STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. Chuck Hull, the inventor of stereolithography and 3D Systems' founder, reports that the file extension is an abbreviation for stereolithography.

An STL file describes a raw, unstructured triangulated surface by the unit normal and vertices (ordered by the right-hand rule) of the triangles using a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. In the original specification, all STL coordinates were required to be positive numbers, but this restriction is no longer enforced and negative coordinates are commonly encountered in STL files today. STL files contain no scale information, and the units are arbitrary. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three-dimensional object without any representation of color, texture or other common CAD model attributes. The STL format specifies both ASCII and binary representations. Binary files are more common, since they are more compact.

STL is widely used for rapid prototyping, 3D printing and computer-aided manufacturing, and supported by many other software packages.

History

STL was invented by the Albert Consulting Group for 3D Systems in 1987. The format was developed for 3D Systems' first commercial 3D printers. Since its initial release, the format remained relatively unchanged for 22 years.

In 2009, an update to the format, dubbed STL 2.0, was proposed which evolved into the Additive manufacturing file format.

Format

ASCII

An ASCII STL file begins with the line:

 solid name

where name is an optional string (though if name is omitted there must still be a space after solid, for compatibility with some software). The remainder of the line is ignored and is sometimes used to store metadata (e.g., filename, author, modification date, etc). The file continues with any number of triangles, each represented as follows:

 facet normal ni nj nk
     outer loop
         vertex v1x v1y v1z
         vertex v2x v2y v2z
         vertex v3x v3y v3z
     endloop
 endfacet

where each n or v is a floating-point number in sign-mantissa-e-sign-exponent format, e.g., 2.648000e-002. The file concludes with:

 endsolid name

The structure of the format suggests that other possibilities exist (e.g., facets with more than one loop, or loops with more than three vertices). In practice, however, all facets are simple triangles.

Whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines) may be used anywhere in the file except within numbers or words. The spaces between facet and normal and between outer and loop are required.

Binary

Because ASCII STL files can be very large, a binary version of STL exists. A binary STL file has an 80-character header which is generally ignored, but should never begin with the ASCII representation of the string solid, as that may lead some software to confuse it with an ASCII STL file. Following the header is a 4-byte little-endian unsigned integer indicating the number of triangular facets in the file. Following that is data describing each triangle in turn. The file simply ends after the last triangle.

Each triangle is described by twelve 32-bit floating-point numbers: three for the normal and then three for the X/Y/Z coordinate of each vertex – just as with the ASCII version of STL. After these follows a 2-byte ("short") unsigned integer that is the "attribute byte count" – in the standard format, this should be zero because most software does not understand anything else.

Floating-point numbers are represented as IEEE floating-point numbers and are assumed to be little-endian, although this is not stated in documentation.

 UINT8[80]    – Header                 -     80 bytes
 UINT32       – Number of triangles    -      4 bytes

 foreach triangle                      - 50 bytes:
     REAL32[3] – Normal vector             - 12 bytes
     REAL32[3] – Vertex 1                  - 12 bytes
     REAL32[3] – Vertex 2                  - 12 bytes
     REAL32[3] – Vertex 3                  - 12 bytes
     UINT16    – Attribute byte count      -  2 bytes
 end

There are at least two non-standard variations on the binary STL format for adding color information:

 The VisCAM and SolidView software packages use the two "attribute byte count" bytes at the end of every triangle to store a 15-bit RGB color:
 bits 0–4 are the intensity level for blue (0–31),
 bits 5–9 are the intensity level for green (0–31),
 bits 10–14 are the intensity level for red (0–31),
 bit 15 is 1 if the color is valid, or 0 if the color is not valid (as with normal STL files).
 The Materialise Magics software uses the 80-byte header at the top of the file to represent the overall color of the entire part. If color is used, then somewhere in the header should be the ASCII string COLOR= followed by four bytes representing red, green, blue and alpha channel (transparency) in the range 0–255. This is the color of the entire object, unless overridden at each facet. Magics also recognizes a material description; a more detailed surface characteristic. Just after COLOR=RGBA specification should be another ASCII string ,MATERIAL= followed by three colors (3×4 bytes): first is a color of diffuse reflection, second is a color of specular highlight, and third is an ambient light. Material settings are preferred over color. The per-facet color is represented in the two "attribute byte count" bytes as follows:
 bits 0–4 are the intensity level for red (0–31),
 bits 5–9 are the intensity level for green (0–31),
 bits 10–14 are the intensity level for blue (0–31),
 bit 15 is 0 if this facet has its own unique color, or 1 if the per-object color is to be used.

The red/green/blue ordering within those two bytes is reversed in these two approaches – so while these formats could easily have been compatible, the reversal of the order of the colors means that they are not – and worse still, a generic STL file reader cannot automatically distinguish between them. There is also no way to have facets be selectively transparent because there is no per-facet alpha value – although in the context of current rapid prototyping machinery, this is not important.

The coordinate units are not specified in the STL standard. One idea is to add an ASCII string UNITS=xx somewhere in the header, where xx are two bytes representing the units used, when writing this file. Possible options are:

Facet normal

In both ASCII and binary versions of STL, the facet normal should be a unit vector pointing outwards from the solid object. In most software this may be set to (0,0,0), and the software will automatically calculate a normal based on the order of the triangle vertices using the "right-hand rule", i.e. the vertices are listed in counter-clock-wise order from outside. Some STL loaders (e.g. the STL plugin for Art of Illusion) check that the normal in the file agrees with the normal they calculate using the right-hand rule and warn the user when it does not. Other software may ignore the facet normal entirely and use only the right-hand rule. Although it is rare to specify a normal that cannot be calculated using the right-hand rule, in order to be entirely portable, a file should both provide the facet normal and order the vertices appropriately. A notable exception is SolidWorks, which uses the normal for shading effects.

Characteristics

It is not possible to use triangles to perfectly represent curved surfaces. To compensate, users often save enormous STL files to reduce the inaccuracy. However, native formats associated with many 3D design applications use mathematical surfaces to preserve detail losslessly in small files. For example, Rhino 3D and Blender implement NURBS to create true curved surfaces and store them in their respective native file formats, but must generate a triangle mesh when exporting a model to the STL format.

3D printing

3D printers build objects by solidifying (SLA, SLS, SHS, DMLS, EBM, DLP) or printing (3DP, MJM, FDM, FFF, PJP, MJS) one layer at a time. This requires a series of closed 2D contours (horizontal layers) that are filled in with solidified material as the layers are fused together. A natural file format for such a machine would be a series of closed polygons (layers or slices) corresponding to different Z-values. However, since it is possible to vary the layer thicknesses for a faster though less precise build, it was easier to define the model to be built as a closed polyhedron that can be sliced at the necessary horizontal levels. An incorrect facet normal can affect the way a file is sliced and filled. A slice at a different Z-value can be chosen to miss a bad facet or the file must be returned to CAD program to make corrections and then regenerate the STL file.

The STL file format appears capable of defining a polyhedron with any polygonal facet, but in practice it is only ever used for triangles, which means that much of the syntax of the ASCII protocol is superfluous.

To properly form a 3D volume, the surface represented by any STL files must be closed (no holes or reversed vector normal) and connected, where every edge is part of exactly two triangles, and not self-intersecting. Since the STL syntax does not enforce this property, it can be ignored for applications where the void does not matter. The missing surface only matters insofar as the software that slices the triangles requires it to ensure that the resulting 2D polygons are closed. Sometimes such software can be written to clean up small discrepancies by moving vertices that are close together so that they coincide. The results are not predictable, and may require repair using another program. Vector 3D printers require a clean STL file and printing a bad data file will either fail to fill or may stop printing.

Other fields

STL is simple and easy to output. Consequently, many computer-aided design systems can output the STL file format. Although the output is simple to produce, mesh connectivity information is discarded because the identity of shared vertices is lost.

Many computer-aided manufacturing systems require triangulated models. STL format is not the most memory- and computationally efficient method for transferring this data, but STL is often used to import the triangulated geometry into the CAM system. The format is commonly available, so the CAM system will use it. In order to use the data, the CAM system may have to reconstruct the connectivity. As STL files do not save the physical dimension of a unit, a CAM system will ask for it. Typical units are mm and inch.

STL can also be used for interchanging data between CAD/CAM systems and computational environments such as Mathematica.

See also

References

External links

 The STL Format
 ASCII stereolithography files

3D graphics file formats
CAD file formats
1987 introductions

STL (file format)


Scott Carl Sigler is an American author of science fiction and horror and a podcaster. Scott is a New York Times #1 bestselling author of nineteen novels, seven novellas, dozens of short stories, and thousands of podcast episodes. He is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his young adult Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego.

Early life and education

Sigler was born and raised in Cheboygan, Michigan, where he inherited a love of classic monster films from his father. His mother, a school teacher, encouraged his reading, offering him any book he wanted.

Career
Sigler wrote his first monster story, "Tentacles, Tentacles & More Tentacles," at the age of eight. Sigler attended Olivet College (Olivet, MI) and Cleary College (Ann Arbor, MI), where he earned  a BA in Journalism and a BS in Marketing. Sigler has had a varied career path, having worked fast food, picking fruit, and shoveling horse manure, as well as working as a sports reporter, director of marketing for a software company, software startup founder, marketing consultant, guitar salesman, and played bass guitar in the post-hardcore band The Transfer.

EARTHCORE was originally published in 2001 by iPublish, an AOL/Time Warner imprint. With the novel doing well as a promotional ebook, Time Warner was planning on publishing the novel. With the economic slump following September 11 attacks, Time Warner did away with the imprint in 2004. Scott then decided to start podcasting his novel in March, 2005 as the world's first podcast-only novel to build hype and garner an audience for his work. Sigler considered it a "no brainer" to offer the book as a free audio download. Having searched for podcast novels and finding none, Sigler decided to be the first. Sigler was able to get EARTHCORE offered as a paid download on iTunes in 2006. After EARTHCORE'''s success (EARTHCORE had over 10,000 subscribers), Sigler released Ancestor, Infected, The Rookie, Nocturnal, and Contagious via podcast.

