- published: 15 Aug 2015
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Lucerne ( /ˌluːˈsɜrn/; German: Luzern, [luˈtsɛrn] ( listen); French: Lucerne, [lysɛʁn]; Italian: Lucerna, [luˈtʃerna]; Romansh: Lucerna; Lucerne German: Lozärn) is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of transportation, telecommunications, and government of this region. The city's metropolitan area consists of 17 cities and towns located in three different cantons with an overall population of about 250,000 people.
Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (der Vierwaldstättersee), within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.
After the fall of the Roman Empire beginning in the 6th century, Germanic Alemannic peoples increased their influence on this area of present day Switzerland. Around 750 the Benedictine Monastery of St. Leodegar was founded, which was later acquired by Murbach Abbey in Alsace in the middle of the 9th century, and by this time the area had become known as Luciaria. In 1178 Lucerne acquired its independence from the jurisdiction of Murbach Abbey, and the founding of the city proper probably occurred that same year. The city gained importance as a strategically located gateway for the growing commerce from the Gotthard trade route.
Gustav Mahler (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʊstaf ˈmaːlɐ]; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. Then his family moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava) where Mahler grew up.
As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.
Born in humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism from Judaism to secure the post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner and Mozart. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.
Actors: Byron C. Bellamy (actor), Byron C. Bellamy (producer), Byron C. Bellamy (writer), Byron C. Bellamy (director), Byron C. Bellamy (editor), Pamela Dunker (actress), Denise Ross (actress), Brian LeVene (actor), R.J. Martin (actor), Andrew Niehaus (actor), Bob Waller (actor),
Plot: A young activist is pushed over the edge by the fraudulent presidential election of 2004, and considers leaving the country. His friends arrive to commiserate and reflect on his choice; when his girlfriend arrives, however, she is outraged that he would consider leaving without her. He stays, and continues the fight.
Keywords: 2004-presidential-electionIt's snaining outside
Or is it just lazy rain
It's six AM and I'm walking home
While the city twitches
In a sleep of dog dreams
Me and a friend of mine
We just cheated death
Now I'm walking home
For death's rain check
I open the door quietly
So as not to wake
The blue-eyed wedding cake
But she's watching me with one eye
The sleepy little spy
She helps me off with my shirt
Because my arm was hurt
In a recent fall
I slide into the bed
Then my leg I thread
Between hers
I put my good arm on her belly
Her hips
Her knees
She is made of several babies
I keep my scratchy cast to myself
As I feel our bodies melt
Into two drops of lazy rain
Snaking down the window pane
And when the two drops merge
Then there is the surge
Of one larger drop