Response to the book “The Body’s Memory” Essay Example for Free

Response to the book â€Å"The Body’s Memory† Essay The recollection made by a person with disability or PWD of the most painful things which her body felt and experienced was explicitly depicted in the 1993 book of Jean Stewart entitled â€Å"The Body’s Memory. † The most notable aside from the clear presentation of the true condition and emotions of PWD, however, is the remarkable realization exemplified by the character. The character’s clear yet flexible and uncomplaining reminiscence of the pains and sacrifices of her body which was afflicted and removed with tumor was the ultimate significance of the book. This is because a PWD’s acceptance of the undeniable or irreversible state of her body strongly manifests that indeed the physical condition serves as the lasting reminder of disability. However, it is the will and the desire to overcome such disability which will ultimately allow a PWD to continue living. Stewart’s first appearance in the literary world showcased the character of a 30-year-old woman named Kate Meredith who recounted her body’s management and survival three years after a tumor was removed from her hip. Through the course of the recollection, Meredith’s body was faced with and most importantly reminded of its inevitable limitations resulting from the surgery which eventually made her a disabled person for the rest of her life (Stewart, 1989). The preface alone already hinted both the disposition and worth of this journal of one’s battle against her disability and ultimate triumph over the physical condition. As the journal went on, the author’s invitation led the readers into the painful yet struggling efforts of a lively and strong-willed English professor Meredith (Stewart, 1989). Through the words of the author, the readers came in contact and had a peek of the kind of life that Meredith has lived following her tumor removal. Stewart allowed the public to be acquainted with the people around Meredith, to feel and sympathize with her physical and emotional sufferings and above all, witness her understanding or acceptance and eventual rise above her permanent physical condition (Stewart, 1989). It is worthy to consider that the author has effectively presented the strong character of Meredith whose memory or precise account of her body’s pain caused by disability surprisingly paved the way for the meeting of two worlds, that of the normal people and persons with disability. In order to thoroughly feel the personal battle fought by Meredith, the author’s use of the journal type as the writing structure has succeeded for the character to vividly recall the pains suffered by her body. Additionally, the said literary form has efficiently conveyed the essence of the story, which is the acceptance of the body’s memory of disability suffering as well as the eventual realization of the existing disability and improvement towards the reality of living independently. The Meredith journal, as written by Stewart, is a concrete proof of a triumphant tale of a PWD whose body will definitely always remember the pain. However, she used such memory as a tool to overcome her limitation and started living on her own. The book is an ideal chronicle from the point of view of a previously normal person who was faced with the reality of never to walk once more. It is one of the best works that depicted a different perspective about the everyday happenings in the life of a person with disability. Utilizing the vehicle of journal writing, the author invited the readers to the world of a PWD and succeeded in making both her main character and the public experience all the emotional confusions, physical battle, disappointments, bravery, apprehension, self-pity and rejection. In doing so, Meredith’s eventual realization of herself and her new-found liberty has turned the book into a remarkable literary work. An ultimate response to the book is that it is a well recommended story for both normal people and persons with disability because of its generalized reminder that life has to continue beyond the event of a disability. Reference Stewart, J. (1989). The Body’s Memory. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

The bounce of a Squash Ball Essay Example for Free

