Gene Kelly's Energy-Filled Journey From Pittsburgh, The Steel City, to Beverly Hills

Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania in 1912, and studied economics at the University of Pittsburgh. His famous films include:

1948 The Three Musketeers (played D'Artagnan)
1951 An American in Paris
1952 Singin' in the Rain
1980 Xanadu (featuring music by Olivia Newton-John)

He was known for his energetic dancing style. At one point, he also did shows in Las Vegas.

An American in Paris was inspired by George Gershwin's orchestral composition of the same name.

Apocryphal

An apocryphal story is one which is popular but whose authenticity is doubtful.

La Rambla and Maremagnum via Rambla de Mar and Montjuic

La Rambla is a 1.2km tree-lined street that goes down from Placa de Catalunya (its Catalan name, with Plaza being used instead in Spanish) to Port Vell and then extends into Rambla de Mar, a walkway that ends in the Maremagnum shopping complex and its various eateries.

Port Vell was built/modernised as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics was held at Montjuic, famous for its castle built in 1640 where the flag of Catalonia (La Senyera) flies high. Montjuic Castle is the oldest attraction in Montjuic. In 1641 it was the site of a battle during the Catalan Revolt.

The pattern of La Senyera also features in the Coat of Arms of Spain.

Another attraction on Montjuic hill is the Communications Tower built by Santiago Calatrava (one of the turning points of his career), who also designed a lot of edifices in Valencia.

Famous Literary Prizes

The most famous literary prize of all is the Booker Prize, now known as the Man Booker Prize, following sponsorship from Man Investments. But there are many other literary prizes worthy of note:

• Guardian First Book Award: Publishers enter their nominations (since discontinued)
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• Franz Kafka Prize (presentation is held in Prague for the winner)

For specific genres, such as science fiction there are specific awards.

• Hugo Award: annual award for the best science-fiction/fantasy works (named after Hugo Gernsback)

For non-fiction, there are also prizes:

• Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. The winner is announced in November. It's motto: "All the best stories are true". How is it evaluated? Criteria includes: originality, quality of writing and the ability to communicate the subject to a wide audience.The Chair of the judges is Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal (who himself has written a number of non-fiction books, such as "Cosmic Coincidences" by Bantam, and "Our Cosmic Habitat" by Princeton University Press).

Mathematics of Meet Dave

Meet Dave is a 2008 comedy set in New York City. It features a spaceship in the form of a human, played by Eddie Murphy. It cost $55m to make and grossed $50m at the box office.

It has some great NYC locations: including the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, Times Square on the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and the 15-acre Sheep Meadow, Central Park.

Some great quotes from the movie:

"Wow. That's impressive love for the Bee Gees, man".
"Welcome to Old Navy".

Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar

In Gibraltar, there are regular scheduled flights only to the UK and Spain. The airport is only 500m from the city centre.  The main road from Spain, known as Winston Churchill Avenue, intersects the airport runway and has to be closed when a plane takes off or lands.

North of Gibraltar is the Spanish town of La Linea de la Concepcion, in the province of Cadiz in Andalucia. Its name derives from the linea that separates Spain and Gibraltar.

Campo de Gibraltar ("Countryside of Gibraltar") is a name for the region of Cadiz (not to be confused with Gibraltar) which includes La Linea de la Concepcion, Algeciras and Los Barrios.

How Big is Madrid - in relation to other European cities?

Madrid is the third largest European city, after London and Berlin. It lies on the Manzanares River. In fact, the city was founded by the Moors as a citadel overlooking the Manzanares. Its source is the Sierra de Guadarrama in the Sistema Central. The Community of Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities (regions) of Spain. It is the home of Autonoma University (the nearest tube stop is Cantoblanco on the C-4 line).

El Escorial

El Escorial is an historical residence of the King of Spain, 45km northwest of Madrid, combining monastery and royal palace in one.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as being one of the Spanish royal sites (sitos reales).

