Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler who most recently served as director of talent for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He also worked for Lucha Underground as a color commentator. Hodgkinson is also member of the citizen crime patrol organization Guardian Angels, acting as head of the group's chapter in Mexico City. He is the current JCW Heavyweight Champion in his third reign.

Hodgkinson has wrestled for various wrestling promotions. In the United States, he is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling, where he held the WCW World Tag Team Championship with The Great Muta. However, his greatest success was achieved in Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre during the  1990s. In his professional wrestling career, Hodgkinson is a five-time World Champion having won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once, the UWA World Heavyweight Championship once and the JCW Heavyweight Championship three times.

Early life
Hodgkinson used to be a bodyguard for the pop group Milli Vanilli. Prior to wrestling, Hodgkinson was an ice hockey goaltending prospect who was drafted by the Kingston Canadians, now known as the Kingston Frontenacs, of the Ontario Hockey League, in the 10th round, 138th overall.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1984–1991)
Hodgkinson got his start in the business working for International Wrestling out of Montreal, Quebec. He often set up the ring before events and would train with the wrestlers before their matches. He made his debut as a jobber in 1984 at the age of 16 with little training, although he has credited Abdullah the Butcher as his trainer. He wrestled under the names Ian Richards and Gene Anderson during this time.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1991–1998)
After a few years in Montreal, in 1991, Hodgkinson headed down to Mexico City, looking for work in one of Mexico's premier wrestling promotions, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. He met with Paco Alonso and Antonio Peña, who took him as a joke because of his unique look (he had long dreadlocked blue hair and several tattoos). They decided to throw him in the ring as Vampiro Canadiense (Canadian Vampire) because he told them he liked vampires. To their surprise, with his very limited moveset that only consisted of punches, kicks, and headbutts, he became an overnight sensation, as his rock star appearance and natural good looks caught on with the young Mexican women in the audience.

In 1992, Vampiro would be part of multiple hair vs hair matches. The first of which would be on March 21 defeating Bestia Negra II. Throughout the months Vampiro would beat Rick Patterson, Pirata Morgan, Aaron Grundy and Sangre Chicana in hair vs hair matches. In late 1992, Vampiro participated in the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship tournament and reached the semi-final before being defeated by Black Magic. In early 1993, Vampiro would team up with Pierroth Jr. to take part in the CMLL World Tag Team Championship tournament and progressed to the final where the two would take on Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Canek in a best two out of three falls match. Going into the last match between the two teams where drawing with one win each,  Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Canek would win the last match and therefore the vacant CMLL World Tag Team Championship. In the first round of the Gran Prix 1994 he lost to Yamato. In mid to late 1994, Vampiro would begin to team up with Pegasus Kid, along with El Rayo de Jalisco Jr, in the final of the Trios Tournament. The trio would lose to El Dandy, El Texano and Silver King. Vampiro and Pegasus Kid later fell to El Texano and Silver King in the quarterfinals of the CMLL World Tag Team Championship number one contendership tournament. Vampiro would go on to team up with Apolo Dantés and lost to Dr. Wagner Jr. & Pierroth Jr. in the semi-final of the CMLL World Tag Team Championship number two contendership tournament. In July 1995, Vampiro reached the final of the Gran Prix 1995 before being defeated by Headhunter A. In what was perhaps the biggest match of his career to this point, he took on Apolo Dantes in a best out of three falls match for the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. In 1996, Vampiro would leave CMLL to join other top Mexican promotions such as International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) and Promo Azteca (AZTECAS). However, in 1998 he would return to CMLL and would take part in the CMLL World Trios Championship tournament and Gran Prix 1998, ultimately winning neither. His last match for CMLL for many years would take place on December 11, 1998.

Real life feud with Konnan
While working in Mexico, Vampiro began a real-life feud with fellow CMLL headliner Konnan. Konnan had been the top star in the promotion prior to Vampiro's arrival and did not take well to his superstardom. The feud stems from Vampiro being offered a part in a Mexican soap opera, when the producers ended up changing their mind at the last minute as they learned that his command of the Spanish language was poor. They went with Konnan - a fluent Spanish speaker, instead. Vampiro considered that Konnan had sabotaged his chance to parlay his ring success into mainstream stardom, as Konnan did become a mainstream star in Mexico as a result of the role. The rivalry lasted for several years until the two resolved their differences whilst working in WCW, where they became business associates.

Universal Wrestling Association (1991–1993, 1995)
On October 19, 1991, Vampiro would team up with Villano III to defeat Dos Caras and El Canek in a CMLL and UWA joint promotion event. In 1991 he would continue to take part in CMLL and UWA joint promotion events and in 1992 he debuted for Universal Wrestling Association in a single promotion setting. On January 31, 1993, Vampiro defeated El Canek in a two out of three falls match to become the UWA World Heavyweight Champion. He would defend his Championship over the course of 1993 in both single promotion and joint promotion events. He would lose the championship to El Canek on December 19, 1993, holding the championship for almost a year, this would also be his last match for UWA.

He returned for an appearance on September 8, 1995 in a tag match just before the promotion went under.

Early tours of Japan (1993–1998)
On October 3, 1993, Vampiro would debut for Wrestle Association R defeating Top Gun. In June 1994, Vampiro would start on a two-month tour of Japan where he won almost all his matches and also took part in a tag team tournament where he teamed up with Lionheart and The Warlord and would be knocked out in the first round. On his second tour of Japan, between the months September and October, Vampiro would once again win the majority of his matches. He would also team up with Bob Backlund and Dos Caras to take on Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado for the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, which Vampiro's team lost. Vampiro would also sporadically take part in WAR events and his last match came on December 4.

World Championship Wrestling (1998–2001)
In 1998, after spending nearly his entire career to that point in Mexico, Vampiro was signed by WCW. His first match was on the June 29, 1998, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, defeating Brad Armstrong. He would not return to WCW until the March 18, 1999 episode of WCW Thunder, when he defeated Prince Iaukea.

Later that year, he formed a stable with the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and Raven called 'The Dead Pool' (initially called 'The Necro-Ward'). Even though the stable was short-lived, they gained popularity and had a heated feud with Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., and rival Konnan.

Vampiro then feuded with Berlyn. The feud began when Vampiro beat Berlyn in the WCW World Title tournament on Nitro. To exact revenge later in the night, Berlyn cost Vampiro his match against Buff Bagwell and, as a result, Vampiro was eliminated from the tournament. This feud led to the 1999 Mayhem event, where the two fought in a Dog Collar match and Vampiro made Berlyn submit to the Camel Clutch.

Vampiro later brought The Misfits into WCW, and began a feud with Oklahoma and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Vampiro and Dr. Death then faced off at Starrcade, with the stipulation that if Vampiro won, he would get five minutes in the ring against Oklahoma. After Williams was disqualified, Vampiro had his match with Oklahoma. Surprisingly, Oklahoma was able to mount a bit of offense, until Vampiro took Oklahoma's cowboy hat and then pinned him following the Nail In The Coffin.

In early 2000, he formed an alliance with Sting, as the "Brothers in Paint," after he helped Sting to defeat Lex Luger in a lumberjack match. This did not last long, with Vampiro turning on Sting by attacking him during a match on the April 10, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, thus becoming a heel and joining The New Blood. At Spring Stampede 2000, Vampiro cost Sting the United States Championship in a match against Scott Steiner when he pulled Sting underneath the ring. They feuded throughout the spring, with Sting getting the upper hand on Vampiro in nearly all their encounters. This set up the Human Torch match, in which Vampiro won by setting Sting on fire. Vampiro then focused on The Demon due to his defection from the ICP formed stable, "The Dark Carnival." He kidnapped his fiancée, Asya, in a skit resembling the 1988 film Spoorloos. Afterward, he challenged him to a Graveyard Match, which sparked the return of Sting.

Vampiro entered the vacant WCW United States Title tournament, losing to The Great Muta. He later joined Muta to attack Ernest 'The Cat' Miller. Vampiro won his first and only title in WCW with The Great Muta, by defeating KroniK in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 13, 2000. This reign was very short lived, however, as they lost the Tag Team Championship the very next night to Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Vampiro later turned his back on Muta, setting up a 3 Way match at Fall Brawl with himself, Sting and Muta, which was won by Sting. Vampiro then took time away from the sport as his wife had a baby.

He returned a month later, where he defeated Crowbar in a Hardcore Match. Vampiro then challenged Mike Awesome at Halloween Havoc, losing via pinfall after a top rope Awesome Bomb. He was put out with an injury and did not recover before WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation. Thus, his final WCW appearance was on the November 1, 2000, episode of WCW Thunder when he teamed up with Jeff Jarrett to take on Sting and Mike Awesome, which led to a loss for Jarrett and Vampiro after Awesome performed a running powerbomb on Vampiro and pinned him.

Hodgkinson has claimed that he was hospitalized during Vince McMahon's purchase of World Championship Wrestling.  Hodgkinson was informed that WWF creative team had no plans for him and would not pick up his contract following the purchase. He had also claimed that he planned on leaving WCW before he broke his neck.

