title: Miskito people

text: As early as the 1950s, Miskitos worked to confront the large and small injustices their community faced. By integrating into the Nicaraguan state via land titles, the Miskito were able to participate in the larger economy of the country and hold the state accountable to their local interests. This larger political participation fed into the Miskito locales, affording local representatives more power regarding territorial disputes in general, allowing for increased political involvement from Miskitos not directly tied to political processes.


title: Miskito people

text: Regarding indigenismo, Nicaraguan officials viewed these policies as an opportunity to become more involved with the Mosquito Coast, which had previously been largely left alone. Miskito people were able to claim benefits at a larger governmental level that previously did not exist including technical training in medicine and agriculture, as well as increased access to education and more schoolhouses. For the Miskito in Nicaragua, indigenismo represented an opportunity to increase rapport with the government and greater access to previously inaccessible state resources rather than an affront to ethnic identity.


title: Miskito people

text: The Miskito people have maintained the same cultural traits that they acquired during the pre-colonial and colonial era. Contact with the English has created the position of a king who is seen as the figurehead of the tribes; however, the modern king has little power and generally does not affect the different tribes.


title: Miskito people

text: The gender roles within the Miskito culture are affected more by the "boom and bust" of the local economy than by any ruler. When there are few job opportunities men rely on agricultural work and they spend time within their respective communities. There is evidence that the society followed a patriarchal setup during these "bust" times; however, when the economy is "booming", men generally get jobs that force them to travel. Since the 1990s men have been traveling as a result of an increase in job opportunities, and they spend significant amounts of time away from their villages.


title: Miskito people

text: Most men work on fishing boats diving for lobsters. Since men spend eight months out of the year away from their families, communities have a matrilocal arrangement. Typically men over age 13 are rarely present during daily life in a village.


title: Miskito people

text: Men are considered the breadwinners of a household and contribute the majority of a family’s income, but women have the ability to make all economic decisions. Some women do housekeeping or sell small crafts to make extra money, but it is not enough by itself to support a family. Girls inherit the right to settle on their mother’s land, and although men clear farmland women have full ownership of it.


title: Miskito people

text: It is extremely difficult for women to find jobs, and most rely on men and their incomes to support their children. Many women practice "magia amorosa" (love magic), and they believe that it helps attract men and their money. This love magic can also be used to help save one’s marriage. Women have the greatest input in how their households are run, but they are unable to do anything without the money that their husbands provide. Love magic highlights the importance of keeping a man interested within Miskito society.


title: Miskito people

text: Women usually begin forming relationships at age 15, and most become mothers by 18. Most women have six to eight children with their husband, but since men are not around that often there are high abandonment and divorce rates. Men often feel no moral obligation to take care of children because of a high illegitimacy rate. Abandoned children are generally adopted by women within the child's matrilocal group and taken care of by an aunt or grandmother. As women become older they also gain status within their community. In each society women who are respected elders, "kukas", are considered local experts and enforcers of correct behavior in their village.


title: Miskito people

text: Miskito oral tradition states that many centuries ago a tribe emigrated from northern South America and settled on the coast at a site called Sitawala - possibly near present-day Cabo Gracias a Dios. They were led by a warrior chief named Miskut, and called themselves the "Miskut uplika nani" (people of Miskut). The tradition states that neighboring tribes found it difficult to pronounce this name, and so shortened it to Miskito. After the death of Miskut, the tribe divided into three groups. One group ascended the Río Coco and became known as the river people. The other two groups moved north and south into present day Honduras and around present day Sandy Bay, Nicaragua. These people became known as the beach people.


title: Miskito people

text: The earliest European accounts of the Miskito are from Puritan colonists in 1633 and English and French buccaneers during the late 1600s-early 1700s. These early accounts claim that Miskito tribes ranged along the Caribbean coast from the Wawa River, south of present-day Bilwi, Nicaragua, to Cabo Camarón, Honduras. These early colonists, explorers and buccaneers described the Miskito as skilled maritime people adept a seafaring, fishing, and the hunting of turtle, manatee, as well as land animals such as deer.


title: Miskito people

text: Work conducted around Pearl Lagoon in Nicaragua by archaeologist Richard W. Magnus suggests that pre-contact coastal settlements were most likely temporary shellfish collection and salt manufacturing stations. Metates and other agricultural tools have been found in these coastal sites, however there is little evidence of permanent settlement, in-situ agriculture, nor specialized tools that would suggest adaptation to the marine environment. Furthermore, the lowland coastal soils are of poor agricultural quality and likely would not have supported permanent settlements. According to Magnus and others working in Honduran sites on the Río Tinto, these peoples were most likely riparian in nature. Archaeological sites inland show more signs of permanent settlement including house sites, animal/fish bones, hearths, and agricultural plots. It is suggested that these riverine people traveled temporarily to the coast to make salt and subsidize their agricultural diet with shellfish, but that their overall orientation was inland and not coastal . Despite a dearth of contact era reports, this theory of seasonal coastal migration is supported by the English buccaneer "M.W." in 1732 who observed inland tribes who seasonally arrived at the coast to make salt before travelling back up river. Anthropologist Mary W. Helms and Geographer Bernard Nietschmann argue that the coastal orientation of the modern Miskito was precipitated by contact and subsequent social, economic and political involvement with Great Britain.


title: Miskito people

text: The colony of Providence Island was established off the coast on present day Nicaragua by the English Providence Island Company in 1630, which precipitated the formation of settlements around 1633 on the Miskito Coast at Cabo Gracias a Dios, and further south at present day Bluefields, Nicaragua. The first known proto-Miskito contact with the English occurred around 1634 at the Cabo trading post.


title: Miskito people

text: The English regularly traded with the proto-Miskito for turtle shells, meat, lumber, hides, and other items in return, for beads, rum, clothing, food, livestock, and firearms. Many of these items were acquired by the coastal tribes through barter with inland tribes. As time passed, the proto-Miskito, in contrast to the inland peoples, mixed openly with the English and adopted some of their cultural traits, incorporating English words into their vocabulary and adopting European tools, food, clothing, and firearms – becoming the contact culture known today as the Miskito.


title: Miskito people

text: In addition to periodic trade, the Miskito were involved with English buccaneers of the 17th century. The buccaneers adopted Miskito communities as their bases and employed the Miskito in their cause. The buccaneers regularly employed local Miskito men to accompany them on their voyages as fishermen, hunters, navigators, and fighters. Through these experiences, the Miskito became adept raiders and raiding became a part of their local economy. With the support of the English and modern firearms, the Miskito expanded out of their cultural hearth near Cabo Gracias a Dios, and settled widely along the Miskito Coast. Following the decline of buccaneering at the end of the 17th century, many of the buccaneers turned to more legal ways of making money including cash crop production, and contraband. Sugar, Dye wood and contraband made up the majority of the local economy and wage labor became more common.


title: Miskito people

text: The Miskito culture and economy is a product of intermixing between coastal indigenous tribes, European buccaneers, traders, and settlers and escaped slaves. The Moskito Coast, since colonial times, has been an economic frontier characterized by barter and boom/bust economies where markets develop to exploit specific resources, such as turtles, precious lumber, rubber, bananas, and logwood and collapse when the world market busts leaving little long-term development. As such, there has always been a commercial component to the economy, however, due to the inevitability of economic busts and their isolation from national powers, the Miskito have maintained their subsistence culture without being absorbed into the full-time market economy – what anthropologist Mary Helms refers to as a ‘purchase society’. A purchase society is a power dynamic in which the indigenous are not subjugated as peasants, but still interact with a merchant or elite class via trade - retaining their autonomy and identity.


title: Miskito people

text: The Miskito subsistence economy was based primarily on hunting, fishing, and some limited agriculture and silviculture. The nature of the economy was one of subsistence and reciprocity. Subsistence activities were traditionally divided by gender. Women tended to the agriculture, while the men cleared land, hunted, fished, and worked in wage labor when it was available. As Geographer Bernard Nietschmann highlights, there was a complex system of meat reciprocity which served as a sort of social security system for the society. If a hunter or fisherman was successful, they would gift some of the catch to their extended family and 'sell' it to their friends with the expectation that the favor would be returned. Traditionally, there was a balance between subsistence and commercial activities. When commercial goods were in demand Miskito labor shifted towards commercial activities and subsistence activities were neglected. Upon the decline of the commercial activities, the Miskito fell back on their subsistence skills. However, the rise of the company economy precipitated a fundamental shift in the Miskito economy away from these short term/seasonal economic relationships to more regular long-term employment of contract wage labor and exploitation of communal resources for commercial gain. A major challenge to the Miskito system of meat reciprocity was the commercialization of the green sea turtle, a staple of the Miskito diet


title: Miskito people

text: The Miskito have hunted green turtles as part of their traditional subsistence economy since at least the contact era. Much of the Miskito subsistence system, and settlement patterns were based around the seasonal appearance of the green sea turtle. In the 17th century, the buccaneer William Dampier wrote that the Moskito Indians were "esteemed and coveted by all privateers" because of their skill at hunting turtle and manatee, "for one or two of them [the animals] in a ship will maintain 100 men". The traditional method of capture was the harpoon. The harpoon was eight to ten feet in length and attached to a strong line. the turtle hunters traveled in small, seagoing canoes, using complex mental maps and systems of navigation to locate the turtles. A hunting party consisted of two men: a "strikerman" in the bow, and the "captain" in the stern. The hunters intercepted the turtles in the area between their sleeping shoals and feeding banks as they surfaced for air. After being harpooned, the turtle was capable of pulling a canoe along at high speeds until eventually tiring. The hunters could then pull the turtle alongside the canoe and kill it. Once killed, the turtle was returned to the community where the meat was divided among family and friends.