Travel Spanish

ida - trip, journey
ida y vuelta - outgoing and return
vuelta abierta - open return
consulta sin fecha - query without date
llegada - arrival (f)
salida - exit (f)

fecha de salida - outgoing date
fecha de regreso - return date
plaza - places
viajeros - passengers

horarios y precios - timetables and prices
compra de billetes - purchase of tickets
cambios - changes
anulaciones - cancellations

ayuda - help, assistance

NIF - Spanish National Insurance number; Numero de Identifiacion Fiscal
PVP - Precio de Venta al Publico - RRP

alojiamento - accommodation
desayuno - breakfast
estancia - stay (f)
entradas - entrance
cama - bed
cuna - cradle
limpiadoras - cleaning
cajoneras - drawers
muy buen - very good
totalmente - totally
descanso - n. rest
sabor - nm. taste
aseos - toilet
en cada habitacion - in each room
ayuntamiento - town hall

un lugar - a place
encanto - charm
Calle - street, e.g. Calle Salvador Dali
cercano - close
aeropuerto mas cercano - closest airport
a la izquierda - on the left
a la derecha - on the right
todo seguido - straight ahead (seh-GEE-do)
coger - catch e.g. coger el autobus
cualquier parada - any stop

en coche - by car
toma la salida - take the exit
ubicacion - location

anticipio - advance (deposit)
anular reservas - cancel reservations
IVA - tax e.g IVA incluido
localizacion - location e.g. mapa de localizacion
en pleno centro - right in the centre

Where is South Ossetia?

South Ossetia is a breakaway republic within Georgia, South of the Russian border. Georgia is just North of Turkey and has a coastal border with the Black Sea. The Bosphorus Strait connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

NYC Subway

The New York City subway is the largest subway system in the world in terms of number of stations. Wall Street lies at the Southern tip of Manhattan. 60 Wall Street is the American headquarters of Deutsche Bank.

The Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge cross the East River and connect Brooklyn with Manhattan. The Manhattan Bridge was originally used by streetcars (trams).

The East River is a fast flowing river reaching speeds of up to 4 knots (one knot is one "nautical mile", or 1.85km, per hour). The Brooklyn suspension bridge is one of America's oldest suspension bridges. and has the status of being an American NHL (or National Historic Landmark). Prior to its construction, people crossed the East River via a frequent ferry service, and a service between Queens and Manhattan exists today. Brooklyn is part of a large land mass largely to the South of Manhattan, and as you might expect, the Brooklyn Bridge effectively takes you South out of the island into the landmass below. Queens is North of Brooklyn and runs parallel to Manhattan's Eastern shoreline. La Guardia airport is in the borough of Queens.

Tribeca is a neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, known for the Tribeca Film Festival. It stands for "Triangle Below Canal Street". Canal Street is a famous New York street that separates Little Italy from Chinatown.

The Southern tip of Manhattan is Battery Park which is a 25 acre park, named after artillery batteries designed to protect the settlement behind them. The Holland Tunnel crosses the Hudson River from Manhattan to Jersey City. It was built in the 1920s and took seven years to complete. It is named after the Chief Engineer on the project, Clifford Holland.

The NYC subway system has some particular lingo. IRT stands for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the private operator of the original NYC subway (which opened in 1904). The IRT Lexington Avenue goes from Downtown Brooklyn north to East Harlem (aka "Spanish Harlem" or "El Barrio").

The Bronx is the northernmost borough of NYC. It lies South of Westchester County. (Westchester is named after the English city of Chester in Cheshire, a town founded by the Romans).

News channels in New York include NY1.

Main Thoroughfares of Vienna (and The Third Man Connection)

Here's one map, and here's another.

Central Vienna (District 1 and Immediate Surroundings)

Stephansdom, and Stephansplatz is right in the geographical centre of the Innere Stadt. Stephansplatz tube stop is on the U3 line (Orangey Line), one stop from Herrengasse. Remember that a StraBe is a street, a Gasse is a smaller street which is narrow, and may only be available to pedestrian and bicycle access (and maybe also trams).

