clever!!

;) earned me 50 blings :o :o

bling bling glorious bling :p

stupid thread,but :D

 

The art of Barca

 

Club founder Joan Gamper first had the idea of setting up a Barca museum in the 1920s, but for a number of reasons, it was not until 1984 when President Josep Lluis Nuñez was in charge of the club that his vision came to fruition. Once again the club showed themselves to be pioneers in the footballing world and with subsequent enlargements in 1987,1994 and 1998, the museum now covers 3,500 square metres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year after year the museum has increased its number of visitors and become an ever more important tool for spreading the name of the club far and wide. Not only is it the best footballing museum in the world, it is also the most popular museum of any kind in Catalonia, regularly receiving more than 1,160,000 visitors a year, and is a reference point for many other such museums around the world.

 

In 2000, the ex president Gaspart helped ensure that the museum would be named after the man who was the main driving force behind its creation, ex president Nuñez.

 

A trip to the museum includes a tour of the stadium itself and features four main areas:

 

· The History Museum: which covers the club's more than a century long story through the many trophies won, photographic archives, sporting material, audiovisual shows and a vast number of items to stir the fans' emotions.

 

· The Art Gallery: with works by some of the most prestigious artists of the nation, coming from the club's own art shows and gifts. Dalí, Miró, Tàpies, Segrelles and Subirachs are among the artists featured.

 

. Col·lecció Futbolart - Pablo Ornaque: Undoubtedly one of the best private collections of footballing memorabilia, this exhibition covers the history of football from its origins until the present day and is permanently on loan to the museum.

 

· Temporary exhibitions: are regularly organised and have included such prestigious shows as that dedicated to the painter Josep Segrelles and a history of poster art related to the club.

 

The museum also has an archive centre with video, photographic and printed documents related to the club's history, which, since its inauguration in 1994, has proved an important tool for researchers, writers and journalists.

 

Camp Nou tour through the changing rooms

 

The museum offers the chance to really get to know the stadium by taking a tour called Camp Nou through the installations, which takes visitors into the opposition changing rooms, down the tunnel and onto the pitch area. Fans can see the new dugouts and look out across the magnificent stadium. The alter, the TV studio, the press rooms and the directors area virtually complete the tour, with the one final surprise of a chance to enjoy a panoramic view of all FC Barcelona facilities. Don't forget to bring your camera!

 

Opening hours

From Monday to Saturday: 10:00-18:30 - Tour Camp Nou untill 17:30

Sundays and Bank holidays: 10:00-14:00 - Tour Camp Nou untill 13:30

Days with a Champions League at the stadium: 10:00-13:00 - Tour Camp Nou doesn't work

1/1, 6/1 and 25/12, closed

Free parking

 

Prices 2005

 

 

Museum visit

 

 

Museum visit and Camp Nou tour

ADULT

 

6

 

 

9.90

JUNIOR (to 13 years old)

 

4.50

 

 

7.50

STUDENTS, FAN CLUB MEMBERS

 

4.50

 

 

7.50

 

Special prices for groups

Free entrance for Barca members

 

Buy herethe tickets for the Museum.

 

Informations and reservations

Tel. (+34) 93 496 36 00

Fax. (+34) 93 496 37 79

E-mail: [email protected]

I think 50 bling is the most you can earn.

:)

:lol:

:angry:

:cool:

:embarrased:

:rolleyes:

:o

;)

:huh:

:D

:P

:cry:

:(

:smug:

:wink3:

:confused:

:/

:stunned:

:idea2:

:sneaky:

:kiss:

:dozey:

:blush:

:snore:

.....finger slipped.

:dozey: :dozey: :dozey: yea it is seamus!!!!!!1 who cares about bling anyway??

Well, I'm rumblin' in this JCB.

I'm 5 years old and my dad's a giant sitting beside me.

And the engine rattles my bum like berserk

While we're singin, 'Don't forget your shovel if you want to go to work!'

 

My dad's probably had a bloody hard day

But he's been good fun and bubblin and jokin' away

And the procession of cars stuck behind

are gettin all impatient and angry, but we dont mind.

 

An' we're holdin up the bypass

oh

Me and my dad havin a top laugh

oh woah

 

Sittin on the toolbox

oh

And I'm so glad I'm not in school, boss

So glad I'm not in school

 

Oh no...

 

And we pull over to let cars past

And pull off again, speedin by the summer green grass

And we're like giants up here in our big yellow digger

Like zoids, or transformers, or maybe even bigger

 

And I wanna transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

And eat up all the bullies and the teachers and their pets

And I'll tell all my mates that my dad's B.A. Baracus

Only with a JCB and Bruce Lee's nunchuckas

 

And We're holdin up the bypass

Weh Oh

Me and my dad havin a top laugh

Weh Oh weh oh

 

Sittin on the toolbox

Weh Oh

And I'm so glad I'm not in school, boss

So glad I'm not in school

 

And we're holdin up the bypass

Weh Oh

 

Me and my dad havin a top laugh

Weh Oh

I'm sittin on the toolbox

Weh Oh

 

And I'm so glad I'm not in school, Boss

So glad I'm not in school

 

-

 

Said I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round

 

And we're holdin' up the bypass

Weh Oh

 

Me and my dad havin a top laugh

Weh Oh

And I'm sittin on the toolbox

oh

 

And I'm so glad I'm not in school, Boss

So glad I'm not in school

 

I said

 

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his

 

Aw, I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

^ I love that song!!! :lol:

So do I! ;)

:embarrased: .....didn't mean to post two, although I suppose this is the bling thread! :lol:

duction China Top of Page

Background:

Definition Field Listing

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

Geography China Top of Page

Location:

Definition Field Listing

Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Geographic coordinates:

Definition Field Listing

35 00 N, 105 00 E

Map references:

Definition Field Listing

Asia

Area:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total: 9,596,960 sq km

land: 9,326,410 sq km

water: 270,550 sq km

Area - comparative:

Definition Field Listing

slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries:

Definition Field Listing

total: 22,117 km

border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km

regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km

Coastline:

Definition Field Listing

14,500 km

Maritime claims:

Definition Field Listing

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

Definition Field Listing

extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Terrain:

Definition Field Listing

mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east

Elevation extremes:

Definition Field Listing

lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m

highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m

Natural resources:

Definition Field Listing

coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)

Land use:

Definition Field Listing

arable land: 15.4%

permanent crops: 1.25%

other: 83.35% (2001)

Irrigated land:

Definition Field Listing

525,800 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:

Definition Field Listing

frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence

Environment - current issues:

Definition Field Listing

air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

Environment - international agreements:

Definition Field Listing

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

Definition Field Listing

world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak

People China Top of Page

Population:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

1,306,313,812 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:

Definition Field Listing

0-14 years: 21.4% (male 148,134,928/female 131,045,415)

15-64 years: 71% (male 477,182,072/female 450,664,933)

65 years and over: 7.6% (male 47,400,282/female 51,886,182) (2005 est.)

Median age:

Definition Field Listing

total: 32.26 years

male: 31.87 years

female: 32.67 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:

Definition Field Listing

0.58% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

13.14 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

6.94 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:

Definition Field Listing

-0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

Definition Field Listing

at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female

total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total: 24.18 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 21.21 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 27.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total population: 72.27 years

male: 70.65 years

female: 74.09 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

840,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

44,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

Definition Field Listing

noun: Chinese (singular and plural)

adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups:

Definition Field Listing

Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions:

Definition Field Listing

Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%

note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

Languages:

Definition Field Listing

Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

Literacy:

Definition Field Listing

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 90.9%

male: 95.1%

female: 86.5% (2002)

Government China Top of Page

Country name:

Definition Field Listing

conventional long form: People's Republic of China

conventional short form: China

local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

local short form: Zhong Guo

abbreviation: PRC

Government type:

Definition Field Listing

Communist state

Capital:

Definition Field Listing

Beijing

Administrative divisions:

Definition Field Listing

23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)

: provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang

: autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)

: municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin

note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau

Independence:

Definition Field Listing

221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)

National holiday:

Definition Field Listing

Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)

Constitution:

Definition Field Listing

most recent promulgation 4 December 1982

Legal system:

Definition Field Listing

a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law

Suffrage:

Definition Field Listing

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

Definition Field Listing

chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)

head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers HUANG Ju (since 17 March 2003), WU Yi (17 March 2003), ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003)

cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)

elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress

election results: HU Jintao elected president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (four delegates voted against him, four abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); two seats were vacant

