Sepia simoniana is a species of cuttlefish native to the western Indian Ocean. Its natural distribution stretches from Cape Town to Agulhas Bank, north to northern Kenya and southern Mozambique. It is also present in the Saya-de-Malha Bank. S. simoniana usually lives at depths of less than 100 m, although it has been recorded down to 190 m.

Sepia simoniana grows to a mantle length of 185 mm.

The type specimen was collected off Simon's Bay, South Africa. It is deposited at the Zoologisches Museum in Berlin.

References

External links

Cuttlefish
Molluscs described in 1920
Taxa named by Johannes Thiele (zoologist)

Sepia simoniana


The Sky Has Fallen is a 2009 American horror film, written and directed by Doug Roos. It stars Carey MacLaren and Laurel Kemper as two survivors of a gruesome apocalypse.

Plot
An Ebola-like plague decimates the world's population. Attempting to escape infection, people flee to rural locations but strange demonic figures appear, transforming the dead into their army. The two main characters, Lance and Rachel, try to hunt down the leader of these creatures before humanity gets wiped out.

Cast
 Carey MacLaren as Lance
 Laurel Kemper as Rachel
 Cory Knisely as The Leader
 Nathan Shelton as Chilton

Production
The film was shot in Missouri with a wide range of influences, including Versus and The Exorcist. The opening shots of a large city were actually done in Tokyo, Japan. The film is known for containing all practical effects, without any computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Release
The original cut of The Sky Has Fallen premiered at the British Film Festival Los Angeles.  It was independently distributed on DVD on February 16, 2010.  New footage was shot in 2011 and again in 2014, resulting in three very different versions of the film with the latest being an 80-minute Ultimate Edition that came out in June 2015.

Reception
Matt Boiselle of Dread Central rated it a 4/5, calling the film "a very large win for independent cinema in my opinion and isn't a film that should be passed by."  HorrorNews.net gave it "7 zombies" out of 10, writing there is "some really creative stuff going on in this film."  Bella Blitz of The Horror Honeys was "pleasantly surprised" with a score of 3 out of 5, adding, "Seriously though, so much blood. It was awesome."  Richard Martin at UK Horror Scene described it as a "character driven, unique and well shot piece of work no doubt" with "practical effects to rival that of AAA Hollywood titles."  Roger DeMarco of Repulsive Reviews called it "one of the gnarliest films I have seen in recent history," adding that it was "on par with Raimi's The Evil Dead."  Mark Miller of Ain't It Cool News wrote that it was "genuinely creepy and downright scary."  Brian Kirst of Horror Society said it was "a visual marvel" that "creates both a sympathetic point of view and a world of oozing horror as well." Bella Blitz of The Horror Honeys pointed out that the film has "elements of revenge, monsters, slasher, and splatter genres combined."

Awards

References

External links

2009 films
2009 horror films
2009 independent films
2000s science fiction horror films
American science fiction horror films
American post-apocalyptic films
American zombie films
American independent films
2009 directorial debut films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
Films about Ebola
Demons in film
Films shot in Missouri
Films shot in Tokyo

The Sky Has Fallen


Maxwellisation is the legal practice in English and Scots law that allows anyone who is criticised in an official report to respond prior to publication, based on details of the criticism received in advance.

The process takes its name from the publisher Robert Maxwell. In 1969, Maxwell was criticised in a report by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as "unfit to hold the stewardship of a public company". Maxwell took the matter to court, where the DTI was said by the judge to have "virtually committed the business murder" of Maxwell. To avoid any repeat following the ruling, official policy was altered to ensure that prior notice would be given of critical findings. Relevant witnesses are shown the specific extracts of reports relating to them.

References

English civil law
Government reports
Legal doctrines and principles
Robert Maxwell
Scots civil law

Maxwellisation


RO-4491533 is a drug developed by Hoffmann-La Roche which acts as a potent and selective negative allosteric modulator for group II of the metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2/3), being equipotent at mGluR2 and  mGluR3 but without activity at other mGluR subtypes. In animal studies, RO-4491533 produced antidepressant effects and reversed the effects of the mGluR2/3 agonist LY-379,268 with similar efficacy but slightly lower potency than the mGluR2/3 antagonist LY-341,495. A number of related compounds are known, with similar effects in vitro and a fairly well characterized structure-activity relationship.

See also
 Decoglurant

References

MGlu2 receptor antagonists
MGlu3 receptor antagonists
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Benzodiazepines

RO4491533


Cyborg is a fictional comic book superhero. He first appeared in the DC Comics universe. He is best known for being a member of the Teen Titans. He is an African American. He is part human and part cyborg (robot).

He is currently voiced by Khary Payton in the DC franchise and by Kenn Michael in the feature films and direct-to-video films. In the DC Extended Universe films, the character is played by actor Ray Fisher.

DC Comics superheroes

Cyborg (DC Comics)


Fudbalski klub Borac Kozarska Dubica (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Борац Козарска Дубица) is a Bosnian football club from the city of Kozarska Dubica, Republika Srpska.
They have played in the First League of the Republika Srpska in season 1996–97, but were relegated to the Second League of the Republika Srpska in 1997 as a result of merger of East and West division of First League. In 2004, they were relegated to the Regional League. After many years of playing in regional and local leagues, in 2014 they were promoted back to the Second League, the 3rd level league competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2020, they were promoted back to the First League.

History

Origins
Football club Borac was established in July 1936 at the initiative of leather workers of Dubica, Vrbas Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Originally it was named Radnički sportski klub Borac, which in English language means Workers Sports Club 'Fighter' , and its roots come from the relation the club had with labour movements during the first half of the 20th century.

The founders were Ahmet Ćelam, Vujo Momčilović and Razim Hadžić, workers from Dubica. Players were mainly the workers, as well as poor youths without jobs. At that time, management and players were members of different faiths and nations who lived in the town.
Although he was in a weak financial position and performed in the lower ranks of the competition, the Borac was too popular among fellow citizens.

Borac rallied progressive young people and members of the Communist Party. City authorities did not provide any help to the club because he was considered a "red club". On the contrary, they tried in every way to obstruct the Club activities because was considered an enemy of the social system. However, the Borac has managed to maintain a decent sports team.

Besides playing football and participating in the football league, the Borac administration organized mass trips and celebrations of May Day.

Club records

Best results
 First League of the Republika Srpska
 10th place: 1996–97
 Second League of the Republika Srpska, West Division
 Runners-up (1): 1995–96
 1st Place (1): 2022–23
 Republika Srpska Cup
 Eighth-finals (2): 2001–02, 2016–17
 16th-finals (3): 2003–04, 2010–11, 2013–14
 RFA Prijedor Cup
 Winners (1): 2007

Players

Current squad

Notable players
List of players who represented FIFA international teams in International matches.

  Vlado Kotur
  Aleksandar Rodić
  Nemanja Trkulja

Historical list of managers
  Goran Adžić (2013–2014)
  Željko Knežević (2014–)
  Zoran Bujić (2018–2021)
  Rade Drvenica (2021–)

References

External links
 History of FK Borac Kozarska Dubica
 2014–15 Second League of the Republika Srpska, West Division

Football clubs from Dubica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Football clubs in Republika Srpska
Football clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Association football clubs established in 1936
1936 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina

FK Borac Kozarska Dubica


The Turnip Prize is a spoof UK award satirising the Tate Gallery's Turner Prize by rewarding deliberately bad modern art. It was started as a joke in 1999, but gained national media attention and inspired similar prizes. Credit is given for entries containing bad puns as titles, displaying "lack of effort" or "is it shit?" Conversely, entries with "too much effort" or "not shit enough" are immediately disqualified. The first prize is a turnip nailed to a block of wood. The exhibition runs for roughly six weeks from 1st November and prizegiving takes place in the first week in December. It is currently held at The New Inn, Wedmore, Somerset.

History
The prize was conceived in 1999 by management and regulars of The George Hotel, Wedmore, Somerset, after the exhibition of Tracey Emin's My Bed was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. It is owned and organised by Trevor Prideaux and was announced thus: "The Turnip Prize is a crap art competition ... You can enter anything you like, but it must be rubbish." The competition is based on the supposition, "We know it's rubbish, but is it art?"  Competitors submitted entries of ridiculous objects posing as contemporary art, mostly made from junk titled with spoofs or puns. The prize is a turnip impaled on a rusty six-inch nail.

In May 2000, the nominees appeared on the BBC TV Esther show, presented by Esther Rantzen and featured by national and international media.

In 2001, the competition was held in the public conveniences in Wedmore.

In 2002, the "Monster Raving Loony Party" attempted to hijack the competition at The Trotter, Crickham, Wedmore.

In 2003, the prize moved to the New Inn, Wedmore. The winner was James Timms with Take a Leaf out of My Chook, an exhibit of a raw chicken stuffed with leaves. James Timms subsequently appeared on BBC Radio Scotland's Fred MacAulay Show with Ed Byrne.

In 2005, Ian Osenthroat, a 69-year-old former photocopier salesman, won with the exhibit Birds Flew, a bird's nest with a flu remedy box. He commented "I have entered this most coveted art award on several occasions and I really feel that the lack of effort this year has really paid off."

Winner in 2006 was Ian Lewis with the exhibit Torn Beef, an empty corned beef can. He stated, "The work took no time at all to create." Trevor Prideaux commented, "I believe that over the last seven years the bad artists of Wedmore and surrounding areas have created far better works than Nicholas Serota and The Tate Britain Gallery could ever wish to exhibit." Also in 2006, the BBC's Chief Somerset Correspondent, Clinton Rogers, was immortalised as Clint on a Row of Jars.

In 2007, the competition gained more publicity with the entry of artwork with the title By the Banksea. The painting bears a resemblance to work by the Bristol graffiti artist Banksy, and its origins are likewise a secret. By the Banksea portrays a seaside Aunt Sally in the form of a stencil of the Mona Lisa, but in Banksy style, Mona Lisa is depicted holding a rocket launcher firing a turnip over the wreckage of a seaside pier and an emergency exit sign. Competition organiser Trevor Prideaux commented: "It does seem to be in Banksy's style. But someone has thought too much about this one and tried too hard. So for that reason it's not likely to win." The piece was duly disqualified for "too much effort, and not shit enough." The 2007 competition was won by Bracey Vermin with Tea P, a group of used tea bags in the shape of a letter P.

