The Byzantine Bath of the Upper Town (, Vyzantiná Loutrá Áno Pólis) in Thessaloniki is one of the few and best preserved of the Byzantine baths that have survived from the Byzantine period in Greece. It is located on the Theotokopoulou Street in the Upper Old Town of Thessaloniki.

The baths date to the late 12th/early 13th century, and functioned continuously until 1940, when they shut down probably due to World War II and the German occupation of Greece. The Byzantine sources do not mention it, hence it is likely that it originally belonged to a monastery complex. In Ottoman times, it was known as Kule Hammam, i.e. "bath of the citadel".

The bath's long use led to numerous alterations of the original structure over time. The original architecture follows the typical conventions of Roman baths. The original entrance in the south leads to the rectangular frigidarium rooms, which were used as dressing rooms. Then came two vaulted tepidarium rooms and finally two caldarium rooms. The latter were square in shape and featured hypocausts below the floor. One was covered by a dome supported by an octagonal base with eight windows, the other had a domed ceiling. To the north of the baths was the cistern that provided it with water, with a hearth beneath to warm it.  In Byzantine times the building was alternately used by men and women, but in the Ottoman period the bath was divided into exclusively male and female sections, by blocking off each pair of rooms from each other.

The bath was one of several in the city—the 14th-century writer Nikephoros Choumnos claims that Thessaloniki had more baths than inhabitants—but is the only surviving in Thessaloniki and the largest and most complete of the handful of Byzantine baths surviving elsewhere in Greece: five ruined public baths—two in Corinth, one in Sparta, one in Paramythia, one in Ioannina Castle—and one each in the monasteries of Kaisariani and Zoodochos Pigi.

Although closed since 1940, the bath was subject to neglect and damage during the 1978 earthquakes, and only survived standing through heavy propping up by the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and the protection offered by an external metal sheet covering. In 1988, it was included among the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Following four years of restoration work, the bath was re-opened to the public as a museum and cultural space in June 2015.

References

Sources

Byzantine architecture in Thessaloniki
Byzantine secular architecture
Bathing
Byzantine culture
Byzantine baths
Public baths in Greece

Byzantine Bath (Thessaloniki)


OD is a two-letter abbreviation and can mean any of the following:
 Order of Distinction, a civil honour of Jamaica
 Object Desktop, a suite of skinning and customization programs by Stardock, or ObjectDock, another program by the same company
 Oblivion Dust, a Japanese rock band
 On Demand, when it is available on demand
 Officer of the day
 Old Dragon, former pupil of the Dragon School
 Old Derbeian, a former pupil of Derby School
 Olive Drab, as in OD Green
 Oneness Darkness, a Texas rock band
 OpenDocument, the only ISO acknowledged standard document file format
 One Day Match, a type of shorter match in cricket
 Optical density
 Ordnance Datum, a vertical datum used in Great Britain as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps.
 Doctor of Optometry (O.D.)
 Organization development
 Orphei Drängar, a Swedish male choir
 "Ocular dextra," medical terminology meaning "right eye" ("ocular sinistra" is the term for the left eye). Abbreviated O.D. and O.S. and commonly used in ophthalmology and optometry.
 Outside diameter, a dimension commonly used to specify the size of tubing or pipe
 Od language, a language based in Pakistan.
 Overdose, related to Drugs
 OverDrive CPUs
 Odessa, TX, a small city in West Texas
 On Duty, mostly used in colleges and schools in the attendance sheets to indicate the time the student spent on other extracurricular activities (Cultural Programs etc.)
 Original dance, the second part of an ice dancing competition
 Octavian Droobers, an orienteering club.
 Oringin Destination fare, used for calculating airfares
 O.D. (musician) a founding member of the Finnish industrial band Velcra
 Official Dress in the popular agriculture club: National FFA Organization

Non abbreviated meanings of OD are as follows:
 For the Norse god Od, see Óðr
 For the life force Od, see Odic force
 For the Unix program od, see od (Unix)
 Od, a replacement for "God" in some minced oaths

OD


, Chinese: 山本稲; pinyin: shan bendao) is a Japanese singer and model whose latest hit song was  in 1973.

Biography

Yamamoto was born March 4, 1951, in Kitakyushu to a Japanese mother and an American father. Her father was a U.S. serviceman who died in the Korean War when she was only two years old. Yamamoto moved to Yokohama as a child. She began modeling when just eleven years old, first becoming known after an appearance in the popular fashion magazine, Soen. She was scouted to become a singer, and in 1966 made her debut single "Komacchauna", which promptly sold over a million copies. Yamamoto continued her modeling career, and as such her modeling career rocketed. A contemporary of Twiggy, she began to be called "the Japanese Twiggy", and the two made some appearances together. About a year after her debut, Yamamoto did a six show tour of the United States, which included stops in New York City and San Francisco. All attempts at a follow-up hit fizzled, however.