The bounce of a Squash Ball Essay However, some energy is lost as due to friction between the molecules in the air, and the surface of the ball. 3 This is during the time where the ball is in contact with the floor. There are really three stages here, I will show them below: i) ii) iii) In i, the ball has hit the ground, and because of inertia, the ball tries to keep moving and cant because the ground beneath it is solid. This causes the ball to change to a sort of oval shape, this change of shape causes some energy to be lost as heat and the kinetic energy to become Elastic Energy. Also, the ball hitting the ground will cause some energy to go on as sound and some will be sent through the surface as a wave. In ii, the ball is still, and has no energy other than Elastic Energy; it is exactly between i and iii. In iii, The Elastic Energy is being converted to Kinetic Energy, and causes the ball to go from the oval shape, back to its original shape, and bounces off of the ground. The Elastic Energy in the ball is now becoming Kinetic Energy again and the reshaping of the ball causes some more energy to be lost as heat. 4 Here the ball is going back up after bouncing off of the ground. The ball has Kinetic Energy, and again some energy is lost as heat due to friction between the air and the ball. 5 At this stage, the ball is stationary in the air because gravity has prevented it from rising any further. However, the ball is not as high as it was when it was dropped; this is because some energy was lost as heat. This stage links back to stage two repeatedly, until all of the energy from the ball has been lost, at which point it will become stationary on the ground. Prediction With this in mind, I am predicting that the higher the ball is dropped from, the higher it will bounce (due to increased energy). However, I predict that the ball will never reach the height it fell from because of energy which is lost as heat from friction and sound when it hits the ground. Calculating Epg The formula mgh (or Mass   Gravity   Height) will show the amount of Gravitational Potential Energy (Epg) the ball has at this stage. The mass of our ball was 0. 024 kg, which is constant (it doesnt change). The gravity here on Earth is 10N per kg of mass, for our ball this would mean 0. 24N, another constant. The height from which we drop the ball is a variable. Therefore to work out the Epg of the ball at any given height we would use the formula Height. We can shorten this to 0. 006 because mass and gravity are constant. For example, if we wanted to know how much Epg the ball had when held at 1. 00 m, we would do 0. 006 1. 00, which is 0. 006. The reason for calculating Epg is so that later on the kinetic energy (Ek) of the ball can be calculating, in turn allowing the velocity of the ball upon impact to be calculated. Method First of all, two metre sticks were placed vertically against a wall, one above the other, creating a makeshift double-metre stick, this was held against the wall. Next, the ball was held so that the bottom of it was aligned with the height (e. g. 1. 00 m). Meanwhile, another member of the team laid on the floor, facing the metre stick. The ball was then released when the member on the floor was ready. When the ball bounced up the member on the floor noted it down. This was repeated five times for each drop height (0. 8m, 1. 0m, 1. 2m, etc up to 2. 0m). After each drop height was done five times, the ball was heated to 40 degrees Celsius in a water bath. Our variable was the drop height of the ball. We chose the range 0. 6m 2. 0m because it achieves a good set of results, while not taking too much time after dropping from each height five times. We dropped the ball five times from each height and then obtained an average to try and get a good range of results, and also to eliminate anomalous results from our graphs. Results Table Drop Height (m) Gravitational Potential Energy (J) Bounce Height (m) Speed on Impact (m/sec) ms Analysis. The results in this table show that the Epg increases when the ball is held higher up. It also shows that the ball bounces higher when the drop height is higher, and that the ball will never bounce to the same height it was dropped from. One other thing my table shows is that the higher the drop height, the higher the speed of the ball on impact with the ground. This proves everything I predicted to be correct, and also correlates with my energy transfer diagram, which is what I based my prediction on. Ball Speed Epg = Ek on impact. To work out the velocity (speed) of the ball on impact we would use the formula v=VEk. First we need to know the value of Ek which is dependant on Evaluation There are just two anomalies, they are at 1. 4m and 1. 6m, they is quite far from the line of best fit. I believe the cause was human error perhaps in the inaccuracy of trying to see how high the ball was in a fraction of a second. If I had the chance to repeat this investigation, I would improve the procedure by improving the measuring system, perhaps by using a digital video camera to record how high the ball bounced and then playing it back frame by frame on a computer because it is very hard to see where the ball is in a fraction of a second with human eyesight. I would increase the range of results to be from 0. 2m maybe 5. 0m, because it would give a much larger range, in which perhaps the rule of the ball bouncing higher when dropped from higher would be incorrect.