Return to CMLL (2001–2005, 2007)
With WCW out of business Vampiro headed back to CMLL and returned to action in June, 2001. In 2002, Vampiro would appear on several Pay-per-views and mostly teamed up with top CMLL name Shocker. On September 13, at CMLL 69. Aniversario, Vampiro and Shocker took on Los Guerreros del Infierno for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship and lost. Vampiro's last match for CMLL for two years came on April 3, 2005, where Shocker would defeat him. In 2007, Vampiro would return to CMLL for a second time where he competed for only a few months.

World Wrestling Council (2002)
In 2002 Vampiro Toured in Puerto Rico for Puerto Rican Promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC) Where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2001, 2006–2007)
On August 26, 2001, he would start his first tour of All Japan Pro Wrestling lasting only a month where he would participate in mostly opening card matches and very few TV tapings. Vampiro would return in October, 2006 to participate in World's Strongest Tag Determination League 2001 and would team up with George Hines, the team would only win one match and draw another leaving them with three points and not enough to win progress to the semi-final. Vampiro would go on two more tours of AJPW one in September 2006 and the second April 2007. In his last match for the promotion, Vampiro teamed up with The Great Muta to take on Taiyo Kea and Toshiaki Kawada for the World Tag Team Championship and lost.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)
September 17, 2003, Vampiro made his TNA debut costing Raven a Hair vs Hair" match against Shane Douglas. On September 19, Vampiro defeated CM Punk in an "Open Challenge" match. Then on October 1, Vampiro teamed with Sinn and Slash to face 3Live Kru (Konnan, Ron Killings, BG James) with the match ending in a DQ. The next week, Vampiro attacked Raven and tried to hang him but Raven was saved by the Gathering. The following week, Vampiro and Slash defeated CM Punk & Julio Dinero. On October 29, Vampiro faced Raven in a "Blood Gallows of Retribution" match where he lost. This was Vampiro's final match with TNA.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling (2001–2002, 2008)
Hodgkinson had a short stint in the American hardcore promotion Xtreme Pro Wrestling. Hodgkinson had a notably stiff match with Kaos during XPW's Cold Day in Hell.

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2005–2013, 2015–2020, 2022-present)
In 2005, he jumped from CMLL to their rival promotion AAA with Shocker and various other CMLL talents. While at AAA, both he and Konnan held booking positions. During that time,  he stated that he had no plans to return to TNA or work for WWE. He stated in interviews with the UK's Power Slam Magazine that he had no objection to joining TNA - although he suspected it would not happen due to the presence of Sting on their roster. On April 3, 2005, Vampiro returned to the AAA ring in a six-man tag match. Vampiro would team up with Shocker to help him deal with Abismo Negro and Cibernético after Cibernético attacked Shocker's father. In his two years with AAA, Vampiro would mainly appear on TV show tapings and rarely competed at house shows.

In April 2008, Vampiro made his return to AAA by challenging El Mesias to a match at TripleMania XVI. The match took place on June 13, 2008, in Mexico City, Mexico. The two fought each other in a Hardcore match which ended in a draw. Vampiro defeated Konnan at Rey de Reyes (2009) with the help of Marco Corleone. At Triplemania XVII Vampiro represented Team AAA in a match where they defeated Konnan's La Legión Extranjera to regain control over AAA and force Konnan out of the company. On April 17, 2010, Vampiro turned rudo and aligned himself with El Zorro of La Legión Extranjera. On August 15, 2010, at Verano de Escandalo Vampiro unsuccessfully challenged Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA Mega Championship in a three-way match, which also included Silver King. After not appearing for the promotion again for four months, Hodgkinson gave his notice and quit AAA on December 20, 2010.

In January 2011, Vampiro was a guest at WrestleReunion 5 in Los Angeles, California.

Vampiro returned to AAA on December 16, 2011, at Guerra de Titanes, saving El Mesías from La Sociedad and pledging his loyalty to the promotion. Vampiro then started feuding with La Sociedad member Chessman. On October 7 at Héroes Inmortales, Vampiro and Joe Líder defeated Abyss and Chessman to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship. On December 2 at Guerra de Titanes, Vampiro lost his hair to Chessman in a six-way steel cage Lucha de Apuestas, which also included Cibernético, Dr. Wagner Jr., L.A. Park and El Hijo del Perro Aguayo. On May 22, 2013, Vampiro and Líder were stripped of the AAA World Tag Team Championship.

On May 24, 2015, Vampiro, along with Matt Striker, served as one half of the English language commentators for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide's Lucha Libre World Cup internet pay-per-view.

On February 17, 2017, Vampiro was named AAA's Director of Talent.

In the summer of 2017, Taya was stripped of her AAA Reina de Reinas Championship for an unknown reason. She later posted a comment on Twitter saying she was "backstabbed by AAA" and announced that she was no longer a part of the AAA Roster. At a TV taping, Sexy Star returned and defeated Big Mami, Lady Shani, Faby Apache, Goya Kong and La Hiedra for the title. Taya later stated she had lost all respect for Sexy Star which started a shoot feud between Johnny Mundo (Taya's husband) and Taya and Kevin Kross. With Mundo and Vampiro having heated conversations backstage, Vampiro chose Texano Jr. to face Mundo for AAA Mega Championship, with Mundo coming out victorious. At a Triplemanía XXV press conference, Vampiro announced that Mundo would face El Hijo del Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the AAA Latin American, World Cruiserweight and Mega Championships.

In May 2020, he announced he would leave AAA.

Wrestling Society X (2007)
On January 26, 2007, he was featured in a pilot for a new wrestling show produced for MTV called Wrestling Society X. He competed in a 10-man Battle Royal Death match, eventually securing one of two contracts earning him a shot at the inaugural Wrestling Society X Championship against 6-Pac (Sean Waltman). He won the WSX Championship, on the February 6th episode, after sending Waltman into an exploding coffin with a Tombstone piledriver.

Vampiro was involved in a what MTV claimed was a controversial angle which led to MTV canceling the fourth WSX show, due to air on Tuesday, February 20. In the (pre-taped) show, he was the recipient of a fireball to the face thrown by Ricky Banderas which resulted in Vampiro's head momentarily catching fire. The footage has since been leaked onto the internet. Later in his debut WSX match, Ricky Banderas defeated Vampiro to claim the WSX Championship.

In addition to appearing as an on-screen talent, Vampiro held a backstage position as the main booker.

Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2000, 2011–2013, 2021-2022)
On February 23, 2011, Vampiro officially came out of retirement and returned to Juggalo Championship Wrestling as both a wrestler and a company consultant. He raised hopes of developing talent, taking the company international, and, more specifically, bringing it to Latin America. At Monster's Island, he was placed in a rivalry with giant wrestler Kongo Kong. Raven interfered in the match and attacked Vampiro, resulting in him losing by pinfall. Vampiro lost his rematch with Kong at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's first internet pay-per-view Hatchet Attacks. On August 14, Vampiro took on Corporal Robinson for the JCW Heavyweight Championship at Bloodymania V which Vampiro lost. Vampiro returned August 12, 2012, defeating Colt Cabana at Bloodymania 6. On August 11, 2013, Vampiro made his return at Bloodymania 7 teaming with 2 Tuff Tony defeating The Boogeyman and Kongo Kong.

Lucha Underground (2014–2018)
On September 5, 2014, it was announced Vampiro signed with Lucha Underground as the color commentator for the English and Spanish-language airings. He made his in-ring debut for the promotion at the Ultima Lucha tapings on April 19, 2015, where he was defeated by Pentagón Jr. It was revealed after the match that he is the master of Pentagon Jr. In a podcast interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vampiro revealed that he wasn't supposed to be Pentagon Jr's opponent at Ultima Lucha but after Pentagon Jr's original opponent backed out of the match, Vampiro went up to creative and requested to work the match with Pentagon Jr. and put him over because of how over Pentagon Jr. is with the fans despite being portrayed as a villain.

The following season Vampiro would mentor Pentagon until Ultima Lucha Dos where Pentagon (now renamed Pentagon Dark) turned on Vampiro saying that "he was the master now".

During season 3 of Lucha Underground, Vampiro started mentoring Prince Puma.

During Ultima Lucha Tres Vampiro turned on brand new champion Prince Puma during his match against Pentagon Dark.  Thus costing Puma his belt and his Lucha Underground career, as well as pairing him back up with Pentagon Dark.

National Wrestling Alliance (2023)
In March 2023, Vampiro made his National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) debut, when he and Blue Demon Jr. challenged La Rebelión (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf) for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

On June 3 at Crockett Cup, Vampiro returned to NWA assisting La Rebelión against Flippin' Psychos (Flip Gordon and Fodder) in the second round of the Crockett Cup.

Personal life
Hodgkinson grew up in a single parent home with his mother and two younger sisters. Hodgkinson is divorced from Kitsu with a daughter named Dasha, whose godfather is Norman Smiley.

The documentary film Vampiro: Angel, Devil, Hero was produced by Odessa Filmworks and Zed Jamaica and screened in Canada on November 12, 2008.
He was involved in a relationship with Mexican actress Stephanie Salas and Mexican/US rock singer and songwriter Ana Sidel, co-star of the movie The Dead Sleep Easy. He has a tattoo on his left arm that reads "Mexico City", where he had many of his matches. He is fluent in Spanish.