She stayed busy with her singing career, however, with some appearances in musicals and on television, but was not getting near the top of the charts. In 1972, she made the first of her numerous comebacks, with the smash hit single "Donimo Tomaranai", which became the second biggest hit of her career. The song was written by the accomplished writing team of Yū Aku and Shunichi Tokora, who also wrote hits for Pink Lady, Finger 5, and Momoe Yamaguchi. They later wrote more songs for Yamamoto, including "Jin Jin Sasete", "Kuruwasetaino", and "Neraiuchi". Yamamoto also had a brief turn as a voice actress in 1974, providing the speaking and singing voice of Princess Margaret in Gisaburo Sugii's anime movie version of Jack and the Beanstalk. She also played the character of Mari in the original Kamen Rider TV series starting in 1971.

However good her songs and singing might have been, what people talked about most was the way she looked. Her stage costume of the time revealed her bellybutton, which became known as "heso dashi". For the times it was considered a very sexy, provocative look, bordering on scandalous, and "heso dashi" became the topic of much media discussion. In the 1970s she began spending a good deal of time doing a stage revue type show, often at famed the Crystal Room in Akasaka. Her shows were consistently popular, and the media began calling her "queen of revue". In 1989 she also started adding chanson to her repertoire, for which she won critical and popular acclaim.

During the 1990s Yamamoto was mostly coasting on her successful past. Even a photo book of nudes only caused a small ripple of new interest. The durable star's career was once again revived, however, this time by a little girl named Chibi Maruko-chan. In her popular anime television program, Maruko-chan would sometimes imitate Yamamoto's songs and dance routines, which again spurred interest, and what finally became another full-fledged Yamamoto revival boom.

In 2001 Yamamoto tied up with the popular Harajuku toy store Kiddyland to make a line of Linda goods. She also married for the first time that year, at the age of 50, to a college professor seven years her senior. In 2005 she became the "image character" for Wanda coffee. Throughout her career, Yamamoto has appeared on Kohaku Uta Gassen five times. Her greatest hit, "Neraiuchi", was featured prominently in episode 48 of Ultraman Taro, used as a brass band version in the anime Ace of Diamond and is one of the songs in the Nintendo DS game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.

Filmography

Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances

External links
 Official site

 Profile at JMDb

Japanese female adult models
Japanese women singers
Japanese female idols
1951 births
Living people
Japanese people of American descent
Singers from Kitakyushu
Tenchi Muyo!

Linda Yamamoto


The Second Treaty of Brömsebro (or the Peace of Brömsebro) was signed on 13 August 1645, and ended the Torstenson War, a local conflict that began in 1643 (and was part of the larger Thirty Years' War) between Sweden and Denmark–Norway. Negotiations for the treaty began in February the same year.

Location
The eastern border between the then Danish province of Blekinge and the Swedish province of Småland was formed by the creek Brömsebäck. In this creek lies an islet that was connected to the Danish and Swedish riversides by bridges. On the islet was a stone that was supposed to mark the exact border between the two countries. By this stone, the delegates met to exchange greetings and, at the end of the negotiations, the signed documents. The Danish delegation stayed in Kristianopel while the Swedish side had their accommodation in Söderåkra.

Delegations
Sweden's highest ranking representative was Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. He was accompanied by, among others, Johan Skytte, who died during the negotiations and was replaced by Ture Sparre.

Corfitz Ulfeldt and Chancellor Christen Thomesen Sehested were the chief negotiators of the Danish delegation.

The French diplomat Gaspard Coignet de la Thuillerie was head mediator and observers from the Hanseatic League, Portugal, Stralsund and Mecklenburg followed the negotiations.

Results
The military strength of Sweden ultimately forced Denmark–Norway to give in to Swedish demands.
 Denmark–Norway ceded the Norwegian provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen as well as the Danish Baltic Sea islands of Gotland and Saaremaa (Ösel). The Norwegian regions Idre & Särna were conquered by Dalecarlian peasants at the suggestion of the Swedish government. The concession of this region was not formally recognised until 1751.
 Christian IV son, Frederick II Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden (1634-1645) and of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1635-1645), had to resign, with the two prince-bishoprics being occupied by the Swedes.
 Sweden was exempted from the Sound Dues, a toll on foreign ships passing through Danish waters into the Baltic Sea, and Hamburg was exempted from the "Elbe dues", a toll levied until then on ships to that city by the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.
 Sweden received the Danish province of Halland for a period of 30 years as a guarantee of these provisions.

The treaty was to be followed by the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658, which forced Denmark–Norway to further concessions.

See also
dominium maris baltici
First Treaty of Brömsebro (1541)
List of Swedish wars
List of Danish wars
List of Norwegian wars
List of treaties

Notes

References
History of the Norwegian People by Knut Gjerset, The MacMillan Company, 1915, Volume I.
Nordens Historie, ved Hiels Bache, Forslagsbureauet i Kjøbenhavn, 1884.
The Struggle for Supremacy in the Baltic: 1600–1725 by Jill Lisk; Funk & Wagnalls, New York, 1967.

Bromsebro
Bromsebro
Bromsebro
1645 in Denmark
1645 in Norway
1645 treaties
Treaties of the Swedish Empire
Treaties of Denmark–Norway
1645 in Sweden

Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645)


A stadium is a building in which lots of people may watch an event. They are often used for football and athletics. Some stadiums are paid to add a company name to the name of their stadium. For example, Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, or the ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. When people do this the company has the naming rights to the stadium. The given name of a stadium can change when another company buys the naming rights to that stadium.