Leadership Challenge Moving To Leadership Business Essay

Leadership Challenge Moving To Leadership Business Essay Everyone in their professional career usually starts their career from bottom and work to reach at top of the career ladder. During the course of professional career, individuals become proficient in work, gain respect from the whole management and eventually becomes a valued member of the organization. On getting promoted as a leader of that same team within which we have been working with so far certainly is an advantageous offering however coupled with several problems and challenges. However, being promoted within the same team is advantageous up to a certain extent as that individual would be aware about the policies and procedures and working environment as well as expected problems often encountered by the team, individual would also face several challenges while leading a team. The problems and challenges arise in a sense that when other employees who have been working for a longer duration than that of the individual being promoted and possess more experience might feel that they actually deserve the promotional hike. Also, problems arise owing to the assertiveness often expressed in meetings and words by the individual. Consequently, individuals being offered promotional hikes and promotional offerings entail to gain respect from the team and getting the things done without thinking that the power or authority has been moved to individuals head. Additionally, several things are ought to consider to smoothen the transition process of promotion. Primarily individual has to stop beating head and applaud on promotion as dynamics of the team are changed to a large extent and individual have to embrace the changed circumstances. Another key initiative is to show explicit value and support and listening to other team members ideas to even the process of promotional transition (Case Studies). Case II: Leadership Challenge: Juggling Cultures Several cases of bi-diversity are common in the Middle East with subject of leadership of women at workplace. Government is certainly putting in tremendous efforts towards recognition of women in the society and inclusiveness in different sectors of the economy. It is the key requirement of organizations to incorporate flexibility in corporate cultures in order to respect and consider individual needs. While comparing with the scenario in western countries, it is required in Arab countries to broach such issues within the cultural sensitivities and tradition and culture. In large organizations, it has been determined that they are in a better profitable state and quarter attributing to success while having female employees in senior leadership. Moreover having female executives in senior leadership leads to bringing of new perspectives as well as new innovative ideas. In the context of the case organization, the officials contemplate in selection of male executive over female executive for arranging deals with Saudi Arabian clients. The environment in Saudi Arabian organizations is inflexible characterized by male biased talent management systems and culture. Throwing light on the case situation, it would be effectual to select a male executive over female executive owing to the conservative biased system prevailing across Arabian countries. The selection and choice of male executive is justified to comply with the conservative and male dominated organizations and clients (Case Studies). Case III: What Leadership Characteristics Does Reuben Mark Possess? Reuben Mark professional accomplishments are legendary who is considered as a niche player for almost all the time of his career in one of the most valuable companies operating across the globe, especially in terms of market capitalization. Colgate-Palmolive is a leading consumer goods company serving in two hundred countries across the globe. Several business organizations would strive to achieve level of success and aspire to achieve a competitive edge likewise of Colgate-Palmolive. The case is primarily digging out the management style of Reuben Mark and his management and leadership style. Mark the leader possesses dynamic personality whose genius and innovation contributed successfully towards the growth of the company. Being one of the prominent leaders in the market and entire corporate world, Marks leadership style can be visualized as with tremendous clarity. Reuben Mark is certainly a willful and driven leader and the products and services directed under his supervision have raised the development and commercialization of brand in the market. At the same time, the leadership style of Ruben Mark has been intensely focused with strong commitment and confidence in taking risky leaps. Mark is also considered as a charismatic that has successfully solicited employee legions as well as customers in the relentless pursuit of his ambitions and aspirations. The exclusive style of leadership has also helped the company to shape the unique and powerful culture within the environment owing to his seemingly constructive behaviors (Case Studies). Case IV: Leadership Challenge: The In-Group Applicant Individuals hired through employee referrals tend to have a longer duration of association with the company in comparison than those of individuals hired through other methods of recruitment. Today, employers of business organizations try to determine the effectiveness of employee referrals and compare with other hiring methods. At the time of hiring, several factors are taken into consideration pertains to determine effectiveness such as overall hiring costs, performance of employees, employee retention rate. They tend to ponder these key aspects to narrow the field of best pool of candidates. Also, the current and existing staff gets benefitted by an incoming of lucrative salaries packages and recognition they get at the time of every hiring on their recommendation. In the context of the business case, the manager faces a contemplating situation of hiring an assistant manager on the basis of strong reference by his office manager. The office manager recommends the name of one of his family members for the job and the one is effectively suitable for the offered job profile. With an aim to get his family member into the job, the office manager tries to convince his manager to not to take risk with other outsider/stranger becoming his assistant. He sees this opportunity to build strong relationship with the company and is therefore motivated to