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Fjord. In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; /ˈfjɔːrd, fiːˈɔːrd/ ⓘ[1]) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier.[2] Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the northern and southern hemispheres.[3] Norways coastline is estimated to be 29,000 km (18,000 mi) long with its nearly 1,200 fjords, but only 2,500 km (1,600 mi) long excluding the fjords.[4][5] A true fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by ice segregation and abrasion of the surrounding bedrock.[6] According to the standard model, glaciers formed in pre-glacial valleys with a gently sloping valley floor. The work of the glacier then left an overdeepened U-shaped valley that ends abruptly at a valley or trough end. Such valleys are fjords when flooded by the ocean. Thresholds above sea level create freshwater lakes.[7] Glacial melting is accompanied by the rebounding of Earths crust as the ice load and eroded sediment is removed (also called isostasy or glacial rebound). In some cases, this rebound is faster than sea level rise. Most fjords are deeper than the adjacent sea; Sognefjord, Norway, reaches as much as 1,300 m (4,265 ft) below sea level. Fjords generally have a sill or shoal (bedrock) at their mouth caused by the previous glaciers reduced erosion rate and terminal moraine.[8] In many cases this sill causes extreme currents and large saltwater rapids (see skookumchuck). Saltstraumen in Norway is often described as the worlds strongest tidal current. These characteristics distinguish fjords from rias (such as the Bay of Kotor), which are drowned valleys flooded by the rising sea. Drammensfjorden is cut almost in two by the Svelvik ridge, a sandy moraine that was below sea level when it was covered by ice, but after the post-glacial rebound reaches 60 m (200 ft) above the fjord.[9] In the 19th century, Jens Esmark introduced the theory that fjords are or have been created by glaciers and that large parts of Northern Europe had been covered by thick ice in prehistory.[10] Thresholds at the mouths and overdeepening of fjords compared to the ocean are the strongest evidence of glacial origin,[11] and these thresholds are mostly rocky. Thresholds are related to sounds and low land where the ice could spread out and therefore have less erosive force. John Walter Gregory argued that fjords are of tectonic origin and that glaciers had a negligible role in their formation. Gregorys views were rejected by subsequent research and publications. In the case of Hardangerfjord the fractures of the Caledonian fold has guided the erosion by glaciers, while there is no clear relation between the direction of Sognefjord and the fold pattern.[10] This relationship between fractures and direction of fjords is also observed in Lyngen.[12] Preglacial, Tertiary rivers presumably eroded the surface and created valleys that later guided the glacial flow and erosion of the bedrock. This may in particular have been the case in Western Norway where the tertiary uplift of the landmass amplified eroding forces of rivers.[10] Confluence of tributary fjords led to excavation of the deepest fjord basins. Near the very coast, the typical West Norwegian glacier spread out (presumably through sounds and low valleys) and lost their concentration and reduced the glaciers power to erode leaving bedrock thresholds. Bolstadfjorden is 160 m (520 ft) deep with a threshold of only 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in),[10][7] while the 1,300 m (4,300 ft) deep Sognefjorden has a threshold around 100 to 200 m (330 to 660 ft) deep.[13][14] Hardangerfjord is made up of several basins separated by thresholds: The deepest basin Samlafjorden between Jonaneset (Jondal) and Ålvik with a distinct threshold at Vikingneset in Kvam Municipality.[10]
Itsukushima Shrine. Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社, Itsukushima-jinja) is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its floating torii.[1] It is in the city of Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, accessible from the mainland by ferry at Miyajimaguchi Station. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as National Treasures.[2] The Itsukushima shrine is one of Japans most popular tourist attractions. It is most famous for its dramatic gate, or torii on the outskirts of the shrine,[2] the sacred peaks of Mount Misen, extensive forests, and its ocean view.[1][3] The shrine complex itself consists of two main buildings: the Honsha shrine and the Sessha Marodo-jinja, as well as 17 other different buildings and structures that help to distinguish it.[3] A replica of the torii is at the Japan Pavilion at Epcot. Itsukushima jinja was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Aki Province.[4] This shrine is one of the Three Great Shrines of Aki Province, along with Take Shrine and Hayatani Shrine.[5]
Civil ensign. A civil ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by civilian vessels to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from the state ensign and the naval ensign (or war ensign). It is also known as the merchant ensign or merchant flag. Some countries have special civil ensigns for yachts, and even for specific yacht clubs, known as yacht ensigns. Most countries have only one national flag and ensign for all purposes. In other countries, a distinction is made between the land flag and the civil, state and naval ensigns. The British ensigns, for example, differ from the flag used on land (the Union Flag) and have different versions of plain and defaced Red and Blue ensigns for civilian and state use, as well as the naval ensign (White Ensign) that can also be used by yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron. The civil ensigns that are different from the general national flag can be grouped into a number of categories. Several countries use red flags with, in most cases, either the respective national flag or the Union Flag in the canton, patterned after the Red Ensign. British overseas territories fly the plain Red Ensign or a Red Ensign with the respective colonial arms in the fly. Saudi Arabia puts its national flag in the canton of an otherwise-green flag (the Saudi Arabian flag is hoisted with the flagpole to its right so the canton is in the upper right corner of the flag). Ghana stopped using its Red Ensign in 2003 with the adoption of a new merchant shipping act, which made the Ghanaian flag the proper national colors for Ghanaian ships. Similarly, Sri Lanka stopped using its Red Ensign in 1969 and uses the Sri Lankan flag as the civil ensign. Under the relevant shipping law for the Solomon Islands, the Shipping Act 1998, (No. 5 of 1998), the national flag of the Solomon Islands and not a Red Ensign is the appropriate flag: The National Flag of Solomon Islands shall be the national colours for a vessel registered under this Act. Nevertheless, the Solomon Islands Red Ensign is still used in some cases. Australia[1]
Stream. A stream is a continuous body of surface water[1] flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large streams are usually called rivers, while smaller, less voluminous and more intermittent streams are known, amongst others, as brook, creek, rivulet, rill, run, tributary, feeder, freshet, narrow river, and streamlet.[2] The flow of a stream is controlled by three inputs – surface runoff (from precipitation or meltwater), daylighted subterranean water, and surfaced groundwater (spring water). The surface and subterranean water are highly variable between periods of rainfall. Groundwater, on the other hand, has a relatively constant input and is controlled more by long-term patterns of precipitation.[3] The stream encompasses surface, subsurface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.[4] Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge, and corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography.[5] A brook is a stream smaller than a creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep. It is usually small and easily forded. A brook is characterised by its shallowness. A creek (/kriːk/) or crick (/krɪk/):[6][7]
Mount Misen. Mount Misen (弥山, Misen) is the sacred mountain on Itsukushima in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan, and is the highest mountain on the island at 535 m;[1] it is situated within the World Heritage area of Itsukushima Shrine.[2] The sea around the island (Seto Inland Sea) and all of the island are within Setonaikai National Park.[3] The north side of the mountain is covered by primeval forest which is protected by Hiroshima prefecture.[4] The foot of the mountain has Momijidani-Kōen (紅葉谷公園, Maple Valley Park).[5] According to the website of Miyajima Tourist Association, Mount Misen was visited by Kūkai in the year 806, the 1st year of the Daidō era. Since ancient times, the mountain has been an important destination for religious visitors.[6] The Seven Wonders of Misen, which come from ancient tales, are as follows:[7]
Torii. A torii (Japanese: 鳥居; [to.ɾi.i]) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred,[1] and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.[2] The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest way to identify Shinto shrines, and a small torii icon represents them on Japanese road maps and on Google Maps. The first appearance of torii gates in Japan can be reliably pinpointed to at least the mid-Heian period; they are mentioned in a text written in 922.[1] The oldest existing stone torii was built in the 12th century and belongs to a Hachiman shrine in Yamagata Prefecture. The oldest existing wooden torii is a ryōbu torii (see description below) at Kubō Hachiman Shrine in Yamanashi Prefecture built in 1535.[1]
List of Japanese flags. This is a list of Japanese flags, past and present. Historically, each daimyō had his own flag. (See sashimono and uma-jirushi.) Flags attributed to Japanese Daimyo in the Kaei period (1848-54). Each modern prefecture has a unique flag, most often a bicolour geometric highly stylised design (mon), often incorporating the letters of Japanese writing system and resembling company logos. A distinct feature of these flags is that they use a palette of colours not usually found in flags, including orange, purple, aquamarine and brown. Some prefectures also have alternative official flags called symbol flags (シンボル旗). They may be used on less formal occasions. Famous symbol flags include the one used in Tokyo. Most municipalities have unique flags. Like prefectural flags, most of them are with a bicolour geometric highly stylized symbol, often incorporating Japanese characters.
Samuel French, Inc.. Samuel French, Inc. is an American company founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their interests in London and New York City.[1] It publishes plays, represents authors, and sells scripts from its Los Angeles, UK, and online bookstores. The companys London subsidiary, Samuel French Ltd., publishes stage plays for the UK market and serves as a licensing agent for performance rights, and runs a theatrical bookshop on its premises at Fitzrovia in central London. The firm has offices in New York City, London, and Hollywood, California. The office in Toronto, Canada, was closed in 2007. In December 2018, Concord Music acquired Samuel French to form Concord Theatricals.[2][3] Samuel French was born in Massachusetts shortly after the turn of the 19th century, and began publishing Frenchs American Drama in the mid-1800s in New York. French soon acquired a London dramatic publishing company founded by Thomas Hailes Lacy. French managed the London business while his son, Thomas Henry, took control of the New York operations.[4] In the late 1800s, Samuel French began publishing contemporary American dramas and making more plays available to Little Theatres. After the father and son died, the New York and London entities continued under their managing partners.
Terence Rattigan. Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE (10 June 1911 – 30 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of Englands most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.[1] He wrote The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and Separate Tables (1954), among many others. A troubled gay man who saw himself as an outsider,[2] Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or a world of repression and reticence.[3][2] Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 in South Kensington,[4] London, of Irish extraction.[5] He had an elder brother, Brian. They were the grandsons of Sir William Henry Rattigan, a notable India-based jurist and later a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for North-East Lanarkshire. His father was Frank Rattigan CMG, a diplomat whose exploits included an affair with Princess Elisabeth of Romania (future consort of King George II of Greece) which resulted in her having an abortion.[1] The Royal House of Romania is considered to be the inspiration of Rattigans play The Sleeping Prince.[6] Rattigans birth certificate and his birth announcement in The Times indicate he was born on 9 June 1911. However, most reference books state that he was born the following day; Rattigan himself never publicly disputed this date. There is evidence suggesting that the date on the birth certificate is incorrect.[4] He was given no middle name, but he adopted the middle name Mervyn in early adulthood.[citation needed]
Zheng Zhengqiu. Zheng Zhengqiu (Chinese: 鄭正秋; January 25, 1889 – July 16, 1935) was a Chinese filmmaker often considered a founding father of Chinese cinema.[1] Born in Shanghai in 1889, Zheng Zhengqiu was a young intellectual involved in Chinas theater scene when he and his friend and colleague, Zhang Shichuan, made the first Chinese feature film, a short film titled, The Difficult Couple in 1913.[1] The two men would come together again in 1922 with the founding of the seminal Mingxing Film Company and the oldest surviving classic Laborers Love, which would dominate Shanghais film industry for the next fifteen years. While with Mingxing, Zheng served not only as screenwriter and director, but as a studio manager and producer, personally writing and directing 53 films before his early death in 1935.[1] Like many of his colleagues during the period, Zheng was devoted to leftist causes and social justice, themes that were evident in many of his works.[2] After his partner, Zhang Shichuan, rescued Xuan Jinglin from a brothel, Zheng Zhengqiu devised her stage name. He based it on the name she had adopted in the brothel and a transliteration of Lillian Gish into Chinese said in a Shanghai accent.[3]
Hu Die. Hu Die (Chinese: 胡蝶; Wade–Giles: Hu Tieh; 1907–08 — April 23, 1989), also known by her English name Butterfly Wu, was a popular Chinese actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She was voted Chinas first Movie Queen in 1933, and won the Best Actress Award at the 1960 Asian Film Festival for her performance in Rear Door. Hu Die was born Hu Ruihua (Chinese: 胡瑞华; Wade–Giles: Hu Jui-hua) in Shanghai in 1907[1] or 1908,[2][3] and moved to Guangzhou (Canton) when she was nine. Her father then became the general inspector of the Beijing–Fengtian Railway.[2] She spent much of her adolescence in northern cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Yingkou, and learned to speak perfect Mandarin, which later proved to be a great advantage when the cinema of China transitioned from silent films to talkies.[1] In 1924, Hu Ruihua moved back to Shanghai with her family. When China (Zhonghua) Film School, the countrys first film actor training school, opened, she was the first student to enroll. She adopted the professional name Hu Die, meaning butterfly,[2] and Butterfly Wu in English (Wu is the Shanghainese pronunciation of Hu).[1] Hu Die played her first role in the film Success, as a supporting actress. She played her first major role in the film Autumn Stirs Resentments (Qiu Shan Yuan), and fell in love with her co-star Lin Xuehuai. The relationship did not work out, and the local newspapers were filled with rumours when they broke off their engagement.[4]
St Jamess Theatre. 51°30′22″N 0°08′15″W / 51.50603°N 0.13758°W / 51.50603; -0.13758 The St Jamess Theatre was in King Street, St Jamess, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succession of managements over the next forty years also failed to make it a commercial success, and St Jamess acquired a reputation as an unlucky theatre. It was not until 1879–1888, under the management of the actors John Hare and Madge and W. H. Kendal that the theatre began to prosper. The Hare-Kendal management was succeeded, after brief and disastrous attempts by other lessees, by that of the actor-manager George Alexander, who was in charge from 1891 until his death in 1918. Under Alexander the house gained a reputation for programming that was adventurous without going too far for the tastes of London society. Among the plays he presented were Oscar Wildes Lady Windermeres Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), and A. W. Pineros The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893). After Alexanders death the theatre came under the control of a succession of managements. Among the long-running productions were The Last of Mrs Cheyney (1925), Interference (1927), The Late Christopher Bean (1933) and Ladies in Retirement (1939). In January 1950 Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh took over the management of the theatre. Their successes included Venus Observed (1950) and for the 1951 Festival of Britain season Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony and Cleopatra. In 1954 Terence Rattigans Separate Tables began a run of 726 performances, the longest in the history of the St Jamess. During the run it emerged that a property developer had acquired the freehold of the theatre and obtained the requisite legal authority to knock it down and replace it with an office block. Despite widespread protests the theatre closed in July 1957 and was demolished in December of that year.
Traditional Chinese characters. Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters. These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century,[1][2] when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of the predominant forms.[3][4] Simplified characters as codified by the Peoples Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia.[5] As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts. Korean hanja, still used to a certain extent in South Korea, remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters.[6][7] Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from the merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets.[8] Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字; 正体字; zhèngtǐzì; orthodox characters.[9] This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters.[10] Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字; 繁体字; fántǐzì; complex characters, 老字; lǎozì; old characters, or 全體字; 全体字; quántǐzì; full characters to distinguish them from simplified characters.
Heian-kyō. Heian-kyō (平安京; lit. peaceful/tranquil capital) was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro and marking the beginning of the Heian period of Japanese history.[1] According to modern scholarship, the city is thought to have been modelled after the urban planning for the Tang dynasty Chinese capital of Changan (modern-day Xian).[2][3] It remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in the Genpei War, moving administration of national affairs to Kamakura and establishing the Kamakura shogunate. Though political power would be wielded by the samurai class over the course of three different shogunates, Heian-kyō remained the site of the Imperial Court and seat of Imperial power, and was thus the official capital. Heian-kyō was built in what is now the central part of Kyoto city covering an area spanning the Kadono (葛野郡, Kadono-gun) and Otagi Districts (愛宕郡, Otagi-gun) of Yamashiro Province. The city boundaries formed a rectangle measuring 4.5 km from east to west and 5.2 km from north to south. The city layout followed Heijō-kyō (Japans capital during the Nara period) with the Imperial palace, Daidairi, placed in the center of the northern city limits and the Suzaku Avenue (Suzaku-ōji), the main thoroughfare extending from the palace down through the center of the city, dividing it into the Right (Ukyō) and Left Capitals (Sakyō) (the eastern side being the Left and the western side being the Right from the emperors viewpoint.) The design followed Sui and Tang dynasty Changan with the exception that Heian-kyō had no city walls. It is thought that the site for the city was selected according to the principles of Shijinsōō (四神相応; Four Gods Suitability) based on Chinese Feng shui and relating to the Four Symbols of Chinese astrology. The boundaries of Heian-kyō were smaller than those of modern Kyoto, with Ichijō-ōji (一条大路) at the northern limit corresponding to present-day Ichijō-dōri (一条通), between Imadegawa-dōri (今出川通) and Marutamachi-dōri (丸太町通), Kyūjō-ōji in the south corresponding to Kujō-dōri (九条通) slightly to the south of the present-day JR Kyōto Station and Higashi-kyōgoku-ōji in the east corresponding to present-day Teramachi Street (Teramachi-dōri). The location of Nishi-kyōgoku-ōji at the western limit is estimated as a line running north to south from Hanazono Station on the JR Sanin Main Line to Nishi-Kyōgoku Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.