Here is a link showing the Gothic architecture of the Stephansdom.

Karlsplatz - town square on the border beteween 1st and 4th districts. It has its own Metro station, the eponymous Karlsplatz, one stop South of Stephansplatz (Red, U1 Line). The line goes South and ends in Reumannplatz (Favoriten District). It is near the Academy of Fine Arts located on Schillerplatz. Operngasse leads South down from Karlsplatz.

Praterstrasse - street on which you have two U-stations, Praterstrasse Wien Nord and Nestroyplatz. The Wurstelprate is a year-round amusement park with the ferris wheel mentioned in Graham Greene's The Third Man. It is open daily from 10am and each ride has its own price.

Herrengasse - is on line U3 and the closest station to Wallnerstrase. It is within Innere Stadt and its meaning is "Lord's Lane". The street existed during Roman times. Wallnerstrase is the home of the Wiener Borse, which is controlled by the CEE Stock Exchange Group (which covers the Vienna, Budapest and Prague Stock Exchanges).

Mariahilf Strasse - shopping street that runs between Vienna's sixth and seventh districts. Thalia is a big bookstore on the Mariahilf. Europaplatz intersects Mariahilf from the North near the Westbahnhof station. As Mariahilf enters the Old City, it first enters into Burggarten, a former palace garden with a large number of statues. Burggarten means "Castle Garden". This area is also labelled Museumsquartier. Heldenplatz ("Hero's Square") is also located in this area, which features a statue of Charles of Austria (Commander of the Austrian army, who fought against Napoleon). On the left, as Maria enters the City, it passes the "People's Theatre" a.k.a. Volkstheater. Continuing onwards in a higgledy-piggledy way, perhaps going via Dorotheer Gasse, you end up at Stephansplatz (the heart of Vienna).

Vienna Railway Stations

Wien Meidling station - located at Philadelphiabrucke (Wien 12). Brucke means bridge in German. Philadelphiabrucke is about 6 minutes from Westbahnhof on the U6 line. It is on the EichenstraBe.

Wien Praterstrern - is in Leopoldstadt. The Stephansdom is visible from the platforms. The original station which was built in the 19th Century was destroyed in the Second World War and the current station is a rebuilt version.

Wiener Neustadt

This is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria. Translated, it means "Vienna New Town".

Airport Connections

The city centre of Vienna is connected by bus and City Airport Train to Flughafen Wien (Vienna Airport) in Schwechat, roughly 25km away.

Austria: Its States, Its Economy and General Overview

Niederosterreich (Lower Austria), Oberosterreich (Upper Austria). South West of Wien (Vienna) is the State of Salzburg (Saltz-boorg). Tyrol (Tee-ROLL) is even further West (conquered by the Romans in 15BC). The most Westerly state is Vorarlberg. Note that Vienna is its own State, and holds 20% of the Austrian population.

Austria is one of the world's largest economy's in terms of GDP per capita, with Germany being its main trading partner. Its German name, Osterreich, means "Eastern Kingdom".

Diacritics including the Inverted Circumflex

A diacritic is a "glyph" added to a letter. It is also known as a diacritical mark and may appear above or below a letter. One type of diacritic is accents. French has acute, grave, and circumflex accents but there are much more.

The caron is an inverted circumflex used in Czech (Czech háček). An example is the Czech surname Shkoda (written Škoda), and Antoneen Dvokzshak (written Antonín Dvořák).

The double acute accent is used exclusively in written Hungarian, and is sometimes called the Hungarumlaut. 

Expressionism

Expressionism began in Germany at the start of the 20th Century. Artists invoking expressionism seek to express MEANING or EMOTION rather than physical reality.

An example of expressionist painting is Munch's The Scream (1893). Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter.

There is also expressionist dance, and expressionist poetry (popular in Germany 1910-1920).