An arena is a small indoor stadium. Arenas are often used for many different types of events. These include sports and music.

Other websites
 worldstadia.com

Stadium


Adventure movies are a genre of movies. They contain many of the same features of action movies, but are usually set in exotic locations. The main theme is adventure, with the characters often exploring places they have not been before or doing things they have not done before. Common storylines include quests for lost treasure, heroic journeys for the unknown, and jungle or desert settings. Adventure movies are often set in an historical time and may be based on stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes within the historical context. Kings, battles, rebellion or piracy are commonly seen in adventure movies. Adventure movies may also be combined with other movie genres, such as science fiction, fantasy and sometimes war movies.

The adventure movie was most popular in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Movies such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro were regularly made with major stars, notably Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power, who were closely associated with the genre. In the earliest adventure movies, the main character was usually male. They were portrayed as courageous heroes, facing tyrants or rescuing a beautiful woman in distress.

Themes
Adventure movies usually emphasise the mystery, romance, adventure, danger, and terror of the unknown. Common settings include a jungle or desert. Classic dangers include ferocious man-eating mammals and reptiles, hostile natives, deadly diseases, lost cities and crumbling temples, torrential rivers, waterfalls, whirlpools, and quicksand bogs, damsels in distress, evil emirs and treacherous tribal chieftains, and despicable white adventurers from the civilized world intent on exploiting the jungle, its animals, treasures, resources, and primitive native peoples.

Adventure movies may crossover into other genres such as war, crime, romance, or horror.

Examples
Notable examples of jungle adventure movies include King Kong (adventure, romance, horror), The African Queen (romance, adventure), I Walked with a Zombie (romance, horror), Disney's animated The Jungle Book (children's, comedy, musical), Apocalypse Now (war), and the many Bomba movies, and the Tarzan movies and serials. Since the first theatrical releases of jungle movies in the early 20th century, popular interest in the genre has never waned. Comic books, novels, pulp magazines, and television series have stoked the genre's popularity over the decades.

References

Movie genres

Adventure movie


John William Rollins (August 24, 1916 – April 4, 2000) was an American businessman and politician from Greenville, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party and served as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware. He founded or acquired nine companies, mostly in the automotive and communication sectors, all traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Early life and family
John W. Rollins was born in Keith, Catoosa County, Georgia, the son of John William Rollins and Claudia Nance Rollins, a farmer father and a schoolteacher mother.

He attended school in a one-room schoolhouse nine miles away in Ringgold, Georgia. In 1928, Rollins's father fell ill and the 12-year-old boy accepted additional responsibilities on the family farm. He worked hard to help his mother provide for the family. As a child, he had an entrepreneurial spirit and tried his hand at an early age selling door to door with things such as bedspreads. In the aftermath of the Great Depression, he left the family farm in Ringgold and moved to Philadelphia. His career was a series of entrepreurial ventures ultimately ending up with the formation of 9 NYSE firms and other business ventures.

Personal life
He was married three times, to Kitty Jacob, Linda Kuechler, and Michele Metrinko, and had ten children including John W., Jr., James, Catherine, Patrick, Ted, Jeff, Michele, Monique, Michael and Marc, as well as eleven grandchildren, John III, Jamie, Fontayne, Charlie, Rachel, Katie, Sarah, Emma, Kaitlyn, William, and Morgan.

Business career
After World War II, Rollins and his wife Kitty moved to Lewes, Delaware where he opened a Ford dealership. Rollins aggressively expanded his business by buying other dealerships in Maryland and Virginia. During this time, he also began to help pioneer the concept of leasing automobiles.

In 1947, Rollins' older brother, O. Wayne Rollins, moved to Lewes from Georgia and joined him in the business in Delaware. The following year, the brothers founded Rollins Broadcasting and bought 1460 WRAD, an AM radio station based in the rural town of Radford, Virginia. As television continued to intrude on the traditional radio market, Rollins Broadcasting took advantage of falling radio station prices by increasing its holdings and launching programming targeted toward African-Americans. Rollins then developed a coordinated approach to advertising by buying billboards that allowed him to offer clients multiple advertising venues for their products. In 1956, Rollins Broadcasting expanded its business into television.

In 1961 John and Wayne Rollins took their company public. Over the next three years, annual profits from the company exceeded $9 million. In 1964, they used the proceeds of their public offering to orchestrate the $60 million leveraged buyout of the Atlanta-based Orkin Exterminating Company. Due to the constantly diversifying interests of the business, the company was renamed Rollins, Inc. By 1967, stock in the company was trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In the 1960s John Rollins who had been visiting Jamaica purchased a seven thousand acre sugar plantation Rose Hall near Montego Bay from Francis Kerr-Jarrett. This was developed into a resort and residential development. Part of the facilities was the restoration of the ruined plantation great house as a museum.

In addition to this, John was a pioneer in the automobile leasing business. He started what would later become Rollins Truck Leasing. Also during this time he acquired Matlack Systems, the country's largest bulk trucking company, and started Rollins Purle which later became Rollins Environmental. All three companies ultimately ended up trading on the New York Stock exchange.

