Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-04-29/Featured content

Featured content

Apartheid and related topics, awards and accolades, and a bunch of tough journeys

By Adam Cuerden, WPPilot, The Herald

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  Glacier Point at Sunset, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Let's start with something beautiful, before we get into America's dark past.

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This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 12 through 18 April. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; refer to their page histories for attribution.

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Featured articles

Ten featured articles were promoted this week.

Signs like this made it necessary to produce The Negro Motorist Green Book, to help the emerging black middle class to navigate the segregated United States.

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• Live and Let Die (novel) ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) A "lurid meller" in one critic's estimation, Live and Let Die was Ian Fleming's second Bond novel. Code number 007 is on the trail of Mr. Big, real name Buonaparte Ignace Gallia, who's been financing Soviet spies by selling 17th century gold coins from pirate Henry Morgan's buried treasure. The coins are smuggled into the US by placing them in aquariums containing "poisonous tropical fish". In a quiet moment of reflection "Boney" Gallia confesses to Bond that he is prey to "'accidie'- the deadly lethargy that envelops those who are sated." He has a spherical head, "twice the normal size", and his skin is grey-black in colour. Intellectually brilliant, and with superb organisational skills, Mr. Big represents the "banality of evil", who is eventually defeated by the "anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department" (Fleming's description of his hero). Bond's last glimpse of Mr. Big is of his left arm rising out of the sea as sharks rip his flesh apart.

• McKinley Birthplace Memorial dollar ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) US President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in 1901. The McKinley Birthplace Memorial dollar was a one dollar gold coin struck in 1916 and 1917 and intended to be sold at a markup to finance the construction of… er… the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial in Niles, Ohio. The price to the public was $3; over 30,000 of the two dates were minted of which one-third were actually sold at full price to the public, one-third were sold at an undisclosed discount to a Texas coin dealer and the rest melted. The coin has a left-facing profile of McKinley on the obverse and the proposed NMBP on the reverse. The failure of the issue to sell has been ascribed to it being "ill-publicized". They're now worth about $500 upwards.

• Susan B. Anthony dollar ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.2
• Mind Meld ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime is a 2001 documentary film in which two unemployed actors talk about the science fiction soap opera they once appeared in. Among topics raised are; the question of the "legitimacy of consistently portraying an extraterrestrial", alcoholism, sex, typecasting and fine art photography.

• The Negro Motorist Green Book ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.2
• Radiocarbon dating ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) When cosmic rays enter the Earth's upper atmosphere they collide with atoms and molecules of atmospheric gases (mostly oxygen and nitrogen) to produce a shower of particles, particularly neutrons. When these neutrons go on to hit nitrogen atoms the collision knocks off a proton, converting the nitrogen into radioactive carbon-14. The carbon reacts with oxygen to produce radioactive carbon dioxide. All forms of carbon dioxide gas are heavier than oxygen and nitrogen, so it flows down to the ground, where it's taken up into plant material by the process of photosynthesis and then into animal material when the plants are eaten. Because a certain proportion of the carbon is radioactive, and radioactivity decays, if the radioactivity of the bone your dog dug up in the garden is measured and you know that the proportion of each isotope of atmospheric carbon has remained constant and you know the rate of decay you can work out when the bone was last inside a living animal. August 1485. Rover, drop it. The technique was invented by Willard Libby in the late 1940s, and has become a standard tool for archaeologists and food safety inspectors.

• Air Mata Iboe ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Air Mata Iboe is an Indonesian film from 1941- a "musical extravaganza" with a tragic storyline. Married to a merchant, the Indonesian woman Soegiati has three sons and a daughter; they marry and move away, leaving only Soemadi, who is his mother's favourite. One night the police come to arrest the merchant, Soebagio, who's been moonlighting as a robber. Soemadi makes a false confession to protect his father, and is exiled for his "crimes". Feelings of guilt drive Soebagio to his grave, and his widow Soegiati is left in debt. She is soon homeless and penniless. Turning first to her two remaining sons, who are wealthy, Soegiati is refused help because they are scared of their wives. Her daughter and son-in-law offer to take her in, but Soegiati sees their poverty and chooses instead to live on charity. Time passes, Soemadi returns and after meeting his mother seeks revenge on his brothers. Fifi Young took the rôle of Soegiati; she was to reprise it in 1957 in a remake. The original film is probably lost- the film stock was nitrocellulose which is dangerously flammable, and it's possible that copies were deliberately destroyed.