Legislative branch:

Definition Field Listing

unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held late 2007-February 2008)

election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA

Judicial branch:

Definition Field Listing

Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts)

Political parties and leaders:

Definition Field Listing

Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Definition Field Listing

no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups

International organization participation:

Definition Field Listing

AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:

Definition Field Listing

chief of mission: Ambassador ZHOU Wenzhong

chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500

FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582

consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco

consulate(s): Los Angeles

Diplomatic representation from the US:

Definition Field Listing

chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.

embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing

mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002

telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831

FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929

consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang

Flag description:

Definition Field Listing

red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner

Economy China Top of Page

Economy - overview:

Definition Field Listing

In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprises in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2004 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still poor. Agriculture and industry have posted major gains especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan and in Shanghai, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (growing income disparities and rising unemployment). China thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate jobs growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and © keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises, many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 100 to 150 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time, low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in living standards. At the same time, one demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. As part of its effort to gradually slow the rapid economic growth seen in 2004, Beijing says it will reduce somewhat its spending on infrastructure in 2005, while continuing to focus on poverty relief and through rural tax reform. Accession to the World Trade Organization helps strengthen its ability to maintain strong growth rates but at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer Internet use, with 94 million users at the end of 2004. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable economic growth. Shortages of electric power and raw materials may affect industrial output in 2005. More power generating capacity is scheduled to come on line in 2006. In its rivalry with India as an economic power, China has a lead in the absorption of technology, the rising prominence in world trade, and the alleviation of poverty; India has one important advantage in its relative mastery of the English language, but the number of competent Chinese English-speakers is growing rapidly.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$7.262 trillion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

9.1% (official data) (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

purchasing power parity - $5,600 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

Definition Field Listing

agriculture: 13.8%

industry and construction: 52.9%

services: 33.3% (2004 est.)

Labor force:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

760.8 million (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:

Definition Field Listing

agriculture 49%, industry 22%, services 29% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

9.8% in urban areas; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas; an official Chinese journal estimated overall unemployment (including rural areas) for 2003 at 20% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:

Definition Field Listing

10% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

Definition Field Listing

lowest 10%: 2.4%

highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

Definition Field Listing

44 (2002)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

4.1% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

46% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:

Definition Field Listing

revenues: $317.9 billion

expenditures: $348.9 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

31.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:

Definition Field Listing

rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish

Industries:

Definition Field Listing

mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals; coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles and satellites

Industrial production growth rate:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

17.1% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

1.91 trillion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

1.63 trillion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:

Definition Field Listing

10.38 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:

Definition Field Listing

2.3 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

3.392 million bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

4.956 million bbl/day (2002 est.)

Oil - exports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

427,800 bbl/day (2002)

Oil - imports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

2.414 million bbl/day (2002)

Oil - proved reserves:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

17.74 billion bbl (2004 est.)

Natural gas - production:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

35 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

29.18 billion cu m (2002 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

0 cu m (2002 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

0 cu m (2002 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

2.23 trillion cu m (2004)

Current account balance:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$30.32 billion (2004 est.)

Exports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$583.1 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:

Definition Field Listing

machinery and equipment, plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel

Exports - partners:

Definition Field Listing

US 21.1%, Hong Kong 17%, Japan 12.4%, South Korea 4.7%, Germany 4% (2004)

Imports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$552.4 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:

Definition Field Listing

machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, optical and medical equipment, organic chemicals, iron and steel

Imports - partners:

Definition Field Listing

Japan 16.8%, Taiwan 11.4%, South Korea 11.1%, US 8%, Germany 5.4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$609.9 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$233.3 billion (3rd quarter 2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

Definition Field Listing

NA

Currency (code):

Definition Field Listing

yuan (CNY)

note:: also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB)

Exchange rates:

Definition Field Listing

yuan per US dollar - 8.2768 (2004), 8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000)

Fiscal year:

Definition Field Listing

calendar year

Communications China Top of Page

Telephones - main lines in use:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

263 million (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

269 million (2003)

Telephone system:

Definition Field Listing

general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns

domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place

international: country code - 86; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000)

Radio broadcast stations:

Definition Field Listing

AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:

Definition Field Listing

3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)

Internet country code:

Definition Field Listing

.cn

Internet hosts:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

160,421 (2003)

Internet users:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

94 million (2004)

Transportation China Top of Page

Railways:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total: 71,898 km

standard gauge: 71,898 km 1.435-m gauge (18,115 km electrified)

dual gauge: 23,945 km (multiple track not included in total) (2002)

Highways:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total: 1,765,222 km

paved: 395,410 km (with at least 25,130 km of expressways)

unpaved: 1,369,812 km (2002 est.)

Waterways:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

121,557 km (2002)

Pipelines:

Definition Field Listing

gas 15,890 km; oil 14,478 km; refined products 3,280 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:

Definition Field Listing

Dalian, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai

Merchant marine:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

total: 1,649 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,724,653 GRT/27,749,784 DWT

by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 362, cargo 696, chemical tanker 38, combination ore/oil 1, container 135, liquefied gas 30, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 81, petroleum tanker 246, refrigerated cargo 30, roll on/roll off 11, vehicle carrier 10

foreign-owned: 9 (Hong Kong 4, Japan 2, South Korea 2, United States 1)

registered in other countries: 872 (2005)

Airports:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

472 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:

Definition Field Listing

total: 383

over 3,047 m: 53

2,438 to 3,047 m: 116

1,524 to 2,437 m: 141

914 to 1,523 m: 23

under 914 m: 50 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

Definition Field Listing

total: 89

over 3,047 m: 5

2,438 to 3,047 m: 4

1,524 to 2,437 m: 13

914 to 1,523 m: 32

under 914 m: 35 (2004 est.)

Heliports:

Definition Field Listing

15 (2004 est.)

Military China Top of Page

Military branches:

Definition Field Listing

People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes Airborne Forces), and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops considered to be an adjunct to the PLA); Militia (2003)

Military service age and obligation:

Definition Field Listing

18-22 years of age for compulsory military service, with 24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service; 17 years of age for women who meet requirements for specific military jobs (2004)

Manpower available for military service:

Definition Field Listing

males age 18-49: 342,956,265 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

Definition Field Listing

males age 18-49: 281,240,272 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:

Definition Field Listing

males: 13,186,433 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

$67.49 billion (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

Definition Field Listing Rank Order

4.3% (2004)

Transnational Issues China Top of Page

Disputes - international:

Definition Field Listing

in 2005, China and India initiate drafting principles to resolve all aspects of their extensive boundary and territorial disputes together with a security and foreign policy dialogue to consolidate discussions related to the boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, and other matters; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; about 90,000 ethnic Tibetan exiles reside primarily in India as well as Nepal and Bhutan; China asserts sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions in the Spratlys but is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; China and Taiwan have become more vocal in rejecting both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting; certain islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in an uncontested dispute with North Korea and a section of boundary around Mount Paektu is considered indefinite; China seeks to stem illegal migration of tens of thousands of North Koreans; in 2004, China and Russia divided up the islands in the Amur, Ussuri, and Argun Rivers, ending a century-old border dispute; demarcation of the China-Vietnam boundary proceeds slowly and although the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries agreements were ratified in June 2004, implementation has been delayed; environmentalists in Burma and Thailand remain concerned about China's construction of hydroelectric dams upstream on the Nujiang/Salween River in Yunnan Province

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

Definition Field Listing

refugees (country of origin): 299,287 (Vietnam) estimated 30,000-50,000 (North Korea) (2004)

Illicit drugs:

Definition Field Listing

major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine

 

This page was last updated on 1 November, 2005

 

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CHINA FACT SUMMARY

MODERN STATE

 

Official Name. People's Republic of China (in Chinese, Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo).

 

Capital. Beijing.

 

China. Named by Europeans for ancient Ch'in Dynasty.

 

Coat of Arms. Five stars above Gate of Heavenly Peace, in Beijing, surrounded by border of ears of grain, with drapings knotted in center of cogwheel at base. Large star symbolizes mutual progress of four classes (workers, farmers, smallholders, and patriotic capitalists), each represented by a small star.

 

Anthem. `Qi Lai' (March of the Volunteers); words composed by Tian Han, 1935; music by Nie Er.

NATURAL FEATURES

 

Borders. Coastline 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers); land frontier 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers).