Mon (emblem). Mon (紋, [mõ̞ꜜɴ]), also called monshō (紋章), mondokoro (紋所), and kamon (家紋), are Japanese emblems used to decorate and identify an individual, a family, or (more recently) an institution, municipality or business entity. While mon is an encompassing term that may refer to any such device, kamon and mondokoro refer specifically to emblems that are used to identify a family. An authoritative mon reference compiles Japans 241 general categories of mon based on structural resemblance (a single mon may belong to multiple categories), with 5,116 distinct individual mon. However, it is well acknowledged that there are a number of lost or obscure mon.[1][2] Among mon, the mon officially used by the family is called jōmon (定紋). Over time, new mon have been created, such as kaemon (替紋), which is unofficially created by an individual, and onnamon (女紋), which is created by a woman after marriage by modifying part of her original familys mon, so that by 2023 there will be a total of 20,000 to 25,000 mon.[3] The devices are similar to the badges and coats of arms in European heraldic tradition, which likewise are used to identify individuals and families. Mon are often referred to as crests in Western literature, the crest being a European heraldic device similar to the mon in function. Japanese mon influenced Louis Vuittons monogram designs through Japonisme in Europe in the late 1800s.[4][5][6] Mon originated in the mid-Heian period (c. 900–1000) as a way to identify individuals and families among the nobility. They had a pecking order, and when gissha (牛車, bullock cart) passed each other on the road, the one with the lower status had to give way, and the mon was painted on the gissha. The Heiji Monogatari Emaki, an emakimono (絵巻物, picture scroll) depicting the Heiji rebellion, shows mon painted on gissha. Gradually, the nobility began to use mon on their own costumes, and the samurai class that emerged in the late Heian period and came to power in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) also began to use mon.[3][7] By the 12th century, sources give a clear indication that heraldry had been implemented as a distinguishing feature, especially for use in battle. It is seen on flags, tents, and equipment. On the battlefield, mon served as army standards, even though this usage was not universal and uniquely designed army standards were just as common as mon-based standards (cf. sashimono, uma-jirushi). Gradually, mon spread to the lower classes, and in the Muromachi period (1336–1573), merchants painted emblems on their shop signs, which became mon. In the Edo period (1603–1867), kabuki actors used mon, and the general public was allowed to choose and use their favorite mon. By the Genroku period (1680–1709) in the early Edo period, the use of mon was fully established among the general public. However, the use of the chrysanthemum mon used by the imperial family and the hollyhock mon used by the Tokugawa clan (Tokugawa shogunate) was prohibited.[3][7] Mon were also adapted by various organizations, such as merchant and artisan guilds, temples and shrines, theater troupes and even criminal gangs. In an illiterate society, they served as useful symbols for recognition.
Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa clan (徳川氏, Tokugawa-shi, Tokugawa-uji; Japanese pronunciation: [to.kɯꜜ.ɡa.wa, -ŋa.wa, -kɯ.ɡa.waꜜ.ɕi, -ŋa.waꜜ-][1][2]) is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful daimyō family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of the clan remains a mystery.[3] Nominally, the Matsudaira clan is said to be descended from the Nitta clan, a branch of the Minamoto clan, but this is considered to be untrue or unlikely.[4][5][6][7] Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135–1202), grandson of Minamoto no Yoshiie (1041–1108), was the first to take the name of Nitta. He sided with his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo against the Taira clan (1180) and accompanied him to Kamakura. Nitta Yoshisue, 4th son of Yoshishige, settled at Tokugawa (Kozuke province) and took the name of that place. Their provincial history book did not mention Minamoto clan or Nitta clan.[8] The nominal originator of the Matsudaira clan was reportedly Matsudaira Chikauji, who was originally a poor Buddhist monk.[3][9] He reportedly descended from Nitta Yoshisue in the 8th generation and witnessed the ruin of the Nitta in their war against the Ashikaga. He settled at Matsudaira (Mikawa province) and was adopted by his wifes family. Their provincial history book claimed that this original clan was Ariwara clan.[8] Because this place is said to have been reclaimed by Ariwara Nobumori, one theory holds that Matsudaira clan was related to Ariwara no Narihira.[10] Matsudaira Nobumitsu (15th century), son of Chikauji, was in charge of Okazaki Castle, and strengthened the authority of his family in the Mikawa province. Nobumitsus great-great-grandson Matsudaira Kiyoyasu made his clan strong, but was assassinated. In 1567, Matsudaira Motonobu—then known as Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616)—grandson of Kiyoyasu, was recognized by Emperor Ōgimachi as a descendant of Seiwa Genji; he also started the family name Tokugawa.[citation needed] According to historical documents from the same period, some of the three generations of the Matsudaira clan, including Nobumitsu, took the surname Kamo no Ason (Kamo) , and the Matsudaira clans hollyhock crest also suggests a connection to the Kamo clan, so some have pointed out that they were actually vassals of the Kamo clan.[11] Tokugawa Ieyasu himself signed the letter of assurance to the Suganuma clan in 1561, shortly after independence from the Imagawa clan, as Minamoto no Motoyasu (Suganuma Family Genealogy and Documents Possessed by Kunozan Toshogu Shrine)[12] The clan rose to power at the end of the Sengoku period. as their political influences and territories they controlled expanded during this period, they developed many new offices such as many magistrate official such as Kōriki Kiyonaga, Amano Yasukage, Honda Shigetsugu, and many others, to control their new territories and vassals.[13] In 1566, as Ieyasu declared his independence from the Imagawa clan, he reformed the order of Mikawa province starting with the Matsudaira clan, after he pacified Mikawa. This decision was made after he counseled by his senior vassal Sakai Tadatsugu to abandon their allegiance with the Imagawa clan.[14] He also strengthened his powerbase by creating a military government system of Tokugawa clan in Mikawa which based from his hereditary vassals Fudai daimyō. The system which called Sanbi no gunsei (三備の軍制) with the structure divide the governance into three sections:[15][16][17]
Simplified Chinese characters. Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language, with the other being traditional characters. Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s.[1] They are the official forms used in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore, while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Simplification of a component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical—usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes, or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ WRAP radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ TABLE to form the simplified character 没.[2] By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of the character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution, a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to the first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters;[3][4][5][6] the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including a few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by Chinas State Council on 5 June 2013.[7] In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字; jiǎnhuàzì, or colloquially as 简体字; jiǎntǐzìⓘ. The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure,[note 1] a practice which has always been present as a part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms.[9]
Catchment area. In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service, or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are naturally drawn to a location (for example, a labour catchment area[1]) or as established by governments or organizations such as education authorities or healthcare providers, for the provision of services. Governments and community service organizations often define catchment areas for planning purposes and public safety such as ensuring universal access to services like fire departments, police departments, ambulance bases and hospitals. In business, a catchment area is used to describe the influence from which a retail location draws its customers.[2] Airport catchment areas can inform efforts to estimate route profitability.[3] A health catchment area is of importance in public health, and healthcare planning, as it helps in resource allocation, service delivery, and accessibility assessment. A catchment area can be defined relative to a location, and based upon a number of factors, including distance, travel time, geographic boundaries or population within the catchment. Catchment areas generally fall under two categories, those that occur organically, i.e., de facto catchment area, and a place people are naturally drawn to, such as a large shopping centre. A catchment area in terms of a place people are drawn to could be a city, service or institution. Catchment area boundaries can be modeled using geographic information systems (GIS).[4] There can be large variability in the services provided within different catchment areas in the same region depending upon how and when those catchments were established.[5] They are usually contiguous but can overlap when they describe competing services.[6] For example, the boundaries of catchment areas can also vary by travel time, whereby 1-hour is indicative of daily commuting time and a 3-hour cut-off reflecting essential, but less frequent services.[7]
Mingxing. The Mingxing Film Company (Chinese: 明星影片公司; pinyin: Míngxīng Yǐngpiàn Gōngsī), also credited as the Star Motion Picture Production Company, was a production company active in the Republic of China between 1922 and 1937. Established by a consortium of creative professionals, including film director Zhang Shichuan, dramatist Zheng Zhengqiu, and critic Zhou Jianyun, Mingxing initially produced comedy films that drew little audience attention. Facing insolvency in 1923, the company used the last of its capital to produce Orphan Rescues Grandfather, which released to massive commercial success and provided the company with the revenue needed to expand and hire new talent. In the mid-1920s, Mingxing acquired new studios and made its initial public offering, growing rapidly even in the face of emerging competition. It adapted several novels to film, with its Lonely Orchid (1926) being one of the most successful Chinese films of the silent era. It also expanded from family dramas to wuxia with The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928), and began producing sound films with Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (1931). By the early 1930s, Mingxing was one of the largest film companies in Shanghai, together with the Tianyi Film Company and the United Photoplay Service. However, between the ongoing Sino-Japanese War – including damage caused by the 1932 incursion into Shanghai – and a series of financial setbacks, Mingxing faced significant financial losses through the 1930s. Despite the success of films such as Twin Sisters (1934) and efforts to attract new writers, the company was unable to recover and operations ended after the Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1937. During its lifetime, Mingxing produced 174 fiction films, as well as newsreels, cartoons, and actualities.
Seals in the Sinosphere. In the Sinosphere, seals (stamps) can be applied on objects to establish personal identification. They are commonly applied on items such as personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, and art. They are used similarly to signatures in the West. Unlike in the West, where wax seals are common, Sinosphere seals are used with ink. Of Chinese origin, the process soon spread beyond China and across East and Southeast Asia. Various countries in these regions currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and, increasingly, electronic signatures.[1] Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of metals, wood, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste (Chinese: 朱砂; pinyin: zhūshā). The word 印 (yìn in Mandarin, in in Japanese and Korean, ấn and in in Vietnamese) specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal, as well as appearing in combination with other morphemes in words related to any printing, as in the word 印刷, printing, pronounced yìnshuā in Mandarin, insatsu in Japanese. In the western world, Asian seals were traditionally known by traders as chop marks or simply chops, a term adapted from the Hindi chapa and the Malay cap,[2] meaning stamp or rubber stamps. In Japan, seals, referred to as inkan (印鑑) or hanko (判子), have historically been used to identify individuals involved in government and trading from ancient times. The Japanese emperors, shōguns, and samurai had their personal seals pressed onto edicts and other public documents to show authenticity and authority. Even today, Japanese citizens companies regularly use name seals for the signing of a contract and other important paperwork.[3] Throughout Chinese history, seals have played an important part and are known to have been used both by government authorities and private individuals for thousands of years.[4][5] The earliest known examples of seals in ancient China date to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC) and were discovered at archaeological sites at Anyang.[4][5] However, how these ancient seals were used remains to be uncovered as it is only starting from the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC) of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) that there is an increase in the quantity of Chinese seals paired together with textual references to them. Until the end of the Warring States period (476 BC–221 BC), all seals were only known as xǐ 璽 pinyin: Xǐ, regardless if they were used by government officials or in private use and regardless of any material used to make them.[4]
Exploitation fiction. Exploitation fiction is a type of literature that includes novels and magazines that exploit sex, violence, drugs, or other elements meant to attract readers primarily by arousing prurient interest without being labeled as obscene or pornographic. Exploitation fiction grew out of pulp fiction of the 1930s and 1940s.[1] It was popular trash fiction in the form of mass market paperbacks in the 1950s and 1960s, when genuine, sexually explicit material could be seized as obscene. In the United States, material that went by U.S. mail was subject to federal obscenity laws that greatly curtailed the distribution of materials that were sexually explicit or featured graphic violence. These cheap novels exploited violence, drugs, and sex—especially promiscuity and lesbianism—but rarely delivered the kind of salacious detail their cover art implied and generally tacked on moralistic endings to satisfy critics who accused them of having no redeeming social value. They were often repackaged under new titles with different cover art, to resell to the unsuspecting public looking for cheap thrills. As film production codes loosened in the early 1960s, exploitation fiction led to exploitation cinema (parallel to the development of Italian giallo cinema),[2] typified by Russ Meyer films. This article about a literary genre is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This pornography-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Penny dreadful. Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful,[1] and penny blood.[2] The term typically referred to a story published in weekly parts of 8 to 16 pages, each costing one penny.[3] The subject matter of these stories was typically sensational, focusing on the exploits of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities. First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls featured characters such as Sweeney Todd, Dick Turpin, Varney the Vampire, and Spring-heeled Jack. The BBC called penny dreadfuls a 19th-century British publishing phenomenon. In America in the 1840s, a similar class of consumer content developed known as city mysteries. By the 1850s, there were up to a hundred publishers of penny-fiction, and in the 1860s and 1870s more than a million boys periodicals were sold per week.[4][5] The Guardian described penny dreadfuls as Britains first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young, and the Victorian equivalent of video games.[4] While the term penny dreadful was originally used in reference to a specific type of literature circulating in mid-Victorian Britain, it came to encompass a variety of publications that featured cheap sensational fiction, such as story papers and booklet libraries. The penny dreadfuls were printed on cheap wood pulp paper and were aimed at young working class men.[6] The popularity of penny dreadfuls was challenged in the 1890s by the rise of competing literature, especially the half-penny periodicals published by Alfred Harmsworth.[4][7] Crime broadsides were commonly sold at public executions in the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were often produced by printers who specialised in them. They were typically illustrated by a crude picture of the crime, a portrait of the criminal, or a generic woodcut of a hanging taking place. There would be a written account of the crime and of the trial and often the criminals confession of guilt. A doggerel verse warning others to not follow the executed persons example, to avoid their fate, was another common feature.[8]
Short Story (disambiguation). A short story is a piece of prose fiction. Short Story may also refer to:
Short Stories. Short stories are pieces of prose fiction. Short Stories may also refer to:
Dime novel. The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term dime novel has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, referring to story papers, five- and ten-cent weeklies, thick book reprints, and sometimes early pulp magazines.[notes 1] The term was used as a title as late as 1940, in the short-lived pulp magazine Western Dime Novels. In the modern age, the term dime novel has been used to refer to quickly written, lurid potboilers, usually as a pejorative to describe a sensationalized but superficial literary work. In 1860, the publishers Erastus and Irwin Beadle released a new series of cheap paperbacks, Beadles Dime Novels.[1] Dime novel became a general term for similar paperbacks produced by various publishers in the early twentieth century. The first book in the Beadle series was Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter, by Ann S. Stephens, dated June 9, 1860.[1] The novel was essentially a reprint of Stephenss earlier serial, which had appeared in the Ladies Companion magazine in February, March and April 1839. It sold more than 65,000 copies in the first few months after its publication as a dime novel.[2] Dime novels varied in size, even in the first Beadle series, but were mostly about 6.5 by 4.25 inches (16.5 by 10.8 cm), with 100 pages. The first 28 were published without a cover illustration, in a salmon-colored paper wrapper. A woodblock print was added in issue 29, and the first 28 were reprinted with illustrated covers. The books were priced, of course, at ten cents. This series ran for 321 issues and established almost all the conventions of the genre, from the lurid and outlandish story to the melodramatic double titling used throughout the series, which ended in the 1920s. Most of the stories were frontier tales reprinted from the numerous serials in the story papers and other sources,[notes 2] but many were original stories. As the popularity of dime novels increased, original stories came to be the norm. The books were reprinted many times, sometimes with different covers, and the stories were often further reprinted in different series and by different publishers.[notes 3] The literacy rate increased around the time of the American Civil War, and Beadles Dime Novels were immediately popular among young, working-class readers. By the end of the war, numerous competitors, such as George Munro and Robert DeWitt, were crowding the field, distinguishing their product only by title and the color of the paper wrappers. Beadle & Adams had their own alternate brands, such as the Frank Starr line. As a whole, the quality of the fiction was derided by highbrow critics, and the term dime novel came to refer to any form of cheap, sensational fiction, rather than the specific format.