• Texas Revolution ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.8
• Portrait of Monsieur Bertin ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.8
• Mark Oliphant ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]])Mark Oliphant was a "meddling foreigner" whose actions in 1941 helped to start the development of an atomic bomb.

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  Louis Pasteur, as painted by Albert Edelfelt &emdash; a new featured picture.
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  Frederic Leighton's Perseus and Andromeda

Featured lists

Nine featured lists were promoted this week.

Picture of Allan Quatermain, probably H. Rider Haggard's most popular character, as depicted by Thure de Thulstrup for a serialization of Haggard's novel Maiwa's Revenge

• List of awards and nominations received by Lana Del Rey ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• List of five-wicket hauls in Twenty20 International cricket ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• List of awards and nominations received by Priyanka Chopra ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• 83rd Academy Awards ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• List of public art in the City of Westminster ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• List of Bermuda T20I cricketers ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.4
• List of awards and nominations received by Laurence Olivier ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.7
• List of accolades received by Argo (2012 film) ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.7
• List of works by H. Rider Haggard ([[ |nominated]] by [[User:| ]]) Description.7

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  Pancuran Tujuh (Javanese: Pancuran Pitu, both meaning "Seven Springs") is a hot spring that you need to place on your bucket list, as Chris Woodrich proves with this utterly remarkable photo. It is located on the slopes of Mount Slamet in Baturraden District, Banyumas, Central Java. And we hear its nice this time of year …

Featured pictures

Twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.

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• Junot Díaz (created by Tsar Fedorsky for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; edited and nominated by Chris Woodrich) Junot Díaz writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and fiction editor at Boston Review. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedom University. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker magazine, which listed him as one of the 20 top writers for the 21st century. Díaz has received a Eugene McDermott Award, a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a Lila Acheson Wallace Readers Digest Award, the 2002 PEN/Malamud Award, the 2003 US-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

• The Fighting Temeraire (created by J. M. W. Turner, nominated by Hafspajen) HMS Temeraire was one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a distinguished role in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting depicts the 98-gun ship HMS Temeraire, being towed by a paddle-wheel steam tug towards its final berth in Rotherhithe in south-east London in 1838 to be broken up for scrap.

• Pasteur's portrait by Edelfelt (created by Albert Edelfelt, nominated by [[User:| ]]) The portrait of Louis Pasteur depicting him among the laboratory glassware used in the experimental methods. Pasteur, whom is also know as the "father of microbiology" for his discoveries in the fields of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization.

• La Schiavona (created by Titian, nominated by SchroCat) La Schiavona (1510–12) by Titian; this is a portrait of an unknown lady probably from Dalmatia ('La Schiavona' translates as "Dalmatian woman"). The raised relief sculpture was a later thought by addition, and the original drapery he painted is now starting to show through the thinning paint.

• The Elder Sister (created by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, nominated by Crisco 1492) The Elder Sister, is a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1869. It shows a girl ("the elder sister") sitting on a rock and holding a sleeping baby ("the younger brother") on her lap, with a quiet rural landscape behind them; the artist's children served as models. "Kids, don't move....

• A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle (created by Hendrick Avercamp, nominated by SchroCat) Cutting Corners the old fashioned way: A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle by Hendrick Avercamp; Avercamp—a deaf mute known as "de Stomme van Kampen" (the mute of Kampen)—was the first of the Dutch painters to specialize in snow scenes. The National Gallery acquired it as a square painting in 1891; then cleaning in 1983, it was established that the corners were later additions by another painter. Does that count as a upgrade?

