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The **dog** (//Canis lupus familiaris//[|[][|3][[ [] [] [] [] [] Dogs were [|domesticated] from gray wolves about 15,000 years ago.[|[][|6][[ []
 * ]]] and //[|Canis lupus dingo]//[|[][|1][[
 * ]]][|[][|2][[
 * ]]]) is a domesticated form of the [|gray wolf], a member of the [|Canidae] family of the order [|Carnivora]. The term is used for both [|feral] and [|pet] varieties. The dog was the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept [|working], [|hunting], and companion animal in human history. The word "dog" may also mean the male of a canine species,[|[][|4][[
 * ]]] as opposed to the word "bitch" for the female of the species.[|[][|5][[
 * ]]]
 * ]]] They must have been very valuable to early human settlements, for they quickly became ubiquitous across world cultures. Dogs perform many roles for people, such as [|hunting], [|herding], [|pulling loads], protection, [|assisting police and military], [|companionship], and, more recently, [|aiding handicapped individuals]. This impact on human society has given them the nickname "Man's best friend" in the western world. In 2001, there were estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.[|[][|7] (Wikipedia.com)

Picasso was baptized //Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad//, a series of names honoring various saints and relatives.[|[2]] Added to these were Ruiz and Picasso, for his father and mother, respectively, as per Spanish law. Born in the city of [|Málaga] in the [|Andalusian] region of Spain, he was the first child of [|Don José Ruiz y Blasco] (1838–1913) and María Picasso y López.[|[3]] Picasso’s family was middle-class. His father was a painter who specialized in naturalistic depictions of birds and other game. For most of his life Ruiz was a professor of art at the School of Crafts and a [|curator] of a local museum. Ruiz’s ancestors were minor aristocrats. The house where Picasso was born, in [|Málaga] Picasso showed a passion and a skill for drawing from an early age. According to his mother, his first words were “piz, piz”, a shortening of //lápiz//, the Spanish word for ‘pencil’.[|[4]] From the age of seven, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father in figure drawing and oil painting. Ruiz was a traditional, academic artist and instructor who believed that proper training required disciplined copying of the masters, and drawing the human body from plaster casts and live models. His son became preoccupied with art to the detriment of his classwork. The family moved to [|A Coruña] in 1891, where his father became a professor at the School of Fine Arts. They stayed almost four years. On one occasion the father found his son painting over his unfinished sketch of a pigeon. Observing the precision of his son’s technique, an apocryphal story relates that Ruiz felt that the thirteen-year-old Picasso had surpassed him, and vowed to give up painting,[|[5]] though paintings by Ruiz exist from later years. In 1895, Picasso was traumatized when his seven-year old sister, Conchita, died of [|diphtheria].[|[6]] After her death, the family moved to [|Barcelona], where Ruiz took a position at its School of Fine Arts. Picasso thrived in the city, regarding it in times of sadness or nostalgia as his true home.[|[7]] Ruiz persuaded the officials at the academy to allow his son to take an entrance exam for the advanced class. This process often took students a month, but Picasso completed it in a week, and the impressed jury admitted Picasso, who was 13. The student lacked discipline but made friendships that would affect him in later life. His father rented him a small room close to home so Picasso could work alone, yet Ruiz checked up on him numerous times a day, judging his son’s drawings. The two argued frequently. Picasso’s father and uncle decided to send the young artist to Madrid’s [|Royal Academy of San Fernando], the country's foremost art school.[|[7]] At age 16, Picasso set off for the first time on his own, but he disliked formal instruction and quit attending classes soon after enrollment. Madrid, however, held many other attractions. The [|Prado] housed paintings by [|Diego Velázquez], [|Francisco Goya], and [|Francisco Zurbarán]. Picasso especially admired the works of [|El Greco]; elements like the elongated limbs, arresting colors, and mystical visages are echoed in Picasso’s later work

Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 on the 5th floor of 45 [|rue Laffitte], in the [|9th arrondissement of Paris].[|[3]] He was the second son of Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet, both of them second-generation Parisians. On 20 May 1841, he was baptized in the local parish church, [|Notre-Dame-de-Lorette], as Oscar-Claude, but his parents called him simply Oscar.[|[3]][|[4]] In 1845, his family moved to [|Le Havre] in [|Normandy]. His father wanted him to go into the family grocery business, but Monet wanted to become an artist. His mother was a singer. On the first of April 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts. Locals knew him well for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty [|francs]. Monet also undertook his first drawing lessons from [|Jacques-François Ochard], a former student of [|Jacques-Louis David]. On the beaches of Normandy in about 1856/1857, he met fellow artist [|Eugène Boudin], who became his mentor and taught him to use oil paints. Boudin taught Monet "[|en plein air]" (outdoor) techniques for painting.[|[5]] Both received the influence of [|Johan Barthold Jongkind]. On 28 January 1857, his mother died. At the age of sixteen, he left school and went to live with his widowed childless aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre.