 

Natural Regions. West China--Plateau of Tibet, Kunlun Mountains, and Himalayas; Tarim and Junggar basins in Xinjiang, separated by Tian Shan; Inner Mongolian plateau. North China--eastern highlands and central plain of the Northeast (formerly Manchuria), Huang He (Yellow River) Basin (including Qin Ling Shan, Loess Plateau, and North China Plain). Central and South China--Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) basin (including Sichuan Basin, Yangtze plains and deltas); Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau; Dong, Xi, Bei river valleys; southeastern coastal uplands; and Guangdong-Guangxi Zhuangzu hills.

 

Major Ranges. Himalayas; Kunlun Shan; Tian Shan; Yin Shan; Qin Ling Shan; Nan Ling Shan.

 

Major Peaks. Everest, 29,028 feet (8,848 meters); Namzha Parwa, 25,445 feet (7,756 meters); Gurla Mandhada, 25,355 feet (7,728 meters).

 

Major Rivers. Yangtze, 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometers); Huang He, 2,900 miles (4,700 kilometers); Amur, 2,700 miles (4,300 kilometers); Mekong, 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers).

 

Major Lakes. Koko Nor (Qinghai Hu); Lop Nor; Tai Hu; Poyang Hu.

 

Climate. Generally monsoon; continental, dry in winter; maritime, wet in summer. North China--cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers; rain 15-30 inches (380-760 millimeters). Central China--moderate; rain 45-80 inches (1,150-2,000 millimeters). South China--subtropical; rain 80 inches (2,000 millimeters).

 

In terms of climate, China may be divided between the humid eastern region and the dry west. The humid east may be further subdivided between the warm and humid south and southeast and the temperate-to-cool, moderately humid north and northeast. Much of the humid eastern region of China exhibits a monsoonal pattern of temperature and precipitation. In a monsoon climate, the warm summer months are typically the months of maximum precipitation.

PEOPLE

 

Population (1990 census). 1,133,682,501; 307 persons per square mile (118 per square kilometer); 26.2 percent urban, 73.8 percent rural.

 

Vital Statistics (rate per 1,000 population). Births, 21; deaths, 6.30.

 

Life Expectancy (at birth). Males--68.1 years; females--71.0 years.

 

Major Language. Chinese; chief dialect, Mandarin.

 

Ethnic Groups. Chinese, or Han (93 percent); minority nationalities include Zhuang, Hui, Uygurs, Zang, Mongols.

 

Major Religions. Taoism; Confucianism; Buddhism; Christianity; Islam. (The government discourages religious practices.)

MAJOR CITIES (1989 estimates)

 

More than 500 million people live in and around cities in China, according to the 1990 census. There are more urban dwellers in China than are found in either the United States or Russia. Some of the cities are quite large. Shanghai, for example, has more than 7 million people; Beijing has more than 6 million, and Tianjin more than 5 million. Many cities have more than 1 million people each. Even so, city dwellers represent a relatively low percentage of the total population--about 20.1 percent, according to the 1982 census.

 

China's cities are expanding rapidly. The government is attempting to regulate urban growth in order to avoid such problems as congestion, overcrowding, slum development, and unemployment. It is difficult, for example, for a person to move to a city unless he or she has a permanent job and a housing permit. Through such constraints, China can slow the migration of people to cities and encourage the kind of urban and regional growth that planners believe is most suitable. Nevertheless, it seems quite likely that urbanization, the flow of people to cities, will continue to be a factor as China modernizes and its economy continues to expand.

 

Shanghai (7,330,000). One of the world's leading ports; China's chief industrial city; educational, commercial, and transportation center; Shanghai Municipal Industrial University; "Great World" Theater; Huang-K'ou Arboretum; Sino-Soviet Friendship Palace; Lung Hua Pagoda; Yu-Yuan Garden.

 

Beijing (6,800,000). Capital of China; political, industrial, publishing, and educational center; Peking University; Forbidden City; Summer Palace; Temple of Heaven; People's Cultural Park; Museum of the Chinese Revolution; Peking Planetarium.

 

Tianjin (5,620,000). Leading port on Hai He (river); manufacturing, trading, transport, handicrafts, and folk-art center; Peace Cinema; Xingang Harbor; Botanical Gardens; People's Park.

 

Shenyang (4,440,000). Capital of Liaoning Province; located on the Hun He (river); industrial and transportation center; Manchu Imperial Palace; Liaoning University; Northeastern Institute of Fine Arts; Northeast Museum.

 

Wuhan (3,640,000). A network of three cities: Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province; located where the Han and Yangtze rivers merge; leading Yangtze River port and a major rail and highway junction; Wuhan University.

 

Canton (Guangzhou) (3,490,000). Capital of Guangdong Province; major port on Zhu Jiang (Pearl River); commercial, industrial, and transport center of South China; Sun Yat-sen University; Guangzhou Museum; Sun Yat-sen Library; Guangdong Botanical and Zoological Gardens; International Sports Center.

 

Harbin (2,930,000). Capital of Heilongjiang Province; located on the Songhua River; one of the leading transportation and industrial centers of northeastern China; Harbin Shipbuilding Engineering College; Harbin University of Sciences and Technology.

ECONOMY

 

Chief Agricultural Products. Crops--rice, wheat, sweet potatoes, gaoliang (Chinese sorghum), millet, corn (maize), cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, potatoes, soybeans, barley, peanuts, tea. Livestock--cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep.

 

Chief Mined Products. Coal, iron ore, petroleum and natural gas, tin, tungsten and manganese ore, antimony, bauxite, copper.

 

Chief Manufactured Products. Iron and steel, textiles, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, transportation equipment, machinery, electronics, paper, sugar, cement, motor vehicles.

 

Chief Imports. Machinery, steel and other metals, wheat, chemicals, fertilizers.

 

Chief Exports. Crude oil, textile yarn, fabrics, chemicals, coal, soybeans, vegetable oil, rice, small machinery.

 

Chief Trading Partners. Japan, Hong Kong, United States, Germany, Singapore, United Kingdom, Canada.

 

Monetary Unit. 1 yuan = 100 fen.

EDUCATION

 

Schools. Preschool--for ages 2 to 6. Primary--5 years beginning at age 6. Secondary--5 years; junior 3 years; senior 2 years. Higher--3 to 6 years. Ministry of Education administers higher education; regional and provincial governments are responsible for primary and secondary education.

 

Literacy. Adult population is about 76 percent literate.

 

Leading Universities. About 170 institutions of higher education; universities at Beijing, Changchun, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hulan Ergi, Fuxin, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hefei, Hohhot, Jinan, Kunming, Lanzhou, Luda, Nanchang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, Urumqi, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi'an, Xiangtan, Zhenjiang, Zhengzhou.

 

Notable Libraries. Chinese Academy of Sciences Central Library, Beijing; National Library of Beijing; Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China Library, Beijing; Nanjing Library; Shandong Library, Jinan; Tianjin Library.

 

Notable Museums. National Academy of Arts, Beijing; History Museum, Canton; Lhasa Museum; Museum of Astronomy, Nanjing; Chinese History Museum, Beijing; Cultural Palace of Minorities, Beijing; Peasant Movement Institute and House of Mao Zedong (traditionally Mao Tse-tung), Wuhan.

GOVERNMENT

 

Form of Government. People's Republic.

 

Constitution. Fourth constitution since 1954; effective December 1982.

 

Chief of State. President/chairman of the republic.

 

Head of Government. Premier.

 

Legislature. National People's Congress; annual sessions; term 5 years.

 

Standing Committee. The executive, elected by National People's Congress; consists of chairman, vice-chairmen, and members.

 

State Council. Cabinet; consists of premier, vice-premiers, and ministers, all appointed by National People's Congress.

 

Judiciary. Supreme People's Court--the highest judicial organ of the state--consists of one president and one vice president; term, 4 years. Other courts include Special People's Courts, Local People's Courts. Supreme People's Procuratorates and Local People's Procuratorates enforce laws.

 

Communist Party. The government is controlled by the main organs of the Communist party, including the Central Advisory Commission, the Central Committee, and the Politburo. Party membership (1980): 38,000,000.

 

Political Divisions. 21 provinces; 5 autonomous regions; 3 special status municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin).

 

Voting Qualifications. All citizens over 18 years of age can vote with the exception of persons deprived of voting by law.

PLACES OF INTEREST

 

Anshan. Chief iron and steel works in China; a complex of steelworks, rolling mills, and iron mines.

 

Burma Road. 717 miles (1,154 kilometers) long, over north-south high ranges from Lashio, Myanmar, to Kunming; a vital supply route during World War II.