By 1984, the interests of Rollins, Inc. had become so diverse that the company spun off two new companies, Rollins Communications and RPC Energy Services, Inc., both of which were traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to this, Rollins founded and grew both Dover Motorsports as well as Dover Entertainment and took them public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Political career
Because of his roots in the business community, Rollins became interested in Delaware's Republican Party, and worked as a fund raiser for Republicans running for local, state, and federal office in Delaware and beyond. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 1952, defeating Democrat Vernon B. Derrickson of Kent County and served from January 20, 1953 to January 15, 1957. In 1956, Rollins was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention that nominated President Dwight D. Eisenhower for reelection.

In the 1960 elections, Rollins ran for Governor of Delaware and defeated his primary opponent, incumbent Lieutenant Governor David P. Buckson. However, he was defeated in the general election by Democrat Elbert N. Carvel, a former Governor of Delaware.

Philanthropy
In addition to his leadership in business and politics, Rollins became one of the principal philanthropists in Delaware. In addition to contributing to multiple charities, he created the John W. Rollins Foundation, rated in 1999 to be one of the 50 largest charitable organizations in Delaware. He sponsored the John W. Rollins, Sr. Award for health care philanthropy, and was a benefactor of the University of Delaware, despite never having attended the school himself.

Rollins received the Order of Merit from the Knights of Malta and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, and was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans in 1963. The Horatio Alger Award recognized Rollins' rise from humble roots to preeminence in the world of business. His philanthropy made the Horatio Alger Association into the largest privately funded scholarship in the US for underprivileged college students. His legacy is continued by his children and his wife Michele.

Death
Rollins died in his office suite at the Rollins Building in Wilmington, Delaware. There is a portrait of him hanging at the Delaware Legislative Hall in the state capitol of Dover.

References

External links
Delaware's Governors
The Political Graveyard
The New Georgia Encyclopedia, Rollins Inc.

Places with more information
Delaware Historical Society; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

1916 births
2000 deaths
Methodists from Delaware
People from Greenville, Delaware
Delaware Republicans
Lieutenant Governors of Delaware
Burials in New Castle County, Delaware
People from Catoosa County, Georgia
People from Ringgold, Georgia
People from Lewes, Delaware
20th-century American politicians

John W. Rollins


Microvillus (plural microvilli) is a very tiny hair-like membrane in the body.  The microvillus greatly increase the amount of surface area for a cell. In humans, the microvilli can give a cell 600 times more surface area. They are good for absorbing things and for secreting things. They are found in many places in a human body including the ear, the tongue, the nose and the intestines.

On a tongue, the microvilli are the tiny hairs on the taste buds that send signals to the brain.  These signals are interpreted by the brain, and tells the brain what things taste like. Over time, as a person tastes more and more things, the brain stores the information the microvilli send in a databank of information.  This databank is used to compare new tastes to old tastes, and help to classify them by comparing and contrasting their qualities.

In the intestines, the microvilli are able to absorb (take) nutrients from the digested food for the body to use.

References

Physiology

Microvillus


Belmont Shore Rugby Club is an American rugby union team named after the Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach, California, which has a tradition of amateur rugby.

History
The Belmont Shore team was founded in 1974, and was one of the original US Rugby Super League teams in 1997. The team has been in the Super League Finals in seven of the past ten championships. They have been league champions four times, most recently in 2007. They were runners-up to the New York Athletic Club team in 2005, and to the San Diego-based Old Mission Beach Athletic Club team in 2006.

Belmont Shore dropped out of the Rugby Super League in October, 2009. In 2014 it joined the Pacific Rugby Premiership.

Club honours
 Rugby Super League Champions: 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007
 Rugby Super League Runner-up: 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008
 US Men's Division I National Championship Runner-up: (15's) 2010
 US Men's 7s National Champions: 2009
 US Men's 7s National Runner-Up: 2008, 2010
 US Men's 7s National Champions: 2011
 US Men's 7s National Champions: 2012
 US Men's Division I National Champions (15's): 2012

Teams
Belmont Shore features adult and youth divisions.  The adult division competes in the Pacific Rugby Premiership & Division I; the youth division features many teams - U-8 through U19.

Sponsorship
The SuperLeague's primary sponsor is Michelob Amber Bock, with each individual team receiving a portion of those revenues.  In addition to Amber Bock, Belmont Shore has individual sponsorships.  Notable primary sponsors include CP Ships and Dr Pepper/7Up. Also DCL Direct (Direct Container Line) and Kudu Rugby.

Notable players
Note: caps and participation are accurate as of 10 August 2006

United States national team

 Mike Hercus, fly-half, thirty-six international caps, 387 international points.
Chris Ostentowski, prop, eight international caps
Francois Viljoen, fullback, thirteen international caps (63 points in international tests)

Other notable players
 Craig Wells, centre, Australia U21 - 1990,91, NSW Waratahs - 1991,92 (10 x caps), Australian Wallaby World Cup Training Squad & Australia "B" - 1991, ACT Brumbies Super 12s - 1998,99 (2 x caps), Australian Classic Wallabies - 1999, USA Super League National Champion - 2004,07 (Belmont Shore), USA Classic Eagles - 2008
 Lee Peina, halfback, Northland
 Joe Taufete'e
 Mike Te'o

Notable coaches
 Ray Egan — Head coach of Belmont Shore until his February 2016 appointment with the San Diego PRO Rugby team.

