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Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Vassar Clements, age 77, a legendary fiddle player who took bluegrass music from an obscure cultural art form to a mainstream influence, and who played on over 2000 albums, passed away at his Goodlettsville, Tennessee home August 16th 2005 at 8:35 am Nashville time (CST) from lung cancer which had metastasized to his liver and brain.

Mr. Clements taught himself to play the fiddle at age 7, and though he had no formal training was recognized as one of the world’s most versatile fiddle players and was considered a virtuoso. The first song he learned was “There’s an Old Spinning Wheel in the Parlor”. He described his talent saying, “It was God’s gift, something born in me. I was too dumb to learn it any other way. I listened to the (Grand Ole) Opry some. I’d pick it up one note at a time. I was young, with plenty of time and I didn’t give up. You’d come home from school, do your lessons and that’s it. No other distractions. I don’t read music. I play what I hear.”

He didn’t always earn his living playing music, though. In the mid-1960s he was employed briefly at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he worked on plumbing. He also performed several other blue-collar jobs including work in a Georgia paper mill, as switchman for Atlantic Coast Railroad; he even sold insurance and once owned a potato chip franchise.

In his 50 year career he played with artists ranging from Woody Herman, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to The Grateful Dead, Linda Ronstadt and Paul McCartney, and earned at least five Grammy nominations and numerous professional accolades. He once recorded with the pop group the Monkees by happenstance, when he stayed behind after an earlier recording session. He also appeared in Robert Altman‘s 1975 film “Nashville”.

His 2005 Grammy award for best country instrumental performance was for “Earl’s Breakdown,” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and featured Mr. Clements, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs and Jerry Douglas.

Mr. Clements, whose last performance was February 4 in Jamestown, N.Y., was hospitalized earlier this year for 18 days to receive chemotherapy and other treatment. He had been diagnosed in March 2005.

Born in Kinard, South Carolina, his musical career began at age 14 when he associated with Bill Monroe, and later officially joined the Blue Grass Boys band where he remained for seven years. In 1957 he joined bluegrass band Jim & Jesse McReynolds where he remained until 1962. In 1967 he returned to Nashville where he became a much sought after studio musician.

After a brief touring stint with Faron Young he joined John Hartford‘s Dobrolic Plectral Society in 1971 when he met guitarist Norman Blake and Dobro player Tut Taylor, and recorded Aereo Plain, a widely acclaimed newgrass album that helped broaden the bluegrass market and sound. After less than a year he joined Earl Scruggs, who first earned widespread renown for playing the theme to sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.

His 1972 work with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their album Will the Circle Be Unbroken earned him even wider acclaim, and later worked with the Grateful Dead’s Wake of the Flood and Jimmy Buffett‘s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean.

Though he played numerous instruments, Mr. Clements indicated that he chose the fiddle over guitar recalling that, “I picked up a guitar and fiddle and tried them both out. The guitar was pretty easy, but I couldn’t get nothing out of the fiddle. So every time I’d see those instruments sitting side by side, I’d grab that fiddle.”

Big band and swing music were considerable influences upon his style and musical development, and he said that, “Bands like Glenn Miller, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Artie Shaw were very popular when I was a kid. I always loved rhythm, so I guess in the back of my mind the swing and jazz subconsciously comes out when I play, because when I was learning I was always trying to emulate the big-band sounds I heard on my fiddle.”

His last album ‘Livin’ With the Blues’, released in 2004, featured guest appearances by Elvin Bishop, Norton Buffalo, Maria Muldaur and others.

Mr. Clements’ daughter Midge Cranor wrote on his website [1] that “As I was still holding his hand his breathing stopped. I looked at the clock and it was 7:20 am.”

Mr. Clements’ remains have been transported to Bond Memorial Chapel, 1098 Weston Drive, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122; (615) 773-2663.

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Russian Wikinews attended a December 8 presentation by Russian traveler and photographer Viktor Pinchuk at the Ilya Selvinsky Museum in Simferopol, Crimea of his textbook “Basics of fine-art photography”, published on English and Russian Wikibooks.

