Sheriff.  What if one of these guys was murdered?"

"The Sheriff is not coming out here to get stuck in this mud unless I find a body; and so far there's no body, just this envelope."

"Yes, my wife could give it to the Sheriff when he comes in for breakfast tomorrow, but my wife is not touching this envelope--not tomorrow or any other time."

"If you get stuck in the mud, I can pull you out with the skidder."

"Fine!  I'll meet you at the end of Powerline Road in an hour.  Let's just get this done so I can get back to work!"

I clapped my phone shut, thrust it into the holster, and headed for the Suburban, muttering to myself, "what good is the new all-wheel-drive C-series sedan with 500 horsepower?  Don't they have mud in Germany?  I'll bet anyone a case of beer that housewives drive faster on I-10 than anyone on the Autobahn.  Just let me at a C-series for five minutes with the skidder and we can use what's left of it for a boat anchor."

More than three hours later, very irritated, and still in possession of the envelope, I left Powerline Road for US-90, headed for Slidell and more rebar.  I was already half way there plus a stop at Hardee's would make it lunch and not a complete waste. By the time I arrived at Hardee's, I still hadn't heard from Roger C-series.  That's when I discovered that I had clapped my phone shut so hard that the back plate came off and the battery fell out.

I don't know when pay phones disappeared from the face of the Earth, but they're gone now.  That is, all except for the one with a wire and no receiver, conveniently located across the street from the Hardee's.

If you have an unlimited plan with free long-distance, how could it possibly make any difference if a justifiably angry stranger calls a realtor in New Orleans from the outskirts of Slidell?  Apparently it does and apparently women in Louisiana with big hair still slap men in the face for asking.

This has certainly been a day of discovery and I've had quite enough of it!

Fifteen minutes later and my new friend, I'll call him Spike, who has a death mask on his shirt and more hardware in his face than Home Depot, is showing me how to get free long distance calling through an "app" with coupons for electronic cigarettes that come in all sorts of flavors and don't give you cancer.

By some miracle of technology, this works and I am finally in touch with Jennifer at the real estate office of Roger C-series, who is sobbing hysterically.  Maybe Spike has an "app" for automated grief counseling so that we can get past this and I can find out just where the hell Roger C-series is on this fine afternoon, because it's now close to 3 P.M. and I haven't gotten one damned thing done yet!

"If he's right there at his desk, just hand him the phone so that I can strangle him with it," I began helpfully.

At least I thought I was being helpful to speak slowly and in small words, but this was not the right thing to say, as the hysterical sobs were replaced with what I can only describe as the noise a coyote would make when thrown into a brush chipper.

"Get him a band-aid, then hand him the phone so that I can strangle him with it," I tried again.

"You can clean up the blood after I strangle him and save time," I suggested.

"What do you mean, 'he's dead?'  Dead from what?  How can someone just up and die at their desk and bleed all over the place?"

"He's probably lured a buyer or two away from another realtor and has made a fat commission now and then, but nothing anyone would slit his throat for.  Where were you when all this went on?" I inquired.

This last remark was admittedly a bit insensitive.  I had gotten all the useful information I was going to get from Jennifer any time soon, so I returned the phone to Spike and left in the Suburban.  Another fifteen minutes and I was at the counter paying for the rebar, still shaking my head and wondering who could be angry enough at Roger to slit his throat and just how big was Roger's commission for selling the old boys camp to a developer.

"Aren't you working out at that old boys camp?" asked the cashier.

"Yeah, but I'm not getting much done today," I replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't imagine so with it being in the middle of a raging fire," she said as if fires raged there all the time.

"What raging fire?" I anxiously shot back.

"It started about an hour ago.  Every fire engine in the area is out there.  Half the guys who work here are in the Volunteer and they've gone with the big pumper.  There're no hydrants out there so they'll have to bring it up from the lake," she informed me.

New Orleans is not a safe place and fires happen all the time, but this "coincidence" was more than enough to chill me to the bone in July.  What had I stepped into?  Where was that envelope?  Where was Ellen?

"Can I use your phone to call my wife?  It's really important and the battery fell out of my cell phone, " I pleaded with the cashier.

Ellen's cell phone when strait to voice mail.  She never talks on the phone at work.  Moments later I was talking to Joyce at the Diner, who informed me that Ellen had left with two lawyers from New Orleans more than an hour ago and had not been back.  Joyce then added helpfully that, "they might be dressed like lawyers, but didn't have the brains between them to pass any kind of bar that didn't serve alcohol."

I cannot begin to describe the feeling that came over me as I returned the phone to the cashier, but she could see it well enough on my face.  I began to tremble like a child in the cold rain.  As I staggered back to the Suburban, all I could think of is how hostage situations only turn out well on TV, where the good guys can solve any case in forty-four minutes and make you want to tune in again next time for another exciting rescue with a happy outcome.

I decided in an instant that who ever these people were, their fear of exposure was all I had to use against them.  The only thing I had to offer them was silence in exchange for Ellen.  They had to know that if they harmed one hair on Ellen's head, I would send whatever was in that envelope to every news agency on the planet.

How was I to deliver my threat to them?  I was definitely not going to wait for them to deliver theirs to me.  Obviously someone found out about my conversation with Roger, so that was the place to start, but I needed a phone.  Where else to get a phone, but at the mall.  Twenty minutes later and I was calling poor Jennifer with a plan in place, hoping that she was still there, had at least somewhat recovered her senses, and whoever had been listening before, was still listening, or would be near enough to get my message.

"Jessica, this is Cooper, I am so sorry to call you again, but there's something so urgent that we just must take care of it right this minute or Roger's widow will be left penniless and she'll have to bury him in the back yard in a cardboard box."  I really tried to sound urgent and sincere.  This idea sounded corny as it came out of my mouth, but I thought of Ellen and pushed on.  No time to modify the plan now.