• Ancient Rome & Modern Rome (created by Giovanni Paolo Panini, nominated by SchroCat) Modern Rome and Ancient Rome (1757) by Giovanni Paolo Panini; painted as a pair of pendant paintings for the Count de Stainville. Ancient Rome shows many of the most significant architectural sites and sculptures from the time, while Modern Rome shows the arrangement of paintings originally commissioned by de Stainville, who was the ambassador to Rome from between 1753 and 1757.

• Pancuran Tujuh (created and nominated by Chris Woodrich) "A panoramic image consisting of 30 or so frames shot using a Canon EOS 60D, a Canon EF-S 18–55mm lens at 55mm (effective length of 88mm after including the crop factor) and a Nodal Ninja panoramic head, then "stitched" together in PTGui." This is one remarkable hot springs photo. According to local legend, a man named Syekh Maulana Maghribi discovered the springs. Sailing to Gresik on Java. There he found seven springs, which he named Pancuran Pitu, and bathed in the waters, treating himself. The waters contain sulfur and other minerals, this might be just the place your looking for to rejuvenate your body and soul. With a population of 143 million, Java is the home of 57 percent of the Indonesian population, and is the most populous island on Earth.

• Japanese yen (created by Continental Bank Note Company (later the American Bank Note Company), for the Constitutional monarchy of Japan. From the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. nominated by Godot13) One Yen (1873) of the Japanese constitutional monarchy and the second issue of Yen banknotes. Engraved and printed by the Continental Bank Note Company of New York, later part of the American Bank Note Company.

• Anthidium florentinum (created and nominated by Alvesgaspar) Something must be bugging Alvesgaspar this week or it is just these fine photos of bugs that has us questioning the flies around us. Anthidium is a genus of bees often called mason or potter bees, who use conifer resin, plant hairs, mud, or a mix of them to build nests.

• Gorakhpur Junction railway station (created and nominated by The Herald) A shot from the foot-over bridge of Gorakhpur Junction railway station

• Eristalinus taeniops (created and nominated by Alvesgaspar) Eristalinus taeniops is a species of hoverfly, also known as the band-eyed drone fly that for the most part likes to hang out in Portugal, Spain and around the Mediterranean, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, North Africa, The Canary Islands, The Caucasus Eastern parts of Afrotropical region to South Africa, Nepal Northern Pakistan and Northern India, Iran and Southern California. This is one well traveled bug.

• An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (created by Joseph Wright of Derby, nominated by Chris Woodrich) An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. It shows a natural philosopher ecreating one of Robert Boyle's air pump experiments, in which a bird is deprived of air, before a varied group of onlookers. The group exhibits a variety of reactions, but for most of the audience scientific curiosity overcomes concern for the bird. The picture has been owned by the National Gallery, London since 1863 and is still regarded as a masterpiece of British art.]]

• The Adoration of the Kings (created by [[ ]], nominated by SchroCat) – The Adoration of the Kings (1564) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Many of those surrounding Christ—including the Three Kings—are caricatured slightly or shown as a grotesque, and the Virgin is shown naturally and not idealized. The viewpoint is from a slightly elevated position, which has the effect of focusing attention on the Christ figure in the Virgin's lap, which is shown in the exact center of the painting.

• Larabanga Mosque (created by User:Sathyan.velumani, nominated by Adam Cuerden) The Larabanga Mosque is a historic mosque, built in the Sudanese architectural style in the village of Larabanga, Ghana. It is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa, and has been referred to as the "Mecca of West Africa". The mosque has an old Quran, believed by the locals to have been given as a gift from heaven in 1650 to Yidan Barimah Bramah, the Imam at the time, as a result of his prayers. The mosque, built with mud and reeds, has two tall towers in pyramidal shape, buttressed by twelve bulbous shaped structures, which are fitted with timber elements.

• Hollister Municipal Airport (created and nominated by WPPilot)Looking for a nice hundred dollar hamburger? Hollister Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of Hollister, a city in San Benito County, California, United States, just south of San Jose.

• Madonna of Loreto (created by Raphael, nominated by Chris Woodrich) The Madonna of Loreto is a painting finished around 1508–1509 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. It has been widely copied throughout the centuries. It shows the Christ Child playing with the Madonna's veil, while a melancholic St. Joseph looks on.]]