Sigler released an Adobe PDF version of Ancestor in March 2007 through Sigler's own podcast as well as others. Ancestor was released on April 1, 2007 to much internet hype and, despite having been released two weeks earlier as a free ebook, reached #7 on Amazon's best-seller list and #1 on Sci-Fi, Horror and Genre-Fiction on the day of release. Sigler is leveraging new media to keep in-touch with his fans, regularly talking with them using social networking sites, via email, and IM. Scott Sigler was featured in a New York Times article on March 1, 2007 by Andrew Adam Newman, which was covering authors using podcasting innovations to garner a broader audience.

In March 2014, Executive Editor Mark Tavani at Ballantine Bantam Dell bought World Rights to a science fiction trilogy by Sigler. In the first book, Alive, a young woman awakes trapped in a confined space with no idea who she is or how she got there. She soon frees other young adults in the room and together they find that they are surrounded by the horrifying remains of a war long past ... and matched against an enemy too horrible to imagine. Further adventures will follow in two more books, Alight and Alone. The books will be published under the Del Rey imprint. On Wednesday, July 15, 2016, it was announced that Alive made #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in the Young Adult E-Book category.
Sigler calls Stephen King a "'master craftsman', who writes from the 'regular guy' strata from which he hails. His older stuff had no pretense, no 'higher message,' no 'I'm extremely important' attitude, just rock-solid storytelling and character development. He also would whack any character at any time, and that's what hooked you in – when characters got into trouble, you didn't know if they'd live, unlike 99% of the books out there that are trying to develop franchise characters." According to Sigler, Jack London's "The Sea-Wolf totally changed my views on life". Sigler saw King Kong (1976 version) when he was a little kid. He said it, "Scared the crap out of me. I hid behind my dad's shoulder and begged to leave the theatre. As soon as we were out, I asked when we could see it again – that was the moment I knew I wanted to tell monster stories. I wanted to have that same impact on other people."

Awards
Sigler has been a runner up in both the 2006 and 2007 Parsec Awards. In 2006 Sigler was a runner up for his short story Hero in the Best Fiction (Short) category and for Infected in the Best Fiction (Long) category. In 2007 Sigler was a runner up for The Rookie in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novel Form) category.

In 2008, Sigler won the Parsec Award for Red Man in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form) category. He followed up with another win in 2009 for Eusocial Networking in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form) category. 2010 saw him continue to win in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form) category with his podcast, The Tank, and in 2011 he again took out the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form) category with Kissyman & the Gentleman.

On July 31, 2015, Scott was inducted into the inaugural class of the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.

Personal life
Sigler resides in San Diego, California with his wife and dogs.

Bibliography

Stand-alone novels
 Ancestor (2007)
 Nocturnal (2012)
 Aliens: Phalanx (2020)

Sun Symbol Series
 EARTHCORE (2001, 2nd edition in 2017)
 MOUNT FITZ ROY (2020)

Infected Trilogy
 Infected (2008)
 Contagious (2008)
 Pandemic (2014)

Galactic Football League Series
 The Rookie (2009)
 The Starter (2010)
 The All-Pro (2011)
 The MVP (2012)
 The Champion (2014)
 The Gangster (2021)

Generations Trilogy
 Alive (2015)
 Alight (2016)
 Alone (2017)

Adaptations
Film
In May, 2007 the novel Infected was optioned by Rogue Pictures and Random House Films; however, the option lapsed in April 2010. The short story "Sacred Cow" was made into an online only mini-film by StrangerThings.tv and was Stranger Things debut episode. "Cheating Bastard", a short film about a couple in love with football and their obsession with it, was created by Brent Weichsel and released via Sigler's RSS feed.

Graphic novel
In 2010, work began on a graphic novel adaptation of Sigler's Infected. The first issue was released August 1, 2012, but the series was put on hold indefinitely due to delays with subsequent issues.

Audio dramatizations
GraphicAudio has produced full cast dramatizations for the following Sigler titles:
 Galactic Football League Series (The Rookie, The Starter, The All-Pro, The MVP, The Champion, The Reporter, The Detective, Title Fight, The Rider)
 Generations Trilogy (Alive, Alight, Alone)
 EarthcoreRecordings

Albums
 The Crucible (2016) by Separation Of Sanity. Scott's original spoken word appears on four tracks: "The Pact," "Pandemic" (inspired by his novel of the same name), "Bag Of Blood" (his major appearance on the album), and "End Of Days".
 Intersections (2018) by Evan Diamond & The Library. Scott plays bass on all tracks.

Readings
 Scott reads Union Dues – Off White Lies by Jeffrey R. DeRego on Escape Pod, Episode 49, on April 13, 2006.
 Scott reads Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf'' by Matthew Wayne Selznick on Escape Pod, Episode 117, on August 2, 2007.

References

External links

People from Cheboygan, Michigan
Olivet College alumni
Cleary University alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American science fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American podcasters
American horror writers
Novelists from Michigan
American male short story writers
20th-century American short story writers
21st-century American short story writers
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Conquer the World Records artists

Scott Sigler


John Lavalle, Jr. (June 24, 1896 – November 13, 1971) was an American artist born in Nahant, Massachusetts on June 24, 1896. He was the great‐grandson of Juan Lavalle one of the founders of the Argentine Republic.

John Lavelle attended St. Paul's School, New Hampshire before going on to Harvard. At the outbreak of World War I he served as a bomber pilot with the Second Oxford Detachment of the British Royal Air Force. In Paris, Lavalle studied at the Académie Julian as a pupil of Jean-Francis Aubertin. Upon returning to the US he enrolled at the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, going on to establish himself as a successful painter of society portraits throughout the 1920s and 30s.

When the US entered World War II Lavalle served as a camouflage artist for the 12th Air Force prior to the invasion of Sicily, and painted many portraits and combat scenes of its subsequent campaigns. Several of these appear in the volume 'Mediterranean Sweep' published in 1944. After World War II, Lavalle moved from Boston to New York where he painted numerous portraits of various eminent academics.

His watercolors and landscapes are held in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, and the Parrish Art Museum in New York, of which he became the first vice president. He was awarded a bronze medal by the National Arts Club in 1954.

John Lavalle died in Southampton, New York on November 13, 1971.

References

1896 births
1971 deaths
Harvard University alumni
Académie Julian alumni
School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni
American portrait painters
Painters from Massachusetts
20th-century American painters

John Lavalle (painter)


Crawford-Gardner House is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia.  Ellis Thayer Crawford was the senior member of Crawford and Ashby, a real estate firm dealing in coal and timber lands. He and his wife built this home
around 1904. It is an American Foursquare-style house that features an intricately patterned wood floor.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the South Hills Multiple Resource Area.

References

American Foursquare architecture in West Virginia
Houses in Charleston, West Virginia
Houses completed in 1904
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, West Virginia

Crawford-Gardner House


The Robert and Julia Darling House, now the Cannon Building, is a historic house at 728 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury, Connecticut.  Built in 1927 for a local business leader, it is one of the town's largest and most distinctive examples of Colonial Revival architecture.  The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.  It now houses professional offices.

Description and history
The Robert and Julia Darling House stands in the town center of Simsbury, on the east side of Hopmeadow Street, its principal thorough fare.  It is just north of the Drake Hill shopping center, which stands on land formerly part of the Darling estate.  It is a large two-story brick building, with a hip roof and a brownstone foundation.  A two-story ell projects to the rear from its northeastern corner.  The building exhibits basic symmetry in the  Colonial Revival style, and has finely detailed entrances on the front-facing west, south, and in the corner created by the ell, which features a curved pavilion and porte-cochere.  The interior, although it has been repurposed for office use, retains most of its original period woodwork.

The building was erected in 1927 for Robert Darling, the chairman of the locally headquartered Ensign-Bickford Company, and his wife Julia, a granddaughter of the company founder.  Both of the Darlings were locally noted for their involvement in local civic and charitable affairs.  The Darling estate originally consisted of about .  After Robert Darling died in 1957, his son sold the house, and it was converted to medical offices. It now houses a variety of professional offices.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford County, Connecticut

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1927
Houses in Simsbury, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut

Robert and Julia Darling House


Leslie William Nielsen  (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.

Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. After high school, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943 and served until the end of World War II. Upon his discharge, Nielsen worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to study theatre at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his acting debut in 1950, appearing in 46 live television programs a year. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several dramas and western and romance films produced between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Although his notable performances in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure gave him standing as a serious actor, Nielsen later gained enduring recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s and the 1990s, after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy film Airplane! In his comedy roles, Nielsen specialized in portraying characters oblivious to and complicit in their absurd surroundings. Nielsen's performance in Airplane! marked his turning point, which made him "the Olivier of spoofs" according to film critic Roger Ebert, and leading to further success in the genre with The Naked Gun film series, based on the earlier short-lived television series Police Squad!, in which he also starred. He received a variety of awards and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life
Nielsen was born on 11 February 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan. His mother, Mabel Elizabeth ( Davies), was an immigrant from Wales, and his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen (1900–1975), was a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nielsen was born the second of two boys to both his parents. His elder brother, Erik Nielsen (1924–2008), was a long-time Canadian Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986. He also has a half-brother, Gilbert Nielsen, from his father's other relationship.

Nielsen's half-uncle Jean Hersholt was an actor known for his portrayal of Dr. Christian in a radio series of that title, and the subsequent television series and films. In a 1994 Boston Globe article, Nielsen explained, "I did learn very early that when I would mention my uncle, people would look at me as if I were the biggest liar in the world. Then I would take them home and show them 8-by-10 glossies, and things changed quite drastically. So I began to think that maybe this acting business was not a bad idea, much as I was very shy about it and certainly without courage regarding it. My uncle died not too long after I was in a position to know him. I regret that I had not a chance to know him better."

