A myth in time: Victor Erice's El sur

En este artículo se estudia tiempo e identidad, mitos y cine en El sur de Victor Erice. Basándose en un análisis de dos escenas, se plantea una relación entre eléxito o fracaso personal, la capacidad para construir mitos, y el transcurso del tiempo. En la primera escena analizada, Estrella aprende a manejar el péndulo en el estudio de su padre, en la segunda, Agustín observa a su ex-amante, Laura, en el melodrama Flor en la sombra. Al principio, tanto Estrella como su padre se confabulan con el mito del otro ? Estrella se deja seducir por la imaginaria omnipotencia de su padre, y Agustín por la identidad cinemática de su antiguo amor. Las mujeres, Estrella y Laura, terminan por rechazar su papel en el drama que es su relación con Agustín, mientras que Agustín , privado de los mitos femeninos que le han soportado e incapaz de cambiar, se suicida, dejando a Estrella el péndulo, símbolo de su perdido poder. Se ve, pues, que la identidad humana (tanto como las identidades cinemáticas) depende de un frágil equilibrio entre el construir mitos y el reconocer que un mito no ofrece mas que una imaginaria estabilidad transitoria: que tendrá que cambiarse con el tiempo, y que tendrá que adaptarse a la continua reconstrucción que exige la paradójica búsqueda de identidad de unos individuos en continua transición

Nutation damper

A nutation damper for use on a spinning body is disclosed. The damper is positioned parallel to the spin axis of the body and radially displaced therefrom. The damper is partially filled with a fluid and contains a porous media to impede the flow of the fluid induced by nutation

Spoiled holidays: Damages for disappointment or distress

Generally damages for disappointment or distress following a breach of contract will not be awarded to the innocent party under common law. However where the object of the contract is to provide relaxation or enjoyment, for example, an ocean cruise or a package holiday, damages may be recoverable for disappointment or distress. Damages of this type may also be awarded where there is a breach of the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). This paper discusses a number of ‘spoiled’ holiday cases where damages were awarded for disappointment or distress. The liability of travel service providers under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) is also discussed

Cultural contacts and ethnic origins in Viking Age Wales and northern Britain: the case of Albanus, Britain's first inhabitant and Scottish ancestor

Albanus, an eponymous ancestor for the kingdom of Alba, provides an example of the extent to which the creation of an ethnic identity was accompanied by new ideas about origins, which replaced previous accounts. Through an analysis of the Historia Brittonum’s textual tradition and Welsh knowledge of early Roman history and medieval ethnic groups, this article establishes that Albanus was added to the Historia Brittonum in the late ninth or early tenth century as an ancestral figure for the new kingdom of Alba in northern Britain. This was potentially a result of shared political situations in Gwynedd, Alba (formerly Pictland) and Strathclyde in relation to Scandinavian power at this time, which encouraged contacts and the spread of Alba-based ideology to Gwynedd. The later development of this idea and its significance in Alba itself, Geoffrey of Monmouth's account and English claims to supremacy over Scotland are also traced