North Pacific (disambiguation). The North Pacific is the Northern Hemisphere portion of the Pacific Ocean, Earths largest oceanic division. It may also refer to:
Pulp (paper). Pulp is a fibrous lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemicals or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw material used in papermaking and the industrial production of other paper products.[1][2] Before the widely acknowledged invention of papermaking by Cai Lun in China around AD 105, paper-like writing materials such as papyrus and amate were produced by ancient civilizations using plant materials which were largely unprocessed. Strips of bark or bast material were woven together, beaten into rough sheets, dried, and polished by hand.[3][4] Pulp used in modern and traditional papermaking is distinguished by the maceration process which produces a finer, more regular slurry of cellulose fibers which are pulled out of solution by a screen and dried to form sheets or rolls.[5] The earliest paper produced in China consisted of bast fibers from the paper mulberry (kozo) plant along with hemp rag and net scraps.[5][6][7] By the 6th century, the mulberry tree was domesticated by farmers in China specifically for the purpose of producing pulp to be used in the papermaking process. In addition to mulberry, pulp was also made from bamboo, hibiscus bark, blue sandalwood, straw, and cotton.[7] Papermaking using pulp made from hemp and linen fibers from tattered clothing, fishing nets and fabric bags spread to Europe in the 13th century, with an ever-increasing use of rags being central to the manufacture and affordability of rag paper, a factor in the development of printing.[1] By the 1800s, production demands on the newly industrialized papermaking and printing industries led to a shift in raw materials, most notably the use of pulpwood and other tree products which today make up more than 95% of global pulp production.[8] The use of wood pulp and the invention of automatic paper machines in the late 18th- and early 19th-century contributed to papers status as an inexpensive commodity in modern times.[1][9][10] While some of the earliest examples of paper made from wood pulp include works published by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1765 and Matthias Koops in 1800,[1][11] large-scale wood paper production began in the 1840s with unique, simultaneous developments in mechanical pulping made by Friedrich Gottlob Keller in Germany[12] and by Charles Fenerty in Nova Scotia.[9] Chemical processes quickly followed, first with J. Roths use of sulfurous acid to treat wood, then by Benjamin Tilghmans U.S. patent on the use of calcium bisulfite, Ca(HSO3)2, to pulp wood in 1867.[2] Almost a decade later, the first commercial sulfite pulp mill was built, in Sweden. It used magnesium as the counter ion and was based on work by Carl Daniel Ekman. By 1900, sulfite pulping had become the dominant means of producing wood pulp, surpassing mechanical pulping methods. The competing chemical pulping process, the sulfate, or kraft, process, was developed by Carl F. Dahl in 1879; the first kraft mill started, in Sweden, in 1890.[2] The invention of the recovery boiler, by G.H. Tomlinson in the early 1930s,[12] allowed kraft mills to recycle almost all of their pulping chemicals. This, along with the ability of the kraft process to accept a wider variety of types of wood and to produce stronger fibres,[13] made the kraft process the dominant pulping process, starting in the 1940s.[2] Global production of wood pulp in 2006 was 175 million tons (160 million tonnes).[14] In the previous year, 63 million tons (57 million tonnes) of market pulp (not made into paper in the same facility) was sold, with Canada being the largest source at 21 percent of the total, followed by the United States at 16 percent. The wood fiber sources required for pulping are 45% sawmill residue, 21% logs and chips, and 34% recycled paper (Canada, 2014).[15] Chemical pulp made up 93% of market pulp.[16] The timber resources used to make wood pulp are referred to as pulpwood.[17] While in theory any tree can be used for pulp-making, coniferous trees are preferred because the cellulose fibers in the pulp of these species are longer, and therefore make stronger paper.[18] Some of the most commonly used trees for paper making include softwoods such as spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen and birch.[19] There is also increasing interest in genetically modified tree species (such as GM eucalyptus and GM poplar) because of several major benefits these can provide, such as increased ease of breaking down lignin and increased growth rate.
Dead zone (ecology). Dead zones are hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in the worlds oceans and large lakes. Hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration falls to or below 2 ml of O2/liter.[2] When a body of water experiences hypoxic conditions, aquatic flora and fauna begin to change behavior in order to reach sections of water with higher oxygen levels. Once DO declines below 0.5 ml O2/liter in a body of water, mass mortality occurs. With such a low concentration of DO, these bodies of water fail to support the aquatic life living there.[3] Historically, many of these sites were naturally occurring. However, in the 1970s, oceanographers began noting increased instances and expanses of dead zones. These occur near inhabited coastlines, where aquatic life is most concentrated. Coastal regions, such as the Baltic Sea, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the Chesapeake Bay, as well as large enclosed water bodies like Lake Erie, have been affected by deoxygenation due to eutrophication. Excess nutrients are put into these systems by rivers, ultimately from urban and agricultural runoff and exacerbated by deforestation. These nutrients lead to high productivity that produces organic material that sinks to the bottom and is respired. The respiration of that organic material uses up the oxygen and causes hypoxia or anoxia. The UN Environment Programme reported 146 dead zones in 2004 in the worlds oceans where marine life could not be supported due to depleted oxygen levels. Some of these were as small as a square kilometer (0.4 mi2), but the largest dead zone covered 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 mi2). A 2008 study counted 405 dead zones worldwide.[4][2] Aquatic and marine dead zones can be caused by an increase in nutrients (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus) in the water, known as eutrophication. These nutrients are the fundamental building blocks of single-celled, plant-like organisms that live in the water column, and whose growth is limited in part by the availability of these materials. With more available nutrients, single-celled aquatic organisms (such as algae and cyanobacteria) have the resources necessary to exceed their previous growth limit and begin to multiply at an exponential rate. Exponential growth leads to rapid increases in the density of certain types of these phytoplankton, a phenomenon known as an algal bloom.[6]
Magazine. A magazine[1] is a periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content forms. Magazines are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination of the three. They are categorised by their frequency of publication (i.e., as weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies, etc.), their target audiences (e.g., womens and trade magazines), their subjects of focus (e.g., popular science and religious), and their tones or approach (e.g., works of satire or humor). Appearance on the cover of print magazines has historically been understood to convey a place of honor or distinction to an individual or event. The etymology of the word magazine suggests derivation from the Arabic makhāzin (مخازن), the broken plural of makhzan (مخزن) meaning depot, storehouse (originally military storehouse); that comes to English via Middle French magasin and Italian magazzino.[2] In its original sense, the word magazine referred to a storage space or device.[2] In the case of written publication, it refers to a collection of written articles; hence, magazine publications share the moniker with storage units for military equipment such as gunpowder, artillery and firearm magazines, and in French and Russian (adopted from the French, as магазин), retailers such as department stores.[3] The difference between magazines and journals are their audience, purpose, and publication process. Journal articles are written by experts for experts, while magazine articles are usually intended for the general public or a demographic. Journals contain recent research on specific areas, while magazines aim to entertain, inform, or educate a general audience on a wide range of topics. Journals are published by academic or professional organizations, and may be peer reviewed, while magazine articles are typically shorter and more accessible than journal articles, often written in a journalistic style.[4][5]
South Pacific (disambiguation). The South Pacific Ocean or South Pacific is the Southern Hemisphere portion of the Pacific Ocean. South Pacific may also refer to:
Edo Japan (restaurant). Edo Japan, often known simply as Edo (/ˈiːdoʊ/), is a Canadian-founded fast food restaurant chain specializing in Japanese Teppan-style cooking.[2] Founded in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta Canada by Reverend Susumu Ikuta,[3] a Japanese Buddhist minister, Edo Japan was named after the original name of Tokyo.[4] The company is based in Calgary, Alberta, and the first restaurant opened in 1979 in Calgary.[5] Born in 1926 in Kyoto, Japan, Rev. Susumu Ikuta first moved to Australia with his family in 1937.[6] After finishing high school, Rev. Ikuta moved back and forth between Australia and Japan until 1958, when he graduated with an M.A. in Buddhist Studies from Ryukoku University and moved to Canada for the last time to become a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist minister for the Buddhist Churches of Canada. In 1979, Rev. Ikuta opened the first Edo Japan restaurant as a means of establishing and sustaining the Cao Dai Temples of Kitchener, Ontario,[6][7] and began franchising the business in 1986.[8] In 1998, Reverend Ikuta became the first Australian-raised Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of Canada and decided it was time for someone else to manage Edo Japans business.[4] Over the course of Reverend Ikutas leadership, the company grew to 102 food court locations in suburban shopping centres across Canada, the United States and Australia,[2] with about $10 million in annual sales.[3] In 1999, the former president of Moxies, Tom Donaldson, took over as President and CEO of Edo Japan[8] with a small equity earn-in position before purchasing the company outright in 2006.[2] Over the next 10 years, Donaldson focused on revitalizing the brand by scaling back the number of locations to operate solely in Canada,[2] which saw the company grow to $60 million in annual sales by 2011.[3] Under Donaldsons leadership, the company expanded beyond mall food courts by opening its first stand-alone location in 2002, and by 2011 a further 36 street-front locations were established under.[3] By 2015, the chain had 109 locations across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec, with $92 million in annual sales.[9]
Pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. Pacific may also refer to:
Western Pacific. Western Pacific may refer to: Western Pacific may also refer to:
Mississippi River. (Period: 1980–1996)21,990 m3/s (777,000 cu ft/s)[6] The Mississippi River[b] is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States.[c][24] It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri.[25] From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 mi (3,770 km)[25] to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippis watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains.[26] The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.[27][28] The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the worlds tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest in North America. Native Americans have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years. Many were hunter-gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural and urban civilizations, and some practiced aquaculture. The arrival of Europeans in the 16th century changed the native way of life as first explorers, then settlers, ventured into the basin in increasing numbers.[29] The river served sometimes as a barrier, forming borders for New Spain, New France, and the early United States, and throughout as a vital transportation artery and communications link. In the 19th century, during the height of the ideology of manifest destiny, the Mississippi and several tributaries, most notably its largest, the Ohio and Missouri, formed pathways for the western expansion of the United States. The river also became the subject of American literature, particularly in the writings of Mark Twain. Formed from thick layers of the rivers silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment, and American Bottom are some of the most fertile regions of the United States; steamboats were widely used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to ship agricultural and industrial goods. During the American Civil War, the Mississippis final capture by Union forces marked a turning point to victory for the Union. Because of the substantial growth of cities and the larger ships and barges that replaced steamboats, the first decades of the 20th century saw the construction of massive engineering works such as levees, locks and dams, often built in combination. A major focus of this work has been to prevent the lower Mississippi from shifting into the channel of the Atchafalaya River and bypassing New Orleans.
Novel (disambiguation). A novel is a work of long prose narrative fiction. Novel(s) or The Novel(s) may also refer to:
Agriculture. Agriculture is the practice of cultivating the soil, planting, raising, and harvesting both food and non-food crops, as well as livestock production. Broader definitions also include forestry and aquaculture. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated plants and animals created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. As of 2021[update], small farms produce about one-third of the worlds food, but large farms are prevalent.[1] The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than 50 hectares (120 acres) and operate more than 70% of the worlds farmland.[1] Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres).[1] However, five of every six farms in the world consist of fewer than 2 hectares (4.9 acres), and take up only around 12% of all agricultural land.[1] Farms and farming greatly influence rural economics and greatly shape rural society, affecting both the direct agricultural workforce and broader businesses that support the farms and farming populations. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, meat, milk, eggs, and fungi. Global agricultural production amounts to approximately 11 billion tonnes of food,[2] 32 million tonnes of natural fibers[3] and 4 billion m3 of wood.[4] However, around 14% of the worlds food is lost from production before reaching the retail level.[5] Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields, but also contributed to ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include contributions to climate change, depletion of aquifers, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and other agricultural pollution. Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation, and climate change, all of which can cause decreases in crop yield. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some countries ban them.
Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Some broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into Northern California, and east into western Montana. Other conceptions may be limited to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The Northwest Coast is the coastal region of the Pacific Northwest, and the Northwest Plateau (also commonly known as the Interior in British Columbia),[1] is the inland region. The term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory (also known as the Great Northwest, a historical term in the United States) or the Northwest Territories of Canada. The regions largest metropolitan areas are Greater Seattle, Washington, with 4 million people;[2] Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, with 2.6 million people;[3] Greater Portland, Oregon, with 2.5 million people;[4] the Boise, Idaho metropolitan area with 845,877 people, and the Spokane-Coeur dAlene combined statistical area with 793,285 people. The culture of the Pacific Northwest is influenced by the Canada–United States border, which the United States and the United Kingdom established at a time when the regions inhabitants were composed mostly of indigenous peoples. Two sections of the border—one along the 49th parallel south of British Columbia and one between the Alaska Panhandle and northern British Columbia—have left a great impact on the region. According to Canadian historian Ken Coates, the border has not merely influenced the Pacific Northwest—rather, the regions history and character have been determined by the boundary.[5]
Zhang (surname). Zhang ([ʈʂáŋ] ⓘ; traditional Chinese: 張; simplified Chinese: 张) is the third most common surname in China and Taiwan (commonly spelled as Chang in Taiwan), and it is one of the most common surnames in the world.[2][3] It is spoken in the first tone Zhāng. It is a surname that exists in many languages and cultures, corresponding to the surname Archer in English for example.[4] In the Wade–Giles system of romanization, it is romanized as Chang, which is commonly used in Taiwan. Cheung is commonly used in Hong Kong as a romanization. It is the 24th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem, contained in the verse 何呂施張 (Hé Lǚ Shī Zhāng). Zhang is also the pinyin romanization of the less-common surnames 章 (Zhāng), which is the 40th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem, and 仉 (Zhǎng). Today, it is one of the most common surnames in the world at over 100 million people worldwide.[5] Zhang was listed by the Peoples Republic of Chinas National Citizen ID Information System as the third-most-common surname in mainland China (April 2007), with 87.50 million bearers.[6][7] A commonly cited but erroneous factoid in the 1990 Guinness Book of Records listed it as the worlds most common surname,[8] but no comprehensive information from China was available at the time and more recent editions have not repeated the claim. As mentioned above, 張 is the third-most-common surname in mainland China, making up 6.83% of the population of the Peoples Republic of China.[9] In 2019 it was the most common surname in exactly one provincial-level division, Shanghai municipality.[10] In Taiwan, 張 is the fourth-most-common surname, making up 5.26% of the population of the Republic of China. In 2019 it was again the third most common surname in Mainland China.[10]
Sea (disambiguation). A sea is a large body of salty water. Sea or SEA may also refer to:
Chinese surname. Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China, Korea, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the Western tradition in which surnames are written last. Around 2,000 Han Chinese surnames are currently in use, but the great proportion of Han Chinese people use only a relatively small number of these surnames; 19 surnames are used by around half of the Han Chinese people, while 100 surnames are used by around 87% of the population.[1][2] A report in 2019 gives the most common Chinese surnames as Wang and Li, each shared by over 100 million people in China.[3] The remaining eight of the top ten most common Chinese surnames are Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu and Zhou.[4] Two distinct types of Chinese surnames existed in ancient China, namely xing (Chinese: 姓; pinyin: xìng) ancestral clan names and shi (Chinese: 氏; pinyin: shì) branch lineage names. Later, the two terms were used interchangeably, and in the present day, xing refers to the surname and shi may refer either the clan or maiden name. The two terms may also be used together as xingshi for family names or surnames. Most Chinese surnames (xing) in current use were originally shi. The earliest xing surname might be matrilinear, but Han Chinese family name has been exclusively patrilineal for a couple of millennia, passing from father to children. This system of patrilineal surnames is unusual in the world in its long period of continuity and depth of written history, and Chinese people may view their surnames as part of their shared kinship and Han Chinese identity.[5] Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except sometimes in places with more western influences such as Hong Kong. Traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous in that people tend to marry those with different surnames.[6][7] The most common Chinese surnames were compiled in the Song dynasty work Hundred Family Surnames, which lists over 400 names. The colloquial expressions lǎobǎixìng (老百姓; lit. old hundred surnames) and bǎixìng (wikt:百姓, lit. hundred surnames) are used in Chinese to mean ordinary folks, the people, or commoners. Chinese surnames have a history of over 3,000 years. Chinese mythology, however, reaches back further to the legendary figure Fuxi (with the surname Feng), who was said to have established the system of Chinese surnames to distinguish different families and prevent marriage of people with the same family names.[8] Prior to the Warring States period (fifth century BC), only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was a difference between ancestral clan names or xing (姓) and branch lineage names or shi (氏). Xing may be the more ancient surname that referred to the ancestral tribe or clan, while shi denoted a branch of the tribe or clan. For example, the ancestors of the Shang had Zi (子) as xing, but the descendants were subdivided into numerous shi including Yin (殷), Song (宋), Kong (空), Tong (同) and others.[1] The distinction between the two began to be blurred by the Warring States period. During the Qin dynasty, name usage was standardised, commoners started to acquire a surname or xing, and the shi also became xing.[9] By the Han dynasty, families only had xing or xing-shi. The great majority of Han Chinese surnames (now called xing or xingshi) that survive to modern times have their roots in shi rather than the ancient xing.[1]
List of seas on Earth. This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits.[2] In many cases it is a matter of tradition for a body of water to be named a sea or a bay, etc., therefore all these types are listed here. Entities called seas which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list, nor are ocean gyres. There are several terms used for bulges of ocean that result from indentations of land, which overlap in definition, and which are not consistently differentiated:[12] Many features could be considered to be more than one of these, and all of these terms are used in place names inconsistently; especially bays, gulfs, and bights, which can be very large or very small. This list includes large areas of water no matter the term used in the name. The largest terrestrial seas, in decreasing order of area, are:
Zhejiang. Zhejiang[a] is a coastal province in East China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangsu and Shanghai to the north, Anhui to the northwest, Jiangxi to the west and Fujian to the south. To the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lies the Ryukyu Islands. The population of Zhejiang stands at 64.6 million, the 8th largest in China. It has been called the backbone of China because it is a major driving force in the Chinese economy and being the birthplace of several notable people, including the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and entrepreneur Jack Ma. Zhejiang consists of 90 counties (incl. county-level cities and districts). The area of Zhejiang was controlled by the Kingdom of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period. The Qin dynasty later annexed it in 222 BC. Under the late Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty that followed it, Zhejiangs ports became important centers of international trade. It was occupied by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and placed under the control of the Japanese puppet state known as the Reorganized National Government of China. After the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, Zhejiangs economy became stagnant under Mao Zedongs policies.[7] After Chinas economic reform, Zhejiang grew to be considered one of Chinas wealthiest provinces, ranking fourth in GDP nationally and fifth by GDP per capita, with a nominal GDP of US$1.27 trillion as of 2024. Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area, with higher altitudes towards the south and the west. Zhejiang also has a longer coastline than any other mainland province of China. The Qiantang River runs through the province, from which it derives its name. Included in the province are three thousand islands, the most in China. The capital Hangzhou marks the end of the Grand Canal and lies on Hangzhou Bay on the north of Zhejiang, which separates Shanghai and Ningbo. The bay contains many small islands collectively called the Zhoushan Islands. Hangzhou is a historically important city, and is considered a world city with a Beta+ classification according to GaWC.[8] It includes the notable West Lake. Various varieties of Chinese are spoken in Zhejiang, the most prominent being Wu Chinese. Zhejiang is also one of Chinas leading provinces in research and education. As of 2024[update], two major cities in Zhejiang ranked in the worlds top 200 cities (Hangzhou 13th and Ningbo 123rd) by scientific research output, as tracked by Nature Index.[9]
Chinese name. Chinese names are personal names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Sinophone world. Sometimes the same set of Chinese characters could be chosen as a Chinese name, a Hong Kong name, a Japanese name, a Korean name, a Han Taiwanese name, a Malaysian Chinese name, or a Vietnamese name, but they would be spelled differently due to their varying historical pronunciation of Chinese characters. Modern Chinese names generally have a one-character surname (姓氏; xìngshì) that comes first, followed by a given name (名; míng) which may be either one or two characters in length. In recent decades, two-character given names are much more commonly chosen; studies during the 2000s and 2010s estimated that over three-quarters of Chinas population at the time had two-character given names,[1][2] with the remainder almost exclusively having one character. Prior to the 21st century, most educated Chinese men also used a courtesy name (or style name; 字) by which they were known among those outside their family and closest friends. Respected artists or poets will sometimes also use a professional art name (号; 號; hào) among their social peers. From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a persons given name (without being disrespectful). In general, using the given name connoted the speakers authority and superior position to the addressee. Peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures—particularly emperors—used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and for different speakers. Those possessing names (sometimes even mere homophones) identical to the emperors were frequently forced to change them. The normalization of personal names after the May Fourth Movement has generally eradicated aliases such as the school name and courtesy name but traces of the old taboos remain, particularly within families.
The Sea. The Sea may refer to:
Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP, /ˈmɪkmæp/) is a combat system developed by the United States Marine Corps to combine existing and new hand-to-hand and close quarters combat techniques with morale and team-building functions and instruction in the warrior ethos.[1] The program, which began in 2001, trains Marines (and U.S. Navy personnel attached to Marine units) in unarmed combat, edged weapons, weapons of opportunity, and rifle and bayonet techniques. It also stresses mental and character development, including the responsible use of force, leadership, and teamwork. The MCMAP was officially created by Marine Corps Order 1500.54, published in 2002, as a revolutionary step in the development of martial arts skills for Marines and replaces all other close-combat related systems preceding its introduction.[2] MCMAP comes from an evolution dating back to the creation of the Marine Corps, beginning with the martial abilities of Marine boarding parties, who often had to rely on bayonet and cutlass techniques. During World War I these bayonet techniques were supplemented with unarmed combat techniques, which often proved useful in trench warfare. Between the world wars, Colonel Anthony J. Biddle began the creation of standardized bayonet and close combat techniques based on boxing, wrestling, savate and fencing. Also during this period, Captains Wallace M. Greene and Samuel B. Griffith learned Kung Fu techniques from Chinese American Marines and brought this knowledge to other Marines throughout the Marine Corps. In 1956, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Hayward (captain of the Judo team at MCRD) made Gunnery Sergeant Bill Miller the new Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of hand-to-hand combat. Miller was ordered to develop a new curriculum that any Marine could use to quickly kill the enemy. Miller created the program from various martial arts such as Okinawan karate, judo, taekwondo, boxing, and jujutsu. Every Marine recruit that went through MCRD was instructed in Millers combat curriculum. This also included special operations forces from all branches of the military and civilian entities. Later in 2001, retired Gunnery Sergeant Bill Miller was awarded the Black Belt Emeritus for pioneering Martial Arts in the United States Marine Corps.
Ningbo. Ningbo[a] is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, Peoples Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea. Ningbo is the southern economic center[3] of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis.[4] The port of Ningbo–Zhoushan, spread across several locations, is the worlds busiest port by cargo tonnage and the worlds third-busiest container port since 2010.[5] Ningbo is the core city and center of the Ningbo Metropolitan Area.[4] To the north, Hangzhou Bay separates Ningbo from Shanghai; to the east lies Zhoushan in the East China Sea; on the west and south, Ningbo borders Shaoxing and Taizhou respectively. As of the 2020 Chinese national census, the entire administrated area of Ningbo City had a population of 9.4 million (9,404,283).[6] Ningbo is one of the 15 sub-provincial cities in China, and is one of the five separate state-planning cities[7] in China (the other four being Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Shenzhen), with the municipality possessing a separate state-planning status in many economic departments, rather than being governed by Zhejiang Province. Therefore, Ningbo has provincial-level autonomy in making economic and financial policies.[8] In 2022, the GDP of Ningbo was CNY 1570,43 billion[9] (US$233.479 billion), and it was ranked 12th among 293 cities in China.[10] Moreover, Ningbo is among the wealthiest cities in China; it ranked 8th in terms of average yearly disposable income in the year of 2020.[11] As of 2020, Ningbo has global headquarters and registered offices of over 100 listed companies,[12] and many regional business headquarters. In 2021, Ningbo featured the seventh most listed companies of all cities in China.[13] Furthermore, Ningbo was among the top 10 Chinese cities in the Urban Business Environment Report released by the Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV) in 2019.[14] As a city with rich culture and a long history dating back to the Jingtou Mountain Culture in 6300 BCE and the Hemudu culture in 4800 BCE, Ningbo was awarded City of Culture in East Asia by the governments of China, Japan, and Korea in 2016.[15] From 1842, Ningbo was one of the first five treaty ports opened up to the West. Ningbo is one of the top 200 cities in the world by scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index.[16]
Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds five oceanic divisions, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi).[2] It covers approximately 17% of Earths surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the New World of the Americas (North America and South America) from the Old World of Afro-Eurasia (Africa, Asia, and Europe). Through its separation of Afro-Eurasia from the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean has played a central role in the development of human society, globalization, and the histories of many nations. While the Norse were the first known humans to cross the Atlantic, it was the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492 that proved to be the most consequential. Columbuss expedition ushered in an age of exploration and colonization of the Americas by European powers, most notably Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. From the 16th to 19th centuries, the Atlantic Ocean was the center of both an eponymous slave trade and the Columbian exchange while occasionally hosting naval battles. Such naval battles, as well as growing trade from regional American powers like the United States and Brazil, both increased in degree during the early 20th century, and while no major military conflicts have taken place in the Atlantic recently,[when?] the ocean remains a core component of trade around the world. The Atlantic Oceans temperatures vary by location. For example, the South Atlantic maintains warm temperatures year-round, as its basin countries are tropical. The North Atlantic maintains a temperate climate, as its basin countries are temperate and have seasons of extremely low temperatures and high temperatures. [5] The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected World Ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south. Other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica. The Atlantic Ocean is divided in two parts, the northern and southern Atlantic, by the Equator.[6]
Ancient warfare. Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of first city-states, and then empires, allowed warfare to change dramatically. Beginning in Mesopotamia, states produced sufficient agricultural surplus. This allowed full-time ruling elites and military commanders to emerge. While the bulk of military forces were still farmers, the society could portion off each year. Thus, organized armies developed for the first time. These new armies were able to help states grow in size and become increasingly centralized. In Europe and the Near East, the end of antiquity is often equated with the Fall of Rome in 476 AD, the wars of the Eastern Roman Empire on its Southwestern Asian and North African borders, and the beginnings of the Muslim conquests in the 7th century. In China, it can also be seen as ending of the growing role of mounted warriors needed to counter the ever-growing threat from the north in the 5th century and the beginning of the Tang dynasty in 618 AD. In India, the ancient period ends with the decline of the Gupta Empire (6th century) and the beginning of the Muslim conquests there from the 8th century. In Japan, the ancient period is considered to end with the rise of feudalism in the Kamakura period in the 12–13th century. Early ancient armies continued to primarily use bows and spears, the same weapons that had been developed in prehistoric times for hunting. The findings at the site of Nataruk in Turkana, Kenya, have been interpreted as evidence of inter-group conflict and warfare in antiquity,[1] but this interpretation has been challenged.[2] Early armies in Egypt and China followed a similar pattern of using massed infantry armed with bows and spears. Infantry at this time was the dominant form of war, partially due to the camel saddle and the stirrup not being invented yet. The infantries at this time would be divided into ranged and shock, with shock infantry either charging to cause penetration of the enemy line or hold their own. These forces would ideally be combined, thus presenting the opponent with a dilemma: group the forces and leave them vulnerable to ranged, or spread them out and make them vulnerable to shock. This balance would eventually change as technology allowed for chariots, cavalry, and artillery to play an active role on the field. No clear line can be drawn between ancient and medieval warfare. The characteristic properties of medieval warfare, notably heavy cavalry and siege engines such as the trebuchet were first introduced in Late Antiquity. The main division within the ancient period is at the beginning Iron Age with the introduction of cavalry (resulting in the decline of chariot warfare), of naval warfare (Sea Peoples), and the development of an industry based on ferrous metallurgy which allowed for the mass production of metal weapons and thus the equipment of large standing armies. The first military power to profit from these innovations was the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which achieved a hitherto unseen extent of centralized control, the first world power to extend over the entire Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt). As states grew in size, the speed of mobilization became crucial because central power could not hold if rebellions could not be suppressed rapidly. The first solution to this was the chariot, which was initially used in the Middle East from around 1800 BC. First pulled by oxen and donkeys, they allowed rapid traversing of the relatively flat lands of the Middle East. The chariots were light enough that they could easily be floated across rivers. Improvements in the ability to train horses soon allowed them to be used to pull chariots, possibly as early as 2100 BC,[3] and their greater speed and power made chariots even more efficient. The major limitation of the use of chariots was terrain; while very mobile on flat, hard, open ground, it was very difficult to traverse more difficult terrain, such as rough ground, even sparse trees or bushes, small ravines or streams, or marsh. In such terrain, chariots were less maneuverable than common foot soldiers, and later cavalry.
Ocean. The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth.[8] The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic Ocean),[9][10][11] and are themselves mostly divided into seas, gulfs and subsequent bodies of water. The ocean contains 97% of Earths water[8] and is the primary component of Earths hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earths energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water cycle, forming the basis for climate and weather patterns worldwide. The ocean is essential to life on Earth, harbouring most of Earths animals and protist life,[12] originating photosynthesis and therefore Earths atmospheric oxygen, still supplying half of it.[13] Ocean scientists split the ocean into vertical and horizontal zones based on physical and biological conditions. Horizontally the ocean covers the oceanic crust, which it shapes. Where the ocean meets dry land it covers relatively shallow continental shelfs, which are part of Earths continental crust. Human activity is mostly coastal with high negative impacts on marine life. Vertically the pelagic zone is the open oceans water column from the surface to the ocean floor. The water column is further divided into zones based on depth and the amount of light present. The photic zone starts at the surface and is defined to be the depth at which light intensity is only 1% of the surface value[14]: 36 (approximately 200 m in the open ocean). This is the zone where photosynthesis can occur. In this process plants and microscopic algae (free-floating phytoplankton) use light, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to produce organic matter. As a result, the photic zone is the most biodiverse and the source of the food supply which sustains most of the ocean ecosystem. Light can only penetrate a few hundred more meters; the rest of the deeper ocean is cold and dark (these zones are called mesopelagic and aphotic zones). Ocean temperatures depend on the amount of solar radiation reaching the ocean surface. In the tropics, surface temperatures can rise to over 30 °C (86 °F). Near the poles where sea ice forms, the temperature in equilibrium is about −2 °C (28 °F). In all parts of the ocean, deep ocean temperatures range between −2 °C (28 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F).[15] Constant circulation of water in the ocean creates ocean currents. Those currents are caused by forces operating on the water, such as temperature and salinity differences, atmospheric circulation (wind), and the Coriolis effect.[16] Tides create tidal currents, while wind and waves cause surface currents. The Gulf Stream, Kuroshio Current, Agulhas Current and Antarctic Circumpolar Current are all major ocean currents. Such currents transport massive amounts of water, gases, pollutants and heat to different parts of the world, and from the surface into the deep ocean. All this has impacts on the global climate system. Ocean water contains dissolved gases, including oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. An exchange of these gases occurs at the oceans surface. The solubility of these gases depends on the temperature and salinity of the water.[17] The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is rising due to CO2 emissions, mainly from fossil fuel combustion. As the oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, a higher concentration leads to ocean acidification (a drop in pH value).[18]
Law enforcement. Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society.[1] The term encompasses police, courts and corrections. These three components of the criminal justice system may operate independently of each other or collectively through the use of record sharing and cooperation. Throughout the world, law enforcement are also associated with protecting the public, life, property, and keeping the peace in society.[2] The concept of law enforcement dates back to ancient times, and forms of law enforcement and police have existed in various forms across many human societies. Modern state legal codes use the term law enforcement officer or peace officer to include every person vested by the legislating state with police power or authority; traditionally, anyone sworn or badged who can arrest any person for a violation of criminal law is included under the umbrella term of law enforcement. Although law enforcement may be most concerned with the prevention and punishment of crimes, organizations exist to discourage a wide variety of non-criminal violations of rules and norms, effected through the imposition of less severe consequences such as probation. Law enforcement organizations existed in ancient times, such as prefects in ancient China, paqūdus in Babylonia, curaca in the Inca Empire, vigiles in the Roman Empire, and Medjay in ancient Egypt. Who law enforcers were and reported to depended on the civilization and often changed over time, but they were typically enslaved people, soldiers, officers of a judge, or hired by settlements and households. Aside from their duties to enforce laws, many ancient law enforcers also served as slave catchers, firefighters, watchmen, city guards, and bodyguards. By the post-classical period and the Middle Ages, forces such as the Santa Hermandades, the shurta, and the Maréchaussée provided services ranging from law enforcement and personal protection to customs enforcement and waste collection. In England, a complex law enforcement system emerged, where tithings, groups of ten families, were responsible for ensuring good behavior and apprehending criminals; groups of ten tithings (hundreds) were overseen by a reeve; hundreds were governed by administrative divisions known as shires; and shires were overseen by shire-reeves. In feudal Japan, samurai were responsible for enforcing laws.