During the height of his wrestling career in Mexico, Hodgkinson starred in an action film entitled Guerrero De La Noche, which was similar to the El Santo films of the 1960s and 1970s. He has also made a cameo appearance on Vanilla Ice's Bi-Polar as well as recording an intro to Psychopathic Records Twiztid's "Maniac Killa".

In July 2009 Hodgkinson reportedly had a break-in at his house; he got startled and jumped 15 feet to the ground from his bedroom window, which broke his back. In a letter posted on the JCW website in 2012, Hodgkinson revealed that he had a brain tumor and stomach cancer.

Hodgkinson has stated his interest in world religions, particularly occult religions such as voodoo and vampirism. Hodgkinson also claims that two spirits from Guatemala are presently following him as the result of an unfinished ritual. Vampiro has since revealed that he eventually had an exorcism performed on him to have the spirits removed.

On July 5, 2017, Hodgkinson revealed via Facebook he has been a victim of identity theft and cyber hacking for 8 years. On April 12, 2019, Hodgkinson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Other media
Vampiro was featured in the video game WCW Backstage Assault, Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood and Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring.

As of 2011, Hodgkinson made occasional appearances on the Mexican show Extranormal, which deals with paranormal activities in the world. He made his acting debut in La Mujer de Judas, 2012 telenovela produced by TV Azteca. Hodgkinson also appeared on Fuse's ICP Theater as a heckler to the Insane Clown Posse.

Music
Vampiro made his debut on the album FREEKSHOW by the band Twiztid on the track "Maniac Killa" where he recorded the introduction of the song.
On the Insane Clown Posse album Forgotten Freshness Vol.3 the spitball recording for that intro on the Twiztid album was released as one of the gag tracks on the cd.
In 2006, Hodgkinson formed the industrial metal band Droch Fhoula. In January 2007 Carpatos Records released the band's debut maxi-single Alter Deus. A year later in June 2008, the band released its first 6-track EP under the same title of the single.

Championships and accomplishments
Lucha Libre AAA World Wide
AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joe Líder
Rey de Reyes (2006)
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship1 (1 time)
Federacion Internacional de Lucha Libre
FILL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Fiend Wrestling Germany
FWG Championship (1 time)
International Wrestling Association
IWA Hardcore Championship (4 times)
International Wrestling Revolution Group
IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Juggalo Championship Wrestling
JCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
Nu-Wrestling Evolution
NWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 31 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000
Ranked No. 216 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003
Universal Wrestling Association
UWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Great Muta
World Wrestling Council
WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Society X
WSX Rumble (shared with 6-Pac)
WSX Championship (1 time)

1Even though CMLL still uses the NWA initials in the title's name, the National Wrestling Alliance itself no longer recognizes or sanctions the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship since CMLL is no longer an NWA affiliated promotion.

Luchas de Apuestas record

Notes

References

External links
Vampiro's Official Website
Vampiro on Twitter

Droch Fhoula official website
OWW Profile

1967 births
Canadian expatriates in Mexico
Canadian male professional wrestlers
Canadian occultists
Goth subculture
Living people
People with Alzheimer's disease
Professional wrestlers from Ontario
Professional wrestlers who use face paint
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Sportspeople from Thunder Bay
20th-century professional wrestlers
21st-century professional wrestlers
AAA World Tag Team Champions
NWA World Light Heavyweight Champions
WWC Universal Heavyweight Champions
UWA World Heavyweight Champions
WCW World Tag Team Champions

Vampiro


Kevin Clark (born May 31, 1958) is an assistant men's basketball coach at the Towson University.  He is probably most well known for his stint as the interim head coach at St. John's during the 2003–2004 season.

Clark was hired by Mike Jarvis as an assistant at George Washington in 1994, and followed him to St. John's in 1998.  In December 2003, Jarvis was fired after a 2-4 start, and Clark was named as his replacement for the rest of the season. Under Clark, the Red Storm were fairly competitive in their first eight Big East Conference games, despite losing each one.

However, the season came unraveled on February 4, after a loss to Pittsburgh. Six players broke curfew and went to a club in downtown Pittsburgh. They took a woman they met there back to the team hotel for sex. Ultimately, one player was expelled, another withdrew from school, another was suspended from school for at least one year, two others were kicked off the team for the rest of the season and another was suspended for two games.  School officials did not hold Clark responsible for the incident.

After team captain Andre Stanley was declared academically ineligible, the Red Storm were cut down to only eight players, including four walk-ons.  Ultimately, the Red Storm finished 6-21, including a 1-15 record in Big East play—the worst season in the program's history.

References

1958 births
Living people
Basketball coaches from Connecticut
Basketball players from Connecticut
Clark Cougars men's basketball coaches
Clark Cougars men's basketball players
Fairfield Stags men's basketball coaches
George Washington Revolutionaries men's basketball coaches
Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball coaches
Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches
Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut
St. John's Red Storm men's basketball coaches
Towson Tigers men's basketball coaches

Kevin Clark (basketball)


Full BASIC, sometimes known as Standard BASIC or ANSI BASIC, is an international standard defining a dialect of the BASIC programming language. It was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3.60 group in partnership with the European ECMA. It describes an advanced version of BASIC with many features including structured programming, matrix math, input/output for file handling, and many other options.

ANSI's BASIC standardization was a two-stage process. The first, carried out as Minimal BASIC starting in 1974, was an effort to clearly define and standardize the original Dartmouth BASIC language so it could be correctly implemented on different platforms. After its release in late 1977, attention turned to Full BASIC which would be based on the more powerful Structured BASIC being developed at Dartmouth College. The complexity of the system and the many additions promoted by members of the standards committee led to the effort bogging down and the first draft standard was not ready until 1986, four years late.

The standard was ratified on 26 June 1986 as ECMA-116 and January 1987 as ANSI X3.113-1987. It was completely ignored; the microcomputer revolution had occurred while the specification was being argued over, and by the early-1980s Microsoft BASIC running on tens of millions of home computers had already come and gone. Watching the process drag on, the Dartmouth participants left to produce True BASIC based on parts of the standard, but this saw little use. De facto standards like Microsoft's dominated the market and formed the basis for newer languages like Microsoft Visual Basic which incorporated similar concepts.

History

Minimal BASIC

The introduction of Dartmouth BASIC in 1964 combined a number of emerging concepts in the computer field, including timesharing and direct interaction with the user, known at the time as a "conversational interface". General Electric, who supplied the GE 235 mainframe computer it ran on, used a modified version of Dartmouth's system to start a service bureau which would eventually evolve into the GEnie online service. Many other companies, Tymshare and CompuServe notable among them, quickly introduced hosted BASIC services of their own, following the Dartmouth model.

In 1968, Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced the HP 2000 series minicomputers, which offered the same features of the earlier mainframe systems in a rack-mount system that could be configured in a complete form for around $100,000 (). Their HP Time-Shared BASIC had a number of differences from Dartmouth, and these were soon copied by other mini vendors like Data General. One holdout was Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), who did not introduce a BASIC of their own design until 1972. This version, BASIC-PLUS was different from either the HP or Dartmouth dialects. By the early 1970s where were three major dialects and dozens of minor variations being used in the market.

In January 1974 a new group formed under the ANSI umbrella to define a single standard BASIC. The Dartmouth team formed a core part of the group. Dartmouth was working on a greatly expanded version of BASIC known as Structured BASIC (SBASIC) which became the basis for ANSI. At the time, few other dialects supported its many new features. The group decided that a complete standard based on SBASIC would take some time to agree on, so the ANSI BASIC effort was split into two milestones. The first, Minimal BASIC, would produce a standard that included only the most basic features that would be required of any implementation. Even long-supported features from Dartmouth like matrix math would be left out. The draft standard for Minimal BASIC was released in January 1976, the final draft in July 1977, and it was ratified that December. Arthur Luehrmann, a physicist from Dartmouth College who was a proponent of BASIC and part of the ANSI group later stated:

"X3J2's first few years were spent (in hindsight, some might say 'wasted') on standardizing what amounts to the original 1964 Dartmouth Basic... Minimal Basic was more a toy than an actual language."

Full BASIC
The group then turned their attention to Full BASIC. By this time the microcomputer revolution was in full flight, and millions of machines running Microsoft BASIC or a similar BASIC were entering the market. In spite of this, none of the participants were microcomputer vendors or suppliers. Instead, the participants remained mainframe vendors like IBM, Control Data and General Electric, minicomputer vendors like Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Data General and Wang Laboratories, and other very large companies like 3M, American Express and Kodak.

The effort immediately ran afoul of the second-system effect as every member began to add their own list of "must have" features. Some wanted the language to continue the tradition of being aimed at educational uses running on small machines and desired a simple language with only rudimentary file support and similar features. Others were mainframe users that wanted to support loadable modular programs and other expansive programming features to compete with languages like COBOL or FORTRAN while offering better string manipulation. A third group was primarily interested in business applications, especially European users where BASIC had become a primary business language, and they demanded the system include extensive file handling and decimal math that did not suffer from rounding problems.