Nielsen lived for several years in Fort Norman (now Tulita) in the Northwest Territories, where his father was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His father was an abusive man who beat his wife and sons, and Leslie longed to escape. Following graduation from Victoria High School (later renamed Victoria School of the Arts) in Edmonton, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at age 17 in 1943, though he was legally deaf (he wore hearing aids most of his life). There he trained as an aerial gunner during World War II. However, he was too young to be fully trained or sent overseas. Upon the war's end, he was discharged and worked briefly as a disc jockey at a Calgary, Alberta, radio station, before enrolling at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.

While studying in Toronto, Nielsen received a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse. He noted, "I couldn't refuse, but I must say when you come from the land of the snow goose, the moose, and wool to New York, you're bringing every ton of hayseed and country bumpkin that you packed. As long as I didn't open my mouth, I felt a certain security. But I always thought I was going to be unmasked: 'OK, pack your stuff.' 'Well, what's the matter?' 'We've discovered you have no talent; we're shipping you back to Canada.

He moved to New York City for his scholarship, studying theatre and music at the Neighborhood Playhouse, while performing in summer stock theatre. Afterward, he attended the Actors Studio, until his first television appearance in 1950 on an episode of Studio One, alongside Charlton Heston, for which he was paid $75 ().

Career

Early career

Nielsen's career began in dramatic roles on television during "Television's Golden Age", appearing in 46 live programs in 1950 alone. He said there "was very little gold, we only got $75 or $100 per show." He narrated documentaries and commercials and most of his early work as a dramatic actor was uneventful. Hal Erickson of Allmovie noted that "much of Nielsen's early work was undistinguished; he was merely a handsome leading man in an industry overstocked with handsome leading men."

In 1956, he made his feature-film debut in the Michael Curtiz-directed musical film The Vagabond King. In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nielsen remembered Curtiz as "a sadist, a charming sadist, but a sadist". Nielsen called this film The Vagabond Turkey. Though the film was not a success, producer Nicholas Nayfack offered him an audition for the science-fiction film Forbidden Planet, resulting in Nielsen's taking a long contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Forbidden Planet became an instant success, and roles in other MGM films such as Ransom! (1956), The Opposite Sex (1956) and Hot Summer Night (1957) followed. In 1957, he won the lead role opposite Debbie Reynolds in the romantic comedy Tammy and the Bachelor, which, as a Chicago Tribune critic wrote in 1998, made people consider Nielsen a dramatic actor and handsome romantic lead. However, dissatisfied with the films he was offered, calling the studios "a Tiffany, which had forgotten how to make silver", Nielsen left MGM after auditioning for Messala in the 1959 Ben-Hur. Stephen Boyd got the role.

After leaving the studios, Nielsen landed the lead role in the Disney miniseries The Swamp Fox, as American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. In a 1988 interview, he reflected on the series, saying, "That was a great experience, because the Disney people didn't do their shows like everyone else, knocking out an episode a week. ... We only had to do an episode a month, and the budgets were extremely high for TV at that time. We had location shooting rather than cheap studio backdrops, and very authentic costumes." Eight episodes were produced and aired between 1959 and 1961.

His television appearances include Justice, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, and The Wild Wild West. In 1961, he was the lead in a Los Angeles police drama called The New Breed. He guest-starred in a 1964 episode of Daniel Boone with Fess Parker in a minor but credited role. In 1968, he had a major role in the pilot for the police series Hawaii Five-O, and appeared in one of the seventh-season episodes. In 1969, he had the leading role as a police officer in The Bold Ones: The Protectors.

In 1972, Nielsen appeared as the ship's captain in The Poseidon Adventure. He also starred in the William Girdler's 1977 action film, Project: Kill. His last dramatic role before mainly comedy roles was the 1979 Canadian disaster film City on Fire, in which he played a corrupt mayor. In 1980, he guest-starred as Sinclair on the CBS miniseries The Chisholms.

Comedy: Airplane! and The Naked Gun

In an early comedic appearance, Nielsen appeared on M*A*S*H in 1973 as the title character in "The Ringbanger".

Nielsen's supporting role of Dr. Rumack in Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's 1980's Airplane! was a turning point in his career. The film, a parody of disaster films such as Zero Hour! and Airport, was based on building a comedy around actors known for dramatic roles. Other stars included Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and Lloyd Bridges. Nielsen's deadpan delivery contrasted with the absurdity surrounding him. When asked, "Surely you can't be serious?", he responded with a curt, "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." In several interviews, he reflected on the line: "I thought it was amusing, but it never occurred to me that it was going to become a trademark. It's such a surprise ... the thing comes out, people say, 'What did he say?!

Nielsen said he was "pleased and honoured that [he] had a chance to deliver that line." As of 2010, the comedic exchange was at number 79 on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The American Film Institute included the film in its list of the top-10 comedy films of all time in 2008, and a 2007 survey in the United Kingdom judged it the second-greatest comedy film of all time after Monty Python's Life of Brian. In 2012, Empire voted it number one in the 50 Funniest Comedies Ever poll. Critics praised the film, which also proved a long-term success with audiences. In 2010, Airplane! was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

The directors cast Nielsen for his ability to play like "a fish in water", saying "You could have cast funny people and done it with everybody winking, goofing off, and silly ... we wanted people to be oblivious to the comedy." For Nielsen, Airplane! marked a shift from dramatic roles to deadpan comedy. When it was suggested his role in Airplane! was against type, Nielsen protested that he had "always been cast against type before", and that comedy was what he always wanted to do. The same directors cast Nielsen in a similar style, in their TV series Police Squad!. The series introduced Nielsen as Frank Drebin, the stereotypical police officer modelled after serious characters in earlier police series.

Police Squads opening sequence was based on the 1950s show M Squad, which starred Lee Marvin, and opened with footage of a police car roving through a dark urban setting with a big band playing a jazz song in the background. The Hank Simms voice-over and the show's organization into acts with an epilogue was homage to Quinn Martin police dramas including The Fugitive, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, The F.B.I., and Cannon. Nielsen portrayed a serious character whose one-liners appeared accidental next to the pratfalls and sight gags that were happening around him. Although the show lasted only six episodes, Nielsen received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Six years after cancellation of Police Squad!, the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! returned Nielsen to his role as Frank Drebin. It involved a ruthless drug king trying hypnosis to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II. Nielsen did many of his own stunts: "You have an idea of how you're going to do something, and it's your vision ... unless you do it, it really doesn't stand a chance." This movie grossed over $78 million and was well received by critics. Ebert's –star review (out of four) noted, "You laugh, and then you laugh at yourself for laughing."

The Naked Gun spawned two sequels: The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun : The Final Insult (1994). The Naked Gun 2½ grossed more than the original, with $86.9 million, while  grossed $51.1 million. Nielsen remained open to a fourth Naked Gun film, although he doubted that it would be produced — "I don't think so", he said in 2005. "If there hasn't been one by now, I doubt it. I think it would be wonderful."

Nielsen briefly appeared on the World Wrestling Federation program in the summer of 1994 on WWF Monday Night Raw, capitalizing on Frank Drebin. Nielsen (and George Kennedy) were hired as sleuths to unravel the mystery of the Undertaker, who had disappeared at January's Royal Rumble event. At SummerSlam 1994, in a Naked Gun parody, they were hot on the case (in fact, they were standing on a case). Although they did not find the Undertaker, the case had been closed (the literal case had been shut), thus they solved the mystery. In 1990, Nielsen appeared as a Frank Drebin character in advertisements in the United Kingdom for Red Rock Cider.

Noncomedic roles after Airplane! included Prom Night (1980) and Creepshow (1982), both horror films, and as a dramatic and unsympathetic character in the 1986 comedy Soul Man. His last dramatic role was as Allen Green, a violent client of a prostitute killed in self-defence by Barbra Streisand's character, Claudia Draper, in Martin Ritt's courtroom drama Nuts (1987).

Later comedies
After Airplane! and The Naked Gun, Nielsen portrayed similarly styled roles in a number of other films. These mostly emulated the style of The Naked Gun with varying success and often targeted specific films; many were panned by critics and most performed poorly. Repossessed (1990) and 2001: A Space Travesty (2001) were parodies of The Exorcist and 2001: A Space Odyssey, respectively. Both attempted absurd comedy, but were poorly received. Even a leading role in a Mel Brooks comic horror, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, failed to generate much box-office excitement, although it did gain a following in a later release to video. Both 1996's Spy Hard and 1998's Wrongfully Accused, a parody of James Bond films and The Fugitive, were popular on video, but not well received by critics.

His attempt at children's comedies met additional criticism. Surf Ninjas (1993) and Mr. Magoo (1997) had scathing reviews. Several critics were disappointed that Nielsen's role in Surf Ninjas was only "an extended cameo" and Chris Hicks recommended that viewers "avoid any comedy that features Leslie Nielsen outside of the Naked Gun series." Jeff Miller of the Houston Chronicle panned Mr. Magoo, a live-action remake of the 1950s cartoon, by saying, "I'm supposed to suggest how the film might be better, but I can't think of anything to say other than to make the film again."

Nielsen's first major success since The Naked Gun came in a supporting role in Scary Movie 3 (2003). His appearance as President Harris led to a second appearance in its sequel, Scary Movie 4 (2006). This was the first time Nielsen had reprised a character since Frank Drebin. In one scene, Nielsen appeared almost nude, and one critic referred to the scene as putting "the 'scary' in Scary Movie 4."

Video, stage, and celebrity productions
Nielsen also produced instructional golf videos, which were not presented in a serious style, beginning with 1993's Bad Golf Made Easier. The videos combined comedy with golf techniques. The series spawned two additional sequels, Bad Golf My Way (1994) and Stupid Little Golf Video (1997). Nielsen also co-wrote a fictional autobiography titled The Naked Truth. The book portrayed Nielsen as a popular actor with a long history of prestigious films.