title: Miskito people

text: In general, no more turtles were hunted than could satisfy the community's meat needs. However, increased demand from international markets during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries led to changes in hunting methods. The activities became market-focused instead of subsistence-focused. Foreign companies established commercial enterprises and hired Miskito turtlemen to facilitate intensive harvesting of green turtles to support sugar plantation labor, but also European palates. Exploitation was so intense that sea turtle populations in the greater Caribbean basin had been decimated by the mid-1800s, and villagers were confronted with rising social tensions due to increased dependence on a scarce resource. In the present day, sea turtle populations have recovered to a point, but the Miskito now balance a desire for turtle products with the forces of local, national, and international conservation goals.


title: Miskito people

text: The establishment of European control, and later American hegemony on the Miskito Coast opened up the region for foreign business interests and the introduction of wage labor. The period between the turn of the 20th century and the 1960s became known as the company period, and was defined by large foreign enterprises, company run communities, and wage labor in the extraction of natural resources. During this time, lumbering of mahogany and other valuable trees, cash cropping of sugar and other products, which had existed in reduced form since the 17th century, expanded into large commercial enterprises. In terms of lumber, companies hired Miskito men to find, cut, and deliver desirable trees or tree products to the coast where they were then exported to Europe or the United States. By the end of the 1800s, lumber and rubber were major employers of male Miskito labor and foreign investment was high. The effects of this influx of money could be seen in the Miskito community of Bilwi.


title: Miskito people

text: Prior to 1921, the community of Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas), Nicaragua was little more than a small fishing village, but starting in this year a consortium of business from the United States, including the Bragman’s Bluff Lumber and Fruit Company, and Standard Fruit began developing the community into their base of operation and main export port. The companies together outfitted the community with a lumber mill, pier and port facilities, and a regional railroad system for the extraction of lumber and bananas. By 1926 Bragman’s Bluff Lumber was the largest employer in Nicaragua, with over 2000 workers. Pine lumbering persisted with periodic booms and busts through the 1960s. Bragman’s Lumber recorded its largest shipment of lumber at Bilwi in 1960 with just over 28.4 million linear board feet.


title: Miskito people

text: The other major boom market for this period was in bananas. The banana boom, with its plantation employment, lasted from the 1890s -1930s - peaking in the 1931. At the port of Bilwi, Standard Fruit recorded it all-time high production of 6.1 million "racimos" (clusters) in 1931. As a result of economic depression in the United States, and a soil fungus outbreak, the banana economy quickly busted. By the end of WWII exports at Bilwi were down to 99,685 racimos and by 1960 the number was down to 9,753. Gold-mining and pine lumbering also began in the late 1800s and persisted with periodic booms and busts through the 1960s. Seafood, including shrimp and lobster, has been the most recent boom market in the region since the 1970s.


title: Miskito people

text: Overall, the company period was known for its boom and bust economies. Massive hirings during economic upswings were followed by massive layoffs. During boom times, skilled and unskilled workers would flood into town, only to return to their homes after the price of lumber, bananas, or ores dropped leaving ghost towns, and abandoned infrastructure. During the company period, it was common for the Miskito men to leave their communities and families for up to a year at a time, to work in the various industries. They would send back money as replacement for the subsistence goods that they would have traditionally produced. Without their husbands and male family members, the women were increasingly forced to purchase food (especially meat) on the cash market and hire farm hands to clear and tend agricultural plots. This employment dynamic led to the large-scale introduction of the money-based economy, and the replacement of subsistence goods with relatively inexpensive commissary goods. This shift created a dependency on commercial goods and cash earning employment.


title: Miskito people

text: Increasing demand in the United States led to a boom in commercial exploitation of spiny lobster along the Moskito Coast beginning in the 1970s. Lobster, like products of past booms, has become a major source of cash income for the Miskito and the great majority of the population either directly or indirectly depends on lobster income. In 2011, the industry employed around 3500 people on 44 boats in Honduras alone. In Nicaragua, it has been estimated that commercial lobster diving employs over 5,000 people and affects the livelihoods of 50,000 men, women and children. Many of these people work as divers, using scuba equipment to dive and catch lobster.


title: Miskito people

text: The vast majority of fishing operations are controlled by ladino boat owners based in the Bay Islands of Honduras and Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. These owners employ local recruiters or "sacabuzos" in coastal communities to organize crews of dive teams, as well as other boat hands. A dive team consists of a diver and "cayuquero"; a diver apprentices who follows the diver in a canoe allowing the diver to offload his catch. In addition to 18-20 dive teams, a boat employs additional support staff to cook, clean, and manage the diving equipment.


title: Miskito people

text: At the beginning of a fishing trip, the lobster boats travel the coast picking up recruited dive teams and boat hands. They then search for lobster at known lobster banks between Honduras and Colombia, often illegally and usually over the course of 12–16 days. The divers are paid by the pound for lobster tails alone. In the early days of the boom, lobster tails of 1-2 pound were common whereas by the early 1990s a diver needed 2-3 lobsters to make the same weight. At that time, the average diver brought in, per trip, 150-180 pounds of lobster. By 2011 the estimated average was down to 74 pounds/trip. Following the catch, the boats return the crew members to their communities, and the catch is processed in the Bay Islands or Puerto Cabezas before being shipped to primarily the United States.


title: Miskito people

text: Since the 1960s, the Miskito have used free-diving techniques to harvest lobsters as their primary source of income. In the early years of the lobster boom, large and plentiful lobster were found close to shore in shallow waters, and could be accessed easily by free-diving. Lobster production peaked, however, around 1985, and these resources, were quickly depleted. Scuba diving techniques were introduced around 1980 to enable the Miskito to expand their area for harvesting into deeper waters. Declining returns have forced divers to dive more often, deeper, and for longer, using pressurized tanks to maintain their income. In response to declining lobster populations, the governments of Honduras and Nicaragua implemented a fishing season - restricting lobster exploitation to between 1 March and 30 July. The goal was to reduce pressure on lobster populations, but the result has also increased pressure on lobster divers. It is not uncommon for divers to make 12-16 dives per day to depths of 100–120 ft. in an effort to maintain their incomes. The result has been an increase in the number of cases of decompression sickness and decompression related deaths. Around 2013, Honduras had the highest number of decompression related deaths and sickness in the world. Estimates at that time put the number of injured somewhere over 2000, while over 300 others have died since the 1970s. The divers almost universally lack formal dive training, and the push to maintain their incomes leads divers to dive too much and stay down too long. In response to activist outcries, several large lobster importers in the United States announced in 2015 that they will no longer purchase dive caught lobster, however, similar efforts by Red Lobster in 1993 failed to disrupt the industry. In 2009 both Honduras and Nicaragua agreed on regional regulations to prohibit lobster diving. Regional agreement OSP-02-2009 - "Reglamento para el Ordenamiento Regional de la Pesquería de Langonsta del Caribe" was signed by the nations of Central America on 21 May 2009 and was to prohibit tank assisted lobster diving within two years. These regulations, however, have not been enforced, partly because of political pressure from the fishing industry and a lack of viable economic alternatives in on the Miskito Coast. In a 2011 census of Honduran lobster divers, 36% of injured divers continued to dive after their first accident and 50% of divers had considered quitting due to the risks, but continued, because of the lack of viable economic alternatives.


title: Miskito people

text: The 2012 documentary film "My Village, My Lobster" examines the individuals and communities involved in this fishing industry. The film features testimony from divers who have been injured, boat owners and captains who are responsible for the divers' safety, and a hyperbaric medicine specialist who treats injured divers. The film includes footage from aboard a commercial lobster diving vessel and from the remote Miskito Keys (or Miskito Cays), the noted turtle-hunting grounds of the Miskito.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Parliament House, also referred to as Capital Hill or simply Parliament, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, and the seat of the legislative branch of the Australian Government. Located in Canberra, the Parliament building is situated on the southern apex of the Parliamentary Triangle atop Capital Hill, at the meeting point of Commonwealth, Adelaide, Canberra and Kings Avenue enclosed by the State Circle.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Parliament House was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects and built by a Concrete Constructions and John Holland joint venture. It was opened on 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. It cost more than A$1.1 billion (equivalent to about $ billion in ) to build.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Federal Parliament meetings were held in Melbourne until 1927. Between 1927 and 1988, the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional Parliament House, which is now known as "Old Parliament House". The construction of Australia's permanent Parliament House was delayed while its location was debated. Construction of the new building began in 1981. The principal design of the structure is based on the shape of two boomerangs and is topped by an flagpole. The flag above Parliament House is one of the biggest in Australia, measuring by .