Self-defense. Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm.[1] The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many jurisdictions.[2] Physical self-defense is using physical force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be either armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on various parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand, but also on the mental and physical preparedness of the defender.[3] Many martial arts styles are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense. Some martial arts teach how to escape from a knife or gun situation or how to break away from a punch, while others teach how to attack. Many modern martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques to provide more practical self-defense. They will often customize self-defense training to suit individual participants.[citation needed] A wide variety of weapons can be deployed defensively. The most suitable depends on the threat presented, the victim or victims, and the defenders experience. Legal restrictions also vary greatly and influence which self-defense options are available.[citation needed]
Special cities of Japan. A special city (特例市, Tokureishi) of Japan was a category of cities in Japan in operation until 2015. Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions[specify] normally carried out by prefectural governments. Those functions were a subset of the functions that were delegated to core cities. The category of special cities was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26. They were designated by the Cabinet after a request by a city council and a prefectural assembly. Because the level of autonomy delegated to special cities was similar to that for core cities, after consultation with local governments the category of special cities was abolished in the revision of the Local Autonomy Act enacted on April 1, 2015. Cities with a population of at least 200,000 may now apply to be directly promoted to core city status. Special cities that have not been promoted may still retain autonomy, and are called special cities for the enforcement period (施行時特例市, Shikōji Tokurei shi), but this is regarded as a temporary arrangement. [1] The special cities were not the same as the special wards of Tokyo. They were also different from the special (designated) cities (特別市, tokubetsu-shi) that were legally established under the Local Autonomy Law between 1947 and 1956, in an arrangement that was never implemented. They would have been prefecture-independent cities (in an analogous way, special wards are city-independent wards). They were the legal successors to the 1922 six major cities (roku daitoshi; only five were left in 1947 as Tokyo City had been abolished in the war) and precursors to the 1956 designated major cities that have expanded autonomy, but not full independence from prefectures.[2] As of 2015, when the category was abolished, 23 cities had been designated special cities:
Combat. Combat (French for fight) is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of self-defense or to impose ones will upon others. An instance of combat can be a standalone confrontation or part of a wider conflict, and its scale can range from a fight between individuals to a war between organized groups. Combat may also be benign and recreational, as in the cases of combat sports and mock combat. Combat may comply with, or be in violation of, local or international laws regarding conflict. Examples of rules include the Geneva Conventions (covering the treatment of people in war), medieval chivalry, the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (covering boxing), and the individual rulesets of various combat sports. Hand-to-hand combat (melee) is combat at very close range, attacking the opponent with the body (striking, kicking, strangling, etc.) and/or with a melee weapon (knives, swords, batons, etc.), as opposed to a ranged weapon. Hand-to-hand combat can be further divided into three sections depending on the distance and positioning of the combatants: Military combat involves two or more opposing military forces meeting in warfare. Military combat situations can involve multiple groups, such as guerilla groups, insurgents, domestic and/or foreign governments. A military combat situation is known either as a battle or a war, depending on the size of the fighting and which geographical areas in which it occurs. Combat effectiveness has always demanded that the personnel maintain strategic preparedness by being sufficiently trained, armed, equipped, and funded to carry out combat operations in the unit to which they are assigned.[1] Warfare falls under the law of war, which govern its purposes and conduct, and protect the rights of combatants and non-combatants.
Outline of war. The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to war: War – organised and often prolonged armed conflict that is carried out by states or non-state actors – is characterised by extreme violence, social disruption, and economic destruction.[1][2] War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of political violence or intervention.[1][3] Warfare refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general.[4] See: Warfare by era Types of military operations, by scope: Philosophy of war – examines war beyond the typical questions of weaponry and strategy, inquiring into such things as the meaning and etiology of war, the relationship between war and human nature, and the ethics of war.
Prehistoric warfare. Prehistoric warfare refers to war that occurred between societies without recorded history. The existence—and the definition—of war in humanitys state of nature has been a controversial topic in the history of ideas at least since Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan (1651) argued a war of all against all, a view directly challenged by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in a Discourse on Inequality (1755) and The Social Contract (1762). The debate over human nature continues, spanning contemporary anthropology, archaeology, ethnography, history, political science, psychology, primatology, and philosophy in such divergent books as Azar Gats War in Human Civilization and Raymond C. Kellys Warless Societies and the Origin of War.[1][2] For the purposes of this article, prehistoric war will be broadly defined as a state of organized lethal aggression between autonomous preliterate communities.[3][4] Some scientists argue that humans have a predisposition for violence.[5] Chimpanzees, the great apes genetically closest to humans,[6] are known to wage wars over territories and resources.[5] According to cultural anthropologist and ethnographer Raymond C. Kelly, population density among the earliest hunter-gatherer societies of Homo erectus was probably low enough to avoid armed conflict. The development of the throwing-spear and ambush hunting techniques required cooperation, which made potential violence between hunting parties very costly. The need to prevent competition for resources by maintenance of low population densities may have accelerated the migration out of Africa of H. erectus some 1.8 million years ago as a natural consequence of conflict avoidance. Hypotheses which suggest that genocidal violence may have caused the extinction of the Neanderthals have been offered by several authors,[7] including Jared Diamond[8] and Ronald Wright.[9] The hypothesis that early humans violently replaced Neanderthals was first proposed by French paleontologist Marcellin Boule (the first person to publish an analysis of a Neanderthal) in 1912.[10] However, several scholars have formed alternative theories as to why the Neanderthals died out, and there is no clear consensus as to what caused their extinction within the current scientific community.[11]
Military history. Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts, while amateur historians and hobbyists often take a larger interest in the details of battles, equipment, and uniforms in use. The essential subjects of military history study are the causes of war, the social and cultural foundations, military doctrine on each side, the logistics, leadership, technology, strategy, and tactics used, and how these changed over time. On the other hand, just war theory explores the moral dimensions of warfare, and to better limit the destructive reality caused by war, seeks to establish a doctrine of military ethics. As an applied field, military history has been studied at academies and service schools because the military command seeks to not repeat past mistakes, and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during a battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned from the past. When certifying military history instructors[1] the Combat Studies Institute deemphasizes rote detail memorization and focuses on themes and context in relation to current and future conflict, using the motto Past is Prologue.[2]
Tankōbon. A tankōbon (単行本; lit. independent/standalone book)[a] is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as shinsho (17×11 cm paperback books) and bunkobon. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that was previously published in a serialized format. Manga tankōbon typically contain a handful of chapters, and may collect multiple volumes as a series continues publication. Major publishing imprints for tankōbon of manga include Jump Comics (for serials in Shueishas Weekly Shōnen Jump and other Jump magazines), Kodanshas Shōnen Magazine Comics, Shogakukans Shōnen Sunday Comics, and Akita Shoten’s Shōnen Champion Comics. Increasingly after 1959,[citation needed] manga came to be published in thick, phone-book-sized weekly or monthly anthology manga magazines (such as Weekly Shōnen Magazine or Weekly Shōnen Jump). These anthologies often have hundreds of pages and dozens of individual series by multiple authors. They are printed on cheap newsprint and are considered disposable. Since the 1930s, though, comic strips had been compiled into tankōbon collecting multiple installments from a single series and reprinting them in a roughly paperback-sized volume on higher quality paper than in the original magazine printing.[1] Strips in manga magazines and tankobon are typically printed in black and white, but sometimes certain sections may be printed in colour or using colored inks or paper. In English, while a tankōbon translation is usually marketed as a graphic novel or trade paperback, the transliterated terms tankoubon and tankōbon are sometimes used amongst online communities. Japanese speakers frequently refer to manga tankōbon by the English loanword comics (コミックス, komikkusu),[2] although it is more widespread for being used in place of the word manga, as they are the same thing. The term also refers to the format itself—a comic collection in a trade paperback sized (roughly 13 cm × 18 cm, 5 in × 7 in) book (as opposed to the larger 18 cm × 25 cm, 7 in × 10 in format used by traditional American graphic novels). Although Japanese manga tankobon may be in various sizes, the most common are Japanese B6 (12.8 cm × 18.2 cm, 5.04 in × 7.17 in) and ISO A5 (14.8 cm × 21.0 cm, 5.83 in × 8.27 in). The tankōbon format has made inroads in the American comics market, with several major publishers opting to release some of their titles in this smaller format, which is sometimes also called digest format or digest size. In the United States, many manga are released in the so-called Tokyopop trim or Tokyopop size (approximately 13 cm × 19 cm, 5 in × 7.5 in).[3]
Special wards of Tokyo. The 23 special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku) of Tokyo are a unique form of municipality under Japans 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy. Their combined land area of 627 km2 (242 sq mi) is, for comparison, about three-quarters the size of Singapore, and their combined population, as of 2024, is almost 10 million, giving a density of about 15,742 people/km2 (40,770 people/sq mi). The same law today allows for such entities to be established in other prefectures but none have been set up. Tokyos 23 special wards unite with 39 ordinary municipalities (cities, towns and villages)[2] to their west to form Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture. Without the ordinary municipalities the special wards account for what was the core Tokyo City, before this was abolished in 1943 under the Tōjō Cabinet. It was four years later, during the Occupation of Japan, that autonomy was restored to Tokyo City by means of the special wards, each being given a directly elected mayor and assembly like all other cities, towns and villages in Japan. In Japanese the 23 are collectively also known as Wards area of Tokyo Metropolis (東京都区部, Tōkyō-to kubu), former Tokyo City (旧東京市, kyū-Tōkyō-shi), or less formally the 23 wards (23区, nijūsan-ku) or just Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō) if the context makes obvious that this does not refer to the whole prefecture. Most of Tokyos prominent infrastructures are located within the special wards. Today, all wards refer to themselves as a city in English, but the Japanese designation of special ward (tokubetsu-ku) remains unchanged. They are a group of 23 municipalities; there is no associated single government body separate from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs all 62 municipalities of Tokyo, not just the special wards. Analogues exist in historic and contemporary Chinese and Korean administration: Special wards are city-independent wards, analogously, special cities/special cities (teukbyeol-si/tokubetsu-shi) are province-/prefecture-independent cities and were intended to be introduced under SCAP in Japan, too; but in Japan, implementation was stalled, and in 1956 special cities were replaced in the Local Autonomy Law with designated major cities which gain additional autonomy, but remain part of prefectures. In everyday English, Tokyo as a whole is also referred to as a city even though it contains 62 cities, towns, villages and special wards. The closest English equivalents for the special wards would be the London boroughs or New York City boroughs if Greater London and New York City had been abolished in the same way as Tokyo City, making the boroughs top-level divisions of England or New York state. Although special wards are autonomous from the Tokyo metropolitan government, they also function as a single urban entity in respect to certain public services, including water supply, sewage disposal, and fire services. These services are handled by the Tokyo metropolitan government, whereas cities would normally provide these services themselves. This situation is very similar between the Federal District and its 35 administrative regions in Brazil,but with local elections. To finance the joint public services it provides to the 23 wards, the metropolitan government levies some of the taxes that would normally be levied by city governments, and also makes transfer payments to wards that cannot finance their own local administration.[3]
List of towns in Japan. A town (町; chō or machi) is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a local public body along with prefecture (ken or other equivalents), city (shi), and village (mura). Geographically, a town is contained within a district. The same word (町; machi or chō) is also used in names of smaller regions, usually a part of a ward in a city. This is a legacy of when smaller towns were formed on the outskirts of a city, only to eventually merge into it.
Australasia. Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologically, where the term covers several slightly different but related regions. Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French Australasie) in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes[1] (1756). He derived it from the Latin for south of Asia and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica).[2] In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the Australasian colonies. In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.[3] Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the early 20th century. Historian Hansong Li finds that against the backdrop of British colonialism, German geopoliticians considered Australasia as a counterweight to the former German South Sea Edge (Südseerand), both of which form the Indo-Pacific region.[4] The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary gives two meanings of Australasia. One, especially in Australian use, is Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific. The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.[5] Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (Collegiate and Unabridged) define Australasia as Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia. The American Heritage Dictionary online recognizes two senses in use: one more precise and the other broader, loosely covering all of Oceania.
List of villages in Japan. A village (村, mura, son)[a] is a local administrative unit in Japan.[1] It is a local public body along with prefecture (県, ken; or other equivalents), city (市, shi), and town (町, chō, machi). Geographically, a villages extent is contained within a prefecture. Villages are larger than a local settlement; each is a subdivision of rural district (郡, gun), which are subdivided into towns and villages with no overlap and no uncovered area. As a result of mergers and elevation to higher statuses, the number of villages in Japan is decreasing. As of 2006, 13 prefectures no longer have any villages: Tochigi (since March 20, 2006), Fukui (since March 3, 2006), Ishikawa (since March 1, 2005), Shizuoka (since July 1, 2005), Hyōgo (since April 1, 1999), Mie (since November 1, 2005), Shiga (since January 1, 2005), Hiroshima (since November 5, 2004), Yamaguchi (since March 20, 2006), Ehime (since January 16, 2005), Kagawa (since April 1, 1999), Nagasaki (since October 1, 2005), and Saga (since March 20, 2006). 村 can have the reading of mura or son, but with the exception of Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Miyazaki and Okinawa, most prefectures use the mura reading.
Madman Entertainment. Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and United States. Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard as a mail order business specialising in imported anime titles, after following the success of Manga Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] Originally selling titles on VHS, the company became the second Australian distributor to author DVDs in-house, with the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell being their first DVD release. In 1998, Madman began distributing anime to television outlets, with Neon Genesis Evangelion airing on SBS TV. Madman manages the distribution of live-action titles through its labels Madman Films, Directors Suite, Madman Sports, Madman Laughs, Madman Television, Bollywood Masala and Eastern Eye as well as childrens entertainment through its Planet Mad and Mad4Kids labels. Madman also has a theatrical distribution arm called Madman Cinema. In addition, the company distributes programmes acquired or produced by Australias Special Broadcasting Service (and newly, titles from WWE in Australasia, thus replacing Shock Entertainment[3]) on DVD and Blu-ray.[4] Until 2005, Madman was also the distributor for film distributor Umbrella Entertainment.[5] On 1 May 2006, Madman Group was purchased by Funtastic Limited for A$34.5 million, in order to acquire the media rights to titles for which Funtastic held the toy rights. Madman founders Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard also signed an employment agreement upon the acquisition, remaining on Madmans board of directors.[6]
Military. A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a distinct military uniform. They may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of a military is usually defined as defence of their state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms armed forces and military are often synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a countrys armed forces may include other paramilitary forces such as armed police. Beyond warfare, the military may be employed in additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions within the state, including internal security threats, crowd control, promotion of political agendas, emergency services and reconstruction, protecting corporate economic interests, social ceremonies, and national honour guards.[1] A nations military may function as a discrete social subculture, with dedicated infrastructure such as military housing, schools, utilities, logistics, hospitals, legal services, food production, finance, and banking services. The profession of soldiering is older than recorded history.[2] Some images of classical antiquity portray the power and feats of military leaders. The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC from the reign of Ramses II, features in bas-relief monuments. The first Emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang, created the Terracotta Army to represent his military might.[3] The Ancient Romans wrote many treatises and writings on warfare, as well as many decorated triumphal arches and victory columns.