During the speech, Pinchuk took questions from the audience about the textbook, which includes 35 chapters blending instruction and examples and eleven photo exhibitions taken from June 2005 to July 2014. They include photos taken from his extensive travels whilst on ‘hobo tours’, as discussed in a previous lecture.

The practical guide, which includes 35 training pages and 12 optional (where aspects of the author’s creativity are described), has two versions — Russian and English; the material is posted on the international website Wikibooks.

• Flyer advertising the talk.

• Pinchuk speaking.

• Attendees seated.

• Close-up of Pinchuk.

• Pinchuk addressing a slide.

• Conclusion.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Researchers say that new, ten million-year-old fossils found in Ethiopia, prove that the theory that humans may have evolved from a species of great apes eight million years ago, may not be true, but that humans may have split from apes as long as 10.5 million years ago.

At least nine fossilized teeth, one canine tooth and eight molars, of a previously unknown species of apes found in Africa were discovered by a team of researchers from Ethiopia and Japan who then compared the 3-D make up of the teeth to other fossils that date back as far as 8 million years and found that the fossils are likely a “direct ancestor” of apes currently living in Africa and that the new ape fossils were that of a species of gorilla who ate mostly plants high in fiber.

Current fossils and research say that the evolutionary split from apes to humans occurred at least eight million years ago. The new fossils say that the split may have happened as long as 10.5 million years ago.

“Based on this fossil, that means the split is much earlier than has been anticipated by the molecular evidence. That means everything has to be put back,” said researcher at the Rift Valley Research Service in Ethiopia and a co-author of the study, Berhane Asfaw.

Despite the finds, other researchers are not convinced that the findings are correct.

“It is stretching the evidence to base a time scale for the evolution of the great apes on this new fossil. These structures appear on at least three independent lineages of apes, including gorillas, and they could relate to a dietary shift rather than indicating a new genetic trait,” said a Professor at the London Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom, Peter Andrews who also added, “but the fossil evidence for the evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, is almost non-existent.

Researchers have named the newly discovered species Cororapithecus abyssinicus whose remains were found in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, the same place where the remains of Lucy were discovered in 1974.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

India won the final match of the recent cricket series. Yuvraj Singh made a unbeaten 107 (93b, 15×4)helping India’s , chasing 287, achieved with 19 deliveries remaining on a good batting pitch. India have clinched the Hutch Cup ODI series 4-1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (77 not out, 56b, 6×4, 4×6) was another important contributor to the Indian Innings.

The Pakistani bowling, apart from a probing spell from paceman Rao Iftekar Anjum, was made to look ordinary. The Pakistani fielding let the side down again. Mohammed Sami lost the ball twice. When on 64, Yuvraj was put down at covers by Shoaib Malik.

India preferred to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan. Tendulkar carried the drinks, indicating that in this Indian side experience and youth blended into one.

In Tendulkar’s absence, Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir.

The left-handed Gambhir sparkled with a few pick-up shots on the leg-side; this also showed Pakistan’s pacemen were not bowling the right line.

Mohammed Asif has not been a big factor in the ODIs since the away going delivery is a lesser weapon in this variety of the game, especially if a side is bowling in the afternoon. It was his two-way movement that made him so dangerous in Tests.

Gambhir once again wasted a start, but the opening pair had, importantly, raised 69. Dravid’s 50 (6×4) might have consumed 82 deliveries, but he made sure that, in the absence of Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar, the Indians had enough wickets in hand before they began the final onslaught. The chase was splendidly orchestrated.

It was Sreesanth who dented Pakistan in the morning after Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar shared the new ball. The Kerala paceman, who is learning fast, cut down on his pace realising that there was not too much assistance for him from the wicket. He struck thrice and Pakistan, from 62 without loss, slumped to 77 for three. In the context of the match, Sreesanth’s spell of 5-1-25-3 was crucial. Both Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal, after putting together 62, fell to pull shots, and Shoaib Malik steered right into Suresh Raina’s hands at gully. There is fluency about Sreesanth’s run-up and action that is hard to ignore, and he did bowl well at the death, swinging the ball into the right-hander.

And off-spinner Ramesh Powar won a leg-before decision against an ominous looking Inzamam on the sweep; the delivery drifted into the right-hander from outside the off-stump and then straightened.