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Parliament House contains 4,700 rooms, and many areas are open to the public. The main foyer contains a marble staircase and leads to the Great Hall, which has a large tapestry on display. The House of Representatives chamber is decorated green, while the Senate chamber has a red colour scheme. Between the two chambers is the Members' Hall, which has a water feature and is not open to the public. The Ministerial Wing houses the Prime Minister's Office and other ministerial offices.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In 1901, when the six British colonies in Australia federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne and Sydney were the two largest cities in the country, but the long history of rivalry between them meant that neither could become the national capital. Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia therefore provided that:


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament and shall be within a territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefor. The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meet at the seat of Government.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In 1909, after much argument, the Parliament decided that the new capital would be in the southern part of New South Wales, on the site which is now Canberra. The Commonwealth acquired control over the land in 1911, but World War I intervened, and nothing was done for some years to build the city. Federal Parliament did not leave Melbourne until 1927.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In the meantime the Australian Parliament met in the 19th-century edifice of Parliament House, Melbourne, while the Victorian State Parliament met in the nearby Royal Exhibition Building for 26 years.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: After World War I the Federal Capital Advisory Committee was established to prepare Canberra to be the seat of government, including the construction of a Parliament House. The committee decided that it would be best to erect a "provisional" building, to serve for a predicted 50 years until a new, "permanent" House could be built. In the end, the Old Parliament House was Parliament's home for 61 years. In the last decade of its use as a parliament, the building had a chronic shortage of available space.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In 1978 the Fraser government decided to proceed with a new building on Capital Hill, and the Parliament House Construction Authority was created. A two-stage competition was announced, for which the Authority consulted the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and, together with the National Capital Development Commission, made available to competitors a brief and competition documents. The design competition drew 329 entries from 29 countries.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The competition winner was the Philadelphia-based architectural firm of Mitchell/Giurgola, with the on-site work directed by the Italian-born architect Romaldo Giurgola, with a design which involved burying most of the building under Capital Hill, and capping the edifice with an enormous spire topped by a large Australian flag. The facades, however, included deliberate imitation of some of the patterns of the Old Parliament House, so that there is a slight resemblance despite the massive difference of scale.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Giurgola placed an emphasis on the visual aesthetics of the building by using landscape architect Peter G. Rolland to direct civil engineers, a reversal of the traditional roles in Australia. Rolland played a pivotal role in the design, development and coordination of all surface elements including pool design, paving, conceptual lighting and artwork locations. Horticultural experts from the Australian National Botanic Gardens and a government nursery were consulted on plant selection. Permanent irrigation has been limited to only the more formal areas. Irwinconsult was commissioned to provide structural engineering, including quality assurance of all structural elements, to deliver a building with a designed lifespan of 200 years.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Construction began in 1981, and the House was intended to be ready by Australia Day, 1988, the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia. It was expected to cost . Neither the deadline nor the budget was met.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In 1983, Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp, commissioned the forecourt mosaic, "Possum and Wallaby Dreaming", which Aboriginal Australian artist Michael Nelson Jagamarra, of Papunya, Northern Territory, based on his painting of the same name. The mosaic shows "a gathering of a large group of people from the kangaroo, wallaby and goanna ancestors [who] are meeting to talk and to enact ceremonial obligations. The work derives from the sand-painting tradition of the Warlpiri people, and has complex layers of meaning known only to Warlpiri elders". Three stonemasons took 18 months to two years to hand-cut the 90,000 granite setts which were used in the artwork. The mosaic was digitised in April 2019 from a series of photographs taken from five metres above the artwork.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1988, the anniversary of the opening of both the first Federal Parliament in Melbourne on 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), and of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 1927 by the Duke of York (later King George VI).


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The flag flown from the flagpole is , about the size of half a tennis court. The flagpole weighs 250 tonnes and is made of polished stainless steel from Wollongong. It was designed to be the pinnacle of Parliament House and is an easily recognisable symbol of national government. It is visible by day from outside and inside Parliament House and floodlit at night. The flag itself weighs approximately .


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The site covers . The building was designed to sit above Old Parliament House when seen from a distance. The building is four metres (13 feet) higher than the original height of the hill. About one million cubic metres (35,000,000 cubic feet) of rock had to be excavated from the site. It was used to fill low-lying areas in the city. Most of the granite used was sourced from Australia. Twice the amount needed was quarried as a very high standard of granite was required particularly for the curved walls.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: It was proposed originally to demolish Old Parliament House so that there would be an uninterrupted vista from the New Parliament House to Lake Burley Griffin and the Australian War Memorial, but there were successful representations for the preservation of the historic building, which now houses a parliamentary museum. The original idea was for Parliament House to be open free to the public, and the sweeping lawns leading up to the entrances were intended to symbolise this.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The forecourt mosaic, "Possum and Wallaby Dreaming", was designed by Indigenous Australian artist Michael Nelson Jagamarra, and represents a gathering of people. (See also above.)


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The public entrance to Parliament House opens into the main foyer leading into the Great Hall, which features a tapestry based on a painting by Arthur Boyd, the original of which is also displayed in the building. Functions that have parliamentary and federal relevance often take place here, but the Great Hall is also open to functions for the general public, such as weddings, and the nearby University of Canberra hosts graduation ceremonies here.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Below the tapestry of the Great Hall is a removable division that opens onto the Members' Hall, which has a water feature at its centre. This is an area restricted to security-classified occupants of the building and special visitors. Directly ahead of the Members' Hall is the Ministerial Wing, housing the office suites of the Prime Minister and government Ministers. The Members' Hall has access to the House of Representatives and the Senate buildings to the left and right of the main entrance to the halls respectively. Public access to the visitors' galleries and the Main Committee Room is via an upper level reached by impressive marble staircases ascending from the entrance foyer. There are also 19 committee rooms that are open to the public and a highly secure Cabinet Room on the ground floor.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In commemoration of the colour scheme of the British House of Commons, the House of Representatives is decorated in green. However, the colour is muted to suggest the colour of eucalyptus leaves, or the Australian bush.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The Chamber itself is designed to seat up to 172 members, with room to accommodate a total of 240 with temporary seating. From the perspective of the image, the press gallery is ahead, with public galleries containing 388 seats to the left and right. Soundproofed galleries for school groups are directly above these, as no talking is permitted when the House members are present.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Frontbench (Cabinet) members approach the table with the ornate box (pictured), known as the despatch box, to speak. Backbenchers have a microphone on their desk and merely stand to speak (unless they cannot stand), in accordance with standing order 60.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Also on the table is a copy of Hansard and where the clerk and deputy clerk sit. The clerk needs to know all the rules of Parliament and is responsible for ringing the bells during a division (voting). In front of the clerk are the hour glasses. The outer glasses measure four minutes and the middle glass measures one minute. These glasses are turned when there is a division; one of the four-minute glasses is turned and the bells will ring and the clocks will flash green for the House of Representatives or red for the Senate for four minutes. After the hourglass stops, the house's attendants will lock the doors and the whips will count the votes. Members vote by either moving to the government side of the house for a vote for a bill or the opposition side for a vote against a bill. If there are successive divisions, and there is no debate after the first division, the middle one-minute hourglasses are turned and the bells are rung for one minute.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: As is the custom with Westminster parliaments, members of the governing party sit to the Speaker's right, and the Opposition sits to the Speaker's left. Independents and minor parties sit on the cross-benches. The long benches (the front benches) closest to the despatch boxes are reserved for the Cabinet on the government's side and the Shadow Cabinet on the Opposition's side.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The Senate chamber matches the colour scheme of the House of Lords, decorated in red, but muted to tints of ochre, suggesting the earth and the colours of the outback.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Presently installed seating can accommodate up to 93 Senators. The gallery arrangement is almost identical to that of the House of Representatives. Unlike the House of Representatives, only the leader of the government or opposition in the Senate approaches the lectern; other frontbench senators and all backbench senators have a desk microphone. As can be seen from the illustrations, unlike the House of Representatives, there is no distinction between the front and back benches in the Senate chamber; Senate ministers and their opposition counterparts have the same two-seat benches as all other senators. The press gallery is located above the Senate chamber. The presiding officer of the Australian Senate is the President of the Senate, who occupies a position in the Senate chamber similar to that of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Behind the seat of the President of the Senate are two large seats which are modern versions of thrones. The larger is used by the Governor-General or the monarch (when visiting) when they open Parliament at the start of a new parliamentary session. The vice-regal consort or the royal consort (when visiting) sits on the smaller throne.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The "Parliament House Art Collection" of over 6,000 works includes commissioned (and purchased) portraits of every prime minister, governor-general, president of the senate and speaker of the house, as well as other works of art significant to Australia.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The New Parliament House building has been warmly received for its beauty and democratic symbolism, particularly the grass-covered roof that allows visitor access. Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh has praised the way "the building was constructed to emerge out of Capitol Hill – rather than sitting atop it as an imposing structure". The new Parliament House is recognised as being more spacious and light-filled than its predecessor, and much less cramped.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The building has received criticism for the way in which its design discourages collegiality amongst members. New Parliament House was designed in the late 1970s, in the context of the Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing and the tense political climate following the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government, and thus one of the key elements of the design brief was providing security for the executive. The winning design's solution was to fence off the executive in its own ministerial wing. In practice, this meant it was no longer possible for backbenchers to bump into ministers while passing through the corridors of parliament, increasing a sense of detachment between the two groups. The heart of Old Parliament House was King's Hall, an entrance hall open to the public that connected the House of Representatives and the Senate to the parliamentary library and the refreshment rooms. Inevitably, due to its central location, Kings Hall became a bustling hub where people met and talked, and a place where politicians could mingle with the public and the press gallery. In contrast, the new building situates the library and refreshment rooms at great distance from the two Chambers, and Member's Hall, the foyer that connects the House and the Senate, is not open to the public. As a consequence, Member's Hall lies empty, as parliamentarians have no reason to be there.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Similarly, while in the Old Parliament House members of various political parties would inhabit offices that shared the same corridors, New Parliament House segregates opposing parties in different corners of the building, decreasing interaction between members. Members would often only meet their opponents in the adversarial environment of the debating chamber, and many former parliamentarians believe this has heightened the sectarian nature of parliamentary politics in Australia.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The place lacks red blood cells. Beyond the chambers there is no sign of the great contest of ideas for which a national parliament exists. Unlike the old Parliament House where opponents bumped past each other in the corridors, met each other's eyes, exchanged brutalities in the bar, stood side by side at urinals, in the new building the Opposition is separated from the Government by a divide as great as any which separates all of them from their constituents. As with dogs which meet only through a fence and cannot sniff each other's backsides, it deepens the everyday animus.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Paul Keating himself has lamented walking the corridors of New Parliament House "not feeling like you were part of anything". Another former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, expressed concern the "badly designed" structure lacks "collision space [that] brings people together to...compromise and agree and discuss. I think the design of the building definitely contributes to the fact that there are less cross-party friendships than there were in the old parliament". These concerns have been echoed by many former parliamentarians, including Malcolm Fraser, Tom Uren, Peter Walsh, Barry Jones, and Bob Carr. Walsh, a former Finance Minister in the Hawke Government has said the building is "an antiseptic, isolated and impersonal place, compared with its predecessor".