John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz, the original designers of BASIC and members of the ANSI group, were critical of the process. In a 1982 article, Kurtz wrote about how even seemingly small issues had turned into major controversies. He used the example of the  statement. When arrays were first added to BASIC, they started at index 1, such that  made an array with three slots, 1, 2 and 3. In some cases, an index 0 is more natural, so  was added in later versions of the Dartmouth code so the same definition would have four slots, 0 to 3. During Minimal, there was continual debate about what the default base should be, and 0 was finally selected. Five years later, during the Full efforts, it was decided that arrays could define any lower bound using new syntax, . This eliminated the demand for  and the decision was made to change the default to 1 again.

Initially, the X3.60 group was targeting a summer 1982 date for the first technical review copy, which would be sent to the ANSI X3 committee in the fall. During this period the proposed standard would be sent out, and comments from the public would be accepted. The final draft would be sent back to X3 in 1983 for ratification that year. This proved rather optimistic. The first draft was not released until January 1985 and the final draft in 1986 for ratification in January 1987. During this time, the standard grew so large that it was ultimately split into a core module and five optional add-ons, which included complex file handling, real-time computing support, fixed decimal math, optional editing commands and even a platform-independent graphics module.

The result was criticized during the public comment period. One reviewer noted it had grown so large that "the resulting language rivals any current programming language in complexity" and that "conforming to the entire standard would compare with the most substantial compiler projects ever attempted". It goes on to describe, for instance, how there are no less than five different ways to describe a subroutine, three to define a string's maximum length and two ways to define an array. Referring to the issue of array bounds, it is noted that the committee agreed the adopted solution was "intolerable" and made plans to fix it "later".

There is no evidence that any of the participants actually built a conforming version after the release of the standard and any mention of ongoing effort promptly disappears. From 1987, the only mentions of the standard are that it exists and that True BASIC encompassed some of its features. Additionally, with millions of micros running some variation of MS's defacto standard by this point, the new ANSI standard was seen as the non-standard solution. Much of the original success of BASIC on the micro platforms was that it allowed programs to be typed in from printed source code, but by the mid-1980s this had been replaced by shrinkwrap applications and the need for BASIC as a distribution system had faded. On the large-systems side, the original use as a teaching language was being increasingly replaced by Pascal, as the external problems BASIC aimed to address, like interactivity and online editing, were now available in most systems.

True BASIC
The standards process was so slow that even the author of Structured BASIC eventually gave up on it. Stephen Garland was asked to prepare a series of College Board tests for high school students, and wrote them in Pascal instead. This was somewhat controversial given that many computers in wide use, like the Commodore 64 and TRS-80 did not have a full implementation of Pascal. Luehrmann, was critical of the effort, suggesting a more general course that would be applicable to more students.

It became clear to the Dartmouth participants in the ANSI group that the effort had no hope of being completed in any reasonable time period. They left the effort and started a new company to bring their version of the language to market as True BASIC. True BASIC combined many of the features of the core standard but also made a number of changes of its own. Among the most notable was that line numbering was now optional. The language was not well received, with many reviews expressing the same concerns about feature bloat that had been raised about the Full BASIC standard. Jerry Pournelle derided it as "madness" and John Dvorak dismissed it as "sad" and "doomed to failure."

Description

Program editing
Like previous versions of BASIC, Full BASIC was designed to work in a line editor environment and thus uses line numbers to indicate individual or ranges of lines to be edited or removed. Line numbers could range from 1 to 50,000, in contrast to Minimal which was 0 through 9999. This meant that valid Minimal programs using line 0 were invalid in Full. Logical lines were at least 132 characters long. Logical lines could be extended across several physical lines using the "continuation character", the ampersand. Unfortunately, the ampersand was also selected as the string concatenation operator, which complicated the parser.

Additional editing commands included  and , which by this time were common on newer microcomputer dialects. A new concept was , which copied a range of lines into a new file and deleted them from the original program, allowing them to be extracted to a subprogram. These could then be invoked using the  command.  could also include an optional  followed by a list of parameters, in which case it was expected to return a value in a variable with the same name as the program (see "Structure", below).

Basic functionality
Many of the commonly used keywords found in Minimal or other dialects remained; , ,  and  for instance. There were numerous minor changes to these commands. For instance, at edit time keywords can be typed in upper or lower case, or any mixture. As was the case in the past, they were normally displayed in uppercase, while a new convention was to use snake case for multi-character variable names.

Dartmouth BASIC introduced the  statement for in-line comments and this was universally supported in other dialects. Many dialects also added a short-form, most commonly using the single-quote, , as seen in Microsoft BASIC. For Full, they selected the exclamation mark,  for this role, although there appears to be no reason not to use the single quote as it is not otherwise used - strings do not allow single-quote delimiters for instance. A more controversial change was that the  keyword was now required for all assignments in order to make the parsing simpler, whereas in every other dialect   was optional. This included Minimal, so any Minimal code using this short-cut was incompatible with Full.

On top of the relatively small set of 23 keywords and 11 functions from Minimal, Full added dozens of its own, for a total of 176 keywords (defining 161 separate concepts), 38 mathematical functions and 14 string functions if all extensions were included. A simple list of the keywords, laid out in three columns, fills two pages in the standards document.

Structure
The major difference between Full and Minimal was the addition of block-oriented structured programming constructs. In Minimal, and most BASIC interpreters, the program logically consisted of independent lines of code and one could start execution at any point by ing any line number. The only exception to this rule was the  loop, where all of the lines from the FOR to NEXT were logically considered to be a single block of code. Branching into or out of a FOR block would result in odd behaviour, typically implementation dependant but generally some form of error like "NEXT WITHOUT FOR".

In Full, branching into a FOR...NEXT block is not allowed, nor is branching out without using the  statement. Implementations were supposed to check for such statements and disallow them, for instance, finding cases where to code ed into a loop. Checking for such code is difficult in an interpreter which normally examines the program line-by-line; checking for branches into a block from other code in the program would normally require whole-program parsing like a compiler.

In Full, several existing keywords were extended, and others added, to provide additional block structures. Notable was the multi-line , which allowed multiple lines of code to run if the condition was met or failed.  was added to make decision trees, which formerly would have been implemented using the  or multiple s to select a line to run.  loops remained as they were in Minimal, but a new  was added with top tested  and bottom tested  varieties. All loops could now be safely exited using the  and  commands.

On top of these changes to the block structures, Full also added keywords for defining procedures, functions and program blocks. Programs as a whole were now opened with the optional  keyword followed by a program name, and ended, as before, with . Routines could be constructed with  and called using . Multi-line functions were created with  and did not declare a return type as that was part of the name - string function names ended with the dollar sign. The return value was provided by setting a variable to the same name as the function, for instance, a function named "DOIT" would contain a line like . Functions could call other functions and themselves, meaning that the language was naturally recursive. Full also retained the earlier style of one-line function definitions using the  keyword, but removed the requirement for the function name to start with "FN". For instance, .

In previous BASICs, there was no concept of scope and all variables were global. This is not adequate for the construction of large modular programs, as one section of code may have been written using common variable names like  and might change the value of that variable. As the variable is global, it retains the modified value when it returns to the original code. A key concept of structured programming is the local variable, which holds its value separate from other variables with the same name in other locations in the composite program. As BASIC did not have the concept of scope, many programs relied on the global behaviour and used variables to pass information in and out of subroutines. To allow both concepts in the new language, Full BASIC added the  keyword that could be added to a function or subroutine and made any variables within in local. As BASIC programs generally placed subroutines at the end of the program's source code, the  keyword was added to provided forward declarations.

Data types and variables
Full BASIC introduced long variable names, finally breaking free of the single letter or letter-digit names of the past. It set the new limit at 31 characters. One minor downside to this change was that keywords had to have spaces between them, whereas most earlier versions allowed the spaces to be left out. This was because with single-letter names a line like  can be parsed as "FORS", which can not possibly be a variable in a two-letter variety of BASIC. In Full, this would have to be typed  because "FORS" is a valid variable name. As was the case in earlier BASICs, data types in Full were denoted by suffixes on the variable name. Minimal had avoided this issue by only having numeric variables, but Full included strings as well, denoted using the dollar-sign, for instance .

Full BASIC required decimal math for the default implementation of the floating point system. As this was not universally supported in hardware, especially on minis and micros, it also added the  which indicates that math should be carried out using the system's default floating point implementation, whatever that may be. It can be returned to BCD mode with . This is in addition to the fixed-point math option, if installed. Numeric and string variables otherwise worked like those in other BASICs.

A new addition was the fixed-point math extension, which allowed variables to have specified accuracy. This was turned on using the command  followed by an asterisk and a format specifier, for instance,  would set all numeric variables to have 8 digits of accuracy and two decimal places. Such a declaration must be placed before any mathematics code in the rest of the program. Furthermore, any single variable could be individually defined using something like .