Some Austrian Terms

Austrian ATMs are referred to as Bankomaten, generally accessible till midnight, and with daily limits of about 400 euros. Wechselstuben, or money exchange offices, may have high charges. Mehrwehrtsteur is the name for VAT.

Burgermeister - Mayor
Volles Programm - Full Program
Wirtschaft - Economy

Honduras (which is not British Honduras)

Honduras is a Republic in Central America (Republica de Honduras). Its capital is Teguz (short for Tegucigalpa).

Most of the country was conquered by Spain in 16th Century. It became independent in 1821. The blue stripes of the Honduras flag represent the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Note: It is distinct from "British Honduras" which in 1981 became the independent nation of Belize (Carmelita and Guinea Grass are villages in Belize). Belize's official language is English and has the lowest population density in Central America.

The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world. It is part of the MBRS (Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System).

Russell Square

Russell Square is a London attraction in the area known as Bloomsbury.

Bloomsbury is in the London Borough of Camden.  The name originates from the Norman landowner William de Blemond. Bloomsbury is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book.

Russell Square is home to the Hotel Russell.

Residents of Bloomsbury Square included Edwin Lutyens.

Russell Square is on London's Piccadilly Line, between Holborn and Kings Cross St. Pancras. It is five stops from Green Park (a triangular park just South of Mayfair).

UEFA Champion's League Final

This is on 25 May 2013, between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Munich (Munchen) is the largest city of Bavaria (a state in Southern Germany that shares borders with Austria and the Czech Republic).

C'est quot le QED?

QED is part of particle physics - a field of study that focuses partly on electrons, protons and neutrons and even smaller objects known as quarks. A hadron is a composite particle made of quarks, held together by the "strong force". These are the things that keep the CERN guys up at night.

Famous Austrians

Erwin Schrodinger - developed fundamental results in quantum theory
Mozart - was born in Salzburg, now Austria, but then part of the Holy Roman Empire, whose first king was Charlemagne

Parts of Vienna

There are a total of twenty three named sections of the City of Vienna, known as Wien in German, which is situated along the Danube River (Donau).

Innere Stadt - District 1 of Vienna, is right in the centre of Vienna.
Leopoldstadt - District 2 of Vienna, named after the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, is North of the Danube Canal. The Nestroyplatz station in Leopoldstadt was built in 1979 and is on Line U1.
Landstrsasse - District 3 of Vienna, in the East and South Eastern portion of maps of Vienna.
Wieden - District 4, very small district South of the City Centre.

These districts were defined from 1850 onwards.

The main railway station in Vienna is the Wien Westbahnhof (Vienna West Station). There is also a U station for Westbahnhof on the U3 and U6 lines. It is the starting point of the West Railway (Westbahn) for trains to Salzburg (300km west of Vienna) operated by Austrian Federal Railways (OBB), a.k.a. Osterreicheische Bundesbahnen, fully owned by the Republic of Austria.

Salzburg is 2.5-3 hours by train.

Useful German

Anzahl Erwachsene: Number of Adults
Winzerzimmer: Tiny Room
Tagespreise: Daily prices (breakdown by day)

Preise & Angebote: Prices and Offers
Hotelangebote: Hotel Offers

Dusche oder Badewanne: Shower or Bathtub
Fruhstuck im Zimmerpreis enthalten: Breakfast included in price
Kostenloses WLAN: Free WI-FI

Rosenbeete: Rose Buds

Ihre Anfrage: Your Request

Useful language websites:

Google Translate

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Guide to Prague

Prague Airport (IATA: PRG) is 16km north-west of Prague.

The airport is known as "Prague Airport" or "Vaclav Havel Airport" and sometimes by its older name "Ruzyne". Vaclav (pronounced Vatslav) Havel was the first president of the Czech Republic, and last president of Czechoslovakia.

You may need to understand some basic Czech to navigate your way around the airport.

Prilety refers to "Arrivals". Odlety is "Departures". Pocasi means "Weather". Letenku is "Air Ticket" and Ubytovani is "Hotel".