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The new Parliament House is a central hub for events in Canberra, hosting many of the nation's largest and most important function events. The Parliament House is a place for meetings, conferences (government, and private), celebrations, and other miscellaneous uses. The Parliament House is one of the few parliament houses in the world where private events are permitted. The Parliament House has 14 event spaces that can be used for special events.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: In 2011, the Department of Parliamentary Services commissioned a pilot 43.3 kW photovoltaic system on the roof of Parliament House in Canberra. The system is split between two locations, with 192 panels installed on the Senate wing with the remaining 42 panels on the roof of the Gardeners' Compound. At the time of construction, the system was one of the largest installed for solar power in Australia.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: According to the Department of Parliamentary Services, the system was switched on in June 2011 and has performed as expected by providing enough power for lighting in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This equates to an approximate saving of $9,000 which is expected to rise to $17,000 annually.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: The system received an award from the Clean Energy Council in 2012 for "Best design and installation of a grid-connect power system greater than 10 kW".


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Both the old and new Parliament House received an Engineering Heritage National Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.


title: Parliament House, Canberra

text: Over the years there have been some criminal acts committed in the Australian Parliament house. This was known as the 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: Louis I (Luis Felipe Fernando Joseph; 25 August 1707 – 31 August 1724) was King of Spain from 15 January 1724 until his death in August the same year. His reign is one of the shortest in history, lasting for just over seven months.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: Louis was born at Palacio del Buen Retiro, in Madrid as the eldest son of the reigning King Philip V of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy. He was named after his great-grandfather Louis XIV of France.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: At birth he was the heir apparent but was not given the traditional title of "Prince of Asturias" until April 1709. In 1714, when Louis was seven, his mother died, leaving him and his brothers, "Infante" Ferdinand and "Infante" Felipe Pedro. On 24 December 1714, Louis' father remarried to Elisabeth Farnese, the young heiress to the Duchy of Parma.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: As heir not only to the vast Spanish empire, but also to a new dynasty, it was decided that Louis would take a wife as soon as possible. On 20 January 1722, at Lerma, he met and married Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, a daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, cousin of Louis' father and then the Regent of France. The dowry of this marriage was an enormous 4 million livres.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: Louis ruled for a short period between the time his father Philip V abdicated in his favour (14 January 1724) and his death from smallpox, just over seven months. King Philip sent him a letter informing him of his decision. He calls his son a great king. Louis sent his father a humble reply thanking him and signed his letter as Prince of Asturias. His marital problems dominated during his reign. His father kept tabs on him from San Ildefonso. To counter his father's influence, he surrounded himself with officials who had not served under Philip. His plans were to focus more on the American colonies rather than the lost Italian territories. On his death, his father returned to the throne, and reigned 22 more years until his own death in 1746. Louis was buried in the "Cripta Real del Monasterio de El Escorial" part of the El Escorial complex.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: Louis was tall and thin, with blonde hair. He was considered unattractive and the similarity between him and his maternal grandfather, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, was notable. Apart from it, Louis had weak arms, which emphasized his delicacy.


title: Louis I of Spain

text: Not much is known about Louis' personality. According to Vicente Bacallar, Marquis de San Felipe, he was "extremely liberal, magnanimous and into making people to feel comfortable next to him". However, neither his liberty as King nor gentilism eclipsed his strong religiosity. Other contemporaries allegedly pointed out Louis had inherited his father's intelligence and charm and mother's moral and submission. Apart from it, many have argued Louis inherited his father's sexual appeal. He would have been bisexual, being initiated into such a practice by a servant, originally from Versailles. Historians believe that Lacotte, who was Louis' servant and who had a reputation of being a pedophile, was sent into Spanish royal court to seduce the prince, whose impotence was known. W. Clarke writes: "the Spanish heir was as into boys as girls during the parties that he had, playing erotic games with both sexes"; a line about Louis' sexual life was sang across streets of Madrid: "Fiery as his mother, lascive as his father, flaming as his stepmother and onanist as a pedophile".


title: Isaac Slade

text: Isaac Edward Slade (born May 26, 1981) is an American singer and musician; the former lead vocalist, main songwriter, pianist and co-founder of Colorado-based rock band The Fray.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade was born in Boulder, Colorado, and raised in the Denver metropolitan area with his family, which included both parents—who were missionaries from the same family—and two younger brothers, Caleb and Micah. He also lived for a time in Guatemala due to his parents' profession, where he studied at Interamerican School in the city of Quetzaltenango. The Slade family are of English and Slovak descent. He attended Faith Christian Academy in Arvada, Colorado and later attended the University of Colorado Denver, as a music and entertainment industry studies major. He received a Bachelor of Music.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade started singing when he was 8 years old, and began playing the piano at 11, after temporarily losing his voice. He wrote his first song when he was 16 and learned to play guitar when he was in high school.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade joined Ember, a band which consisted of Slade and his future band-mates Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki. The band soon dissolved, and later, in the spring of 2002, Slade ran into former school-mate and vocalist/guitarist Joe King in a record store. The two began regular jam sessions, which led to writing songs. They later added Slade's younger brother, Caleb, on bass and Zach Johnson on drums.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki re-joined Slade and King, to form the Fray. They soon released "Movement EP", and in 2003, they released "Reason EP" to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's "Westword" alternative newsweekly. Despite these reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter. The band changed the name of the song to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year.


title: Isaac Slade

text: On March 12, 2022, Slade announced on Instagram that he had parted ways with the Fray, with his final concert with the band held at Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois, on May 14, 2022.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade stated in an interview that one of the first songs that inspired him was "Swallowed" by Bush, and that the lyrics and tune had moved him enough to pursue his career. In a post on AOL Radio Blog, he wrote:


title: Isaac Slade

text: As a boy "Swallowed" was my siren's song. I was a sheltered church child and here's this man talking about living the life his way, doing whatever he felt like doing. Bush wasn't allowed in my house either, which made it that much more mysterious.


title: Isaac Slade

text: His other musical influences include Nine Inch Nails, Queen, Radiohead, R.E.M., Counting Crows, U2, and Led Zeppelin.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade performed on the 2010 remake of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World". He joined 85 other artists on February 1, 2010, to record the track for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.


title: Isaac Slade

text: On October 27, 2013, Slade and the Fray played at the Colorado Flood Benefit Concert that raised nearly $500,000 for victims of the flood.


title: Isaac Slade

text: Slade considers himself to be a centrist. He often votes for independent candidates. Slade sponsored Neal Simon, who was running as an independent candidate for senator from Maryland during the 2018 elections.


title: Patricia Blair

text: Patricia Blair (born Patsy Lou Blake; January 15, 1933 – September 9, 2013) was an American television and film actress, primarily on 1950s and 1960s television. She is best known as Rebecca Boone in all six seasons of NBC's "Daniel Boone", with co-stars Fess Parker, Darby Hinton, Veronica Cartwright, and Ed Ames. She also played Lou Mallory on the ABC western series "The Rifleman", in which she appeared in 22 episodes with Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford and Paul Fix.


title: Patricia Blair

text: Patsy Lou Blake was born in Fort Worth, Texas and grew up in Dallas. She became a teenage model through the Conover Agency. While acting in summer stock, Warner Bros. discovered her and she began acting in films under the names Patricia Blake and Pat Blake. In the late 1950s she appeared as the second female lead in several films for Warner Bros. and later for MGM. Her first movie was "Jump Into Hell" (1955), about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in French Indochina.


title: Patricia Blair

text: She had a recurring role as Goldy, one of Madame Francine's hostesses, on the 1958 TV series "Yancy Derringer". In 1962 she starred as Lou Mallory in "The Rifleman", replacing actress Joan Taylor as Chuck Connors's love interest on that series. She also made a guest appearance in 1963 on "Perry Mason" as murderer Nicolai Wright in "The Case of the Badgered Brother". She made guest appearances as well on other television series, such as "The Bob Cummings Show", "Rescue 8", "Gunsmoke", "Richard Diamond, Private Detective", "The Virginian", and "Bonanza".


title: Patricia Blair

text: Blair had considered moving to New York City in 1964 until screenwriter Gordon Chase helped her get a role on the NBC series "Daniel Boone". She played wife Rebecca Boone, opposite Fess Parker for six seasons, with Darby Hinton as son Israel and future multi - Primetime Emmy Award nominee Veronica Cartwright as daughter Jemima. Blair became concerned that her TV daughter, played by Cartwright, made her appear aged and she refused to sign a contract for season three unless Cartwright was dropped from the show. After the series ended in 1970, her career struggled, and she appeared in only a few minor films and television spots. Her last appearance in a feature film was in 1979, portraying a fashion narrator in "The Electric Horseman" starring Robert Redford. In her later years she produced trade shows in New York and New Jersey.


title: Patricia Blair

text: On February 14, 1965, the 32-year-old Blair married 42-year-old land developer Martin S. Colbert in Los Angeles, California. The couple divorced in 1993. Colbert died in 1994.