Most BASICs supported the construction of array variables using the  keyword, for instance,  defines two arrays, the single-dimension A and two-dimension (matrix) B. In Full BASIC, the lower bound of any array was normally 1, so in this case, the variable A has five "slots", numbered 1 though 5. Using  above this declaration would add another slot at index 0. Full also added a new system to directly specify the lower and upper bounds using the  keyword, for instance,  which makes a one-dimensional 101-slot array. To further confuse matters,  could also be used to create arrays; the same dimensions as the last example could be created with .

Mathematics, logic and matrices
The list of supported math operators included all of those from Minimal, , , ,  and . The new  function returns the remainder of an integer division. The list of logical operators was expanded, ,  and  had been removed from Minimal and now re-added, and the alternative forms of comparison operators were added, ,  and .

The list of primary built-in functions remained similar to previous versions of BASIC, including common examples like  or .  Trig functions were expanded to include , , , ,  and . The new  function returned the angle between the origin and a given X,Y point. BASIC normally calculated angles in radians, but  would convert all parameters and outputs to degrees, and the system exposed the  function which was used in these conversions and elsewhere.

Dartmouth BASIC had introduced matrix operations relatively early in its evolution, and these were part of Full. These overload the existing math functions, so one can multiply two arrays using  or multiply the contents of an array by a scalar if the B parameter is not an array. The system also adds several array-only functions, which includes o, ert and erminate, among others. The addition of matrix math also requires modification of existing keywords like  and , which output or input multiple elements as needed to fill the array parameter.

Matrixes may be redimensioned as part of a  by specifying the new bounds, like . The new dimensions must have a total number of elements equal or smaller than the original , so in this example if the original definition was , the input would cause an error.

Strings
Early versions of Dartmouth BASIC did not include string variables or manipulation, the only strings in a program were constants like . Version 4, of 1968, added string variables and a single method to manipulate them, , which converted strings to and from an array containing the ASCII values of the characters. For instance,  would produce an array of values in A, where A(0) was 72, the decimal ASCII value for "H". This made string manipulation fairly difficult, for instance, to extract the "HELLO" from "HELLO, WORLD!", one would have to:

10 A$="HELLO, WORLD!"
20 DIM A(25), B(5)
30 CHANGE A$ TO A
40 FOR I=1 TO 5
50 B(I)=A(I)
60 NEXT I
70 CHANGE B TO B$

Many dialects of BASIC had added their own methods of performing more useful string manipulation to avoid such complication. For Full BASIC, the committee selected a variation on the concept introduced by HP, "string slicing". This concept treats the string as an array of characters and can access them using an array-like specification known as a "slice". To extract "HELLO" from "HELLO, WORLD" in Full, one would use . The concept is similar to that of , but this method produces results that are themselves strings, not numeric values, and thus one can  to produce "HELLO". One significant difference between Full's approach and previous ones like HP is that it used a different syntax for the slicing, whereas the earlier systems used array syntax. For instance, in HP, the equivalent line is . As this is the same syntax as array accesses, HP (and similar) generally did not allow string arrays, whereas this was allowed in Full.

This approach should be contrasted with the solution selected by DEC, the use of functions that return new strings, ,  and . This was the solution picked up by Microsoft when they wrote their BASIC on the PDP-10. Converting between the two can be error prone, to perform the equivalent of , Full would use .

Input/Output
Another area of focus for Full BASIC was input/output (I/O). Minimal BASIC's only I/O was the  and  commands and the ability to hard-code data using the  statements and  it. Almost all practical dialects added  and  to create a "channel" that was then used to refer to that particular file or device.

 now included an optional , followed by a string, a colon and then the input variables, for instance . By this time almost all BASICs included a similar feature without the word  and using the existing print separator semicolon instead of colon, for instance in MS BASIC the same line would be . On top of this, Full also added the new  and  keywords: , which will continue execution after 30 seconds even if the user enters nothing, and will put the time it took, possibly the 30 seconds, into the variable T. For systems lacking a clock (which was not uncommon at the time), T would always return -1.

ing was similarly expanded with the optional  statement, which had already appeared on a number of implementations. The  was normally followed by a format string using number signs, asterisks and percent signs to mark decimal places. The format string could be placed in a string variable and then referred to, or an optional separate line containing a  could be referred to by line number. Full also added new commands to set the printing area,  and . The current values of these various settings (and others) could be returned using . For instance,  followed by  would set J to 30.

Full supported file operations with  and  and a channel number prefixed with a number sign, for instance, . Data can then be written using  and  or  and the new . Additional file handling commands included  and , and all of these commands had numerous options and modes. Much of this stemmed from the different types of physical devices that were still common in the late 1970s, magnetic tape, for instance, could only be accessed sequentially so the new standard offered options for  or , etc. The list of options and their interactions and limitations covers many pages in the standard. For instance, it is possible to  to a file of  type, but not  type, which required .

Exception handling and debugging
Like many BASICs of the era, Full added the  command which would print out line numbers as the program executed. It could also redirect the printing of the line numbers to another device or file using , where #3 was a previously opened channel. It also added the  and related  statement, the latter of which would cause an exception if debugging had previously turned on. Debugging status was limited to a particular program, so it could be turned on in one program and off in a subprogram, for instance.

Additionally, Full added true exception handlers, based on the  block. There were two ways to use this, if the code block started with  the following code was executed as a block and any exception within it would cause it to jump to the  section, which operates similar to an . It can also be used by defining a separate subroutine-like block using  which would then be called by name using . The code could test which exception had occurred using the meta-variables  or the , neither of which needed an .  exited the error handler and returned to the line of the error, while  could be used within the mainline code to ignore errors even within  blocks.

Graphics
Around the same time that Full was being designed, a parallel effort was underway to define the Graphics Kernel System, or GKS. This was offered as one of the optional modules in Full. This added dozens of special keywords like  and  with syntax that did not match that of the other modules in the standard. For instance, the   command turned on clipping to the current viewport such that items drawn outside its boundaries would not be visible; this took a string value instead of a boolean, . Several common image modification commands were added, , ,  and .

As images are often built up from common elements, Full added the new  block structure, which is otherwise similar to a  and invoked with  rather than . The difference is that the output of a picture block can be modified with the modification using . For instance, if one defined a  which produced a circle of radius one, a smaller circle could be drawn and moved to the side with .

Real-time
Full's real-time module added the concept of "parallel sections", through the  keyword. These looked like subroutines (and pictures) but had a number of additional keywords that controlled their invocation. For instance, one could define code that would respond to an  and then cause it to run by issuing a  elsewhere in the code. The messages could invoke multiple handlers using the  ports concept.

The system also allowed these blocks and objects to be connected to external code that would create these messages. One could, for instance, have code that waited on a device that periodically created text output, and then the appropriate handler would automatically be called when new text was available. Because the actual data from such devices tends to be multi-part, not something simple like a string or number, the real-time library also added the ability to define s that could then be read or written as an atomic unit. These were then read and written using the  and  commands, or if the data was , the otherwise similar  and .

Although many real-time programs can be modelled as a system simply responding to external events, it is also common for the program itself to periodically post these events. For this, Full added the  command and the associated  which would pause execution for a given  (a number of seconds) or  (an explicit time-of-day) or until an  was seen.

ECMA vs. ANSI
The ECMA and ANSI standards were not developed jointly but in parallel, though with overlapping committee membership. Conversely, the ISO working group for BASIC did not develop a standard of their own, instead planning to adopt either the ECMA or ANSI standard.

Independently of ANSI, the ECMA committee responsible for the BASIC standard split it in two: ECMA BASIC-1 and ECMA BASIC-2. BASIC-1 included some of the file manipulation system but lacked the exception handling, while BASIC-2 added the full suite of file commands, fixed decimal math and the exception handling system. Additionally, in BASIC-1 all fundamental keywords like  were reserved words which simplified the parser, while in BASIC-2 they followed the ANSI pattern and could be used within user-created subroutines and functions.

The ISO working group had initially planned to use ECMA's standard. Faced with the problem of two different candidate standards, in September 1987 it was directed to develop a single international standard unifying the two. This was accomplished by specifying that compliance to either standard could be claimed as comformance to the ISO standard.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

External links
 Decimal BASIC - a relatively complete implementation of Full BASIC and its graphics modules

BASIC programming language
American National Standards Institute standards
Ecma standards

Full BASIC


The County of Modica was a feudal territory within the Kingdom of Sicily from 1296 to 1812. Its capital was Modica, on the southern tip of the island, although the cities of Ragusa and Scicli housed some government offices for a period. Today it is perpetuated only as a title held by the head of the House of Alba, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 19th Duke of Alba.

History

The Chiaramontes

On 25 March 1296, the Aragonese King Frederick III of Sicily conceded the great County of Modica to Manfredi I Chiaramonte, who fought the Angevin and their king, Charles, and married Isabella Mosca, daughter of the rebel count Federico Mosca.

The king gave the first dynasty of counts many fiefdoms in Agrigento, Caccamo, Licata and Palermo, where they built the Palazzo Chiaramonte, also known as Palazzo Steri; once the residence of the Aragonese-Spanish viceroys of Sicily and later the tribunal of the Inquisition, it now belongs to the University of Palermo. On its ceilings is one of the most important wood-based pictorial cycles of the Italian Middle Ages.

