Jeanne Marybeth Spurlock (July 19, 1921 – November 25, 1999) was an American psychiatrist, professor and author. She served as the deputy medical director of the American Psychiatric Association for seventeen years. She chaired the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College starting in 1968, and she taught at George Washington University and Howard University. She also operated her own private psychiatry practice, and she published several works.

Early life and education
Jeanne Spurlock was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1921. She was the oldest of seven children born to Frank and Glodene Spurlock. She broke her leg when she was nine years old, and had an unpleasant experience at a hospital. Feeling that there was a lack of caring doctors, but also thinking she would not be able to afford medical school, she decided to become a teacher.

Spurlock attended high school in Detroit, Michigan. She enrolled at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1940, but despite a scholarship, could not afford to complete her education there. She moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she continued her undergraduate degree at Roosevelt University. In 1943, she entered an accelerated program at Howard University College of Medicine, and graduated with her medical degree in 1947.

Career
Spurlock interned at Provident Hospital in Chicago, after graduating from Howard University. She became a resident in the psychiatry department of Cook County Hospital in Chicago, completing her residency in 1950. She took a fellowship in child psychiatry at the Institute for Juvenile Research, where she continued to work as a staff psychiatrist for some time after completing the fellowship. She later worked at the Mental Hygiene Clinic at Women's and Children's Hospital, and consulted for the Illinois School for the Deaf. She moved to the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis in 1953 to train in adult and child psychoanalysis, and she also directed the Children's Psychosomatic Unit at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of Illinois. In 1960, she took a position at Michael Reese Hospital, where she was an attending psychiatrist and the chief of the Child Psychiatry Clinic until 1968. During this time, she also taught at Illinois College of Medicine as an assistant professor, and ran a private practice.

In 1968, Spurlock left her position at Michael Reese Hospital to become the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College. In 1973, she became a visiting scientist at the Division of Special Mental Health Programs at the National Institute of Mental Health. In 1974, she accepted the position of deputy medical director at the American Psychiatric Association, which she held until 1991. She also served as the director of their Office of Minority/National Affairs. During this time she continued to operate her private practice. She also continued to teach, working as a clinical professor at George Washington University and at Howard University.

Spurlock was also an activist, particularly when she was located near Washington, D.C. while working for the American Psychiatric Association. She often worked to convince legislators to provide funding for medical education, especially for minorities. She was a member of the boards of directors of the Carnegie Corporation, National Urban League, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Delta Adult Literacy Council. She was a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, National Medical Association, American Medical Women's Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Black Psychiatrists of America. During the 1960s, she worked with other physicians to care for civil rights workers in Mississippi and Chicago.

Spurlock served on editorial boards, and she wrote academic articles, particularly on sexism, racism, and cultural misunderstanding within mental health. She published Culturally Diverse Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment with Ian A. Canino in 1994. In 1999, she published Black Psychiatrists and American Psychiatry, a historical text detailing black psychiatrists who have influenced American psychiatry, and their experiences.

After attending the 1970 White House Conference on Children, Spurlock won the Edward A Strecker M.D. Award for excellence in psychiatry from the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital in 1971. She was both the first African American and the first woman to win this award. In 1989, Spurlock won the Agnes Purcell McGavin Award. In 1990, she was awarded the Guardian for Children Award from the National Black Child Development Institute. In 1992, she won a Special Presidential Commendation Award from the American Psychiatry Association. In 1996, the American Psychiatry Association awarded her the Distinguished Service Award. Spurlock also won the Solomon Carter Fuller Award.

Legacy
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry created two fellowships in Spurlock's honor after her death: the Jeanne Spurlock Minority Medical Student Clinical Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Jeanne Spurlock Research Fellowship in Drug Abuse and Addiction for Minority Medical Students. The American Psychiatric Association also created two fellowships: the Jeanne Spurlock Minority Fellowship Achievement Award and the Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship.

In 2000, Spurlock was posthumously awarded the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, the American Medical Women's Association's highest honor.

References

External links
 Jeanne Spurlock Archival Collection Finding Aid Moorland Spingarn Research Center

1921 births
1999 deaths
People from Sandusky, Ohio
20th-century American physicians
20th-century American women physicians
20th-century African-American women writers
20th-century African-American writers
American women academics
African-American educators
African-American women educators
20th-century American educators
20th-century American women educators
20th-century African-American physicians
American psychiatrists
Roosevelt University alumni
Howard University College of Medicine alumni
Howard University faculty
George Washington University faculty
20th-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
Activists from Ohio
American women psychiatrists

Jeanne Spurlock


Canada and the Republic of Ireland enjoy friendly relations, the importance of which centres on the history of Irish migration to Canada and the two countries' shared history as parts of the British Empire.  Approximately 4.5 million Canadians claimed to have Irish ancestors (approximately 14% of Canada's population). Both nations are mutual members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

History

The first Irish settlers to arrive in Canada came in the 17th century when the French began to arrive in present-day Canada and brought with them Irish soldiers. In the 18th century, Irish fisherman would sail to Newfoundland and Labrador to fish off the coasts and many settled in the province. By 1850, over 500,000 Irish migrants arrived in Canada, though many did continue onwards to the United States.

Before 1922 both Canada and Ireland were part of the British Empire and therefore had no international relations separate from British ones. From 1922 to 1937 the Irish Free State was a Dominion, like Canada, under the British Crown but self-governing. Canada sent its first High Commissioner to Ireland, [John Hall Kelly], in 1929. This at a time when Britain did not allow Canada to have embassies in most states and Britain's representative in Ireland was not allowed to use the title of ambassador. In 1937 Ireland changed its constitution to give itself more complete independence from the United Kingdom, however there was still some ambiguity over the role of the Crown in Irish law. In 1931, after the signing of the Statute of Westminster, Canada became a sovereign and independent nation. In 1939, both nations opened resident diplomatic missions in each other's capitals, respectively.

In 1948 the Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, John A. Costello, was visiting Canada when he announced that Ireland would declare itself a republic.  The reason why he chose to make the announcement in Canada is a subject of debate.  It may have been that Costello was offended by the behaviour of the Governor General of Canada, Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, who was of Northern Irish descent and who allegedly placed symbols of Northern Ireland, notably a replica of the famous Roaring Meg cannon used in the Siege of Derry, before an affronted Costello at a state dinner.  What is certain is that the prior arrangement whereby toasts to the king (symbolising Canada) and the president (representing Ireland) were to be proposed, was broken. Only a toast to the king was proposed, to the fury of the Irish delegation. Shortly afterwards Costello announced the plan to declare the republic.  Other explanations for the announcement being made at this time have been offered, including the idea that the change was already planned and an Irish newspaper was about to "break" the story.  Whatever the reason the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 soon passed with support from all parties.

In 1986, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced that Canada would contribute up to $10 million over 10 years to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for economic and social development programs. In recent times Canada has been an active supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process as symbolised by former Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff John de Chastelain heading the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.

In August 2017, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar came to Canada and joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Montréal Pride Parade.

High-level visits
Prime Ministerial visits from Canada to Ireland

 Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (1961)
 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (1975)
 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1991)
 Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (1999)
 Prime Minister Paul Martin (2005)
 Prime Minister Stephen Harper (2013)
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2017)

Presidential and Prime Ministerial (Taoiseach) visits from Ireland to Canada

 Taoiseach John A. Costello (1948)
 President Éamon de Valera (1964)
 Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (1985)
 President Mary Robinson (1994)
 President Mary McAleese (1998, 2007)
 Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (2005)
 Taoiseach Enda Kenny (2017)
 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (2017)

Trade
In October 2016, Canada and the European Union (which includes Ireland) signed a free trade agreement known as the "Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement". In 2017, total trade between Canada and Ireland amounted to $2.9 billion Canadian dollars. Canada's main exports to Ireland include: chemical products, vehicles and equipment, machine, mechanical and electronic products. Ireland's main exports to Canada include: chemical products, specialized instruments, food and animal based produce.

Resident diplomatic missions

 Canada has an embassy in Dublin
 Ireland has an embassy in Ottawa and consulates-general in Toronto and Vancouver.

See also
 Embassy of Ireland in Ottawa
 Fenian raids
 Irish Canadians
 Irish Quebecers
 Irish language in Newfoundland
 Strathmore (Killiney)

References

Ireland
Bilateral relations of Ireland
Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations

Canada–Ireland relations


Lecithocera tienchiensis is a moth in the family Lecithoceridae first described by Kyu-Tek Park in 1999. It is found in Taiwan.

The wingspan is 16–18 mm. The forewings are greyish brown, broader toward the termen and with brown scales sparsely scattered beyond two thirds length. The color changes to light orange along the costa on the under surface. There are two discal spots, the inner one is slightly smaller than the outer one. The hindwings are grey.

Etymology
The species name is derived from the type locality.

References

Moths described in 1999
tienchiensis

Lecithocera tienchiensis


Castac Lake (Chumash: Kaštiq), also known as Tejon Lake, is a natural saline endorheic, or sink, lake near Lebec, California. The lake is located in the Tehachapi Mountains just south  of the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, and within Tejon Ranch. Normal water elevations are  above sea level.

Geography and geology
The lake lies in a natural sink at the eastern end of the Castac Valley, a rift valley formed along the Garlock Fault. The main inflows are Cuddy Creek and small intermittent streams originating in Bear and Crane Canyons, draining a total of  into the lake. The lake itself was formed about 10,000 years ago, by the natural damming of water behind the alluvial fan of Cuddy Creek, blocking its natural northern outlet to Grapevine Creek. During most years the outlet sits about  higher than the lake surface. During rare flooding events, the lake does overflow into Grapevine Creek, which flows through a canyon into the San Joaquin Valley.