Other rugby teams in Long Beach

Besides Belmont Shore RFC, there is the Belmont Shore Women's Rugby Football Club (nicknamed the "Landsharks", they have two national championships), Coast Women's RFC, and a men's club team at Long Beach State (which has made the National Final Four on four occasions),

References

External links

Sports in Long Beach, California
Tourist attractions in Long Beach, California
Rugby union teams in California
Rugby clubs established in 1974
1974 establishments in California

Belmont Shore RFC


Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Ontario Education Communications Authority (later known as TVOntario) from 1971 to 1993. The series features two hosts who speak directly to the home viewing audience.

The content of the shows was generally geared towards education and creativity. Each week of episodes focused on a single theme with each weekday assigned a different "motif" in which the theme was explored in different ways (For example, Tuesdays were "Dress-Up Day" in which the hosts would use costumes to explore the theme).

One of the most well-known elements of the series was the "Polkaroo", a mythical character whose name combines the words "polka dot" and "kangaroo". Normally played by the male host in costume, the Polkaroo would appear to the female host to perform a mime; upon the second host's return, he would typically express disappointment when informed that he had once again missed the Polkaroo. In earlier years, the Polkaroo appeared just once per week on "Imagination Day", but due to the character's popularity, additional appearances were added later in the show's run.

Another feature of the show was "looking through the polka-dot-door", usually on "Finding-Out Day," when the camera would zoom in to a special dot on the door, which would open up to reveal a short educational film.

Creation and history
Polka Dot Door was created and developed by a team of employees from TVOntario, hired and led by original series producer and director Peggy Liptrott.

Significant contributors to the creation and development of the series in 1971 included executive producer Vera Good, who laid the conceptual foundation of the show, educational supervisor Marnie Patrick Roberts, educational consultant L. Ted Coneybeare, script writers and composers Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb, animator Dick Derhodge (who designed the familiar opening/closing animation) and Dr. Ada Schermann, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Child Study in Toronto who was consulted in the early stages of Polka Dot Door's development and is responsible for giving the show its name.

New episodes of Polka Dot Door originally aired on TVOntario Monday to Friday beginning in the fall of 1971 until the show's cancellation in 1993, with reruns running in constant rotation both on weekdays and weekends well into the 1990s.

The show itself was an adaptation of the BBC children's show Play School. Initially many aspects and concepts of Play School were licensed by TVOntario for use on Polka Dot Door, including designs of some of the stuffed animals used in the show, which were similar to those used in Play School as well as educational film inserts/segments which were shown to viewers "Through the Arched Window" on Play School and "Through the Polka Dot Door" on Polka Dot Door.

Dodi Robb helped distinguish Polka Dot Door with her creation and addition of the Polkaroo, combining the show's title with the word kangaroo. Polkaroo would reprise his role every Thursday (Imagination Day), appearing to only one of the two hosts (the other dressing up and playing the role of Polkaroo).  In the late-1970s, then-producer Coneybeare led negotiations to dissolve TVOntario's licensing agreement with Play School, freeing Polka Dot Door to be distinctively Canadian and adapt to include more Canadian educational content.

Robb and Patterson co-composed the theme song that accompanied the opening/closing animation used for the series' entire run, and wrote many of the early scripts and songs used in the series, including "Imagine, Imagine", a song often used on Imagination Day with Polkaroo. Robb would go on to be the first-ever head of children's programming at CBC Television, and would have Muppet "Dodi" in Sesame Park, a Canadian adaptation of Sesame Street, named in her honour.

The theme song was performed by Angela Antonelli, born December 29, 1933, in Guelph, Ontario. Left home at the age of 16 to Study voice under Dr. Ernesto Vinci at Royal Conservatory of Music, Joined the Canadian Opera Company and Starred in Gianni Schicchi opposite Jon Vickers, Gretel in Hansel & Gretel & Marriage of Figaro among others. She was a regular on the Juliet Show for 6 seasons as well as many other radio and television shows. Original cast member of Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival and went on to perform in many other theatrical shows.

Producers, musicians and hosts
During the course of the series' run, Polka Dot Door had three producers who significantly contributed to the development of the show: original producer-director Peggy Liptrott (1971), L. Ted Coneybeare (1972–1984), and Jed MacKay (1985–1993). MacKay began as a writer and composer for Polka Dot Door in the 1970s.  He went on to create and produce two multi-award-winning series for TVOntario, Join In! and Polka Dot Shorts.  The accompanying background music throughout the show was played "live to tape" by Canadian pianists Herbie Helbig (1971–1984) and John Arpin (1985–1993).