refer to his family member. Recruiting talent in todays competitive market is certainly a difficult and tedious job and therefore employee referral program has been seen as an effective strategy to hire new employees (Case Studies). Case V: Leadership in Action: The Caring Dictator: Understanding and embracing a team is the main talent of a leader who is essentially thinking out in a creative manner and whose style of leading is based on his or her strengths. The best leaders of the industry allow leaders to emerge as reach to the top premier position in their professional career ladder. In todays fast paced world and competitive era, it has been determined that best leaders are ones those who bring out and build best leaders and not the best followers. The traditional military kind of leadership style is no longer proven to be effective. Nowadays, the leadership is more to be executed in a dynamic way depending on changing circumstances and changing needs of the team. At times, it takes the way of coaching; sometimes it is executed as visionary and is therefore termed as situational. In the context of the business case, Jack Hartnett is more of an affilitative leader who appears to rely on creation and building of emotional and companion bonds with other team members as well as subordinates. According to Jack Hartnett, if we sum up his vision in terms of leadership style, then it would be people come first. The affilitative style of Jack Hartnett has been proved to be highly successful during the times of relieving from stress and mental trauma, and even at the time building of trust. Jack Hartnett essentially put a greater reliance on praise and appreciation to foster performance (Case Studies). Case VI: Janine Bay of Ford Focuses on Interpersonal Skills: In todays competitive and changing times, leaders are mainly focusing on leveraging and utilizing their strengths and try to support and compensate their weaknesses to achieve organizational directives. Leaders are continually recognizing the significance of fact to concentrate and focus up on ones preeminent attributes and initiate efforts to compensate certain shortcomings and weaknesses coming their way to achieve greater success as well as positive self regard. The case study pertaining to Janine Bay, one of the top executives of a large corporation, Ford Motor Company articulates her journey so far in the professional career and how she managed to achieve zenith with her unique style of leadership. According to her insightful thoughts, an individual could not find recognizing his/her strengths a much difficult task in which they excel. The harder point is realizing out ones weakness. Another key fact of managing effectual leadership within a team is a teamwork that works like a fuel allowing people to achieve set and established directives. As per the views of Janine Bay, it is imperative to build an effective communication to members of the team group while allowing them to respond with innovative ideas and become a vital part of the visioning process. Appropriate communication as well as effective listening has been emerged as key components of undertaking successful leadership (Case Studies). PART II Based on your knowledge of the field of management and your personal definition of leadership, how are management and leadership similar or different? Write your answer after discussing it with a business leader. Leadership and Management are often seen as different terms by several people and terms have been even used interchangeably at workplaces. On the basis of personal experience gained from several field researches and scrutinizing industrial and organizational scenarios in todays competitive environment, a vast relationship can be established between management and leadership. Particularly, it has been observed that management requires good leadership styles which mean effective management is carried out with the support of effective leadership. For instance, at times when managers in large organizations are required to persuade his team members to his point and his view to facts, it is then handled out and managed effectively with the use of mixed leadership skills. Both goes hand in hand as the main focus of the manager here would be to be a good leader in the team who is able to manipulate and influence others views and decisions, ultimately involved effective dealing with people. An encounter with the business leader, who is the successful entrepreneur operating well in the area of fast food restaurants in the Emirate of Dubai has resulted in the emerge of several surprising and astonishing facts in the area of leadership and management. On having a formal meeting and discussion with him, it was essentially determined that an individual could be a great leader and an individual could also be a great manager, only the difference being that both the area requires a slightly differential set of skills and competencies. Where management is resulting in producing order and consistency in the process of operations and flow of work, leadership is resulting in change and movement up to a certain level within the process. The management in any organization includes a vast array of activities such as planning and budgeting, setting of agendas, preparation of timetables, allocation of resources, setting of rules and procedures, hiring, organizing, problem solving as well as taking corrective actions spontaneously. Leadership on the hand requires an individual to set direction, clarify the big picture and prepare strategies, communication of goals and responsibilities, alignment of tasks, seeking commitment, building teams, motivating peers and subordinates, and satisfy unmet needs and wants. As it has already been mentioned above that both leadership and management goes hand in hand, both the fields certainly requires human skills, conceptual skills and technical skills. Also, with the closing of discussion with the fast food business owner promoting healthy and happy lifestyles, he stressed on the fact that leadership is certainly required to set a new direction in the business like for example in their business targeting a new customer segment would require an individual leader to take an initiative to lead the team of members to conduct market research. At the same time, this requires effective management skills by the individual to plan and organize about the financial resources, time constraints, staff required etc. Indeed, there is no end to overlap of leadership and management.

