The Society for Preservation of Sites and Landscape in Modi’im is an organisation whose goals are to serve the interests of heritage sites, archaeology, natural characteristics and the landscape in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut area, and to foresee potential dangers brought about by building and development of the modern city of Modi’in, that began in the early 1990s.
Angelo Musco (born Naples Italy, 3 February 1973) lives and works in New York City and has since 1997. This contemporary artist is best known for photographic surreal landscapes built by thousands of [...] bodies, where the natural architectures and visionary landscapes are filled with the haunting mysticism of his own origins.
Early Years
The youngest of five children, Angelo weighed in at 6.5 kilos (approximately 14.3 lbs.) when he was born after spending 11 months in the womb. A home birth to a child of this size was complicated; Angelo became stuck and turned blue, and the midwife panicked. Her determined extraction caused serious damage to both mother and baby. The newborn was rushed to the hospital, being in a critical state, and was stripped of his baby cloths. Musco's aunt, uncle, and father returned to the household with the soiled cloths, which upon seeing them, Angelo's mother fell into a state of shock, thinking the child had died. The extreme stress spoilt her breast milk. Both mother and son survived, but young Musco was paralyzed on his right side for the first years of his life.
Musco's birth injury is called Erb's Palsy, a tearing of the neck, arm and shoulder nerves. It causes perminant damage and diminishes the function of the affected side of the body. An operation to fix the damage was scheduled, but when an illness impeded Angelo's participation on the scheduled day, his superstitious mother translated the sickness as an omen not to have the risky procedure. Instead, Angelo spent the first ten years of his life in physical therapy, to strengthen and restore the injured side of his body.
His early years were spent in school or at his father’s grocery store helping deliver the daily orders in the neighborhood Barra, just east of Naples. His parents sent him to a private Catholic school because they felt Angelo would need special attention. The school was situated on the water, and he was often entertained by high-speed boat chases as the police hunted down smugglers with black-market contraband. He would draw the boats not realizing how emblematic it was of the dangerous environment of living in Naples in the 1970s. He started university at the Academia Di Belle Arti in Naples and took a small apartment in the historic part of the city, which was very dangerous at that time. This new home was located next to the Napoli Sotteranea, a subterranean second city. The mysticism, history and legends of this old city destroyed by the Vesuvius were an ongoing fascination for the young artist.
For two semesters Musco lived in Granada, Spain as an exchange student. The school was well funded with wonderful labs and equipment for students to use. Musco was not well funded and work serving tea at night in an old arab teteria to make money to survive since his family could only afford to cover his rent. Because purchasing materials for painting was also expensive, he started experimenting with installations and different materials such as fire, stones and the bodies of his fellow colleagues. This was the first approach towards using the human body to create artistic forms. Musco visited New York City a few times for artistic research, and moved to the U.S. December 8, 1997. This date holds symbolic significance because on the Italian calendar it was the day of Immaculate Conception.
Mary O’Callaghan (Máire Ní Cheallacháin) was the 21st president of the Camogie Association. From Dripsey, County Cork she was attached to Inniscarra club, serving as a Cork selector and vice-chair before being elected chair of Cork County Camogie Board in 1980.
Gingin Observatory is situated just north of Perth, Western Australia, in the Shire of Gingin on Military Road and is approximately 20 km east of the township of Gingin, 15 minutes drive from Yanchep National Park. The Observatory can be accessed from Wanneroo Road which leads towards the small fishing town of Lancelin or from the Brand Highway traveling from Perth towards Geraldton.
The Observatory is built on traditional land called the Wallingup Plains belonging to the Yued Aboriginal people from the Noongar Tribe and opened in 2001 when founding Astronomer, David Nicolson relocated his telescopes from the nearby Golden Grove Observatory in the Chittering region. Situated on the same land, next door, is the Gravity Discovery Centre and the Australian International Gravitational Observatory (AIGO) which is part of a worldwide gravitational wave telescope partnership between Australia, USA, Germany, India, France and China. AIGO is the only gravitational wave detector within the Southern Hemisphere. These three centres combine to make "one" educational centre, just one hour north of Western Australia's capital city.
Gingin Observatory holds evening and daytime astronomy events and feature hands on telescope use, allowing plenty of time with local astronomers. The Observatory runs year round and feature special astronomical events throughout for general public, clubs, schools, local and international visitors. During an event at the Observatory, a theatre presentation takes the group on a virtual tour of the Universe, using a computer software program. During the year, the Observatory astronomers help instruct and educate people in using their own telescopes on a B.Y.O Telescope night.
In 2009, during the International Year of Astronomy a new telescope was commissioned next to Gingin Observatory in the Zadko Dome. The Zadko Telescope was purchased by Mr Jim Zadko, from the United States of America and is worth one million dollars. The robotic Zadko Telescope is part of international science research, involved in detecting gamma ray bursts. The telescopes primary objective is to photograph gamma ray bursts in the Universe and does this with two NASA satellites, the Swift and Glast. These satellites can locate a gamma ray burst and communicate the co-ordinates to the telescope which then moves into position and starts taking images. The Zadko Telescope can also be accessed remotely by professional astronomers and scientists.
Gingin Observatory is a fully public observatory with no research attached to its own telescopes. However, the Observatory holds events that feature the Zadko Telescope which allow visitors a chance to go into the 'Zadko Dome' to see the telescope and educate them about research in astronomy and its importance.
Recently the Gingin Observatory and the Gravity Discovery Centre Foundation Inc. applied for and was successful in receiving two grants to develop concept plans and designs for an expansion and upgrade to the existing observatory building. These grants came from the Wheatbelt Development Commission's Royalties for Regions Wheatbelt Regional Grants Scheme (WRGS) and from the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism's TQUAL Grants program.