Each episode of Polka Dot Door had two human hosts, always one man and one woman. There were more than fifty hosts over the course of the series. Each pair of hosts was contracted for one week's worth of episodes, with many hosts and pairs reprising their role over multiple weeks, though not necessarily with the same co-host. Most hosts during MacKay's time as producer were contracted for two to three weeks worth of episodes (10–15), with the exception of Carrie Loring, Johnnie Chase, and Cindy Cook, who hosted every year MacKay produced (1985–1993) as well as the two one-hour specials. Typically 25–35 episodes were produced each summer during the course of the series, depending on the available funds in TVOntario's programming budget. Many aspiring Canadian actors and actresses got their start on Polka Dot Door, and went on to do notable work in North American television, film, and theatre.

Below is an incomplete list of some of the people who hosted Polka Dot Door.  The name in brackets is the producer whom the host worked with followed by the years in which the host hosted (when known):
 Jim Anderson (Coneybeare)
 Pixie Bigalow (Coneybeare)
 Greg Bond (MacKay)
 Catherine Bruhier (MacKay), 1992–93
 Johnie Chase (MacKay), 1984–93
 Heather Cherron (MacKay)
 Jim Codrington (MacKay), 1990–93
 Heather Conkie (Coneybeare)
 Cindy Cook (Coneybeare, MacKay), 1981–93
 Louise Cranfield (MacKay)
 Diane Dewey (Coneybeare)
 Liz Dufresne (MacKay), 1991
 Sharry Flett (Coneybeare), 1980–81
 Paula Gallivan (MacKay)
 Michael Goarley (Coneybeare)
 Ken John Grant (Coneybeare)
 Nonnie Griffin (Coneybeare), 1974–80
 Bonnie Gruen (Coneybeare)
 Rex Hagon (Coneybeare), 1976
 Patricia Hamilton (Coneybeare)
 Michael James (Coneybeare)
 Taborah Johnson (Coneybeare)
 Lynda Kemp (Coneybeare)
 Nina Keogh (Liptrott, Coneybeare), 1971–72
 Alex Laurier (Liptrott, Coneybeare), 1971–81
 Robert Lee (MacKay), 1987–92
 Sharon Lewis (Coneybeare)
 Carrie Loring (MacKay) 1985–93
 Jane Luk (MacKay), 1992–93
 Thea McNeal (MacKay)
 Malika Mendez (Coneybeare)
 Gerry Mendicino (Coneybeare), 1979–84
 Sherry Miller (Coneybeare)
 Garth Mosbaugh (MacKay), 1991–93
 Candace O'Conner (Coneybeare)
 John Ralston (MacKay)
 Gloria Reuben
 Christopher Trace
 Carolann Reynolds (Coneybeare),1976–85
 Gairey Richardson (Coneybeare)
 Tom Rickert (Coneybeare) 1984
 Denis Simpson (Coneybeare)
 Shelly Sommers (Coneybeare)
 Eva St. John (MacKay)
 Gordon Thomson (Liptrott), 1971
 Peter Van Wart (Coneybeare)
 Mishu Vellani (MacKay), 1989–90
 Nerene Virgin (Coneybeare), 1981
 Jonathan Whittaker (MacKay)
 Tonya Williams (Coneybeare), 1980–83

In addition, many hosts worked on other educational shows produced by TVOntario, including Heather Conkie (Dear Aunt Agnes, Report Canada, Music Box, It's Mainly Music), Nerene Virgin (Today's Special), Nina Keogh (Readalong, Today's Special, Bookmice, The Magic Library) and Rex Hagon (The Science Alliance). Cindy Cook was the longest serving female host appearing on Polka Dot Door between 1981–1993, making her one of the most recognizable hosts from the series.  She is also the only host to have worked with two producers of the show, first with Coneybeare (from 1981 to 1984) and then with MacKay (from 1985 to 1993).

Format
Polka Dot Door was taped and broadcast in blocks of five episodes a week that would feature the same two hosts each day. Each five-day week had a specific theme and emphasis. However, within that theme, each day of the week had its own theme that was consistent throughout the entire series:
 Monday was "Treasure Day"
 Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day"
 Wednesday was "Animal Day"
 Thursday was "Imagination Day"
 Friday was "Finding-Out Day"
In order to create trust and familiar routines with young children, Polka Dot Door was scripted with specific 'events' that were particular to each day of the week:
 Treasure Day: Hosts would retrieve the stuffed animal toys from a toy box (in the shape of a polka dot house) while singing a specific 'hello' song. In addition, they would often discover an unexpected 'treasure' (usually found materials or a toy) from the purple (later blue) treasure box that sat nearby the story time rocking chair.
 Dress-Up Day: Hosts would open the Polka Dot Door closet to reveal dress-up clothes, pretending to be the people they were dressing up as. They would often have a 'reason' to dress-up themselves, the toys or the set.
 Animal Day: Hosts would go outside to the barn where activity with the Polka Dot Door pets or "guest pets" would take place. There were five regular Polka Dot Door pets represented on the show throughout the series. Although the specific pets changed, they retained the same names for the entire series.
 Imagination Day: Hosts would place an emphasis on fantasy, encouraging viewers to use their imagination. This was the only day in which Polkaroo appeared, almost always being played by one of the hosts.
 Finding-Out Day: Hosts would facilitate specific scientific discoveries on this day or reexamine themes from previous days of the week from a different standpoint. Every Finding-Out day would conclude with the hosts returning the toys back to their toy box while singing a specific "goodbye" song. The final camera shot seen before the final credits would be the hosts exiting through the large polka dot door.