Yoga Essay -- essays research papers

The term Yoga has a few meanings. It's both a school of thought in the Hindu religion, and a system of mental and physical exercise developed by this school. All forms of yoga originated in India. People who follow this school, and practice any form of yoga are called yogis, or yogins. Students study under prolonged and careful guidance of the teacher, known as the guru. The first syllable 'gu,'; in Sanskrit means light; the second syllable, 'ru'; means light. A guru is a spiritual teacher who leads the pupil from darkness to light. Literally, yoga means 'the union of mind and body.'; In Sanskrit, the language of India, yoga means discipline. Many people in western countries practice some form of yoga exercise in hope of improving their health, and achieving peace of mind. Various forms of yoga have become popular in Europe and the United States. Transcendental Meditation is a simplified version of the yoga of Hinduism. Bhakti-Yoga involves the dedication of all actions and thoughts to a chosen God. Hatha-Yoga, stresses difficult bodily postures and breathing techniques. It has become very popular as a method of gaining and improving health. Certain people also study this form of yoga because of the control they develop over certain bodily functions. A new concept in fitness combines gentle stretching with techniques from Hatha Yoga to perform the most effective, relaxing ways of exercising. It is called Yogacise. There are other forms of yoga that are practiced in India. T...

An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet    In Hamlet, the majority of the comic relief is dark and depressing. The main character is obsessed with death and makes morbid jokes about old age, deception, and corpses. This side of the character is shown so that the reader can understand how much this disturbs the prince. The result of this is a play with some very depressing scenes. Hamlet's negative attitude gives way to many sadistic jests at the events surrounding him. He tells his friend Horatio that the food brought for the funeral was served at the wedding, also. This joke is sad because Hamlet is still grieving while he is forced to endure the pungent incestuous image of his mother sharing a bed with his uncle. This disturbing time for him leads to most of his depressing humor. His family's blatant deception causes him to state sarcastically that if the world is honest, then the end of the world must be near. The reader can identify with Hamlet's feelings of bitterness and disillusionment because of his sarcastic reactions. Fairly soon after, Polonius becomes the object of Hamlet's ridicule. The appearance of this aspect of humor is not surprising due to the cruel nature of the play. Polonius is an older man who forgets what he is saying in the middle of a sentence and absolutely cannot come to a point quickly. Hamlet calls him a "great baby," and Rosencrantz says that when men grow old, they mentally become children. After Polonius is killed, Hamlet refers to removing the body from room as "{lugging} the guts." Since the body has been stabbed, the reader can assume that Hamlet is making light of the bloody, most likely disemboweled corpse. First Polonius is mocked because of his age; then Hamlet returns to him dark humor. The most prevalent form of macabre humor is Hamlet's way of trivializing death. He makes many jokes about this . When he describes how a king could be digested by a beggar, one could envision Claudius cringing. Along with the image of death, Hamlet uses the word "progress," which indicates a royal journey. He taunts the king and death at the same time. Later during the graveyard scene, he asks Yorick's skull: "Quite chapfall'n?" He is asking if the skull is down in the mouth or depressed, which is a sick question to ask of a long dead cranium. An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet    In Hamlet, the majority of the comic relief is dark and depressing. The main character is obsessed with death and makes morbid jokes about old age, deception, and corpses. This side of the character is shown so that the reader can understand how much this disturbs the prince. The result of this is a play with some very depressing scenes. Hamlet's negative attitude gives way to many sadistic jests at the events surrounding him. He tells his friend Horatio that the food brought for the funeral was served at the wedding, also. This joke is sad because Hamlet is still grieving while he is forced to endure the pungent incestuous image of his mother sharing a bed with his uncle. This disturbing time for him leads to most of his depressing humor. His family's blatant deception causes him to state sarcastically that if the world is honest, then the end of the world must be near. The reader can identify with Hamlet's feelings of bitterness and disillusionment because of his sarcastic reactions. Fairly soon after, Polonius becomes the object of Hamlet's ridicule. The appearance of this aspect of humor is not surprising due to the cruel nature of the play. Polonius is an older man who forgets what he is saying in the middle of a sentence and absolutely cannot come to a point quickly. Hamlet calls him a "great baby," and Rosencrantz says that when men grow old, they mentally become children. After Polonius is killed, Hamlet refers to removing the body from room as "{lugging} the guts." Since the body has been stabbed, the reader can assume that Hamlet is making light of the bloody, most likely disemboweled corpse. First Polonius is mocked because of his age; then Hamlet returns to him dark humor. The most prevalent form of macabre humor is Hamlet's way of trivializing death. He makes many jokes about this . When he describes how a king could be digested by a beggar, one could envision Claudius cringing. Along with the image of death, Hamlet uses the word "progress," which indicates a royal journey. He taunts the king and death at the same time. Later during the graveyard scene, he asks Yorick's skull: "Quite chapfall'n?" He is asking if the skull is down in the mouth or depressed, which is a sick question to ask of a long dead cranium.