title: Canserbero

text: Tirone José González Orama (March 11, 1988 – January 20, 2015), known by his stage name Canserbero, was a Venezuelan hip hop singer and songwriter from Caracas. He is widely regarded as the best rapper in Latin America.


title: Canserbero

text: Since he was young, he showed interest in music, mainly influenced by "reggaeton" but, after the murder of his half brother, his musical references changed to more critical genres such as "hip hop" and "hard rock", appreciable in songs like "Es épico".


title: Canserbero

text: Canserbero, throughout his career, released two studio albums as a soloist, "Vida" (2010) and "Muerte" (2012) respectively, and had several notorious songs such as "Pensando en ti", "Es épico", "C'est la mort", "Maquiavélico", among others. He also participated as a vocalist in several songs of artists from Latin America and Spain as Mala Rodríguez, with whom he recorded a song entitled "Ella" (2013). In January 2015, Canserbero was found dead after having fallen from an apartment in Maracay. There are several hypotheses about his death.


title: Canserbero

text: At the age of eleven, he began performing rap performances under the stage name of Canserbero a jargon of Latinism "cerbero dog" (in Latin, "canis cerberus") meaning "guardian", an allusion to Cerberus of Greek mythology.


title: Canserbero

text: He was born on March 11, 1988, in the General Hospital of Lídice Dr. Jesús Yerena of the city of Caracas, as Tirone José González Oramas. He was the son of José Rafael González Ollarves and Leticia Coromoto Oramas. Later, his parents moved with him to Maracay. In 1997, his mother died and was left under the care of his father.


title: Canserbero

text: On January 20, 2015, Canserbero was found dead in front of his apartment. The artist was found from the tenth floor of the Camino Real building in the Andrés Bello urbanization in Maracay. Initially, some of his close friends maintained that the artist stayed in the apartment of bassist Carlos Molnar, a friend and co-worker, since he had schizophrenia. Molnar was killed that same day by stabbing. On the other hand, the Ombudsman of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, in March of the same year, reopened the case, since there were other additional details that straighten some hypotheses of the "witnesses". The first hypothesis is based on the fact that the kitchen window was made of romanillas and all the glasses were previously removed, which causes intrigue, given the "presumed" psychotic state in which Canserbero was used at the time of launching. [Quote required] "Having taken the romanillas out of the window indicates method, not despair," says the defender, who relies on the sisters' testimony to indicate that the romanillas were not at the time of Canserbero's fall, "but someone put them back later", he said.


title: Canserbero

text: While depressed (although family members stated that he did not have any mental illness), he was asked by Carlos Molnar, bassist for Zion TPL, to stay with him.


title: Canserbero

text: Allegedly, Canserbero stabbed Molnar to death and then jumped to his own death from the tenth floor of the building. However, several members of his family have expressed several doubts regarding the police investigation.


title: Skeksis

text: The Skeksis are a fictional species that serves as the main antagonists in the 1982 film "The Dark Crystal" and its related franchise. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with the singular being pronounced and the plural . They are described by concept artist Brian Froud as, "part reptile, part predatory bird, part dragon". The Skeksis are represented by puppets engineered under the direction of Jim Henson. Jim Henson said that in the development of the Skeksis, the creators drew inspiration from the seven deadly sins.


title: Skeksis

text: Jim Henson was inspired to design the Skeksis by an illustrated edition of a Lewis Carroll poem showing two elegantly dressed crocodiles in a bathroom. He became intrigued with the idea of a reptilian race assuming control over a formerly splendid past society, and developed the Skeksis with the concept that they represented the darker side of human nature. Numerous names were proposed for the species, including Skekses, Reptus, Karackt and Skek-sis.


title: Skeksis

text: Conceptual designer Brian Froud designed the Skeksis as looking like "part reptile, part predatory bird, [and] part dragon," with a "penetrating stare."


title: Skeksis

text: The design of the Skeksis' robes was supervised by British artist and painter Sarah Bradpiece. The robes were fabricated with expensive materials (silks, furs, velvet, etc.) and exotic feathers, and decorated in jewels made from melted toy soldiers; skekTek the Scientist's bionic eye was made from a dye-cast TIE fighter model's cockpit. To give the Skeksis their grubby appearance, the robes were then ripped and stained with fake dirt and paint. According to Froud, the robes were meant to reflect the Skeksis' unique personalities and functions within the castle.


title: Skeksis

text: Each Skeksis puppet was controlled in the original film by as many as six puppeteers. The main puppeteer, wearing a heavy, robe-covered costume with a puppet head, would be assisted by a second performer operating the creature's right hand from inside the costume, and a team of four technicians in charge of its facial features. For wide shots of the Skeksis walking or running, actors of short stature were sometimes used as doubles. skekSil the Chamberlain's puppet, operated primarily by Frank Oz, was built with over 20 mechanical components.


title: Skeksis

text: Similar to Big Bird of "Sesame Street", the lead puppeteer inside the Skeksis costume would wear a television monitor around their waist to gain a better sense of vision. The Skeksis hands were operated using a handheld trigger device that controlled the flexible rods serving as its fingers.


title: Skeksis

text: For "Age of Resistance", the technical crew devised simpler ways to puppeteer the creatures, including the Skeksis. For wide shots of the Chamberlain, for example, his head was placed on a mechanical neck. This reduced the need for several performers and allowed the numerous animatronics in his head to be controlled from offscreen.


title: Skeksis

text: The Skeksis are tall bipeds combining avian and reptilian features, wearing elaborate but threadbare robes of lace, velvet, and brocade to apparently conceal their aged and constantly decomposing bodies while appearing large and more intimidating. Their heads are beaked like a vulture's, while simultaneously sporting curved fangs. They have enlarged bellies and long reptilian tails, as well as curved quills on their backs. While having four arms like their urRu counterparts, the Skeksis have only one functional pair as the other were initially wing-like before they eventually withered and atrophied. Though skekMal is one of a few Skeksis to make use of his extra arms in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance".


title: Skeksis

text: Despite their frail appearance, Skeksis are physically powerful as skekUng mustered his strength to cut through solid stone during the 'Trial by Stone' duel while a provoked skekSil single-handedly slammed pilaster rock onto protagonist Jen.


title: Skeksis

text: The Skeksis are the corrupt rulers of the planet Thra, having inherited it from their benevolent urSkek predecessors, and embody the knowledgeable, yet unrestrained aspects of the urSkeks' behavior. The Skeksis culture favors repetitive flamboyance, emotional pettiness, and a wasteful attitude toward life. Though they are capable of alliances, each acts only of self-preservation to the point of immediate betrayals to benefit their personal agenda. Despite their few numbers, the Skeksis form shifting political parties that stabilize the Skeksis society despite some causing friction among them, especially if the Emperor greatly favours one party over the others.


title: Skeksis

text: Before the events of "Age of Resistance", the Skeksis were divided into the Imperial Allegiance (skekSo, skekSil, skekTek) which oversee their race's continuation, the Tithing Allegiance (skekLach, skekOk, skekEkt) who collect tributes from the Gelfling clans, and the Security Allegiance (skekVar, skekAyuk, skekZok) who command the Gelfling castle guards. But following the Garthim War and before events of the movie, the Skeksis reorganized themselves into the Diplomatic Allegiance (skekSil, skekOk, skekEkt) who maintain the castle to the Emperor's liking, The Religious Allegiance (skekZok, skekShod, skekAyuk) who oversee daily routines, and Military Allegiance (skekUng, skekTek, skekNa) who oversee the Garthim soldiers.


title: Skeksis

text: Due to the accelerated decomposition of their bodies, the Skeksis constantly attempt to prolong their lives by using the properties of the Dark Crystal itself. Their primary method is absorbing sunlight channeled through the Dark Crystal, its potency dependent on Thra's three suns. Another method is a form of acupuncture, in which power lines laid on their castle channels the planet's energy to them and feeds back noxious pulses, resulting in their kingdom's wasteland appearance. A third method is extracting the vitality from other life forms by exposing them to reflected beams from the Dark Crystal, a process that originally destroys the victims before it was refined enough to reduce them into nearly mindless drones which the Skeksis keep as slaves. The life force is collected in a liquid form that restores a Skeksis' youth and vitality, the Emperor eventually making law that only he can partake of it. Gelfling were originally used for this purpose until their near extinction forced the Skeksis to use Podlings instead, with the youth-inducing effects of the resulting elixir created from their life force lasting for a few seconds.


title: Skeksis

text: The Skeksis created the Garthim through grafting corpses of Arathim and Gruenak which are then animated by the Dark Crystal. Upon the discovery of a Gelfling prophecy which foretold the end of their power, the Skeksis used the Garthim to exterminate almost every single Gelfling on Thra, until only two, Jen and Kira, survived, to be raised by urSu the Mystic Master and the Podlings, respectively. They also bred the sentinel Crystal Bats, which were used as "eyes in the sky", scavenging above the landscape, and working closely with the Garthim, to locate potential targets.


title: Skeksis

text: Originally, Jim Henson thought of having the Skeksis communicate through noises, though he later shot the film showing the Skeksis speaking a constructed language, based on Ancient Greek and Egyptian, devised by the author Alan Garner. The dialogue was later redubbed in English, as the original version proved unsuccessful in impressing test audiences. The original language is present in "The World of the Dark Crystal" and "The Dark Crystal" novelization, wherein (according to the former) it is "restricted to nouns, adjectives, and expletives", and has an object–verb–subject word order.