• Pampus (created and nominated by Johan Bakker) Pampus is an artificial island and late 19th Century sea fort located in the IJmeer near Amsterdam. It now belongs to the municipality of Muiden and is open to visitors.]] Pampus had facilities for a permanent garrison of 200 men, but the only time it achieved that strength was during the First World War. During World War II, the German occupation forces removed the Krupp guns, cupolas, and other metal to use for scrap steel. Between 1941 and 1943 they used the fort for target practice, before installing some 88mm (3.5") anti-aircraft guns. The German dive bombers used 250kg concrete bombs for their practice. These contained a glass tube filled with chemicals. The tube broke on impact, releasing colored smoke to mark the impact point. In the bitter winter of 1944, the people of Amsterdam walked across the ice to salvage the wood in the fort to burn for warmth. After the German surrender, the authorities used the island for the disposal of unexploded ordnance.

• Gabrielle Cot (created by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, nominated by Alborzagros) Gabrielle Cot, daughter of Pierre Auguste Cot by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

• Dutch men-o'-war and other shipping in a calm (created by Willem van de Velde the Younger, nominated by Alborzagros) Dutch men-o'-war and other shipping in a calm. c. 1665 by Willem van de Velde the Younger. Most of Van de Velde's finest works represent views off the coast of Holland, with Dutch shipping. His best productions are delicate, spirited and finished in handling, and correct in the drawing of the vessels and their rigging. The numerous figures are tellingly introduced, and the artist is successful in his renderings of sea, whether in calm or storm. The ships are portrayed with almost photographic accuracy, and are the most precise guides available to the appearance of 17th-century ships.

• Yacine Brahimi (created by Clément Bucco-Lechat, nominated by Chris Woodrich) Yacine Brahimi (right) attacking against Taron Voskanyan of Armenia. Brahimi Arabic: ياسين إبراهيمي is an Algerian professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club Porto and the Algeria national team. Brahimi started his career throughout various clubs in the Île-de-France. On 22 July 2014, FC Porto announced the signing of Brahimi from Granada CF for a fee of €6.5 million. Brahimi was voted BBC African Footballer of the Year 2014.

• Battle of Scheveningen (created by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten, nominated by Alborzagros ) Battle of Scheveningen by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten – between 1653 and 1666. After their victory at the Battle of the Gabbard in June 1653, the English fleet of 120 ships under General at Sea George Monck blockaded the Dutch coast, capturing many merchant vessels. The Dutch economy began to collapse immediately: mass unemployment and even starvation set in. On 24 July (3 August Gregorian calendar), Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp put to sea in the Brederode with a fleet of 100 ships to lift the blockade at the island of Texel, where Vice-Admiral Witte de With's 27 ships were trapped by the English. On 8 August, the English sighted Tromp and pursued to the south, sinking two Dutch ships before dark, but allowing De With to slip out and rendezvous the next day with Tromp off Scheveningen, right next to the small village of Ter Heijde, after Tromp had positioned himself by some brilliant maneuvering to the north of the English fleet. Around 7 in the morning of 31 July, the Dutch gained an advantage from the weather and attacked, led by the Brederode. The ensuing battle was ferocious, with both fleets moving through each other four times. Tromp was killed early in the fight by a sharpshooter in the rigging of William Penn's ship. His death was kept secret to keep up the morale of the Dutch.

• Perseus and Andromeda (created by Lord Frederic Leighton, [[ |nominated]] by Hafspajen) Perseus is flying above on his winged horse Pegasus, shooting his arrow, towards the sea monster.

• Baturraden (created by Crisco 1492, nominated by Chris Woodrich) An overview of the Baturraden tourist resort, on the slopes of Mount Slamet in Banyumas Regency. Baturraden is located in Central Java, at about 640 metres (2,100 ft) above sea level. The area is some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the peak of the mountain; this has led to the number of visitors decreasing when the volcano is active. The name Baturraden is derived from the Javanese words Batur ("manservant") and Raden ("nobleman/noblewoman"). According to local legend, the young daughter of a local king fell in love with a young man who worked in the stables. As their feelings were mutual, the two furtively had a relationship before ultimately eloping – not getting their parents' blessings. Shortly after their first child was born, the noblewoman's father marched on their home with his army and demanded that she return home. When she refused, the king had the stableman stabbed with a kris. The noblewoman, in despair, took the kris from her husband's body and killed herself.