 

Chinese Eastern Railroad. Built by Soviet Union, across Manchuria (now the Northeast) to Vladivostok and Luda.

 

Fengman Dam. One of the largest hydroelectric power stations of China; located at the head of the Songhua Jiang reservoir; capacity of more than 570,000 kilowatts.

 

Fushun. One of the world's largest open pit coal mines, producing more than 22,000,000 tons (20,000,000 metric tons) annually; also site of steel mills, chemicals, and oil refinery complex.

 

Gobi, The. One of the largest deserts in the world.

 

Grand Canal. 1,056-mile (1,700-kilometer) canal linking Beijing and Hangzhou; used for north-south transport; constructed during the Sui Dynasty (AD 581 to 618).

 

Great Wall. 1,500-mile (2,400-kilometer) wall from Gansu to Qinhuangdao; about 15 to 50 feet (5 to 15 meters) high.

 

Hainan. Large tropical island in the South China Sea (Nan Hai); produces sugarcane, pineapples, grapefruit, coffee, and rice.

 

Huang He (Yellow River). Second longest river in China, 2,900 miles (4,700 kilometers).

 

Koko Nor (Qinghai Hu). Largest mountain lake with no outlet in Central Asia, in Nan Shan (mountains); surface area averages 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kilometers).

 

Lhasa. Capital of Tibet; located high in the Tibetan Himalayas; Dalai Lama's Palace.

 

Marco Polo Bridge. Over Yongding He; Sino-Japanese War began here on July 7, 1937.

 

Mount Everest. World's highest peak, on Tibet-Nepal border, 29,028 feet (8,848 meters).

 

Qufu. Home of Confucius; Temple of Confucius; Confucius' Tomb; Residence of Confucius' Descendants.

 

Tai Shan. Sacred mountain, traditionally worshipped as a deity, highest peak, 8,064 feet (2,458 meters), in Shandong Province; temples; monuments.

 

Xi'an. Near site of excavation of the tomb of Emperor Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, who died 210 BC; more than 7,500 life-size terra-cotta warrior figures were excavated.

 

Yangtze River. Longest river in Asia, 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometers); gorges north of Yichang.

 

Yan'an. Communist armies established their headquarters here after the Long March in December 1936; Museum of the Revolution; Mao Zedong's house.

 

Zhoukoudianzhen. Near Beijing, site of the discovery of Peking Man (about 400,000 BC); excavated in 1923.

 

The Geography portion of this article was contributed by Clifton W. Pannell, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, and author of `China, The Geography of Development and Modernization'. The History portion of this article was contributed by Bonnie B.C. Oh, former Associate Professor of History, Loyola University of Chicago.

AGRICULTURE

 

Agricultural regions. In a sense, it is difficult to discuss Chinese agriculture as a whole, because the climate and physical features--and thus the kinds of crops that are cultivated--vary widely from one part of the country to another. In general, for agricultural purposes, three main physical regions can be considered: the west, the north, and the central and south. These can be further subdivided into eight distinctive physical-agricultural regions.

 

The Tibet-Qinghai Plateau in western China is a high, cold, dry, and extremely rugged area with a short growing season. Farmers here can usually grow only enough wheat, barley, and potatoes and raise enough sheep, yaks, and horses to provide for the needs of their own families.

 

Also in western China, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang lie beyond the Great Wall and are known for their dryness. They get less than 12 inches (300 millimeters) of precipitation and in some areas less than one inch (25 millimeters). Herding is the primary economic activity, though oasis agriculture is carried on where water is available. Crops include grain, cotton, sugar beets, and exotic fruits and melons.

 

In northern China the Loess Plateau lies southeast of the Great Wall and north of the Qin Ling Mountains. The loess that covers most of the area has eroded into badlands in places. This region is dry and has long, cold winters. Drought-tolerant crops such as millet and gaoliang are common. Wheat, corn, and cotton are also planted extensively, especially where irrigation water is available.

 

The North China Plain lies south of the Great Wall and extends from the coast to the mountains and hills to the west and south. The floodplains of the Huang He and the Huai He are the main features. Several problems exist here. There is not enough rainfall, the winters are cold and long, and some of the soils are salty because of poor drainage. The main crops are wheat, barley, cotton, corn, gaoliang, millet, and peanuts.

 

The Northeast (formerly called Manchuria) suffers from extremely cold winters, a short growing season, and poor drainage on the large Northeast Plain. The fields in this region are large, and heavy farm machinery has been used extensively. The chief crops include spring wheat, corn, millet, gaoliang, flax, and soybeans. A great deal of land reclamation has taken place in Heilongjiang Province. State farms have become the main form of agricultural organization in the land reclamation areas.

 

The middle and lower Yangtze River basin in central China is the country's richest and most productive agricultural region, the "rice bowl" of China. The lowlands contain extensive areas of rich, river-borne alluvial soils. Precipitation is abundant, and the winters are mild. Rice is the main crop, but cotton, tea, and oilseeds are also important. Half of the country's rice is produced in this region. The farming methods are very intensive and yields are high. Much of the fertile land of the middle and lower Yangtze Basin is farmed all year round.

 

South China includes the region south of the Yangtze Basin along China's southern and southeastern coasts, a land of rugged hills and low mountains interspersed with river basins. Much of this region lies within the tropics. Precipitation is abundant and the growing season is long, but only 10 percent of the area is flat enough to permit row cropping. The main crops are rice, sugarcane, mulberries (grown primarily for silkworm culture), fruit, and freshwater fishes raised in ponds or rice paddies. The Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) delta plain around Canton is one of the most productive farming regions in China.

 

The western part of the region also contains the Sichuan Basin and extends south to include the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Much of this region consists of rugged hills and mountains. Except for the Yuan (Red) River basin and the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan, it is not very productive. Two crops per year of rice is common where the terrain and soil conditions are right. Shifting cultivation of the slash-and-burn type is practiced among isolated peoples in the extreme southwest (See Agriculture).

:snore:

what!!??! thats some good reading..very interesting.

Oh, I know....but I've read it before. :D

hahaa no way?

and you probably posted it before too!!!!!!!!!

Yea, I've actually written a book on the history of modern China..... :smart:

1. Young And Aspiring

 

So lets not even try...you're right.

Let's ball it up and throw it out the window. It's becoming all so clear

In my mind.

I've thought this thing through more than once or twice. I feel that this

Is my last request to you.

 

Hold your breath....bottle it up and save it for the next one. It's safe

To say we've been writing this

All night. None of this will ever change your mind. It's never safe to

Rely on borrowed

Time. Now we're both undone, and it's time to open

Up your eyes.

 

Consequence, it's our need in times like these.

Feeling free...it's our modern disease. Your a classic disaster, with a

Knack for losing your

Exterior. (I'm so sick)...from staring at the mirror.

 

This all needs a break from you, and I'm used to this.

 

I fear that I am just an end.

So you play the mistaken...and I'll play the victim in our screenplay of

Desire...I'm still writing the letters

I'll never send.

 

Running in circles I can't forget how many times

I've played this in my mind....feeling free, feeling free.

 

Consequence, it's our need in times like these.

Feeling free...it's our modern disease. Your a classic disaster, with a

Knack for losing your exterior. (I'm so sick)...from

 

Staring at the mirror.

 

This is my panic... This is my call to arms.

 

 

2. A Boy Brushed Red.... Living In Black And White

 

Can you feel your heartbeat racing?

Can you taste the fear in her sweat?