History
Although Castac Lake itself is saline, or salty, the abundance of freshwater springs nearby made it an attractive area for human settlement. The lake area was once the territory of the Castac and Emigdiano groups of Chumash people, who occupied the area between Tejon Pass and the modern Grapevine. Several Native American villages were located in the area, including the Emigdiano village of Sasau on the northern shore of the lake. The Chumash name for the lake was Kash-tük, or "my eyes". The lake was known as A-uva-pya, or "in his eyes", in Kitanemuk, and as Sasa-u, "at the eye", in Yokuts.

The lake was first seen by Spanish explorer Pedro Fages who in 1772 led the first European expedition to cross the Tehachapis via Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley. Fages named the lake Salinas de Cortes and Tejon Pass the Portezuelo de Cortes. The lake's modern name may have originated from a later Spanish expedition circa 1806, in which Father José María de Zalvidea noted a Native American village called "Casteque" or "Kashtiq" near "[a lake of] pure salt water".

In 1843 the lake was incorporated in a land grant which formed  Rancho Castac. In 1854, Fort Tejon was founded in the Grapevine Valley about  northwest of the lake, to command the main route (via Tejon Pass) between the Central Valley and Southern California. The Rancho Castac was eventually acquired by Edward Fitzgerald Beale, who founded Tejon Ranch (at one point the largest private landholding in California).

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the lakebed was occasionally mined for salt, as it tends to evaporate after extended periods of drought. According to historical records the lake was full through most of the 1940s, and dry in the early 1950s and early 1980s. During the mid-1990s, especially after the El Niño episode in 1997, the lake filled to overflowing.

Since 2001 the lake level has been artificially maintained by Tejon Ranch via pumping of groundwater in the Castac Valley area, though dropping well water levels have caused controversy over this practice. The higher lake levels have also increased the risk of overflow and flooding in Grapevine Valley, most recently in 2005.

Water quality
Due to the local geology, Castac Lake contains naturally elevated levels of arsenic, boron, selenium, and aluminum, which concentrate during drought conditions and are flushed out in occasional floods. The lake meets most water quality objectives, but at times has an excess of coliform.

See also
List of lakes in California

References

Endorheic lakes of California
Lakes of Kern County, California

Castac Lake


Bradford Cannon (December 2, 1907 – December 20, 2005), the son of Dr. Walter Bradford Cannon, was a pioneer in the field of reconstructive surgery, specialising in burn victims. He was the first chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and is credited with saving the lives of thousands of soldiers maimed during World War II. As a young doctor, he used a new method he developed with Oliver Cope to treat survivors of the Cocoanut Grove fire in November, 1942.

From 1943 to 1947, Cannon served in the U.S. Army as chief of the plastic surgical section of Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania, which cared for casualties from Europe and the Pacific. His daughter, Sarah Cannon Holden, said his group performed more than 15,000 operations.

He also served as president of the Boston Surgical Society, the New England Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, and the American Association of Plastic Surgeons.

In the 1950s, Cannon also worked as a consultant for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and visited the Marshall Islands to study effects of radioactivity on the population from atomic tests.

He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School.

Family
Cannon and his wife Ellen DeNormandie Cannon (died 2003) lived in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

External links

 The Bradford Cannon papers can be found at The Center for the History of Medicine at the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School.
 "Bradford Cannon; Pioneered Care for Burns." Obituary, Associated Press, Monday, January 2, 2006

References

1907 births
2005 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American surgeons
Massachusetts General Hospital faculty
People from Lincoln, Massachusetts
United States Army officers
Physicians from Massachusetts
Military personnel from Massachusetts
Harvard College alumni
Harvard Medical School alumni
20th-century surgeons

Bradford Cannon


The Harvard International Review is a quarterly international relations journal published by the Harvard International Relations Council at Harvard University. The HIR offers commentary on global developments in politics, economics, business, science, technology, and culture, as well as interviews with global leaders.

Structure
The magazine features quarterly cover topics, broad surveys of developments in international relations (collectively referred to as the Global Notebook), outside perspectives, and interviews. Cover topics in recent years have included analyses of the role agriculture plays in international development, the erosion of trust in modern institutions, and the trade-offs between compromise and defiance.

Various boards within the HIR also work to copy-edit articles, design the print magazine, connect with new subscribers and advertisers, and maintain the magazine's website and social media presence. The HIR's website features exclusive content and active blogs on current events. In all, the magazine has a growing readership of over 200,000.

History
The HIR was founded in 1979 by a group of undergraduate students in the Harvard International Relations Council, allowing students to analyze foreign affairs in an academic and journalistic forum. After monthly publication early on, the HIR pivoted to quarterly distribution, and began soliciting the perspectives of prominent figures in international relations.

To date, the magazine has featured articles or interviews from over 40 presidents and prime ministers, four UN Secretaries-General, four Nobel Economics Prize laureates, and seven Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Notable alumni
Notable Harvard alumni to have been staff members of the Harvard International Review include Philip A. Brimmer, Erik Brynjolfsson, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Bernard Hebda, Stephen A. Higginson, Ambassador Philip S. Kosnett, David Laibson, Simpsons writer Jeff Martin, Robert McCord, Marc Rotenberg, Phillip Steck, John Weston, and M. Edward Whelan III.

References

External links

Toguard Review

Political magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Student magazines published in the United States
Harvard University academic journals
Magazines established in 1979
Magazines published in Boston

Harvard International Review


Moscow's 850th Anniversary Pageant; Saint George, The Bell and The Dragon, opened Moscow's week-long anniversary celebrations on 5 September 1997.  It was staged in Red Square in front of St Basil's Cathedral and was broadcast live throughout Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States countries and in major broadcast markets elsewhere.

The pageant featured a cast of a thousand (plus horses), with Russian classical, choral and folk music as well as dance. Large-scale graphics were used to depict scenes from Moscow's past.

The event was commissioned by the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, with the British producer and impresario Tony Hollingsworth being brought in to executive-produce the show.  The creative director was Andrei Konchalovsky, the renowned Russian film director.  The show was watched by a specially-invited live audience of 6,000.

The Russian and CIS television sales were handled by Luzhkov, owner of the Russian channel Central TV.  Hollingsworth received 50 per cent of his fee from the City of Moscow, with the rest coming from television sales to other countries.

Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited.

Artists
 Evgeny Kissin
 Makvala Kasrashvili
Pelageya Khanova
 Stanislav Varki
 Valery Gergiev
 Yuri Bashmet
 Chamber of Moscow Soloists
 Choral Academy of TV and Radio
 State Academy of Classical Ballet
 Russian National Orchestra
 Joint Chorus Academy of Choral Art and Ostkano TV Children's Choir
 State Academy Kuban Cossack Choir

Folk bands
 Velikorossi
 Dmitry Pok
 Russichi
 Nerekhtshiye Rozhechniki

Military bands
 Red Army Band
 Military Folk Band of Moscow Region
 Military Folk Band of Alexandrov
 Military Historical Association of Russia and CIS
 Acrobatic Circus Troupe Russhichi
 Ali Bek Horses

Music festivals in Russia
Russian folk music

Moscow's 850th Anniversary Pageant


Parliament Square has the Palace of Westminster. It is in the City of Westminster in central London. It was laid out in the mid-19th century. It has a large open green area in the centre.

The Square is one of London's main tourist attractions. It has official buildings: the Houses of Parliament, and the Palace of Westminster. There are civil service executive offices to the north (on Whitehall). The Supreme Court) is to the west, and Westminster Abbey to the south.

The crowding together of Parliament, government and law is deliberate. It makes it possible to walk from one place to another. This helps the various parts of government to co-operate. Unfortunately, the arrangement also attracts protestors, and even criminal assaults. Protesting is controversial, and has been tested in law.

References

Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster

Parliament Square


id Software is an American video game company. They are most famous for their first-person shooter games. They started in 1991.

Games
ID has made many games.

Early Work
 Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
 Spear of Destiny (1992)
 Doom (1993)
 Doom 2 (1994)
 Heretic (1995)
 Hexen (1995)

Full 3D Games
Quake (1996)
Quake 2 (1998)
Quake 3 (1999)
Doom 3 (2004)
Quake 4 (2006)

Other websites
Official id Software website
"A Chat With id Software ", a GameSpy interview with people at id Software

Id Software


Payback is a 1999 American neo-noir action thriller film
written and directed by Brian Helgeland in his directorial debut, and starring Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, and David Paymer. It is based on the novel The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake using the pseudonym Richard Stark, which had earlier been adapted into the 1967 film noir classic Point Blank, directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin.

In 2006, Helgeland issued a director's cut that differs substantially from the version released by the studio.

Plot
Porter, a career thief and former U.S. Marine, lies facedown on the kitchen table in the apartment of an unlicensed doctor, after having been shot twice and betrayed for $70,000. As the doctor uses the whiskey he is drinking as a sterilizing agent for his tools, the bullets, and as anesthesia. He then digs out the bullets, stitches up the open wounds, and then Porter begins making his plans to get the money back and take revenge.

Broke after five months of recuperating, Porter uses a series of petty thefts and short cons to quickly acquire $1,000 in cash, a new suit, a revolver, and a few meals. He then begins tracking down his estranged wife Lynn and former partner-in-crime Val Resnick. In flashbacks, Porter recalls that they betrayed him following a $140,000 heist from local Chinese Triad. Resnick had manipulated Lynn into helping him with a picture showing Porter with another woman, a high-priced call girl named Rosie, and implying that the two were having an affair. Lynn shoots Porter, then she and Resnick leave Porter for dead. Val used the cash to buy his way back into "the Outfit," a local organized crime syndicate, by paying off his outstanding debt of $130,000 to them.