title: Skeksis

text: The products of a botched attempt by the urSkeks to purge themselves of their imperfections while returning to their homeworld during a Great Conjunction, an event where the three suns of Thra produce a pure light that hits the Crystal, the Skeksis are the embodiments of their original selves' worst inhibitions compared to their urRu counterparts. Moments after coming into being, two of their own were accidentally killed, and infighting among the surviving Skeksis resulted in a Shard of the Crystal being broken off and lost. The urRu then left the Castle to the Skeksis, who began to modify the urSkeks' architecture with their own grotesque designs while attempting to create their own Crystal. The black rocks they created were reused as targets for the "Haakskeekah" rite, translated as "Trial by Stone", in which the loser is stripped of his position. The Skeksis have other means of punishment among their kin that include being maimed by an eye-gouging Peeper beetle.


title: Skeksis

text: According to "The World of The Dark Crystal" and "" series, possessing urSkeks' knowledge but lacking their restraint, the Skeksis were initially a vibrant and jovial race as they tricked Aughra into a deep sleep to metaphysically observe the universe. Unopposed, they ruled Thra over a thousand years and kept the Gelfling tribes divided while presenting themselves as their lords and protectors. But the dynamic changed as the Skeksis aged into haggard shells of their former selves as the Dark Crystal is unable to properly prolong their lives due its connection to Thra, causing an epidemic called the Darkening that affects the planet's lifeforms. skekTek, with skekSil's help, developed a means to polarize the Dark Crystal's life-giving properties to extract life essence from Thra and its life forms to prolong their own lives. When the Gelfling learned of this and rebelled, they devised a prophecy revealing that one of them would end the rule of the Skeksis by restoring the broken Shard to the Crystal with the restoration of the urSkeks as consequence. When the Skeksis learned of this, they attempted to deter the Gelflings with Shard fabrications before using the newly created Garthim to wipe out the entire Gelfling race.


title: Skeksis

text: At the start of the film, skekUng succeeded skekSo as Emperor with only nine Skeksis remaining before skekTek was killed. Toward the end, protagonists Jen and Kira reunite them with the urRu to recreate the urSkeks who depart Thra.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Emperor and the counterpart to the urRu urSu the Master, skekSo is described in "The World of The Dark Crystal" as originally being an energetic ruler who enjoyed lavish festivity and winning at sporting events but age made him paranoid and spiteful to even his fellow Skeksis, elevating individuals to high positions only to depose them afterward. SkekSo appears as the main antagonist of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", which chronologically precedes the 1982 film, where he attempts to harness and control the energy of the Darkening, which causes his body to corrode at a quicker pace compared to the other Skeksis, leading to his eventual death shown in the original film's beginning. Once skekSo died, due to urSu willing himself to death to disrupt the Skeksis' hierarchy to give Jen a fighting chance against them, skekUng succeeded him as Emperor. In the film's deleted scenes, skekSo's decayed remains are cremated. He also has an appearance in "Legends of the Dark Crystal".


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed by Jim Henson and voiced by Jerry Nelson. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", skekSo is performed by Dave Chapman and voiced by Jason Isaacs.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Chamberlain, the counterpart to the urRu urSol the Chanter. SkekSil is the Skeksis's chief secretary of state and next in line as Emperor of the Skeksis, being part of skekSo's Diplomatic Allegiance which also consisted of skekEkt and skekOk. However, skekSil is despised by the other Skeksis for his wheedling voice and underhanded nature, most notably by skekUng. During the events of "Legends of the Dark Crystal", skekSil attempted to trick the Gelfling into distrusting the urRu while protecting his right of succession when it was being threatened by skekLach. In the first season of "Age of Resistance", skekSil is revealed to have influenced skekTek in developing essence extraction and the creation of the Garthim. He also is the driving force behind the events of the show, from turning most of the Gelflings against Rian and each other, to securing the downfall and death of skekVar after he is replaced as the Emperor's closest advisor. In the film, skekSil's confrontation with skekUng over succession resulted in his exile, the removal of his robes, and he attempts to regain his position by capturing a Gelfling. Of all the Skeksis, skekSil's intentions are never fully revealed and seem contradictory, most notably when he forcibly brought Kira to the other Skeksis and refused to allow them to kill her. When Kira was brought to the Skeksis, skekUng had skekSil reinstated and his robes returned to him. When the Crystal was restored, skekSil was absorbed by urSol as they reverted into their original urSkek form SilSol.


title: Skeksis

text: In the comic book sequel "The Power of the Dark Crystal" taking place a century after the events of the movie, skekSil and the other Skeksis were reconstituted due to Thurma removing the Shard from the Crystal. Immediately ostracized by his comrades for causing their previous defeat, skeksil pursues Thurma and Kensho and use the Shard to force the other Skeksis to submit to him. But he ends up being destroyed by the restored Crystal as it reformed itself into the Prism, housing his spirit and urSol within it.


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed by Frank Oz and voiced by Barry Dennen. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed by Warrick Brownlow-Pike and voiced by Simon Pegg.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Garthim-Master or the second General, the counterpart to the urRu urIm the Healer. SkekUng serves as the main antagonist of the original 1982 film, where he succeeds skekSo as Skeksis Emperor after his death. His activities in the years leading up to the Garthim War are unclear, but he is absent from the events of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", mentioned only in passing as the Skeksis consider recalling the rest of their number in their duel against the Gelfling (an idea that skekSil the Chamberlain seems to object to, as he believes more Skeksis in the castle would just lead to louder squabbling among them), being identified as a "strong warrior" by skekZok the Ritual Master. Being the second strongest of the Skeksis, he was previously leader of the military allegiance after replacing skekVar upon his death. He had a bitter rivalry with skekSil, which culminated in a duel for supremacy. Though the other Skeksis admire his ferocity, his constant failure to capture the surviving Gelfling fails to evoke the respect of his subjects. He is suspicious of skekZok's loyalty, and is constantly fearing a challenge to his authority. In the novel, after the Chamberlain returns to the castle with a kidnapped Kira to be drained of her essence, and subsequently returns to his position of power, skekUng begins to spiral further into paranoia, plotting to murder skekTek and unleash his Garthim soldiers on every single form of life on Thra, to prevent the regeneration of the Gelfling population. When the Crystal was restored, skekUng was absorbed by urIm as they reverted into their original urSkek form UngIm, who leads the urSkeks back to their world.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Ritual-Master and the counterpart to the urRu urZah the Ritual-Guardian, skekZok is the high priest who oversees the Skeksis' rituals and leader of the Religious Allegiance. Until the story of the film, skekZok "fancied himself skekSo's closest adviser, and sought to control the other Skeksis through false prophecies and apparitions, although they distrusted his divinations and practised their own." Though a contender for the throne after skekSo's death, skekZok sides with skekUng. Though he assists in the search for the surviving Gelfling with his Crystal bats, he is nonetheless distrusted and feared by skekUng. When skekSil arrived with Kira, he was annoyed at skekUng's commands to drain Kira of essence before killing her, as he insisted she must be killed immediately. Ironically, skekZok's impulse to kill Kira the moment she threw the Shard to Jen led to the Skeksis' downfall with skekZok absorbed by urZah back into their original urSkek form ZokZah.


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed by Jim Henson and voiced by Jerry Nelson. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed by Victor Yerrid and voiced by Keegan-Michael Key.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Scientist and the counterpart to the urRu urTih the Alchemist, his obsession depraved to the point of amputating his two right limbs and replacing them with prosthetics and replacing his jugular vein with a transparent tube, skekTek is the Skeksis who conducts his research and experiments in the Castle's Chamber of Life. Through both skekSo's abuse and skekSil's influence, skekTek learned to harness the Dark Crystal's ability to extract essence and created the Garthim soldiers to quell the growing threat of Gelfling rebellion, and eventually, as an extermination force against the entire race. He was once considered a friend of Aughra, having mentored her when he and urTih were originally the urSkek TekTih. During the events of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", skekTek outfitted himself with a visual prosthesis after his right eye was ripped out by a Peeper Beetle as punishment for failing to prevent the Gelfling Rian from escaping with a vial of essence. By the time of the film, he had replaced his jugular vein with a transparent external tube to monitor his own circulation and his right arm and right leg with mechanical prosthetics and can be seen leaning on a cane. Because of his maltreatment by the other Skeksis, skekTek outright called himself "the most abused creature in all of Thra". skekSil provided skekTek with Gruenak helpers before later killing them when they tried to rebel, using one of them for parts in creating the Garthim. During the film, skekTek sided with skekUng after he became the new Emperor and convinced him to let him drain Kira of her essence, but Kira persuaded all the laboratory animals skekTek experimented on to attack him, resulting in him losing his footing and falling down the Crystal Shaft into the magma below with urTih incinerated as a result. skekTek has appearances in "Legends of the Dark Crystal".


title: Skeksis

text: He is performed and voiced by Steve Whitmire in the film. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed by Olly Taylor and voiced by Mark Hamill. Whitmire based skekTek's voice loosely on that of Peter Lorre. Hamill's voice for skekTek is noticeably raspier and gives him an added stertor.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Gourmand and the counterpart to the urRu urAmaj the Cook, skekAyuk is a gluttonous Skeksis who uses his status as the court's gourmet expert to devise menus for the feasts, preferring strong flavors and living prey. He is occasionally seen alongside both skekEkt and skekShod, being hypocritical in belittling his fellow Skeksis. In "Age of Resistance", he is the only Skeksis besides skekTek to understand that the Crystal's failures in giving energy for the Skeksis to take was due to their constant abuse. In the novel, both he and skekEkt are part of skekSo's faction and support skekSil before turning on him once he loses. In the film, he and skekShod ultimately support skekZok. When the Crystal was restored, skekAyuk was absorbed by urAmaj as they reverted into their original urSkek form AyukAmaj.