Pollock was born in [|Cody, Wyoming] in 1912,[|[6]] the youngest of five sons. His parents, Stella May McClure and Leroy Pollock, grew up in [|Tingley, Iowa]. His father had been born //McCoy// but took the surname of his neighbors, who adopted him after his own parents had died within a year of each other. Stella and LeRoy Pollock were [|Presbyterian]; the former, [|Irish]; the latter, [|Scotch-Irish].[|[7]] LeRoy Pollock was a farmer and later a land surveyor for the government.[|[6]] Jackson grew up in [|Arizona] and [|Chico, California]. Expelled from one high school in 1928, he enrolled at Los Angeles' [|Manual Arts High School], from which he was also expelled. During his early life, he experienced [|Native American] culture while on surveying trips with his father.[|[6]][|[8]] In 1930, following his brother [|Charles Pollock], he moved to New York City where they both studied under [|Thomas Hart Benton] at the [|Art Students League of New York]. Benton's rural American subject matter shaped Pollock's work only fleetingly, but his rhythmic use of paint and his fierce independence were more lasting influences.[|[6]] From 1935 to 1943, Pollock worked for the WPA [|Federal Art Project].[|[9]] In attempts to fight his alcoholism, from 1938 through 1941 Pollock underwent [|Jungian psychotherapy] with Dr. Joseph Henderson and later with Dr. Violet Staub de Laszlo in 1941-1942. Henderson made the decision to engage him through his art and had Pollock make drawings, which led to the appearance of many Jungian concepts in his paintings.[|[10]][|[11]] Recently it has been hypothesized that Pollock might have had [|bipolar disorder]

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in [|Groot-Zundert], a village close to Breda in the province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands.[|[11]] He was the son of Anna Cornelia Carbentus and Theodorus van Gogh, a minister of the [|Dutch Reformed Church]. Vincent was given the same name as his grandfather—and a first brother stillborn exactly one year before.[|[12]] The practice of reusing a name in this way was not uncommon. Vincent was a common name in the Van Gogh family; his grandfather, Vincent, (1789–1874) had received his degree of theology at the [|University of Leiden] in 1811. Grandfather Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, including another Vincent who was referred to in Van Gogh's letters as "Uncle Cent." Grandfather Vincent had perhaps been named in turn after his own father's uncle, the successful sculptor Vincent van Gogh (1729–1802).[|[13]] Art and religion were the two occupations to which the Van Gogh family gravitated. His brother [|Theodorus] (Theo) was born on 1 May 1857. He had another brother, Cor, and three sisters: Elisabeth, Anna and [|Willemina] (Wil).[|[14]] Vincent c. 1866, approx. age 13 As a child, Vincent was serious, silent and thoughtful. He attended the Zundert village school from 1860, where the single Catholic teacher taught around 200 pupils. From 1861, he and his sister Anna were taught at home by a governess, until 1 October 1864, when he went away to the elementary boarding school of Jan Provily in [|Zevenbergen], the Netherlands, about 20 miles (32 km) away. He was distressed to leave his family home, and recalled this even in adulthood. On 15 September 1866, he went to the new middle school, [|Willem II College] in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Constantijn C. Huysmans, a successful artist in Paris, taught Van Gogh to draw at the school and advocated a systematic approach to the subject. In March 1868, Van Gogh abruptly left school and returned home. A later comment on his early years was, "My youth was gloomy and cold and sterile".[|[15]] In July 1869, his uncle helped him obtain a position with the art dealer [|Goupil & Cie] in [|The Hague]. After his training, in June 1873, Goupil transferred him to London, where he lodged at 87 [|Hackford Road], Brixton,[|[16]] and worked at Messrs. Goupil & Co., 17 Southampton Street.