Porter first seeks out his wife, Lynn, out of loyalty to their marriage; however, she has been consumed by guilt and become addicted to heroin. Porter attempts to help her sober up by confining her and confiscating her drugs, but the next morning he finds her dead from an overdose using a hidden stash. Believing that Resnick was funding her drug habit, Porter interrogates Lynn's drug connection, who points him towards Resnick's middle-man, Arthur Stegman, a sleazy drug, muscle, and weapons supplier for the bottom rung of the criminal underworld. Porter finds Stegman in the company of two corrupt police detectives, Hicks and Leary, who threaten him for a share of the $70,000, once he acquires it.

Using Stegman's information, Porter enlists the help of Rosie, who is now affiliated with the Outfit. Rosie agrees, revealing that she still cares about Porter from when he was her bodyguard; Porter agrees, and the two lament that they never moved forward with their relationship, as they were each repelled by the others' career and Porter could not abandon Lynn. Rosie tells Porter that he can track Resnick through his employ of specialty prostitutes, as he is barred from soliciting Outfit call girls because his sadistic tendencies nearly killed one of them.

Porter finds Resnick during a session with a Triad-connected dominatrix named Pearl, when Porter ambushes him and demands his money. Fearful, Resnick later begs the Outfit for help but is told to solve his own problems. He then uses Pearl to frame Porter for the $140,000 heist so the Triads will kill him; however, this attempt fails. Resnick follows Porter's trail to Rosie's apartment, and beats and threatens to rape her when she fights back, as well as demanding to know Porter's whereabouts. Porter arrives and wounds Resnick, who attempts to bargain for his life by giving him the names of the Outfit bosses Fairfax and Carter; since Resnick does not have the money, Porter kills him. He takes Rosie to a safe house, only to find that it is now compromised and rigged with plastic explosives, connected to the telephone by three of Carter's hitmen. Porter kills them and later confronts Carter in his own office, threatening to kill him unless he pays the $70,000. Carter states he is only an underboss, thus unauthorized to make financial decisions and calls Bronson, the head of the Outfit. During the negotiation, both Carter and Bronson believe that Porter is demanding the full $130,000 that Resnick paid the Outfit, though Porter repeatedly corrects them that all he wants is his share, which Resnick stole. When Bronson refuses over the phone, Porter carries out his threat and kills Carter. Porter then frames Hicks and Leary by planting Leary's fingerprints on the gun used to kill Resnick, as well as stealing Hicks's badge and leaving it with the gun in Resnick's hand.

With the aid of Rosie, Porter kidnaps Bronson's son, Johnny. He then visits and threatens Fairfax; Hicks and Leary, who are waiting outside Fairfax's house, are promptly arrested by Internal Affairs on account of the false evidence left earlier. A shootout ensues involving Porter, Stegman, his driver, Pearl and the Triads; only Porter and Pearl survive. Porter is held at gunpoint by Pearl which inadvertently causes him to be captured by Fairfax's men; he is taken to a warehouse and beaten for hours. Bronson arrives with his own men and the $130,000 ransom, though he swears that Porter will never lay his hands on it. Porter unsuccessfully tries to reason that all he wanted was the $70,000 that Resnick owed him, but Bronson then authorizes his men to hammer Porter's toes one-by-one, until he reveals Johnny's location; Bronson's men smash two toes before he gives them a location.

Bronson, Fairfax, and their men take Porter with them to investigate the address; however, the address is actually the compromised safe house wired with explosives. While they make their way to the apartment, Porter breaks free through the locked trunk and makes his way to the car's cell phone, and then dials the bomb's trigger just as they enter the room. The explosion kills Bronson, Fairfax, and their men, and Porter flees the scene to contact Rosie. Upon his arrival, Rosie leaves Johnny behind and joins Porter in the car to start new lives together, beginning by "going for breakfast...in Canada."

Cast
 Mel Gibson as Porter
 Gregg Henry as Val Resnick
 Maria Bello as Rosie
 Lucy Alexis Liu as Pearl
 Deborah Kara Unger as Lynn Porter
 David Paymer as Arthur Stegman
 Bill Duke as Detective Hicks
 Jack Conley as Detective Leary
 John Glover as Phil
 William Devane as Carter
 James Coburn as Justin Fairfax
 Kris Kristofferson as Bronson
 Trevor St. John as Johnny Bronson
 Freddy Rodriguez as Valet
 Manu Tupou as Pawnbroker

Production
The film was shot from September to November 1997, in Chicago and Los Angeles, though neither city is referred to in the film. Although credited as director, Brian Helgeland's cut of the film was not the theatrical version released to audiences. Helgeland notoriously clashed with producer Gibson over Gibson's ideas for the film. After the end of principal photography, Gibson admitted that he was instrumental in having Helgeland removed as director before the film was released. A script rewrite by Terry Hayes was ordered. There was initially some uncertainty on who directed the reshoots, with some sources claiming it was the production designer John Myhre. However, Paul Abascal has stated on his website that he in fact directed the new scenes. The new director reshot 30% of the film. The intent was to make the Porter character accessible. The film's tagline became: "Get Ready to Root for the Bad Guy." A potentially controversial scene between Porter and Lynn which arguably involves spousal abuse was excised and more plot elements were added to the third act. After 10 days of reshoots, a new opening scene and voiceover track also were added, and Kris Kristofferson walked on as a new villain.

Alternate version
Helgeland's version, Straight Up: The Director's Cut, was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD on April 10, 2007, after an October 2006 run at the Austin Film Festival. The Director's Cut version features a female Bronson, that is never seen only heard over the phone voiced by Sally Kellerman, does not include the voice-over by Porter and several Bronson-related scenes. During their scuffle (which is longer than in the theatrical version and was the main source of controversy), Porter earlier tells Lynn that his picture with Rosie was taken before they met, thereby rendering her jealousy unjustified. This version has an entirely different, ambiguous ending where Porter is seriously wounded in a train station shootout and driven off by Rosie.

A June 4, 2012, look at "movies improved by directors' cuts" by The A.V. Club described Payback: Straight Up as "a marked improvement on the unrulier original."

Editing
Mel Gibson stated in a short interview released as a DVD extra that it "would've been ideal to shoot in black and white." He noted that "people want a color image" and that the actual film used a bleach bypass process to tint the film. In addition to this, the production design used muted shades of red, brown, and grey for costumes, sets, and cars for further effect.

Reception

Box office
Payback was well received at the box office. The film made $21,221,526 in its opening weekend in North America. It eventually grossed $81,526,121 in North America and $80,100,000 in other territories, totaling $161,626,121 worldwide.

Critical reception
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 77 critics gave Payback a positive review, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Sadistic violence and rote humor saddle a predictable action premise." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film a three out of four stars, writing in his review: "There is much cleverness and ingenuity in Payback, but Mel Gibson is the key. The movie wouldn't work with an actor who was heavy on his feet, or was too sincere about the material."

References

External links

1999 films
1999 action thriller films
1999 crime thriller films
American action thriller films
American crime thriller films
American gangster films
American black comedy films
1990s English-language films
Films about identity theft
American films about revenge
Films based on American novels
Films based on crime novels
Films based on works by Donald E. Westlake
Films set in the 1970s
American heist films
Icon Productions films
Paramount Pictures films
Warner Bros. films
American neo-noir films
Triad films
Films directed by Brian Helgeland
Films with screenplays by Brian Helgeland
Films produced by Bruce Davey
BDSM in films
1999 directorial debut films
1990s American films
1990s Hong Kong films

Payback (1999 film)


Shinsui Itō (; 4 February 1898 – 8 May 1972) was the pseudonym of a Nihonga painter and ukiyo-e woodblock print artist in Taishō- and Shōwa-period Japan. He was one of the great names of the shin-hanga art movement, which revitalized the traditional art after it began to decline with the advent of photography in the early 20th century. His real name was Itō Hajime ().

Biography
Itō was born in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo. After unwise investments bankrupted his father's business, he was forced to drop out of elementary school in the third grade and became a live-in apprentice at a printing shop. It was in this manner that he became interested in printing techniques and also in the arts.

In 1911, Itō was accepted as an apprentice under Kaburagi Kiyokata, (who gave him the pseudonym of "Shinsui") and issued his first woodblock print the following year. His talent was soon apparent, and from the following year, his paintings were entered in public exhibitions.

In 1912, his works were first shown by the Tatsumi gakai ("Southeast Painting Society") and later works were displayed by the Kyodokai ("Homeland Society"), the Nihon bijutsuin (Japan Art Institute), and in the government sponsored Bunten show. His works were received with much praise by art critics, and his reputation was soon made. His early works won numerous awards, and he accepted a post at the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun to supply illustrations for newspapers.

As with most artists of the shin-hanga movement (notably Kawase Hasui), Itō was spotted by publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, who effectively monopolized the market. Itō came to be known as a specialist in the bijin-ga ("picture[s] of beautiful women") genre, although he also occasionally painted landscapes.

Itō's first major print, "Before the Mirror", depicts a young woman wearing a deep red kimono under-robe, looking off into an unseen mirror. Instead of using the harsh aniline red common in other contemporary prints, Itō used a natural vegetable dye, overprinting the robe several times to achieve a rich crimson color. Special care was also taken for the speckled gray texture background, making a contrast with the red garment, black hair, and white skin.

Itō's early landscape series, Eight Views of Lake Biwa inspired Kawase Hasui. His early bijin-ga are generally considered his finest works, including Twelve Figures of New Beauties  (1922–1923).