The Chiaramonte family built many castles at Mussomeli, Caccamo, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa and all over Sicily, in a very typical Gothic style.

On the death of King Frederick IV of Sicily, Manfredi III Chiaramonte became viceroy and tried to defend the throne of Sicily from Martin I of Sicily. Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. In 1389 he married Maria of Sicily, who was the only child and daughter of King Frederick IV. In 1392 he returned with Maria to Sicily with a military force and to defeat a group of opposing noblemen. However, the city of Palermo fell and the new King Martin I of Sicily had its governor, Andrea Chiaramonte, son of the late Manfredi, 8th Count of Modica, beheaded on 1 July 1392 in front of his palace in the Marina Square in Palermo.

The Cabreras
A new count was created, i.e. Bernat IV de Cabrera, a Spanish condottiero who conquered Sicily for the new king Martin I. The county of Modica was now bigger and stronger: it included the towns of Scicli, Spaccaforno (today's Ispica), Ragusa, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Comiso, Giarratana, Monterosso Almo and Biscari and the castles of Dirillo and Cammarana. The Count had the faculty to export over three thousand tons of grain per year free of duties from two of his seven ports, Pozzallo, where he built the Cabrera Tower, and Mazzarelli (today called Marina di Ragusa), where a smaller tower was built.

From 1296, the city of Modica was the capital of a "state within a state": the Investiture Diploma for Bernat Cabrera says Sicut ego in regno meo tu in comitato tuo ("You in your county as I in my kingdom"). The county had a Governor, its own tribunals including the Tribunal of Second Instance, and a police force. The cities of the state were ruled by municipal magistracies.

15th century to the present

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the spread of emphyteusis and the privatization of the land by Governor Bernaldo Del Nero made the city of Modica the foremost in the south-east of Sicily. The lower part of Modica grew with churches, high-class palaces and monasteries, until the 1693 earthquake that killed over 60,000 people in Sicily from Catania to Syracuse and destroyed numerous buildings. The Late Baroque architecture of Val di Noto is the result of reconstruction following the earthquake.

On 5 March 1607, Vittoria Colonna Enriquez-Cabrera, Countess of Modica, daughter of the Viceroy Marcantonio Colonna Duke of Tagliacozzo and wife of Count Ludovico III Enriquez-Cabrera, founded the new city of Vittoria, now the second most populous city in the province of Ragusa.

Pasquale Enríquez de Cabrera died childless in 1740, and the title passed to his sister Maria Enríquez de Cabrera, who was unmarried and also childless. With her death in 1742 two years later, the House of Enríquez-Cabrera became extinct and by statutes of succession the county passed to María Teresa Álvarez de Toledo, 11th Duchess of Alba, the great-granddaughter of Juan Gaspare Enríquez de Cabrera, 10th Count of Modica. Hereby the county came into possession of the House of Alba, and the title is since then held in succession by the Dukes of Alba of its three cadet houses: first the House of Álvarez de Toledo (extinct in 1755), secondly the House of Silva (extinct in 1802), and thirdly the House of FitzJames-Stuart (extant).

However, by the time of these dynasties, the title of Count was meaningless and carried little power, and Modica governed itself. This situation continued until the 18th century, when Sicily was ruled by the Austrian Empire. Then, in the late 18th and early 19th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Sicily, ruled from Naples (this kingdom changed its name to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). Finally, after the Risorgimento it was unified with the rest of Italy, as it is today.

As head of the House of Alba, the title is currently held by Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 19th Duke of Alba, who is the 22nd Count of Modica.

List of Counts of Modica

First Creation in 1296

House of Chiaramonte

Second Creation in 1392

House of Cabrera

House of Enríquez-Cabrera (also Admirals of Castile)

House of Alba

References

States and territories disestablished in 1812
Kingdom of Sicily
Italian states
Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy
States and territories established in 1296
County of Modica

County of Modica


The Lesser Sunda Islands (or Nusa Tenggara) are a group of islands in southern Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands. The islands belong to Indonesia and East Timor.

The Sunda Islands are part of a volcanic arc, the Sunda Arc. This arc is formed by subduction along the Java Trench in the Java Sea.

Administration
The Lesser Sundas are made up of many islands. Most of these islands are part of Indonesia. The islands that are part of Indonesia are governed as the provinces of Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and southern part of Maluku.

The eastern half of Timor, is part of East Timor.

Geology

In the Lesser Sunda Islands there are two geologically different groups of islands. The northern group is volcanic. It is made up of Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Wetar. Some of the volcanoes, like Mount Rinjani on Lombok, are still active. However, there are some other volcanoes, such as Kelimutu on Flores, which are extinct. The northern group of islands started forming during the Pliocene, about 15 million years ago. They formed because of the collision between the Australian and the Asian tectonic plates.

The southern group of islands include Sumba, Timor and Babar. They are not volcanic and are probably part of the Australian plate.

Since colonial times in Indonesia, people have been studying the geographical history of the islands. However, we still do not fully understand how the islands were formed. Ideas of how the islands were formed changed in many ways during the last decades of the 20th century.

At the point where two tectonic plates collide, the Lesser Sunda Islands are some of the most geologically complex and active regions in the world. There are several volcanoes located on the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Ecology

The Lesser Sunda Islands are different from the large islands of Java or Sumatra because it is made of many small islands. These small islands are sometimes divided by deep oceanic trenches. Because flora and fauna cannot move between the islands easily, there are many localised species like the Komodo dragon because of evolution. In The Malay Archipelago, Alfred Wallace writes about the "Wallace Line" that passes between Bali and Lombok, along the deep waters of the Lombok Strait. In this imaginary line between Bali and Lombok, even when sea levels were lower, the sea stopped flora and fauna from moving between islands. The islands east of the Lombok Strait are part of Wallacea, and have wildlife of Asian and Australasian origin in this region. In the Lesser Sundas, there are many plants and animals that come from Asia, because Weber's Line, which separates the parts of Wallacea that have both Asian and Australasian species, is east of the Lesser Sundas. These islands have the driest climate in Indonesia.

Deciduous forests

Some of the islands east of the Wallace line, from Lombok and Sumbawa east to Flores and Alor, have original vegetation of dry forest and not the rain forest that covers most parts of Indonesia. These islands have been designated by the World Wildlife Fund as the Lesser Sundas deciduous forests ecoregion. The higher slopes of the islands contain forests of tall Podocarpus conifers and Engelhardias with an undergrowth of lianas, epiphytes, and orchids such as Corybas, Corymborkis, and Malaxis (Adder's Mouth). The islands' coastal plains used to be savanna grasses like the savanna with Borassus flabellifer palm trees on the coasts of Komodo, Rincah and Flores. While most of the vegetation on these islands is dry forest there are small areas of rainforest on these islands too, especially in lowland areas and riverbanks on Komodo. There is also a special area of dry thorny forest on the southeast coast of Lombok. Thorn trees used to be more common in coastal areas of the islands but have mostly been cleared.

Man unique species live on the Lesser Sundas. They include seventeen endemic birds (of the 273 birds found on the islands). The endemic mammals are the endangered Flores Shrew (Suncus mertensi), the vulnerable Komodo Rat (Komodomys rintjanus), and Lombok Flying Fox (Pteropus lombocensis), Sunda Long-eared Bat (Nyctophilus heran)  while the carnivorous Komodo dragon, which is the world's largest lizard, is found on Komodo, Rincah, Gili Motang, and the coast of northwestern Flores.

Threats and preservation
More than half of the original vegetation of the islands are cleared. This is because people cleared the forest to grow food, like rice, for settlements or because there were forest fires. Only Sumbawa now contains a large area of intact natural forest, while Komodo, Rincah and Padar are now protected as Komodo National Park.

General observations about small islands that can be applied to Nusa Tenggara include:

 A larger amount of the landmass will be affected by volcanic activity, earthquakes, landslips, and cyclone damage;
 Climates are more likely to be maritime influenced;
 Catchment areas are smaller and amount of erosion higher;
 A higher amount of the landmass is made up of coastal areas;
 A higher amount of environmental specialisation, including a higher proportion of endemic species in an overall Depauperate community;
 Societies may keep a strong sense of culture because they have not been contacted by other people;
 Small island populations are more likely to be affected by economic migration.

Notes

References

Lesser Sunda Islands


Wales Week USA is an annual festival held mainly in New York City around St David's Day, the national holiday of Wales (1 March). The week-long event celebrates modern Wales, focusing in particular on the arts, food and drink, sport, academia and business. The festival also aims to promote the Welsh in America and the contribution they have made to the country. In 2008, Wales Week will run from February 22 to March 1.

History
Wales Week first started in 2003 and has grown in size gradually.  Wales Week 2008 saw the expansion of the Festival beyond New York City, with events also held in Boston, LA and San Francisco.

External links
Wales Week USA website

Parades in New York City
Welsh-American culture in New York (state)

Wales Week in New York


Halsey Stevens (December 3, 1908 – January 20, 1989) was a music professor, biographer, and composer of American music.