Pakistan recovered through a strokeful fifth-wicket stand of 95 in 110 balls between Mohammad Yousuf (67, 85b, 6×4) and vice-captain Younis Khan (74 not out, 79b, 3×4, 2×6). Yousuf appeared set for his hundred when he flicked Ajit Agarkar into Zaheer Khan at mid-wicket.

Abdul Razzaq biffed a 15-ball 24 before miscuing a pull of R.P. Singh, but Pakistan lost some momentum towards the end. However, the 18 runs off the last six balls by Zaheer came in handy for the side; Younis twice smote the left-armer over the mid-wicket ropes.

The bowlers, backed by aggressive fielding, had performed a fair job, under the conditions.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Visual art, fabric art, photography, performance, dance, virtual reality, and music were all the subject of sessions at Furnal Equinox 2018, a conference held from March 16 to 18 at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle. Canada’s largest furry convention by attendance, the annual event offers dozens of subculture-specific programs.

The convention’s communications and public relations coordinator for the event, Ronnie, describes furries as “people that enjoy arts and culture centred around animals and animal-themed topics, essentially. Furnal Equinox in particular, we like to celebrate in a very visual and very […] artistic nature, where we have lots of arts and performances and crafts that go on, and people celebrate with lots of socialisation involved.”

Of the attendees, Ronnie told Wikinews “they come from all walks of life. They are people of all ages, sizes, all sorts of backgrounds, and they come together under one mutual interest, which is their love for animal culture.”

“Programming at Furnal Equinox involves[…] a lot of informational panels, so you can find out about topics from art and how to draw, or how to visually incorporate different elements into your artworks. You can also find panels that teach you how to write better, be a better fiction author for example,” explained the event representative.

At one panel Wikinews attended, members of its all-volunteer organising committee spoke of the year-long process of planning the event, and their reasons for committing such a significant amount of their time. Said one panelist, “if you’re happy, we’re happy.”

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

The largest hub of activity at the convention was a dealer’s room; nicknamed the “Dealer’s Den”, giving it an anthropomorphic twist. Vendors were selling original visual art, wearables like faux fur tails or ears, or things like jewellery or soap with motifs that would interest attendees.

The back area of the room was dedicated to a charity auction, with proceeds benefiting Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary. According to the convention website, the charity is “dedicated to rescuing abused, neglected, and abandoned farmed animals. Their goal is to provide a safe, life-long home for all of their residents, and to educate the public about the true nature of farmed animals through tours, volunteer programs, and community outreach.”

Split into groups, some attendees played “Fursuit Games” in front of an audience, like trying to toss a ball into a garbage can. The activity made harder, of course, by the limited dexterity and vision the most of the costumes entail.

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Berrie Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Image: Nicholas Moreau.

• Attendees try to catch their own prizes, like t-shirts, after the Games. Image: Nicholas Moreau.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

While nearly all coverage of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. We now interview independent Presidential candidate Frank Moore, a performance artist.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In February 2017, the Iranian Chess Federation announced two teenage chess players, Dorsa Derakhshani and her younger brother Borna Derakhshani, were banned from representing the national team. The federation announced their decision although Dorsa Derakhshani had previously decided and informed the chess federation she did not wish to play for Iran.

Dorsa Derakhshani is currently 21 years old and holds the International Master (IM) as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM) titles. Her brother, Borna, plays for the English Federation and holds the FIDE Master title.

Dorsa Derakhshani was banned since she did not wear a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, while competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in January 2017. Under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran, hijab is a mandatory dress code. Her brother Borna Deraskhsani was banned for playing against Israeli Grand Master (GM) Alexander Huzman at the same tournament. Iran does not recognise the existence of Israel, and previously, Irani athletes have avoided playing against Israeli athletes.

Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh, the president of the country’s chess federation, explained the decision to ban the players saying, “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran and in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????.} He further stated, “Unfortunately, something that should not have happened has happened and our national interest is paramount and we have reported this position to the Ministry of Sports.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ??? ? ????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????.}

IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who currently studies at Saint Louis University in the United States and plays for the United States Chess Federation, discussed her chess career, time in Iran and the 2017 controversy, and her life in Saint Louis with a Wikinews correspondent.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes has died in St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney today (Thursday, local time). Hughes was playing a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he was struck in the neck by a bouncer.