Itō established his own independent studio in 1927. Although many of his early works were direct reflections of traditional ukiyo-e both in subject matter and in style, his technique was revolutionary. Ito would paint a "master painting" in watercolors, and dedicated craftsmen would make the actual prints from this "master copy". Itō was thus a pioneer in the shin-hanga movement. Watanabe and Itō continued their business cooperation into the 1960s, and Watanabe exported thousands of Shinsui prints, generating great success for them both.

During the Pacific War, Itō was drafted by the Japanese government into producing propaganda art. He was sent to the South Pacific and Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies, and completed over 3000 sketches during his travels to various islands under Japanese rule. At the end of the war, he relocated from the ruins of Tokyo to Komoro in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. He relocated from there to Kamakura, Kanagawa, in 1949.

In the post-war period Itō came to be regarded as one of the best known and respected personalities in Japanese society, and received several important honors during his lifetime. In 1952 the "Commission for the Protection of Cultural Properties" (Bunkazai Hōgō Iinkai) declared his woodblock designing talent to be of "intangible cultural properties" (mukei bunkazai) which was then the equivalent of being declared a Living National Treasure. In 1958, he became a member of the Japan Art Academy. In 1970, he received the Order of the Rising Sun.

One of Itō's works, Yubi, ("Finger") was the subject of the 1974 Philatelic Week commemorative postage stamp issued by the Japanese post office. Another work, Fubuki ("Blizzard") was depicted on a 1983 Japanese commemorative postage stamp as part of the Modern Japanese Arts series.

Itō's daughter, Yukiji Asaoka, is an actress and singer. Itō died in 1972 of cancer. His grave is at the temple of Ryūsō-in in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Major works
Eight Views of Lake Biwa – 1917–1918
Twelve Figures of New Beauties – 1922–1923
Collection of Modern Beauties – 1929–1931
Twelve Views of Ōshima – 1937–1938
Three Views of Mount Fuji – 1938–1939
Ten Views of Shinano – 1948
 Incense Party (聞香, Monkō) - 1950

His works are held in several museums worldwide, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Hiroshima Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Hood Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, and the British Museum.

References

 Merritt, Helen and Nanako Yamada.  (1995). Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1900-1975. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.	; ;  OCLC 247995392

External links

Ito Shinsui Information, print gallery,...
Ito Shinsui's works at Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Brief biography of Ito Shinsui - Jyuluck-Do Corporation
Artworks and history of Ito Shinsui

1898 births
1972 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Japan
Japanese printmakers
Nihonga painters
Artists from Tokyo
People of Shōwa-period Japan
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun
Shin hanga artists
20th-century Japanese painters
20th-century printmakers
Artists from Tokyo Metropolis

Shinsui Itō


Arthur Maurice Pearson (December 29, 1890 – July 9, 1976) was a Canadian Senator from Saskatchewan.

Pearson was born in St. François Xavier, Manitoba, now part of Winnipeg, and educated at St. John's College. He served in World War I with the Royal Flying Corps. After he was demobilized, he found work with William Pearson Company Ltd as a land surveyor and salesman. The land holding company later became the Middle West Land Company with Pearson serving as vice-president and manager. After much of the company's lands were sold, Pearson began farming the remainder in the Lumsden, Saskatchewan vicinity. He was elected to the town council and ultimately served as mayor.

He was a candidate in the 1944 and 1948 provincial elections in Saskatchewan placing third on both occasions as a Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan candidate in Lumsden electoral district.

Pearson was appointed to the upper house as a Progressive Conservative Senator for the division of Lumsden, Saskatchewan. He had previously been mayor of Lumsden.

He served on various Senate committees, including a year as chairman of the Special Committee on Land Use in Canada.

He retired voluntarily from the Senate on March 31, 1971, at the age of 80. In his final statement in the chamber, he advised his fellow Senators to keep in touch with young Canadians. He said he was retiring because "in my imagination I can hear the hum of tractors again" as farmers seeded their land.

References

External links

1890 births
1976 deaths
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators
Canadian senators from Saskatchewan
Mayors of places in Saskatchewan

Arthur Maurice Pearson


The fourteenth generation Ford F-Series is a range of pickup trucks produced by Ford, introduced for the 2021 model year. This was the first generation to include a fully-electric and hybrid pickup truck among the offerings, with the F-150 Lightning model having entered production in 2022.

Sharing a strong visual resemblance to the previous generation, the 2021 F-150 underwent a redesign of 92% of its parts, carrying over only its cab, pickup box structure, and font design (including the tailgate script). The bed and cab configurations remain the same: regular cab and SuperCab trucks are available with  beds, while SuperCrew (crew cab) trucks are available with  beds (though the SuperCab with 8' bed was dropped for 2024). Along with exterior design changes to enhance aerodynamics, many changes were made to the interior, adding fold-flat front seats and larger touchscreens (including a fully digital instrument panel on higher-end trims).

The powertrain line is largely carried over from the previous generation, with a 3.3 L V6, 2.7 L and 3.5 L EcoBoost twin-turbo V6s, a 5.0 L V8, and a 3.0 L turbo-diesel V6. However, the 5.0 L V8 receives a new cylinder deactivation system, called Variable Displacement Engine technology, similar to GM's Active Fuel Management and Chrysler's Multi-Displacement System. All engines are paired to the 10-speed automatic transmission first introduced with the 2017 F-150 equipped with the 3.5 L EcoBoost engine. New for this generation of F-150 is a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain. Dubbed PowerBoost, this powertrain is the first to be offered in a Ford pickup truck, pairing an electric motor with the 3.5 L V6 EcoBoost engine. The fourteenth generation F-150 is considered the first North American full-hybrid truck since GM's CVT-only Silverado/Sierra 1500 Hybrid was last offered in 2013.

Added to the lineup was a new Tremor trim level (the name derived from that of the Super Duty line and first introduced as a special sport trim package for the 2014 F-150).

Hybrid

Available only with the SuperCrew, the hybrid version of the F-150, called the PowerBoost, combines a 3.5 L EcoBoost V6 with a  hybrid motor/generator between the engine and transmission. A 1.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack is located under the bed. The net gain is  and . All the electrical power also allowed Ford to have up to 7.2 kW in the bed of a truck, far exceeding the capacity of a normal 120V receptacle. A 20 percent fuel economy increase over a base 3.5 L EcoBoost has been observed at combined city/highway driving. The hybrid option is $2,500 added to the base price, although it can be more depending on the trim.

 0–60mph acceleration: 5.4 seconds

 Maximum payload:
 Maximum towing capacity:
 Two 120V, 20A household outlets standard
 Optional system with four 120 V, 20 amp household outlets and one 240 V, 30 amp NEMA L14-30R outlet

F-150 Lightning

Ford unveiled an electric version of the Ford F-150 called the F-150 Lightning, reviving the model name for the first time since the previous Lightning was discontinued after the 2004 model year (and 2004 concept). It debuted on May 19, 2021, and deliveries to customers began in May 2022. The F-150 Lightning has dual motors. It is built at the new Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan.

Ford had previously announced the intention to produce a fully-electric light pickup at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show in January 2019. Prototype electric test mules on an existing F-150 chassis were tested during 2019, including a record-setting demonstration test tow of  on rails.

Raptor

The F-150 Raptor was announced in February 2021, and features a 3.5 L twin-turbocharged V6 gasoline engine carried over from the previous generation.

For the 2023 model year, the Raptor R makes its debut, now receiving the 5.2 L supercharged V8 engine.

Updates

For the 2022 model year, the F-150 saw several minor updates, alongside the major introduction of the electrified F-150 Lightning. Most notably, the 3.0 L Power Stroke turbo-diesel engine was discontinued because of low consumer demand (except outside of North America). In addition, a new Black Appearance Package was available to order on XL (only with the optional STX package), XLT, Lariat, and Platinum trims.

For the 2023 model year, Ford launched a special F-150 Heritage Edition to honor the 75th anniversary of the first-generation F-Series pickups. The Heritage Edition, available only with the XLT trim and in a SuperCrew short box configuration, featured special two-tone paint jobs in five different color combinations and exclusive seat coverings. All 2023 F-150 and Super Duty models had the "Ford F-Series – 75 Years" logo on the top-center of the windshield, in place of the Ford logo on other model years. The SuperCab was dropped from the Lariat trim, leaving only the SuperCrew available in either a 5-1/2 or 6-1/2 ft bed. The Tremor was now available with the 5.0L V8 engine in addition to the 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engine. Also for the 2023 model year, the F-150 Raptor R was introduced to compete with the Ram 1500 TRX.

2024 refresh
On September 12, 2023, Ford debuted the majorly refreshed 2024 F-150, featuring new grilles, headlights, and taillights, along with numerous mechanical changes. It is also available with the Pro Access Tailgate, a multifunction tailgate designed to compete with GM's and Ram's counterparts. In terms of trim-level changes, the STX is now offered as a separate trim level from the XL for the first time since it was last done in 2014, and the Limited trim has been replaced with the "Platinum Plus" package for the Platinum trim. Additionally, the 3.3-liter V6 engine has been removed from the lineup. Instead, the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 is now standard on XL, STX, and XLT models; the 5.0-liter V8 is standard on Lariat and Tremor trims (as well as the regular cab with the 6.5' bed); the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 is standard on King Ranch, Platinum, and Raptor models; and the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 is exclusive to the Raptor R. Four-wheel-drive is now standard on Lariat and higher trims, SuperCrew models with the 6.5' bed, and PowerBoost models. Notably, the SuperCab with the 8' bed has been discontinued in a first for the F-150 lineup, and the regular cab is only available with the XL trim. Ford has stated that these changes have reduced ordering complexity by 90% compared to the previous model year.