The Awakening :: essays research papers

-Compare/contrast Edna's love for Leonce, Robert, and Arobin. Throughout the novel, it became increasingly obvious of Edna's difficulty in the field of true love. She had initially found what she knew wasn't, followed by infatuation, and finally what she was sure was. Several different forms of love were present, yet each (including the final) proved to be unsuccessful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edna never felt comfortable in her relationship with Leonce. She had managed to assume the typical role of a female and never stray from her responsibilities that come with that. She had always done what was expected of her from her husband. However, this did not initiate solely with her husbands wants. She had always followed through with doing exactly what she has been expected to do; including finding a husband in someone that she was not in love with. He found more ownership in her, rather than equality in which she was longing for. She was never satisfying in the relationship that she had with him. The love that she had for him was merely present on the surface. It could best be described as a life that she was confined to living rather than the life that she had always yearned for. With the winds of change came a person that she found contrasting to her current life. This man was Alcee Arobin. His role in her life was not true love either. He merely introduced the taste of tangible love to a searching body. This love was not the kind that Edna was longing for either. Arobin's role was to introduce her to the importance of sex. This was something that was foreign between her and her husband. She felt more like an individual when she was enjoying the act of love making, rather than acting on account of someone else's pleasure. This affair was important to her becoming an individual. The entire pre-Robert time was in preparation to finding him. Arobin's importance was evident with Edna's actions immediately following this affair. She decided to close her house up and move to a smaller, less desirable one. The fact that it is less desirable is a key factor. This makes it impossible to assume that she was moving out to live a better material life. She decided that s he would sacrifice her good life and possessions in order to fully acquire individualism. Edna's true love was found in a person that appeared to have the most character.

Epiphone

The history of Epiphone started in 1873, in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey), where Greek founder Anastasios Stathopoulos made his own fiddles and lutes (oud, laouto). Stathopoulos moved to the United States of America in 1903, and continued to make his original instruments, as well as mandolins, from Long Island City in Queens, New York. Anastasios died in 1915, and his son, Epaminondas, took over. After two years, the company was known as The House Of Stathopoulos. Just after the end of World War I, the company started to make banjos. The company produced its Recording Line of Banjos in 1924, and, four years later, took on the name of the â€Å"Epiphone Banjo Company†. They produced their first guitars in 1928. Epi Stathopoulos died in 1943. Control of the company went to his brothers, Orphie and Frixo. Unfortunately, they were not as capable owners as Epi. In 1951, a four month long strike forced a relocation of Epiphone from New York to Philadelphia. The company was bought out by their main rival, Gibson in 1957. It is extremely important to understand that all Epiphone instruments made between 1957 and 1969 were made in the Gibson factory at 225 Parsons Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan. These 1959–1969 Epiphone instruments were, effectively, identical to the relevant Gibson versions, and made with same timber, materials and components. These guitars were made by the same people, in the same place, and with the same materials and components as the contemporary equivallent Gibson guitars were. They even shared the same Gibson serial-number sequence! To note some of the specific examples of Gibson-made Epiphone instruments from this period: the Epiphone Casino was identical to the Gibson ES-330; the Epiphone Cortez was identical to the Gibson B-25; the Epiphone Olympic Special was technically identical to the Gibson Melody Maker; the Epiphone Sorrento was identical to the Gibson ES-125TC (except for a few cosmetic improvements! ), and the Epiphone Texan was (apart from a change in scale-length) an identical guitar to the Gibson J-45. All of the other Gibson/Kalamazoo-made Epiphones had some clear technical or cosmetic relationship with the relevant Gibson version. This wealth of information can, admittedly, be quite confusing so I direct any interested readers to â€Å"Gruhn's Guide To Vintage Guitars† (Gruhn-Carter, Miller-Freeman Press). Most of the specific information that you will need can be found here. Gibson eventually realized the folly in having