Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2011-09-19/Featured content

What vistas did our ancestors face when they first ventured from forests into open grasslands? Last week saw this panorama and three other pictures by Wikimedian Muhammad Mahdi Karim promoted to featured status. Here, wildebeest and impalas appear to graze in peace in Tanzania's east Africa's Mikumi National Park.

Featured articles

* Murasaki Shikibu (nom), a Japanese novelist, poet, and lady-in-waiting at the imperial court during the Heian period, at the end of the 10th and start of the 11th century. (Truthkeeper88) picture at right

* Sesame Street (nom), an American children's television series that combines the Muppets, animation, short films, and humour. The program was conceived in 1966 and premiered on PBS in 1969 to positive reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. (Christine)

* Fomitiporia ellipsoidea (nom), a species of polypore fungus first recorded in China in 2008; one specimen produced the largest fruit body ever recorded. (J Milburn)

* HMS Hood (nom), one of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916. HMS Hood symbolised the British Empire before World War II. Her sinking by the German battleship Bismarck in 1941 was a huge shock. (Sturmvogel 66)

* Flight Unlimited (nom), a 1995 aerobatic flight simulator video game that allows players to pilot reproductions of real-world aircraft and to perform aerobatic manoeuvres. Players may fly freely, race through floating rings against a timer or take lessons from a virtual flight instructor. (J Milburn)

Three featured articles were delisted:

* History of Miami (nom: referencing and prose)

* International Space Station (nom: referencing, prose, MOS compliance, and images)

* Blaise Pascal (nom: referencing, comprehensiveness and image compliance)

Featured lists

Twelve lists were promoted:

* 2002 Asian Games medal table (nom) (Bill william compton.) picture at right

* List of number-one albums from the 2000s (UK) (nom) (Nominated by A Thousand Doors.)

* List of 350cc Motorcycle World Champions (nom) (NapHit.)

* List of Manchester United F.C. players (25–99 appearances) (nom) (HonorTheKing and 03md.)

* Philadelphia Phillies all-time roster (P–Q) (nom) (Killervogel5.)

* List of posthumous number-one singles (UK) (nom) (ChrisTheDude.)

* List of Arizona hurricanes (nom) (Titoxd.)

* Venues of the 1952 Winter Olympics (nom) (Arsenikk.)

* IBM Award (nom) (Purplebackpack89.)

* List of Major League Baseball players from Australia (nom) (Afaber012.)

* 300 save club (nom) (Staxringold.)

* List of accolades received by Sense and Sensibility (film) (nom) (Ruby2010)

One featured list was delisted:

* List of United States Navy ratings (nom: lead, referencing, style)

Featured pictures: Muhammad and Crisco talk

Eight images were promoted (click on "nom" to view medium-sized images):

* Mikumi Panorama (nom; related article), a national park in Mikumi, near Morogoro, Tanzania, east Africa. The park was established in 1964 and currently covers 3230 km²; nevertheless, it's only the fourth-largest in the country. Photographer Muhammad Mahdi Karim told The Signpost, "I've been to Mikumi quite a lot, as it's much closer to Tanzania's capital city, Dar es Salaam, than the other national parks. It's also less crowded with tourists than the other parks, since most don't know about it. Ideally, one would use a jeep to go through the park, but during the dry season even a bus or a van would do. I usually go with the family: we spot the animals, and I shoot the photographs. I took three of the four pictures featured last week—the panorama, the giraffe, and the elephant—from the vehicle, so there wasn't much setting up to do: often, timing and spontaneity are essential. The last time we were there, in June, I'd just acquired a new zoom lens, and asked everyone to be on the lookout for birds; we ended up seeing birds we'd never seen before." Of his images of birds, four are featured of a total of nine uploaded, and two to three more will be nominated. "I might get more in my next trip in a month or so", he says. Coordinates. picture at top

* Giraffe (nom; related article), again taken in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, by User:Muhammad Mahdi Karim. picture at right

* Elephant portrait (nom; related article), A female African bush elephant raises her trunk as a warning sign in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania (created by User:Muhammad Mahdi Karim).

* Alstroemeria x hybrida (nom; related article), Alstroemeria x hybrida Peruvian Lily photographed in the Lalbagh Botanical gardens, Bangalore, India, by User:Muhammad Mahdi Karim.

* Enoch Powell (nom; related article), British Conservative Party statesman, writer, academic, poet, and former soldier, and well-known for his controversial 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech. (created by English society-photographer Allan Warren (born 1948).

* Golden Whistler (nom; related article), which photographer User:JJ Harrison says is "a bird more often heard than seen in close quarters. My last good chance for a photo-op was in 2008, and I simply didn't have the equipment for it at that time. This photo shows all of the important plumage."

* Striated Pardalote (nom; related article), on a Silver Wattle in Tasmania, Australia (created by User:JJ Harrison).

* Semar kris redux (nom; related article), an asymmetrical dagger most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, but nowadays also indigenous to Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, but many have straight blades as well. Both a weapon and spiritual object, kris are often considered to have magical powers, with some blades associated with good luck and others bad luck. User:Crisco 1492, who took the original image, told The Signpost that "the image is of a single gayaman-style kris—the blade is at bottom and the sheathe at the top. It features Semar on the handle, floral etching on the sheathe, and a dragon design on the blade. The sheathe is 40 cm (16 in) long through the middle; the guard is made of wood." (Semar is a character in Javanese mythology who frequently appears in shadow plays. He is one of the "clowns", but is in fact divine and very wise.)

"This particular kris is relatively new, although I don't know when exactly it was made. I bought it roughly a month ago for a Javanese-style ceremony in which men traditionally wear a kris. The craftsman was one of two who sells kris in Beringharjo Market in Yogyakarta. Kris used as weapons, as opposed to their ceremonial function, generally have less decorative and sharper blades. I didn't buy an older kris (some of which have distinctive markings and even sometimes a distinctive smell) because the Javanese believe that many are inhabited by powerful spirits. The blade is of iron with gold leaf, the sheathe is of bronze, and the wooden part appears to be of teak. I photographed it at my boarding house in Java, with ambient lighting. Thanks to JJ Harrison for his work turning this into this, which is more or less what is featured now." picture below