In his 80s, Nielsen performed serious roles on screen and stage (such as his one-man theatre show Darrow, in which he played Clarence Darrow), as well as providing voice-overs and appearances for commercials (including spots for a credit union in Arizona, where he owned a secondary residence), cartoons such as Zeroman, where he had the leading role/voice, children's shows, such as Pumper Pups, which he narrated, and comedic film roles. The sibling relationship with his elder brother, the Honourable Erik Nielsen, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, served as the premise of an HBO mockumentary entitled The Canadian Conspiracy in which Leslie Nielsen appeared, along with other prominent Canadian-born media personalities. He was a celebrity contestant on CBS's Gameshow Marathon, where he played The Price Is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, and Press Your Luck for charity.

Final acting years

Beginning in February 2007, Nielsen began playing a small role as a doctor in the humorous yet educational television show Doctor*Ology. The show chronicles real-life medical techniques and technology on the Discovery Channel. Nielsen said:

In 2007, Nielsen starred in the drama Music Within. In 2008, he portrayed a version of Uncle Ben for Superhero Movie, a spoof of superhero films. He then appeared in the 2008 parody An American Carol, which David Zucker directed, produced, and co-wrote. He appeared in the 2009 parody Stan Helsing. Nielsen portrayed the doctor in the Spanish horror comedy Spanish Movie, a spoof comedy like Scary Movie, but making fun of popular Spanish films.

Nielsen appeared in more than 100 films and 1,500 television episodes, portraying more than 220 characters.

Personal life

Nielsen married four times: to nightclub singer Monica Boyar (1950–1956), Alisande Ullman (1958–1973), Brooks Oliver (1981–1983), and Barbaree Earl (2001 – his death in 2010). He had two daughters from his second marriage, Maura and Thea Nielsen.

Nielsen often played golf. He joked, "I have no goals or ambition. I do, however, wish to work enough to maintain whatever celebrity status I have so that they will continue to invite me to golf tournaments." His interest in the sport led him to comedic instructional films.

Nielsen was a practical joker, and known for pranking people with a portable hand-controlled fart machine. His epitaph reads "Let 'er rip", a final reference to his favourite practical joke.

In his later years, Nielsen and his wife Barbaree resided between homes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Nielsen was legally deaf and wore hearing aids for most of his life. Because of this, he supported the Better Hearing Institute. Later in life, he
had knee osteoarthritis. He participated in an educational video from The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC), demonstrating the physical examination of a patient with knee osteoarthritis.

Death

In November 2010, Nielsen was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with pneumonia. On November 28, Doug Nielsen, Nielsen's nephew, told the CJOB radio station that 84-year-old Nielsen had died in his sleep from pneumonia around 5:30 pm EST surrounded by family and friends. His body was interred in Fort Lauderdale's Evergreen Cemetery. As a final bit of humour, Nielsen chose "Let 'er rip" as his epitaph.

Achievements
Among his awards, in 1995 Nielsen received UCLA's Jack Benny Award. In 1988, he became the 1,884th personality to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Blvd. In 2001 he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. The following year he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, although he was also a naturalized US citizen.

With his American citizenship, he maintained his Canadian heritage: "There's no way you can be a Canadian and think you can lose it ... Canadians are a goodly group. They are very aware of caring and helping." On 19 May 2005, during the centennial gala of his birth province, Saskatchewan, Leslie Nielsen was introduced to Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1997, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

On 20 February 2002, Nielsen was named an honorary citizen of West Virginia and an Ambassador of Mountain State Goodwill. Nielsen visited the state many times to speak and visit friends. In 2003, in honour of Nielsen, Grant MacEwan College named its school of communications after him. Also in 2003, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists awarded him the ACTRA Award of Excellence.

Filmography

Bibliography
 1993: The Naked Truth
 1995: Leslie Nielsen's Stupid Little Golf Book with Henry Beard
 1996: Bad Golf My Way with Henry Beard

See also

References

External links

 CBC Digital Archives – Leslie and Erik Nielsen laugh it up

1926 births
2010 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
American male comedians
American male deaf actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Danish descent
American people of Welsh descent
American sketch comedians
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian male comedians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian parodists
Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Welsh descent
Canadian sketch comedians
Film producers from Arizona
Deaths from pneumonia in Florida
Male actors from Phoenix, Arizona
Male actors from Regina, Saskatchewan
Male actors from the Northwest Territories
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni
Officers of the Order of Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force airmen
Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts alumni
Burials in Florida
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Comedians from Saskatchewan
Canadian deaf people

Leslie Nielsen


Alex Ruhunda (born 2 December 1971) is a Ugandan research consultant, community organizer, businessman and politician. He is the elected Member of Parliament for Fort Portal Municipality and a representative for NRM, the ruling political party in Uganda.

Ruhunda is the founding chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety, the chairperson of the Rwenzori MPs Forum, the vice chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry and also a member of the Budget Committee in the 10th Parliament of Uganda.

In 2007, he was the President of IACD, the International Association for Community Development and is the founder and former Executive Director of Kabarole Research and Resource Centre (KRC), a Ugandan NGO based in Toro sub-region. He is also a founder member of Mountains of the Moon University, the patron of several Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in Uganda and sits on a number of boards of charitable organizations that include Rotary International among others.

Early life and education
Ruhunda was born in Kabarole District, on 2 December 1971 in a Catholic family. He attended St Peter and Paul Primary School, Kijanju, Fort Portal M/C for his primary school education, City High School, Kampala for his O-level academic qualifications and Namilyango College for his A-Level education.

Ruhunda further advanced to Makerere University for his University education where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Social Science in Political Science and Public Administration. Still in the same institution of higher education, Ruhunda went on to acquire a Master of Arts in Gender and Development studies in 2000.

Career
Right after graduation in 1996, Ruhunda founded and served as the director and board secretary of Kabarole Research and Resource Centre (KRC), a position he relinquished in 2009. While at the helm of the research organization, he facilitated research programs for MTN Uganda, Shell Uganda and other organizations and served both as the president for IACD in 2007 and as a board member of the global community development organization representing Africa.

He also served as the founding chairperson for Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform (UGMP) and as a patron for Sustainable Agriculture Trainers Network (SATNET), Rwenzori-Anti-Corruption-Coalition (RAC) among other entities. Alex Ruhunda, together with Dennis Mugarra and Joseph Rwabuhinga founded DAJ Communications in 2000, the company in which Ruhunda still serves as the managing director.

In the year 2011, Ruhunda joined elective politics on the NRM ticket and became a member of the 9th Parliament of Uganda representing Fort Portal Municipality. In 2016, he won reelection and continues to serve the same constituency in the 10th Parliament of the Pearl of Africa.

In the 9th Parliament, Ruhunda served on the parliamentary ad hoc committee to investigate the electricity sub sector; the Committee on Natural Resources. In the 10th Parliament, he is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety, the chairperson of the Rwenzori MPs Forum, the vice chairperson of the Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry and is a member of the Budget Committee.

Over the years, Alex Ruhunda has presented numerous papers and delivered keynote addresses to various audiences across the globe and continues to do so.

In 2017 Ruhunda contributed an editorial piece to The Tower Post to voice his opinions regarding an upcoming caucus to remove age limit. He stated, "I hope God will touch the heart of President Yoweri Museveni to avoid the temptation of listening to short term opportunistic individuals that are pushing for the removal of Age limit in our Constitution."

See also
Kabarole District

References

External links
 Website of the Parliament of Uganda
 Website of the DAJ Communications

Living people
1971 births
Members of the Parliament of Uganda
People from Kabarole District
Makerere University alumni
Politicians from Western Region, Uganda
Active politicians
National Resistance Movement politicians
21st-century Ugandan politicians

Alex Ruhunda


The Pergaminho Sharrer (;  ; "Sharrer Parchment") is a mediaeval parchment fragment containing seven songs by King Denis of Portugal, with lyrics in the Galician-Portuguese language and musical notation.

The fragment was discovered in 1990 by American scholar Harvey L. Sharrer, of University of California, Santa Barbara. Sharrer was analysing documents in the Torre do Tombo archive in Lisbon, when he found the folio in the binding of a 16th-century book. Before Sharrer's discovery, the only known Galician-Portuguese mediaeval manuscript with love (non-religious) songs and musical notation was the Vindel Parchment, which contains seven songs by troubadour Martim Codax. Several songbooks covering the period exist, but all of them lack musical notation except the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which are religious in tone.

The text and musical notation of the Sharrer Parchment are fragmentary, due to damage  done to the folio during the centuries; but further damage was inflicted during a disastrous "restoration" by Portuguese authorities. The parchment is written with Gothic letters and contains seven love songs (cantigas de amor). Even though the name of the author is not given, all songs appear in the same order in other songbooks (cancioneiros) of Galician-Portuguese poetry (Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional and the Cancioneiro da Vaticana), where they are attributed to King Dinis I of Portugal (reigned 1279-1325), known for his love for the arts. The folio probably belonged to a larger 14th century songbook that has been lost.

The songs of the Sharrer Parchment are:
Poys que vos Deus, amigo, quer guisar
A tal estado me adusse, senhor
O que vos nunca cuidei a dizer
Que mui grão prazer que eu hei, senhor
Senhor fremosa, no posso eu osmar
Não sei como me salva a minha senhor
Quis bem amigos, e quero e querrei

Since their discovery, the songs have been recorded by several groups dedicated to early music like the Theatre of Voices.