Life
Halsey Stevens was born in Scott, New York and educated at Syracuse University and the University of California, Berkeley. He studied with William Berwald at Syracuse and with the composer Ernest Bloch at Berkeley.

Stevens served as a faculty member at Syracuse University (1935–1937), Dakota Wesleyan University (1937–1941), Bradley University (1941–1946), the University of Redlands (1946), and then at the University of Southern California from 1946 until his retirement in 1976. His notable students there included Charles Lloyd, Houston Bright, Benjamin Lees, Morten Lauridsen, and Williametta Spencer.

He died in a Long Beach, California, medical facility on January 20, 1989, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Music
His recorded music includes, in chronological order of composition:
 "Go, Lovely Rose," for mixed chorus (SATB) a cappella (1942)
 Quintet for Flute, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1945)
 Symphony No. 1 (1945)
 Three Inventions for Piano (1948)
 Sonata for French Horn and Piano (1953)
 Triskelion, for orchestra (1953)
 Five Duos for Two Cellos (1954)
 Intrada for Piano (1954)
 "Like as the Culver on the Barèd Bough," for mixed chorus (SSATB) a cappella (1954)
 Partita for Harpsichord (1954)
 The Ballad of William Sycamore, for mixed chorus (SATB) and orchestra (1955)
 Sonata for Trumpet and Piano (1956)
 Sonata Piacevole for recorder and harpsichord (1956)
 Sinfonia Breve, for orchestra (1957)
 Symphonic Dances (1958)
 Sonata for [Unaccompanied] Cello (1958)
 Sonatina for Tuba [or Bass Trombone] and Piano (1960)
 Sonata for Trombone and Piano (1965)
 Campion Suite, for mixed chorus (SATB) a cappella (1967)
 Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra (1969)
along with many other works.

Among his chamber works, Stevens's 1956 trumpet sonata remains a particular favorite, having been commercially recorded by over a half-dozen trumpeters, including Giuseppe Galante, Jouko Harjanne, David Hickman, Wynton Marsalis, Anthony Plog, Scott Thornburg, and George Vosburgh.

A present-day music reviewer, Osvaldo Polatkan, sought in 2008 to convey something of the composer's models, influences, and mature style thus:

Writings

A Bartók scholar and musicologist, Stevens wrote a definitive study of the Hungarian composer, The Life and Music of Béla Bartók (Oxford University Press, 1953; revised edition, 1964). "Mr. Stevens' book... makes one want to rehear the Bartok works in the light of what the author has found in them," observed eminent fellow composer Aaron Copland. "That is praise indeed for any book on music."

Stevens also contributed scholarly articles to Musical Quarterly, The Journal of Music Theory, Music and Letters (London), Tempo (London), Énekszós (Budapest), Musikoloski Zborník (Ljubljana), among other journals.

References

Sources
Composer biography at Halsey Stevens.com. Accessed November 15, 2012.

External links

 Official web site dedicated to Halsey Stevens and his music (published under the Editio Helios colophon); operated by Stevens family members. Accessed November 15, 2012.

1908 births
1989 deaths
20th-century classical composers
American male classical composers
American classical composers
Syracuse University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Syracuse University faculty
Dakota Wesleyan University faculty
Bradley University faculty
University of Redlands faculty
University of Southern California faculty
People from Scott, New York
American writers about music
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Pupils of Ernest Bloch
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American composers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American male musicians
Bartók scholars

Halsey Stevens


Auguste van Biene  (16 May 1849 – 23 January 1913) was a Dutch composer, cellist and actor. He became best known for his composition The Broken Melody, performed by the composer as part of a musical play of the same name.

Van Biene grew up in Rotterdam and displayed a musical interest as a youth. After some private studies with Adrien Francois Servais at the Brussels Conservatory he moved to London to seek work as a performer. Van Biene was discovered by Sir Michael Costa, who hired him to play the cello in his Covent Garden orchestra in November 1867, eventually promoting him to principal cellist.

In 1878 van Biene was a touring musical director for Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy Opera Company, and in the 1880s he conducted successful light operas and Victorian burlesques. By the 1880s he had also become a theatrical manager as well as an actor and playwright. As a cellist he was invited to be an examiner at the Royal Academy of Music in 1884. In 1892 he commissioned, wrote the score for, and starred in a musical play, the highly successful The Broken Melody, in which he toured for many years. He died on 23 January 1913 while on stage at the Brighton Hippodrome.

Early life and career
Van Biene was born Ezechiel van Biene, in Rotterdam, the son of an actor. His parents were Joseph Abraham van Biene and Eva (née van Norden). He showed a musical talent at an early age and studied the cello with Adrien Francois Servais at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1864 he began playing as a section cellist with the Rotterdam Opera House Orchestra.  Three years later, when he was 18, he moved to London to seek work as a performer.

Van Biene found life as a young musician difficult, and he lived for several months in poverty, busking on street corners to pay for rent and food. His fortunes changed when Sir Michael Costa heard him performing on the street in Hanover Square. Costa was so impressed that he hired van Biene to play the cello in his Covent Garden orchestra in November 1867. Over the next 10 years, van Biene performed as the cellist for many different orchestras and eventually became the principal cellist in Costa's orchestra. He never forgot the help Costa had given him, and for the rest of his life he marked the anniversary of their first meeting by playing in the streets of London's West End, raising money for performers' charities.

Van Biene soon earned enough money to buy a cello from the Italian cellist Alfredo Piatti, which he used until 1905. He learnt to conduct and to direct theatre productions. In 1878 he succeeded Hamilton Clarke as musical director for Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy Opera Company in touring productions of The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore.  Carte's former co-directors of the company mounted a rival version of H.M.S. Pinafore in London for which van Biene was the conductor, and which lasted 91 performances. He eventually formed his own opera company, and by the 1880s he had become a theatrical manager as well as an actor and playwright, writing and performing under the name "Henri Tempo". Among his successes as manager were provincial tours of English adaptations of light operas, such as Farnie and Chassaigne's Falka, and Victorian burlesques, such as Lutz, Sims and Pettitt's Faust up to Date and Carmen up to Data. As a cellist he was highly enough regarded to be invited to be an examiner at the Royal Academy of Music in 1884.

The Broken Melody and later years
In 1892 van Biene commissioned and composed incidental music for a three-act play called The Broken Melody by Herbert Keen and James T. Tanner. It was produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre in July, with van Biene taking the lead role of a musician and playing his cello as part of the play. The Times commented, "[T]he combination of music and acting, with, it must be added, plenty of sentiment, proved irresistible to the public." The show was a huge success, and the tune at the core of the work (also called "The Broken Melody") was a particular hit; van Biene claimed to have performed the number in excess of 6,000 times over his career. He varied the pieces he played during the play every night to keep it fresh. Critics were complimentary and called him the "Magician of the Cello." He toured in The Broken Melody through Britain, the United States, South Africa and Australia.

Van Biene marked his return from a tour of America in 1897 by appearing at the Grand Theatre in Hull. A critic for the Hull Daily Mail wrote that the composer "throws his whole soul into the cello, and makes it speak with sweetness, plaintiveness, passion, and excess of sensitive humanity." In 1900 van Biene was awarded a prized Stradivarius cello by the theatrical manager Sir Henry Irving to mark van Biene's 2,000th performance of The Broken Melody. That same year he performed at a private function for the singer Adelina Patti at Craig-y-Nos Castle, again to mark his 2,000th performance. In 1912 van Biene offered a prize for a new piece to complement The Broken Melody. The winner was Albert Ketèlbey, whose work The Phantom Melody became his first major success.

Van Biene died on 23 January 1913 while on stage at the Brighton Hippodrome, playing the cello in the play "The Master Musician", with his son conducting the orchestra. Van Biene was buried in Golders Green Jewish cemetery in London, where among the mourners was the cellist and editor W. H. Squire. Van Biene's epitaph read: "The melody is broken, I shall never write again." (from Act 3 of The Broken Melody).

Recordings

Van Biene made two recordings of The Broken Melody, in 1908 and 1912. Other cellists who recorded the work include John Barbirolli, Beatrice Harrison, Cedric Sharpe and W. H. Squire. Van Biene's only other known recording of his own music is his arrangement of the Jewish prayer Kol Nidre, made in about 1908, with an unidentified pianist. His recordings of works by other composers include Elgar's Salut d'Amour (1907) and Ketèlbey's The Phantom Melody (1912).

Notes

References

1849 births
1913 deaths
19th-century Dutch male actors
Dutch cellists
Dutch composers
Dutch Jews
Jewish composers
Light music composers
Musicians from Rotterdam
Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni
Musicians who died on stage
Burials at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery

Auguste van Biene


Shweta Pandit (born 7 July 1986) is an Indian singer and actress from Bollywood. She is the grand-niece of Indian classical vocalist and Padma Vibhushan awardee, Pandit Jasraj. She has also recorded popular songs for various Telugu and Tamil film songs and many other Indian languages.