Competition entries for 2010 included "Ivor Crush"s clothes hanger linking the letter U in "Crush", entitled Hung up on You, and an entry by Banksy, which focused on the recent student protests of the day.{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Entries for 2011 included a piece of cheese carved into the letter E, entitled CheeseE, A fish full of dollars, and an exhibit of an Action Man toy – called First Class Mail – with a carefully placed stamp, and a coloured rock called Half a Stone Lighter. This year's prize featured on the BBC's Have I Got News For You for two weeks running.

Winners and shortlisted artists
 1999 – David Stone (baker), winner – Alfred The Grate (two burned rolls on a fire grate)
David Gannon (British Airways worker) – Sharp Infested Waters (a jar of water filled with needles, razors and knives)
Neil Ellis – Soiled Serviette (a comment on a crumpled piece of paper)
Iain Jones – Half Cut (a saw and a piece of wood cut halfway through with a bottle of beer nearby)
Maureen Hodge (pub landlady) – Laundry Day Tracey (a neat pile of clean sheets)
 2000 – Jacqui Redman (care worker, age 30), winner – Minstrel Cycle (a bicycle constructed of sweets, cocktail sticks and tampons)
Jenny Vining (midwife, age 21+) – Cereal Killer (cereal packets with bullet holes in them)
Kerry Bobbett (trainee graphic designer, age 19) – Wind In The Willows (a tin of beans in a wicker basket)
Sue Smith (age 50+) – Surf In The Net (a box of washing powder in a net)
 2001 – Chloe Wilson, winner – nothing (which was literally nothing)
 2002 – Jenny Vining (midwife), winner – Piston Broke (a broken piston mounted onto a block of wood)
Dick Stelling (landlord, age 69) – A Bit on the Side (a horse's bit on its side)
James Timms (trapeze artist) – Privot Investigator (a privet bush and magnifying glass)
 2003 – James Timms (long-distance unicyclist, age 26), winner – Take a Leaf out of my Chook (a raw chicken stuffed with leaves)
Di Vorce – Bitter and Twisted (a piece of grapefruit peel)
Jonny Wilkinson – Jonny Wilkinson (a condom and a razor blade)
Polly Ethylene – What a Waste (a sculpture of plumbing pipes)
 2004 – Pearl E Queen (former chimney sweep, age 99), winner – Jellied Deal (a jelly with a hand of playing cards set into it)
Alan Kieda – Camp X Ray (a collage of camp images), disqualified
Claire Prior – Half a Stone Lighter
Ian Lewis – Light Lunch (a sculpture using china, paper, steel and glass)
2005 – Ian Osenthroat (former photocopier salesman, age 69), winner – Birds Flew (an empty birds' nest with a flu remedy)
Ian Lewis – Political Promises (an empty jar)
The Mysterious Baker – Half Baked (baked bread in the shape of ½)
Robert Baby – Leakin' Wellington (a leek protruding from a wellington boot)
The Sisters Incognito – The Hand of Time (a papier-mâché sculpture of a clock face)
2006 – Ian Lewis (Iron Man), winner – Torn Beef (an empty corned beef can)
Ham Sweet Ham (disqualified) (a framed picture containing two slices of ham and a boiled sweet)
Beyond the Pale
Captain's Log
Clinton Rogers (BBC's Chief Somerset Correspondent) – Clint on a Row of Jars
Cracked Pot (a broken plant pot)
Medium Steak (a medium-sized wooden stake)
The Second Coming
2007 – Bracey Vermin (jam maker), winner – Tea P (used tea bags in the shape of a P)
Mary Leftley, very highly commended – Thyme Flies (dead flies in a hexagonal jar with thyme)
Mr Fezzy Wig, very highly commended – Pair o' dice Lost (a map of Scotland with dice)
John Squires, very highly commended – Mints Meet (a mincemeat jar containing a polo mint and an extra strong mint)
Isaac Hasumoff – Fly in Saucer (a saucer with a dead fly), 2007 Special Award. "Judges considered that this was an exceptional lack of effort. However, the fly cannot be considered rubbish (it is not recyclable unless ingested by a spider)."
2008 – Ivor Pranced (farmer), winner – Fleeced (a piece of sheep's wool depicting John Sergeant)
2009 – Frank Van Bough (sports presenter), winner – Manhole Cover (a pair of white Y-fronts)
Clinton Rogers – Croc of Gold (a Croc shoe painted gold)
Bjorn Toolate – The Swinging Six Teas (a coat-hanger with six tea bags hanging from it)
Sue Shi – Knickless Cage (a wire cage containing naked Barbie dolls)
Mary Christmas – Noddy Holder (a Noddy bucket)
Aunt Sponge – Shi Tart (a tart with the letters SHI in it)
2010 – Doug Pitt (gold digger), winner – Chilli 'n' Minors (one large chilli and three smaller chillies)
Aunt Sponge – Elfin Safety (a builders' hard hat with elf ears on it)
Gill Adams – It's Marge (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! container with Marge Simpson in it)
Jo Hill – Polish Worker (a duster or cleaning cloth)
New Blood – A Leg Up (an old table leg stood on its end)
Sarah Quick – Brief Encounter (an abacus with a pair of pants over it)
2011 – Jim Drew (bush trimmer), winner – Jamming with Muddy Waters (a jar containing jam and some muddy water)
Granny Abuse – Fish Full of Dollars (a fish stuffed full of dollars)
Mr Fezziwig – Half a Stone Lighter (a stone with one half lighter in colour than the other side)
Aunt Sponge – Children in Mead (a bottle of mead with many dolls in it)
Andy Gould – CheesE (a piece of cheese cut into an "E" shape)
Team GB – First Class Mail (an Action Man toy with a first-class stamp placed over his penis)
2012 – Miss Quick (midwife), winner – The Three Tenors (a pack of Lady Tenas with three sticking out)
Andy Robinson – A Limpet Torch (a torch with limpets attached to it)
 Asif – Arab Spring (a large spring dressed as an Arab)
Kelly Jones – S'not Art (a crumpled tissue)
Harold Stone – Stone He Broke (a stone broken in two)
James Standon – Bread in Captivity (a loaf of bread in a pet-carrying cage)
Mike Atkinson – Children in Knead (a lump of dough with children in it)
2013 – Percy Long-Prong (former chauffeur), winner – Play on Words (a Shakespeare play on top of a dictionary)
Chris McKinley – Slightly Open (a jar)
Hugh Grant – Brookes Hair Hacked (a pile of red wood shavings)
Tony Edmunds – Flower Power (a flower and a battery)
Cobbsy – The Hobbit (a ring off the top of a cooker)
Guido Barbato – Smarty Pants (pants coming out of a Smarties tube)
2014 – Ms Drunken Shepherd (shepherdess), winner – Ewe Kip (a sleeping sheep)
Abby – Gogglebox (an empty box of goggles)
Leafy – Pensive (a pen and a sieve)
Aunt Sponge – Stick another Shrimp on the Barbie (Barbie doll with shrimps stuck on it)
Trees R Green – Ginger Nut (a walnut with ginger hair)
Mike Anderson – Breast in Plant (breasts embedded in a plant)
2015 – Bonksy (rocket scientist), winner – Dismal And (the symbol "&" looking dismal)
P.Enfold – Danger Mouse (a computer mouse with an electrical warning sticker on it)
Art Ist – Staple Diet (a galvanised staple on a plate)
Asif – A Clean Slate (a piece of slate with nothing on it)
Pat McGroin – Hung like a Donkey (a donkey hanging on a rope)
Imogen Crees – A Roll in the Hay (a bread roll in some hay)
2016 – Plumsky (sommelier) – Pole Dark (a black pole)
Sovereign Steve – Bricks It (three red bricks arranged as the letters IT)
Hair Minge – Labour Party (a Barbie doll giving birth to a party blower)
E.B.Trumped – Oh Baaah Ma Leaves (two sheep and some leaves)
Willy Dropum – Pair of Drawers (a pair of drawers from a bureau)
Kick Ass O – The European Single Meerkat (a lone meerkat holding a European flag)
2017 – Chris P. Bacon (Year 8 student) – Pulled Pork (a tractor pulling a pig)
Sue D'onim – Fake Nudes (Barbie and Ken naked and holding hands)
Tiger Would – Minnie Driver (a small golf club)
Keepthefaith – Northern Soul (a shoe with a compass on its sole)
Lady (Sheila) Critters – Pant & Dec (a pair of pants with playing cards on top)
N Eedl Ife – Pornhub (internet hub with a chess pawn on top)
2018 – Stroke Me (lavatory attendant) – Collywobbles (a plastic collie dog on a jelly)
Claire Brown – Stock Pile (a pile of stock cubes)
C Tinder – Hot Date (a chilli pepper and a date)
Mrs Heinz – Trump Tower (two tins of baked beans stacked on top of one another)
Ray Cycle – Plastic Waste (a plastic belt)
Annabel Stone – Hollywood (a piece of holly and a piece of wood)
2019 – Fanny Scorcher (hairdresser) – Bush Fire Down Under (a pair of knickers with a burnt hole in the front)
Canna B. Bothered – A Complete Waste of Thyme (the herb thyme discarded from its jar)
Will Ted Gutful – Lettuce Leaf or Romaine (a romaine lettuce leaf)
Henry Yolking – Poached Eggs (an empty egg box)
David Ehmann – The Leaves and the Remains (a pile of leaves and bones)
Asif – Thomas Cooked (Thomas the Tank Engine in a saucepan)
2020 – Herewe Goagain (gardening girl) – Lockdown (a padlock on top of a pile of duck down feathers)
Robin Deadrest – A Brush with Death (a robin laid on its back next to a paintbrush)
Pete Lamb – Back to the Fuchsia (a baby doll with its back to a fuchsia plant)
Jolly Roger – Fur Load (a large bundle of fur)
The Very Reverent Canon Ball – Rock on Tommy (a rock on top of a tomato)
Doug Tunn – Shut the Duck Up (a duck with gaffer tape over its beak)
2021 – Ching Ching Pi Pi Ee (architect) – Panda Mick (a panda called Mick)
Concerned – Glowball Warming (a glow ball on top of a hot water bottle)
Raspberry Buttocks – Green Energy (a green battery)
U Naughty Royal – Prints Andrew (a mannequin with two handprints strategically placed on it)
2022 – Lie Instate (Soho cinema projectionist and comedian) – Cue Jumpers (a pool cue with two small jumpers attached)
.Gov – Red Tape (a roll of red insulation tape)
Charlie King – RIP Elizabeth the 2nd (a torn 2nd-class stamp)
Ivor Bolshoi Liebherr – Ukraine (a yellow crane holding a sprig of a yew tree)

Annual entries

 2012 – 87 entries.
 2013 – 69 entries, which included entries from Ireland, Italy, Paris, and the U.S.
 2014 – 69 entries, which included entries from Canada, USA, Germany, and Italy.
 2015 – 69 entries, which included entries from France, Czech Republic, Norway, and Macedonia.
 2016 – 99 entries, which included entries from Brisbane, Australia (delivered by hand), Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Lundy.
 2017 – 100 entries, which included entries from Guernsey and Germany.
 2018 – 90 entries, which included entries from Australia (arrived broken in 69 pieces) and Antigua.
 2019 – 107 entries, which included entries from Sydney, Australia, Guernsey and Belgium.
 2020 – 120 entries, which included entries from Kansas, Lockerbie and Downpatrick.
 2021 – 96 entries, which included entries from Geneva and Rome
 2022 – 69 entries, which included entries from Tasmania and Tooting

Other competitions

Many independent "Turnip Prize" competitions are now held around the world, with differing rules made up by those who are running the competitions. Competitions generally aspire to concept, "We know it's rubbish, but is it art?" and competitors submit entries made from junk with titles that are nonsensical or puns. Marks are awarded for amusement and lack of effort, and  competitors are frequently disqualified for applying too much effort.