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed by Louise Gold and voiced by Thick Wilson. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed again by Gold and voiced by Harvey Fierstein.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Ornamentalist and the counterpart to the urRu urUtt the Weaver, skekEkt is the more effeminate of the Skeksis and wears elaborate clothing that reflects his vanity. Despite possessing a genuine gift as a fashion designer, skekEkt is nonetheless described in "The World of the Dark Crystal" as an extremely vain and callous character who would gladly cause the death of countless animals for the sake of fabricating one cloak. According to skekSil's thoughts in "The Dark Crystal" novelization, skekEkt's uncharismatic depravity was considered excessive, even by the standards of the Skeksis, to the point where it would never command their obedience. He has the responsibility of giving the final say in the selection of experimental Podling slaves modified by skekTek for ritual choruses. He is occasionally seen alongside both skekOk and skekAyuk. Interestingly, skekOk and skekAyuk are loyal to skekSil like skekEkt (depending on the film and novel versions) before turning on him once he loses. When the Crystal was restored, skekEkt was absorbed by urUtt as they reverted into their original urSkek form EktUtt.


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed and voiced by Brian Muehl. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed and voiced by Alice Dinnean.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Slave-Master and the counterpart to the urRu urNol the Herbalist, skekNa is the supervisor and disciplinarian of the Skeksis' slaves. He is described in "The World of the Dark Crystal" as "purely and openly evil from the beginning" and in "The Dark Crystal" novelization as having "no imagination and no nobility at all." He has a hook for a left hand and an eye patch to hide his missing right eye. He dubiously claims to have an ear for music, and takes it upon himself to select specific slaves for skekTek to experiment upon. Along with skekTek, he is a strong supporter of skekUng, and at one point was considered for promotion to the rank of Patriarch for his loyalty. When the Crystal was restored, skekNa was absorbed by urNol as they reverted into their original urSkek form NaNol. He was mentioned by skekZok in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", as skekOk considers calling the rest of the Skeksis back to the Castle during their battle against the Gelflings, noting that he, like skekSa the Mariner, would be "useful in a fight."


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Treasurer, the counterpart to the urRu urYod the Numerologist, and administratively skekSil's subordinate, skekShod is incapable of acknowledging anyone's presence unless offered some gift. Due to his limited vocabulary and excessive material desires, he frequently bribes the other Skeksis into loaning him their personal possessions. While not appearing or even mentioned in "Age of Resistance", skekShod appears in the comic book sidestory which reveals him to oversee the Spritons' tithes and caused Hup's exile from Sami Thicket when he provoked the Podling to hit him. Along with skekAyuk and skekOk, he is a supporter of skekZok following skekSo's death. When the Crystal was restored, skekShod was absorbed by urYod as they reverted into their original urSkek form ShodYod.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Scroll-Keeper and the counterpart to the urRu urAc the Scribe, skekOk is the smallest and most deceptive of the Skeksis who prides himself in his writing skills and owns a private library in the castle depicting numerous secrets. skekOk uses his talents as a historian to alter the documentation of his kind's history to reflect his ever-shifting political allegiance, until all truth was lost. He was also prone to mood swings and could often be found mumbling to himself. He was always late for the Skeksis' meetings and very often fell asleep during them. In "Age of Resistance" skekOk is also shown to have diplomatic talents that rival skekSil's, being in charge of recording (and occasionally extorting) the tributes given to the Skeksis by the Gelfling. He also "befriends" Brea for a while, and suggests summoning the rest of the Skeksis back to the castle after skekMal turns up nearing death. In the film, his loyalty is ultimately to skekSil. In the novel, his loyalty is to skekZok. When the Crystal was restored, skekOk was absorbed by urAc as they reverted into their original urSkek form OkAc.


title: Skeksis

text: In the film, he is performed by Bob Payne and voiced by John Baddeley. In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", he is performed and voiced by Neil Sterenberg.


title: Skeksis

text: Through the years various comics and novels were made which serve as prequels to the events of the film, introducing various Skeksis. Over the time their living number, names, positions and even counterparts were changed. This is evident since current canon claims there were 18 Skeksis to begin with yet throughout all forms of The Dark Crystal media there are around 20 individual Skeksis names.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the General and the counterpart to the urRu urMa the Peacemaker, skekVar is a loyal but violent and short-tempered military leader who killed All-Maudra Mayrin when she learned of her people being used by the Skeksis to prolong their lives. When skekVar was named the Emperor's new council in place of skekSil, he ended up being secretly murdered by skekSil in a scheme to regain their Emperor's trust while destroying skekVar's reputation. Before his death, he along with the Chamberlain, brought forth to the Emperor and Scientist the idea of Soldiers that would be soulless yet loyal: these would later become the Garthim. However, with skekVar gone, all the Skeksis, in particular the Scientist, would later lay claim to their creation.


title: Skeksis

text: skekVar first appeared in the two volume manga "Legends of the Dark Crystal" by Tokyopop, the three volume series "The Dark Crytal: Creation Myths" by Archaia Comics, and other media created by the Jim Henson Company, though his role in the story was slightly altered.


title: Skeksis

text: His first on camera appearance was in the Netflix prequel series "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", performed by Kevin Clash and voiced by Benedict Wong.


title: Skeksis

text: Also known as the Collector and the counterpart to the urRu urSen the Monk, skekLach is a sickly and jaded Skeksis who is also known for his role in overseeing the Gelfling's tribute. Appearing in the first season of "Age of Resistance", skekLach is killed by exploding in a pile of pus when Deet uses her powers to redirect the Darkening's energy back at the Skeksis. His design and personality has differed in his various appearances: in the comics depicted with a mechanised arm, elaborate coat, and a scarred face, been more cunning in a battle of wits with the Chamberlain, while secretly withholding Gelfling essence for himself and using skekVar as a scapegoat.


title: Skeksis

text: He appeared in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", performed by Helena Smee and voiced by Awkwafina.


title: Skeksis

text: Known as the Hunter and the counterpart to the urRu urVa the Archer, skekMal is a Skeksis introduced in the J.M. Lee novel "Shadows of the Dark Crystal". He also appears in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", wearing a spirit-like skull mask that conceals his scarred face and sports an extra pair of retractable arms. Considering himself a sportsman who relentlessly hunts his quarry down, skekMal is a brutal killer so feared even by his own kind that they tend to summon his services as a last resort. Thus few Gelfling knew of his existence as he eats his prey and keeps their skulls as his trophies. He is skilled in trapping and combat, being one of the few Skeksis to use his extra arms in a fight, with animalistic movement. Hired by skekSil to acquire Rian, skekMal's hunt brings him in conflict with urVa. When skekMal was badly wounded by urVa, he brought Brea back to the Skeksis' castle before collapsing. As the Skeksis worked to keep him alive, Aughra offered her lifeforce in order for skekMal to be saved. During the battle in Stone-In-The-Wood, urVa commits suicide by jumping to his doom in order to stop his counterpart for good. This enables Aughra to be reconstituted. In episode 8 of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", Aughra expresses some fondness for him, declaring that skekMal was "the most beautiful of the lot" despite his scent of death.


title: Skeksis

text: In "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", skekMal is performed by Kevin Clash, in-suit performed by Nick Kellington, and voiced by Ralph Ineson. Two additional puppeteers in blue screen suits operated skekMal's retractable arms.


title: Skeksis

text: Previously known as the Conqueror, eccentric in personality, skekGra originally served as a militant leader in the Skeksis until he and his urRu counterpart urGoh the Wanderer both received a vision of the eventual reunion of their races into their original selves. Both desired to merge back into the urSkek GraGoh, but skekGra was cast out by the Skeksis as "The Heretic" for his attempts to convince them to rejoin their urRu counterparts. skekGra and urGoh were forced to live together in self-imposed exile in the Crystal Desert where they waited for the Gelfling Rian, Brea, and Deet so they could give them the Crystal Shard that was concealed in the Dual Glaive sword they forged. skekGra eventually became rather boisterous and eccentric, describing himself as a fun Skeksis. He and urGoh became skilled at the art of puppetry.


title: Skeksis

text: Introduced only in "Legends of the Dark Crystal: Volume 2: Trial by Fire", he was an ally of skekVar the General. skekEer was the Spy-Master, but neither his urRu counterpart nor urSkek name has never been depicted or identified. Since the new books and the prequel show, skekEer has been removed from canon with skekNa revealed to be the Skeksis in charge of spies before becoming the slave-master.


title: Skeksis

text: The Skeksis Mariner skekCru was first introduced in volume 2 of Tokyopop's "Legends of the Dark Crystal" and was a political ally of skekVar the General, along with the Spy-Master, skekEer, and had little to say in the manga. The Mariner would be revamped as a female Skeksis called skekSa (also known as the Captain) and was as a major character in the J.M. Lee novel "Tides of the Dark Crystal", making her a canon Skeksis. Her urRu counterpart was urSan the Swimmer; they made the urSkek SaSan. skekZok mentions skekSa in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" while considering recruiting more Skeksis to help battle the Gelfling, noting that she, like skekNa the Slave Master, would be "useful in a fight."


title: Skeksis

text: skekLi was the Skeksis Satirist who wrote stories for the enjoyment of the Skeksis. His urRu counterpart was urLii the Storyteller, making the urSkek LiLii. He was the main antagonist in the J.M. Lee novel "Song of the Dark Crystal", making him a canon Skeksis. skekOk mentions him in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," when he considers recalling the other Skeksis to help fight against the Gelfling.


title: Skeksis

text: These were two Skeksis seen at the end of Volume 2 of "The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths" from Archaia Comics, and who died immediately after the botched division of the urSkeks when a rogue Skeksis killed their urRu counterparts: one was strangled while the other was thrown into the fire shaft under the Crystal. In the J.M.Lee novel "Flames of the Dark Crystal" their back story is changed with only one of them dying when their urRu counterpart is killed by another Skeksis who attacks it with a crystal staff. It is currently unknown how the canon events play out. skekHak's urRu counterpart was urHom and the two formed HakHom the urSkek Architect, while skekYi's counterpart was urYa, making the urSkek YiYa whose position is unknown. Their deaths established the knowledge of the Skeksis and urRu still being connected, with the former race leaving their counterparts alone out of self-preservation. Either both or one of them are indirectly mentioned in "Age of Resistance" by skekZok when he mentions that no Skeksis died between the skirmish that took place after their creation and the Gelfing's rebellion after the news of skekMal's first death. If, in the canon story, skekHak survived, it is implied he was the one who remodelled the Crystal Castle to better resemble the Skeksis themselves, while if he died, other sources claim skekShod and skekNa remodelled the Crystal Castle, as punishment for defying skekSo's position as Emperor.


title: Skeksis

text: These Skeksis appear in the original film, the Netflix prequel series, and J.M. Lee novels ("Shadows of the Dark Crystal", "Song of the Dark Crystal", "Tides of the Dark Crystal", and "Flames of the Dark Crystal").