two identical brands and, therefore, by 1970, Gibson commenced using the Epiphone brand as a budget-line and started having them made, initially, in Japan. Some confusion arises here because the first year or so of Japanese acoustic guitar production utilizes a label that denotes the address â€Å"Kalamzoo, MI†. At no point does this label say â€Å"Made In USA† but some confusion, especially on internet auction websites, still arises. It is equally important to understand that the overwhelming majority of Epiphone-branded instruments made since 1969 are, in essence, exploitation instruments are and are basically facsimilies of either Gibson (most commonly) or Epiphone guitars of the past. The vast majority of these facsimilies are very decent, budget-versions of the iconic instruments that they replicate and are, in may cases, exactly what a student guitarists needs, but they must not, in any way whatsoever, in terms of materials, components and intrinsic quality, be mistaken for the real item. In the hands of a good player the guitars may sound indistinguishable, but that doesn't grant them inherent equality. [edit]Casino Main article: Epiphone Casino The most famous Epiphone model introduced by Gibson after taking over was the Casino. The Casino was made in the same shape and configuration as a Gibson ES-330 guitar. It has a very heavy sound and is a very good rhythm guitar due to its fairly thick sound when strummed. It is a genuine hollow body electric guitar with single coil P90 pickups. Epiphone Casino VT The Casino is famous for being used by The Beatles. Paul McCartney was the first to acquire one and John Lennon and George Harrison followed suit soon after. Paul McCartney used his for the solo in Taxman and the Casino sound is very prevalent throughout Revolver and their later albums. John Lennon made his Casino one of his main guitars and used it for the rest of his time with the Beatles and into the '70s. Paul still uses his Casino, which has a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, in concert and studio today. [edit]1970–present In the early 1970s, Epiphone began to manufacture instruments in Japan. From the 1980s, Epiphones were manufactured mainly in Korea but also in Japan by contractors licensed by Gibson. One of these contractors was Samick, which also built instruments under license for other brands and in its own name. Thus, a Korean-era solidbody Epiphone would have been built under license. The brand was primarily used to issue less expensive versions of classic Gibson models, in a manner similar to that of the Squier brand by Fender. Like all Asian-made copies, these guitars were constructed using different timbers (usually Nyatoh, for example, instead of Mahogany), were stuck together with epoxies rather than wood-glues, and were finished in hard, quick-to-apply polyester resin rather than the traditional nitro-cellulose lacquer used by Gibson. Nitro-cellulose lacquers are applied very thinly, and as a result, do not impede the resonance of the instrument as resin finishes do. Nitro-cellulose, being a solvent-based lacquer (as opposed to a catalyzed resin), requires many more very thin coats (but still results in a lighter, thinner finish because of much more hand-applied cutting and polishing) and is therefore much more time-consuming (and consequently expensive) to apply. Resin finishes are much quicker and cheaper to apply. These particular budget considerations, along with others such as plastic nuts and cheaper hardware and pickups, allow for a more affordable instrument. Although the decent Epiphone copies look (other than upon very close inspection) to be very much like the iconic, original instruments that they replicate, and often, in the hands of a good player, DO sound very, very close to the originals, they are not, as is the case with all of these budget brands, conceived and constructed to the same intrinsic quality. But it is a matter of budget – if you can look and sound close to how your favorite player sounds for a fraction of the cost then it is a good thing. Gibson, via their Epiphone brand, just like Fender via their Squier brand, bring a close approximation of the real thing to countless players who cannot afford, or justify, the expense of a professional-quality instrument. The result is that Epiphone and Squier have become the world's highest selling brands of electric guitar. Samick has stopped manufacturing guitars in Korea. In 2002, Gibson opened a factory in Qingdao, China, which manufactures Epiphone guitars exclusively. With few exceptions, Epiphones are now built only in the Qingdao factory. Unique Epiphone models, including the Emperor, Zephyr, Riviera and Sheraton, are built to higher quality standards than the company's â€Å"Gibson copy† line. Epiphone also produces a range of higher quality instruments under the â€Å"Elitist Series† moniker, which are built in Japan. The â€Å"Masterbilt† acoustics are manufactured in Qingdao.