You've done this wrong

It's too far gone

These sheets tell of regret

I admit that I'm just a fool for you

I am just a fool for you

 

Here is where we both go wrong

Tonight's your last chance to

Do exactly what you want to

And this could be my night

This is what makes me feel alive

Makes you feel alive

Here is where we both go wrong

So sign me up

And toss this key

'Cause for now we're

Living in this moment

And we both ignore the truth

Its all over

Its all over

 

I feel your heart against mine

So take a breath and close your eyes

 

[chorus]

Your lungs have failed and they both stopped breathing

My heart is dead and its way past beating

Something has gone terribly wrong

I'm scared, you're scared, we're scared of this

I never thought we'd make it out alive

I never told you but its all in your goodbyes

It's all in your goodbyes

 

Well look who's dying now

Slit wristless sleeping with the girl next door

I always knew you were such a sucker for that

It doesnt matter what you say

You never mattered anyway

Never mattered anyway

 

In this moment that we both ignore the truth

It's all over

It's all over

I feel your heart against mine

So take a breath and close your eyes

 

[chorus]

 

Don't shake, i hate to see you tremble

Trembling you've lost your touch

Haven't you run so addicted

 

[chorus]

 

 

3. The Impact Of Reason

 

Prop open the door I can actually see my breath tonight

But that doesn't mean I'm breathing

Crack a smile just for the sake of it

This could take a while

A long while

 

Silence is golden especially in this case

 

I'm not too sure that I want it to be this way

Open mouth closed eyes

No words are escaping

 

It's all a blur

It's too dark to see

Ain't it pretty the way it all streaks together at night

Together at night

 

I think its time to turn around

I really want to go home tonight

I think its time to turn around

I really want to go home tonight

 

I feel like this is going nowhere

I feel like this is going nowhere

Try to think of something quick

And trust the direction of the driver

 

No lights

No signs

I'm at a loss for words

No lights

No signs

I'm at a loss for words

 

Now conversation sparks

What an easy way to break the ice

Now conversation sparks

What an easy way to break the ice

 

 

4. Reinventing Your Exit

 

12th and hyde on a sunday

Feeling like were gold

And we're nothing short of invincible (INVICIBLE)

 

It starts again

Can you feel it

It takes your breath away

Stop saying that we're invincible

(its round and round)

Youre uninviting, unrewarding

And I'm misinforming you

Misinforming you

 

We all want to be, wanna be somebody

Right now we're just looking for the exit

 

[chorus]

This is the way I would have done things

Up against the wall

Up against the wall

You've got me up against your wall

This is the way I would have done things

Up against the wall

Up against the wall

You've got me up against your wall

 

Its you and me on a monday

The lies that we told

This is were we both go numb now

You broke my heart again this time

Your fading now you crossed the line

You crossed the line

 

We all want to be somebody

Right now we're just looking for the exit

 

[chorus]

 

Reaching out for a hand

Its not here

But your not here

Your not here

 

This is the way i would have done things

Up against the wall

Up against your wall

This is the way we should have done

When were up against our wall

Up against our wall

 

[chorus]

 

 

5. The Blue Note

 

 

 

6. It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door

 

I've been up at this all night long

I've been drowning in my sleep

I've prayed for your safe place

And its time for us to leave

 

Time is running, its running on empty and the gas is running out

I've decided that tonight is the night

That I let love aside

Full speed ahead this seems to be the place

I've seen this once before

Planned perfection sought in my dreams

Hoping this would take you home

 

My knuckles have turned to white

There's no turning back tonight

So kiss me one last time

 

Around this turn where the cross will cast your shadow

The people will all gather

To remember such a day

Where the flames grew as high as trees

And the world stopped for you and me

 

My knuckles have turned to white

There's no turning back tonight

Kiss me one last time

(Shut your eyes)

My knuckles have turned to white

There's no turning back tonight

(so hold on tight)

Kiss me one last time

(Shut your eyes)

 

I will now bring new meaning to the word alone

Endless nights of dreaming of life

And the days we should have spent here

 

Drowning in my sleep I'm drowning in my sleep

Drowning in my sleep I'm drowning in my sleep

 

Glass shatters and comes to a halt

I thought we'd be there by now

I thought it would be so much quicker than this

 

Pain has never been so brilliant

I made sure you were buckled in

Now you can walk hand in hand with him

Hand in hand with him

 

My knuckles have turned to white

There's no turning back tonight

Kiss me one last time

(Shut your eyes)

My knuckles have turned to white

There's no turning back tonight

(so hold on tight)

Kiss me one last time

(Shut your...)

 

 

7. Down, Set, Go

 

I had the whole world in my hands, but i gave it away...

I had the whole world in my hands, but i gave it away...

Gave it away.

 

I'm a half-wit boy, crackin a smile and wearing it all on my sleeve.

 

So cruel, so poise

Its true, im just around to see

Where this thing goes

I'll never know, but all i know is

I'm back in bed

It's a remedy, its a remedy.

 

This time i'd be nervous 'cause i cant see your hands

Infront of me... (infront of me...)

Tonight, ive spoken.

I'll pretend to want and think of what we should be

What liars we can be.

 

I'm on my way to the top of the world,

And i've got a feeling i'll give it away.

Im on my way to the top of the world,

And i've got a feeling i'll give it away.

 

Shes a maveric, shes so smooth...

If things go according to plan, i'll have her finished by five a.m.

Theres no turning back, theres no second chance,

Ive already got both feet through the door

And i can taste the air, i can taste the air.

 

This time I'll be nervous 'cause I can't see your hands in front of me

(In front of me tonight)

Let's forget all pretense of what they thought we should be

What liars we can be.

 

Make a sound, its safe for you,

Choking here, alone.

Whatever i say goes (whatever i say goes)

Whatever i say goes (whatever i say goes)

You're not everything, you're not here with me

You're not everything, you're not here with me

You're not everything, you're not here with me

You're not everything, you're not here with me

 

 

8. I Don't Feel Very Receptive Today

 

This door has been shut for days

And it's all too familiar

Can't I just crack a window

Can't I just shake it off?

 

I'm sure I've tasted this before, before, before...

I'm sure I've tasted this before...

 

Everything is out of reach

And I just want to see outside

The air (the air) has been getting thin

 

I feel like cutting it open tonight, tonight

And falling on the floor

 

There's nothing left unused in here

There's nothing left to say

 

I haven't talked in days

And I'm really not too sure

What I sound like anymore

My vision has gone and my mouth is full, is full of sores

 

I feel like dripping it dry tonight

Over and over again

It's time (it's time) to open up the door

 

 

9. I'm Content With Losing

 

Like i said; "leave your baggage at the back door."

Where i'm leaving you the way I think it should be.

We're always pulling into spaces (that we can't back out of)

Starting fights.

We cant talk our way out of this

(talk our way out of this)

Talk our way out of this.

 

How does it feel to be on the receiving end of this one?

Of this one?

 

Im half way there,

(and its all on me)

This is what i get for wanting more,

For wanting more.

 

This is the way its got to be.

Dancing on all these changes

So i walk around with this rope in my hand

(rope in my hand)

So i'll tie it around, and around and around.

I'll tie me down.

 

I'll fantisize of being manic and leaving us behind.

In your eyes, you were the one that tried.

 

Acceptance is what holds us here

Then you my dear are the one i fear tonight.

We'll try this one more time.

 

This is the moment that we all live for.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

 

Im half way there,

(and its all on me)

This is what i get for wanting more,

For wanting more.

 

This is the way its got to be.

Dancing on all these changes

So i walk around with this rope in my hand

(rope in my hand)

So i'll tie it around, and around and around.

I'll tie me down.

 

You cant see past my waving hands.

(just running away again)

You cant see past my waving hands.

(good-bye)

 

(it gets so loud it hurts my ears.)

 

I wanna know how to get through this

(how to get through this)

Without choking up.

I wanna know how to get through this

(how to get through this)

Without choking up.

I cant feel you,

You're so far from me.

 

This is what I get for wanting more

This is what I get for wanting more

(and its all on me)

This is what I get for wanting more

This is what I get for wanting more

(and its all on me)

This is what I get for wanting more

This is what I get for wanting more

(and its all on me)

 

 

10. Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape

 

I heard a voice through the dischord

Of a deluge of passers-by.

I saw one gaze frozen in time

Watching me passing by.

I swear I'll know your face in the crowd,

And I'll hear your voice so loud

When you're whispering...

 

Hey unfaithful I will teach you

To be stronger, to be stronger.

Hey ungraceful I will teach you

To forgive one another.

 

Here's my kiss to betray

Desperate to brush the lips of grace.

Do you feel hollow when you think of how I've lied?

 

Oh sweet angel of mercy with your grace like the morning

Wrap your loving arms around me.

Oh sweet angel of mercy with your grace like the morning

Wrap your loving arms around me.

 

Hey unfaithful I will teach you

To be stronger, to be stronger.

Hey ungraceful I will teach you

To forgive one another.

Hey unfaithful I will teach you

To be stronger, to be stronger.

 

Hey unloving

 

I will love you

I will love you

I will love you.

 

Jesus I'm ready to come home.

 

 

11. I've Got Ten Friends And A Crowbar That Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack

 

[Limited Edition Vinyl Bonus Track]

 

Carry out the sounds

past the west horrizons

I'm standing still, i'm standing still

why i parted all the change

no body indured

well i'm walking out , i'm walking out

What do you expect of me?

