Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 February 13

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February 13

Olga, daughter of King George

What were the dates of Olga, daughter of King George I of Greece. Kittybrewster ☎ 10:11, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Internet consensus seems to be b. 7 Apr 1880, d. 2 Nov 1880 (at this page, for example), but birth is sometimes given as 6 Apr.--Cam (talk) 14:09, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Her tombstone (pictured here) says (after conversion to the Gregorian calendar) b. 7 Apr 1880, d. 1 Nov 1880.--Cam (talk) 14:36, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Typical Monday, Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday for a devout, practicing Catholic during the days outside of Lent and Advent?

What is the typical Monday, Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday for a devout, practicing Catholic during the days outside of Lent and Advent, and why do Catholics have a regulated pattern of praying throughout the whole week, especially during Lent and Advent? How fast does the Catholic move about the rosary? Are the prayers silent (reciting them in the head) or audible (reciting them with the mouth)? During the recitation of the rosary, what is the praying position? Are there theological consequences if the Catholic recite the rosary on the wrong day (i.e. reciting the rosary on a Monday outside of Lent and Advent instead of on a Sunday)? 140.254.227.181 (talk) 14:53, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Those days look like every other day to a typical Catholic, with a possible exception of those who avoid meat on Fridays (not common anymore, and never officially required). We don't have a regulated "prayer pattern" as you suggest. The speed of the rosary depends on how much you choose to contemplate what you are doing: it can take a few minutes to over an hour. There is no official prayer position, but kneeling is pretty common for much Catholic prayer. There is never a wrong day to do the rosary; it is an optional prayer. Mingmingla (talk) 15:57, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

(ec) Reciting the rosary is strictly voluntary. It can be done in any position, including kneeling, standing, sitting or even lying in bed (especially for the sick). I've known people to recite it while performing their job, especially if this involves repetitive manual tasks (e.g., chopping wood). The recitation can be both silent or aloud, done alone or in a group. There are no consequences if someone does not adhere to the suggested days, as they are only suggestions. Only a small minority of practicing Catholics recite the rosary regularly, many fewer than attend weekly Mass. Speed varies; a rosary can take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes, and can possibly be stretched out much longer if that is desired. The rosary is quite different from, for example, the five daily Muslim prayers, which follow strict rules about how they should be performed. --Xuxl (talk) 16:07, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

ca. 1970s science fiction short stories about an "intersexual" vampire race.

In my youth, I had a phase when I avidly read science fiction stories from around the 1970s. J. G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, Ursula LeGuin, Tanith Lee, etc...
I remember there were several short stories by a particular author that took place on a planet populated by a race of intelligent bat-like vampires. They were born without defined gender and addressed by "thou" until they grew up and developed a gender in a rite of passage, after which they were addressed by "you".
I have forgotten the author and have never been able to track down these stories again. Thanks for any help... -- megA (talk) 22:08, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

• There's the 1976 novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson from which was made the 1985 movie Lifeforce. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Vonda N. MacIntyre has a race of vampire like beings who turn up in Superlumminal and some short stories. Some winged vampire like creatures are in a few of Ursula K. LeGuin's works mostly Rocannon's World and she has sexless adolescents in The Left Hand of Darkness There are also neuter adolescents in Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed stories.Hotclaws (talk) 14:55, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Now I all have to do is to sort out which one I meant – however, neither seems to fit 100%... the mechanism seems closest to the Mary Gentle stories, but I definitely haven't read them. Seems there's only one way to find out, and it involves the local libraries... -- megA (talk) 16:20, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

EDIT: The Internet is full of surprises... It's "Wings" by Vonda McIntyre. I remember there were more set in the same universe, but that one was definitely the oneI remembered. Thanks everybody! -- megA (talk) 16:34, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

P.s.: here's a link: Vonda N. McIntyre. ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 23:04, 14 February 2014 (UTC)