Australian export
In March 2022, Ford announced plans to officially export the F-150 to Australia beginning in 2023. The truck is imported in its native left-hand drive configuration and converted to right-hand drive to conform to Australian Design Rules by RMA Automotive in Mickleham, Victoria. At launch, only the SuperCrew body style with the XLT and Lariat trims were offered and powered by the 3.5 L EcoBoost V6 mated to the 10-speed Ford 10R80 automatic with four-wheel drive. Order banks for the Australian F-150 opened in late February 2023 with deliveries expected in the third quarter of 2023, and pricing before on-road costs starting at .

Powertrains

 Still sold in selected markets outside North America

Safety

Sitting higher than other consumer vehicles (except for pickup trucks), the Ford F-Series vehicles have significantly larger blind spots in which people or other cars are invisible to the driver.  According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford F-Series vehicles are part of more fatal crashes than any other car in the US.

The 2022 F-150 was tested by the IIHS and its top trim received a Top Safety Pick award:

References

External links
 Official Ford F-150 website

14th generation
Pickup trucks
Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States
Cars introduced in 2020
2020s cars

Ford F-Series (fourteenth generation)


Gregory Scott Slay (May 10, 1969 – January 1, 2010) was an American musician, drummer and songwriter. Slay was a founding member of Remy Zero and remained the band's drummer until its breakup in 2003.

Biography

Early life
Slay was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 10, 1969, to parents, Dudley and Jenny Slay. However, he was raised in Mobile, Alabama. Slay was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis during childhood.

Slay attended both Davidson High School and McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile. He began collaborating with Jeffrey Cain, another future member of Remy Zero, while in high school.

Xcel/Last Great Circus
While in High School in 1984, Slay formed Xcel, a hard rock band, with friends from Mobile. The band practiced in his parents' studio and played cover tunes as well as some originals at schools and functions. After various members left the group, the band reformed as the Last Great Circus and eventually won a local Mobile, AL Battle of the Bands.

Loppybogymi
In 1988, Slay co-founded the trio Loppybogymi with bassist, James Orr, and guitarist, Tim Ramenofsky.  The band's sound was an amalgamation of jazz-inspired funk and metal. Initially based in Mobile, Alabama, the band performed live in venues along the Gulf Coast and throughout the southeastern United States, settling for a while in Nashville, Tennessee. Loppybogymi developed a cult following along the Gulf Coast. The band's performances were notable for the virtuosity of each member of the group, high energy, and lengthy improvisational excursions. Each member of the trio sang, and Slay sang prominently on a number of songs, including crowd favorites such as "Hyperblood", "Debts and Grudges" and "Love of Pete."  Slay left Loppybogymi about a year after the band's release of the album, TUP, in 1993.

Remy Zero
Slay joined Remy Zero in Birmingham, Alabama with high school friend, Jeffrey Cain, who was also from Mobile, and Cedric LeMoyne, Cinjun Tate and Shelby Tate (Remy Zero), who were all natives of Birmingham. The band left Birmingham in 1990, and relocated to several cities before settling in Los Angeles. Slay returned to Birmingham with his band in 1996, where they recorded their self-titled debut album, Remy Zero. The band later became a commercial success with their 1998 album, Villa Elaine.

Remy Zero became best known to television audiences for "Save Me", the theme song to Smallville. However, Remy Zero disbanded in 2003 after three albums.

Later career
Following the breakup of Remy Zero, Slay turned his attention to other projects. He formed another band called Sleepwell. He also collaborated in other projects with singer-songwriter Eliot Morris. Slay became the drummer for O+S, a collaborative effort between Orenda Fink and Cedric LeMoyne, another former member of Remy Zero.

In 2003, Slay joined with former Remy Zero bandmates Jeffrey Cain and Cedric LeMoyne, to record, "A Perfect Lie", the theme song for the television drama, Nip/Tuck, under the name Engine Room. "A Perfect Lie", which Slay co-wrote, earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding main title theme music in 2004.

In 2004 he joined a project band called Isidore formed by Jeffrey Cain from Remy Zero and Steve Kilbey from The Church. He played drums on the 2004 debut album "Isidore".

Death
Slay, who had been touring and recording in the studio in the weeks preceding his death, unexpectedly fell into ill health.  Slay died on January 1, 2010, of cystic fibrosis in Bodega Bay, California, at the age of 40. He was survived by his parents, his wife, Tiana Krahn-Slay, and daughter, Honeymoon Slay.

A public memorial service following cremation was held for Slay in May 2010.

Discography

With Loppybogymi
Tup (1993)

With Remy Zero
Remy Zero (1996)
Villa Elaine (1998)
The Golden Hum (2001)

As Sleepwell
Sleepwell (2003)
Kitchen Street (2007)
Spiders/Rain (2007)

With Isidore
Isidore (2004)

As Horsethief Beats
The Sound Will Find You (Posthumously released in 2010 under the name Gregory Scott Slay)

References
 6. Horse Thief Beats album http://horsethiefbeats.bandcamp.com

External links

1969 births
2010 deaths
Alternative rock drummers
American alternative rock musicians
American rock drummers
Deaths from cystic fibrosis
People with cystic fibrosis
Musicians from Mobile, Alabama
Musicians from New Orleans
Songwriters from Alabama
Songwriters from Louisiana
Remy Zero members

Gregory Slay


This is a list of town tramway systems in Switzerland.  It includes all tram systems, past and present. Cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. Those tram systems that operated on other than standard gauge track (where known) are indicated in the 'Notes' column.

See also

 Riffelalptram
 List of town tramway systems in Europe
 List of tram and light rail transit systems
 List of metro systems
 List of trolleybus systems in Switzerland

References

Bibliography

External links

Tramways
Switzerland

List of town tramway systems in Switzerland


Rumba is a music and dance term with two different meanings.

First, it means Cuban event of African style, the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. This use of the term 'rumba' is quite different from the Latin ballroom dance.

Second, it refers to one of the Latin ballroom dances. In this sense, the Rumba is the slowest of the five competitive International Latin dances. The Paso doble, the Samba, the Cha-cha-cha and the Jive are the others. This ballroom Rumba was also danced in Cuba to a rhythm they call the bolero-son. The international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period.

Rumba outside Cuba
The Peanut Vendor was the first recording of Cuban music to become an international hit. It was described on the label as a rumba, perhaps because the word son would not be understood in English. The label stuck, and a 'rumba craze' developed through the 1930s. This kind of rumba was introduced into dance salons in America and Europe in the 1930s, and was characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom Rumba.

Ballroom Rumba
The modern style of dancing the Rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher Monsieur Pierre (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle). Pierre, then from London, visited Cuba in 1947, 1951 and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time.Intro

The international ballroom Rumba is a slower dance of about 120 beats per minute which corresponds, both in music and in dance to what the Cubans of an older generation called the bolero-son. It is easy to see why, for ease of reference and for marketing, rumba is a better name, however inaccurate. It is the same kind of reason that led later on to the use of salsa as an overall term for popular music of Cuban origin.

All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is hardly noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba. Walter Laird put it like this:
[After taking a step to the side] "Transfer full weight to this foot allowing the pelvis to move sideways and back so that the weight is felt to be near the heel of the standing foot. The knee of the supporting leg is locked back".p9
In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is danced without any rise and fall. This style is authentic, as is the use of free arms in various figures. The basic figures derive from dance moves observed in Havana in the pre-revolutionary period, and have developed their own life since then. Competition figures are often complex, and this is where competition dance separates from social dance. Details can be obtained from the syllabi of dance teaching organizations and from standard texts.

Other websites
 Basic international Rumba demonstrated by Bryan Watson and Karen Hardy, former World Professional champions.
 A more advanced version by the same pair:

References

Dance music
Latin dances

Rumba


Erin Joyce Brady (born November 5, 1987) is an American model, actress and pageant winner from Connecticut. Erin won Miss USA 2013.

Personal life

Erin was born on November 5, 1987, in East Hampton, Connecticut. Her father is Francis Brady and she has a sister named Audrey.  Erin is a "compulsive gum chewer." Erin is of Armenian, Polish, German and Irish ancestry.

College and interest in criminal justice
As a young girl, Erin saw a crime scene, prompting her interesting in criminal justice, a subject in which she earned a major from Central Connecticut State University, becoming the first member of her family to do so.

Relationships
On December 13, 2014, Erin married Antonio "Tony" Capasso. They were engaged in Verona, Italy. The couple divorced in 2016, and in 2020 Erin married Nicholas Colagiovanni.

Activism

Activism for drug and alchohol awareness
Erin has worked to raise awareness about the effects of drug and alchohol abuse. She told the Associated Press, "I grew up in a family influenced by that and I think it's really important to help the children of families that are suffering from those problems."

Make-A-Wish Foundation Activities
Erin has also worked tirelessly for the Ferrari and Friends Concorso, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In August 2013 she was inducted to the "Ride of Fame" of New York City.

Pageantry

Miss Connecticut USA 2012
Erin competed in Miss Connecticut USA 2012, where she finished second.

Miss Connecticut USA 2013 and Miss USA 2013
She then competed in Miss Connecticut USA 2013, which she won, and subsequently participated in Miss USA 2013, where she finished first, becoming the first Connecticuter to win the title. During the finals, she was asked a question about a Supreme Court ruling regarding criminal justice, and Erin responded, "If someone is being prosecuted and committed a crime, it should happen. There are so many crimes that if that's one step closer to stopping them, then we should be able to do so."  In the finals, Erin competed with Miss Alabama USA and won.

