Dogū

Dogū (土偶)(meaning "clay figures") are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. Dogū come exclusively from the Jōmon period. By the Yayoi period, which followed the Jōmon period, Dogū were no longer made. There are various styles of Dogū, depending on exhumation area and time period. According to the National Museum of Japanese History, the total number found throughout Japan is approximately 15,000. Dogū were made across all of Japan, except Okinawa. Most of the Dogū have been found in eastern Japan and it is rare to find one in western Japan. The purpose of the Dogū remains unknown and should not be confused with the clay haniwa funerary objects of the Kofun period (250 – 538).

Origins

Some scholars theorize the Dogū acted as effigies of people, that manifested some kind of sympathetic magic. For example, it may have been believed that illnesses could be transferred into the Dogū, then destroyed, clearing the illness, or any other misfortune.

Dog in Chinese mythology

Dogs are an important motif in Chinese mythology. These motifs include a particular dog which accompanies a hero, the dog as one of the twelve totem creatures for which years are named, a dog giving first provision of grain which allowed current agriculture, and claims of having a magical dog as an original ancestor in the case of certain ethnic groups.

Myth versus history

Chinese mythology is those myths found in the geographic area called China, which of course has evolved and changed throughout its history. These include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current administration of China). (Yang 2005:4)

In the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which tradition which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.(Yang 2005: 12-13) This is also true of some accounts related to mythological dogs in China.

D0g

D0g is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of video games, first introduced in Half-Life 2 in 2004. D0g is a hulking robot belonging to Alyx Vance, which was built by Alyx's father Eli to both provide companionship and protect his daughter; Alyx subsequently upgraded the robot into its current form. His character provides comic relief during the series; his battle sequences are often comically exaggerated, such as taking on small enemy squads by throwing cars and trucks at them. His appearance as the first character seen in Half-Life 2: Episode One was influenced by positive fan reception.

Character design

Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar states that D0g's design underwent "relatively few changes" from his very first concept sketch; Valve artists were inspired by "classic movie robots," citing Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.

In video games

D0g's role in Half-Life 2 is to aid the player in tutorials—in particular, training in the use of the gravity gun—and lifting heavy objects the player cannot manipulate without the gravity gun.

The Red Badge of Gayness

"The Red Badge of Gayness" is episode 45 of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on November 24, 1999.

In the summer of 2013, fans voted "The Red Badge of Gayness" as the best episode of Season 3.

The episode's name is a play on the Red Badge of Courage.

Plot synopsis

As the entire town of South Park is preparing to hold its annual American Civil War reenactment of the (fictional) Battle of Tamarack Hill, the children rehearse as a Union Army rally band.

In the morning of the reenactment, Jimbo informs the reenactors that over 200 people will come to see them reenact the battle, setting a new record. He also takes the time to remind everyone that the primary sponsor of their event is Jagerminz S'more-flavored Schnapps, "the schnapps with the delightful taste of s'mores." In addition, the special guest will be Stan's grandpa, Marvin Marsh. Meanwhile, Cartman comes dressed as General Robert E. Lee, and the boys are outraged by his dressing as a Confederate officer. Evidently under the impression that the reenactment is a competition of some sort, Cartman bets that the South will win the Civil War, and if it does, Stan and Kyle will be his slaves for a month, or vice versa. Knowing that the outcome is supposed to be historical victory for the North as planned, Stan and Kyle eagerly accept the challenge.

War (painting)

War is a painting created by Portuguese-British visual artist Paula Rego in 2003.

Description

War is a large pastel on paper composition measuring 1600mm x 1200mm. A rabbit-headed woman stands prominently in the center carrying a wounded child, surrounded by several realistic and fantastic figures recalling a style Rego describes as "beautiful grotesque".

For The Telegraph's Alastair Sooke, "The more you look at War, the curiouser and curiouser it becomes. Rego's white rabbits owe more to Richard Kelly's film Donnie Darko than Lewis Carroll's Wonderland."

Background

The painting first appeared as part of Rego's "Jane Eyre and Other Stories" exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art in London in 2003. It was inspired by a photograph that appeared in The Guardian near the beginning of the Iraq War, in which a girl in a white dress is seen running from an explosion, with a woman and her baby unmoving behind her. In an interview conducted in relation to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía's 2007 exhibition, Rego said of this painting, "I thought I would do a picture about these children getting hurt, but I turned them into rabbits' heads, like masks. It’s very difficult to do it with humans, it doesn’t get the same kind of feel at all. It seemed more real to transform them into creatures."

Ottoman–Persian War (1821–23)

The Ottoman–Qajar War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Empire from 1821 to 1823.

Reasons

Tensions between the two empires had been rising due to the Ottoman Empire's harboring of rebellious tribesmen from Iranian Azerbaijan. Although secretly, the Russian Empire was attempting to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire, which was at war with the Greeks.

War

Crown Prince Abbas Mirza of Persia, at the instigation of the Russian Empire, invaded Western Armenia and the areas surrounding Iranian Azerbaijan. The governor of Baghdad's invasion of Persia is defeated by Mohammed Ali Mirza who then besieges Baghdad, his untimely death ends the siege. Meanwhile, Abbas Mirza marched into eastern Anatolia with 30,000 troops and met an Ottoman army of 50,000 at the Battle of Erzurum. Abbas Mirza scored a crushing defeat over the Ottomans despite being severely outnumbered and his army suffering from a cholera epidemic.

Thanks to the recent modernisations, the so-called "Nezam-i-Jadid" reforms of the Persian army according latest European model made possible by Abbas Mirza's brother, Dowlatshah, it made the army qualitatively far superior over that of their Ottoman Turkish arch rivals, despite being severely outnumbered.