Another regular event on Polka Dot Door was Storytime, which featured in each programme. This involved the host teaching and telling the time on a large, oversized blue (later pink) grandfather clock and featured the appearance of a small stuffed animal named "Storytime Mouse". Often Storytime Mouse would be engaged in some activity related to that day's story.

Although Storytime happened in every episode, it was often at different, unpredictable times. Whatever activity was happening on the show would be interrupted by a sequence of chimes indicating that it was time to tell the time together and hear a story. The hosts would stop whatever activity they were doing and go to the grandfather clock to tell the time and then read a story in an adjacent rocking chair specifically used for this purpose on the show. Helbig and Arpin would provide instrumental piano accompaniment, often accenting the moods and themes represented in the story being told.

Depending on the emphasis, there would be a "song of the week" that would often be reprised every day, helping viewers to solidify the emphasis of that week's theme.  Many of the songs in the early years of the program were composed by the script writers themselves. When MacKay, an accomplished composer, took over as producer from 1985 to 1993, he composed many of the songs used in the series during that time.

Characters and toys
The hosts would lead young children in songs and stories, and interact with stuffed animal characters Humpty, Dumpty, Marigold, and Bear. These characters did not speak or move; the hosts would let the audience know what they were saying; for example, one of the hosts would say "What's that Marigold? You would like..." In the 1980s, a stuffed cat named Minou was added, which introduced viewers to simple words and phrases in French. On certain theme days the hosts would invite the audience to peer through the Polka Dot Door to witness an educational video of some sort, showing, for instance, how crayons are made.

Legacy and awards
In 2010, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television gave Polka Dot Door a Masterworks award, calling it a "groundbreaking children's educational series" that "changed the nature of children's television programming" and "impacted countless young Canadians and raised the international profile of the Canadian television industry."

One-hour specials
Only two one-hour specials have aired in the history of Polka Dot Door; these shows consist of five hosts (two male, three female) and the Polkaroo portrayed by unknown host.

Polkaroo's Birthday Party: This was used to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Polka Dot Door, as well as cameos from other hosts in the past.

Polkaroo Goes To Camp: This was used to commemorate the finale of the series; this is also the only show in the history of Polka Dot Door not to have storytime.

Polkaroo
Each day's episode had a particular theme. Monday was "Treasure Day", Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day", Wednesday was "Animal Day", Thursday was "Imagination Day", and Friday was "Finding Out Day". On "Imagination Day", the character Polkaroo (sometimes referred to as "the Polkaroo") appeared. The actor playing Polkaroo donned a tall, green plush costume that resembled a kangaroo. In its mended, yellow and multi-coloured polka-dot muumuu, the creature spoke using various repeated exclamations of its own name accompanied by elaborate gestures. The meaning of this pantomime was to be guessed by the audience. This was usually followed by a song whose lyrics began "Imagine, imagine, you can imagine Polkaroo...". In the first two seasons, Polkaroo would appear to one of the hosts  while the other host was absent for some reason. The co-host would return upon Polkaroo's departure, habitually exclaiming, "The Polkaroo was here?!? And I missed him again?!?" Both hosts took turns as the Polkaroo. Starting in the third season, only the male host donned the Polkaroo costume.

In the late 1990s, TVOntario capitalized on the success of Polkaroo by placing him and the other animal characters, now also actors dressed in costumes, in a new series, Polka Dot Shorts, which also had its own catchphrase moment, as each episode included the unlikely discovery of a pair of polka dot shorts, leading to the exchange:

Following the end of Polka Dot Shorts, Polkaroo also appeared in the children's series Gisèle's Big Backyard.

The Polkaroo costume as seen above and on the original series was handmade in Toronto by Tanya Petrova, an immigrant artist from Toronto who made brief appearances on numerous television shows from Mr. Dressup to The Steve Allen Show in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Petrova also created 24 puppets, including Charlie Horse and Lionel for Shari Lewis, as well as costumes for Ontario Place theme park, Eaton's  (for example, Glump) and other events and attractions.

There were several other versions of the Polkaroo costume as well: the one with the long slender neck was built by Lorraine Cramp in 1982. She also made the Moose and Beaver costumes for Cucumber, the Sidney the Kangaroo costume for Math Patrol, and the Subterranean Monster costume for Mathmakers.

Parodies
The 1980s Canadian sketch-comedy show Smith & Smith, starring real-life husband and wife team Steve and Morag Smith, used to parody the Polka Dot Door with a recurring sketch called "The Kids Show", with male and female hosts who loathed each other and bickered their way through the sketch.  The sketches also featured the "Jerkaroo", played by Steve Smith with a paper bag over his head.

The 1989 UK-Canada co-production EMU-TV featured a recurring parody called "The Door with Spots All Over It".