Filmography
Erin is also a well-known actress, having performed in the following movies:

 Emin: In Another Life (2013)
 Startup U (2015)
 Miss Teen USA 2015 (2015)

References

1987 births
Miss Universe winners
Miss USA
American movie actors
Models from Connecticut
Actors from Connecticut
Living people

Erin Brady


Menexenus (; ) was one of the three sons of Socrates and Xanthippe. His two brothers were Lamprocles and Sophroniscus.  Menexenus is not to be confused with the character of the same name who appears in Plato's dialogues Menexenus and Lysis.  Socrates' sons Menexenus and Sophroniscus were still children at the time of their father's trial and death, one of them small enough to be held in his mother's arms. According to Aristotle, Socrates' descendants all turned out to be unremarkable "fools and dullards".

References

Ancient Athenians
Family of Socrates

Menexenus


The Farm Palace () is a pavilion in the Alexandria Park of Peterhof, close to the Cottage Palace and Gothic Chapel. It was later expanded into a summer residence for the family of Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia. The house has been open to visitors since 2010.

The original pavilion was built in 1828–1831 to designs by Adam Menelaws. It was scored to resemble a pastoral farm with a row of household buildings. In 1838–1839 architect Andrei Stackenschneider added a two-story house with habitable rooms for the tsesarevich. The palace became the favorite summer residence of Alexander II and his family. After many reconstructions, the house was named "The Farm Palace" in 1859.

After the death of Alexander II, his son Tsar Alexander III chose to remain at the Cottage Palace, whereas his son Tsar Nicholas II and his family lived in the New Palace.

The two-story, fifty-five roomed palace included the tsar's study and sitting room, the imperial bedroom and bathroom, the sitting room and dressing room of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the Blue and Floral Drawing Rooms, the bedrooms of the imperial children, and the dining room. The palace grounds had a formal garden with several statues, a well and a fountain, and a white marble outdoor tub and a wood and rock bridge that was over a creek.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, the wife of Nicholas II, and her sister-in-law Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, the eldest daughter of Alexander III, gave birth at the palace to her daughters Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia on June 10, 1897, and Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia on July 15, 1895.

External links

 Royal Russia: The Farm Palace, Peterhof

Palaces in Petergof
1830s architecture
Residential buildings completed in 1831
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg

Farm Palace


Angel Taveras (born August 18, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, from 2011 to 2015. Taveras was the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth serving Dominican-American mayor in the United States.

Early life and education
Taveras' parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic in the mid-1960s. Taveras was born in Brooklyn, New York, but his family moved to Providence a few years later. Angel grew up on the South Side of Providence where he attended the Head Start Program and the Providence Public Schools, graduating from Classical High School in 1988, in the same class as future Cranston mayor Allan Fung.

Taveras attended Harvard University as an undergraduate, graduating with honors. Taveras was named an Echoing Green Fellow in 1992 for creating an after-school program and summer camp at Elmwood Community Center. He earned a J.D. degree at Georgetown University, and then served as a lawyer in Providence with Brown Rudnick LLP. After a 2000 Congressional run, Taveras started his own small law firm, focusing on civic advocacy and elections law.

Political career
In 2007, Providence Mayor David Cicilline appointed Taveras an Associate Judge on the Providence Housing Court.

Mayor of Providence

In 2010, Taveras stepped down from his judicial position to run for mayor of Providence in that year's mayoral election. In a four-way Democratic primary, Taveras won with 49% of the vote. Angel would go on to win the general election with 82% of the vote, and was sworn in as the 37th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.

Under Taveras' leadership, Providence was recognized with the All-America City Award from the National Civic League for its plan to boost third grade reading proficiency and the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge for its innovative proposal to improve the vocabularies of pre-school age children. In 2013, Taveras presided over some of the first same-sex marriages in Rhode Island.

"Fiscal hurricane"
Taveras came into the mayor's office facing a $110-million deficit.  He made various financial agreements with city institutions and won pension concessions from unions to address the city's "fiscal hurricane". Taveras was praised for avoiding filing for bankruptcy in 2012.

Education
Taveras' term was known for advances in education. He launched Providence Talks, an effort to close the "word gap" by tracking the number of words young children hear at home. The program also offered in-home visits from educators. Monies for the program came from a $5-million grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge. Taveras was also awarded the "Pacesetter Award" for his efforts on early learning from the White House.

Gubernatorial run

On Oct. 28, 2013, Taveras officially announced his bid for the 2014 gubernatorial election in the Meeting Street School library on Eddy Street in Providence. Taveras was endorsed by the Rhode Island Alliance of Social Service Employees, which represents approximately 900 administrative, technical and social service workers in state government, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 400, which 400 workers in the Rhode Island departments of Transportation and Environmental Management, and Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employee, the largest Rhode Island union for public sector employees.

On September 9, 2014, Taveras lost his Democratic primary bid for Rhode Island Governor to RI State Treasurer Gina Raimondo with 35,803 votes out of 122,757 votes cast. Taveras' one term as Mayor of Providence ended in 2015. He was the first elected mayor in 74 years to serve only four years. He was succeeded by Jorge Elorza.

References

External links

Mayor's Office – City of Providence
Campaign website

1970 births
21st-century American politicians
American politicians of Dominican Republic descent
Candidates in the 2014 United States elections
Classical High School alumni
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Harvard College alumni
Hispanic and Latino American mayors
Living people
Mayors of Providence, Rhode Island
Politicians from Brooklyn
Rhode Island Democrats
Rhode Island lawyers

Angel Taveras


Simione Foliaki (born 10 March 1981, in Tonga) is a Tongan rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback for the Vaini Doves in the Tonga National Rugby League competition.

Foliaki has also appeared on several occasions for the Tonga national rugby league team. His most recent international games came during the 2006 Federation Shield competition; in one of these, a losing game against England, he was sent off,
.

References

1981 births
Living people
Tongan rugby league players
Tonga national rugby league team players
Rugby league fullbacks

Simione Foliaki


Lucerne ( ; High Alemannic: Lozärn) or Luzern () is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of approximately 82,000 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media in the region. The city's urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people.

Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne () and its outflow, the river Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.

The official language of Lucerne is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Lucerne German.

History

Early history and founding (750–1386)
After the fall of the Roman Empire beginning in the 6th century, Germanic Alemannic peoples increased their influence on this area of present-day Switzerland.

Around 750 the Benedictine Monastery of St. Leodegar was founded, which was later acquired by Murbach Abbey in Alsace in the middle of the 9th century, and by this time the area had become known as Luciaria.

The origin of the name is uncertain, it is possibly derived from the Latin name of the pike, lucius, thus designating a pike fishing spot in the river Reuss. Derivation from the theonym Lugus has been suggested but is phonetically implausible. In any case, the name was associated by popular etymology with Latin lucerna "lantern" from an early time.

In 1178 Lucerne acquired its independence from the jurisdiction of Murbach Abbey, and the founding of the city proper probably occurred that same year. The city gained importance as a strategically located gateway for the growing commerce from the Gotthard trade route.

By 1290, Lucerne had become a self-sufficient city of reasonable size with about 3000 inhabitants. About this time King Rudolph I von Habsburg gained authority over the Monastery of St. Leodegar and its lands, including Lucerne. The populace was not content with the increasing Habsburg influence, and Lucerne allied with neighboring towns to seek independence from their rule. Along with Lucerne, the three other forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed the "eternal" Swiss Confederacy, known as the Eidgenossenschaft, on November 7, 1332.

Later the cities of Zürich, Zug and Bern joined the alliance. With the help of these additions, the rule of Austria over the area came to an end. The issue was settled by Lucerne's victory over the Habsburgs in the Battle of Sempach in 1386. For Lucerne this victory ignited an era of expansion. The city shortly granted many rights to itself, rights which had been withheld by the Habsburgs until then. By this time the borders of Lucerne were approximately those of today.

From city to city-state (1386–1520)
In 1415 Lucerne gained Reichsfreiheit from Emperor Sigismund and became a strong member of the Swiss confederacy. The city developed its infrastructure, raised taxes, and appointed its own local officials. The city's population of 3000 dropped about 40% due to the Black Plague and several wars around 1350.

In 1419 town records show the first witch trial against a male person.

Swiss-Catholic town (1520–1798)

Among the growing towns of the confederacy, Lucerne was especially popular in attracting new residents. Remaining predominantly Catholic, Lucerne hosted its own annual passion play from 1453 to 1616, a two-day-long play of 12 hours performance per day. As the confederacy broke up during the Reformation, after 1520, most nearby cities became Protestant, but Lucerne remained Catholic. After the victory of the Catholics over the Protestants in the Battle at Kappel in 1531, the Catholic towns dominated the confederacy. It was during this period that Jesuits first came to Lucerne in 1567, with their arrival given considerable backing by Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan. The region, though, was destined to be dominated by Protestant cities such as Zürich, Bern and Basel, which defeated the Catholic forces in the 1712 Toggenburg War. The former prominent position of Lucerne in the confederacy was lost forever. In the 16th and 17th centuries, wars and epidemics became steadily less frequent and as a result the population of the country increased strongly.

Lucerne was besieged by a peasant army and quickly signed a peace treaty with the rebels in the Swiss peasant war of 1653.

Century of revolutions (1798–1914)
In 1798, nine years after the beginning of the French Revolution, the French army marched into Switzerland. The old confederacy collapsed and the government became democratic. The industrial revolution hit Lucerne rather late, and by 1860 only 1.7% of the population worked in industry, which was about a quarter of the national average at that time. Agriculture, which employed about 40% of the workers, was the main form of economic output in the canton. Nevertheless, industry was attracted to the city from areas around Lucerne. From 1850 to 1913, the population quadrupled and the flow of settlers increased. In 1856 trains first linked the city to Olten and Basel, then Zug and Zürich in 1864 and finally to the south in 1897.