War. War is an armed conflict[a] between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organized groups.[2] It is generally characterized by widespread violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces. Warfare refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general.[3] Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties. The English word war derives from the 11th-century Old English words wyrre and werre, from Old French werre (guerre as in modern French), in turn from the Frankish werra, ultimately deriving from the Proto-Germanic werzō mixture, confusion. The word is related to the Old Saxon werran, Old High German werran, and the modern German verwirren, meaning to confuse, to perplex, to bring into confusion.[4]
Tang dynasty (disambiguation). Tang dynasty (618–907) was an imperial dynasty in early medieval China. Tang dynasty may also refer to:
Northern America. Northern America is the northernmost subregion of North America, as well as the northernmost region in the Americas. The boundaries may be drawn significantly differently depending on the source of the definition. In one definition, it lies directly north of Middle America.[2] Northern Americas land frontier with the rest of North America then coincides with the Mexico–United States border. Geopolitically, according to the United Nations scheme of geographical regions and subregions, Northern America consists of Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and the United States (the contiguous United States and Alaska only, excluding Hawaii, Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and other minor U.S. Pacific territories).[3][4] Maps using the term Northern America date back to 1755, when the region was occupied by France, Great Britain, and Spain.[5] The Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America in 1813 applied to Mexico. Today, Northern America includes the Canada–US dyad, developed countries that exhibit very high Human Development Indexes and intense economic integration while sharing many socioeconomic characteristics.[6] The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions has Northern America as the seventh of its nine botanical continents. Its definition differs from the usual political one: Mexico is included, Bermuda is excluded (being placed in the Caribbean region), Hawaii is excluded (being placed in the Pacific botanical continent) and all of the Aleutian Islands, Russian as well as American, are included.[7] * indicates Demographics of country or territory links. Africa
Wu Zhou. Zhou, known in historiography as the Wu Zhou (Chinese: 武周), was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty that existed between 690 and 705. The dynasty consisted of the reign of one empress regnant, Wu Zhao (Wu Zetian), who usurped the throne of her son, the Emperor Ruizong of Tang, in 690. The dynasty lasted until another one of Wu Zhaos sons, the Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, was restored to the throne in the Shenlong Coup [zh] in 705, marking the restoration of the Tang dynasty. Historians generally regard the Wu Zhou as an interregnum of the Tang dynasty. Wu named her dynasty after the ancient Zhou dynasty, from whom she believed herself to be descended. Before her coronation, Wu Zhao (as she was then known), was often acting as de facto regent for her husband, Emperor Gaozong, or her sons, giving her a head-start in accomplishing her aims, which she then consolidated as huangdi of Zhou once she became ruler in name also. Beginning in 655, Wu began to preside over court meetings in the name of the emperor, and she co-ruled with Emperor Gaozong until his death. After Gaozongs death, she ruled in name of her sons, who reigned officially as puppet emperors, and power was completely and solely in her hands. In 690, she deposed her son, Emperor Ruizong, and declared herself Huangdi (emperor) of her Zhou Dynasty. The dynastys capital was Shendu[4][page needed] (神都 Divine Capital, present-day Luoyang). Despite Wus infamous rise to power, there is evidence that suggests women were granted more privileges during her reign, and China was in a state of great prosperity during her rule.[citation needed]
Whirlpool (1934 film). Whirlpool is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Jack Holt and Jean Arthur. The screenplay concerns a carnival owner convicted of manslaughter after a man is killed in a fight. Buck Rankin is a shady carnival promoter who falls in love with Helen and decides to go straight and sell the carnival. However, a fight over a con game causes a melee at the carnival, during which Rankin accidentally kills a man. He is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Eight months later, Helen reveals to him in prison that she is pregnant with his child and refuses his request that she divorce him. For the good of his wife and child, Rankin decides to fake his own death. After seeing fellow prisoner Farley leap to his death in the roiling waters and deadly whirlpool surrounding the prison, Rankin forges a letter to Helen—on the wardens stationery—informing her that Rankin died while attempting to escape and that his body had not been found. Many years later, Rankin is released from prison. He adopts the alias Duke Sheldon and, with his carnival partner Mac, becomes wealthy by using the gambling skills that Rankin learned while incarcerated. Helen has since married judge Jim Morrison. Sandy, Rankins daughter by Helen, is a newspaper reporter engaged to marry fellow reporter Bob Andrews, but she knows nothing of her fathers existence. Sandy is assigned to write a story on Duke and recognizes him as her father from an old photograph that Helen has kept. She reveals herself to him as his daughter, and tough guy Duke melts. They become inseparable, and spend as much time together as possible: at lunch and dinner dates, at sporting events and amusement centers, and in quiet interludes. Sandys continual late nights, and mysterious comings and goings with an unknown man, disturb her mother and worry her fiancé.
List of cities in Japan. This is a list of cities in Japan sorted by prefecture and within prefecture by founding date. The list is also sortable by population, area, density and foundation date. Most large cities in Japan are cities designated by government ordinance. Some regionally important cities are designated as core cities. Tokyo is not included on this list, as the City of Tokyo ceased to exist on July 1, 1943. Tokyo now exists as a special metropolis prefecture (都, to), with 23 special wards (with the same status of city) making up the former boundaries of the former city in the eastern half of the prefecture.
Metropolitan Museum (disambiguation). Metropolitan Museum normally refers to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum may also refer to:
Luoyang. Luoyang (simplified Chinese: 洛阳; traditional Chinese: 洛陽; pinyin: Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast. As of December 31, 2018, Luoyang had a population of 6,888,500 inhabitants with 2,751,400 people living in the built-up (or metro) area made of the citys five out of six urban districts (except the Jili District not continuously urbanized) and Yanshi District, now being conurbated.[1] By the end of 2022, Luoyang Municipality had jurisdiction over 7 municipal districts, 7 counties and 1 development zone. The permanent population is 7.079 million.[4][5] Situated on the central plain of China, Luoyang is among the oldest cities in China and one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It is the earliest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. The name Luoyang originates from the citys location on the north or sunny (yang) side of the Luo River. Since the river flows from west to east and the sun is to the south of the river, the sun always shines on the north side of the river. Luoyang has had several names over the centuries, including Luoyi (洛邑) and Luozhou (洛州), but Luoyang has been its primary name. It has also been called Dongdu (東都; eastern capital) during the Tang dynasty, Xijing (西京; western capital) during the Song dynasty, or Jingluo (Chinese: 京洛; lit. capital Luo). During the rule of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, the city was known as Shendu (神都; divine capital). Luoyang was renamed Henanfu (河南府) during the Qing dynasty but regained its former name in 1912.[6] Several cities – all of which are generally referred to as Luoyang – have been built in this area. In 2070 BC, the Xia dynasty king Tai Kang moved the Xia capital to the intersection of the Luo and Yi and named the city Zhenxun (斟鄩). In 1600 BC, Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia dynasty king, and built Western Bo, (西亳), a new capital on the Luo River. The ruins of Western Bo are located in Luoyang Prefecture.[citation needed] In 1036 BC a settlement named Chengzhou (成周) was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility. The Duke also moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to Chengzhou from the Zhou dynasty capital at Haojing. A second Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng (also: Luoyi) was built 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Chengzhou. Wangcheng became the capital of the Eastern Zhou dynasty in 771 BC. The Eastern Zhou dynasty capital was moved to Chengzhou in 510 BC. Later, the Eastern Han dynasty capital of Luoyang would be built over Chengzhou. Modern Luoyang is built over the ruins of Wangcheng, which are still visible today at Wangcheng Park.[7]
Changan. 34°18′30″N 108°51′30″E / 34.30833°N 108.85833°E / 34.30833; 108.85833 Changan is a former name of the city Xian in Shaanxi Province, China, used when it served as the capital city of several Chinese dynasties from 202 BC to AD 907. For much of its time as the capital of the Western Han and Tang, it was the largest city in the world. The site of Changan south of the Wei River in central Xian has been inhabited since Neolithic times, when the Yangshao culture had a major center at Banpo to its south during the 5th millennium BC. Fenghao, the twin capitals of the Western Zhou, straddled the Feng River to its southwest from the 11th to 8th centuries BC and the state of Qin and its imperial dynasty had their capital in nearby Xianyang, north of the Wei, in the 4th & 3rd centuries BC. The First Emperors mausoleum and its Terracotta Army lay to its east. Liu Bang moved his court to the Changle Palace in 200 BC, soon after the establishment of the Western Han. It held a central position in the large but easily defended Guanzhong Region, near but outside the ruins of the Qin Xianyang and Epang Palaces. Han Changan grew up to the north of it and the adjacent Weiyang Palace. Weiyang continued to serve as the imperial palace of the Xin, late Eastern Han, Western Jin, Han-Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, and early Sui dynasties and became the largest palace ever built, covering 4.8 km2 (1,200 acres)—nearly seven times larger than the Forbidden City—before its destruction under the early Tang. The main areas of Sui and Tang-era Changan was south of the earlier settlement and southeast of Weiyang. Around AD 750, Changan was called a million-man city in Chinese records; most modern estimates put the population within the walls of the Tang city around 800,000–1,000,000.[1] The 742 census recorded in the New Book of Tang listed the population of Jingzhao, the province including the capital and its metropolitan area, as 1,960,188 people in 362,921 households[2] and modern scholars—including Charles Benn[3] and Patricia Ebrey[4]—have concurred that Changan and its immediate hinterland could have supported around 2,000,000 people.[5] Amid the Fall of Tang, the warlord Zhu Wen forcibly relocated most of the citys remaining population to Luoyang in 904. Changan was of minor importance in the following centuries but again became a regional center under the Northern Song. Its name was changed repeatedly under the Mongol Yuan dynasty before the Ming settled on Xian and erected its city walls around the former Sui and Tang palace district, an area about an eighth the size of the medieval city at its height.
Middle Chinese. Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the Qieyun, a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Swedish linguist Bernhard Karlgren believed that the dictionary recorded a speech standard of the capital Changan of the Sui and Tang dynasties. However, based on the preface of the Qieyun, most scholars now believe that it records a compromise between northern and southern reading and poetic traditions from the late Northern and Southern dynasties period. This composite system contains important information for the reconstruction of the preceding system of Old Chinese phonology (early 1st millennium BC). The fanqie method used to indicate pronunciation in these dictionaries, though an improvement on earlier methods, proved awkward in practice. The mid-12th-century Yunjing and other rime tables incorporate a more sophisticated and convenient analysis of the Qieyun phonology. The rime tables attest to a number of sound changes that had occurred over the centuries following the publication of the Qieyun. Linguists sometimes refer to the system of the Qieyun as Early Middle Chinese and the variant revealed by the rime tables as Late Middle Chinese. The dictionaries and tables describe pronunciations in relative terms, but do not give their actual sounds. Karlgren was the first to attempt a reconstruction of the sounds of Middle Chinese, comparing its categories with modern varieties of Chinese and the Sino-Xenic pronunciations used in the reading traditions of neighbouring countries. Several other scholars have produced their own reconstructions using similar methods. The Qieyun system is often used as a framework for Chinese dialectology. With the exception of Min varieties, which show independent developments from Eastern Han Chinese, modern Chinese varieties can be largely treated as divergent developments from Middle Chinese. The study of Middle Chinese also provides for a better understanding and analysis of Classical Chinese poetry, such as the study of Tang poetry.
The Met Fifth Avenue. The Met Fifth Avenue is the primary museum building for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The building is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattans Upper East Side. After negotiations with the City of New York in 1871, the Met was granted the land between the East Park Drive, Fifth Avenue, and the 79th and 85th Street transverse roads in Central Park. A red-brick and stone building was designed by American architect Calvert Vaux and his collaborator Jacob Wrey Mould. Vauxs ambitious building was not well received; the building was dubbed by critics as a mausoleum, its High Victorian Gothic style was already considered dated prior to completion, and the president of the Met termed the project a mistake.[6] Within 20 years, a new architectural plan engulfing the Vaux building was already being executed. Since that time, many additions have been made, including the distinctive Beaux-Arts Fifth Avenue facade, Great Hall, and Grand Stairway. These were designed by architect and Met trustee Richard Morris Hunt, but completed by his son, Richard Howland Hunt in 1902 after his fathers death.[7] The architectural sculpture on the facade is by Karl Bitter.[8] The wings that completed the Fifth Avenue facade in the 1910s were designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. The modernistic glass sides and rear of the museum are the work of Roche-Dinkeloo. Kevin Roche was the architect for the master plan and expansion of the museum for over 40 years. He was responsible for designing all of its new wings and renovations including but not limited to the American Wing, Greek and Roman Court, and recently opened Islamic Wing.[9]
Whirlpool (1959 film). Whirlpool is a 1959 British crime film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Juliette Gréco and O. W. Fischer.[1][2] It was written by Laurence P. Bachmann and Marcel Stellman, based on Bachmanns 1957 novel The Lorelei.[3][4] A beautiful girl Lora asks Rolph if she can travel on his barge down the Rhine. Rolph agrees to this and helps her to escape the clutches of murderer Herman, who is obsessed with Lora. The local police approach Rolph and ask him to work together with them to lure Herman on board the barge using Lora as bait. Herman manages to hide on board and then takes control of Rolphs barge using a gun he has. Rolph and Lora manage to overpower Herman and throw him overboard where he is dragged under the barge into one of the side paddles where he is killed. Lora is a cynical person, believing that no one would ever do anything to help her out of just friendship due to the hard life she has had. At the end of the film, Lora leaves with the police, while Rolph asks her to return to him one day to live with him on his barge on the European rivers.
Whirlpool (1950 film). Whirlpool is a 1950[1][2] American film noir thriller directed by Otto Preminger and written by Ben Hecht and Andrew Solt, adapted from the 1946 novel Methinks the Lady... by Guy Endore. The film stars Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer and Charles Bickford, and features Constance Collier in her final film role. Its plot follows the kleptomaniac wife of a wealthy Los Angeles psychoanalyst who, after a chance meeting with a hypnotist, is charged with a violent murder. Owing to anti-British statements screenwriter Hecht had made in the recent past concerning the United Kingdoms involvement in Israel, prints of the film initially circulated in the country replaced his credit with the pseudonym Lester Barstow. Ann Sutton, the wife of Dr. William Sutton, a successful psychoanalyst, is caught shoplifting in an upscale Los Angeles department store, and loses consciousness when apprehended. She is saved from scandal by smooth-talking hypnotist David Korvo, who persuades the store officials to put the mermaid pin she stole on her credit account, and not prosecute. Korvo pressures Ann into coming to lunch with him, and she is relieved when, instead of accepting the blackmail payment she thinks he is after, he tears up her check and the store record of her shoplifting, and promises to help her. Ann, overcome with shame surrounding her secret, begins experiencing insomnia. She attends a sophisticated party with Korvo, where she meets Theresa Randolph, a former lover of Korvos and one of her husband, Williams, patients. Korvo hypnotizes Ann at the party and instructs her to sleep, which works, but she does not respond to other orders. Ann meets Korvo at the hotel where he lives for further therapy sessions, but refuses to go up to his suite and insists on talking in public in the hotel bar. Korvo distracts her and takes the martini glass with her fingerprints on it, as well as her scarf.