[|[17]] This was a happy time for him; he was successful at work and was, at 20, earning more than his father. Theo's wife later remarked that this was the happiest year of Van Gogh's life. He fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugénie Loyer, but when he finally confessed his feeling to her, she rejected him, saying that she was already secretly engaged to a former lodger. He was increasingly isolated and fervent about religion. His father and uncle sent him to Paris to work in a dealership. However, he became resentful at how art was treated as a commodity, a fact apparent to customers. On 1 April 1876, his employment was terminated.[|[18]] Van Gogh returned to England for unpaid work. He took a position as a supply teacher in a small boarding school overlooking the harbor in [|Ramsgate], where he made sketches of the view. When the proprietor of the school relocated to [|Isleworth], Middlesex, Van Gogh moved to the new location taking the train to Richmond and the remainder of the journey by foot.[|[19]] However the arrangement did not work out and he left to became a [|Methodist] minister's assistant, to follow his wish to "preach the gospel everywhere."[|[20]] At Christmas, he returned home and worked in a bookshop in [|Dordrecht] for six months. However, he was not happy in this new position and spent most of his time in the back of the shop either doodling or translating passages from the Bible into English, French and German.[|[21]] His roommate at the time, a young teacher called Görlitz, later recalled that Van Gogh ate frugally, and preferred not to eat meat.[|[22]][|[23]] Van Gogh's religious emotion grew until he felt he had found his true vocation. In an effort to support his effort to become a pastor, in May 1877, his family sent him to [|Amsterdam] to study theology. He stayed with his uncle Jan van Gogh, a naval Vice Admiral.[|[24]] Vincent prepared for the entrance exam with his uncle [|Johannes Stricker]; a respected theologian who published the first "Life of Jesus" available in the Netherlands. He failed, and left his uncle Jan's house in July 1878. He then undertook, but failed, a three-month course at the Vlaamsche Opleidingsschool Protestant missionary school in Laeken, near [|Brussels]. The house where Van Gogh stayed in [|Cuesmes] in 1880; while living here he decided to become an artist In January 1879, he took a temporary post as a missionary in the village of [|Petit Wasmes][|[25]] in the coal-mining district of [|Borinage] in Belgium. Taking Christianity to what he saw as its logical conclusion, Van Gogh opted to live like those he preached to—sharing their hardships to the extent of sleeping on straw in a small hut at the back of the baker's house where he was billeted. The baker's wife reported hearing Van Gogh sobbing all night in the hut. His choice of squalid living conditions did not endear him to the appalled church authorities, who dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood." He then walked to Brussels,[|[26]] returned briefly to the village of [|Cuesmes] in the Borinage but gave in to pressure from his parents to return home to [|Etten]. He stayed there until around March the following year,[|[note 2]] a cause of increasing concern and frustration for his parents. There was particular conflict between Vincent and his father; Theodorus made inquiries about having his son committed to the lunatic asylum at [|Geel].[|[27]][|[28]] He returned to Cuesmes where he lodged with a miner named Charles Decrucq until October.[|[29]] He became increasingly interested in the people and scenes around him. He recorded his time there in his drawings, and that year followed the suggestion of Theo and took up art in earnest. He traveled to Brussels that autumn; intending to follow Theo's recommendation to study with the prominent Dutch artist [|Willem Roelofs], who persuaded Van Gogh, in spite of his aversion to formal schools of art, to attend the [|Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts] in Brussels. He registered on November 15, 1880. While in attendance, he not only studied anatomy but also the standard rules of modeling and perspective, of which he said, "...you have to know just to be able to draw the least thing."[|[30]] Van Gogh wished to become an artist while in God's service as he stated, "...to try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another in a picture."
