Word: brass
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...then there's muted. The first describes an inner peace being reflected outward. But something or someone that can be described as "muted" gives the outward appearance of calm only by stifling a churning agitation inside. While not so desirable in a personality, "muted" artworks have a long history. Brass horns with dampers stuffed inside are the most obvious example, but there are muted works in the visual arts as well. The comix work of Carol Swain, for instance, has a cool exterior that muffles an agitated, jangly inner life...
...income it reported for 2000 and 2001 was just a tad off--$74.4 billion less than it had said, after writedowns and adjustments. Outside auditors have signed off on bogus earnings reports and balance sheets at companies from Rite Aid to Xerox. In some cases, auditors dealt with corporate brass intent on concealing thievery; WorldCom's ex-CFO, Scott Sullivan, recently pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges, for instance. In other cases, auditors simply lacked spine: again and again, they failed to police the books aggressively for fear of losing the client, along with consulting gigs that brought...
...which take weeks to prepare and often weigh several tons each, display biblical figures or saints (notably La Virgen Macarena, the patron saint of bullfighters) festooned with flowers, lace and candles. The floats are carried through the night to mesmerizing drum beats and short bursts of melancholic flamenco from brass bands marching alongside. The processions start on Palm Sunday and continue through Easter Sunday. To join the festivities, start at the Gothic Seville Cathedral (built between 1401 and 1517) in the city center, follow the crowds and save the Easter eggs for later...
...Lungmen has changed hands as often as Harbin itself. Not only was it a hotel during the Japanese occupation, it was also once a hospital, a Czarist embassy, and a hostel for Soviet advisers. Renovations last year uncovered original marble floors and restored the wainscoting. With chandeliers, brass fittings and just two floors of rooms, the Lungmen rates an adjective rarely applied to a Chinese hotel: intimate. My room's floor-to-ceiling windows framed locust trees and pistachio-color Russian buildings; lying on white sheets in a fluffy bed, China felt very far away. That's likely the atmosphere...
...Tongba is made in a cylindrical wooden pot with polished brass banding (the tongba, from which the drink gets its name). This is filled with fermented millet seeds. Your host then adds hot water in a ritual reminiscent of a Japanese tea ceremony. Drinkers suck the alcoholic mixture through a bamboo straw with tiny filters to keep the seeds out, and it's a never-ending affair. You sit around the fire with a thermos flask topping up the pot for hours, and snack on spiced cucumber and mutton pieces known as sekura or sukuli. The locals will assure...