Whirlpool (1970 film). Whirlpool (also known as She Died with Her Boots On and Whirlpool of Sex) is a 1970 exploitation thriller film written and directed by José Ramón Larraz,[a] in his directorial debut, and starring Karl Lanchbury, Vivian Neves and Pia Andersson.[3] Made in England by a Spanish director for a Danish production company (Athena Films), it was distributed in the USA by Cinemation Industries, whose owner, Jerry Gross, gave himself a Presented by credit. Sarah, a middle-aged photographer, lives in the country outside London with Theo, an aspiring photographer whom she has taken in. The pair refer to one another as aunt and nephew, respectively. While at the studio, Sara meets Tulia, a young fashion model, whom she invites to come stay at her home so that Theo can photograph her. Tulia and Theo have a photo session in the woods, but it is aborted after Tulia witnesses a cloaked figure spying on her. The figure vanishes, and Tulia becomes frightened. That evening, Tulia recounts to her hosts how her friend, Rhonda—also a model and acquaintance who spent time at Sarahs home—commented on being frightened while staying there. In particular, she was bothered by the nearby lake, which she found inexplicably ominous. Shortly after returning to London, Rhonda apparently vanished. As the night draws on, the three have drinks and play a game of cards, which culminates in Tulia and Sarah undressing. Theo and Tulia begin to kiss, and Sarah retires to her bedroom, where she stares longingly at photographs of Rhonda. Tulia is tormented by nightmares involving Theo and Rhonda. In the morning, Sarah chastises Theo for not bringing Tulia into her room so that they could engage in a threesome. An inspector, Mr. Field, arrives and confronts Theo in search of Rhonda, who has disappeared. Theo claims Rhonda told him she planned to move to Italy after leaving Sarahs house. Theo brings Tulia to a local pub, where he offers a man a sum of money. Theo brings the man and Tulia to a secluded area in the woods and allows the man to initiate what is an apparent sexual assault on Tulia, as he photographs it. The man stops short of raping Tula, and, realizing that Theo staged this is a mere photo opportunity, Tulia is disgusted and demands to be returned to London. Theo returns Tulia to the house, where Sarah calms her. Later that night, Sarah and Tulia have sex as Theo photographs it. This eventually culminates in a threesome. Meanwhile, Mr. Field cases Sarahs house, accidentally knocking over a bucket while attempting to look inside. The noise alerts Theo, who quickly goes outside to investigate. Theo chases Mr. Field into the woods to his car, where he stabs him to death.
Action fiction. Action fiction is a genre in literature that focuses on stories involving high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of subgenres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror, intrigue (cloak and dagger), and mysteries. These kinds of stories utilize suspense, the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or the solution to a mystery of a thriller.[1] The intricacies of human relationships or the nuances of philosophy and psychology are rarely explored in action fiction, typically being fast-paced mysteries that merely seek to provide the reader with an exhilarating experience.[2] Action fiction can also be a plot element of non-literary works such as graphic novels and film. Action genre is a form of fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. The action genre is also related to non-literary media including comic books, graphic novels (such as manga), anime, action film, action television series, and action games. It includes martial arts action, extreme sports action, car chases and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat, suspense action, and action comedy, with each focusing in more detail on its own type and flavor of action.[3][4][5][6]
The Cloisters. The Cloisters (also known as the Met Cloisters) is a museum in Fort Tryon Park, straddling the neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood, in Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a focus on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Governed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in the architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters—the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont, and Trie-sur-Baïse—that were acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard in France before 1913 and moved to New York. Barnards collection was bought for the museum by financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. Other major sources of objects were the collections of J. P. Morgan and Joseph Brummer. The museums building was designed by the architect Charles Collens, on a site on a steep hill, with upper and lower levels. It contains medieval gardens and a series of chapels and themed galleries, including the Romanesque, Fuentidueña, Unicorn, Spanish, and Gothic rooms.[3] The design, layout, and ambiance of the building are intended to evoke a sense of medieval European monastic life.[4] It holds about 5,000 works of art and architecture, all European and mostly dating from the Byzantine to the early Renaissance periods, mainly during the 12th through 15th centuries. The objects include stone and wood sculptures, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, and panel paintings, of which the best known include the c. 1422 Early Netherlandish Mérode Altarpiece and the c. 1495–1505 Flemish The Unicorn Tapestries. Rockefeller purchased the museum site in Fort Washington in 1930 and donated it to the Metropolitan in 1931. Upon its opening on May 10, 1938, the Cloisters was described as a collection shown informally in a picturesque setting, which stimulates imagination and creates a receptive mood for enjoyment.[5] The basis for the museums architectural structure came from the collection of George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor and collector who almost single-handedly established a medieval art museum near his home in the Fort Washington section of Upper Manhattan. Although he was a successful sculptor who had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, his income was not enough to support his family. Barnard was a risk taker and led most of his life on the edge of poverty.[6] He moved to Paris in 1883 where he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts.[6] He lived in the village of Moret-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, between 1905 and 1913,[7] and began to deal in 13th- and 14th-century European objects to supplement his earnings. In the process he built a large personal collection of what he described as antiques, at first by buying and selling stand-alone objects with French dealers,[8] then by the acquisition of in situ architectural artifacts from local farmers.[6]
Cabinet of Japan. Naruhito Fumihito Shigeru Ishiba (LDP)
Boroughs of New York City. The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved. New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 (West Bronx) and 1895 (East Bronx). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county. When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island, thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other.
Wards of Japan. A ward (区, ku) is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance.[1] Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance (designated city). The 23 special wards of Tokyo Metropolis have a municipal status, and are not the same as other entities referred to as ku, although their predecessors were. Wards are local entities directly controlled by the municipal government. They handle administrative functions such as koseki registration, health insurance, and property taxation. Many wards have affiliated residents organizations for a number of tasks, although these do not have any legal authority. The special wards of Tokyo are not normal wards in the usual sense of the term, but instead are administrative units governed similarly to cities.
Local Autonomy Act. The Local Autonomy Act (地方自治法, Chihō-jichi-hō), passed by the House of Representatives and the House of Peers on March 28, 1947[1] and promulgated as Law No. 67 of 1947 on April 17,[2][3] is an Act of devolution that established most of Japans contemporary local government structures and administrative divisions, including prefectures, municipalities[3] and other entities. On July 16, 1999, the law was amended to eliminate administrative functions imposed upon local governments by the central governments and to establish Committee for Settling National-Local Disputes.[4] The law and other relevant laws have been amended after the revision to promote decentralization.[5] The classification of local public entities (地方公共団体, chihō kōkyō dantai) (LPEs) are: Ordinary LPEs are the basic local governments. The distinction between ordinary and special LPEs is primarily relevant under the Constitution of Japan, which grants ordinary LPEs particular rights, including: Special LPEs do not have these authorities except as otherwise provided by statute. While special wards are regarded as basic local governments within Tokyo, other special LPEs are consortia of LPEs for specific fields such as schools, waterworks and waste management. LPEs are self-governing in many respects, but report indirectly to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Tokyo, which monitors relations between LPEs, as well as relations between LPEs and the government. The Ministry generally approves all inter-prefectural special LPEs, while inter-municipal special LPEs are approved by prefectural governors.
John Rambo. John James Rambo is a fictional character in the Rambo franchise.[1] He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was played by Sylvester Stallone. The portrayal of the character earned Stallone widespread acclaim and recognition. The character was nominated for American Film Institutes list 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains.[2] Following the success of the first movie, the term Rambo was occasionally used in media circles to describe a lone wolf who is reckless, uses violence to solve all problems, enters dangerous situations alone, and is exceptionally tough, callous, raw and aggressive.[3] David Morrell says that in choosing the name Rambo, he was inspired by the sound of force in the name of Rambo apples, which he encountered in Pennsylvania. These apples, in turn, were named for Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, who sailed from Sweden to America in the 1640s, and soon the name would flourish in New Sweden. The name Rambo was likely derived from a shortened form of Ramberget (a hill on the Hisingen island in Gothenburg, where Peter Gunnarsson was born) plus bo (meaning resident of). Today, many of his descendants can still be found in this region of the US. Morrell also felt that its pronunciation was similar to the surname of Arthur Rimbaud, the title of whose most famous work, A Season in Hell, seemed to him an apt metaphor for the prisoner-of-war experiences that I imagined Rambo suffering.[4] Furthermore, an Arthur J. Rambo was an actual U.S. soldier in Vietnam, but he never returned.[5] His name can be seen on the Vietnam War Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.. He was granted the first name John as a reference to the Civil War era song When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.[6][7] In the novel and first film, Rambo appears as a soldier who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has difficulty adjusting to normal life. He is shown to be prone to violence because of the torture he suffered at the hands of North Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War. In the next films and novelizations, he is displayed as a man who wants to stay away from conflict but is willing to do anything to save his friends and the people he cares about from any danger. Due to his violent nature, many civil people tend to fear him. However, Colonel Samuel Trautman (who was his commanding officer in Vietnam and is probably his only friend) understands him and the pain and torture he has endured in the war and is the only one able to reason with him when he becomes an outlaw after incapacitating police officers in the town of Hope.[8] Rambo has a muscular physique due to his time as a soldier in the army and his intense training regimen. He has a high amount of strength and stamina. Rambo is an expert in surviving in dense forests against a large number of enemies due to his experiences in the Vietnam War. He is also an expert in guerrilla tactics, weapons, and hand-to-hand combat. Rambo has black hair and brown eyes. His height is 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m). In the DVD commentary for First Blood, Morell remarks that the inspiration for Rambo was World War II hero Audie Murphy.
Animate (disambiguation). Animation is the interpolation of dissimilar frames over a finite period. Animate may also refer to:
London boroughs. The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at the same time as Greater London on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) and are a type of local government district. Twelve were designated as Inner London boroughs and twenty as Outer London boroughs. The City of London, the historic centre, is a separate ceremonial county and sui generis local government district that functions quite differently from a London borough. However, the two counties together comprise the administrative area of Greater London as well as the London Region, all of which is also governed by the Greater London Authority, under the Mayor of London. The London boroughs have populations of between 150,000 and 400,000. Inner London boroughs tend to be smaller, in both population and area, and more densely populated than Outer London boroughs. The London boroughs were created by combining groups of former local government units. A review undertaken between 1987 and 1992 led to a number of relatively small alterations in borough boundaries. London borough councils provide the majority of local government services (schools, waste management, social services, libraries), in contrast to the strategic Greater London Authority, which has limited authority over all of Greater London. The councils were first elected in 1964, and acted as shadow authorities until 1 April 1965. Each borough is divided into electoral wards, subject to periodic review, for the purpose of electing councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the most recent elections in 2022, and the next elections due in 2026. The political make-up of London borough councils is dominated by the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. Twenty-eight councils follow the leader and cabinet model of executive governance, while five have directly elected mayors (Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, and Tower Hamlets). The City of London is instead governed by the City of London Corporation (and the Inner and Middle Temples, which are not governed by the City of London Corporation). There are four boroughs that do not have London Borough in their official names: the City of Westminster, and the Royal Boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, Kensington and Chelsea, and Greenwich.
Museum of Modern Art. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMAs collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated and artists books, film, as well as electronic media.[2] The institution was conceived in 1929 by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan. Initially located in the Heckscher Building on Fifth Avenue, it opened just days after the Wall Street Crash. The museum was led by A. Conger Goodyear as president and Abby Rockefeller as treasurer, with Alfred H. Barr Jr. as its first director. Under Barrs leadership, the museums collection rapidly expanded, beginning with an inaugural exhibition of works by European modernists. Despite financial challenges, including opposition from John D. Rockefeller Jr., the museum moved to several temporary locations in its early years, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. eventually donated the land for its permanent site. In 1939, the museum moved to its current location on West 53rd Street designed by architects Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone. A new sculpture garden, designed by Barr and curator John McAndrew, also opened that year. From the 1930s through the 1950s, MoMA became a host to several landmark exhibitions, including Barrs influential Cubism and Abstract Art in 1936. Nelson Rockefeller became the museums president in 1939, playing a key role in its expansion and publicity. David Rockefeller joined the board in 1948 and continued the familys close association with the museum until his death in 2017. In 1953, Philip Johnson redesigned the garden, which subsequently became the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden. In 1958, a fire at MoMA destroyed a painting by Claude Monet and led to the evacuation of other artworks. In later decades, the museum was among several institutions to aid the CIA in its efforts to engage in cultural propaganda during the Cold War.[3] Major expansions in the 1980s and the early 21st century, including the selection of Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi for a significant renovation, nearly doubled MoMAs space for exhibitions and programs. The 2000s saw the formal merger with the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, and in 2019, another major renovation added significant gallery space. The museum has been instrumental in shaping the history of modern art, particularly modern art from Europe.[4][5][6] In recent decades, MoMA has expanded its collection and programming to include works by traditionally underrepresented groups.[7] The museum has been involved in controversies regarding its labor practices, and the institutions labor union, founded in 1971, has been described as the first of its kind in the U.S.[8] The MoMA Library includes about 300,000 books and exhibition catalogs, more than 1,000 periodical titles and more than 40,000 files of ephemera about individual artists and groups.[9] The archives hold primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art.[10] In 2023, MoMA was visited by over 2.8 million people, making it the 15th most-visited art museum in the world and the 6th most-visited museum in the United States.
Fifth Avenue. Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The section in Midtown Manhattan is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue carries two-way traffic between 143rd and 135th Streets, and one-way traffic southbound for the rest of its route. The entire avenue carried two-way traffic until 1966. From 124th to 120th Streets, Fifth Avenue is interrupted by Marcus Garvey Park, with southbound traffic diverted around the park via Mount Morris Park West and northbound to Madison Avenue. Most of the avenue has a bus lane, but no bike lane. Fifth Avenue is the traditional route for many celebratory parades in New York City and is closed to automobile traffic on several Sundays each year. Fifth Avenue was originally a narrower thoroughfare, but the section south of Central Park was widened in 1908. The Midtown blocks between 34th and 59th Streets were mostly residential until the early 20th century, when they were developed for commercial use. The section of Fifth Avenue in the 50s is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. The stretch between 59th and 96th Streets along Central Park was once known as Millionaires Row because of its high concentration of mansions. The portion between 82nd and 110th Streets, also along Central Park, is nicknamed Museum Mile for its many museums. Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park South (59th Street) was relatively undeveloped through the late 19th century.[3]: 2 The surrounding area was once part of the common lands of the city of New York, which was allocated all the waste, vacant, unpatented, and unappropriated lands as a result of the 1686 Dongan Charter.[4] The citys Common Council came to own a large amount of land, primarily in the middle of the island away from the Hudson and East Rivers, as a result of grants by the Dutch provincial government to the colony of New Amsterdam. Although originally more extensive, by 1785 the council held approximately 1,300 acres (530 ha), or about 9 percent of the island.[5]
Rambo III. Rambo III is a 1988 American action film starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. Directed by Peter MacDonald, the script was co-written by Stallone and Sheldon Lettich. It is a sequel to Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and is the third installment in the Rambo series. Richard Crenna reprises his role as Colonel Sam Trautman. The film depicts fictional events during the Soviet–Afghan War. In the film, Rambo sets out on a dangerous journey to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in order to rescue his former commander and his longtime best friend, Col. Trautman, from the hands of an extremely powerful and ruthless Soviet Army colonel who is bent on killing both Trautman and Rambo, while helping a local band of Afghan rebels fight against Soviet forces threatening to destroy their village. Rambo III was released worldwide on May 25, 1988. At the time of its release, Rambo III was the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million. The film was not well received by critics and grossed less than its predecessor, Rambo: First Blood Part II, earning $189 million worldwide. It was nominated for five categories at the 9th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning Worst Actor. A sequel, Rambo, was released in 2008 with Stallone reprising his role and also directing the film. After leaving the military behind, former U.S. Army Green Beret John Rambo has settled in a Thai Buddhist monastery, helping with construction work and competing in krabi–krabong matches in Bangkok, donating his winnings. His old friend and ally Colonel Sam Trautman visits and explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply the Mujahideen and other tribes as they fight the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviets, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway but is ambushed at the border by Soviet forces, who kill his team and capture him. Trautman is sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.