What's in Wembley?

Wembley is known primarily for the Wembley Stadium, in the London Borough of Brent, opened in 2007, and owned by the Football Association (FA), English football's governing body. It has a capacity of 90,000 people making it the second-largest in Europe (the largest is Camp Nou in Barcelona, with a capacity of 98,000). The Emirates stadium has a capacity of 60,000. Near Wembley Stadium is the Wembley Arena which has various events.

Premier Cru

Aspall Cyder contains soft tannins and antioxidants.

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is off the coast of Bournemouth. Queen Victoria built a summer residence on the Isle of Wight.

Where is Torquay?

Torquay is a seaside town in the "ceremonial county" of Devon, renowned for its "healthful climate". Its neighbouring town is Paignton. A "ceremonial county" is a county to which a "Lord Lieutenant" is appointed (who is a personal representative of the Queen).

Where is Weymouth? Indeed, where is Dorset?

Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset which was the venue for the sailing events for the 2012 London Olympic Games. It is known for having a

"WORLD HERITAGE JURASSIC COAST"

Sandsfoot Castle was built in the 1530s to protect the Dorset coast from invasion. It stands at risk of coastal erosion.

Dorset derives its name from Dorchester, its main town. The Romans invaded Dorset (led by Vespasian, born in Falacrinum, a village in ancient Rome) in AD 43 during their conquest of Britain.

Tarana

Tarana is a type of composition in Indian classical vocal. Words and syllables are rendered at medium (madhya) or fast (drut) pace. It was invented by Amir Khusro.

Global RTGS

RTGS are designed for large payments. In China, CNAPS (China National Advanced Payment System) is for Renminbi settlement, closing at 5pm. In India, the system is the RBI RTGS system (minimum transaction size is 1 lakh, recently reduced from 2 lakhs). This closes at 4.30pm on weekdays. The UK RTGS system closes at 4.20pm. Singapore's MAS RTGS operates till 6.30pm. The system is called MEPS (MAS Electronic Payment System).

Apostille Convention

Apostille (Fr: certification) convention, or Apostille Treaty, is an international treaty relating to international certification (similar to notarisation).  Each country has certain "competent authorities" allowed to give apostilles. In the US, the Secretary of State or its deputies are allowed to give apostilles, in the UK, only the FCO in Milton Keynes can give apostilles.

Nova Scotia

Prince Henry Sinclair is reputed to be the first person to set foot in Nova Scotia in 1398, having sailed from the Orkney Islands. In the 18th Century, Britain and France fought over Nova Scotia (formerly known as Acadia, the name given to it by the Italian adventurer, Giovanni da Verrazzano).

Some interesting places:

• New Glasgow is a major town, settled by Scottish immigrants.
• Ecum Secum is a rural fishing town. Its name means "red house" in Mi'kmack.
• Halifax is a large-ish term with its own Metro system.

Linguistic influences are English, French, Scottish-Gaelic and Mi'kmack.

Prince Edward Island (oft-abbreviated to PEI) is to the North of Nova Scotia. PEI consists of one main island and over two hundred minor islands.

GVWR

GVWR is a term used in Australia and the United States. It stands for Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and refers to the maximum operating weight of a vehicle inclusive of the chassis (internal framework of the vehicle), body, engine, fluids, passengers and cargo.

Fahrenheit to Celcius

First, some qualitative comments on both scales.

The Fahrenheit scale is used in the US to measure temperature, one of the fundamental factors affecting human comfort. It was first proposed by Daniel Fahrenheit in 1724, who was of German origin but lived most of his life in the Dutch republic. He was a glassblower by trade but had an interest in the natural sciences, in which he conducted many experiments.

The Celcius scale, formerly known as Centigrade pre 1948, is named after Swedish astronomer Anders Celcius. The names Celcius and Centigrade are unrelated, one is a person's name, the other is a derived word.

Now for the important bit. How to convert from F to C?

Minus 32 and multiply by 5/9.