In  2001, The Sun tabloid newspaper featured its own Turnip Prize.

In 2002, "The Turnip Award" was opened annually for students at Edinburgh College of Art to "carve or design something out of the humble vegetable". The 2005 prize was a mountain bike. In 2005 a Turnip Prize was staged at St Paul's Gallery in Tower Hamlets, London, for local residents.

The term was previously used in 1998 by YBA Jake Chapman of the Chapman Brothers (2003 Turner Prize nominees): "We thought if we couldn't get the Turner Prize we should get the Turnip Prize."

See also
List of art awards
Stuckist demonstrations

Notes and references

Awards established in 1999
Contemporary art awards
British contemporary art
British awards
Ironic and humorous awards
Culture in Somerset
1999 establishments in the United Kingdom
International art awards

Turnip Prize


The yellow stingray (Urobatis jamaicensis) is a species of stingray in the family Urotrygonidae, found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Trinidad. This bottom-dwelling species inhabits sandy, muddy, or seagrass bottoms in shallow inshore waters, commonly near coral reefs. Reaching no more than  across, the yellow stingray has a round pectoral fin disc and a short tail with a well-developed caudal fin. It has a highly variable but distinctive dorsal color pattern consisting of either light-on-dark or dark-on-light reticulations forming spots and blotches, and can rapidly change the tonality of this coloration to improve its camouflage.

Relatively sedentary during the day, the yellow stingray feeds on small invertebrates and bony fishes. When hunting it may undulate its disc to uncover buried prey, or lift the front of its disc to form a "cave" attractive to shelter-seeking organisms. This species is aplacental viviparous, meaning that the developing embryos are sustained initially by yolk and later by histotroph ("uterine milk"). Females bear two litters of up to seven young per year in seagrass, following a gestation period of 5–6 months. Though innocuous towards humans, the yellow stingray can inflict a painful injury with its venomous tail spine. This species is taken as bycatch by commercial fisheries and collected for the aquarium trade; it may also be negatively affected by habitat degradation. Nevertheless, it remains common and widespread, which has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to list it under Least Concern.

Taxonomy and phylogeny
French naturalist Georges Cuvier originally described the yellow stingray as Raia jamaicensis in 1816, in Le Règne Animal distribué d'après son organisation pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. He based his account on specimens obtained from Jamaica, though no type specimens were designated. Subsequent authors moved this species to the genus Urolophus, and then to the genus Urobatis (some literature still refers to this species as Urolophus jamaicensis). Other common names used for this ray include the yellow-spotted ray, the round ray, and the maid ray.

Nathan Lovejoy's 1996 phylogenetic analysis, based on morphology, found that the yellow stingray is the most basal member of a clade that also contains Pacific Urobatis species and the genus Urotrygon of Central and South America. This finding would render Urobatis polyphyletic, though further study is warranted to elucidate the relationships between these taxa.

Description

The yellow stingray is small, growing no more than  across and  long. It has a nearly circular pectoral fin disc slightly longer than wide, with a short, obtuse snout. The eyes are immediately followed by the spiracles. There is a narrow curtain of skin between the nostrils, with a fringed posterior margin. The mouth is nearly straight and contains a transverse row of 3–5 papillae on the floor. There are 30–34 tooth rows in the upper jaw and a similar number in the lower jaw, arranged into bands. The teeth are broad-based, with low, blunt crowns in females and juveniles, and tall, pointed cusps in adult males. The teeth of males are more widely spaced than those of females. The pelvic fins have nearly straight leading margins and rounded trailing margins.

The tail is stout and flattened, comprising less than half the total length, and terminates in a small, leaf-shaped caudal fin about a quarter high as long, that is continuous around the last vertebra. A serrated spine is positioned about halfway along the tail. Newborn rays are smooth-skinned; shortly after birth small, blunt tubercles appear in the middle of the back, which in larger adults extends to between the eyes, the "shoulders", and the base of the tail. Adults also develop recurved thorns along the upper margin of the caudal fin. The color and pattern of the yellow stingray varies significantly among individuals, though most follow one of two schemes: minute dark green or brown reticulations on a light background, or dense white, yellow, or golden spots on a dark green or brown background. The underside is yellowish, greenish, or brownish white, with small darker spots toward the disc margin and the tail. This species is capable of rapidly changing the tone and contrast of its coloration to better match its environment.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow stingray is found throughout the inshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico (where it is the only representative of its family) and the Caribbean Sea, including Florida, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles to Trinidad. On rare occasions, it ranges as far north as Cape Lookout in North Carolina. It is quite abundant in the Florida Keys and parts of the Antilles, and rather uncommon elsewhere. Off Mexico, this species occupies a salinity range of 26–40 ppt.

Benthic in nature, the yellow stingray inhabits coastal habitats such as bays, lagoons, estuaries, and low-energy surf zones, and has been reported from the water's edge to a depth of . It particularly favors insular hard-bottomed habitats with a dense encrustation of sessile invertebrates (termed live-bottom habitats), but can also be found over sand, mud or seagrass (Thalassia), sometimes in the vicinity of coral reefs. Off Jamaica, large numbers of yellow stingrays, up to one per square meter, gather beneath the aerial roots of mangrove trees used as roosts by cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis); it is theorized that the birds' droppings sustain invertebrates that attract the rays. There is no evidence of seasonal migration, though during the spring females tend to be found closer to shore than males.

Biology and ecology

During the day, the yellow stingray is fairly inactive and spends much time buried under a thin layer of sediment or lying motionless in vegetation. Tracking studies have shown that it generally remains within a small home range of around , with individuals covering only a portion of the entire area on any particular day. It favors the boundaries between different terrain, such as sand and reef. Its periscopic eyes give it a 360° panoramic view of its surroundings; each eye bears an elaborate covering or "operculum" that allows fine control over the amount of light entering the pupil. Therefore, the resting ray is well equipped to detect approaching predators, which may potentially include any large carnivorous fish such as the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). The yellow stingray is most sensitive to sounds of 300–600 Hertz, which is fairly typical among sharks and rays that have been investigated thus far. It and other stingrays have a large brain relative to other rays, comprising around 1–2% of the body weight.

The diet of the yellow stingray is poorly documented but includes shrimps, and likely also worms, clams, and small bony fishes. Typically, the ray will settle over a prey item and trap it against the bottom, whereupon it is manipulated to the mouth with motions of the disc. Like the related round stingray (U. halleri), this species sometimes uses undulations of its disc margins to excavate pits and reveal buried prey. It has also been observed raising the front of its disc to create a shaded "cave", to attract shelter-seeking organisms. Known parasites of the yellow stingray include the tapeworms Acanthobothrium cartagenensis, Phyllobothrium kingae, Discobothrium caribbensis, Rhinebothrium magniphallum, and R. biorchidum, and the monogenean Dendromonocotyle octodiscus.

The yellow stingray exhibits biofluorescence, that is, when illuminated by blue or ultraviolet light, it re-emits it as green, and appears differently than under white light illumination. Biofluorescence potentially assists intraspecific communication and camouflage.

Life history

Like other stingrays, the yellow stingray is aplacental viviparous: at first the embryos are sustained by yolk, which is later supplanted by histotroph ("uterine milk", rich in proteins and lipids), delivered by the mother through numerous finger-like extensions of the uterine epithelium called "trophonemata". Mature females have two functional uteruses, with the left used more than the right. Except in a few individuals, only the left ovary is functional. The reproductive cycle is biannual with a 5–6 month long gestation period. The first period of ovulation occurs from January to April, peaking in late February and early March, with birthing from June to September, peaking in late July and early August. The second period of ovulation occurs from August to September, with birthing from November to January. The two cycles overlap as vitellogenesis (yolk formation) begins while the female is still pregnant.

Courtship and mating in the yellow stingray involves one or more males closely following a female, seeking to bite and grip the rear margin of her disc; the high, pointed teeth of males serve to aid in this endeavor. Once the male successfully holds onto the female, he flips under her so that the two are aligned abdomen-to-abdomen, and inserts a single clasper into her cloaca. Rival males may attempt to interfere with the mating pair by biting or bumping them. In one observation that took place in water  deep near Tobacco Caye on the Belize Barrier Reef, the male pursuit lasted between 30 and 60 seconds and copulation lasted four minutes.

The predominant source of embryonic nutrition is histotroph, which supports a 46-fold weight increase from ovum to near-term fetus. By the time the embryo is  across, it has fully resorbed its yolk sac and external gills. The litter size ranges from one to seven. The first litter of the year (spring-summer) is larger than the second (autumn-winter), with the number of offspring increasing with the size of the female; this relationship is not observed for second litter. On the other hand, the newborns of the first litter tend to be slightly smaller than those of the second litter, at an average length of  versus . The second litter's fewer, larger young may reflect the lower temperatures of autumn-winter, which results in slower growth. Seagrass beds serve as important habitat for parturition. The newborns emerge tail-first and are similar in coloration to the adults, though the disc is relatively wider. They also have a small "knob" or "tentacle" that covers most of the spiracle, which is resorbed shortly after birth. Males and females reach sexual maturity at disc widths of  and  respectively. The maximum lifespan is 15–25 years.

Human interactions

Generally, yellow stingrays pay little heed to divers and can be approached closely. If stepped on or otherwise provoked, however, this ray will defend itself with its tail spine, coated in potent venom. The resulting wound is extremely painful, but seldom life-threatening. Small and docile, the yellow stingray adapts readily to captivity and has reproduced in the aquarium; it requires a large amount of space (at least 180 gal or 684 L) and a fine, deep substrate with minimal ornamentation.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the yellow stingray under Least Concern, citing its wide distribution and high abundance in certain regions. In addition, its small size implies relatively high productivity, which would make its population more resilient to fishing pressure. This species is not targeted commercially, but is probably taken incidentally by inshore fisheries throughout its range. It is also harvested for the home aquarium trade, being the most frequently available member of its family on the North American market. The extent of this trade has not yet been quantified. Another potential threat is habitat degradation, particularly to seagrass beds. No conservation measures have been enacted for this species.

Gallery

References

External links

 "Urobatis jamaicensis, Yellow stingray" at FishBase
 "Biological Profiles: Yellow Stingray" at Florida Museum of Natural History

jamaicensis
Fauna of the Southeastern United States
Fish of the Caribbean
Fish of the Dominican Republic
yellow stingray
yellow stingray
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Yellow stingray


François-Alexandre Verdier (c. 1651 - 1730) was French painter, draftsman and engraver.
He was a student and assistant of Charles Le Brun.

Biography

François-Alexandre Verdier was born in Paris around 1651.  He studied under Charles Le Brun.
In 1668 he was awarded the 1st prize in drawing at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.
From 1668 to 1671 he lived in Italy at the Medici Villa.
He won the Prix de Rome for drawing in 1668 for his work Première conquête de la Franche-Comté,
and again in 1671 for Le Roi donnant la paix à l'Europe.
He was admitted to the Academy in 1678.
By 1684 he was a Professor.
He exhibited at the Salon of 1704.
He died in Paris in 1730.

Œuvres
Many of his drawings and paintings are at the Musée du Louvre.  They include:
 Saint Paulin de Nole, drawing in red with white chalk highlights, 36.5 cm  x 28.5 cm
Le triomphe de la religion, oil on canvas, 53x43cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre.
La Chute des anges rebelles, oil on canvas, 163x134cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre.
A number of his drawings on religious subjects were made into prints by the engraver Nicolas-Henri Tardieu and are now held in the Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy.

Gallery

Citations

Sources

17th-century French painters
French male painters
18th-century French painters
1730 deaths
Year of birth unknown
French draughtsmen
Year of birth uncertain
18th-century French male artists

François-Alexandre Verdier


Medgidia ( or ; historical Turkish names: Karasu or Carasu, Mecidiye or Megidie) is a city in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, south-eastern Romania.

History

Archaeological findings show that Dobruja was inhabited since the Neolithic period. Starting with 46 BC the region was administered by the Roman Empire. A castrum was built in the Carasu Valley, becoming the cradle of the settlement.

In 1417, the Turks invaded Dobruja. From the 15th century onwards, the region started to be colonized with a Muslim population. The settlement named "Karasu" (Turkish for "Black Water") was mentioned on the map of Iehuda ben Zara in 1497, in the notes of Paolo Giorgio (1590) and Evliya Çelebi (1653).

Modern Medgidia was built by the Ottoman administration on the place of the old Karasu beginning with 1856. It was built as a planned city to accommodate refugees from the Crimean War and to serve as an economic hub for the central zone of Dobruja. The town was named in honour of the sultan Abdülmecid I, the Ottoman sovereign of the period.

After the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Northern Dobruja became part of Romania. Medgidia was the last capital of Silistra Nouă County (1878–1879) before it was merged into Constanța County.

Geography
Medgidia is located between the Danube and the Black Sea,  away from Constanța.

The general aspect of the relief is that of a low plateau with a limestone structure, covered with thick deposits of loess. The natural resources in the area consist of limestone deposits and kaolin sand. The limestone structure of the earth permits a natural filtering of the groundwater.

Climate
The climate is temperate-continental, with short and cold winters and very hot summers.

Local administration
Medgidia became a municipality in 1994.

The town infrastructure is continuously developing and offers the inhabitants 4 high schools, 8 primary schools, 12 nurseries, 4 cultural centers with a hall for cultural activities, 2 show and cinema halls, 3 clubs and 5 libraries, a 30,000-seat stadium, a sports hall and a swimming pool. Medgidia also houses a 500-bed hospital.

The following villages are administered by the municipality:
 Remus Opreanu (historical name:  Alibei-Ceair, ) – renamed after Remus Opreanu, the first Romanian prefect of Constanța County (1878–1881)
 Valea Dacilor (historical name: Endecarachioi,  or Hendek Kara Kuyusu)

Politics
The current mayor of Medgidia is Valentin Vrabie (PNL).

The Medgidia Municipal Council, elected in the 2020 local government elections, consists of 18 councilors, with the following party composition:

Economy
The economic landscape spotlights the existence of a town fully involved in its progress. Out of 1,200 registered enterprises, only 30 are state-owned and 15 are joint ventures.

Beside the agricultural activities (milk-processing, milling, bakery and wine growing), the main industry deals in cement and building materials, agricultural machinery and forging equipment, wood processing and furniture factories.

Medgidia lies in the center of an agricultural area of several tens of millions hectares, with a fertile soil and provided with irrigation systems.

The area offers:
 a rich agricultural tradition and trained specialists
 a road network for the transport of goods
 relatively short transport distances, especially through the port
 access to other Romanian or European regions
 better climate conditions than in other parts of Romania (winter is shorter)
 an outstanding irrigation potential

The Medgidia clinker storage facility was completed in 2009 and is the world's largest dome-type cement clinker storage facility.

Transport
The town is a road and rail node and an inland port to the Danube-Black Sea Canal. The Danube-Black Sea Canal crosses the town for about 6 km of its length.

The canal has a capacity of 11.2 million tons/year and can admit ships of . Provided with road and rail links, the harbor offers storage facilities and cranes able to lift up to 16-ton weights. Beside a SNCFR marshaling yard, along the Canal there is a Free Trade Area in course of being finalized.

A planned highway from Bucharest to Constanţa, partially financed by the EU, will bypass the town, allowing the development of associated services (hotels, petrol stations and a parking yard for trucks) in the area.

Also, the Medgidia railway station links trains to a few, but very important towns and cities, including Constanţa (35 km), Tulcea (144 km), and București Nord (199 km).

Landmarks

The Art Museum "Lucian Grigorescu"
It was opened in 1964 with exhibitions of Romanian contemporary painting, sculpture, and graphics, signed Lucian Grigorescu, Marius Bunescu, Ion Jalea and others. The permanent exhibition takes in classic and modern artworks but also works of contemporary art classics: Lucian Grigorescu, Nicolae Tonitza, Francisc Șirato, Ștefan Dumitrescu, Iosif Iser. The museum also displays a collection of ceramic artworks.

In 1991 the museum was named after Lucian Grigorescu, a town native, who was deemed as the most Latin among the Romanian painters.
The city honors the painter every year on 1 February, the anniversary of his birthday.

Because of low income due to few visitors and high maintenance costs in 2009 the museum was closed.

The "Abdul Mejid" Mosque
Built in 1860 by the Ottoman Government, the mosque is an historic and architectural monument. It was named after the sultan Abdul Mejid – who reigned between 1839 and 1861.

The mosque is served by an imam and a muezzin. The building respects the traditional form of the Muslim cultural placements, decorated in the interior with oriental ornaments and inscriptions in Arabic.

The "Saints Peter and Paul" Orthodox church
The church was built in a Roman-Greek style and it was raised with the contribution of the local Christians on the ruins of a Roman castrum.

The Serbian Heroes' Monument
In 1926, Medgidia commemorated the heroism of the First Serbian Division, which fought in Dobruja during World War I as a part of the bloody Romanian theatre, by inaugurating a monument in the group's honor. The completed memorial, featuring an iconic white marble pyramid, was the setting of a ceremony held with the participation of both Romanian and Yugoslavian officials. Wreaths were laid at the base of the monument by members of the Serbian and Romanian royal families.

Natives
 Mihaela Albu (born 1994), volleyball player
 Stelian Carabaș (born 1974), football player
 Alexandru Cicâldău (born 1997), football player
 Titus Corlățean (born 1968), politician and diplomat, former Minister of Justice and of Foreign Affairs
 Tiberiu Curt (born 1975), football player
 Laurențiu Florea (born 1981), football player
 Tahsin Gemil (born 1943), historian, translator, diplomat, and politician
 Lucian Grigorescu (1894–1965), post-impressionist painter
 Emil Hoștină (born 1976), actor
 Marian Lazăr (born 1952), boxer
 Bogdan Mitache (born 1994), football player
 Bănică Oprea (born 1967), football player
 Silviana Sfiringu (born 2004), artistic gymnast

The Medgidia Festival
The festival has been celebrated each year since 1999, at the end of October, and is attended by thousands of locals.

Media
Graiul Dobrogei (link Graiul Dobrogei), local newspaper
Alpha Media, local TV channel
Media TV, local TV channel

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities
Medgidia is twinned with:
 Cahul, Moldova
 Favara, Italy
 Zhumadian, China
 Yalova, Turkey

References

External links

Populated places in Constanța County
Localities in Northern Dobruja
Cities in Romania
Turkish communities in Romania
Place names of Turkish origin in Romania
1856 establishments in the Ottoman Empire

Medgidia


Michael Raymond George Huckle (born 6 August 1938) is a former Rhodesian cricketer who played a single first-class match for the Rhodesian national side in October 1966.

Born in Bulawayo, Huckle was a left-arm orthodox spinner and a right-handed lower-order batsman. His single first-class appearance came against Transvaal during the 1966–67 Currie Cup, in a three-day match at the Police A Ground in Salisbury (now Harare). In Rhodesia's first innings, Huckle came in eighth in the batting order, scoring 14 not out. Bowling in Transvaal's first innings, he had Ali Bacher, Transvaal's captain and a future captain of the South African national side, caught by Raymond Gripper for 54. He finished with 1/44 from nine six-ball overs, and played little further part in the match as Rhodesia lost by 10 wickets.

Huckle had been selected for Rhodesia on the basis of good form for Matabeleland in the Logan Cup. However, competition from two other spinners, Dave Napier and Neville Deudney, meant he played only a single game for the national side. Huckle later took up farming at Turk Mine, in present-day Matabeleland North Province. He stood as a Rhodesia Party candidate at the 1974 general election, but lost to the Rhodesian Front's Reginald Cowper in the Wankie constituency, getting only 13.9 percent of the vote. Huckle's son, Adam George Huckle, was raised in Turk Mine, and later went on to play Test cricket for Zimbabwe in the 1990s. Mike Huckle remained involved in local cricket, and in March 1991, aged 53, played a game for Matabeleland Country Districts against Ireland. One of his teammates in that match was Denis Streak, another ex-Rhodesian player farming at Turk Mine whose son, Heath Streak, played Tests for Zimbabwe.

References

External links

1938 births
Living people
Rhodesia cricketers
Cricketers from Bulawayo
White Zimbabwean people
Zimbabwean cricketers
Rhodesian farmers

Mike Huckle


The navigli (;  ) are a system of interconnected canals in and around Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy, dating back as far as the Middle Ages.

The system consists of five canals: Naviglio Grande, Naviglio Pavese, Naviglio Martesana, Naviglio di Paderno, Naviglio di Bereguardo. The first three were connected through Milan via the Fossa Interna, also known as the Inner Ring. The urban section of the Naviglio Martesana was covered over at the beginning of the 1930s, together with the entire Inner Ring, thus sounding the death knell for the north-eastern canals. Commercial carrying continued on the Naviglio Grande, but the decline was steady and by the 1960s a project of a fluvial port to reach the Po River and consequentially the Adriatic Sea through the canals was shelved for good.

History

The ancient  Celtic settlement that gave rise to Milan was later replaced by a Roman one; the latter, which was called by the ancient Romans "Mediolanum", was then in turn replaced by a medieval settlement. But the urban center of Milan has steadily grown , until modern times, around the first Celtic nucleus.

The Celtic settlement had only one river namely the Nirone, and a fountain, the Molia (or Mollia). The Nirone lapped the ancient Mediolanum, while the Molia flowed near the settlement, collecting some irrigation from the north. Both of these were within the region of the Olona, which flowed further west, and the Seveso, whose natural bed was located further east.

The three major rivers (Lambro, Seveso and Olona) flow in their natural beds, the Lambro and the Olona furthest from the city, with the Seveso being closer. Of the three, the only one that has not changed over the centuries is the Lambro, which still flows in its ancient natural bed, while the Olona and Seveso were diverted by the ancient Romans.

The territory as a whole had plenty of water given that the settlement was located on the "line of fountains", between geological layers with different permeability, which allows deep waters to resurface on the surface. To perform agriculture the Celts had to regulate the flow of water by resorting to canalization and drainage.

In 222 BC the ancient Romans conquered Milan. Roman cities were large consumers of water, both for public and domestic uses, and Romans studied hydraulic engineering in depth. But Mediolanum did not need aqueducts, given that water was abundant and easily accessible because it emerged from the ground from the resurgences and flowed nearby in rivers and streams, and this fully met the needs of the city's daily life.

Modern usage
Today, the canals are mostly used for irrigation. Some tourist navigation options are also available along certain sections.

Modern life around the Navigli
In the 21st century the Navigli region of Milan is a highly active area with a large number of residential units, bars and restaurants. It is also a well known center for artists.

References

Sources
 Toti Celona and  Gianni Beltrame, I Navigli milanesi, storia e prospettive, Milano, Pizzi editore, 1982, ISBN 978-88-36600-01-4.

 Edo Bricchetti and Giuseppe Codara · Navigli del Milanese ieri e oggi, Meravigli, 2017

See also
 River valley civilization

External links
 Martesana Canal - Historic and present pictures
 Inner ring - Historic and present pictures
Darsena - Historic and present pictures

Canals in Lombardy
Waterways of Italy
Transport in Lombardy
Tourist attractions in Milan

Navigli


Les Sales Majestés is a French punk rock band. Les Sales Majestés sing about political and social issues dominant in France. The band has songs about the church, the French elite, the unemployed, the Front National, and the politicians in power.

History and line-up
Les Sales Majestés's members first met in the late 80s and released several early EPs and singles, though their first full album, Bienvenue, was not recorded until 1995. The band line-up was as follows: Arnaud (vocals), Mathias, replaced by Guillaume in 1998 (drums), Yves (lead guitar), Vlad (bass guitar) and Yann (rhythm guitar). The band released two more full albums and an EP by 2000.

Discography
 Bienvenue (1995)
 No Problemo (1997)
 Dernier Combat (1998)
 Y'a pas d'amour (2000)
 Bordel In Live (2001)
 Best-of 1992-2002 (2002)
 Week-end sauvage (CD/DVD live) (2008)
 Sois pauvre et tais-toi ! (2010)
 Sexe, Fric & Politique (2013)
 Ni Dieu ni Maître (2015)

External links
Official site

French punk rock groups

Les Sales Majestés


Loose Blues (released as Unknown Session in Japan) is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans released on the Milestone label, featuring performances by Evans with Zoot Sims, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, and Philly Joe Jones, recorded in 1962.

History
Loose Blues was recorded for the Riverside label, but eventually dropped mostly because of Riverside's forthcoming bankruptcy and the pressures of Verve producer Creed Taylor – who wanted Evans on his Verve label. So the project was shelved, and the recordings were released posthumously in 1982 as part of The "Interplay" Sessions, after having been rediscovered in the Fantasy Records vaults. This was, in fact, believed to be a lost album since producer Orrin Keepnews could not find the master reels of the session dates, except for a take of "Loose Bloose". However, after a thorough research, he did succeed in finding the reels "stored in poorly marked tape boxes". The material was then assembled by Keepnews and Ed Michel. "Fudgesickle Built for Four" was named by Evans himself (reflecting his love of puns) and was a reference to "a bicycle built for two", a line from the popular song "Daisy Bell". Keepnews, recalling the sessions, stated that "My Bells", which is characterized by difficult tempo changes, took 25 takes to be recorded properly. Evans would only revisit "Time Remembered", "My Bells" and "Funkallero" for later recordings.

The recordings were released as their own standalone album – Unknown Session – by Riverside in Japan, 1983. They were later reissued in the west by Milestone under the title Loose Blues.

Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "Due to some difficulties during the recording process (none of the sidemen were familiar with the often complex numbers), the results were originally shelved and lost for a couple of decades. This CD reissue shows that the music was actually much better than originally thought..., It is a pity that Evans and Sims (a logical combination) never did record together again."

Track listing
All compositions by Bill Evans

 "Loose Bloose" - 7:07
 "Loose Bloose" [alternate take] - 5:34
 "Time Remembered" - 6:02
 "Funkallero" - 6:13
 "My Bells" - 5:24
 "There Came You" - 5:52
 "Fudgesickle Built for Four" - 4:31
 "Fun Ride" - 5:15

Tracks 1-4 and 7 recorded on August 21, 1962; tracks 5, 6, 8 recorded on August 22, 1962.

Personnel
Bill Evans - piano
Zoot Sims - tenor saxophone
Jim Hall - guitar
Ron Carter - bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums

References

1982 albums
Milestone Records albums
Bill Evans albums
Zoot Sims albums
Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews

Loose Blues


Bruce Prichard  (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, where he works as a member of the creative team. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also appeared as an on-screen character under the ring name Brother Love. As Brother Love, Prichard was the original manager of The Undertaker, and hosted a talk show segment, The Brother Love Show.

Prichard has also previously worked for Houston Wrestling, the Global Wrestling Federation, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling. Since 2016, Prichard has co-hosted the Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast with Conrad Thompson.

Professional wrestling career

Houston Wrestling (1973–1987)
Prichard began his career in 1973 working for Paul Boesch's Houston Wrestling promotion out of Houston, Texas. At 10 years old, he sold posters at the Sam Houston Coliseum with great success. He worked as assistant director of television at age 12 and acted as a ring announcer at age 14. Due to Boesch's working relationship with Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation in the 1980s, Prichard would also act as ring announcer for some UWF shows. As Houston Wrestling became defunct in 1987, Prichard was hired by the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation (1987–1991)

Early years (1987–1988)
After entering the World Wrestling Federation in 1987 shortly after WrestleMania III, he first occasionally worked as an announcer for the WWF's television programs alongside Mike McGuirk and "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty and occasionally Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, before creating the Brother Love character.

The Brother Love Show (1988–1991)
In June 1988, Prichard debuted as "Brother Love", a red-faced, smarmy, dishonest, effusive and boisterous "preacher" character, dressed in a conspicuous white suit, tight red shirt and white tie, who claimed to preach not the word of God, but "the word of love." He was best known for his disingenuous catchphrase "I love you!", during which he would enunciate each word with exaggerated prolongations in a thick Southern accent. The character was inspired by controversial televangelists of the time, with Prichard specifically citing Robert Tilton as his most direct inspiration. However, shortly after the character debuted, similarities were also noted between Brother Love and controversial pastor Jimmy Swaggart's style of preaching. Though Prichard has credited Tilton as the main inspiration for the Brother Love character, he has also credited Swaggart, Jim Bakker and even Oral Roberts as inspirations for the character as well. Months before Brother Love debuted, Swaggart and Bakker were involved in controversial scandals which tarnished their public images and resulted in networks cancelling their television shows. Introduced to the WWF by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Love hosted a segment on the World Wrestling Federation's syndicated and cable television programs called "The Brother Love Show", in which he would interview wrestlers. The segment debuted on the June 19, 1988 airing of Wrestling Challenge, and would be "promoted" to the WWF's "A-show", Superstars of Wrestling, first appearing on the October 8, 1988 edition.

The segment was patterned largely after Piper's Pit, where Brother Love would berate face wrestlers (especially Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior) and openly support such heels as "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Bobby Heenan. It was explained that DiBiase was Brother Love's main "benefactor". More than once, a wrestling feud was set up because of what occurred on "The Brother Love Show" (including Hulk Hogan's feuds vs. Big Boss Man (1988–1989) and Earthquake (1990), and the Jake Roberts-Rick Martel feud from late 1990 to early 1991). The Brother Love Show was also the setting for the unveiling of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship belt and Rick Martel's "Arrogance" cologne. Brother Love made his pay-per-view debut at the inaugural SummerSlam event in 1988 at Madison Square Garden when he interviewed face wrestler "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. He later featured prominently in WrestleMania V in 1989 where Rowdy Roddy Piper in his first appearance in the WWF since his 'retirement" after WrestleMania III, "de-skirted" Brother Love of his "kilt" after taking over Piper's Pit. A year later, Sgt. Slaughter bestowed a medal upon Brother Love during SummerSlam for being the "greatest American".

Occasionally, Brother Love provided color commentary for the WWF's televised events; unlike during his early WWF run under his real name and using his natural voice (as Prichard), where he was pro-face, Brother Love was pro heel. His most famous assignment was alongside Sean Mooney for the WWF's televised event at Madison Square Garden on January 21, 1991, where he was roughed up by the Ultimate Warrior on his way to the ring to face "Macho Man" Randy Savage in a steel cage just two days after Savage had caused the Warrior to lose the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Sgt. Slaughter at the Royal Rumble. In a 2016 podcast with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Prichard recalled that he had long been a fan of evangelist preachers, more for their theatrics than their religion. When Prichard first pitched the idea of Brother Love to WWF owner Vince McMahon, Vince generally liked the idea but did not believe that Prichard "had the face" for the role. Determined to get himself into the role that he had created, Prichard, dressed as Brother Love (minus the red face paint he would appear on television with), invaded a meeting at the WWF's headquarters between McMahon, the head of WWF International and the WWF's chief financial officer.

While there, he gave an impromptu two minute sermon before quickly departing. When he arrived back at his office at the WWF's television studios five minutes later, he discovered that he had two missed calls from McMahon who he was relieved to find had liked what he had seen. However, Vince wanted to see how it worked on camera. Thus, the Brother Love character became a reality. Prichard also told that the bright red face make up was unknown to him the first time he appeared on television as Brother Love. As it was a television taping, Prichard thought it was just normal make up being applied and he did not look in the mirror, not knowing that Vince McMahon had ordered that he be given the red face.

Manager of The Undertaker (1990–1991)
On November 19, 1990, Brother Love began managing The Undertaker (who at the time was known as "Kane the Undertaker", the add-on of "Kane" inspired by Prichard). The November 19 appearance was The Undertaker's debut into the company and later used as an episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, which did not air on television until after his on-screen debut at the 1990 Survivor Series. On November 20, The Undertaker had another off-air match that would later air as part of an episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge, also aired on television after his appearance live at the Survivor Series. At the Survivor Series, The Undertaker performed in a Survivor Series-style elimination tag match on a team led by Ted DiBiase against a team led by Dusty Rhodes. It was at this event that DiBiase would reveal his mystery partner as The Undertaker. This was the first time Brother Love appeared on television as The Undertaker's manager. Brother Love continued to manage The Undertaker until January 28, 1991 (shown on TV in February) when he sold his contract to Paul Bearer.

Controversy and release (1991)
The character of Brother Love was considered controversial by some given its apparent roots in religion and televangelism. It was introduced around the time of notable scandals involving such televangelists as Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Occasionally, segments involving the Brother Love character would lean further into these religious roots and would engender negative reactions from some audience members. One such segment involved Brother Love playing the part of a charlatan "faith healer," during which he was portrayed as having healed an actor pretending to be blind and crippled to again be able to see and walk.
The Brother Love character was retired from the WWF in March 1991 after being attacked and beaten by The Ultimate Warrior, who also destroyed The Brother Love Show set. The actual reason for this change was Prichard being offered the choice of continuing to work on-screen as Brother Love, or working solely in a production role.
While the company did receive some complaints regarding the Brother Love character, Prichard's release from the WWF was due to personal and private issues he had at the time. He would be re-hired by the WWF the following year in a resumption of his production role.

Global Wrestling Federation (1991–1992)
After his release from the WWF, Prichard moved home to Texas where he eventually joined the Dallas-based Global Wrestling Federation, where he worked as a manager and ringside interviewer between 1991 and 1992, using his real name. He began as a babyface color commentator, but eventually turned heel right in the middle of calling an ESPN televised match with GWF play-by-play announcer Craig Johnson. He managed Barry Horowitz in the GWF, and gave him the nickname "The Winner". Horowitz and Prichard feuded with GWF Light Heavyweight champion Chaz Taylor. Prichard said mockingly of Taylor, "He may be a lightweight but he's no champion!" After failing to win the title from Taylor, both Horowitz and Prichard left the GWF.

Return to the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (1992–2008)
Prichard returned to the WWF in August 1992 and portrayed two short-lived characters. He first appeared as "The Wizard", a heel color commentator on All-American Wrestling (who never appeared on camera during the character's brief run), and then as "Reo Rodgers", a satire on Dusty Rhodes. Rodgers did commentary from time to time in his short stint, and his interview segment, "Reo's Roundup", lasted only two segments before the character was dropped. After this, he remained behind the scenes, working as Vince McMahon's "right-hand man" and also as a writer for some of WWE's shows. However, Prichard has reprised his Brother Love character on occasion. Brother Love returned to the WWF in November 1995. He hosted the Brother Love Show once again, this time on Monday Night Raw. In what would prove to be a monumental moment in WWF history, Brother Love hosted Ted DiBiase introducing The Ringmaster into the World Wrestling Federation. The Ringmaster would eventually transform into Stone Cold Steve Austin. Brother Love then quietly disappeared from the WWF again soon after. Brother Love resurfaced once again for one night in January 1997, making a surprise appearance on the debut episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, helping the Flying Nuns defeat The Godwinns. Love then named the team The Sisters of Love. The gimmick was quickly scrapped, with the team later finding success as The Headbangers.

Prichard (as himself) once again managed The Undertaker for a match in Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) on October 10, 1997, where he defeated Jinsei Shinzaki. Through the remainder of the Attitude Era, Prichard was occasionally seen on-screen as himself, either cleaning up between matches at ringside, or as one of the people called in to break up a backstage fight. During the fall of 1998 and into early-1999, he provided colour-commentary on Shotgun Saturday Night. He was also the only backstage employee to have an interview segment on the Raw is Owen memorial broadcast. In 2001, Brother Love participated in the gimmick battle royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. He was eliminated by Sgt. Slaughter. On the February 6, 2003 airing of SmackDown!, Brother Love confronted The Undertaker, then portraying a biker gimmick, in his feud against The Big Show. Brother Love pleaded with The Undertaker to forgive Big Show for his recent actions, but The Undertaker, however, was not pleased and gave Brother Love a chokeslam, followed up by a Tombstone Piledriver in the middle of the ring. Love later appeared in the Bar Room Brawl at Vengeance 2003, lasting all the way to the end before being knocked out by Bradshaw.

The Brother Love Show made a short-term return on a couple of SmackDown! brand house shows in the summer of 2003 as a replacement for planned Piper's Pit segments (Roddy Piper had been released from his contract). These segments saw Love and Mr. McMahon attempt to humiliate Zach Gowen, only to get their comeuppance in the end.

On December 1, 2008, Bruce Prichard was released from WWE by Stephanie McMahon.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2013, 2017)
It was reported on October 7, 2010, that Prichard had been hired by TNA to presumably reprise the role he had in WWE working as a backstage agent and producer. On October 6, 2011, Prichard took over the role of TNA head writer from Vince Russo. In May 2012, Prichard was promoted to Vice President of Talent Relations to replace Terry Taylor. On October 17, 2012, Prichard was promoted to Senior Vice President, Programming & Talent Relations. In this new role, Prichard oversaw talent relations, talent scouting and development as well as the creative direction of the company. In May 2013, Prichard began appearing as a judge alongside Al Snow and Taz in the monthly Gut Check segment on TNA Impact. TNA released Prichard on July 17, 2013.

In March 2017, it was announced that Prichard would be making his return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Shortly after re-signing with the company, Prichard began appearing in an onscreen role for the recently renamed Impact Wrestling.  Prichard left the company in August 2017. To explain Prichard's departure on screen, the story saw Jim Cornette brought in by Anthem, the parent company of Impact Wrestling, to fire him.

Major League Wrestling (2018)
On March 8, 2018, it was announced that Prichard had been hired as a senior producer by Major League Wrestling, a wrestling promotion founded by former WWE writer, Court Bauer, in 2002.

Second return to WWE (2018–present)
On January 22, 2018, Prichard returned to the WWE for a one-off appearance as Brother Love on the WWE Raw 25 Years anniversary special. In April 2018, Prichard and podcast co-host Conrad Thompson began doing a video version of their podcast titled Something Else to Wrestle, airing exclusively on the WWE Network.

On February 23, 2019, it was reported that WWE had officially signed Prichard on to join their creative team. In March, it was reported that Prichard would be working as WWE's Senior Vice President. On October 15, 2019, it was announced that he would take over as Executive Director of SmackDown, assuming the role from Eric Bischoff. On June 11, 2020, it was reported that after Paul Heyman had been removed from the executive director position of Raw, Prichard would lead both the Raw and Smackdown writing teams into one group as executive director of both shows. Prichard made a cameo appearance as Brother Love at the 2020 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, during the title ladder match.

Legacy
According to PWInsider.com, Prichard has been described as the most powerful person in WWE other than a McMahon family member. Creatively, everything flowed through Prichard and his word had been described as "very much the Gospel" for Vince McMahon.

Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard

In August 2016, Prichard and co-host Conrad Thompson began the internet podcast Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Prichard and Thompson discuss a wide variety of subjects from Prichard's time with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment and his time in TNA and the GWF have been topics as well. The show has spun-off into a companion video show, titled Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, which debuted on the WWE Network on April 18, 2018.

Personal life
Bruce Prichard is the brother of professional wrestler Tom Prichard and guitarist Chris Prichard. Bruce also has two other brothers, Jerry and Ken. Ken died in February 2022. He has a son, Kane, whom he named after the professional wrestler, and a daughter Amber.

Prichard suffered two heart attacks in 2012.

References

External links

 Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard on Westwood One Podcast Network

1963 births
American male professional wrestlers
American male television writers
American television writers
American podcasters
Fictional clergy
Impact Wrestling executives
Living people
People from El Paso, Texas
Professional wrestlers from Texas
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Professional wrestling writers
The Undertaker
WWE executives

Bruce Prichard


A pinax (plural: pinakes) was a tablet or board In ancient Greece and Rome.

It was used for writing, or for other purposes. These tablets were usually made of wood, terracotta, marble or bronze. Painted pinakes were given to the gods, or fixed on tombs. In common usage, a  pinax was a wax-covered writing tablet. They were used from the 8th to the 6th century BC.

In Book 10 of his work De Architectura, Vitruvius describes a hydraulic organ, in Chapter 8, section 3, he writes:
"In each channel are fixed stops, that are connected with iron finger-boards; on pressing down which, the communication between the chest and the channels is opened. Along the channels is a range of holes corresponding with others on an upper table, called πίναξ (pinax) in Greek".

References

 Boardman, John 1956. Painted funerary plaques and some remarks on prothesis. Annual of the British School at Athens.  50, pp 51–66.

Ancient Greece
Writing media
1st millennium BC

Pinax


In mathematics, Euler's pentagonal number theorem relates the product and series representations of the Euler function. It states that

In other words,

The exponents 1, 2, 5, 7, 12, ...  on the right hand side are given by the formula  for k = 1, −1, 2, −2, 3, ... and are called (generalized) pentagonal numbers . (The constant term 1 corresponds to .)
This holds as an identity of convergent power series for , and also as an identity of formal power series.

A striking feature of this formula is the amount of cancellation in the expansion of the product.

Relation with partitions

The identity implies a recurrence for calculating , the number of partitions of n:

or more formally,

where the summation is over all nonzero integers k (positive and negative) and  is the kth generalized pentagonal number. Since  for all , the apparently infinite series on the right has only finitely many non-zero terms, enabling an efficient calculation of p(n).

Franklin's bijective proof

The theorem can be interpreted combinatorially in terms of partitions.  In particular, the left hand side is a generating function for the number of partitions of n into an even number of distinct parts minus the number of partitions of n into an odd number of distinct parts. Each partition of n into an even number of distinct parts contributes +1 to the coefficient of xn; each partition into an odd number of distinct parts contributes −1. (The article on unrestricted partition functions discusses this type of generating function.)

For example, the coefficient of x5 is +1 because there are two ways to split 5 into an even number of distinct parts (4+1 and 3+2), but only one way to do so for an odd number of distinct parts (the one-part partition 5). However, the coefficient of x12 is −1 because there are seven ways to partition 12 into an even number of distinct parts, but there are eight ways to partition 12 into an odd number of distinct parts, and 7 − 8 = −1.

This interpretation leads to a proof of the identity by canceling pairs of matched terms (involution method). Consider the Ferrers diagram of any partition of n into distinct parts.  For example, the diagram below shows n = 20 and the partition 20 = 7 + 6 + 4 + 3.

Let m be the number of elements in the smallest row of the diagram (m = 3 in the above example). Let s be the number of elements in the rightmost 45 degree line of the diagram (s = 2 dots in red above, since 7−1 = 6, but 6−1 > 4). If m > s, take the rightmost 45-degree line and move it to form a new row, as in the matching diagram below.

If m ≤ s (as in our newly formed diagram where m = 2, s = 5) we may reverse the process by moving the bottom row to form a new 45 degree line (adding 1 element to each of the first m rows), taking us back to the first diagram.

A bit of thought shows that this process always changes the parity of the number of rows, and applying the process twice brings us back to the original diagram.  This enables us to pair off Ferrers diagrams contributing 1 and −1 to the xn term of the series, resulting in a net coefficient of 0 for xn. This holds for every term except when the process cannot be performed on every Ferrers diagram with n dots.  There are two such cases:

1) m = s and the rightmost diagonal and bottom row meet.  For example,

Attempting to perform the operation would lead us to:

which fails to change the parity of the number of rows, and is not reversible in the sense that performing the operation again does not take us back to the original diagram.  If there are m elements in the last row of the original diagram, then

where the new index k is taken to equal m.  Note that the sign associated with this partition is (−1)s, which by construction equals (−1)m and (−1)k.

2) m  =  s+1 and the rightmost diagonal and bottom row meet.  For example,

Our operation requires us to move the right diagonal to the bottom row, but that would lead to two rows of three elements, forbidden since we're counting partitions into distinct parts.  This is the previous case but with one fewer row, so

where we take k = 1−m (a negative integer).  Here the associated sign is (−1)s with s = m−1 = −k, therefore the sign is again (−1)k.

In summary, it has been shown that partitions into an even number of distinct parts and an odd number of distinct parts exactly cancel each other, producing null terms 0xn, except if n is a generalized pentagonal number , in which case there is exactly one Ferrers diagram left over, producing a term (−1)kxn.  But this is precisely what the right side of the identity says should happen, so we are finished.

Partition recurrence

We can rephrase the above proof, using partitions, which we denote as:
,
where .
The number of partitions of n is the partition function p(n) having generating function:

Note that is the reciprocal of the product on the left hand side of our identity:

Let us denote the expansion of our product by
,
so that

.

Multiplying out the left hand side and equating coefficients on the two sides, we obtain
a0 p(0) = 1 and  for all . This gives a recurrence relation defining p(n) in terms of an, and vice versa a recurrence for an in terms of p(n). Thus, our desired result:

for  is equivalent to the identity   where  and i ranges over all integers such that  (this range includes both positive and negative i, so as to use both kinds of generalized pentagonal numbers). This in turn means:

.

In terms of sets of partitions, this is equivalent to saying that the following sets are of equal cardinality:

         and         ,

where  denotes the set of all partitions of .
All that remains is to give a bijection from one set to the other, which is accomplished by the function φ from X to Y which maps the partition  to the partition  defined by:

This is an involution (a self-inverse mapping), and thus in particular a bijection, which proves our claim and the identity.

See also
The pentagonal number theorem occurs as a special case of the Jacobi triple product.

Q-series generalize Euler's function, which is closely related to the Dedekind eta function, and occurs in the study of modular forms. The modulus of the Euler function (see there for picture) shows the fractal modular group symmetry and occurs in the study of the interior of the Mandelbrot set.

References

External links

 On Euler's Pentagonal Theorem at MathPages

 De mirabilis proprietatibus numerorum pentagonalium at Scholarly Commons.

Theorems in number theory
Articles containing proofs
Integer partitions

Pentagonal number theorem


John Joseph Barry (April 26, 1887 – April 23, 1961) was an American shortstop, second baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball, and later a college baseball coach. From  through , Barry played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1908–1915) and Boston Red Sox (1915–1919).

Philadelphia Athletics
Born in Meriden, Connecticut, Barry spent his nearly entire tenure in the big leagues on winning teams, first the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Boston Red Sox. Athletics manager Connie Mack signed Barry off the campus of the College of the Holy Cross to play shortstop on what would become his famous $100,000 infield. The unit, one of the most famous groups of teammates in baseball history, consisted of first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, and third baseman Frank Baker. The group was critical to the Athletics winning the American League pennant in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, and World Championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913.

Boston Red Sox
In 1915, the year after the Boston Braves swept the Athletics in the World Series, Red Sox owner Joe Lannin paid $8,000 for Barry's services, as Mack was dismantling the team. Upon joining the Red Sox, he hit just .262 but played reliable defense at shortstop, proving to be the last piece of the puzzle in what was to be another pennant-winning team. He played in the World Series in 1915 and 1916 for the Red Sox. Acknowledged as the team's on-field leader, he became a player-manager in 1917, leading the team to a 90-win season and a second-place finish to the Chicago White Sox. In the war year of 1917, manager Jack Barry chose to enlist and on October 18, 1917, Jack and four other Red Sox players, who had enlisted as yeomen in the naval reserve, were called to active duty and ordered to report for duty on November 3, 1917. He served all of 1918 in the military. After poor play in 1919, he decided to retire rather than be sold away in another fire sale following Harry Frazee's decision to sell his shortstop back to the Athletics.

In an 11-season career, Barry posted a .243 batting average with 10 home runs and 429 RBI in 1223 games.

Managerial record

Holy Cross
Barry became the head coach at Holy Cross in 1921, and continued in that position for 40 years until his death in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts at age 73. During his tenure, he posted the highest career winning percentage (.806) in collegiate history, and won the 1952 College World Series. He was among the initial class of inductees to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in . In 2007, he was an inaugural veteran inductee of the College Baseball Hall of Fame along with Lou Gehrig, Christy Mathewson, and Joe Sewell. In 1943 he became Holy Cross' acting athletic following the death of Tom McCabe and remained in that role until Gene Flynn returned from the United States Army in 1946.

See also

List of Major League Baseball player–managers

References

External links

1887 births
1961 deaths
Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players
Boston Red Sox managers
Boston Red Sox players
Holy Cross Crusaders baseball coaches
Baseball players from Connecticut
Major League Baseball shortstops
Philadelphia Athletics players
People from Meriden, Connecticut
People from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Sportspeople from New Haven County, Connecticut
Baseball players from Worcester County, Massachusetts
Major League Baseball player-managers
National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
United States Navy personnel of World War I
United States Navy reservists
United States Navy sailors
Holy Cross Crusaders athletic directors

Jack Barry (baseball)


St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes (Abbaye Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes) is a Benedictine convent, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper Guéranger, the restorer of Benedictine life in France after the destruction of the revolution. It is located in Solesmes, Sarthe, and is the women's counterpart of Solesmes Abbey.

This convent, Dom Prosper's last foundation, was the first religious house for women founded in the Congrégation française de l'ordre de saint Benoît, now the Solesmes Congregation.

History

Unlike men's monasteries, which were completely extinguished after the French Revolution, a number of Benedictine convents were re-established in France during the first decades of the 19th century, combining the life of a Benedictine community with educational functions. There was therefore not the same need for Prosper Guéranger to create a female branch of his new French Benedictine congregation, the Congrégation française de l'ordre de saint Benoît, in the same way as he had revived men's Benedictine houses. The impetus for the foundation of St. Cecilia's in fact came from Dom Guéranger's chance contact with Jenny Bruyère, a girl whom he was asked to teach in preparation for her first communion. As their spiritual relationship developed she gradually revealed her wish to devote her life entirely to God within the spirituality of Solesmes and the Rule of Saint Benedict.

The convent was quickly built, and was dedicated to Saint Cecilia (Sainte Cécile) because of Dom Guéranger's particular devotion to that saint. The foundress, Jenny Bruyère, also took her religious name from the saint, to become Mother Cécile Bruyère, first abbess of St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.

The 19th century abbey church contains a full-size replica of the monumental effigy of Saint Cecilia in St. Cecilia's Basilica in Rome.

The French anti-religious laws of the early 20th century forced the whole community into exile in England, to the forerunner of the present St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, where on 18 March 1909 Mother Cécile died. When the community was at last able to return to Solesmes, in 1921, her body was also transported and re-buried there.

In 1967, the abbey founded a priory at Keur Guilaye in Senegal.

Spiritual life

Unlike many women's religious houses of the time, the spiritual practice of St. Cecilia's Abbey centered from the beginning on its foundation on the liturgy and on Gregorian chant rather than on the then customary usual methods of prayer. The dynamism of this monastic renewal and the influence of the foundress enabled the women's branch of the Solesmes Congregation to found numerous other daughter-houses, many of them still in existence, in France and in other countries.

The abbey's influence extends beyond its own Congregation, as the constitutions written by Mother Cécile Bruyère, with the support of Dom Guéranger, for her nuns have had an effect on many other Benedictine houses.

Notes

Sources
Solesmes Abbey website: Foundation of St. Cecilia's Abbey
Diocese of Le Mans website: St. Cecilia's Abbey

Religious organizations established in 1866
Buildings and structures in Sarthe
Benedictine nunneries in France
Churches in Sarthe
1866 establishments in France

St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes


Bulmershe Court was a campus of the University of Reading, situated in what is now the Reading suburb of Woodley, in the English county of Berkshire.