See also
Pergaminho Vindel
Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional
Cancioneiro da Ajuda
Cancioneiro da Vaticana
Cantiga de amigo
Cantigas de Santa Maria
Portuguese literature
Troubadour

References
Harvey L. Sharrer. The discovery of seven cantigas d'amor by Dom Dinis with musical notation. Hispania 74, May 1991.
Manuel Pedro Ferreira. Cantus Coronatus: 7 Cantigas d'El Rei Dom Dinis. Kassel: Reichenberger, 2005.
 Visualization

Portuguese music history
Galician language
Portuguese literature
Galician-Portuguese
Chansonniers (books)

Pergaminho Sharrer


Anfinsen's dogma is a hypothesis in molecular biology suggested by Christian Anfinsen. The idea is that a protein folding into its native structure is done automatically by the protein's amino acid sequence. It is only true for some proteins. For other proteins, chaperones are needed.

Anfinsen shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on the structure of the enzyme ribonuclease A. The dogma suggests that, in the conditions at which folding occurs, the native structure is a unique and stable state.
There are three conditions:
uniqueness requires that the sequence does not have any other configuration with a comparable free energy.
stability small changes in the surrounding environment cannot give rise to changes in the minimum configuration.
kinetical accessibility means the final shape can be got without going through any highly complex changes in the shape (like knots, for example).

How the protein reaches this structure is the subject of the field of protein folding, which has a related dogma called Levinthal's paradox. The Levinthal paradox states that the number of possible conformations available to a given protein is astronomically large, such that even a small protein of 100 residues would require more time than the universe has existed to explore all possible conformations (1026 seconds) and choose the appropriate one.

Prions are an exception to Anfinsen's dogma. Prions are stable conformations of proteins which differ from the native folding state. In Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease), native proteins re-fold into a different stable conformation, which causes fatal amyloid buildup. Other amyloid diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, are also exceptions to Anfinsen's dogma.

References

Molecular biology
Proteins

Anfinsen's dogma


The Shih Tzu is a breed of dog weighing  with long silky hair. The breed originated in China and is among the earliest breeds. Shih Tzu were officially recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1969

Appearance
The Shih Tzu has a short muzzle and big, brown dark eyes. They have a silky, very long double coat. Some other Shih Tzu have shorter, more curly hair. ([Wikipedia Shih Tzus] Their fur comes in many colors.

Temperament
These dogs are tiny, but they have a big personality. They are known for being affectionate, playful, and happy. They want to be your best friend. This tiny pup loves attention and is a perfect companion dog. If you are feeling sad, or need a hug, the Shih Tzu will always fluff you down with puppy hugs and kisses. [akc.org Shih Tzu] This dog requires a lot of attention, due to their connections to royalty.

Coat Colors and Quality
The Shih Tzu is a good quality dog because of the shiny, welll groomed, silky coat and the Chinese valued Shih Tzu the most. [Wikipedia Shih Tzus] The coat colors come in light brown, black, white, black and white, black and gold, white and gold, dark brown, gold, red and black, and brown and white.

Etymology
The Shih Tzu gets their name from the Chinese word for "little lion." They are to be respected. [History of Shih Tzu - Shih Tzu club]

History
Back then, only royalty could be seen with a Shih Tzu. The Shih Tzu was related to the Chinese Pug, who was respected. A powerful woman from the palace in China adored dogs, and she was interested in them. She had the staff breed some palace dogs and she watched every time. [www.theshihtzuclub.co.uk] This is why the Shih Tzu became known as the royal dogs.

Health
Shih Tzus are usually healthy and live from 10 to 16 years, [www.akc.org] but they have a few problems Shih Tzus usually have. Eye problems, Brachycephalic Syndrome (A pathological condition which leads to severe respiratory distress), dental problems, ar

References

FCI breeds
Dog breeds originating in Tibet

Shih Tzu


Catahoula Leopard dog is a medium sized hunting dog also known as the Catahoula cur, Catahoula hog dog, and Catahoula hound. The breed lives about 10 to 14 years. Catahoula dog has Native American roots and its name means "scared lake". Catahoula are from Louisiana and is the state's mascot. These dogs typically are medium-sized with a short coat varying with patterns and eyes that differ in color. Catahoulas were bred through the Blood hound, Spanish mastiff and Greyhound. The Breed is known to the American Kennel Club (AKC). AKC has grouped the breed as a stock service animal.

Temperament
Catahoula is a high energy-level breed that requires a lot of activities such as fetching, walking, running or hiking. Catahoula's need a lot of attention with other dogs and humans.

Dog show qualifications
The Catahoula is recognized by many kennel clubs, which allows the dog to be in dog shows. The two most popular kennel clubs is AKC and UKC. If one wishes to show their Catahoula leopard dog, she must be permanently registered and have a licensing number through the kennel club chosen. Not only should the breed be licensed, they are required to be well-kept, and not be a mixed breed.

Head requirements
The head of the Catahoula should look strong, the mouth should look nicely even with the head and not deformed. The Leopard dog's head and mouth should be parallel, which sometimes causes wrinkles on the forehead.

Teeth
In-order to be show ready, the dog must have full white teeth with nice pink gums. A sharp bite is ideal but teeth that may be worn or broken is okay.

Eyes
Eyes should look medium sized, sort of rounded with varying eye colors or mix of colors. Eyes that may be deformed such as being un-centered; sagging of the eyelids; wired movability of eyelids or eyelashes can be a disqualification.

Ears
Ears flop to the side with a short to medium triangular shape. The top of the ear should be even to the head. When alert, the tip of the ear lays close to the cheek. No Catahoula for show can have cropped ears.

Body requirement
The body should look strong with a broad chest. Catahoula's front legs and back legs should be medium length. When feet are being looked at, the dogs paws should be well groomed and have good webbing between toes.

References

Dog breeds originating in the United States
Rare dog breeds

Catahoula Leopard Dog


Jefferson County Jail is a national historic site located at 380 West Dogwood Street, Monticello, Florida in Jefferson County. The Masonry Vernacular building was constructed in 1909, with alterations in 1940 and 1960.

The design is typical for small jails of the early twentieth century: on the first floor there are the living quarters for the sheriff or deputy and his family, and on the second floor there are the steel cages for the inmates.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 15, 2014.

The building is under restoration and is now operated as the Monticello Old Jail Museum by Main Street of Monticello, Florida, Inc.

References

External links

 Monticello Old Jail Museum - Facebook site

National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Florida
Museums in Jefferson County, Florida
Prisons on the National Register of Historic Places
Prison museums in Florida

Jefferson County Jail (Monticello, Florida)


Autoduel is a role-playing video game published by Origin Systems for the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles in 1985. It was released in 1987 for the Atari ST and in 1988 for the Amiga and Macintosh. The game is based on the Steve Jackson Games series Car Wars.

Autoduel is set in the United States in 2030, where cars are a primary means of protection and defense, and the highways are dangerous stretches of land ruled by gangs and vigilantes with armed vehicles.

Gameplay

The player creates a character, naming them and distributing 50 points between three skills: driving, marksmanship and mechanic. The player's character starts in New York, Friday 1-1-2030. Without a car the player has to enter amateur night in which they are provided a vehicle in order to raise enough money to buy and equip their own vehicle. With their own vehicle, a character can begin performing courier missions between the various towns along the Atlantic seaboard—including Syracuse, Boston, Manchester (Origin's headquarters at the time, which could be visited in the game) and Atlantic City among a few. The character may also enter more distinguished Arena events to earn money as well as take to the highways to fight the other cars and salvage their parts. In this sense, the game was very open-ended in what the player could do. The game also had a storyline, involving certain critical courier tasks, such as carrying important criminal evidence against "Mr. Big", through the dangerous terrain between cities.

The main feature of the game was combat involving customized vehicles. The vehicle construction portion of the game allowed a variety of power plants, guns, ammunition, mine-layers, smokescreens, oil slicks and rockets to be arranged onto an even larger selection of body and chassis types.

The game was developed using a top-down perspective and featured two distinct setting areas: the arena or highway style area and the city area. The highway and arenas allowed acceleration and driving skills to be used in a scrolling screen format, while the city area was a single screen in which stores and other attractions of a city could be visited.

Reception
Computer Gaming World in 1986 reviewed the game positively, noting, "The game design is clean, the graphics excellent and no bugs were found." The immense difficulty of the game was noted, as was the long learning curve. In emphasis, the review suggested bypassing the permanent death feature of the game and expensive in-game clones (backup saves) by making a copy of the character disk, to return to in case of character death. In 1992 and 1994 surveys of science fiction games the magazine gave the title two of five stars, writing that "Graphic and game play now appear very dated". Compute! stated that Autoduel combined role-playing, arcade, and strategy features, calling it "more than a game—it's a complete system of play ... overall game play is excellent". The review concluded with "highly recommended". Game reviewers Hartley and Pattie Lesser commented on the game in their "The Role of Computers" column in Dragon #120 (1987), noting that the game "combines the feel of the Road Warrior movies with the fantasy role-playing action of the Ultima adventure games."

Steve Fuelleman reviewed Autoduel in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 78. Fuelleman commented that "The game is pretty well conceived, but is marred by just enough technical flaws, substandard graphics, frustrating limitations, and general user unfriendliness that it just isn't much fun to play."

According to Bueche, Autoduel was his only successful game.

Reviews
 Casus Belli #37 (April 1987)
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine v11 n10 (1987 10)

Legacy
In 2018, Steve Jackson posted a public request for the Autoduel source code, writing "We'd really like to republish Autoduel in more or less its classic form, updated for modern systems."

See also
Auto Assault
Darkwind: War on Wheels
Interstate '76
Roadwar 2000

References

External links
Autoduel for the Atari 8-bit family at Atari Mania
Autoduel at the Amiga Hall of Light

Autoduel at Commodore 64 boxed sets

1985 video games
Amiga games
Apple II games
Atari 8-bit family games
Atari ST games
Car Wars
Commodore 64 games
DOS games
Classic Mac OS games
Origin Systems games
Role-playing video games
Vehicular combat games
Video games based on board games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games set in the United States
Single-player video games
Video games set in the 2030s

Autoduel


Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is a video game developed and published by Crave Entertainment and released for the Game Boy Advance line of handhelds on October 17, 2006. The game is based on the animated series with the same name.