A Canadian sketch-type educational television show called Bod TV, which focuses on nutrition education and is also produced by TVOntario, has a parody of Polka Dot Door called Polka Dot House as one of its sketches. The sketch plays as a combination of the television show with reality television series Big Brother. In it, one of the hosts gets tired of Bear repeatedly making honey sandwiches for everyone day in day out, and schemes with Marigold to get Bear out of the kitchen so she can prepare a meal that provides a more balanced diet.

In 2018, a rally in Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park to celebrate the legalization of cannabis in Canada saw the appearance of "Tokaroo", a marijuana-smoking parody of Polkaroo. Tokaroo was created by Mark Scott, an actor who had once been directly employed by TVOntario to play Polkaroo in live promotional appearances, and the network threatened him with legal action. Scott also has a longer history of creating Polkaroo variants in his contemporary work as a children's educator, including Rainbowroo to discuss LGBTQ issues, Signaroo to educate children about hearing impairment and sign language, and Readyroo to educate children about disability and special needs.

Images

References

External links

TVO original programming
1971 Canadian television series debuts
1993 Canadian television series endings
Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
Television shows filmed in Toronto
1970s Canadian children's television series
1980s Canadian children's television series
1990s Canadian children's television series
1970s preschool education television series
1980s preschool education television series
1990s preschool education television series
Canadian preschool education television series
English-language television shows

Polka Dot Door


A snow squall, or snowsquall, is a sudden moderately heavy snowfall with blowing snow and strong, gusty surface winds. It is often referred to as a whiteout and is similar to a blizzard but is localized in time or in location and snow accumulations may or may not be significant.

Types
There are two primary types of snow squalls: lake effect and frontal.

Lake-effect snow

When arctic air moves over large expanses of warmer open waters in winter, convective clouds develop which cause heavy snow showers due to the large amount of moisture available.  This occurs southwest of extratropical cyclones, with the curved cyclonic wind flow bringing cold air across the relatively warm Great Lakes which then leads to narrow lake-effect snow bands that can produce significant localized snowfall.  Whiteout conditions will affect narrow corridors from shores to inland areas aligned along the prevailing wind direction. This will be enhanced when the moving air mass is uplifted by higher elevations. The name originates from the Great Lakes area of North America, however any body of water can produce them. Regions in lee of oceans, such as the Canadian Maritimes could experience such snow squalls.

The areas affected by lake-effect snow are called snowbelts and deposition rate of many inches (centimetres) of snow per hour are common in these situations. In order for lake-effect snow to form, the temperature difference between the water and  should be at least , surface temperature be around the freezing mark, the lake unfrozen, the path over the lake at least  and the directional wind shear with height should be less than 30° from the surface to . Extremely cold air over still warm water in early winter can even produce thundersnow, snow showers accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Frontal snow squall

A frontal snow squall is an intense frontal convective line (similar to a squall line), when temperature is near freezing at the surface. The strong convection that develops has enough moisture to produce whiteout conditions at places which line passes over as the wind causes intense blowing snow. This type of snow squall generally lasts less than 30 minutes at any point along its path but the motion of the line can cover large distances. Frontal squalls may form a short distance ahead of the surface cold front or behind the cold front in situations where there are other contributing factors such as dynamic lifting from a deepening low pressure system or a series of trough lines which act similar to a traditional cold frontal passage. In situations where squalls develop post-frontally it is not unusual to have two or three linear squall bands pass in rapid succession only separated by 25 miles (40 kilometers) with each passing the same point in roughly 30 minutes apart.

This is similar to a line of thunderstorms in the summer but the tops of the clouds are only 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m), often difficult to see on radar. Forecasting these types of events is equivalent to summer severe weather forecast for squall lines: presence of a sharp frontal trough with wind shift and low level jet of more than 30 knots (55.58 km/h). However, the cold dome behind the trough is at 850 mbar instead of a higher level and must be at least -13 °F (-25 °C). The presence of surface moisture from bodies of water or preexisting liquid precipitation is also a significant contributing factor helping to raise the dew point temperature and saturate the boundary layer. This saturate can significantly increase the amount of convective available potential energy leading to deeper vertical growth and higher precipitable water levels increasing the volume of snow which can be produced by the squall. In cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow.

Dangers

Both types of snow squalls are very dangerous for motorists, airplanes, and other travelers; even can be more dangerous than blizzards. The change in conditions is very sudden, with slippery conditions and abrupt loss of visibility due to whiteouts, which often cause multiple-vehicle collisions. In the case of lake-effect snow, heavy amounts of snow can accumulate in short periods of time, possibly causing road closures and paralyzing cities. For instance, on January 9, 2015, a localized, heavy snow squall caused a 193-vehicle pile-up on I-94 highway near Galesburg, Michigan.

See also
Convection
Snow shower

Warnings about lake-effect snow:

United States
Lake Effect Snow Advisory
Lake Effect Snow Warning
Severe weather terminology (United States)
Snow squall warning

Canada
Snow Squall Warning
Severe weather terminology (Canada)

References

External links

Winter Weather Awareness by the US National Weather Service
Environment Canada - Weather and Meteorology - Hazardous weather-winter hazards
Video of a snowsquall timelapse while driving on Highway 407 ETR in Greater Toronto

Weather hazards
Snow or ice weather phenomena

de:Lake effect snow

Snow squall