The 1804 play William Tell by Friedrich Schiller did much to establish the reputation of Lucerne and its environs. Schiller himself had not been to Lucerne, but was inspired to write the play by his wife Lotte and his friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who had both personally visited the city and its surrounding canton. Goethe had lodged in the Hirschenplatz on his route to Italy in 1779.

It was during the latter part of the 19th century that Lucerne became a popular destination for artists, royalty and others to escape to. The German composer Richard Wagner established a residence at Tribschen in 1866, where he lived and worked. The city was then boosted by a visit by Queen Victoria to the city in 1868, during which she went sightseeing at the Kapellbrücke and Lion Monument and relished speaking with local people in her native German. The American writer Mark Twain further popularised the city and its environs in his travel writings after visiting twice, in 1878 and 1897. In 1892 Swiss poet and future Nobel Prize laureate Carl Spitteler also established himself in Lucerne, living there until his death in 1924.

Lucerne's status as a fashionable destination led to it becoming one of the first centres of modern-style tourism. Some of the city's most recognisable buildings are hotels from this period, such as the Schweizerhof Hotel (1845), Grand Hotel National (1870), and Château Gütsch (1879). It was at the National that Swiss hotelier César Ritz would establish himself as manager between 1878 and 1888.

20th and 21st century

In August 1993, the Kapellbrücke in the centre of the city suffered from a great fire which destroyed two thirds of its interior paintings. The bridge was subsequently reconstructed and reopened to the public in April 1994, after a total of CHF 3.4 million was spent on its repair.

On June 17, 2007, voters of the city of Lucerne and the adjacent town of Littau agreed to a merger in a simultaneous referendum. This took effect on January 1, 2010. The new city, still called Lucerne, has a population of around 80,000 people, making it the seventh-largest city in Switzerland. The results of this referendum are expected to pave the way for negotiations with other nearby cities and towns in an effort to create a unified city-region, based on the results of a study.

Geography and climate

Topography
Lucerne is located at the outfall of Lake Lucerne into the river Reuss, which flows from south-east to north-west. The city occupies both banks of the river and the lowest reach of the lake, with the city centre straddling the river immediately downstream of the outfall. The city's suburbs climb the hills to the north-east and south-west, and stretch out along the river and lake banks, whilst the recently added area of Littau is to the north-west.

Besides this contiguous city area, the municipality also includes an exclave on the south shore of Lake Lucerne some  away, comprising the northern slopes of the Bürgenstock. This section of the municipality is entirely surrounded by the lake and by land of the canton of Nidwalden. It does not contain any significant settlements, but the summit of the Bürgenstock is the highest point of the municipality.

The municipality has an area of . Of this area and , 28.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 47.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Climate
Between 1961 and 1990 Lucerne had an average of 138.1 days of rain per year and on average received  of precipitation. The wettest month was June during which time Lucerne received an average of  of rainfall. During this month there was rainfall for an average of 14.2 days. The driest month of the year was February with an average of  of precipitation over 10.2 days. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

Politics

Government
The City Council (Stadtrat) constitutes the executive government of the city of Lucerne and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of five councilors (), each presiding over a directorate (Direktion) comprising several departments and bureaus. The president of the executive department acts as mayor (Stadtpräsident). In the mandate period (Legislatur) September 2020 – August 2024 the City Council is presided by Stadtpräsident Beat Züsli. Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the Grand City Council are carried by the City Council. The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of Lucerne allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The delegates are selected by means of a system of Majorz. The mayor is elected as such as well by public election while the heads of the other directorates are assigned by the collegiate.

, Luzern's City Council is made up of one representative of the SP (Social Democratic Party, who is also the mayor), and one each of CVP (Christian Democratic Party), GPS (Green Party), FDP (FDP.The Liberals), and glp (Green Liberal Party). The last regular election was held on 29 March/28 June 2020. All members have been re-elected, though two of them (Bitz Staub and Jost) only with the second round.

Michèle Bucher (FDP) is Town Chronicler (Stadtschreiberin) since 2020.

Parliament

The Grand City Council (Grosser Stadtrat) holds legislative power. It is made up of 48 members, with elections held every four years. The Grand City Council decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the City Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation.

The sessions of the Grand City Council are public. Unlike members of the City Council, members of the Grand City Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Luzern allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Grand City Council. The parliament holds its meetings in the Rathaus (Town Hall) am Kornmarkt.

The last regular election of the Grand City Council was held on 29 March 2020 for the mandate period () from September 2020 to August 2024. Currently the Grand City Council consist of 13 members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) and one of its junior section, the JUSO, 9 The Liberals (FDP/PLR), 7 Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), 7 Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), 6 Green Party (GPS/PES) and one of its junior section, the jg of Luzern, and 4 Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL).

National elections

National Council
In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the PS which received 25.0% (-0.7) of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (20.8%, +7.4), the SVP (15.0%, -4.6), the CVP (14.1%, 0), FDP (13.0%, -2.5), the glp (10.5%, +1.8). In the federal election a total of 25,836 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 49.5%.

In the 2015 election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SP which received 25.8% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the SVP (19.5%), the FDP (15.4%), the CVP (14.1%), the GPS (13.3%), and the GLP (8.9%). In the federal election, a total of 26,521 voters were cast, and the voter turnout was 49.48%.

International relations

Twin towns
Lucerne is twinned with the following towns:

 Bournemouth, United Kingdom (1981)
 Chicago, Illinois, United States (1999)
 Cieszyn, Poland (1994)
 Guebwiller / Murbach, France (1978)
 Olomouc, Czech Republic (1994)
 Potsdam, Germany (2002)

Demographics

Population

Lucerne has a population (as of 31 December 2021) of 82,771 As of 2021, 20,508 or 24.78% of the population was made up of foreign nationals, of which 18.22% are from Europe, 3.63% from Asia, 1.85% from Africa and 0.97% from America. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.2%.

Most of the population (as of 2020) speak German (83.26%), with English with 7.45%, as well as Italian (5.06%) and Serbo-Croatian (3.80%) being respectively second, third and fourth most common first languages reported. Following, there are Portuguese (2.81%), Spanish (2.53%), Albanian (2.25%) and French (2.11%) language speakers.

The age distribution in Lucerne is (); 12,916 people or 15.7% of the population is 0–19 years old. 26,381 people or 33.8% are 20–39 years old, and 25,863 people or 32.1% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 10,530 people or 13.1% are 65–79 years old, 4,208 or 5.2% are 80–89 years old and 900 people or 1.1% of the population are 90+ years old.

In Lucerne about 73.6% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

 there are 30,586 households, of which 15,452 households (or about 50.5%) contain only a single individual. 853 or about 2.8% are large households, with at least five members.  there were 5,707 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 4,050 were built only as housing, and 1,657 were mixed use buildings. There were 1,152 single family homes, 348 double family homes, and 2,550 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (787) or three (1,468) story structures. There were only 74 single story buildings and 1,721 four or more story buildings.

Historic population
The historical population of Lucerne is given in the following table:

Religion
The city grew up around Sankt Leodegar Abbey, founded in AD 840, and remained strongly Roman Catholic into the 21st century. By 1850, 96.9% of the population was Catholic, in 1900 it was 81.9% and in 1950 it was still 72.3%.  the religious membership of Lucerne was: 35,682 (60%) Roman Catholic, 9,227 (15.5%) Protestant, with an additional 1,979 (3.33%) who were of some other Christian denominations; 1,824 individuals (3.07% of the population) Muslim; 196 individuals (0.33% of the population) Jewish. Of the remainder, 1,073 (1.8%) individuals were another religion; 6,310 (10.61%) stated they do not belong to any organized religion; and 3,205 (5.39%) did not answer the question.

Economy
, there were a total of 77,641 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 166 people worked in 53 businesses in the primary economic sector. The secondary sector employed 7,326 workers in 666 separate businesses. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 70,149 jobs in 6,929 businesses. In 2013 a total of 11.0% of the population received social assistance.  51.7% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, women made up 47.9% of the workforce.

Lucerne is home to a number of major Swiss companies, including AlpTransit Gotthard rail link, Schindler Group, Chronoswiss, Emmi, and the Luzerner Kantonalbank. Suva, one of Switzerland's oldest accident insurance companies, is also based in Lucerne, as is the University of Lucerne, the youngest of Switzerland's traditional universities. An international company is the EF Education First.

Thanks to its continuous tax-cutting policies, Lucerne has become Switzerland's most business-friendly canton.  Lucerne offers Switzerland's lowest corporate tax rate at cantonal level.

Furthermore, Lucerne also offers very moderate personal income tax rates. In a recent published study of BAK Basel Economics taxation index 2012, Lucerne made it to the 4th place with an only marginally 2% higher tax rate compared to the top canton in this comparison.

One of the first export oriented branches was the production of scythes from the 14th century onwards. Lucerne imported iron and steel and the cities blacksmiths produced scythes which were exported to western Switzerland and northern Italy. The workshops of the blacksmiths were located in the outskirts of the city due to fire concerns. The workshops at the Krienbach creek included hammers moved by watermills.

Sights

Since the city straddles the Reuss where it drains the lake, it has a number of bridges. These include the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a  long wooden covered bridge originally built in 1333, the oldest covered bridge in Europe, although much of it had to be replaced after a fire on 18 August 1993, allegedly caused by a discarded cigarette. Partway across, the bridge runs by the octagonal Water Tower (Wasserturm), a fortification from the 13th century. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history.