Gameplay
The player controls Mac or Bloo. Both characters can throw paper balls, and you barely have to do that. Mostly you spend time collecting items to complete objectives. There are also three boss battles with Terrence, who mostly fires his slingshot and is accompinied by another enemy in the second and third battles. Mac and Bloo both have different abilities. Mac can slingshot paper balls (but only after the first fight with Terrence), double-jump to reach higher platforms, and duck to avoid flying objects. Bloo can roll his body into a ball to get into narrow spaces. Both of them have the abilities to slide down banisters, launch paper balls, talk to non-playable characters, and hide from enemies. Talking can give you an advantage. For example, every time the player would need to get up to a higher place that Mac can't double-jump to, if Wilt is around, talking to him will get him to lift the player up. Sometimes, you have to make it past enemies. Bendy is the most common enemy. He throws things down from above. Hitting him with a paper ball will make him cry and stop doing things for a short amount of time. Getting hit by an enemy will deplete the player's health, which is a row of three candies. Every time you get hit, you lose a candy, but you could collect more to replenish them. Dying will cause you to come from the door you last entered. The game has three minigames which can be unlocked by collecting Game-Hive tickets. When the player enters a door they might switch characters. The player is not in control of who they are using. Every time he or she enters a door, there is a chance of characters switching. In the final battle with Terrence and Duchess, the player can change between Mac and Bloo at any time.

Other websites

 Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends at IGN.com

Game Boy Advance games
2006 video games
Game Boy Advance-only games

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (video game)


Nan Gindele Bauman (August 5, 1910 – March 26, 1992) was an American athlete, excelling in basketball, softball, and track and field. She set the world record in javelin in 1932, which was not broken until six years later. She competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics, the first year that javelin was a women's event at the Olympics. Gindele played on the first two national champion women's softball teams, the Great Northern Laundry team of 1933 and the Hart Motors Girls in 1934. In basketball, she competed throughout the 1930s on many of the top women amateur teams.

Early life
Ferdinanda Kathryn "Nan" Gindele was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Carl Schurz High School, graduating in February 1929. There she was captain of the girls' basketball team. She trained as a teacher the Chicago Normal School of Physical Education and Northwestern University.

Career in sports
Nan Gindele taught physical education in Chicago schools, and was a member of the Illinois Women's Athletic Club. Gindele was the national title holder for basketball throw from 1933  to 1936. She set the javelin world record in 1932, at a meet in Chicago, four weeks before the Olympic trials. That record was not broken until 1938.

At the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1932, Gindele placed fifth in javelin; her teammate Mildred Didrikson took the gold medal. Of her fifth-place finish, she told an interviewer later in life, "I was 22, and that was the farthest I'd ever traveled. I was almost too frightened to compete, but I told myself, 'Oh, for goodness sake, just do your best. Just you stand there, even if you don't want to do this.'"

She competed in the National Track Games in Madison Square Garden in 1933. Although she was mentioned as a possible competitor at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and she was still the world record holder for women's javelin, Gindele did not qualify, edged out of qualifying by Gertrude Wilhelmsen.

Personal life
Nan Gindele married a teacher colleague, Milton J. Bauman, and had twin sons. Nan Gindele Bauman died in 1992, aged 81 years, in Barrington, Illinois.

References

External links

1910 births
1992 deaths
American female javelin throwers
Northwestern University alumni
Track and field athletes from Chicago
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics
20th-century American women

Nan Gindele


Paul Elliott Martin (31 December 1897 - 1975) was an American bishop of the Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1944. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor and district superintendent, as well as by notable service to his denomination.

Birth and family
Martin was born in Blossom, Texas, the son of Dr. Charles Elliott and Annie Willie (née Black) Martin. He married Mildred Helen Fryar on June 29, 1920.

Education
Martin earned the A.B. degree in 1919 from Southern Methodist University. He also studied theology at S.M.U. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Military and educational service
Martin served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I. He also served for three years as Superintendent of Schools in his birthplace.

Ordained ministry
Martin joined the North Texas Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1922. He served the following appointments as a pastor: Cedar Hill, Texas; the Maple Avenue Methodist Church in Dallas; Henrietta, Texas; Iowa Park, Texas; and the Kavanaugh Methodist Church in Greenville, Texas. He then was appointed Superintendent of the Wichita Falls District. His final appointment before becoming a bishop was to First Methodist, Wichita Falls, Texas (1938–44).

Rev. Martin was elected a delegate to the last General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1938. He was a delegate to the 1939 Uniting Conference of the Methodist Church. He was also a delegate to Methodist general and jurisdictional conferences in 1940 and 1944. He served as the president of the Board of Education of the North Texas Annual Conference, and as a trustee of Southern Methodist University and of Centenary College.

Episcopal ministry
The Rev. Paul Elliott Martin was elected and consecrated a bishop of the Methodist Church by the 1944 South Central Jurisdictional Conference. He was assigned the Arkansas-Louisiana episcopal area. His offices were at 723 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Honors
Martin was named to the honorary fraternities Theta Phi and Tau Kappa Alpha. He was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Divinity in 1938 by Southwestern University.

Bishop Martin also was a member of the Masons and of the "Knife and Fork Club".

Selected writings
My Call to Preach, 1946

See also

List of bishops of the United Methodist Church

References
 Howell, Clinton T., Prominent Personalities in American Methodism. Birmingham, Alabama: Lowry Press, 1945
 Leete, Frederick DeLand, Methodist Bishops.  Nashville: Methodist Publishing House, 1948

United States Army personnel of World War I
American Methodist bishops
Bishops of The Methodist Church (USA)
1897 births
Year of death missing
United States Army officers
American autobiographers
People from Lamar County, Texas

Paul Elliott Martin


A polite fiction is a social scenario in which all participants are aware of a truth, but pretend to believe in some alternative version of events to avoid conflict or embarrassment. Polite fictions are closely related to euphemism, in which a word or phrase that might be impolite, disagreeable, or offensive is replaced by another word or phrase that both speaker and listener understand to have the same meaning. In scholarly usage, "polite fiction" can be traced to at least 1953.

An informal example would be of someone who goes out drinking after telling their family that they are merely going for an evening walk to enjoy the night air. Even though many relatives involved know that the person is likely leaving to drink alcohol, and may come home drunk, they may act as if he/she is going out for a walk, and act as if they don't notice signs of alcohol intoxication when they return. Another common example is a couple that has had an argument, after which one of them absents themself from a subsequent social gathering, with the other claiming that they are ill, especially if this is a regular occurrence. In these instances, although people in the couple's social circle may have experienced this behavior numerous times and are aware that a problem of some sort exists in the relationship, they may remain silent for fear of upsetting the couple, thereby further troubling their relationship. This violates social norms (a human behavior related to ethics codes and ethics clarity), and can be used to retain politeness and trust, with the effect of maintenance of social bonds and provision of ideological support.

Polite fictions can slip into denial. This is especially the case when the fiction is actually meant to fool some observers, such as outsiders or children judged too young to be told the truth. The truth then becomes "the elephant in the room"; no matter how obvious it is, the people most affected pretend to others and to themselves that it is not so. This can be used to humorous effect in comedy, where a character will seem bent on making it impossible to maintain the polite fiction.

See also

 Diplomatic illness
 Interpersonal communication
 Kayfabe
 Legal fiction
 Minimisation (psychology)
 Obfuscation
 Persuasive definition
 Polite lie
 White lie
 What happens on tour, stays on tour

References

External links
 Explanations of "polite fictions" in U.S. culture for Japanese visitors

Figures of speech
Etiquette

Polite fiction


Sir Basil Charles Engholm  (2 August 1912 – 12 June 1990)  was a senior British civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture. On retirement he was heavily involved in raising money for the arts and was Chairman of the British Film Institute.

Career
Engholm was born in Melbourne, Australia, the only son of Charles Engholm and his wife Ethel Nora Bowie. His father was of Swedish descent, and worked for the Anglo-American Metal Company in various parts of the world.  Engholm returned to England and then went out to Chile at the age of 8, where he learnt to ride on his father's ranch. He was educated at Tonbridge School, at the Sorbonne in Paris and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he took a Law Tripos and gained a double first. He became a member of Gray's Inn, and followed his father into the Anglo-American Metal Company in New York from 1933 to 1934. He did not like working for the company, and entered the British Civil Service in 1935. He was posted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

He rose in the Ministry of Agriculture where he stayed throughout his career until he reached the top job. He became Under Secretary 1954 and  Deputy Secretary in 1964 when he was made CB. During his time at the Ministry he acquired a reputation as the right man to deal with difficult problems. He picked up the pieces in the Crichel Down affair and was heavily involved in the Icelandic Cod War. His diplomacy in these and other matters led to his appointment as Permanent Secretary in 1968 in succession to Sir John Winnifrith, and he was knighted (KCB) that year. While still a civil servant he and his wife found time to develop a great enthusiasm for the arts, including painting, theatre, ballet, film and opera.

Retirement
Engholm retired from the Civil Service in 1973 and became a company director for Comfin Ltd until 1985. He had free time on his hands and put his energy into raising money for the arts. He was Chairman of British Film Institute from 1978 to 1981 and quickly recognised the need for commercial sponsorship of the arts. During his time as Chairman, the idea of the Museum of the Moving Image was generated. His greatest love was Saddlers Wells Theatre.  He was a director of the Saddlers Wells Theatre Trust from 1975 and of the New Saddlers Wells Opera from 1987 to 1989. He was also a director of the Trustee Theatre Trust from 1977 to 1984.

Personal life
In 1936, Engholm married Nancy Hewitt, daughter of Clifford Hewitt of Rye. They had a daughter born in 1943.