 

Did you think that this was all an excuse for

hospitality

I know you think its all because of me

at first glance, im breathing

leaving myself no room to move, at all

my mind is so flooded and im drunk with regret

swimming in a sea of hope tonight

I find your energy sequenced to mine

as we push away with everything we have

 

Ohhh their acting on my words

we can start the fire, that will light up the night

no i wouldn't be to sure of you at all

we'll watch it burn together on respective sides

(yeah)

we look so good, as we fall

 

I'll go ahead and re-elect perfections

its never looked as good as it does on you right now

i'll go ahead and make an incision

doubt you'll feel anything at all

I dont think I'm right for a side and I am nervous

at least I can say I made it out this time

I just might, but you wont let me

as for you be sure to cover up your mouth

 

I dont know how to say this

my thoughts have just run out

An Introduction to Celtic History

 

The lands occupied by Celtic peoples, whose existence can be traced over more than 25 centuries, were vast. Celts occupied land in modern day Eastern Europe, Greece, Spain, Northern Italy, Western Europe, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Celtic people have mystified anthropologists and historians for generations. They were a non literate culture whose history and literature was preserved through oral tradition. The only written records of their civilization are the texts left by classical authors, the first of which appear circa 500 BCE. These accounts, inaccurate as they may be, are important in that they demonstrate that the Celts came into cultural contact, and sometimes competition, with the Greeks as well as the Romans.

 

In recent years, modern archeology has been successful in reconstructing an echo of the "voice" of the ancient Celts. Facets of Celtic society, economy, and religion completely ignored by Classical texts have been brought to light. The classical image of Celtic life describes barbaric men and women dressed in uncured animal skins in primitive villages, people who worshipped strange deities and whose lives were consumed in blood feuds. Because of the authority of the classical authors, these ancient misconceptions were pervasive. They are visible, for example, hundreds of years later in some of the Shakespearean characters that people Cymbelline and King Lear.

 

The Celts impressed the Greeks and Romans with their bold dress and powerful appearance. Generally characterized by classical observers as a people of fair hair, of red or gold, and fair complexions, (although the people of the British Isles were described as small and dark-haired) most Celtic women apparently stood taller than the average Roman citizen. Celtic women, upon reaching maturity, adopted a complex braided style for their hair, and wore dyed and embroidered dresses. Plaids, or wrapped woven cloaks, were common for men and women alike, and gold and silver torques and armrills, as well as rings, adorned wealthy Celts. Brooches that held closed the openings of dresses and plaids were another common feature of Celtic dress. Gallic men commonly spiked their hair and bleached it to an almost white color with chalky water, and wore their beards long, while the Bretons and Picts tattooed their arms and faces with blue. Many Danish and English bogs have yielded archeological evidence of cloth and dress, and Roman historians such as Tacitus also document some of the customs of everyday Celtic life.

 

Some features of Celtic life were not as closely chronicled in classical sources. The quality of Celtic metal-work was technically and artistically advanced. Most Celtic people lived in well-populated farming villages, with larger towns linking smaller settlements and acting as meeting sites for economic and cultural activity. Fortified cities and shrines were erected along well-travelled roadways. This evidence of a more complex society in pre-Roman Europe has led some scholars to rethink conclusions drawn from classical texts by such authors as Caesar, Polybius, and Strabo. Celtic societies, once considered "barbaric" as seen through the lens of classical observers, are now looked upon as advanced cultures networked through the bond of a common linguistic heritage.

 

Piecing together the culture and lives of the ancient Celts, in the absence of clear archeological or textual record, is not an easy task. No one is even sure where the term "Celtic" comes from. With a great deal of inconsistency, classical sources provide tantalizing but incomplete information about the peoples called Keltoi and Galatatae by the Greeks, and Celtae or Galli by the Romans. Two thousand years ago, the term Celt was used specifically for peoples inhabiting continental Europe; the denizens of England and Ireland were not to be called "Celts" until seventeenth and eighteenth-century linguistic scholarship began to identify the inhabitants of the pre-Roman British Isles as Celtic peoples.

 

Who were the Celts? The issue is further obscured by the eighteenth and nineteenth-century Romantics. Clumping all of the Celtic peoples into one homogeneous family with a single ethnic identity, the Romantics exalted the idea of the "noble savage." The notion of the "romantic highlander" and the modern conception of the druids are based on these romanticized images of Celtic history and culture. Modern nationalist writers such as William Butler Yeats in Ireland and Sir Walter Scott in Scotland used such idealized portraits as the basis of a new pan-Celtic movement that offered resistance to the modernization and imperialism of Victorian Britain.

 

Evidence From the Past: Text, Linguistics, and Archeology

There are three types of evidence from the Iron Age through the Roman period available to archeologists and scholars of Celtic history. The first of these is documentary sources, or texts. Because concepts like language and cultural identity have no physical manifestation, written records are our only source for reconstructing them. The second source is linguistics, in the form of Celtic names and words referred to in Classical records, or place-names. These give philologists clues as to where the Celtic branch of languages may be placed in relation to other languages of the world. Celtic languages are now identified as one branch of the large Indo-European family.

 

 

 

 

Ogham is the first Irish method of writing, dating from the fourth century, CE. Supposed by some historians to have resulted from contact with Latin Roman numerals, the resulting ogham alphabet is unique to Ireland. Its beauty and usefulness lie in its absolute simplicity - ogham can be easily cut into wood or carved into stone. The central line on which the characters sit is usually the edge of the writing surface, such as along the edge of a stone monument.

 

Although we know that the majority of the ogham writings were made on wood for everyday use, (as chronicled in the Táin ) the only texts to have survived to the present day are tombstones and other stone markers, the majority of which were made between the fifth and seventh centuries CE. These stone markers were found in Southern Ireland and the West coast of Britain, among the ancient Irish settlements there.

 

Each of the letters of the ogham alphabet represents the common name of a species of tree. The ogham chart to the left of the table depicts each letter or sound in the ogham alphabet, including the combination vowel sounds. In the table, each letter is matched with the tree-name it represents, in Irish, Welsh, and English.

The third source of evidence is archeological. On its own, archeology can seldom provide historians with a complete picture of a culture or society. But archeology as a method of identifying patterns of human life offers concrete evidence against which the textual evidence supplied by classical authors may be judged and better understood. Geographical distribution, laboratory analysis of the chemical composition of various artifacts and types of material, and the patterns of settlement and land usage are invaluable in the process of reconstructing the history of the ancient Celtic peoples.

Archeological digs at the La Tène site in Western France have changed the way in which Celtic art and technology is viewed by the modern world. It was initially suspected that a society so lacking in any form of written record keeping (ogham was a later addition to the Celtic tradition) would be unable to produce the geometrically and technologically complex works of art that were produced contemporaneously by the Greeks and Romans. However, examples of knotwork, metal-working, pottery, glass, and geometric circle-drawing of an extremely sophisticated nature were uncovered at La Tène . Simple geometric elements such as parallel lines, concentric circles, and chevrons later are merged with compass construction techniques to create complicated geometric patterns. In Kirkburn, (East Yorkshire) a sword of over seventy pieces, including a worked-iron blade, studs, and scabbard plates, was discovered. Its intricate construction and design attest to the skill of Celtic craftsmen.

 

Although the classical world studied the development of new and different arms and armour, the Celts wore no armour at all until circa 300 BCE, the approximate date of the invention of chain mail. Chain mail is of Celtic origin, the earliest known examples appearing in graves dating from the third century. The concept of thousands of small, interlocking metal rings is a complex one, and its implementation required considerable skill on the part of the blacksmith. Because chain mail was difficult to make, and expensive, only senior warriors or royalty are thought to have made use of it initially, although it became more widespread later on. Chain mail was soon adopted by the Romans when it proved effective in battle.

 

Ireland contains the sites of many ancient, abandoned Celtic settlements, some of which date back to almost prehistoric times. Formations of great earthworks, such as ring-forts, are thought to have been constructed during the Iron Age, and many examples survive to this day. By far the most commonly occurring archeological site is the ring-fort, which surrounded a single dwelling place. Called raths (earthwork), cashels (stonework), and duns (more adequately defended sites), these fortifications surrounded a central house, usually thatched with heather and banked with earth. The entire construction was roughly circular, and some of them lasted long enough to build up their surrounding raths prodigously (such as the early Christian rath located in Deer Park Farms, County Antrim.)