Downriver, between the Kasernenplatz and the Mühlenplatz, the Spreuer Bridge (Spreuerbrücke or Mühlenbrücke, Mill Bridge) zigzags across the Reuss. Constructed in 1408, it features a series of medieval-style 17th century plague paintings by Kaspar Meglinger (de) titled Dance of Death (Totentanzzyklus). The bridge has a small chapel in the middle that was added in 1568.

Old Town Lucerne is mainly located just north of the Reuss, and still has several fine half-timber structures with painted fronts. Remnants of the old town walls exist on the hill above Lucerne, complete with eight tall watch towers. An additional gated tower sits at the base of the hill on the banks of the Reuss.

The twin needle towers of the Church of St. Leodegar, which was named after the city's patron saint, sit on a small hill just above the lake front. Originally built in 735, the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. However, the towers are surviving remnants of an earlier structure. The interior is richly decorated. The church is popularly called the Hofkirche (in German) and is known locally as the Hofchile (in Swiss-German).

Bertel Thorvaldsen's carving of a dying lion (the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal) is found in a small park just off the Löwenplatz. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when an armed mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

The Swiss Museum of Transport is a large and comprehensive museum exhibiting all forms of transport, including locomotives, automobiles, ships, and aircraft. It is to be found beside the lake in the northern-eastern section of the city.

The Culture and Convention Center (KKL) beside the lake in the center of the city was designed by Jean Nouvel. The center has one of the world's leading concert halls, with acoustics by Russell Johnson.

The Richard Wagner Museum is found on the lake at Tribschen and is dedicated to the composer Richard Wagner. Wagner lived in Lucerne from 1866 to 1872 and his former villa now hosts the museum dedicated to him.

Culture and events

Culture

Since plans for the new culture and convention centre arose in the late 1980s, Lucerne has found a balance between the so-called established culture and alternative culture. A consensus was reached that culminated in a culture compromise (Kulturkompromiss). The established culture comprises the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL), the city theater (Luzerner Theater) and, in a broader sense, smaller establishments such as the Kleintheater, founded by comedian Emil Steinberger, a Lucerne native, or Stadtkeller, a music restaurant in the city's old town. KKL houses a concert hall as well as the Museum of Art Lucerne (Kunstmuseum Luzern).

Alternative culture took place mostly on the premises of a former tube factory, which became known as Boa. Other localities for alternative culture have since emerged in the same inner city area as Boa. Initially, Boa staged various plays, but concerts became more and more common; this new use of the building clashed with the development of apartment buildings on nearby lots of land. Due to possible noise pollution, Boa was closed and a replacement in a less heavily inhabited area is currently under construction. Critics claimed though that the new establishment would not meet the requirements for an alternative culture.

Südpol is a center for performing arts in Lucerne presenting music-, dance- and theatre-events. The house at the foot of Pilatus opened in November 2008.

Lucerne is home to the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, a category A symphonic orchestra, and to the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, and they both hold most of their performances in the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre.

Lucerne is also home to Keramikkonzerte, a series of classical chamber music concerts held throughout each year, as well as Zaubersee, a festival dedicated to Russian classical music.

Lucerne in art

Events
Every year, towards the end of winter, Fasnacht (Carnival) breaks out in the streets, alleyways and squares of the old town. This is a glittering outdoor party, where chaos and merriness reign and nothing is as it normally is. Strange characters in fantastic masks and costumes make their way through the alleyways, while Guggenmusiken (carnival bands) blow their instruments in joyful cacophony and thousands of bizarrely clad people sing and dance away the winter. The Lucerner Fasnacht, based on religious, Catholic backgrounds, starts every year on the Thursday before Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday) with a big bang at 5am called Morgenwacht (Morning Watch). There are big parades in the afternoon on Schmotzige Donnerstag (literally: Lardy Thursday) and the following Monday, called Güdismontag (literally: Paunch Monday), which attract tens of thousands of people. Lucerne's Carnival ends with a crowning finish on Güdisdienstag (literally: Paunch Tuesday) evening with the Monstercorso, a tremendous parade of Guggenmusiken, lights and lanterns with even a larger audience. Rather recently a fourth Fasnacht day has been introduced on the Saturday between the others Fasnacht days, the Rüüdige Samstag while mainly several indoor balls take place. From dusk till dawn on the evenings of Schmotzige Donnerstag, Güdismontag, and after the Monstercorso many bands wander through the historical part of the city playing typical Fasnacht tunes. Until midnight, the historical part of the city usually is packed with people participating. A large part of the audience are also dressed up in costumes, even a majority in the evenings.

The city hosts various renowned festivals throughout the year. The Lucerne Festival for classical music takes place in the summer. Its orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, is hand-picked from some of the finest instrumentalists in the world. In June yearly the pop music festival B-Sides takes place in Lucerne. It focuses on international acts in alternative music, indie rock, experimental rock and other cutting edge and left field artistic musical genres. In July, the Blue Balls Festival brings jazz, blues and punk music to the lake promenade and halls of the Culture and Convention Center. The Lucerne Blues Festival is another musical festival which usually takes place in November. Since spring 2004, Lucerne has hosted the Festival Rose d'Or for television entertainment. And in April, the well-established comics festival Fumetto attracts an international audience.

Being the cultural center of a rather rural region, Lucerne regularly holds different folklore festivals, such as Lucerne Cheese Festival, held annually. In 2004, Lucerne was the focus of Swiss Wrestling fans when it had hosted the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine festival (Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest), which takes place every three years in a different location. A national music festival (Eidgenössiches Musikfest) attracted marching bands from all parts of Switzerland in 2006. In summer 2008, the yodelling festival (Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest) had a similar impact.

The 2021 Winter Universiade will be hosted by Lucerne.

Transport

After Ferdinand von Zeppelin landed his airship in Lucerne in 1909, the city became a pioneer for the aeronautical industry in Switzerland. In February 1910 the countries first (and after the DELAG of Germany the second in the world) air transport company was founded, in July the same year then also the first airship hangar at Tribschenmoos. The company provided flights with airships until 1914 without notable accidents.

Lucerne boasts a developed and well-run transport network, with the main operator, Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern (VBL), running both the trolleybuses in Lucerne and a motor buses network in the city and to neighboring municipalities. Other operators, such as PostAuto Schweiz and Auto AG Rothenburg, provide bus services to other towns and villages.

Lucerne railway station is one of Switzerland's principal stations, and is well-connected to the rest of Switzerland via railway services operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), the Südostbahn SOB, the BLS and the Zentralbahn (zb). There are 40 trains per day between Lucerne and Zurich, with an average travel time of 48 minutes. Zurich Airport can be reached in just over an hour. Adjacent to the station is Luzern Bahnhofquai, from which ships of the Lake Lucerne Navigation Company operate to various destinations on Lake Lucerne. Between April and mid October, the tourist oriented Gotthard Panorama Express connects Lucerne with Lugano once a day by boat and train, travelling by boat along the length of Lake Lucerne and then by train over the historic high-level Gotthard route.

Three other railway stations are located within the city boundaries, with Lucerne Allmend/Messe railway station close to the Swissporarena in the south of the city, Littau Bahnhof in the former municipality of Littau and the Lucerne Verkehrshaus railway station adjacent to the Swiss Museum of Transport in the east.

Lucerne's city transit system is fully integrated into the coherent and integrated fare network system called passepartout encompassing all kind of public transport in the cantons of Lucerne, Obwalden, and Nidwalden.

A funicular, Gütschbahn, links the city to Château Gütsch, 90 m above. Standseilbahn Hotel Montana runs from the lakefront to Hotel Montana. From 1912 to 1978, there was Dietschibergbahn at Dietschiberg.

Sport

There are several football clubs throughout the city. The most successful one is FC Luzern which plays in Switzerland's premier league (Swiss Super League). The club plays its home matches at the new Swissporarena, with a capacity of 16,800.

The city's main hockey team is the HC Luzern which plays in the Swiss Second League, the fourth tier of Swiss hockey. They play their home games in the 5,000-seat Swiss Life Arena.

In the past, Lucerne also produced national successes in men's handball and women's volleyball and softball.

Having a long tradition of equestrian sports, Lucerne has co-hosted CSIO Switzerland, an international equestrian show jumping event, until it left entirely for St. Gallen in 2006. Since then, the Lucerne Equestrian Masters replaced it. There is also an annual horse racing event, usually taking place in August.

Lucerne annually hosts the final leg of the World Rowing Cup on Rotsee Lake. Numerous World Rowing Championships have been held in Lucerne including the inaugural World Championships of 1962 and then the regattas of 1974, 1982 and 2001.

Lucerne hosts the annual Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern track and field meeting, which attracts world class athletes such as Yohan Blake and Valerie Adams.

The city also provides facilities for ice-hockey, figure-skating, golf, swimming, basketball, rugby, skateboarding, climbing and more.

Lucerne hosted FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event Lucerne Open 2015 and FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship in 2016.

Gallery

Notable people

See also
 List of mayors of Lucerne

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

 André Meyer: The Jesuit church of Lucerne, Berne 1985 (= Schweizerische Kunstführer, ser. 32, Nr. 314).
 Laura Stokes: Demons of urban reform. Early European witch trials and criminal justice, 1430–1530. Basingstoke 2011. .

External links

 Lucerne Tourism

Cities in Switzerland
Cantonal capitals of Switzerland
Lucerne (capital)
Municipalities of the canton of Lucerne
Populated places established in the 1st millennium
Lakeside resorts in Switzerland
Free imperial cities
Populated places on Lake Lucerne
1330s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1332 establishments in Europe
14th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy

Lucerne