The Whirlpool (1918 film). The Whirlpool is a 1918 American silent crime film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Alice Brady, Holmes Herbert and William B. Davidson.[1] The film revolves around a young man named Richard Brettner, who commits a robbery to attract the attention of Miss Bella Cavello, who is forced to work at her stepfathers casino. Things escalate, and Richard is later arrested for murder, as part of a complex plot involving blackmail, hypnosis, and concealing identities. This article related to an American film of the 1910s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Film genre. A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.[2] Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre criticism, film genres are usually delineated by conventions, iconography, settings, narratives, characters and actors.[3] One can also classify films by the tone, theme/topic, mood, format, target audience, or budget.[4] These characteristics are most evident in genre films, which are commercial feature films [that], through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters and familiar situations in a given genre.[5] A films genre will influence the use of filmmaking styles and techniques, such as the use of flashbacks and low-key lighting in film noir; tight framing in horror films; or fonts that look like rough-hewn logs for the titles of Western films.[6] In addition, genres have associated film scoring conventions, such as lush string orchestras for romantic melodramas or electronic music for science fiction films.[6] Genre also affects how films are broadcast on television, advertised, and organized in video rental stores.[5] Alan Williams distinguishes three main genre categories: narrative, avant-garde, and documentary.[7] With the proliferation of particular genres, film subgenres can also emerge: the legal drama, for example, is a sub-genre of drama that includes courtroom- and trial-focused films. Subgenres are often a mixture of two separate genres; genres can also merge with seemingly unrelated ones to form hybrid genres, where popular combinations include the romantic comedy and the action comedy film. Broader examples include the docufiction and docudrama, which merge the basic categories of fiction and non-fiction (documentary).[8]
Frame rate. Frame rate, most commonly expressed in frame/s, frames per second or FPS, is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and motion capture systems. In these contexts, frame rate may be used interchangeably with frame frequency and refresh rate, which are expressed in hertz (Hz). Additionally, in the context of computer graphics performance, FPS is the rate at which a system, particularly a GPU, is able to generate frames, and refresh rate is the frequency at which a display shows completed frames.[1] In electronic camera specifications frame rate refers to the maximum possible rate frames could be captured, but in practice, other settings (such as exposure time) may reduce the actual frequency to a lower number than the frame rate.[2] The temporal sensitivity and resolution of human vision varies depending on the type and characteristics of visual stimulus, and it differs between individuals. The human visual system can process 10 to 12 images per second and perceive them individually, while higher rates are perceived as motion.[3] Modulated light (such as a computer display) is perceived as stable by the majority of participants in studies when the rate is higher than 50 Hz. This perception of modulated light as steady is known as the flicker fusion threshold. However, when the modulated light is non-uniform and contains an image, the flicker fusion threshold can be much higher, in the hundreds of hertz.[4] With regard to image recognition, people have been found to recognize a specific image in an unbroken series of different images, each of which lasts as little as 13 milliseconds.[5] Persistence of vision sometimes accounts for very short single-millisecond visual stimulus having a perceived duration of between 100 ms and 400 ms. Multiple stimuli that are very short are sometimes perceived as a single stimulus, such as a 10 ms green flash of light immediately followed by a 10 ms red flash of light perceived as a single yellow flash of light.[6] Early silent films had stated frame rates anywhere from 16 to 24 frames per second (FPS),[7] but since the cameras were hand-cranked, the rate often changed during the scene to fit the mood. Projectionists could also change the frame rate in the theater by adjusting a rheostat controlling the voltage powering the film-carrying mechanism in the projector.[8] Film companies often intended for theaters to show their silent films at a higher frame rate than that at which they were filmed.[9] These frame rates were enough for the sense of motion, but it was perceived as jerky motion. To minimize the perceived flicker, projectors employed dual- and triple-blade shutters, so each frame was displayed two or three times, increasing the flicker rate to 48 or 72 Hz and reducing eye strain. Thomas Edison said that 46 frames per second was the minimum needed for the eye to perceive motion: Anything less will strain the eye.[10][11] In the mid to late 1920s, the frame rate for silent film increased to 20–26 FPS.[10] When sound film was introduced in 1926, variations in film speed were no longer tolerated, as the human ear is more sensitive than the eye to changes in frequency. Many theaters had shown silent films at 22 to 26 FPS, which is why the industry chose 24 FPS for sound film as a compromise.[12] From 1927 to 1930, as various studios updated equipment, the rate of 24 FPS became standard for 35 mm sound film.[3] At 24 FPS, the film travels through the projector at a rate of 456 millimetres (18.0 in) per second. This allowed simple two-blade shutters to give a projected series of images at 48 per second, satisfying Edisons recommendation. Many modern 35 mm film projectors use three-blade shutters to give 72 images per second—each frame is flashed on screen three times.[10] In drawn animation, moving characters are often shot on twos, that is to say, one drawing is shown for every two frames of film (which usually runs at 24 frame per second), meaning there are only 12 drawings per second.[13] Even though the image update rate is low, the fluidity is satisfactory for most subjects. However, when a character is required to perform a quick movement, it is usually necessary to revert to animating on ones, as twos are too slow to convey the motion adequately. A blend of the two techniques keeps the eye fooled without unnecessary production cost.[14]
Filmmaking. Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwriting, casting, pre-production, shooting, sound recording, post-production, and screening the finished product before an audience, which may result in a film release and exhibition. The process is nonlinear, in that the filmmaker typically shoots the script out of sequence, repeats shots as needed, and puts them together through editing later. Filmmaking occurs in a variety of economic, social, and political contexts around the world, and uses a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques to make theatrical films, episodic films for television and streaming platforms, music videos, and promotional and educational films. Although filmmaking originally involved the use of film, most film productions are now digital.[1] Today, filmmaking refers to the process of crafting an audio-visual story commercially for distribution or broadcast. Film production consists of five major stages:[2] The development stage contains both general and specific components. Each film studio has a yearly retreat where their top creative executives meet and interact on a variety of areas and topics they wish to explore through collaborations with producers and screenwriters, and then ultimately, directors, actors, and actresses. They choose trending topics from the media and real life, as well as many other sources, to determine their yearly agenda. For example, in a year when action is popular, they may wish to explore that topic in one or more movies. Sometimes, they purchase the rights to articles, bestselling novels, plays, the remaking of older films, stories with some basis in real life through a person or event, a video game, fairy tale, comic book, graphic novel. Likewise, research through surveys may inform their decisions. They may have had blockbusters from their previous year and wish to explore a sequel. They will additionally acquire a completed and independently financed and produced film. Such notable examples are Little Miss Sunshine, The English Patient, and Roma. Studios hold general meetings with producers and screenwriters about original story ideas. In my decade working as a writer, I knew of only a few that were sold and fewer that made it to the screen, relays writer Wayne Powers. Alan Watt, writer-director and Founder of The LA Writers Lab confirmed that completed original screenplays, referred to as specs, make big news when they sell, but these make up a very small portion of movies that are ultimately given the green light to be produced by the president of a studio.
Animation (disambiguation). Animation is the interpolation of frames over a finite period of time. As a discipline, it is practiced with the intent of creating an illusion of movement. Animation may also refer to:
Sylvester Stallone. Sylvester Gardenzio Sly Stallone (/stəˈloʊn/; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards. Stallone is one of only two actors in history (alongside Harrison Ford) to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades.[1][2] Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $7.5 billion worldwide.[3] Struggling as an actor for a number of years upon moving to New York City in 1969, Stallone found gradual work in films such as The Lords of Flatbush (1974). He achieved his greatest critical and commercial success starting in 1976 with his iconic role as boxer Rocky Balboa in the first film of the successful Rocky franchise, which he also wrote.[4] In 1977, he became the third actor in history to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. He portrayed the PTSD-plagued soldier John Rambo in First Blood (1982), a role he would play across five Rambo films (1982–2019). He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, Stallone would go on to become one of Hollywoods highest-paid actors acting in action films such as Cobra (1986), Tango and Cash (1989), Cliffhanger (1993), Demolition Man (1993), and The Specialist (1994). At the height of his career, Stallone was known for his rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger.[5] Stallone continued his established roles in Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008) before launching The Expendables film franchise (2010–present), in which he starred as the mercenary Barney Ross. In 2013, he starred in the successful film Escape Plan and appeared in its sequels. In 2015, he returned to Rocky again with Creed, in which a retired Rocky mentors former rival Apollo Creeds son Donnie Creed. The film brought Stallone widespread praise and his first Golden Globe Award, as well as a third Academy Award nomination, having been first nominated for the same role 40 years prior. He also starred in the sequel Creed II (2018) and portrayed Stakar Ogord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Regarded as an icon of action cinema, Stallone is credited with helping redefine the Hollywood action hero.[6][7][8] He has occasionally ventured from the action genre, with mixed results. He starred in the comedies Oscar (1991) and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992), both of which had modest success. He also starred in the 1997 drama Cop Land, for which he temporarily shed his sculpted physique and gained weight for his role as a powerless sheriff. In television, he has starred in the Paramount+ crime series Tulsa King (2022–present). In addition to his film work, Stallone is a noted art collector and painter, and has written books on fitness.
Genjo Sanzo. Genjo Sanzo (Japanese: 玄奘三蔵, Hepburn: Genjō Sanzō) or Genjyo Sanzo is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Saiyuki. He is one of the four protagonists, loosely based on (or inspired by) the character Tang Sanzang. Konzen Douji was the first incarnation of Genjo Sanzo. Additionally he wore a god-forged golden coronet, a power limiter, to curb more than just his brute strength.[1] He shows the personality traits of someone who is quick to explode into fits of temper when bothered and also a surprising father-like gentleness and kindness with Goku that no one would have expected.[2] When Dr. Ni Jianyi tell him his father was a government official named Rin Tokou, a political activist who was exiled to Oujyouin in Rishyu, the northern-most town of Togenkyo. He was 51 years old when he met Sanzos mother, a woman named Kouran. She was 17 years of age and the daughter of a shop peddler. After he was conceived, his father went missing and his mother went off into the wilderness to bear the child alone. She died shortly after.[3] A very brutal, worldly priest. He drinks, smokes, gambles, and carries a gun, which is pushing it even for normal people (let alone Buddhist monks). Hes searching for the stolen Sutra of his mentor and father figure Priest Koumyou Sanzo, who was killed in Sanzos youth by a mob of murderous Yokai. Sanzo is egotistical, haughty, and can be very cruel, yet our 23-year-old hero also has calm judgment, unwavering intensity, and surprising charisma. His favorite phrases, incidentally, are Die, and Ill kill you. His weapons of choice are the magical Maten Sutra, a handgun, and a paper fan for idiots. Hes 177 cm tall (approx. 510) and is often noted for his good looks and drooping purple eyes.[4] He is the 31st of China. He is one of the five highest priests in Tougenkyo, but he has no intention of devoting himself to Buddhism, and is a corrupt monk who enjoys drinking, smoking, and gambling. Although he has a sharp eye and charisma to see things through, he also has a competitive and selfish side. His favorite phrases are die and Ill kill you.[5] He is the current holder of the Sanzo title and the wielder of very powerful sutras, though he is usually content to keep those stored away and shoot people immediately. He met his trio of party members through various traumatic adventures and brought them together, offering them a chance to start over. Despite his grouchy exterior, he is revealed to be a good person at heart.[6]
Kazuya Minekura. Kazuya Minekura (Japanese: 峰倉かずや, Hepburn: Minekura Kazuya; born March 23, 1975) is a Japanese manga artist widely known for the Saiyuki series. Kazuya Minekura was born in Kanagawa Prefecture and still resides there. Her other manga series include Wild Adapter, Shiritsu Araiso Koto Gakko Seitokai Shikkobu (Araiso Private School Student Council Executive Committee), and Stigma. Stigma is notable for being a full-color work, unusual as manga is generally drawn in black and white. Minekura portrays herself as a naked chibi character with brown hair, in the Artists Talk section of her manga. She had an illness that affected her writing from 2004–2007, which caused her to have a hysterectomy. On September 28, 2010, she went on hiatus to undergo surgery for ameloblastoma on the right half of her upper jawbone.[1] On December 31, 2010, she reported the surgery successfully removed the tumor and is currently resting and being fitted with artificial prosthetics to reconstruct the area where her bones were removed.[2] She resumed her manga Wild Adapter in 2015.[3] On April 16, 2021, Minekura revealed that she had been diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis. Minekura also said that she had also been suffering from multiple medical problems.[4] Before becoming a professional she created doujinshi (self-published print works). Everything that she created from her time as a doujinshi artist was converted into the major works that she is known for today. She wrote the scripts for the drama CDs produced of her works, and wrote the lyrics for the opening theme in Saiyuki Reload Burial. Her works fall into the fantasy, school life, and hard-boiled genres. Most of her works involve action. She has a fixation with the depiction of the male body and friendships. As a lover of smoking, many of the characters that appear in her works are smokers (she herself smokes Cabin Super Mild). Her works involve a lot of violence and grotesque scenes. Her characters also use dirty jokes often. She uses a lot of shadow screen tones; one example is the hard-boiled series Bus Gamer. She uses Copic markers when coloring, but in recent years has been using CG as well.
Stop motion. Stop motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints (puppet animation) or clay figures (claymation) are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to as pixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation. The term stop motion, relating to the animation technique, is often spelled with a hyphen as stop-motion—either standalone or as a compound modifier. Both orthographic variants, with and without the hyphen, are correct, but the hyphenated one has a second meaning that is unrelated to animation or cinema: a device for automatically stopping a machine or engine when something has gone wrong.[2] Before the advent of chronophotography in 1878, a small number of picture sequences were photographed with subjects in separate poses. These can now be regarded as a form of stop motion or pixilation, but very few results were meant to be animated. Until celluloid film base was established in 1888 and set the standard for the moving image, animation could only be presented via mechanisms such as the zoetrope. In 1849, Joseph Plateau published a note about improvements for his Fantascope (a.k.a. phénakisticope). A new translucent variation had improved picture quality and could be viewed with both eyes, by several people at the same time. Plateau stated that the illusion could be advanced even further with an idea communicated to him by Charles Wheatstone: a combination of the fantascope and Wheatstones stereoscope. Plateau thought the construction of a sequential set of stereoscopic image pairs would be the more difficult part of the plan than adapting two copies of his improved fantascope to be fitted with a stereoscope. Wheatstone had suggested using photographs on paper of a solid object, for instance a statuette. Plateau concluded that for this purpose 16 plaster models could be made with 16 regular modifications. He believed such a project would take much time and careful effort, but would be quite worth it because of the expected marvelous results.[3] The plan was never executed, possibly because Plateau was almost completely blind by this time. In 1852, Jules Duboscq patented a Stéréoscope-fantascope ou Bïoscope (or abbreviated as stéréofantascope) stroboscopic disc. The only known extant disc contains stereoscopic photograph pairs of different phases of the motion of a machine. Due to the long exposure times necessary to capture an image with the photographic emulsions of the period, the sequence could not be recorded live and must have been assembled from separate photographs of the various positions of the machinery.
Jura, Scotland. Jura (/ˈdʒʊərə/ JOOR-ə; Scottish Gaelic: Diùra) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay. With an area of 36,692 hectares (142 sq mi), and 258 inhabitants recorded in the 2022 census,[3] Jura is more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth,[6] whereas by population it comes 29th. The island is mountainous, bare and largely infertile, covered by extensive areas of blanket bog.[7] The main settlement is the east coast village of Craighouse, on the Sound of Jura.[8] The Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single malt whisky, is in the village,[9] as is the islands rum distillery which opened in 2021. Craighouse also houses the islands shop, church, primary school, the Jura hotel and bar, a gallery, craft shop, tearoom and the community run petrol pumps. George Orwell lived on Jura intermittently from 1946 to 1949, and completed his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four while living at a remote farmhouse.[10] Between Juras northern tip and the island of Scarba lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan, where a whirlpool makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide. The southern part of the island, from Loch Tarbert southwards, is designated a national scenic area (NSA),[11] one of 40 such areas in Scotland.[12] The Jura NSA covers 30,317 hectares (117 sq mi): 21,072 of land and 9,245 of adjacent sea.[13]
Scarba. Scarba (Scottish Gaelic: Sgarba) is an island, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, just north of the much larger island of Jura. The island has not been permanently inhabited since the 1960s.[3] Until his death in 2013 it was owned by Richard Hill, 7th Baron Sandys; its owner now is Shane Cadzow who farms Luing cattle on the nearby island of Luing[5] and grazes some of the cattle on Scarba.[6] Kilmory Lodge is used seasonally as a shooting lodge, the island having a flourishing herd of red deer. The islands name is from the Norse and may mean sharp, stony, hilly terrain[3] or cormorant island.[7] Scarba is not served by any public ferries, but access from Craobh Haven or Crinan Harbour is possible by arrangement with local boatmen. The rough summit ridge can be accessed from the harbour at the north end, from where a vehicle track leads up past Kilmory Lodge to a height of about 200 metres. After that, there are no paths or well defined routes, and the terrain becomes rough and boggy. The island rises steeply to a peak (Cruach Scarba) of 449 metres (1,473 ft). A cylindrical triangulation point marks the highest of several summits, which are surrounded by several small lochs.

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