 

Celtic culture lives on through the languages and traditions of the Celtic peoples of the British Isles. Although many of the Celtic languages are now exinct, six Celtic languages still exist today. These are classified into two categories: Q-Celtic, or Goidelic, and P-Celtic, or Brithonic. Scholars once believed that the dividing line between these two language groups (based on the pronunciations of "q" and "p" sounds) resulted from two distinct waves of immigration. More recent studies suggest that Celtic languages evolved gradually across their huge territory, rather than moving rapidly from a single concentrated area.

Yea' date=' I've actually written a book on the history of modern China..... :smart:[/quote']

 

that is awesome !

some Ady Endre poems:

 

GÓG ÉS MAGÓG FIA VAGYOK ÉN...

 

 

Góg és Magóg fia vagyok én,

Hiába döngetek kaput, falat

S mégis megkérdem tőletek:

Szabad-e sírni a Kárpátok alatt?

 

Verecke híres útján jöttem én,

Fülembe még ősmagyar dal rivall,

Szabad-e Dévénynél betörnöm

Új időknek új dalaival?

 

Fülembe forró ólmot öntsetek

Legyek az új, az énekes Vazul,

Ne halljam az élet új dalait,

Tiporjatok reám durván, gazul.

 

De addig sírva, kínban, mit se várva

Mégiscsak száll új szárnyakon a dal

S ha elátkozza százszor Pusztaszer,

Mégis győztes, mégis új és magyar.

 

A MI GYERMEKÜNK

 

 

Bús szerelmünkből nem fakad

Szomorú lényünknek a mása,

Másokra száll a gyermekünk,

Ki lesz a vígak Messiása,

Ki majd miértünk is örül.

 

Ha jönnek az új istenek,

Ha jönnek a nem sejtett órák,

Valamikor, valamikor

Kipattannak a tubarózsák

S elcsattan hosszú csoda-csók.

 

Mások lesznek és mink leszünk:

Egy napvirág-szemű menyasszony

S egy napsugár-lelkű legény.

A tubarózsa illatozzon

S áldott legyen a mámoruk.

 

S áldott legyen, ki: te meg én,

Ki az övék, kiért mi sírtunk,

Kit forró lázunk eldobott,

Öleltetőnk, kit sohse bírtunk,

Ki másoké: a gyermekünk.

 

Kit napvirág és napsugár

Új igére, új dalra termett,

Áldott legyen, ki eljövend,

Az idegen, nagyálmú Gyermek,

Kit küldtek régi bánatok.

 

A VÁR FEHÉR ASSZONYA

 

 

A lelkem ódon, babonás vár,

Mohos, gőgös és elhagyott.

(A két szemem, ugye, milyen nagy?

És nem ragyog és nem ragyog.)

 

Konganak az elhagyott termek,

A bús falakról rámered

Két nagy, sötét ablak a völgyre.

(Ugye, milyen fáradt szemek?)

 

Örökös itt a lélekjárás,

A kripta-illat és a köd.

Árnyak suhognak a sötétben

S elátkozott had nyöszörög.

 

(Csak néha, titkos éji órán

Gyúlnak ki e bús, nagy szemek.)

A fehér asszony jár a várban

S az ablakokon kinevet.

 

MERT ENGEM SZERETSZ

 

 

Áldott csodáknak

Tükre a szemed,

Mert engem nézett.

Te vagy a bölcse,

Mesterasszonya

Az ölelésnek.

Áldott ezerszer

Az asszonyságod,

Mert engem nézett,

Mert engem látott.

S mert nagyon szeretsz:

Nagyon szeretlek

S mert engem szeretsz:

Te vagy az Asszony,

Te vagy a legszebb.

 

A KÖNNYEK ASSZONYA

 

 

Bús arcát érzem szívemen

A könnyek asszonyának,

Rózsás, remegő ujjai

Most a szivembe vájnak.

Érzem az illatát is ám

A rózsás, gyilkos ujjnak

S véres szívemre szomorún

A könnyek hullnak, hullnak.

 

Az ajka itt mar édesen,

A haja ide lebben,

Az egész asszony itt pusztít,

Itt, itt: az én szivemben.

Bosszút itt áll az életért,

Aknát itt ás a multnak.

Véres szívemre szomorún

A könnyek hullnak, hullnak.

 

Nagy az én bűnöm. Vesszen is,

Kire a végzet mérte,

Hogy a könnyek szfinksz-asszonyát

Megérezze, megértse.

Maradjon szent talánynak Ő,

Maradjon mindig újnak.

Véres szivemre szomorún

A könnyek hullnak, hullnak.

 

FÉLIG CSÓKOLT CSÓK

 

 

Egy félig csókolt csóknak a tüze

Lángol elébünk.

Hideg az este. Néha szaladunk,

Sírva szaladunk

S oda nem érünk.

 

Hányszor megállunk. Összeborulunk.

Égünk és fázunk.

Ellöksz magadtól: ajkam csupa vér,

Ajkad csupa vér.

Ma sem lesz nászunk.

 

Bevégzett csókkal lennénk szívesen

Megbékült holtak,

De kell az a csók, de hí az a tűz

S mondjuk szomorún:

Holnap. Majd holnap.

 

HUNYHAT A MÁGLYA

 

 

Hunyhat a máglya

Ezek a szomorú, vén szemek

Nem néznek soha másra.

 

Léda, elűzhetsz:

E vén, hű kutya-szemektől

Sohasem menekülhetsz.

 

Szerelmi máglya

Fölgyujtja tán újra a véred:

Hiába, mindhiába.

 

Jönnek a rémek:

Ezek a szomorú, vén szemek

El nem engednek. Néznek.

 

HIÁBA KÍSÉRTSZ HÓFEHÉREN

 

 

Én beszennyezlek. Én beszennyezlek

A leghavasabb, legszebb éjen:

Hiába kisértsz hófehéren.

 

Színem elé parancsolom majd

Fehér köntösös szűzi árnyad,

Saját lelkemből fölcibállak.

 

Hiába libeg félve, fázva:

Telefröccsentem tintalével,

Vérrel, gennyel, könnyel, epével.

 

Hiába reszket, hiába reszket:

Befoltozom gyanuval, váddal,

Bepaskolom mérges csalánnal.

 

S míg libeg búsan, szerelemben,

Én kikacagom kósza árnyad,

Felé fúvok: menj, elbocsátlak.

 

VAD SZIRTTETŐN ÁLLUNK

 

 

Vad szirttetőn mi ketten

Állunk árván, meredten,

Állunk összetapadtan,

Nincs jajunk, könnyünk, szavunk:

Egy ingás és zuhanunk.

 

Véres hús-kapcsok óvnak,

Amíg összefonódnak:

Kékes, reszkető ajkunk.

Míg csókolsz, nincsen szavunk,

Ha megszólalsz zuhanunk.

 

TÜZES SEB VAGYOK

 

 

Tüzes, sajgó seb vagyok, égek,

Kínoz a fény és kínoz a harmat,

Téged akarlak, eljöttem érted,

Több kínra vágyom: téged akarlak.

 

Lángod lobogjon izzva, fehéren,

Fájnak a csókok, fájnak a vágyak,

Te vagy a kínom, gyehennám nékem,

Nagyon kivánlak, nagyon kivánlak.

 

Vágy szaggatott föl, csók vérezett meg,

Seb vagyok, tüzes, új kínra éhes,

Adj kínt nekem, a megéhezettnek:

Seb vagyok, csókolj, égess ki, égess.

 

A FEHÉR CSÖND

 

 

Karollak, vonlak s mégsem érlek el,

Itt a fehér csönd, a fehér lepel.

Nem volt ilyen nagy csönd még soha tán,

Sikolts belé, mert mindjárt elveszünk,

Állunk és várunk, csüggedt a kezünk

A csókok és könnyek alkonyatán.

Sikoltva, marva bukjék rám fejed

S én tépem durván bársony-testedet.

Nagyon is síma, illatos hajad,

Zilálva, tépve verje arcomat.

Fehér nyakad most nagyon is fehér,

Vas-ujjaim közt fesse kékre vér.

Ragadjon gyilkot fehér, kis kezed:

Megállt az élet, nincsen több sora,

Nincs kínja, csókja, könnye, mámora,

Jaj, mindjárt minden, minden elveszett.

Fehér ördög-lepel hullott miránk,

Fehér és csöndes lesz már a világ,

Átkozlak, téplek, marlak szilajon,

Átkozz, tépj, marj és sikolts, akarom.

Megöl a csend, ez a fehér lepel:

Űzz el magadtól, vagy én űzlek el.

 

A MÁSIK KETTŐ

 

 

Csókoljuk egymást, együtt pihenünk,

Áltatjuk egymást, hogy egymásra vártunk,

Halvány az ajkunk, könnyes a szemünk,

Sápadt a lángunk.