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Vincent_van_Gogh_1866.jpg/150px-Vincent_van_Gogh_1866.jpg width="150" height="185" caption="black and white formal headshot photo of the artist as a boy in jacket and tie. He has thick curly hair and very pale-colored eyes with a wary, uneasy expression." link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_1866.jpg"]] ||
 * black and white formal headshot photo of the artist as a boy in jacket and tie. He has thick curly hair and very pale-colored eyes with a wary, uneasy expression. ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Cuesmes_JPG001.jpg/220px-Cuesmes_JPG001.jpg width="220" height="168" caption="photo of a two-story brick house on the left partially obscured by trees with a front lawn and with a row of trees on the right" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cuesmes_JPG001.jpg"]] ||
 * photo of a two-story brick house on the left partially obscured by trees with a front lawn and with a row of trees on the right ||

In a [|New York City] apartment, a young boy named Josh Morrison (Austyn Lind Myers) watches through his telescope an approaching object coming from the sky. It is a golf ball-sized metal ball which flies through the window of his room and lands in his fishbowl, quickly draining the water. He keeps it and shows it at school in a science class presentation. Some months later, on [|Liberty Island], a massive fireball crash lands. The fireball is actually a spaceship resembling a human ([|Eddie Murphy]). It is controlled by 100 humanoid aliens, each one inch tall. Its captain (also played by Murphy) pilots the spaceship along with his crew from inside its head. For people the spaceship seems fairly human, but odd and with superpowers. A superstitious cop named Officer Dooley ([|Scott Caan]) is desperately searching for the alien. The aliens are seeking a way to save their planet, Nil, from an energy crisis. For that they need salt, which they plan to produce by draining the Earth's [|oceans] using the metal ball, so they have to recover it. After the spaceship is hit by the car of Josh's single mother Gina Morrison ([|Elizabeth Banks]), the spaceship befriends Gina and Josh, telling them its name is Dave Ming-Chang, and sees the ball on a photograph. After having breakfast with Gina, Dave goes to Josh's school where he pretends to be a substitute teacher and eventually is able to talk to Josh alone. Josh tells him that the ball was taken from him by a bully. Directed to him by Josh, Dave takes the metal ball back from the bully. The Captain spends time with Josh and Gina, and realizes that humans are more advanced than they thought, having feelings and love. He decides to cancel the plan of draining the oceans because of the damage to the Earth. The police know from the impression of Dave's face in the dirt on the crash site what he looks like, and they arrest him for investigation. After spending too much time on Earth, most of the crew began to have different "feelings". For example, Number 4, the security guard, begins to realize that he is [|gay]. Number 2 decides that Number 1's and the rest of the crew's changing behavior is unacceptable so he aggressively takes over command and imprisons the captain. Now under the command of Number 2, Dave breaks out of the police station, and the police try to arrest him again. Number 3 ([|Gabrielle Union]), who is secretly in love with Number 1, becomes jealous of Gina. She first cooperates in the change of command but later agrees with Number 1's views on humans. However, both are caught by Number 2, and they are expelled from the spaceship (but manage to re-enter it later on). In the meantime, one crew member, Number 17 ([|Kevin Hart]), [|drunk] from the alcoholic drink Dave has taken, jumps out. Number 1 apologizes to Number 3 for ignoring her. He admits that he does love her and wants to be with her. Back at the police station, Dooley discovers Number 17 in his coffee and takes him to get information regarding where Dave is going. Number 2 leads Dave to a dock where he tries to throw the metal orb into the ocean but is stopped by Number 1 and Number 3. They convince the rest of the crew that the real captain be in charge again. Number 1, reinstated, orders Number 2 to be stuck in the ship's "butt" forever. The metal orb meanwhile slips out of Dave's hand and rolls into the ocean. Number 1 attempts to retrieve the orb but is told that they only have enough power to retrieve the orb or return home. Number 1 decides to save Earth and the rest of the crew agrees. The ball, thrown in the ocean by Number 2, is retracted. Dave powers down while Dooley and his partner catch him and threaten him with their guns. With no power, Dave's shields are disabled, leaving the crew defenseless. Josh tries to tell the police officers that Dave is harmless but he is ignored. He grabs Dooley's taser which he uses on Dave, recharging him. Numbers 1 and 3 reveal themselves to the police officers who stand down. Number 1 says goodbye to Josh and Gina saying he now understands love. Number 17 is allowed to enter Dave. While trying to fly away, a force from the FBI comes in and traps Dave in a net. While the FBI wrestle the body down, "Dave's" crew evacuate to one of the ship's "lifeboat" shoes, activate the lifeboat's engine, detach the shoe from the rest of the ship/body and leave Earth. While in the shoe "lifeboat", Number 1 asks for Number 3's hand in marriage. She accepts, and they kiss. MEET DAVE.