• Yosemite National Park (created by David Iliff, nominated by Alborzagros) View from Glacier Point looking towards Half Dome. left to right: Tenaya Canyon, Half Dome, Liberty Cap, Little Yosemite Valley, Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. Glacier Point, is above Yosemite Valley, in California, USA. It is located on the south wall of Yosemite Valley at an elevation of 7,214 feet (2,199 m), 3,200 feet (980 m) above Curry Village. In springtime, this cliff face is covered with dozens of freshets and tiny waterfalls from the snowmelt, the largest being Staircase Falls.

• Papilio demodocus larva (created by William Warby, nominated by Alborzagros) The Citrus swallowtail caterpillar (Papilio demodocus) a large swallowtail butterfly common to sub-Saharan Africa at Stratford Butterfly Farm. This species primarily mates via the lek system,in which there are aggregations of males on small mating territories. When the female reaches the lek, she changes her behavior so that she helps the males to detect her by performing a long and obvious circular flight.

• The Trinity and Mystic Pietà (created by Hans Baldung, nominated by SchroCat) The painting shows God supporting his son, with the Holy Spirit above them, represented by a dove; the holy trinity are joined by the weeping figures of St. John and the Virgin Mary. While God supporting his crucified son was a relatively popular artistic subject in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, it's fairly rare outside that time, and this is a good example of it; the Holy Spirit, in his traditional guise of a dove, completes the holy trinity of the title. The presence of the grieving Virgin Mary (along with St. John) provide the pietà part of the name.

Good articles

Apart from these featured contents, thirty-one good articles were promoted this week.

Click to show

First GA image Second GA image 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Abby Martin Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ibn Fadl Acton Town tube station Albany Highway Banjo-Tooie The Boat Race 1829 The Boat Races 2015 Cross Road Blues Damselfly Dunster Butter Cross English language Extinction (Star Trek: Enterprise) Govindudu Andarivadele Guatemalan Revolution Hrabri-class submarine Jama Masjid, Delhi The Last of Us M-10 (Michigan highway) Nirmala (novel) Nuremberg Laws Paul and Virginia (1910 film) Russian cruiser Bayan (1900) Sad Wings of Destiny Saido Berahino Slight of hand Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Surb Karapet Monastery Taunton by-election, 1754 Temple of Garni Vera Katz (sculpture)

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  Your shipping forecast, by Willem van de Velde, calls for smooth sailing today.
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  ...Well, we're never 100% accurate. Scheveningen happens.
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  Perhaps D. Ramey Logan can fly you there.
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  Or take the train from the longest railway platform in the world instead.

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• Since there's nothing about racial segregation in South Africa (apartheid) in this report, I've removed it from the title and added "racial segregation" in its place, which evidently refers to racial segregation in the United States. Apartheid as a concept is specific to South Africa. While I'm sure many here think it's cool and PoMo to use words outside their original context, I am sorry to say that this is entirely incorrect, as it is an obvious anachronism. Viriditas (talk) 04:51, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

• Thanks Viriditas, I'd just like to publicly dissociate myself from that. I tried taking my name off the byline, but it got put back. I've change the heading to something more anodyne. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 06:55, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

• If you or any FC contributor feels strongly enough about a disagreement that they want to remove their byline, please let me or User:Go Phightins! know before publicaton and we will try to address the problem. Gamaliel (talk) 21:29, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

• Seems like the forecast should be clear, with a 100% chance of metallic hail :) TomStar81 (Talk) 05:03, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
• Not enough Dusty this week. Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:19, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
  • Like — Crisco 1492 (talk) 15:27, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
• Should Mr. Big in the first entry actually link to the Sex and the City character?— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:04, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
  

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