"Roger risked every cent he had on this boy's camp development, but his silent partner never signed the revised contract.  If the revised contract isn't signed before Roger is pronounced dead, his wife can't inherit and his family will lose everything.  I have the revised contract with me.  I'm on the road now, but I have to meet a reporter at the Diner at 5:30.  Make sure the silent partner is at the Diner at 5:30.  Ellen is a notary.  The revised contract must be notarized.  Ellen must be there to notarize it.  You must find the silent partner and make sure he is there at 5:30 to sign the revised contract and have Ellen notarize it or Roger's widow loses everything."  I simply snapped the phone shut, ending the call.  I had to assume Jennifer would ask everyone in town trying to find Roger's mysterious unnamed silent partner and that who ever these people were would understand the innuendo.

Could Jennifer keep all the details straight in her state of mind?  Could she disseminate the information fast enough to reach the intended audience?  I just couldn't stop to worry about these complications.  There was one more piece of the plan to set into motion, and that was Lucas, Ellen's brother and my oldest friend.

"Lucas, don't talk.  Just listen.  I have no time to explain.  This is not a prank and I am literally dead serious, as in dead if you don't trust me.  Ellen's life depends on you doing exactly as I tell you.  Do whatever it takes to make sure there's a news camera crew at the Diner at 5:30.  Set your car on fire and drive it through the front if you have to.  Go berserk and shoot the jukebox if you have to.  Dump out the fryers and set the place on fire if you have to, but make sure there's a camera crew at the Diner at 5:30!"  I snapped the phone shut, as there was not way to explain.  Either Lucas would take me seriously or not.  I don't even know if reports of Roger's murder had gotten out or if Lucas had heard or would make any connection, but I couldn't consider those details now.  The Diner would be full at 5:30 with as many witnesses as I could hope to gather in this town.

As I crossed the bridge, I threw the phone out the window into the bayou.  There was nothing more to say.  There was no room for negotiation.  There was no time to adjust the plan or consider the possible ways in which it could fail.  I was all in.  Ellen was all in.  Lucas was all in.  God only knows how many other people I've drawn into this deadly hand of poker, but they were all in too, whether they knew it or not.  This simply had to work or this would end badly for everyone.  It had already ended badly for Roger and his family.  It had probably ended badly for Phillip and Elias a long time ago.

As I turned the last corner and the Diner came into view, I was once again thankful that Lucas had always been there for me: in life and on the field.  "Go long this time," I would say and Lucas would nod.  I couldn't see him when I released the ball, but I knew he would be there to catch it.  Once again Lucas had scored.  The news crew was there.  The Sheriff was there.  The ambulance was there.  The fire truck was there.  It looked like the whole town was at the Diner and it was 5:30.

I parked as close as I could and got as near to the front door as the Sheriff would allow.  I planned to stand there and wait, for there was nothing else for me to do but wait and pray.  I had no backup plan.  Lucas had been clinging to everything within reach, not letting the Deputy drag him off until I arrived.  As soon as he saw me, he smiled, released his grip, and was eventually stuffed into the back of the Deputy's car.

Before long, a black Escalade showed up.  Two men in expensive suits got out, making sure Ellen stayed between them.  They made their way across the parking lot and over to where I stood.  I am considerably larger than the average man, and I have faced off with some serious football players, but these two were more intimidating than any linemen I ever played against.  No one spoke a word.  I handed them the envelope, they returned to the car, and drove away.

My crazy plan had worked!  Ellen was safe, at least for now.  People had seen them.  There would be an investigation of Roger's murder.  Would they come back and slit our throats later or just let this be the end of it and consider their secret buried forever.  I didn't know and it was more than I could handle right now to consider the possibilities.  I held on to Ellen and we just stood there for a long time.

Eventually, the jukebox was replaced.  I gladly paid for that.  Lucas' bizarre behavior and assault on the jukebox was attributed to drunkenness.  The Sheriff was very understanding.  The most serious charges were dropped.  I agreed to accompany Lucas during all sixty hours of roadside trash collection.  After the fire, the old boys camp will probably be set aside as a wildlife area.  We all attended Roger's funeral and consoled his family as best we could.  Even Jessica will now pick up when my caller ID appears.  I would never say that things have gotten back to normal.  Roger's family will never be the same, but I do hope that it is all over.

Ellen always said that Lucas and I could turn anything into a football game and so we did.  In those sixty hours along the roadside, I threw a thousand passes and Lucas scored a thousand touchdowns.  At the end of our sentence, as we sat under a tree, waiting to be picked up along with our bags of trash, Lucas asked, "so, what did you do to pass the time while you waited for Roger at the end of Powerline road?  Did you look inside the envelope?"  I tried as hard as I possibly could to show no emotion whatsoever as I replied, "of course not," but Lucas has always been able to see right through me.

title: [SP] Hide This Manuscript and Tell No One

question: Who is Ellen?

answer: Ellen is Cooper's wife. She has been kidnapped by two mysterious men, an incident which is connected to the envelope that Cooper finds.

question: What is the main conflict of this story?

answer: Cooper finds a mysterious envelope that is addressed to someone named Phillip from someone named Elias, with instructions to not open the letter for 5 years. Cooper calls Roger and informs him about the situation because the envelope was found on land owned by Roger. However, Roger ends up getting his throat slit and Ellen, Cooper's wife, gets kidnapped. Cooper tries to find a way a to get the envelope to the men that kidnapped Ellen.

question: Who is Jennifer?

answer: While it is not explicitly stated, Jennifer seems to be someone that works closely with Roger.

question: What does the narrator do for a living?

answer: The narrator seems to be a construction worker of some sort, as he is working on the land owned by Roger.

question: How much money does the narrator make?