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Tonkinese is a domestic cat breed produced by crossbreeding between the Siamese and Burmese. Members of the breed share many of their parents' distinctively lively, playful personality traits and are similarly distinguished by a pointed coat pattern in a variety of colors. In addition to the modified coat colors of the "mink" pattern, which is a dilution of the point color (as in watercolors), the breed is now being shown in the foundation-like Siamese and Burmese colors: pointed with white and solid overall (sepia).


title: Tonkinese cat

text: The best known variety is the short-haired Tonkinese, but there is a medium-haired (sometimes called Tibetan) which tends to be more popular in Europe, mainly in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: It is believed that Tonkinese-like cats have existed in the West since at least the early 19th century. The founder of the American Burmese type, a female named Wong Mau imported to the United States in 1930, is thought to have been genetically a crossbreed of this type. (Wong Mau was actually a Tonkinese, though the "breed" was not recognized as such at the time. Some of today's Tonkinese can be tracked by pedigree back to Wong Mau).


title: Tonkinese cat

text: More modern Tonkinese cats are the result of the crossbreeding programs of two breeders working independently of each other. Margaret Conroy, of Canada, and Jane Barletta, of the United States, crossed the Siamese and Burmese breeds, with the aim of creating the ideal combination of both parent breeds' distinctive appearance and lively personalities. The cats thus produced were moved from crossbreed classification to an established breed in 2001. The name is a reference to the Tonkin region of Indochina, though it is suggestive only, as the cats have no connection with the area.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: In the West, Tonkinese cats under the age of sixth months have historically been referred to as "small-cats" rather than "kittens" to reflect a more direct translation from Burmese, although this term has become almost obsolete since the mid-20th century.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Tonkinese are a medium-sized cat, considered an intermediate type between the slender, long-bodied modern Siamese and British Burmese and the more "cobby", or substantially-built American Burmese. Like their Burmese ancestors, they are deceptively muscular and typically seem much heavier than expected when picked up. Tail and legs are slim but proportionate to the body, with distinctive oval paws. They have a gently rounded, slightly wedge-shaped head and blunted muzzle, with moderately almond-shaped eyes and ears set towards the outside of their head. The American style is a rounder but sculpted head with a shorter body and sturdier appearance to reflect the old-fashioned Siamese and rounded Burmese from which it was originally bred in the United States. While many American breeders avoided using the extreme "contemporary" Burmese in favor of the more moderate "traditional" Burmese, the original Tonkinese breed standard was based on the extreme spherical style of the Burmese descended from Wong Mau. Newer Tonkinese breeders wanted to avoid defective genes in the original Burmese lines, so avoided using cats they believed carried the so-called lethal genes. A very few older breeders simply worked around the problem by selective breeding, thereby eliminating problematic births. It is possible to find some descendants by knowledgeably reading Tonkinese pedigrees, which are available in Tonkinese databases.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Tonkinese are currently officially recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in four base colors: natural (a medium brown), champagne (a paler buff-beige), blue, and platinum. Some European associations also accept red, cream, caramel, apricot and tortoiseshell, cinnamon and fawn. TICA (The International Cat Association) has always accepted all of the colors and patterns, as they are not a selective association, like CFA, whose breeds and colors are determined by its breed councils and the executive board. TICA breeds, their colors and patterns, are genetically-based. While both of these major organization have rules for acceptance and advancement of breeds, TICA adheres to a scientific approach based on genetics, while CFA relies on its breed council membership to determine a breed's merits. Thus Tonkinese in CFA are limited to those colors and patterns decided upon with perhaps less objectivity.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Each of these colors is in turn divided into three types of coat pattern: "point", the classic Siamese-style dark face, ears, legs and tail on a contrasting white or cream base, and blue eyes; "solid", similar to the Burmese, in which the color is essentially uniform over the body with only faintly visible points and gold or green eyes; and "mink", a unique intermediate between the other two, in which the base is a lighter shade but still harmonious with the point color, and the eyes are a lighter blue-green, called aquamarine. They can be anywhere on the entire blue-green to green-blue spectrum. Owing to the comparatively recent development of the breed there is still some acceptable variation in these colors and patterns.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Like both parent breeds, Tonkinese are intelligent, active, vocal and generally people-oriented cats, playful and interested in everything going on around them; however, this also means they are easily susceptible to becoming lonesome or bored. Their voice is similar in tone to the Burmese, persistent but softer and sweeter than the Siamese, similar to the gentle quacking of a duck. Like Burmese, Tonkinese are reputed to sometimes engage in such dog-like behaviors as fetching, and to enjoy jumping to great heights.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Tonkin is a crossbreed type, with coat color and pattern wholly dependent on whether individuals carry the Siamese or Burmese gene. Breeding two mink Tonkinese cats does not usually yield a full litter of mink kittens, as this intermediate pattern is the result of having one gene for the Burmese solid pattern and one for the Siamese pointed pattern.


title: Tonkinese cat

text: Colors and patterns in any litter depend both on statistical chance and the color genetics and patterns of the parents. Breeding between two mink-patterned cats will, on average, produce half mink kittens and one quarter each pointed and sepia kittens. A pointed and a sepia bred together will always produce all mink patterned kittens. A pointed bred to a mink will produce half pointed and half mink kittens, and a sepia bred to a mink will produce half sepia and half mink kittens.


title: Marko Marin

text: Marko Marin (, born 13 March 1989) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and left winger. He was known for his acceleration, dribbling, agility, creativity, versatility, technical skill and playmaking ability.


title: Marko Marin

text: Marin previously played for Bundesliga clubs Borussia Mönchengladbach and Werder Bremen, before signing for Chelsea in 2012. He spent most of his time out on loan at four clubs in four countries before leaving for Olympiacos in 2016, then Red Star Belgrade in 2018.


title: Marko Marin

text: A full German international from 2008 to 2010, he won 16 caps and represented the country at the 2010 World Cup, where they came third.


title: Marko Marin

text: Marin was born in Bosanska Gradiška, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Bosnian Serb parents, mother Borka Marin and father Ranko Marin. Marin was only two years old when the family moved to Germany in 1991 due to his mother's job. Growing up in Frankfurt, Marin began playing football with local clubs.


title: Marko Marin

text: Marin began his footballing career as a youth player, first with SG 01 Hoechst and then with Eintracht Frankfurt.


title: Marko Marin

text: In 2005, Marin moved to the Borussia Mönchengladbach youth academy. After a year at Mönchengladbach's academy, he was promoted to the reserve team; he was offered a three-year contract which he signed and later went on to make his professional début with the club on 31 March 2007 against Eintracht Frankfurt. On 9 August 2008, Marin scored a hat-trick within the first 16 minutes of Mönchengladbach's 8–1 thrashing of seventh division club VfB Fichte Bielefeld in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.


title: Marko Marin

text: On 24 June 2009, Marin was sold for €8.2 million from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Werder Bremen. He was a part of Bremen's attack comprising Aaron Hunt and Mesut Özil, which lit up the Weserstadion. In the 2010–11 season, he showed his quality, scoring four league goals and providing 11 assists.


title: Marko Marin

text: Following the departure of Özil to Real Madrid in August 2010, however, Marin's form dropped noticeably, as he notched only one goal and five assists during Bremen's 2011–12 Bundesliga campaign. Marin did show his skill in Bremen's eight goal game against SC Freiburg on 20 August 2011. He provided assists for Claudio Pizarro, Marko Arnautović and Wesley as Bremen secured a 5–3 win.


title: Marko Marin

text: Marin's only goal of the Bundesliga campaign came on 18 February 2012, when he opened the scoring in the ninth minute of a 3–1 derby victory over Hamburger SV at the Imtech Arena. In Marin's final game for Bremen, he provided the telling ball for Markus Rosenberg's goal, but this was not enough as his side succumbed to a 4–1 away defeat to VfB Stuttgart on 13 April. Marin ended his time with the Bremen club after scoring eight goals in 87 Bundesliga appearances.


title: Marko Marin

text: On 28 April 2012, Marin agreed a deal with English Premier League club Chelsea. He signed a five-year deal with Chelsea, keeping him at the club until 2017. Marko Marin was given the number 21 shirt, previously worn by Salomon Kalou, who left Chelsea for Lille OSC.


title: Marko Marin

text: On 18 July, Marin made his début for Chelsea in a pre-season friendly against Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders FC, scoring Chelsea's third goal in a 4–2 win. Marin missed the Community Shield with a hamstring injury.