References

Times Obituary  June 1990
Who was Who

1912 births
1990 deaths
People educated at Tonbridge School
University of Paris alumni
Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Members of Gray's Inn
Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
British expatriates in Australia
British expatriates in Chile
British expatriates in France

Basil Engholm


Mary Ann Wright (July 11, 1921 – May 7, 2009), known as Mother Wright, was a humanitarian activist. She started the Mary Ann Wright Foundation. This foundation helped feed hungry people. Her nickname is "Mother" because she reminds people of Mother Teresa. Mother Wright became an activist when she was 63.

Early life
Before she started her work, she lived in Louisiana. She was born in New Orleans. She moved at a young age. Her mother died when she was five years old. Wright was raised by her aunts and other relatives. They were devoted Catholics. They walked miles to church from their home. When Wright grew up, she worked many different jobs. She had a husband and 12 children. Unfortunately, her husband was cruel to her. So, Wright left Louisiana and moved to California. Her children came to California with her.

Awards
In California, she received a "vision from God" in her sleep. The dream told he to help hungry people. She continued helping the hungry, and eventually got recognition for it. Wright received the Caring Award, an award inspired by Mother Teresa. She is also in the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans. She died at the age of 87.

References

1921 births
2009 deaths
People from California
American activists

Mother Wright


Bumpity was an American children's television show that aired locally in the Portland, Oregon area on the ABC affiliate KATU, from 1971 to 1985. Bumpity, a green "bump on a lawn" (though many viewers assumed he was a frog) with one pronounced tooth, along with his friend and side-kick, a red and purple striped worm (some children thought he was a snake) named Fred, hosted the show. Other friends included Digger Mole and Scotty MacThistle. Fred never said a word, but did make squeaks in what he termed "High Worm".

An employee of the station named Bob Griggs, came up with an idea to design a puppet as an answer to a call from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which had asked local station affiliates around the country to air family friendly and educational morning programming.  Bob created the original characters with less than three dollars. The concept was approved and quickly became a hit with children and parents alike due to the program's easy, gentle nature.

Among the most frequent guests to "Bumpity Park" were librarians from the Multnomah County Library, who would bring children's books to read to viewers. Bumpity also welcomed police officers, dentists, clog dancers, and magicians.

In 2001, Crispin and Patrick Rosenkranz created a short documentary about Bumpity titled "Bumpity Returns." The video is available through their website or can be borrowed from the Multnomah County Library. The documentary includes interviews with Bob Griggs and others involved with the production of the program, and with Bumpity himself. The documentary also features clips from the show.

See also
List of local children's television series (United States)

External links

Bumpity Returns Official Website
Bumpity honored

American television shows featuring puppetry
Local children's television programming in the United States
Culture of Portland, Oregon
1970s American children's television series
1980s American children's television series
1971 American television series debuts
1985 American television series endings

Bumpity


Hiram Burnham (1814 – September 29, 1864) was an officer in the Union Army who commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.  He was killed in battle while assaulting Confederate positions near Richmond, Virginia, during the Battle of Chaffin's Farm.

Early life and career
Hiram Burnham was born in Narraguagus, later Cherryfield, Maine, in 1814.  He formed and led a militia company as its captain in the Aroostook War of 1839. He subsequently worked as a lumberman and owned a sawmill. Active in local politics, he held public office as a county commissioner and a coroner.  Burnham is described as a burly man with a strong voice, able to make himself heard on a battlefield. He was born in Machias, Maine the son of John & Elizabeth (Libby) Burnham. He moved to Cherryfield in the early 1830s.

Civil War

Service in the Army of the Potomac
Early in the war Burnham became lieutenant colonel of the 6th Maine Infantry on July 16, 1861.  He was promoted to the rank of colonel on December 12 of that year.  He served with the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign, starting out in Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's brigade in a division of the IV Corps under Brig. Gen. William F. Smith.  This division later became part of the VI Corps.  At the Battle of Crampton's Gap and the Battle of Antietam, Burnham led his regiment in the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps under Hancock.  He led the same regiment under Brig. Gen. Calvin E. Pratt at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where the brigade was only lightly engaged.

In 1863, a "Light Division" of VI Corps, composed of five regiments, was organized under General Pratt.  It was to be able to move rapidly.  Instead of wagons, supplies were to be carried on mules.  However, Pratt resigned his post and Burnham led the division from May 3 to May 11, including at the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, where he was wounded, temporarily relinquishing command.  The Light Division was among the first VI Corps  units to cross the Rappahannock River on May 1, 1863 to draw Confederate attention away from the main crossing points of the Army of the Potomac upstream.  The Light Division made up the rightmost column in Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's attack on Marye's Heights on May 3.  Although Burnham spoke "cheerfully" to his troops before they attacked, casualties were heavy — an estimated 30%.

Burnham's Light Division was the right flank anchor of Sedgwick's line when VI Corps stood on the defensive during the later stages of the Battle of Salem Church.  Only lightly engaged, Burnham was able to send two regiments to help repel a Confederate attack on the left flank.  The 6th Maine of Burnham's command was one of the rearguard units when the corps retreated across the Rappahannock River.  The Light Division was dissolved after the Battle of Chancellorsville, and Burnham's regiment joined the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps under Brig. Gen. David Allen Russell.  In that capacity he was present in reserve behind Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.  A monument to the regiment stands on Howe Avenue behind the Round Top.

Service in the Army of the James

Burnham was absent from Russell's brigade at the beginning of the Overland Campaign.  Having been promoted to the rank of brigadier general on April 26, 1864, he was assigned command of a brigade in the first Division of the XVIII Corps, Army of the James on April 28 of that year.  General Burnham led the brigade until July 31, and then again from September 27 to September 29 during the Siege of Petersburg.  He commanded the 1st Division briefly in between.

Burnham was killed at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm on September 29, 1864.  His brigade had routed Confederate skirmishers from a cornfield on the Varina Road and pursued toward the Confederate earthworks.  In preparation for the planned assault on Fort Harrison, the division's commander, Brig. Gen. George J. Stannard, deployed Burnham's brigade in the front of his column.  Burnham was hit in the intestines by a bullet shortly after his brigade penetrated into the fort.  He died shortly thereafter.

General Burnham was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery (44°35'48.75"N, 67°55'10.52"W) in Cherryfield, Maine.

The U.S. Army renamed the captured Fort Harrison as Fort Burnham in his honor.

See also

List of American Civil War generals (Union)

Notes

References
 Bigelow, John, Jr., The Campaign of Chancellorsville: A Strategic and Tactical Study, Norwalk, CT: The Eaton Press, 1991.
 Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001,
 Mundy, James H., No Rich Men's Sons: The Sixth Maine Volunteer Infantry, Cape Elizabeth (Me.): Harp Publications, 1994.
 Parsons, Philip W., "The Union Sixth Army Corps in the Chancellorsville Campaign", Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2006.
Sears, Stephen W., Chancellorsville, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
 Sommers, Richard J., Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981.
 Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, (2006).
 Winslow, Richard Elliott, General John Sedgwick: The Story of a Union Corps Commander, Presidio Press 1982 (Diss. University of Pennsylvania, 1970).
Attribution

Union Army generals
People of Maine in the American Civil War
Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War
1814 births
1864 deaths
County commissioners in Maine
People from Washington County, Maine
19th-century American politicians

Hiram Burnham


Atheism, agnosticism, scepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general irreligion are increasing in Australia. Post-war Australia has become a highly secularised country. Religion does not play a major role in the lives of much of the population.

In the country's 2021 census, 38.9% of Australians (or 9,886,957 people) selected either "no religion" or specified their form of irreligion, almost nine percent higher (and 2,846,240 more people) than the . 7.2% did not state their religion, or gave an unclear response, meaning that over 46% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2021 census, a 6.4% increase from the last census.

When asked of their religious affiliation in the 2016 census, 29.6% of Australians (or 6,933,708 people) selected "no religion." This was more than seven percent higher (and 2,240,546 more people), than in the . Additionally, in 2016, another 0.5% instead opted to specify their form of irreligion, writing it under "other," hence resulting in 30.1% of Australians (or just over 7,040,700 people) selecting "no religion." A further 9.6% either did not state a religion, or gave a response that was unclear, meaning that 39.7% of Australians did not expressly state a religious affiliation in the 2016 census.

In the 2011 census, 22.3% of Australians (or 4,796,787 people) described themselves as having "no religion." This was more than three percent higher (and 1,090,232 people more) than in the 2006 census and was the second largest category. Another 2.014 million (9.4%) were in the "not-stated or inadequately-defined" category: so more than 31% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2011 census.

In the , 18.7% of Australians (or 3,706,555 people) had described themselves as having "no religion." This was three percent higher than in the  and was the largest growth in total number of any religious option in that census (800,557 people). A further 2.4 million (11.9%) did not state a religion (or inadequately described it).  So just over 30% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2006 census.

In a 2004 worldwide study by Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, 25% of Australians stated they do not believe in any gods.

History
The first systematic recording of the religious affiliation of non-aboriginal Australians took place in the 1901 census. Since the 1901 census, the percentage of the census population not aligned with a religion has grown from 0.4% to just over 30% of the population. The census question about religion has been clearly labelled as "optional" since 1933. In 1971 the census instructed, "If no religion, write none." This was followed by "a seven-fold increase" in the figures from previous years for those declaring lack of religious beliefs.

Melbourne hosted the 2010 Global Atheist Convention (branded as the largest event of its kind in the world), sponsored by the Atheist Foundation of Australia and Atheist Alliance International. It took place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 12 to 14 March 2010. Over 2,000 delegates attended, with all available tickets selling out more than five weeks prior to the event.