“It is my sad duty to inform you that a short time ago Phillip Hughs passed away,” said Australian national team doctor Peter Brukner in a statement.

As the news broke, condolences came from around Australia’s sporting community.

“A sad, sad day. Absolutely devastating. Thoughts go out to Phillip Hughes’ family and friends. #RIPPhillipHughes,” Australian women’s captain Meg Lanning tweeted.

“Our thoughts are with Philip’s family and everyone affected by this tragic accident,” said Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop.

“The West Australian Football Commission [WAFC] on behalf of football in WA extends sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Phillip Hughes,” tweeted the WAFC.

Today was meant to be the third day of the Sheffield Shield match Hughes was involved in. The entire round of matches was abandoned after the incident.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

With the IPC Athletics World Championships scheduled to start this Friday, Wikinews interviewed Spanish T12 classified long distance runner Alberto Suárez Laso at Madrid–Barajas Airport Monday before he departed for Lyon, France. Suárez is scheduled to compete in two events, the T12 5,000 meters and marathon events.

((Wikinews)) Hi this is Laura Hale. I’m interviewing Alberto Suárez, who is a visually-impaired runner competing for Spain in the IPC World Championships. What events are you doing? ^{((es))Spanish language: ?¿En qué eventos estás?}

Alberto Suárez Laso : Marathon and 5000m. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Maratón y 5000m.}

((WN)) You have a World Record? Are you going to smash it and give Spain a gold medal? ^{((es))Spanish language: ?¿Vas a romper el record mundial y darle a España un oro?}

Alberto Suárez Laso: This time it’s a bit complicated because I’m going a bit injured. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Esta vez está un poco complicado porque voy un poco lesionado}

((WN)) Ah. You finished second in London [the 2012 Summer Paralympics]? ^{((es))Spanish language: ?¿Terminaste segundo en Londres?}

Alberto Suárez Laso : I finished first.

((WN)) The injury has impacted you training? ^{((es))Spanish language: ?¿La lesión ha perjudicado tu entrenamiento?}

Alberto Suárez Laso : For the last three weeks I’ve been doing gym and walking machine only. I have pain in my Achilles tendon. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Llevo tres semanas solo con gimnasio y elíptica. Tengo dolor en el tendón de Aquiles.}

((WN)) So, as someone who writes from an international perspective, do you think Spain’s got all that stuff to help you properly? The medical support, stuff to help you recuperate and be a great runner?

Alberto Suárez Laso : I hope so. We’re there, they’ve been treating me very well and I hope to be able to run without pain, which is the most important thing. I’ve got the training, but I need to remove that pain. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Espero que sí. Estamos ahí, me están tratando bastante bien y espero correr sin dolor, que es lo fundamental. La preparación la tengo, pero hay que quitar ese dolor.}

((WN)) Do you run with a guide?

Alberto Suárez Laso : No.

((WN)) Okay, so are you T-13?

Alberto Suárez Laso : T-12.

((WN)) Oh. So it’s optional for a guy at T-12?

Translator : He could, but he’s not too badly impaired. He can run by himself.

((WN)) So is your preference to run without a guide?

Alberto Suárez Laso : It’s complicated because of the pace I run at. I would require several guides, and it’s hard to find them. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Es una complicación por el ritmo al que corro. Necesitaría varios guías y es dificil conseguirlos.}

((WN)) Do most of your competitors run with guides?

Alberto Suárez Laso : Not among the first ones. Well, there are a couple that do run with guides, but the rest don’t. ^{((es))Spanish language: ?Los primeros no. Bueno, hay un par de ellos que corren con guía, los demás no.}

((WN)) Is there anything you would like to say about this competition coming up that people from an international sporting community would find valuable to know?

Alberto Suárez Laso : Mm, I don’t know what to say!

((WN)) Okay. Thank you very much! ^{((es))Spanish language: ?¡Muchas gracias!}

Alberto Suárez Laso : You’re welcome! ^{((es))Spanish language: ?De nada.}