Historically, Bulmershe Court has been the name of a manor and of two quite distinct country houses, one of which still stands but is now known as Bulmershe Manor.
The site first opened for teaching in 1964 as Bulmershe College. That merged with the University of Reading in 1989 to create the Bulmershe Court campus. It closed in 2012 and all its activities have moved to either the London Road Campus or Whiteknights Park.

On 23 December 2013, CALA Homes acquired the site for a residential development of 290 dwellings. On 25 December 2013 Bulmershe Court hall of residence was burnt down.

Campus

Academic profile
Bulmershe College became the Bulmershe Court Campus of the University of Reading in 1989, housing its Faculty of Education (later Institute of Education) and Community Studies (later School of Health and Social Care). It continued to  offer courses in education, community studies, social work, and film, theatre and television studies until 2011/12.

Buildings
Original buildings were retained and updated, including a £1 million refurbishment of the existing Bob Kayley Studio building (named after the first Head of Film and Drama at Bulmershe College) into a fully fitted 90 seater theatre also open to the public.

The former Bridges Hall space was converted into a lecture theatre, and several new student halls of residence were built on the site as part of Bulmershe Hall.

The campus was made up of many different buildings, some of those being accommodation retained from the original Bulmershe College – including Mitford, Penn, Winchcombe and Blagrave – and some newly built on merger with the University, including Hollins and Huntley. One of the original halls continued to bear the name Blagrave in testament to the long history of buildings on the site.

The refurbished Bob Kayley Studio (referred to above) saw its last performance in December 2010. Courses in Film and Drama Studies were being moved to the main Whiteknights campus and to a new purpose built home – the Minghella Building – named after the late film director Anthony Minghella, who was made an Honorary Professor of the University in 2006 before his death.

Closure
Financial pressures faced by the University of Reading after the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–8, and the usual university re-organisations, meant that from 2010 there had been uncertainty about the fate of accommodation and teaching on the campus. With the end of teaching and most accommodation in 2011 the University set about redeveloping the site for housing and an old peoples' care home. The Library was moved to Whiteknights.

Social work programmes ended in September 2011. Courses were transferred to the University of West London (formerly Thames Valley University), who operate them from a Reading site in Crescent Road (previously the home of the Reading College of Technology).

All activity on the Bulmershe Campus ended in 2012 apart from use of the playing fields. Institute of Education courses were relocated to completely refurbished University buildings based at London Road campus in 2012. By 2013, all education activity has ceased and some buildings yet to be demolished were offered for temporary commercial rental.

Re-development
The re-development of the grounds had to take into account of the listed nature of the old Bulmershe Court manor building.

University plans changed again and on 23 December 2013, CALA Homes acquired the site for a residential development of 290 dwellings.. The newer halls will be converted to residential flats. Much of the rest will be demolished. On 25 December 2013 Bulmershe Court hall of residence burnt down and later demolished.
As of October 2017, the site is still being developed.

References
David Nash Ford (2004). Royal Berkshire History – Old Bulmershe Court. Retrieved 31 July 2005.
David Nash Ford (2004). Royal Berkshire History – Woodley Lodge. Retrieved 31 July 2005. It is made up of many different halls, including Mitford, Penn, Hollins, Huntley, Winchcombe and Blagrave.

External links
Former Bulmershe Court page from the University website
CALA Homes Bulmershe Campus

Grade II* listed buildings in Reading
Country houses in Berkshire
University of Reading
University and college campuses in the United Kingdom
History of Reading, Berkshire
Borough of Wokingham
British country houses destroyed in the 20th century
1964 establishments in England
2013 disestablishments in England

Bulmershe Court


Frank Hornby (15 May 1863 – 21 September 1936) was an English inventor, businessman and politician. He was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908, and launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine in 1916.

Hornby's inventions and initiatives made him a millionaire in the 1930s. He entered politics in 1931 when he was elected as a Conservative MP for the Everton constituency. Hornby's legacy has persisted long after his death with enthusiasts all over the world still building Meccano models and collecting his toys. The 150th anniversary of Hornby's birth was celebrated in Liverpool and Brighton on 15 May 2013.

Biography
Born on 15 May 1863 at 77 Copperas Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, Hornby was the son of John Oswald Hornby, a provision merchant and his wife Martha Hornby (née Thomlinson), though this date has been questioned. It is the date on his birth certificate, but the entry in the family bible in his mother's handwriting gives the date as 2 May. At the age of sixteen, Hornby left school and started working as a cashier in his father's business. On 15 January 1887 he married a schoolteacher Clara Walker Godefroy, the daughter of a customs officer and they had two sons, Roland and Douglas, and a daughter, Patricia. When his father died in 1899, his father's business was closed and Hornby became a bookkeeper for David Hugh Elliot who ran a meat importing business in Liverpool.

After experimenting with new ideas in his home workshop, Hornby began making toys for his sons in 1899 with pieces he cut from sheet metal. He built models of bridges, trucks and cranes, although the pieces they were made from were not interchangeable. The breakthrough came when Hornby realised that if he could make separate, interchangeable parts that could be bolted together, any model could be built from the same components. The key inventive step was the realisation that regular perforations in the structural pieces could be used, not only to join them together with nuts and bolts, but also to journal – act as a bearing for – axles and shafts. This made the construction of complex mechanisms relatively simple. He started making metal strips by hand from copper sheets. The strips were half an inch wide with holes for bolts spaced at half-inch intervals. Initially he made the nuts and bolts himself, but he soon found an alternate source of supply.

By the end of 1900 Hornby had built a set of parts he considered worth marketing. On advice, he patented his invention in January 1901 as "Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People", but not without first having to borrow £5 from his employer, David Elliot, to cover the costs.

During 1901 Hornby began looking for companies to manufacture his product, but it was poorly finished and did not attract much attention. Still having to support his family on the small wage he earned, Hornby did not have much time to market his invention. Fortunately, his employer saw potential in what Hornby was doing and offered him some vacant premises next to the office where he worked to pursue his ideas. With this move, Elliot and Hornby became partners.

Mechanics Made Easy
Hornby now called his construction toy "Mechanics Made Easy" and after receiving a positive endorsement from professor Henry Selby Hele-Shaw, then Head of the Engineering Department at Liverpool University, Hornby managed to secure contracts with outside manufacturers to supply the parts for his construction sets. With the financial assistance of his partner, "Mechanics Made Easy" sets went on sale in 1902.

Each set had only 16 different parts with a leaflet detailing the construction of 12 models. In 1903, 1,500 sets were sold, although no profit was made. New parts were continually being introduced and in 1904, six sets, packed in tin boxes with instruction manuals in French and English, became available. In 1905 two new sets were introduced and in 1906, for the first time, a small profit was made.

By 1907 Hornby's part suppliers could not meet the demand. This prompted Hornby to quit his job with Elliot and find suitable premises to begin manufacturing his own parts. He secured a three-year lease on a workshop in Duke Street, by Dukes Terrace in the Rope Walks area of Liverpool, and with the help of a loan granted to Hornby and Elliot for machinery and wages, they were manufacturing their own parts by June 1907.

Meccano

In September 1907, Hornby registered his famous "Meccano" trade mark and used this name on all new sets. To raise more capital to invest in a larger factory and plant, a company had to be created. This led to the formation of Meccano Ltd on 30 May 1908. Elliot had decided not to join the new company, leaving Hornby as the sole proprietor. The Meccano factory was relocated to West Derby Road in Liverpool, and in 1910 the famous "MECCANO" logo was commissioned. Meccano Ltd's turnover for the 1910 financial year was £12,000.

Meccano was exported to many countries and in 1912, Hornby and his son, Roland, formed Meccano (France) Ltd in Paris to manufacture Meccano. An office was also opened in Berlin, (Germany) and Märklin began to manufacture Meccano under licence. Hornby also started importing clockwork motors from Märklin.

To keep pace with demand, a new factory was built in Binns Road, Liverpool. By September 1914 the Binns Road Factory was in full production and became the company headquarters for over 60 years.

Other initiatives
In addition to Meccano, Hornby developed and manufactured a number of other model kits and toys, including:
1909 – "Hornby System of Mechanical Demonstration", an educational set.
1915 – Clockwork lithographed tinplate O gauge trains.
1920 – The Hornby Clockwork Train (0 gauge), enameled tinplate – later  Hornby Series – later Hornby Trains.
1934 – Dinky Toys, die-cast miniature model cars and trucks (first introduced under the Hornby name in 1931) .
1938 – Hornby Dublo model railway system (00 gauge. Introduced after Hornby's death).

In 1916, Hornby launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine, which remained in circulation for over sixty years, and in 1930 he formed the Meccano Guild, an amalgamation of Meccano clubs from all over the world.

Member of Parliament and final years
By the 1930s, Hornby had become a millionaire. He owned a mansion Quarry Brook in Maghull (his first house in Maghull was the Hollies in Station Road), and was chauffeured to Binns Road every day by limousine. In 1931 he entered politics when he was elected as a Conservative MP for the Everton constituency. He left the running of the company to his co-Directors and staff. But he did not stay in politics long, standing down at the 1935 General Election.

Hornby died of a chronic heart condition complicated by diabetes in Maghull, near Liverpool, Lancashire, on 21 September 1936. He is buried in the grounds of St Andrew's Church, Maghull. His elder son Roland took over as chairman of Meccano Ltd.

Hornby's legacy lives on today with thousands of enthusiasts all over the world still building Meccano models, running Hornby Train sets and collecting Dinky Toys. In his homeplace of Maghull there is a local Wetherspoons pub named after him, The Frank Hornby.

150th anniversary

The 150th anniversary of Frank Hornby's birth fell on 15 May 2013, and festivities were held by the National Museums Liverpool and the Frank Hornby Charitable Trust, Maghull, and by the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

Google also celebrated the 150th Anniversary with a Google Doodle on their UK homepage on 15 May 2013.

See also
List of English inventors and designers

Bibliography

References

External links

Frank Hornby's Life and the History of Meccano
Frank Hornby: The Boy Who Made $1,000,000 With a Toy
Short Pictorial History of Frank Hornby. Archived from the original on 2006-02-15.
Liverpool Lives – Frank Hornby

1863 births
1936 deaths
Businesspeople from Liverpool
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
English inventors

Model engineers
Politicians from Liverpool
Toy inventors
UK MPs 1931–1935
English company founders

Frank Hornby