In 2010 The Australian Book of Atheism was published as "the first collection to explore atheism from an Australian viewpoint". The book was prompted by the disparity between Australia's increasing secularism and the increasing political and educational influence and funding of religion in Australia and contains essays by 33 authors (including Leslie Cannold, Robyn Williams, Tim Minchin, Graham Oppy, Philip Nitschke, Ian Hunter, Lyn Allison, Russell Blackford and Ian Robinson) on atheism-related topics in areas including history, law, education, philosophy and neurobiology.

Irreligion in politics
Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia established Freedom of religion in 1901.

Australians tend to be very suspicious of religion being intertwined with politics. Critic and commentator Robert Hughes stated "Any Australian political candidate who declared their God was on their side would be laughed off the podium as an idiot or a wowser (prude, intrusive bluenose)." Conversely, Australia has had many openly atheist or agnostic political figures elected to high positions, including prime ministers Gough Whitlam (whose philosophical position has been called "post-Christian") John Curtin, John Gorton, Bob Hawke and Julia Gillard. Governor-General Bill Hayden was voted as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies (although he subsequently converted to Catholicism in 2018, many years after leaving office). Politicians Gareth Evans, Olive Zakharov and Lionel Murphy have also received this award.

A 2010 survey by The Sunday Age asked all 30 members of the First Rudd Ministry about their religious beliefs. Fifteen declined to comment, ten said they were "Christian" and three stated that they were atheists: health minister Nicola Roxon, defence personnel minister Greg Combet and financial services minister Chris Bowen. The remaining two, finance minister Lindsay Tanner and treasurer Wayne Swan, both described themselves as agnostic Christians, with Swan believing that "values, rather than religion, are important in public life". Tanner added, "I doubt whether it would make much difference to a political career for someone to describe themselves as atheist."

According to a 2009 Nielsen survey, 84% of 1000 respondents agree that religion and politics should be separate.

The Fusion Party refers to itself as a secular humanist party. It supports the separation of church and state and removing religious prayers, rituals, and bias from government and public institutions and their documentation, and abolishing blasphemy laws.

The political party, Reason Australia, supports a secular Australia.

Polls, surveys and statistics

Although many Australians identify themselves as religious, the majority consider religion the least important aspect of their lives when compared with family, partners, work and career, leisure time and politics. This is reflected in Australia's church attendance rates, which are among the lowest in the world and in decline (reference from 2004). In explaining this phenomenon, writer and broadcaster Paul Collins said "Australians are quietly spiritual rather than explicitly religious" and the prominent historian Manning Clark defined Australian spirituality as "a shy hope in the heart ... understated, wary of enthusiasm, anti-authoritarian, optimistic, open to others, self-deprecating and ultimately characterized by a serious quiet reverence, a deliberate silence, an inarticulate awe and a serious distaste for glib wordiness."

Donald Horne, one of Australia's well-known public intellectuals, believed rising prosperity in post-war Australia influenced the decline in church-going and general lack of interest in religion. "Churches no longer matter very much to most Australians. If there is a happy eternal life it's for everyone ... For many Australians the pleasures of this life are sufficiently satisfying that religion offers nothing of great appeal", said Horne in his landmark work The Lucky Country (1964).

The  found that 38.9% of Australian-born Australians claim no religion. In 2011 adults aged 18–34 were more than twice as likely as those in 1976 to have no religion (29% compared with 12%). The highest proportion of people who had no religion were young adults. The ABS has revealed that in 2011, the number of males claiming no religion was higher than females, that women claiming no religion were more likely to have no children, and that marriages were mostly performed by civil celebrants. Tasmania had the highest rate of citizens reporting no religion, at 50% while the rate was lowest in New South Wales (33%).

Census data
Irreligious declarations of Australians by State or Territory according to the censuses from 2001 to 2021

Marriage data
Irreligious marriages in Australia accounted for 80.3% of marriages in 2019 and 2020  slightly more than in England and Wales in 2017 (78 per cent). The Australian figure is up from 41.3% of marriages in 1988 and just over 50% in 1999. Secular funerals have also risen in popularity: in 2014 the Sydney Morning Herald surveyed 104 funeral directors and 514 people over 50, finding that 6 in 10 funerals were conducted by civil celebrants.

Belief

A Roy Morgan survey of 4,840 Australians between October and December 2013 found that 52.6% of Australians were Christian, while 37.6% had no religion. Norman Morris, the company's communications director, noted that the change in religious affiliation could indicate a growth of atheism and agnosticism, or a move away from identification with organised Christianity by theistic believers. He identified possible causes for the change, including "morally conservative religious doctrines" contrasting with progressive attitudes on abortion, same-sex marriage, the use of condoms in the global fight against the HIV pandemic. He also noted the drop coincided with public media attention around alleged religious cover-ups of child sexual abuse in the Child Abuse Royal Commission.

A 2006 study by Monash University, the Australian Catholic University and the Christian Research Association found that 52 per cent of Australians born between 1976 and 1990 had no belief in a god.

A 2008 global Gallup poll found nearly 70% of Australians stated religion as having no importance, much higher than their American counterparts and on par with similarly secular countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Finland and France. Only a few Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) and post-Soviet states (Estonia) are markedly less religious. A 2008 Christian Science Monitor survey of 17 countries reported that youth from Australia and the United Kingdom were the least likely to observe religious practice or see any "spiritual dimension" to life.

A 2002 study by Gregory Paul found that 24% of Australians are atheist or agnostic. A 2009 Nielsen survey of 1,000 respondents, found 68% of Australians believe in god and/or a "universal spirit", while 24% believe in neither. The survey found that 49% of respondents claimed religion was not important in their lives. A 2009 survey of 1,718 Australians conducted by NCLS research found that 61.5% say that "religious faith or spirituality" was of little or no importance to career and lifestyle decisions.

In 2011, an Ipsos MORI survey found that 32% claimed no religion, while a Galaxy poll found 43% claimed no religion. A 2011 report by the American Physical Society claimed that religion may die out in Australia and eight other Western world countries.

According to NORC of Chicago, 20.6% of Australians don't believe in God and never have, while 9.7% are "strong atheists". Of those aged under 28, 26.8% have never believed in God and just 14.7% are certain God exists. A 2012 poll by Win-Gallup International found that 48% of Australians were not religious; 37% were religious; 10% declared themselves "convinced atheists". Australia placed in the bottom 14 for religiosity and in the top 11 for atheism.

An October 2011 McCrindle survey polled 1,094 respondents on attitudes Christianity, finding 50% of the respondents did not identify with a religion, and 17% claimed Jesus did not exist. A follow-up survey that 30% claimed no religion, 64% identified with Christianity and 6% belonged to other religions. 9% of the Christians were actively practising and regularly attending.

A 2011 survey by McCrindle Research found that for Australians, Christmas is predominantly secular. 46% of respondents said the highlights of Christmas were celebrations with family and friends, 36% said gift giving, Christmas trees and the general Christmas spirit; and 15% said attending religious services, carol singing and nativity plays. 19% said they would "definitely" attend a religious service, while 38% have never attended. 87% of people who are not religious celebrated Christmas to some extent.

Religious attendance
According to the National Church Life Survey, between 1950 and 2007 monthly church attendance declined from 44% to 17%. A 2009 Christian Research Association survey of 1,718 Australians concurred, finding that 16% attended a religious service at least once a month, down from 23% in 1993. Subsequently, there have been claims that the rate of decline in church attendance has slowed; in 2016 there was a claim that monthly attendance at church was 16%. Yet, a 2013 survey by McCrindle Research found just 8% of Christians attend church at least once a month. The McCrindle survey also discovered that 47% of respondents do not go to church because it is "irrelevant to my life", 26% "don't accept how it's taught", while 19% "don't believe in the bible".

In 1996, 17.9% of Roman Catholics attended Mass on a typical Sunday, falling to 12.2% in 2011. In 2006, the median age of all Catholics aged 15 years and over was 44 years. In 1996, 27% of Roman Catholics aged 50 to 54 years regularly attended Mass, falling to 15% in 2006. While 30% aged 55–59 years regularly attended in 1996, only 19% attended in 2006. From 1996 to 2006 Mass attendance for Roman Catholics aged between 15 and 34 declined by just over 38%, going from 136,000 to 83,760 attendees.

In 2009, more than 40% of those brought up as Anglicans or Lutherans, 36% of those brought up in the Uniting Church and 28% of those brought up as Roman Catholics described themselves as having no religion. 33% of 15- to 29-year-olds identified with a Christian denomination in 2009, down from 60% in 1993.

A study in 2011 by the Christian Research Association discovered that the attendance of Uniting churches has declined by 30% over the previous 10 years. The association's president, Philip Hughes, has predicted that the decline in church attendance would continue "at least for the next 20 years". The study also found that the average age of people attending Catholic and Anglican churches is around 60 years.

See also

 Atheist Foundation of Australia
 Australian Aboriginal mythology
 Australian Skeptics
 Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Australia
 Council of Australian Humanist Societies
 Fusion Party (Australia)
 Irreligion
 Rationalist Society of Australia
 Reason Party (Australia)
 Religion in Australia
 Religious skepticism
 Secular humanism
 Secular Party of Australia
 Separation of church and state in Australia
 Stolen Generations

References

Religion in Australia
Secularism in Australia
Australia

Irreligion in Australia


Arto Sipinen (20 March 1936 – 23 December 2017) was a Finnish architect. He worked in the office of architects Alvar Aalto in 1959–61 and Viljo Revell in 1961–63. He founded his own architect's office in 1965. Sipinen has taught at Helsinki University of Technology Department of Architecture.

In 1970 Sipinen won the architectural competition for the design of a new campus at the University of Jyväskylä, his former employer Aalto having designed the first campus. Among Sipinen's other best known works are the cultural centres for the cities of Espoo, Mikkeli, Imatra and Kuusamo.

References
Vilhelm Helander, Modern Architecture in Finland, Kirjayhtymä, Helsinki, 1995.

External links

1936 births
2017 deaths
Architects from Helsinki

Arto Sipinen