 

Piros kertek közt futott az utunk,

Piros, bolond tűz lángolt sziveinkben,

Egymás szemébe nézni nem tudunk,

Itt sápadt minden.

 

Csókoljuk egymást biztatón, vadul,

Nappalba sír be minden csókos estünk,

Hiába minden, csók ha csókra hull,

Hideg a testünk.

 

S piros kertekből, úgy tetszik nekünk,

Közelg egy leány és egy ifju ember

S mi, ím, egyszerre forrón ölelünk,

Nagy szerelemmel.

 

EGY ÓCSKA KONFLISBAN

 

 

Királyném, kigyultak a lángok,

Aranyos hintónk, íme, száll,

Ma a nép közé vegyülünk el,

Te a királyné s én a király.

Lásd, ez a fényes kocsitenger

A villámfényes fák alatt

Miérettünk hullámzik, fénylik,

Hogy téged s engem lássanak.

Királyném, bocsásd le a fátylad:

Ma este kegyosztók leszünk.

(Döcög, döcög az ócska konflis

És mi sápadtan reszketünk.)

 

Királyném, megölnek a vágyak.

Sohse vágyott, mint te meg én,

Földi pár úgy az élet-csúcsra

És sohse volt még íly szegény.

Vágy, élet és sugár a lelkünk

És utunk mégis koldus-út,

Jogunk van minden fényességhez,

Amit az élet adni tud.

Király vagyok és te királyné,

Hát trónunk sohse lesz nekünk?

(Döcög, döcög az ócska konflis

És mi sápadtan reszketünk.)

 

LÉDA A HAJÓN

 

 

Hurráh, jön az Öröm hajója

És hozza Lédát már felém.

Virágos, pompás szőnyegén,

Én asszonyom, már látlak, látlak:

Hajadban a vérvörös rózsa.

Ugye kivánsz? Én is kivánlak.

Hurráh, mi rég nem láttuk egymást.

 

Óh, jaj, szédülök itt a parton,

Óh, jaj, most mindjárt itt leszel,

Kérdezlek majd és kérdezel

És összecsap két szomju-lélek

És fejemet kebledre hajtom.

Jaj, ne. Ne jöjj. Reszketek, félek.

Óh, jaj, mi rég nem láttuk egymást.

 

IMA BAÁL ISTENHEZ

 

 

Óh, Baál, Nagyúr, ez az irgalom-óra,

Mi itt a gályán most hozzád kiáltunk,

Nézz hát reánk, reánk, két kárhozóra.

Nem énreám. Hisz én mi vagyok? Féreg.

Pártütő isten, összetépett lélek,

Elesett titán. De itt van a párom:

Kegyetlen, nagy Baál, jóságodat várom.

Bús asszony-ember, de lelke Nap üszke,

Szomorú szemű, de nagyszomjú, büszke,

Didó királynő, csókolva is vádló,

Hajh, beteg csókú, de mindenre váró,

Bíborra termett, egyetlenegy némber.

Óh, Baál, állj mellénk lelked kegyelmével.

Minden-Pénzeknek trónján valahol

Fordítsd felénk fényes, kegyetlen arcod.

Én harcolnék. Megharcolnám a harcot,

Tudok alázva élni, lélek-áron,

De nézz reá: királynő az én párom,

Selyemvánkost áztathat csak a könnye,

Selyemzászlót lengethet csak a gályánk.

Óh, öntsd reánk aranykönnyed folyását,

Óh, öntsd reánk, véres aranyak atyja,

Óh, nézz reánk, a két legkoldusabbra.

Ha ide néznél, vad aranyszived

Összeszorulna. Könnyed eredne

S úszó, sötét gályánk szőnyegére

Óh, hullna az arany, hullna egyre.

 

A TÓ NEVETETT

 

 

Alkonyban szálltunk

Együtt a tavon,

Idegen ölű,

Ringató ölű,

Félelmes ölű,

Mélyvizű tavon.

Régi kínoknak

Bús köntösében

Úsztunk a tavon

S az éjre vártunk.

 

Öreg hajósunk

Karja reszketett,

Havas ormokról

Zúgtak a szelek,

A tó harsogott,

Hívott, kiabált,

Zúgott, jajgatott,

A tó nevetett.

Szálltunk, hajóztunk.

(A kínjainkat

- Súgtam csendesen -

Oldjuk végre fel.

Szent sír ez a tó,

Szerelmes karú,

Titkot őriző.

Ez ölelni tud,

Örökre ölel

És áldva ringat.

Nem tudja senki,

Ha ő átkarol,

Zuhanjunk, gyere.)

Ő néz, néz reám

És búsan tekint

És vágyón tekint

A partok fele.

Szállunk, rohanunk:

Óh, menni, menni,

Óh, élni tovább,

Bús kínok alatt

Járni, szenvedni,

De lenni, lenni.

A tó nevetett

Utánunk vadul,

A mélyvizű tó,

Idegen ölű,

Szerelmes ölű,

Áldott karú tó.

A tó nevetett

S bármerre megyünk

Azóta mindig:

Minden alkonyon

Halljuk nevetni.

 

MEG AKARLAK TARTANI

 

 

Őrjít ez a csókos valóság,

Ez a nagy beteljesülés,

Ez a megadás, ez a jóság.

 

Öledbe hullva, sírva, vágyva

Könyörgök hozzád, asszonyom:

Űzz, kergess ki az éjszakába.

 

Mikor legtüzesebb az ajkam,

Akkor fagyjon meg a tied,

Taposs és rúgj kacagva rajtam.

 

Hóhérok az eleven vágyak,

Átok a legszebb jelen is:

Elhagylak, mert nagyon kivánlak.

 

Testedet, a kéjekre gyultat,

Hadd lássam mindig hóditón,

Illatos vánkosán a multnak.

 

Meg akarlak tartani téged,

Ezért választom őrödül

A megszépítő messzeséget.

 

Maradjon meg az én nagy álmom

Egy asszonyról, aki szeret

S akire én örökre vágyom.

 

CSAK JÖNNE MÁS

 

 

Hódolni kergettem elébed

A vágyak éhes csapatát,

Nomád, vad, büszke csapatát

A vérnek.

 

Irigyellek, szánlak, utállak,

Szerencsés koldusasszonya,

Királyi koldusasszonya

A Vágynak.

 

Csak tudnék én mást úgy kivánni,

Mint téged. Óh, csak jönne más.

Egy más asszony. Valaki. Más.

Akárki.

 

A LÉDA SZÍVE

 

 

Boszorkák dobáltak meg

A bús csodáknak ligetében.

Én nem féltem. Én sohse féltem.

De a szeretőm elszaladt.

Szép szeretőm: az ifjú Mosoly.

 

*

 

Sírtak s nevettek a boszorkák.

Köd volt és a gyászos, vak éjben,

A bús csodáknak ligetében

Zuhogva hulltak a szivek

S én elfödtem az arcomat.

Sziveket dobtak a boszorkák.

Én nem féltem. Én sohse féltem.

A bús csodáknak ligetében

Állottam búsan, egyedül.

A ködből hulltak a szivek,

Csúnya, kicsiny, kemény szivek.

 

*

 

Egyszerre szétszálltak a boszorkák,

Könnyesen, csöndben és fehéren,

A bús csodáknak ligetében,

Egy asszony jött fényben felém

S én ráemeltem arcomat.

 

*

 

Szemembe nézett s szivéért nyúlt,

Az arcomon még most is érzem:

A bús csodáknak ligetében

Arcomhoz vágta a szivét,

Meleg, beteg, szegény szivét.

 

 

 

LÉDA PÁRISBA KÉSZÜL

 

 

Van valakim, aki Minden,

Aki elhagy, aki itthagy:

Páris, Páris, állj elébe,

Térítsd vissza, ha lehet.

 

Állj elébe s mondd meg néki,

Hogy én fiad vagyok, Páris,

Elűzötten, száműzötten,

Messze tőled. De fiad.

 

Mondd meg néki, hogy te küldted

Magad helyett bús fiadnak,

Kis szerelmét az életnek

Ne vegye még tőlem el.

 

Élni, élni, be jó volna,

Ámulni még. Páris, Páris,

Üzend meg a leányodnak:

Hogyha elmegy, meghalok.

Yea' date=' I've actually written a book on the history of modern China..... :smart:[/quote']

 

that is awesome !

 

I was only Joking!!!! :lol: