Shipping (derived from the word relationship) is the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television series, etc.), to be in a romantic or sexual relationship. Shipping often takes the form of unofficial creative works, including fanfiction and fan art.

Etymology
The usage of the term "ship" in its relationship sense appears to have been originated around 1995 by Internet fans of the TV show The X-Files, who believed that the two main characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, should be engaged in a romantic relationship. They called themselves "relationshippers" at first; then "R'shipper", and finally just "shipper".

The oldest recorded uses of the noun ship and the noun shipper, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, date back to 1996 postings on the Usenet group alt.tv.x-files; shipping is first attested slightly later, in 1997 and the verb to ship in 1998.

Notation and terminology
"Ship" and its derivatives in this context have since come to be in widespread usage. "Shipping" refers to the phenomenon; a "ship" is the concept of a fictional couple; to "ship" a couple means to have an affinity for it in one way or another; a "shipper" or a "fangirl/boy" is somebody significantly involved with such an affinity; and a "shipping war" is when two ships contradict each other, causing fans of each ship to argue. A ship that a particular fan prefers over all others is called an OTP, which stands for one true pairing.

When discussing shipping, a ship that has been confirmed by its series is called a canon ship or sailed ship, whereas a sunk ship is a ship that has been proven unable to exist in canon, or in other words, will never be real nor confirmed.

Naming conventions
Various naming conventions have developed in different online communities to refer to shipped couples, likely due to the ambiguity and cumbersomeness of the "Character 1 and Character 2" format.

The first method was using a slash, first used for Kirk/Spock. This is today mainly used for same-sex ships; fanfiction with these pairings is known as slash fiction.

Name blending is often used to refer to a couple, like 'Reylo' for Kylo Ren and Rey in Star Wars franchise, 'Destiel' for Dean Winchester and Castiel in the Supernatural TV series, and 'Bubbline' referring to Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time. Portmanteaus and clipped compounds are used not only to abbreviate character pairings but also to create a name for the ship itself. For example, 'Klance' forms a clipped compound, and an abbreviated form of the complete names Keith and Lance in Voltron: Legendary Defender. 'Sculder' in this case Dana Scully and Fox Mulder in The X-Files, is an example of surnames being blended, although most X-Files fans use the term "MSR" (Mulder-Scully Relationship), as is "MoonBoon" to stand for Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon in Mysticons. In other cases, first names of characters are merged, like the ships for Marcy Wu and Anne Boonchuy (Marcanne), Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu (Sasharcy), and Sasha Waybright and Anne Boonchuy (Sashanne) in Amphibia. These combinations of names often follow systematic phonological principles, in which the first character in the ship's name is seen as the 'dominant' partner. Japanese ship naming conventions often attach names together without slashing or blending by using an XY name-name format. This format is ruled by boy-girl ordering, or seme-uke (top-bottom) in Yaoi. In many East Asian countries there is a distinct difference between the pairing of XY and YX. Such as the pairing names of 'MomoYuki' (where Momo is dominant) vs. 'YukiMomo' (where Yuki is dominant) from the series Idolish7.

Many fandom-specific variants exist and often use fandom-specific terminology. These often employ words that describe the relationship between characters in the context of the fictional universe and simply add the word "Shipping" to the end. Other terminology include using a combination of the characters' names and codes as a ship name. For instance, ship names for characters in RWBY include "Bumbleby" (Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long) and "White Rose" (Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose).

Types of ships

Same-sex

Within shipping, same-sex pairings are popular; they are sometimes known as "slash and femslash". Within the anime/manga fandom, borrowed Japanese terms such as yaoi and yuri may be used. In the context of Chinese TV series, related same-sex pairings are also referred to as "Tanbi CP". A person who supports same-sex pairings and reads or writes slash fiction may be referred to as a "slasher", although the Japanese term "fujoshi" for women who like same-sex stories, and "fudanshi" as the male equivalent of that, are also commonly used within the community, especially by fans of yaoi (boy on boy) and fans of yuri (girl on girl).

The term "slash" predates the use of "shipping" by at least some 20 years. It was originally coined as a term to describe a pairing of Kirk and Spock of Star Trek, Kirk/Spock (or "K/S"; sometimes spoken "Kirk-slash-Spock", whence "slash") homosexual fan fiction. Other early slash pairings came from characters in Starsky & Hutch and Dirty Harry." For a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, "K/S" was used to describe such fan fiction, regardless of whether or not they were related to Star Trek, and eventually "slash" became a universal term to describe all homosexual-themed fan works. It now refers to a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex, Even so, the slash mark itself is a shorthand label for a romantic relationship, regardless of whether the pairing is heterosexual or homosexual, romantic, or erotic.

The first K/S stories were not immediately accepted by all Star Trek fans. Early slash fans in England feared that they would be arrested, because slash violated the obscenity laws there at the time. Many early slash stories were based on a pairing of two close friends, a "hero dyad", or "One True Pairing", such as Kirk/Spock or Starsky/Hutch; conversely, a classic pairing between foils was that of Blake/Avon from Blake's 7. With the advent of the Internet, slash fiction writers created mailing lists (which gradually took the place of amateur press associations), and websites such as FanFiction.Net (which gradually started taking the place of zines). With the Internet, the number of fandoms represented increased dramatically, especially those devoted to science fiction, fantasy, and police dramas. The Internet also increased the level of reader interaction, making it easier for fans to comment on stories, give episode reviews, and discuss comment on trends in slash fandom itself. Websites and fanzines dedicated to fans of The X-Files, Stargate, Harry Potter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer became common, with tens of thousands of slash stories available.

Due to the lack of canonical homosexual relationships in source media at the time that slash fiction began to emerge, some came to see slash fiction stories as being exclusively outside their respective canons and held that the term "slash fiction" applies only when the characters' same-sex romantic or erotic relationship about which an author writes is not part of the source's canon and that fan fiction about canonical same-sex relationships is therefore not slash. Femslash, a subgenre of slash fiction which focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between female fictional characters, on the other hand, are typically heterosexual in the canon universe, but when fictions focus on lesbian characters, the stories are often labeled as femslash for convenience. Original slash stories are those that contain male/male content, based on perceived homoerotic subtext between fictitious characters. This can be sourced from a variety of media content, such as manga, TV shows, movies and books amongst others. These works are now generally published online and use the same forms of rating, warnings and terminology that is commonly used by slash writers.

In May 2020, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power showrunner ND Stevenson said that while shipping has been a great tool for fans, they do not want films or shows with just occasional glances, or for all same-sex relationships to be portrayed as shipping. They argued that the Catra/Adora relationship in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is not an example of shipping, since it is "central to the plot" of the story.

Polyamory
Love triangles are commonly used as a plot device to cause conflict in the story. The easy way around this is to pair all three together, or one member with both potential romantic partners. This is not to be confused with a harem, which is usually just a single character being sought out by many others. Situations such as that may be the one to cause a polyamorous relationship or characters may be in such a relationship. Polyamory is not always caused by love triangles, but those that don't tend to be less accepted by the fandom. In some fan fictions, characters are given a polyamorous identity, including warning "poly readers that the central characters are monogamous."

Interspecies
Interspecies shipping, which is usually displayed in fandoms of media consisting of animals of various species or supernatural, mechanical, extraterrestrial and fantasy beings, is usually not problematic until a human is paired with a non-humanoid, sapient character. Shipping a human character with an animal or furry character can be controversial as it treads a contentious line with bestiality.

Age difference
Controversial age differences have a wide range. An elderly adult with a young adult, anyone with an immortal or slowly aging being, teenagers with young adults, or even ships involving fictional children are all part of this category. Connected to this are continued arguments about which ships are "best" and "right," with inevitable shipping wars.

Love-hate
Romances between two characters who canonically hate each other also occur. It is often interpreted that the characters share sexual tension between each other, having a love–hate relationship. An example would be pairing Daniel LaRusso and his bully and rival Johnny from The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. This is one of the most popular types of shipping.

Notable fandoms

Daria fandom
Daria was marked throughout its run by shipper debate, primarily over whether the title character should have a relationship with Trent Lane. A common argument was that it would signal a turning away from the more subversive aspects of Daria's character, such as bitter criticism of romantic relationships.

In a later episode, Tom Sloane, who became Jane's boyfriend, is introduced, drawing a wedge between Jane and Daria, for instance. Daria and Tom warmed up to each other throughout the fourth season, leading up to its finale. With Jane and Tom's relationship in crisis, a heated argument between Daria and Tom led up to a kiss in Tom's car. In the TV movie Is it Fall Yet?, Daria decided to begin a relationship with Tom, and Daria and Jane patched up their friendship. This caused an uproar, and conversation turned to whether Tom was more appropriate than Trent had been. The debate was satirized by the show's writers in a piece on MTV's website.

In interviews done after the series' run, series co-creator Glenn Eichler revealed that "any viewer who really thought that Daria and Trent could [have] a relationship was just not watching the show we were making," Tom came about because "going into our fourth year... I thought it was really pushing credibility for Daria to have only had one or two dates during her whole high school career," and "teaser" episodes like "Pierce Me" were "intended to provide some fun for that portion of the audience that was so invested in the romance angle. The fact that those moments were few and far between should have given some indication that the series was not about Daria's love life."

Harry Potter fandom
The Harry Potter series' most contentious ship debates came from supporters of various potential pairings:

 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger - 'Harmione' one of Harry's closest friends. This pairing is non-canon.
 Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley - 'Romione' close friend of both Harry and Hermione. This pairing is canon.
 Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley - 'Hinny'  Ron's younger sister. This pairing is canon.
 Lily Evans ending up with either James Potter - 'Jily', or Severus Snape - 'Snily'. the former pairing is canon.
 Remus Lupin ending up with either Sirius Black - 'Wolfstar' or Nymphadora Tonks - 'Remadora'. The latter pairing is canon.
 Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy - 'Drarry' This pairing is non-canon.
 Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy - 'Dramione' This pairing is non-canon.

Author J.K. Rowling appeared to tamp down the first possibility even before the debates got truly started following the release of Goblet of Fire in July 2000, when she stated in October 1999 that Harry and Hermione "are very platonic friends" after the release of Prisoner of Azkaban in July 1999. An interview with J.K. Rowling shortly after the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in 2005 caused significant controversy within the fandom. An interviewer stated that Harry/Hermione fans were delusional, to which Rowling responded that they were "still valued members of her readership", but that there had been "anvil-sized hints" for future Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny relationships, incorporated in the book itself, and that Harry/Hermione shippers needed to re-read the books. This caused an uproar among Harry/Hermione shippers, some of whom claimed they would return their copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and boycott future Harry Potter books.
Rowling's attitude towards the shipping phenomenon has varied between amused and bewildered to frustrated. In that same interview, she stated that she was a "relative newcomer to the world of shipping" and that it was "extraordinary" to meet the shippers, calling it a "huge underworld" seething beneath her. Rowling stated in an interview conducted by Emma Watson in February 2014 for Wonderland Magazine, however, that she thought that realistically Hermione and Ron had "too much fundamental incompatibility," that they were written together "as a form of wish fulfillment" to reconcile a relationship she herself was once in. She admitted to thinking she could have paired Hermione with Harry: "in some ways Hermione and Harry are a better fit", and that "Hermione's always there for Harry." However, in the same interview she later clarified. "Maybe she and Ron will be alright with a bit of counselling, you know. I wonder what happens at wizard marriage counselling? They'll probably be fine. He needs to work on his self-esteem issues and she needs to work on being a little less critical," Watson later clarified that Rowling's comments about pairing Hermione up with Harry were taken out of context and that she was actually joking.

Xena: Warrior Princess fandom
The 1995–2001 action/fantasy TV series Xena: Warrior Princess produced "shipping wars," with spillover from real-world debates about homosexuality and gay rights. The show spawned various websites, online discussion forums, works of Xena fan fiction and several unofficial fan-made productions, with members of the fandom writing numerous fanfiction stories of the series, numbering in the thousands, and popularized the term altfic to refer to fanfiction about loving relationships between women.

Shortly after the series' debut, fans started discussing the possibility of a relationship between Xena and her sidekick and best friend Gabrielle. According to journalist Cathy Young, the quarrel between fans about a relationship between Xena and Gabrielle had a sociopolitical angle, in which some on the anti-relationship side were "undoubtedly driven by bona fide bigotry", while some on the pro-relationship side were lesbians who "approached the argument as a real-life gay rights struggle" in which "denying a sexual relationship between Xena and Gabrielle was tantamount to denying the reality of their own lives". She argued that the fact that staff paid attention to fan opinions may have led to problems, with an "incentive for the rival groups to out-shout one another to make themselves heard," leading to shipping wars.

In 2000, during the airing of the fifth season, the intensity of the "shipping wars" was chronicled (from a non-subtexter's point of view) in an article titled "The Discrimination in the Xenaverse" in the online Xena fan magazine Whoosh!, and numerous letters in response. The wars did not abate after the 2001 series finale. With no new material from the show itself, the debates were fueled by various statements from the cast and crew. In January 2003, Xena star Lucy Lawless told Lesbian News magazine that after watching the finale, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay". In March 2005, one-time Xena screenwriter Katherine Fugate, an outspoken supporter of the Xena/Gabrielle pairing, posted a statement on her website appealing for tolerance in the fandom, telling people to "allow everyone the grace to take what they need from the show and make it theirs," whether they see Xena with Gabrielle, or Xena with Ares. She also called for fans to "stop the arguing and name-calling".

See also
Larries, fans of shipping between Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction
Stucky (fandom), shipping between Marvel characters Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes
SymBrock, shipping between Marvel characters Venom and Eddie Brock

References

Fandom
Internet culture
Romance

Shipping (fandom)


Sunisa "Suni" Lee (born Sunisa Phabsomphou; March 9, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast. Lee is the 2020 Olympic all-around champion and uneven bars bronze medalist, the 2019 world championship silver medalist on the floor and bronze medalist on uneven bars. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Lee is the first Hmong-American Olympian. She is also reported to be the first woman of Asian descent and first Asian American woman to win the Olympic all-around title. She is a six-time member of the U.S. women's national gymnastics team, and with six world championship and Olympic medals, she is tied with Gabby Douglas, Kim Zmeskal, Kyla Ross, and Rebecca Bross as the tenth-most-decorated American female gymnast.

Lee has received numerous honors and awards. In 2021, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated, named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation, and included in Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She also received an Asia Game Changer Award.

Early life and family
Sunisa Lee was born Sunisa Phabsomphou on March 9, 2003, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Yeev Thoj, a healthcare worker. Lee is of Hmong descent, and her mother, a refugee, immigrated to the United States from Laos as a child. Lee was raised by her mother's longtime partner, John Lee, from the age of two and considers John to be her father. She began using his surname professionally as a teenager. Lee has three half-siblings, Evionn, Lucky, and Noah, through her mother's relationship with Lee, and Lee had two children, Jonah and Shyenne, from a previous relationship. Evionn also competed in artistic gymnastics at the regional level.

Lee's interest in gymnastics was initially piqued at age six after watching footage of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on YouTube, and her father built a balance beam for her from a mattress. When Lee later started doing backflips outdoors, it became clear to her parents that she needed a safer venue to hone her skills in. They registered her for gymnastics classes at Midwest Gymnastics Center in Little Canada, Minnesota, where she started training under the tutelage of coach Punnarith Koy. The following year, Lee began competing and won the all-around at a state meet, the second competition of her career. At age eight, she moved up three levels, and she qualified for elite at age 11. Koy coached Lee between the age of six to about twelve before Jess Graba, who has been coaching her ever since, took over.

Junior career

2015-2018: International debut
Lee competed in the Hopes division in 2015, became a junior elite in 2016, and made her junior elite debut at the 2016 U.S. Classic. She earned a spot on the junior national team in 2017 and debuted internationally at the Gymnix International Junior Cup where the U.S. team won the gold medal in the team event. Lee captured the silver on uneven bars. In May 2017, Lee announced her verbal commitment to Auburn University on a gymnastics scholarship.

Lee was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships that took place in April, 2018. She won gold with the U.S. team in the team final and went on to secure the silver medal on vault, balance beam, and in the floor exercise. She placed 4th in the all-around.  A month later, she withdrew from the Pan American Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after sustaining an ankle injury. In July 2018, Lee competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic where she finished fifth in the all-around and won the gold medal on balance beam despite not doing a dismount. She was one of the favorites for the national junior title along with Leanne Wong, Jordan Bowers, and Kayla DiCello heading into the 2018 U.S. Championships in Boston and came third in the all-around behind Wong and DiCello. She won gold on the uneven bars.

Senior career

2019: Senior debut and world medalist
Lee made her international senior debut at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy where she won the all-around title and took home the gold with the U.S. team in the team final. In the event finals, she placed first on the uneven bars and on floor, and third on the balance beam behind reigning world champion Liu Tingting of China and teammate Emma Malabuyo.

Lee won the silver on beam at the 2019 American Classic in June and finished fifth on bars after falling off twice. After the conclusion of the event, Lee was among the eight athletes under consideration for the team to be fielded at the 2019 Pan American Games, but would have to compete at the 2019 U.S. Classic to secure her place. In the end, Lee was not named to the team after placing second on bars and tying for eighth on beam at U.S. Classic.

It was a year plagued by injuries. Lee injured her ankle and sustained a hairline fracture to her left tibia after a dismount from the balance beam. She was still recovering from her injuries by the time the 2019 U.S. Championships rolled around in August. Still, Lee competed on all four events, and after the first day of competition, she was in second place in the all-around behind Simone Biles and in first place on uneven bars. On the second day of competition, she continued to perform clean routines and finished second in the all-around behind Biles. She won gold on bars ahead of Morgan Hurd and placed fourth on beam behind Biles, Kara Eaker, and Leanne Wong. She also won the bronze on floor behind Biles and Jade Carey. As a result, she was named to the national team. A month later at the world team selection camp, Lee finished second by 0.350 points in the all-around behind Biles. The next day, Lee was chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Biles, Kara Eaker, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum. Lee was the only first-year senior named to the team and the only team member without prior World Championships experience.

Lee competed in her first world championships in October 2019. The U.S. took first at team qualifications with a score of 174.205, more than five points ahead of China in second with 169.161. Lee advanced to the individual all-around final in second place after Biles despite a fall on the balance beam. She also qualified second behind Biles to the floor exercise final, beating out teammate Carey in a tiebreaker, and to the uneven bars final in third place behind reigning World Champion Nina Derwael of Belgium and 2015 World Champion Daria Spiridonova of Russia. Lee competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor and helped the U.S. to gold in the team final ahead of Russia and Italy. She had another fall on the beam, but her scores on bars (14.733) and floor exercise (14.233) were the third highest of the day on the two events. She finished in eighth place in the all-around final after an uncharacteristic mistake on the uneven bars. Two days later, in the uneven bars final, Lee performed a clean routine and posted a score of 14.800. She won the bronze medal behind Derwael and Becky Downie. She also won the silver in the floor exercise final behind Biles.

2020: Injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic
In late January, it was announced that Lee would compete at the Stuttgart World Cup scheduled to take place in March, but the event was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee's gym closed temporarily for three weeks as part of the pandemic response and when she returned, she broke a bone in her left foot which left her out of action for two months. An injury to her Achilles tendon sidelined her for another two months. In November, Lee committed to Auburn University and signed her National Letter of Intent.

2021: Olympic all-around champion

Lee returned to competition in February at the 2021 Winter Cup where she competed on uneven bars and balance beam. She placed first on bars and third on beam behind Skye Blakely and Jordan Chiles, despite doing a relatively low-scoring dismount.  She went on to compete at the 2021 American Classic in April. She placed first on bars and beam with scores of 15.200 and 14.550, and finished fifth on floor even though she opted to simplify two tumbling passes. A month later, in May, Lee competed at the 2021 U.S. Classic on the uneven bars and balance beam. She fell off both apparatus and placed tenth and eighth respectively.

The 2021 U.S. Championships took place in early June. Lee executed a bars routine with a 6.8 difficulty value, scoring 15.300. She went on to win the silver in the all-around behind Simone Biles. She placed first on the uneven bars, second on the balance beam, and qualified for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials. A few weeks later, Lee competed on all four events at the two-day Olympic Trials. She achieved an uneven bars score of 15.300 on day one and found herself in second place in the all-around behind Biles. On day two, she earned a combined score of 58.166 and beat Biles' 57.533. This was only the third time in Biles' senior career and the first time since 2013 that another gymnast had posted a higher all-around score. However, Lee's combined score over the two days was less than Biles' and she finished second overall, securing her spot on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team alongside Biles. Also named to the team were Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum.

2020 Olympics
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020, were postponed to July 23-August 8, 2021. Lee competed on all four events during qualifications with the U.S. advancing to the team final in second place behind the Russian Olympic Committee. Lee finished third overall behind Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade and qualified for the individual all-around final. She progressed to the uneven bars final in second place behind Nina Derwael and the balance beam final in third behind Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing.

Lee was initially only set to compete on uneven bars and balance beam in the team final, but when Biles withdrew from the competition after the first rotation, Lee replaced her on floor exercise. She hit all three of her routines and scored 15.400 on bars and 14.133 on beam. The U.S. won the silver medal behind The Russian Olympic Committee. In the all-around final, Lee posted a score of 14.600 on the vault, 15.300 on the uneven bars, 13.833 on beam and 13.700 on floor, leading all competitors with a 57.433 total overall. She won the women's individual all-around gold ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic Committee. Lee is the sixth U.S. woman to claim the Olympic all-around title following Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin, Gabby Douglas, and Simone Biles. She is also the first Hmong-American Olympian, the first Asian American woman to take the Olympic all-around crown, and was reported to be the first all-around Asian champion of any nationality. Lee was the first competitor in the starting order in the uneven bars final and uncharacteristically failed to connect several elements. She scored 14.500 and captured the bronze.  She received a score of 13.866 in the balance beam final and placed fifth after a large balance check on one of her elements.

In recognition of her historic Olympic success, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, declared Friday, July 30, 2021, as "Sunisa Lee Day". Lee registered for classes at Auburn University in August 2021 and left elite gymnastics to compete in the NCAA.

2023: Return to elite gymnastics
Lee issued a statement in late 2022 in which she revealed her plans to leave collegiate gymnastics and return to elite after her sophomore year. She made her comeback at the 2023 U.S. Classic in early August 2023 where she qualified for the U.S. Championships by scoring 14.500 on the balance beam and 13.500 on the vault. A few weeks later, Lee competed on the vault and balance beam at the 2023 U.S. Championships in San Jose and won the bronze on the beam.

Lee was invited to attend the team selection camp for the World Championships and Pan American Games but chose not to participate, citing her ongoing kidney-related health issues.

NCAA

2021–2022 season: NCAA champion on beam, NCAA all-around runner-up
Lee made her NCAA debut on January 7, 2022, in a tri-meet against North Carolina and Bowling Green. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam to help Auburn secure the win.  A week later, Lee debuted her floor exercise routine in a meet against Arkansas. She made her all-around debut for Auburn on January 28 in a matchup with Alabama. Auburn won the meet with Lee winning the all-around title outright with a total score of 39.700. She shared the individual bars and beam titles.  As a result, Lee was named SEC freshman of the week for the first time. On February 5, Lee earned her first collegiate perfect ten on the uneven bars in a meet against LSU. She was only the sixth Auburn gymnast to score a perfect ten and the first since 2004. Lee also won the all-around with a score of 39.825. On February 25, in a meet against Kentucky, Lee earned her first perfect ten on the balance beam and became the first collegiate gymnast to perform a Nabieva on the uneven bars.  At the NCAA Championship, Lee finished first on balance beam and second in the all-around behind Trinity Thomas.

2022–2023 season: Super 16 all-around title
On November 15, 2022, Lee announced that the 2022–2023 season would be her final season competing for Auburn University so that she could return to elite gymnastics with the goal of competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Lee's first meet of the season was at the inaugural Super 16 event in Las Vegas where she won the balance beam title with a perfect 10 and the all-around title with a cumulative score of 39.75.

In March 2023 Lee was diagnosed with an unspecified rare kidney condition for which there is no cure. On April 3 Lee announced that she would end her sophomore season early due to her health issues, thus concluding her NCAA gymnastics career.

Career perfect 10.0

NCAA Regular season ranking

Public life and popular culture

Endorsements
In 2022, Lee was working with major companies such as Amazon, Invisalign, Gatorade, Target and CLIF Bars, and according to Axios, she was one of the most marketable NCAA athletes. She inked a deal with American footwear company Crocs in March 2023, and was featured in an ad for Sony's Final Fantasy 16 in June 2023. She also joined forces with The LEGO Group and was featured in "Play Unstoppable" alongside soccer star Megan Rapinoe, journalist and author Elaine Welteroth and other inspiring women. The game aimed to celebrate the accomplishments of women and encourage girls to embrace their passions.

Fashion
Lee partnered with GK Elite in 2021 and designed her own signature collection of leotards. In January 2022, Lee launched her first capsule collection in collaboration with British fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing. "I love fashion so much and when I'm not in my leotard, I love putting looks together. Being an athlete I live in athleisure, so I wanted to design clothes that were a bit more fashion-forward," said Lee.

Television and media appearances
Lee was featured in the YouTube Originals documentary series Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women's Gymnastics that consisted of six episodes and premiered on September 21, 2020. The series uses archive footage and interviews with former, current and up-and-coming champions to take viewers inside the world of women's elite gymnasts. In June 2021, Lee starred in the docu series Golden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts that was released on Peacock. The series follows top U.S. gymnasts as they compete for a spot on Team USA ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Dancing with the Stars
A few months after the 2020 Olympics, Lee competed on season 30 of Dancing with the Stars.  She was the seventh Olympic gymnast to be a contestant on the show, following Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles, and Mary Lou Retton.  In the premiere episode, Sasha Farber was revealed as her partner. Farber had previously danced with Biles and Retton. Lee was eliminated in week 9 and finished in 5th place.

Personal life and education
Lee went to Battle Creek Elementary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She later attended South St. Paul Secondary and received her high school diploma in June 2021. She enrolled at Auburn University in August 2021 as a business marketing major, but left after her sophomore year in order to return to elite gymnastics with her sights set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In August 2019, a few days before Lee competed in her first senior U.S. championships, her father suffered a spinal cord injury after falling off a ladder. He was paralyzed from the waist down. The following year, Lee's aunt and uncle died from COVID-19. When discussing these tragedies, Lee said, "I am tougher because of it." Lee said she was pepper-sprayed in a racial incident in November 2021 while in Los Angeles for her stint on Dancing with the Stars. In January 2022, she spoke about racist comments she had received from her own Hmong-American community about her relationship with USC Trojans football player Jaylin Smith.

Competitive skills
Among the skills Lee has performed in competition are:

Competitive history

Awards

Filmography

See also
 History of the Hmong in Minneapolis–Saint Paul

Notes and references

Citations

External links

 Sunisa Lee on Instagram
 Sunisa Lee at USA Gymnastics
Sunisa Lee at Olympics.com
Sunisa Lee at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
Sunisa Lee at IMDB

2003 births
Living people
American female artistic gymnasts
American people of Hmong descent
Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota
U.S. women's national team gymnasts
Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic gymnasts for the United States
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Auburn Tigers women's gymnasts
Asia Game Changer Award winners

Sunisa Lee


A shoulder strap is a strap over a shoulder. They are often affixed to women's dresses to support its weight or as part of its style. The term is also applied to carrying bags.

Dress shoulder strap

Dress shoulder straps are a length of fabric, usually in pairs, used to support clothing, especially women's clothing, such as a dress, camisole, apron or brassiere. Shoulder straps such as these are usually made of the same material as the garment, and may be quite flimsy, as they are normally not expected to support much weight.

The shoulder straps on some dresses may be very thin, in which case they may be called a spaghetti strap (also called "noodle strap"). These are common in clothing such as camisoles, cocktail dresses, and evening gowns.

Some institutions ban spaghetti strap dresses and bare-shoulder strapless dresses on grounds of modesty.

Military shoulder strap

Many military uniform shirts, jackets, tunics, or greatcoats feature shoulder straps. They were originally designed to keep back packs, ammunition pouches or bayonets from slipping off the shoulder. They often display badges of rank, shoulder marks, regimental insignia or epaulettes.

Carrier shoulder strap

A carrier shoulder strap is a length of fabric or other flexible material (such as leather, vinyl, rubber), used to suspend an item, often of some weight, from the shoulder(s). The strap may be worn slung over one shoulder or across the body. In the interest of comfort, they often have some manner of padding near the middle, where the strap rests directly against the shoulder or neck. Such items include purses, guitars, rifles, etc. In the case of rifles and other such weaponry, the shoulder strap is usually referred to as a sling. Shoulder straps may also be used in pairs on such items as a backpack or a baby carrier; the straps are worn one over each shoulder, and the item so carried is centred on the back or chest. Some camera strap manufacturers design their straps to fit over both shoulders allowing two cameras to rest at hip level.

The use of such straps frees the hands for other use.

See also

 Shoulder bag (disambiguation)
 Tank top (disambiguation)

Notes and references

Parts of clothing
Sewing
Military uniforms
Armwear

ca:Musclera (indumentària)

Shoulder strap


Dewan Hason Raja Chowdhury, or simply known as Hason Raja (; 21 December 1854 – 6 December 1922), was a Bengali mystic poet and songwriter from Sylhet, Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh). His unique style of music made him one of the most prominent figures in Bengali folk culture.

Biography

Early life
Raja was born on December 1854 in Lakshmansree, now Sunamganj to a Bengali Muslim zamindar family. His father was Dewan Ali Raja, the grandson of Birendraram Singhadev. His great-grandfather later converted from Hinduism to Islam and changed his name to Dewan Raja Babu Khan. Hason Raja's mother was Hurmat Jahan Bibi, the last and fifth wife of Dewan Ali Raja Chowdhury of Kauriya. Hurmat was previously a widow after the death of her former husband, Muhammad Asim Chowdhury. Hason Raja spent most of his childhood in Lakshmansree with his mother as his father married widow of his first cousin late Amir Baksh Chowdhury who was living at Lahshmansree (Sunamganj) the most north-eastern part of now Bangladesh. His father started on and off living in Lakshmanshree of Sunamganj, 33 miles away from Rampasha, for at least three or four months of the year. Ali supervised and managed his wife's properties at Lakshmansree. That is why Lakshmansree was his birthplace of the poet.

The death of Raja's elder half-brother, Ubaidur Raja, followed by the death of his father (in about 40 days gap), put the power and responsibility of the whole family upon Hason Raja at a very young age. His sister Sahifa Bano would also become a poet, the first female poet from Sylhet; she wrote in the Urdu language.

Later life
Raja practiced Sufism. Raja established schools and religious centres like mosques and he is said to have been widely engaged in charities within his immediate communities. He donated vast land properties for the well-being of the people. He was interested in the well-being and protection of birds and animal life. He spent a large quantity of his money on those lives. The 12 June 1897 Assam earthquake was one of the biggest earthquakes that occurred in the Assam and Sylhet area. The largest known Indian interpolate earthquake (at 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale) resulted in the destruction of structures over much of the Plateau and surrounding areas, and caused widespread liquefaction and flooding in the Brahmaputra and Sylhet floodplains. He found out many of his kin and relatives as well as his people wounded and killed. His thatched house was fully damaged. He lost many of his tamed birds and animals.

Death

Raja died on 6 December 1922. Two museums were established in his name in two places. One, Hason Raja Museum sponsored by "Hason Raja Museum Trust" at Sunamganj at his birthplace, Lokkonshri, Sunamganj, and another, Museum of Rajas' at RajaKunjo, Sylhet, sponsored by "Educationist Dewan Talibur Raja Trust".

In popular culture
In 2002, the film Hason Raja was released, detailing his life and times, where Raja was played by Helal Khan. It was reported by Washington Bangla Radio in May 2013, that an epic Bengali feature film Hason Raja is under production, based on the life and music of Raja played by Mithun Chakraborty, directed by Ruhul Amin, and produced by Galaxy Films between UK, India and Bangladesh. In 2017, the film was released.

Raja's songs are collected in books Hason Udas and Shaukhin Bahar A volume called Hason Raja Samagra was also published. It contained 500 poems and songs.

Critical response
Author Humayun Ahmed brought Hason Raja's work in limelight again in modern days after using Raja's various popular folk songs in his movies and television dramas. Author Rabindranath Tagore quoted on Hason Raja, 'We realise it through admiration and love, through hope that soars beyond the actual, beyond our own span of life into an endless time wherein we live of all men.' and 'It is a village poet of East Bengal who preaches in a song the philosophical doctrine that the universe has its reality in its relation to the Person.'

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Hason Raja Music

1854 births
1922 deaths
People from Bishwanath Upazila
Bengali male poets
19th-century Bengali poets
20th-century Bengali poets

Hason Raja


Peeples is a 2013 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Tina Gordon Chism. It stars Craig Robinson and Kerry Washington and was released by Lionsgate on May 10, 2013. Despite being billed as a Tyler Perry film, it is the only movie that he has produced but did not write or direct.

Peeples received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, only grossing $9.3 million against a $15 million budget.

Plot
The Peeples are an affluent East Coast family celebrating their annual Moby Dick Day reunion at Sag Harbor in the Hamptons. The weekend is interrupted when Wade Walker (Robinson), the fiancé of Grace Peeples (Washington), shows up to propose after being goaded by his brother, Chris (Malcolm Barrett).

Upon arrival, Wade loses his wallet while being chased by the family dog. At the grocery store, he sees Grace's father Virgil (David Allen Grier), a judge, talking to a woman later revealed to be the mayor. He also sees Grace's sister, Gloria (Hawk), with her lover, Meg (Lewis-Davis), who is not known to the family. Wade learns more about Grace, including about her ex-boyfriends, breast implants, and mother. Grace's mother, Daphne (S. Epatha Merkerson), is a former singer and recovering alcoholic. Wade attempts to propose at dinner, asking everyone to say what they love about the people in their lives. This ends abruptly when Virgil says he had to pay for Wade at the store.

Wade goes to see Virgil play at a club but discovers he is not there. In the park near the beach, Wade encounters a group of nudists, which includes Virgil. At the guest house, Wade confronts Grace about her implants, and she is honest. They play "naughty school girl". Virgil peeks through the window and runs off in disgust.

Wade discovers that Grace's musician brother, Simon (Tyler James Williams), is also a thief. While playing through the Peeples's house, Wade finds Daphne's headpiece from her days as a performer and begins to sing while wearing it. He is caught by Virgil. Chris shows up unexpectedly to "help" Wade propose. Because of Chris's borrowed Gamma Phi sweater, Virgil thinks they are fraternity brothers and invites him to stay.

At Nana Peeples's (Diahann Carroll) house, Wade gets Daphne to sing, while Virgil watches in disgust. Chris makes advances towards Gloria, angering Meg. Back home, Daphne discovers her expensive earrings have been stolen. Virgil believes Wade is the thief. Wade and Chris are at the bar, where they see Simon talking to an uninterested woman. They follow him into the bathroom and pretend to be thugs, but then tell him to return his mother's earrings and stop stealing. Chris returns to the guest house to find Gloria, while Wade finds Virgil in a sweat tent and tries to bear it for Grace's hand in marriage. Wade ends up burning the tent down.

At the Moby Dick Day celebration, Grace tells Wade he looks terrible and offers him a drink from a thermos with a mushroom drawn on it. The mayor confronts Wade. While Virgil is giving a rendition of Captain Ahab, Wade hallucinates that Virgil is talking to him and charges at him with a harpoon. Wade is knocked unconscious.

Wade wakes up and is insulted by Virgil. Wade wants to head back to New York with Grace and Chris, but Grace wants to stay with her family. Wade and Chris leave. After the brothers depart, Virgil admits he has been swimming with the Humpback Whale non-sexually, Gloria and Meg tell everyone about their relationship, Simon admits to his stealing, and Daphne admits she put mushrooms in her drinks. The dog returns Wade's wallet, and Simon takes Wade's engagement ring out of his pocket.

Grace falls into her mother's arms, realizing Wade was telling the truth. She returns to New York a few days later, without being able to contact Wade. She sees his schedule book and meets him at a kids' museum. Grace apologizes and proposes to Wade. He proposes to her in return. Virgil arrives to accept Wade into the family, and the entire family joins Wade on stage to perform for the children.

Cast
 Craig Robinson as Wade Walker
 Kerry Washington as Grace Peeples
 David Alan Grier as Virgil Peeples
 S. Epatha Merkerson as Daphne Peeples
 Melvin Van Peebles as Grandpa Peeples
 Diahann Carroll as Nana Peeples
 Tyler James Williams as Simon Peeples
 Kali Hawk as Gloria Peeples
 Malcolm Barrett as Chris Walker
 Ana Gasteyer as Mayor Hodge
 Kimrie Lewis-Davis as Meg

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released May 7, 2013 by Lakeshore Records for MP3 download. It features six tracks used in the film:

 Craig Robinson – "Speak It (Don't Leak It!)"
 Tyler James Williams - "Drawers on the Floor"
 Maxayn Lewis – "Turn You On"
 Aaron Zigman – "Sweat Lodge"
 Aaron Zigman – "Run Chickens Run"
 Craig Robinson, David Alan Grier, & Maxayn Lewis – "Speak It (Don't Leak It!) Reprise"
 Saida Karoli - "Maria Salome"

Reception

Box office
Peeples grossed $4.6 in its opening weekend, finishing at No. 4 behind Iron Man 3, The Great Gatsby and Pain & Gain. It made $9.3 million total, the lowest ever for a Tyler Perry production.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 37% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Peeples is a warm, amiable farce that offers a few chuckles but mostly falls back on predictable plotting and an overwrought message." On Metacritic the film has a score of 52 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Home media
Peeples was released to DVD and Blu-ray on September 10, 2013, and early on August 27 on Video/On-Demand.

See also
List of black films of the 2010s

References

External links

2013 films
2013 comedy films
2013 directorial debut films
African-American comedy films
Films scored by Aaron Zigman
Films shot in Connecticut
Lionsgate films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
African-American films

Peeples (film)


The Troy Trojans were a Major League Baseball team in the National League for four seasons from 1879 to 1882. Their home games were played at Putnam Grounds (1879) and Haymakers' Grounds (1880–1881) in the upstate New York city of Troy, and at Troy Ball Clubs Grounds (1882) across the Hudson in Watervliet, or "West Troy" as it was known at the time.

The first Grand Slam home run in Major League history was hit by Roger Connor of this franchise in 1881 in East Albany (now known as Rensselaer) in what is now the Rensselaer Riverfront Park. The site in present day Rensselaer was infrequently used to host games when their normal field was unavailable. A baseball diamond in the park is currently in use very close to where the diamond would have been back in the 1880s. The site of the historic grand slam was only recently discovered as it was previously assumed to have occurred in eastern Albany. Overall, the franchise won 131 games and lost 194. The Trojans, along with the Worcester NL team, were expelled from the league shortly before the end of the 1882 season, as Troy and Worcester were seen as too small for the league's ambitions, but were encouraged to play out the rest of their seasons as lame-duck teams.

On September 28, 1882, only six fans appeared to watch Worcester host the Trojans in the second-to-last game of the season, then only 25 arrived for the last game between the two teams. Among games that have had at least one paying attendee, the attendance figure of six is the lowest attendance ever recorded at a Major League baseball game. In 1883 the New York Gothams, later known as the Giants, took the Trojans' former slot in the National League. Four of the original Gotham players were former members of the disbanded Trojans, including three Hall of Famers: Buck Ewing, Roger Connor and Mickey Welch.

A previous team named the Union Base Ball Club of Lansingburgh was organized in 1860, the successor to the Victories of Troy, and was a member of the National Association of Base Ball Players.  That team was given the nickname Haymakers by a defeated New York City team.

Notable players for the Trojans included Hall of Famers Dan Brouthers, Connor, Ewing, Tim Keefe, and Welch.

Another Troy Trojans minor league team continued play until at least 1916.

Baseball Hall of Famers

See also
 1879 Troy Trojans season
 1880 Troy Trojans season
 1881 Troy Trojans season
 1882 Troy Trojans season
 Troy Trojans all-time roster

References

External links
 Baseball-Reference.com

Defunct Major League Baseball teams
Troy, New York
Sports in Rensselaer County, New York
Defunct baseball teams in New York (state)
Baseball teams disestablished in 1882
Baseball teams established in 1879

Troy Trojans (National League)


Antonio Alonso Martinez (born 29 April, 1963) is a Portuguese-Spanish painter and multidisciplinary artist based in Lisbon, Portugal. Martinez argues that humanity will find their own spiritual reality which has been the theme of his work since the mid-80s.

Early life
Martinez was born in Oeiras, Portugal, in 1963, to Spanish parents. He opted for Spanish nationality in 1978. In Lisbon, he attended Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual (Ar.Co) where he graduated in Fine arts in 1985. During his years at the Ar.Co, Martinez co-authored the Manifest of the Multi-instrumentalist Painting which was  published in the Portuguese national newspaper, Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias on 26 June 1984. This manifest was accompanied by an exhibition at the University of Fine Arts of Lisbon, creating enthusiasm among the new artists and critic.

Career
Martinez started his professional career as a painter in his early 20s. His paintings are inspired by his belief that humanity will find their spiritual reality on their own. Martinez's painting were exhibited at Galician Cultural Centre in Lisbon, in 1988, during his first solo show. In 1989, his paintings were exhibited at National Society of Fine Arts, Lisbon in a solo as well as in a group exhibition.".

Martinez was awarded with Paul VI Centre Art Prize by the Sanctuary of Fátima in 1990 where his works are the part of the permanent collections for public display. Later in 1990 and 1991, his works were exhibited in the solo exhibitions entitled Altarpieces at Galeria Monumental, Lisbon and  Módulo Centro Difusor de Arte, Porto respectively. Between 1992 and 1998, Martinez's paintings were exhibited in various solo and group exhibitions around Europe including at Guimaraes, Lisbon, Rouen, Sintra, Haute-Vienne and Saint-Malo.

In January 2011, one of his work - Portrait of Kurt Cobain (Retrato de Kurt Cobain) - reached the second highest value in the sale of contemporary art at the Austrian auction house, Dorotheum. In September 2012, another portrait of Kurt Cobain by Martinez was sold at Christie's in London. In January 2013, in Warsaw one of his works - Diana - reached the highest value on the auction at Forbes Millionaires Club.

References

Other websites

Official Site

1963 births
Living people

Antonio Alonso Martinez


Ek Doctor Ki Maut () is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language drama film by Tapan Sinha, which depicts the  ostracism, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult of a doctor and his research, instead of recognition. The film is based on the story "Abhimanyu" by Ramapada Chowdhury. This movie is loosely based on the life of Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay, an Indian physician who pioneered the In vitro fertilisation treatment just around the same time when another leading scientist Dr. Robert Edwards was conducting separate experiments in England.

Plot
After years of painstaking research at the cost of his personal life, Dr. Dipankar Roy (Pankaj Kapur) discovers a vaccine for Leprosy. The news is flashed over television and overnight, an insignificant junior doctor receives international recognition. Professional jealousy and abuse of power threaten Dr. Roy,  even as the Secretary of Health reprimands him for breaking the news to the press. He is asked to report to the Director of Health. Professional colleagues Dr. Arijit Sen and Dr. Ramananda invite him to a lecture but, it is merely a pretense to humiliate him. Dr. Roy suffers a mild heart attack, but he refuses to go to the hospital. His wife (Shabana Azmi) and a few others like Dr. Kundu (Anil Chatterjee) and Amulya (Irfan Khan) stand by Dr. Roy, but the harassment continues; a letter from a British foundation, John Anderson Foundation, is suppressed and Dr. Roy is transferred to a remote village. The last straw is two American doctors receiving credit for discovering the same vaccine. Dr. Roy is shattered. However, in the end, Dr. Roy gets an invitation from the John Anderson Foundation inviting him to be a part of an eminent group of scientists working on other diseases. Dipankar Roy realizes that his research was fruitful. He also decides to accept the invitation as he just wants to work for the betterment of mankind.

Cast
 Pankaj Kapur as Dr. Dipankar Roy
 Shabana Azmi as Seema
 Anil Chatterjee as Dr. Kundu
 Irrfan Khan as Amulya
 Deepa Sahi
 Vijayendra Ghatge as Dr. Sen
 Sushant Sanyal
 Kaushal Kumar Singh

Reception
The film was greatly applauded by film critics and writers. Tapan Sinha, the director, was inspired by the life and death of Subhash Mukhopadhyay and dedicates this film to him.

Awards

38th National Film Awards, India
 1990 National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film
 1990 National Film Award for Best Direction: Tapan Sinha
 1990 National Film Award - Special Jury Award: Pankaj Kapoor (Dr. Dipankar Roy).

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
 1991 Best Film
 1991 Best Director

Filmfare Awards
 1992 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Tapan Sinha.

References

External links

1990s Hindi-language films
1990 films
Films based on short fiction
Films directed by Tapan Sinha
Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award
Indian biographical films
Indian films based on actual events
Films scored by Vanraj Bhatia
Second Best Feature Film National Film Award winners
National Film Development Corporation of India films
Films based on works by Ramapada Chowdhury

Ek Doctor Ki Maut


Antony Burgmans (born 13 February 1947) is a Dutch businessman. Formerly non-executive chairman of Unilever, he is currently chairman of paint company AkzoNobel.

Early life and education
Born 13 February 1947, Rotterdam, Burgmans studied business administration at Nyenrode in the Netherlands, and political and social sciences at Stockholm University in Sweden. He then completed a Master of Arts in Marketing at Lancaster University in England. In December 2003 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Lancaster University.

Career
Burgmans joined Unilever in 1972, working as marketing assistant at Lever, Netherlands on the dishwater detergent Sun. Later, he held marketing and sales positions in the company's detergents businesses in Indonesia and the Netherlands. In 1982, he was appointed marketing and sales director of Lever in the Netherlands and in 1985, became marketing director of Lever Germany. Three years later, he was appointed chairman of PT Unilever Indonesia. In 1991, he became director of Unilever with responsibility for personal care products. Burgmans took over responsibility for Ice Cream and Frozen Foods - Europe in May 1994 and, later that year, was appointed chairman of the Europe Committee, which co-ordinates Unilever's European activities.

In October 1998, he was appointed vice chairman of Unilever N.V. and became chairman of Unilever N.V in May 1999. In May 2005, Burgmans was elected chairman Unilever N.V. and PLC. In January 2007, it was announced that he would be replaced by Michael Treschow upon standing down as Chairman in May 2007.

In May 2017, an Amsterdam court rejected attempts by investors to remove Burgmans from the chairmanship of Akzo Nobel. Burgmans was seen as an obstacle to a takeover bid for the company form PPG.

Other positions
Burgmans also serves as member of the Supervisory Board of ABN AMRO, a member of the International Advisory Board of Allianz and a non-executive director of BP. He is also co-chairman of the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) and chairman of the Supervisory Boards of, WWF-Netherlands, the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.

References

Sources

1947 births
Living people
Alumni of Lancaster University
Alumni of Bowland College, Lancaster
Businesspeople from Rotterdam
Nyenrode Business University alumni
Stockholm University alumni
Chairmen of Unilever
Directors of BP
Dutch chief executives in the food industry

Antony Burgmans


The men's 1500 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1955 Pan American Games took place on 20 March. The last Pan American Games champion was Tetsuo Okamoto of Brazil.

This race consisted of thirty lengths of the pool, all lengths being in freestyle.

Results
All times are in minutes and seconds.

Heats

Final
The final was held on March 20.

References

Swimming at the 1955 Pan American Games

Swimming at the 1955 Pan American Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle


Louis Bernard Stringer (May 13, 1917 – October 19, 2008) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox between the  and  seasons. Listed at  tall and , Stringer batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in East Los Angeles, California.

Biography
Stringer was one of many major leaguers who saw his baseball career interrupted by World War II. In his case, he served a stint in the United States Army Air Forces and missed three seasons (1943–1945).

He entered the Majors with the Cubs, playing for them three years (1941–42, 1946) before joining the Red Sox (1948–50). His most productive season came in his rookie year, when he posted career-numbers in games (145), hits (126), runs (59), extra bases (40) and runs batted in (53), while hitting .246 with a .324 on-base percentage. In 1942 he hit .241 with 41 RBI and a career-high nine home runs in 121 games. Injuries shortened his career after that, being replaced by Don Johnson in the Cubs infield. He also appeared in 63 games in parts of three seasons for the Red Sox.

In a six-season career, Stringer was a .242 hitter (290–for–1,196) with 19 home runs and 122 RBI in 409 games, including 148 runs, 49 doubles, 10 triples and seven stolen bases.

Stringer's minor league baseball career lasted for all or parts of 13 years between 1937 and 1957, and included a brief stint as acting manager of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League in 1948. He died in Lake Forest, California, at the age of  91.

References

External links
Baseball Reference
Retrosheet
Baseball in Wartime

Obituary at OC Register

1917 births
2008 deaths
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
Baseball players from Los Angeles
Baseball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Boise Braves players
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago Cubs players
Des Moines Bruins players
Hollywood Stars managers
Hollywood Stars players
Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players
Major League Baseball second basemen
Pocatello Bannocks players
Ponca City Angels players
San Diego Padres (minor league) players
San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Yakima Bears players
People from East Los Angeles, California

Lou Stringer


Realm of the Mad God  is a massively multiplayer online shoot 'em up video game created by Wild Shadow Studios and currently owned and developed by DECA Games. It was in public beta from January 2010 and the browser version launched on June 20, 2011.  On February 20, 2012 the game was made available on the digital distribution platform Steam for Microsoft Windows and OS X.

The game has been described as a "massively-multiplayer cooperative bullet hell shooter" with an 8-bit pixelated art style. Players control characters who have been transported to the realm of Oryx (the titular Mad God) to become food for his many minions and abominations, which the players must dispatch. Central to the design of the game is the fact that character death is permanent. Upon death, the player's character is lost along with all of its carried equipment, although the player can store a number of items for safekeeping in a limited-capacity vault away from danger. Different character choices in class also help make the game more diverse and help to support teamwork.

The game is free-to-play with optional in-game micro-transactions. Items that can be bought with optional transactions vary from high-level equipment, pets that provide aid to the player (by attacking enemies, healing the player, etc.), increased storage space, and a variety of aesthetic features such as skins, clothes, and dyes.

Wild Shadow Studios was acquired by Kabam in June 2012 and obtained Realm of the Mad God in the acquisition. Kabam maintained the game until July 2016, when they sold it to DECA Games.

This game client was originally written in Flash and could be played in-browser on the official site, on Kongregate, or could be downloaded from Steam. Due to the discontinuation of Adobe Flash Support by 2020, it was announced on June 12, 2018, that a remastered version of the client built using the Unity game engine was under development, which was first released to the public through an Open Beta on April 15, 2020, and was officially released as Realm of the Mad God Exalt on July 22, 2020.

Gameplay

The HUD on the right-hand side displays a mini-map of the player's current server as well as the current character's statistics and inventory. The mini-map of the realm is initially blank, but areas can be revealed as a player traverses through the map. Player and NPC chat appears in the lower left corner of the screen.

The game consists of players firing projectiles and destroying enemies to earn experience, fame, and better equipment. A character moves around using the WASD keys and uses the mouse to aim and shoot. Contrary to usual practice in MMOs, the experience for killing monsters is awarded fully to each player present, rather than divided. Because of this, it is generally advantageous for players to group up. Players are able to instantly teleport to any other player on the map under a cooldown of 10 seconds. In addition, players are able to escape to the safety of the Nexus, a safe area where characters can't be killed, at the push of a button (the default keys are R and F5).

Players begin their game sessions in the Nexus. The Nexus consists of multiple sections featuring, among other things: a marketplace, healing fountains, and portals to enter realms. The marketplace is scattered across the central Nexus and players commonly use this area to trade with other players as well as purchase items being sold in the Nexus using Realm Gold (the in-game currency that is purchasable with real money). Occasionally, packages may appear in the Nexus that can be purchased with Fame rather than Realm Gold. North of the marketplace is a large room that contains multiple portals leading to the "realms" (game map instances present on the server). Each of these realms is named after powerful monsters in the game (i.e. Medusa, Djinn, etc.). The capacity of each realm is 85 people at once, and a full realm cannot be entered until a player in it dies or leaves.

During gameplay, the player is directed to "quest" monsters which are indicated by a red marker at the edge of the game window. As their character levels up in the realm, they are guided from the "Beaches" and "Lowlands" areas at the edges of the map, through the "Midlands" and "Highlands," and to the more difficult "Mountains" (also known in-game as the "Godlands") in the center of the map. The Mountains host powerful monsters known as "Gods", which are significantly stronger than the other foes in the Realm but also provide more experience and better loot. Defeating certain quest enemies allows more powerful "event" bosses to spawn, which are unique and often once-per-realm bosses that can be killed to obtain higher-tier loot and open portals to rare dungeons.

Once all of the quest heroes and event bosses in a realm are defeated, the realm is closed and players can no longer enter the Realm from the Nexus. After a delay, players are then teleported to Oryx's Castle, a high-level dungeon where they take down his minions and make their way into the castle. After a confrontation with the castle guardians, players can face off against Oryx himself in his chamber. Oryx's Castle also contains an alternative encounter that triggers when a specific condition is met, granting the players that choose this option over Oryx to fight a special boss and access several unique boss-only dungeons.

Oryx has three, increasingly powerful forms. When Oryx's first form is defeated in his chamber, he drops a locked portal to the Wine Cellar, where his second form resides. The portal can only be unlocked if one of the players surviving the first Oryx fight happens to have an "incantation" that unlocks the Wine Cellar, which drops from various enemies throughout the game. Upon being unlocked, the players can storm the Mad God's heavily guarded Wine Cellar and face the true Oryx, who is significantly stronger than his previous incarnation and wields a completely new set of attacks.

The rewards of the Oryx boss fights are a large amount of fame and some rare and useful equipment. After Oryx's second form is defeated, players possessing three special rune items can use them to reveal the portal to Oryx's Sanctuary, the most difficult area in the game as of July 2020. In the Sanctuary, players can encounter Oryx's third and most powerful form, which drops some of the most powerful items in the game.

Mechanics

Classes
Realm of the Mad God offers 18 playable classes, each with their own unique ability. These classes are: Wizard, Rogue, Archer, Priest, Warrior, Knight, Paladin, Assassin, Necromancer, Huntress, Mystic, Trickster, Sorcerer, Ninja, Samurai, Bard, Summoner, and Kensei. Each class wears one of three armor types and uses one of six weapon types. Each weapon has an alternate type which behaves differently than the base weapon, altering the play style of that class. Depending on the class or item equipped, abilities can deal damage, inflict debuffs on enemies, buff or heal allies, or otherwise perform a defensive function. Players starting off will have access to the Wizard, or both Wizard and Rogue if playing through Steam. Players unlock other classes by leveling up or reaching level 20 with previously unlocked classes.

Items
Items are generally classified into tiers, with higher-tier items having better stats. Some items are not classified by tier and are thus either given an "untiered" designation, or a "set tiered" designation if they are part of an item set. Item examples include weapons, armor, rings, abilities, limited-use items, and April Fools' Day counterparts.

Loot Bags
Almost every enemy in the game can drop loot bags, which can contain potions, items, or cosmetics. Loot bags are split into different tiers, which affect their appearance and what items they can contain. There are ten tiers of bags in the game (in order of increasing rarity): brown, pink, purple, egg baskets, cyan, blue, golden, orange, red, and white. Brown and pink bags often contain potions of health or mana as well as lower tier gear, and can be seen by everyone when dropped. Every tier of bag from purple onwards are "soulbound" and will only been seen by the player for whom it dropped. Many items, such as stat potions and most equipment, can be traded to other players, even if they were originally dropped in a soulbound bag. The rarest items tend to drop in white bags and are frequently referred to in the community as "white bag items" or "whites". Many of these white bag items can completely change the way a class is played and are highly sought after by players.

Dungeons
One major gameplay element is dungeon crawling. In realms, dungeons may drop from certain enemies or event bosses that players can enter to fight a themed boss and its minions. Most dungeons are generated with a random layout (though some dungeons do exist with a predetermined layout), so they will have a different layout with every visit. The difficulty of each dungeon is determined by a 1-10 ranking system represented by tombstones, which can be viewed by hovering the mouse on the dungeon in the hud. Dungeons with 10 tombstones are known to be the most challenging dungeons in the game, while dungeons with 2 or fewer tombstones can be completed with ease.

Most mid-to-high-level dungeons will provide the player with stat boost potions, some even guaranteeing such potions in certain conditions. The dungeon monsters also have a chance to drop equipment for the player. In addition to these drops, dungeon bosses typically provide the player with a small possibility of obtaining white bag items that cannot be found anywhere else. Some of these rare items may prove more useful to the player depending on their preferences or the type of item.

Stats and Potions
Once a character reaches level 20, players focus on obtaining potions that permanently increase the stats of the character that consumes. Players are able to work towards maxing eight stats: Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom, Vitality, Attack, Defense, Mana, and Life. When consumed, potions will increase the character's stat by one point. Stat potions can drop from gods in the godlands, from event bosses, and from dungeon bosses. The difficulty of the dungeon often corresponds with how valued the stat potions that can drop from it are; Speed, a relatively easy stat to max, is easy to obtain, while Life, the hardest stat to max, drops from the harder dungeons in the game. Harder dungeons may also drop Greater Stat Potions, which increase the stat value by two instead of one.

Every class in the game each has unique max values for each stat as well as average levels for each stat upon reaching level 20, meaning that it can take up to consuming 40 potions of a particular stat on one class, and around 10 of the same stat on another. It is common terminology in game to refer to a person who has increased all stats to their maximum value as 8/8, and conversely, a player who does not have any of their stats maxed is 0/8. The quality of the character's gravestone corresponds to the amount of stats they had maxed at the moment they had died.

Fame
Fame is a permanent-progression mechanic that players can use to spend on cosmetics or pets. Upon reaching level 20, experience gained that would be used for leveling up is instead stored and converted into fame. Experience is converted into fame at a 2000:1 ratio and is stored individually for each character a player has. In addition to the experience conversion, players can earn fame bonuses by completing certain challenges or hitting milestones on a character while it is alive. Players can also earn bonus fame via percentage bonuses given from equipping higher-grade items. Fame is not added to a player's total balance until a character dies, at which point all fame that has been earned on that character will be added.

Pets
Occasionally, gods or dungeon bosses will drop egg baskets which contain pet eggs. Players can only hatch eggs from the Pet Yard, which is accessed through the nexus. Pets will have three abilities which are randomly chosen from a larger pool of possible abilities which the player can gradually level up to increase their usefulness. Pets can belong to one of several family types in the game, which influences which abilities pets are likely to have as well as their compatibility with other pets for fusion. There are 14 pet families in the game: Aquatic, Automaton, Avian, Canine, Exotic, Farm, Feline, Humanoid, Insect, Penguin, Reptile, Spooky, Woodland, and ???. Egg baskets can also contain mystery pet eggs (not to be confused with the ??? family), which can hatch a pet from any family.

To level up pets, players must have an item to feed their pet, as well as sufficient fame. All items in the game have a certain amount of feed power, dubbed "FP", which denotes how much experience a pet will gain if it is fed the item and can be viewed in the item's description. Feeding pets becomes increasingly costly as a pets rarity increases, so it is therefore beneficial to prioritize items with high feed power to feed to pets, granting the most amount of experience possible.

Pets are also categorized by rarity with there being five rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Divine. Egg baskets can contain eggs up to legendary rarity, but it is exceedingly rare and will most often drop common eggs. Players can upgrade their pets to the next rarity by fusing two pets of the same rarity to produce one pet of the next rarity stage. To fuse pets, players must have sufficient fame as well as a pet yard that is upgraded to store pets of a desired rarity, which is also purchased with fame. Pets of higher rarity will have more abilities as well as a higher level cap for their abilities.

Guilds
The game features guilds that each allows for a maximum of 50 players and 5 ranks. Players in guilds can chat with each other privately in a designated guild chat, which players outside the guild cannot see. A guild costs the founding player 1000 fame to name and create and has a guild hall that can be accessed by members of the guild through the nexus. Upon a member's death, guild fame is earned proportionally to the amount of fame that the player earned. Guilds can buy upgrades such as larger guild halls and cosmetic features with the guild fame.

Development

The game was originally created by Alex Carobus and Rob Shillingsburg, founders of Wild Shadow Studios, for indie game forum TIGSource's "Assemblee Competition" in October 2009, which limited the competitors to a very small sample of art resources. The developers described the aim of the game was to "shake things up by breaking as many MMO 'rules' as we could" It was noticed and received a good response from players, prompting the developers to work on a full game. The game was finally launched in a beta stage on January 10, 2010.

An unorthodox method of development adopted at during the game's creation is to "skip the "private beta" and iterate rapidly with a public audience throughout the majority of the development phase." While this sometimes creates controversy within the game's forums, it provides rapid and constructive feedback to help shape the direction the game takes. The game's developers still use this method devs are active in releasing blog posts to communicate with the player base about where the game stands.

Following the initial launch, Spry Fox joined the development team, helping bring the game to a full release out of beta on June 20, 2011.

To help fund the game's development, optional microtransactions were added to the game, drawing a mixed response from players. The developers defended the microtransactions, saying "they seemed like the most convenient, customer-friendly way to pay for the game... those that passionately love the game, can spend as much as they want, helping us to grow the game over time."

The game has been receiving updates "every few weeks" since its release, with additions including "dungeons, new character classes, hundreds of items and monsters, bank space, pets, clothing, guilds" and more.

On February 20, 2012, the game was made available on digital distribution platform Steam.

After a year of post-release game development, Wild Shadow Studios were acquired by Kabam in June 2012, with part of the deal being that Spry Fox sold their stake in the game to Kabam. Wild Shadow co-founders Alex Carobus and Rob Shillingsburg both left to pursue other opportunities after the acquisition, while Wild Shadow employee Willem Rosenthal stayed on the development team through the transition until June 2013. Spry Fox went on to develop Steambirds Alliance as a spiritual successor.

On June 23, 2016, Kabam announced that they would be transferring Realm of the Mad God to DECA Games on July 15.

On June 12, 2018, DECA Games revealed that development for a Unity version of the client had begun. A trailer for this was released on December 13, 2019, and revealed the Unity version would be named Realm of the Mad God Exalt. A closed beta for the new client started on the March 19, 2020, given to Supporters of the game who had gotten to Supporter rank 2. On April 15, 2020, the open beta client was released. On July 22, 2020, the Unity client was officially released and became the default method of playing the game. The Flash client was discontinued on September 23, 2020, and remained playable until then.

Reception and user interaction

Realm of the Mad God received generally positive reception from critics, with a Metacritic rating of 82/100 and GameRanking rating of 85.6%.

IGN gave the game a score of 8/10, stating that "this unusual free-to-play MMO hybrid is worth every second of your spare time", criticising, however, the controls, saying "it's a shame that the controls aren't as tight as they should be for the arcade-style shooter gameplay." Eurogamer gave a rating of 9/10, calling the game "superb" and "the perfect game for people who love the idea of raiding, but can't afford to invest the time all MMOs require before the really good stuff", and PC Gamer described the game as "Unrepentantly simplistic and fun", and "one of the most distinctive multiplayer experiences around" in their 89% score review.

RPGFan criticised the simplistic nature of the game, saying "the game currently feels a little bare-bones", adding, however, that "with almost no downtime, a true sense of cooperation, and constant challenge, RMG is an MMO that never grows stale" scoring the game 78% overall.

A common criticism of the game is that despite being an MMO, the game is "the most selfish, least social MMO you've ever played". It is an issue that often is at the center of discussions among veteran players for why the game fails to bring in a sufficient stream of new players. Players often cite a lack of explanation of game mechanics and direction, paired with a lack of enthusiasm from the game for a new player as a component for the declining player base.

In addition to the game, there is the second-party website Realmeye, which is a commonly used hub for in-game activity. Users can search any player or guild in the game, track leaderboard-ranking players, browse available trades, read extensive guides about various game mechanics, and browse a site-specific forum for general conversation. Throughout the game's lifespan, Realmeye's significance has transitioned from a trading hub to both a hub for community discussion and a method of tracking a player's graveyard and characters. Realmeye is often cited by players in-game as a tool for newer players to use as a crutch for starting off.

References

External links
Official website
Realm of the Mad God Remastered

2011 video games
Active massively multiplayer online games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Browser games
Browser-based multiplayer online games
Flash games
Free-to-play video games
Shooter games
Windows games
MacOS games
Video games developed in Estonia
Video games developed in Germany
Video games developed in Canada
Video games developed in the United States
Spry Fox games
Kabam games

Realm of the Mad God


Kokopelli Seed Foundation was created in December 2003 by Dominique Guillet to build a link from Europe's Association Kokopelli to North America, the purpose of Association Kokopelli being to provide access to open-pollinated seeds, as a way to alleviate hunger and promote sustainable food security.

The Seed Foundation has subsequently begun a variety of programs:

 The creation in Mexico in 2005 of a seed-center and seed-school similar to the seed-center Annadana initiated by Association Kokopelli in India.

 Seed workshops in Mexico and Guatemala starting in January 2004, presentation in a conference in Costa Rica on biointensive gardening in October 2004, and more seed workshops in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Guatemala in November 2004.

 "Seeds for Life", a campaign to donate seeds to Third World countries, inspired by the campaign initiated by Association Kokopelli in France, "Semences sans Frontières," or "Seeds without Borders".

References

External links
 Kokopelli Seed Foundation Homepage

Non-profit organizations based in Boston
Organizations established in 2003
Organizations based in Boston

Kokopelli Seed Foundation


The Twinkie Squad is a children's novel written by Gordon Korman published in 1992.  The story follows the mis-adventures of Armando "Commando" Rivera, a feisty, popular basketball-obsessed hotshot who often gets in trouble with bullies and teachers; and Douglas Fairchild, the tall, pale son of a U.S. Ambassador, who claims to be from a small middle-eastern nation called 'Pefkakia' because he was born on a jet plane in its main airport during an emergency layover. The story is ostensibly set in Washington D.C.

Plot

Beginning

Obsessed with sharing his 'exotic culture' which he himself is largely inventing, Douglas Fairchild appears eccentric and fails his classes, which leads him to be placed in a special needs support group, condescendingly referred to as "The Twinkie Squad" by most other students. The group is actually named the special discussion group and is led by Mr. and Mrs. Richardson who have degrees in counseling. Later, at lunch, Armando "Commando" Riviera, is playing basketball, and Doug is sitting on a nearby bench writing in his "Pefkakia journal" (actually a notebook filled with nothing but the word 'blah'). Commando throws the ball at Doug, which bounces and hits Douglas in the nose, causing a massive nosebleed. Commando's enemy, Kahlil, reports him to the Principal, who accuses him of deliberately attacking Doug; and when Doug denies that this is how the incident happened, the Principal carelessly assumes that Commando is bullying him into keeping quiet. Commando is suspended from the basketball team and is sentenced to a year in Doug's special needs group with other "defective" students.  The Twinkie Squad includes Anita, who can't think up her own thoughts so she copies others; Yolanda, who is obsessed with movies; Gerald, who is incredibly shy; Ric, who is hyperactive and very jittery; and Dave, who has very low self-esteem.

Commando is also upset because his family has fallen on hard times, forcing his father to go back to school to earn a degree in accounting and take the necessary exams to become a CPA (certified public accountant).

The "Grand Knights"

Douglas meanwhile, is failing his classes even worse than before, causing Martin and Julia, the husband-and-wife duo that leads the support group, to discipline him. However, he is completely undeterred and makes two efforts to raise morale with his new friends, Pefkakian-style.  His first effort is to give the ragtag group a new nickname, The Grand Knights of the Exalted Karpoozi, which he claims was a noble Pefkakian order named after the great Karpoozi river (in fact 'karpoozi' was a word he found in his alphabet soup). Commando is intrigued by the idea, and uses his charisma and popular "bad boy" reputation to help Douglas organize the "Grand Knights" into an actual club. But when he tries to market the group as a voluntary-membership club, and posts a cryptic sign-up sheet for the Grand Knights without any description, it becomes the coolest and most exclusive club on campus, especially when he actually has to post a rejection to the most popular girl in school, since he doesn't actually have the authority to admit new members to the Twinkie Squad.

Garlic Squid

Doug's second "morale raising" effort is to cook a fancifully made-up "traditional Pefkakian delicacy" for the Grand Knights. His choice is decidedly pungent: garlic squid with mango and banana; but this creates even WORSE problems; he attempts to prepare the dish in the school's Home Economics kitchen and hides the half-prepared garlic marinated squid in a hole in the ceiling when a class starts and it gets sealed before he can retrieve it.  It's teamwork time: the Grand Knights of the Exalted Karpoozi have a mission to eliminate the stench of the rotting squid by any means necessary, including:

 using the class's pet gerbils to eat it (they'll supposedly eat anything, but even they run away from rotting garlic squid)
 cheap perfume that only sharpens and enhances the odor, causing the school to be closed until it dissipates
 Dr. Footsie, an industrial strength foot powder used by Olympic athletes, which contaminates the principal's office and accidentally clogs the school's toilets

While the school is closed, Doug and Commando help the other kids in the Twinkie Squad, who are not really mentally challenged but are very shy, shed their shame, rebuild their lives, and become more social.

Meanwhile, the school reopens but the rotting stench is still there; the Home EC room and the Principal's Office directly above it, are closed off and abandoned because the smell is so bad that it makes people's noses and eyes feel a painful burning sensation.

Pranks and Scandals

Doug sees that Commando is still being harassed by Kahlil, and is crushed at the prospect of not being able to play on the basketball team, so he thinks up a way to help him - as only a government diplomat's son could. He manages to steal a blank piece of paper from his father's office with the Surgeon General's signature on it, and typewrites a forged letter addressed to the Principal, testifying to Commando's innocence and calling for his reinstatement to the basketball team.

The Principal, shocked that the Surgeon General somehow knows Commando, and now forced to work out of the janitor's broom closet, is also baffled at what could be causing the horrible smell in the school, so he hires several "experts" to inspect the school:

1. A sewer gas expert - the principal figures they have a busted sewer main. The man tells him the school's sewer is in excellent order, and it's probably bad plumbing that's causing the problem.

2. A plumber brings his crew to inspect the school. They bang on pipes and cause a lot of noise and ultimately fail to find anything. The plumber guesses that the school probably has a dead animal trapped in the walls somewhere, and suggests that the Principal call the "District of Columbia Rat-catcher".

3. The rat-catcher shows up and brings several crewmen with x-ray screens to look for any suspicious creature hiding in the walls. The men disrupt classes several times to x-ray the walls, often repeatedly. However, as a squid has no bones, the dish that Douglas prepared doesn't show up on the x-rays. The Rat-catcher is stumped and tells the Principal that the next step is to close the school, demolish the walls, and find the carcass of whatever it is that's causing the stink. The Principal protests, and sends the rat-catcher away.

After this, students and parents are furious at the noisy disruptions in class caused by the plumber and the rat-catcher, and they are even more furious at the "Grand Knights" for not allowing their kids to join. They complain that the Grand Knights is a snobby, elitist club at school that's not letting anyone join. The Principal desperately asks the entire faculty about the identity of these "Grand Knights" and is shocked when Martin and Julia, the leaders of the special needs group, come clean that their "Twinkie Squad" is actually the real Grand Knights.

The Principal is then forced to open the "club" to every student that wants to join. Doug and Commando print up new fliers, with the sub-heading "NO REJECTIONS" and within a day the entire student body joins the club! Then at the very last moment, in a move pre-planned by Douglas and Commando, they and all the other original members of the special needs group declare that THEY are the leaders of the Grand Knights, and immediately resign, leaving the rest of the school as the shocked and dazed members of the Twinkie squad. The original members then get in a limousine (courtesy of Doug's father) and drive away, victorious.

Epilogue

Afterwards, Doug, Commando, and the rest of the Twinkie Squad sneak back into the school, break one of the roof panels in the Home EC room, retrieve the rotten squid, and try to bury it in the schoolyard when they are caught by a policeman patrolling the campus. He tries to arrest them, but at that moment, Ambassador Fairchild intervenes, explaining that his son was not a criminal. The cop is relieved; he believed the boys were burying decomposed human remains.

Commando's father passes his CPA exam and becomes an accountant. Then he and Ambassador Fairchild confront the Principal over his clumsy and prejudiced mishandling of the nosebleed incident. He is forced to admit that Commando is not a bully and apologize for interpreting an accident as a case of physical assault. He does, however, shock Mr. Fairchild by producing Doug's forged letter with the Surgeon General's signature.

Then Doug admits to Commando that he has bad grades because he wanted to show the world that he is different than his family, and that the entire Pefkakia act was made up. He also reveals that his binder, which he had appeared to be obsessively writing in all year, contained nothing but page after page of the word "blah". After Commando goes to his homeroom, Doug's father shows up with a gift of a flower pot full of "bullrushes" - a brown reed-like plant native to Pefkakia. He frolics in the bullrushes like a little boy, embarrassing himself but feeling young at heart. Then they go home and he tells his son that he had to apologize to the principal for him on account of the forged Surgeon General letter - which itself was probably a felony.

In other novels
Pefkakia is mentioned in A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag, as the subject of a report by the ill-starred Jardine. King Phidor of Pefkakia is beheaded in a military coup, one day before the report is due.

References

External links

Canadian children's novels
1992 Canadian novels
Novels by Gordon Korman
Novels set in schools
1992 children's books

The Twinkie Squad


Plastic forming machines, or plastic molding machines, were developed on the basis of rubber machinery and metal die-casting machines. After the inception of the polymer injection molding process in the 1870s, plastic-forming machines were rapidly developed up until the 1930s. With the gradual commercialization of plastic molding equipment, injection molding and extrusion molding became the most common industrialized processes. Blow molding is the third-largest plastic molding method after the injection molding and extrusion blow molding methods.

Types of plastic forming machine

Plastic injection molding machine

A plastic injection molding machine injects melted plastic into a mold to make solid plastic parts.

Plastic extrusion machine

A plastic extrusion machine extrudes plastic in a continuous profile. The main machine is usually called the host, and its accompanying equipment are called the plastic auxiliary equipment. Plastic extruders can make plastic film/wrapping, packing tape, corrugated sheets, plastic lumber, pipes, tubes, insulated wire, monofilament and nets.

Plastic blow molding machine

A plastic blow molding machine inflates a preform or parison inside of a mold to form hollow parts.

Thermoforming

Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, and stamped to a specific shape in a 2-part mold. Or a vacuum can be used to pull the plastic sheet onto the mold in a simplified process known as vacuum forming. The excess material is trimmed off and recycled.

Rotational molding

Rotational molding involves a heated hollow mold that is filled with a charge or shot weight of material. It is then slowly rotated (usually around two perpendicular axes), causing the softened material to disperse and stick to the walls of the mold forming a hollow part. In order to form an even thickness throughout the part, the mold rotates at all times during the heating phase, and then continues to rotate during the cooling phase to avoid sagging or deformation. Rotocasting is a variant of the process that uses self-curing or UV-curable resins (as opposed to thermoplastics) in an unheated mold.

See also
Mold-A-Rama

References

Plastics industry
Forming processes

Plastic forming machine


A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, Stuart E. Dreyfus is professor emeritus at University of California, Berkeley in the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Department. While at the Rand Corporation he was a programmer of the JOHNNIAC computer. While at Rand he coauthored Applied Dynamic Programming with Richard Bellman. Following that work, he was encouraged to pursue a Ph.D. which he completed in applied mathematics at Harvard University in 1964, on the calculus of variations. In 1962, Dreyfus simplified the Dynamic Programming-based derivation of backpropagation (due to Henry J. Kelley and Arthur E. Bryson) using only the chain rule. He also coauthored Mind Over Machine with his brother Hubert Dreyfus in 1986.

Notes

References
Prof. Homepage of Stuart Dreyfus at UC Berkeley
.

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American industrial engineers
American operations researchers
Harvard University alumni
UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty

Stuart Dreyfus


"The Miracle of Love" is an electropop ballad recorded by British duo Eurythmics. It was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart. The track was released as the third single from the duo's sixth album Revenge in the UK. It was not released as a single in the United States.

The music video was directed by band member David A. Stewart. The grainy video shows Lennox and Stewart separately in darkened room surrounded only by candles followed by a shot of Lennox against a tree while historical footage of military violence is shown. The video ends with an extreme close-up of Lennox as she wanders around a park before acknowledging the camera by winking, smiling and laughing. The cover art for the single is a screenshot from this scene. The music features a soaring guitar solo by Stewart, reprising the melody of the opening bars.

The song became a modest hit on the UK Singles Chart but reached the top 20 in Australia, Brazil and parts of Europe.
In a review of Revenge, Glenn O'Brian of Spin magazine called it "a miraculous love song that is heavenly, seductive, sweeping, anodynamic, and straightforwardly, blatantly healing."

Track listing

7" single
A: "The Miracle of Love" - 5:05
B: "When Tomorrow Comes" (Live at the Roxy in Los Angeles) - 5:08

12" single
A: "The Miracle of Love" - 5:05
B1: "When Tomorrow Comes" (Live at the Roxy in Los Angeles) - 5:08
B2 "Who's That Girl?" (Live on Rockline 21 July 1986) - 3:28*

*later released on the 2005 remaster of Touch

Charts

References

1986 songs
1986 singles
Eurythmics songs
Songs written by David A. Stewart
Songs written by Annie Lennox
Song recordings produced by Dave Stewart (musician and producer)
RCA Records singles

The Miracle of Love