Music career
At the young age of 4, Shweta worked with Indian composer, Ilayaraja for the award-winning film Anjali, which was re-recorded in Hindi. She re-dubbed for the lead child in the film and also sang the songs in Hindi, making her one of the youngest singers in the Bollywood Music Industry. She also recorded for legendary tabla player Ustad Zakkir Hussain at the age of 9 for his first film as composer, Saaz.

She had her breakthrough with Yash Raj Films and Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein (2000) with five songs at the age of 14. She was chosen to sing in the film after she auditioned for the final selection amongst several singers. Her notable hits include "Ishq Khudai" from Rudraksh (2003), "Halla Re" from Neal 'n' Nikki (2005), "Chorre ki baatein" from Fight Club (2006), "You're my love" from Partner (2007), "Tera Sarapa" from Welcome (2007), "Bandhane Lagi" from Naach (2005), "Jhini Jhini" from Sarkar Raj (2008), "Raghupati Raghav" from Satyagraha (2011), "Chadha de Rang" from Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011), Thug le" from Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011), "Madhubala" from Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), "Tere Hoke Rahenge" from Raja Natwarlal (2014), and "Heera" from Highway (2014).

Her debut record album Main Zindagi Hoon (2002) released when she was only 16 years old with EMI Virgin Records, India, making her the youngest Indian Pop star. She released 3 videos from this album, featuring herself. Her other pop albums include Aplam Chaplam (2005) featuring Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Strumm Sound Digital released 2 unwind remix videos featuring her, titled "Pyar mein kabhi kabhi" and the Sufi classic "Allah hoo" (2017). Indian TV channel Tata Sky released 2 Indian ghazal videos featuring her in their maiden venture featuring "Main aur meri Awaargi" and "Sukoon-e-dil" (2015).

In 2011, Shweta collaborated with popular Punjabi singer and actor Harbhajan Mann for the song Sun Mere Chann Mahiya for the album Heer Ranjha (OST).

In 2012, Shweta was introduced in the Tamil playback singing industry with a hat trick of releases for composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. Vettai, Billa II and Aadhi Baghavan fetching her the finest reviews for her renditions and also winning awards for the same.

Controversy
As per the reports, music composer Anu Malik harassed Shweta when she was 15 years old.

Awards
Shweta won her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the Telugu hit Kotha Bangaru Lokam (2009), for the song Nenani Neevani, by Mickey J Meyer. She also won the Radio Mirchi Best Female Playback Singer for her first Tamil hit solo Idhayam, from Billa 2 (2012) and the MAA Award for Telugu Best Female Playback Singer for the Nagarjuna starrer Shirdi Sai (2013) for the song Amararaama, composed by M. M. Keeravani.

Television
Her first reality television show as a playback singer in 2008, Mission Ustaad on Channel 9x, was produced by the United Nations and judged by A. R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar. The show was one of the biggest television series presented by the United Nations and had accomplished singers from Bollywood performing together for various causes for the United Nations.

Shweta hosted and presented the television singing show Asia's Singing Superstar (2016) with Pakistani actor Ahsan Khan telecasted in Dubai, Pakistan and several Asian countries, judged by Shankar Mahadevan and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan on ZEE TV and GEO TV.

Shweta hosted the Mirchi Music Awards (2016) with popular singer/host Sonu Nigam as well.

Shweta was invited on Indian Idol - Junior (2015) as a guest artist, singing with the young talents of India.

Shweta was roped in for Mirchi Music Awards (2017) to pay tribute to biggest Indian composer, AR Rahman for completing 25 years in the music industry, her renditions of "Kehna hi kya", "Satrangi Re" and "Haye Rama" at the award night went viral on her YouTube channel with rave reviews.

Popular live performances
In 2009, Shweta Pandit became part as lead vocals/performer for Oscar Award Winner, A R Rahman's – Jai Ho Journey Home Concert – World Tour. Touring as the lead female vocalist, across the globe, including USA, Canada, UK, Europe, UAE, South Africa, Australia and several countries in Asia.

Also featured as the lead female vocalist for the grand IPL (Indian Premiere League) Opening Ceremony 2011 with composer AR Rahman performing the Oscar-winning song "JAI HO" in Mumbai.

Shweta performed Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire with A.R. Rahman at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 10 December 2010 in Oslo, Norway, hosted by Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway, sharing the stage with Jamiroquai, Florence and the machine, India Arie, Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow and Colbie Caillat singing the Michael Jackson hit Man in the Mirror.

Shweta also featured as the lead female vocalist for the grand IPL (Indian Premiere League) Opening Ceremony 2016 with America's Major Lazer, along with Katrina Kaif, Honey Singh, DJ Bravo, Fuse ODG, Ranveer Singh and Jacqueline Fernandez performing their No. 1 Hit "Lean On" to a live television audience of over a billion people across India.

Personal life
In the summer of 2015, Pandit got engaged by the river Seine in Paris and a year later in July 2016, she married Ivano Fucci, an Italian film producer, in a traditional Indian wedding held at Jodhpur. Their wedding video went viral on social media as the best cultural mix wedding seen in recent times. Actors Jackie Shroff & Shruti Hassan were also at the wedding. The couple later had a Tuscan wedding in October 2016.

Pandit delivered her first child, a baby girl named Izana, on 8 February 2020, amid COVID-19 pandemic in Florence, Italy.

Featured AD commercials and acting career
Pandit featured in the Coca-Cola (TVC) featuring Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir and directed by Dibakar Banerjee. Her other commercials include Greelam laminates, directed by National award-winning Ram Madhvani, who praised her for her comic timing in the commercial.

She acted in David, directed by Bejoy Nambiar. It features her in her first acting role in 3 Indian languages, featuring Neil Mukesh, Chiyaan Vikram, Jiiva, Lara Dutta, Tabu and Naasar, who played her father.

She has also acted with Anil Kapoor in 24 (Indian TV series) (2014), directed by Abhiney Deo on Colors channel (Season 1).

In 2015, she did a powerful role as Madhu, with actor Sara Loren in Barkhaa, earning rave reviews for her performance.

In 2018, Shweta did the lead role as Prisha, the lady who plots and plans against her own lover to win his life insurance, abetting him to suicide in crime-thriller Naash which was a 4-episodic web-series on YouTube.

Shweta Pandit Productions released the debut album of her sister Shrradha Pandit's Teri Heer in October 2008, with Sony Music India.

Discography

Hindi

 Sardaar Gabbar Singh (2016) - "Pariyon Si"
 Guddu Ki Gun (2015) - "Reh-bara Ve"
 Raja Natwarlal (2014) - "Tere Hoke Rehengay" (reprise)
 Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (2014) - "Khalifa", "Beqasoor"
 Highway (2014) - "Heera"
 Satya 2 (2013) - "Tu Nahi"
 Zanjeer (2013) - "Katilana"
 Satyagraha (2013) - "Satyagraha"
 David (2013)
 Main Krishna Hoon (2013)
 Cigarette Ki Tarah (2012)
 Chaar Din Ki Chandni (2012)
 Joker (2012)
 Will You Marry Me? (2012)
 Tell Me O Kkhuda (2011)
 Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011)
 Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011)
 Yeh Dooriyan (2011)
 Khap (2011)
 Bhindi Baazaar Inc. (2011)
 Angel (2011)
 Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011)
 Prateeksha (2011)
 Hisss (2010) (Soundtrack artist)
 Hello Darling (2010)
 Antardwand (2010)
 Do Dilon Ke Khel Mein (2010)
 My Friend Ganesha 3 (2010) [Animation]
 3 Nights 4 Days (2009)
 Fast Forward  (2009)
 Vaada Raha (2009)
 Aamras (2009)
 Agyaat (2009)
 Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiya! (2009)
 Kaashh... Mere Hote! (2009)
 Deshdrohi (2008)
 Phoonk (2008)
 Sarkar Raj (2008)
 Welcome (2007)
 Partner (2007)
 Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007)
 Mr. Hot Mr. Kool (2007)
 Shiva (2006)
 Kattputli (2006)
 Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)
 Teesri Aankh: The Hidden Camera (2006)
 Fight Club (2006)
 Neal 'n' Nikki (2005)
 Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005)
 James (2005)
 Iqbal (2005)
 Naach (2004)
 Tauba Tauba (2004)
 Julie (2004)
 Gayab (2004)
 Aetbaar (2004)
 Stumped (2003)
 Nayee Padosan (2003)
 Rudraksh (2003)
 Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002)
 Soch (2002)
 Haasil (2002)
 Ye Kya Ho Raha Hai (2002)
 The Perfect Husband (2002)
 Mohabbatein (2000)
 Raju Chacha (2000)
 Dil Kya Kare (1999)
 Saaz (1998)

Telugu

Tamil

 Pyaar Prema Kaadhal (2018) I will never let you go, Never let me go, It's over Inji Iduppazhagi (2015) Mella Mella"
 Anjaan (2014)
 David (2013)
 Aadhi Bhagavan (2013)
 Billa II (2012)
 Vettai (2012)

Punjabi

 Heer and Hero (2013)
 Viyah 70 km (2013)
 Power Cut (2012)
 Pinky Moge Wali (2012)
 Lagda Ishq Hogaya (2009)
 Heer Ranjha (2009)

Bengali

 Abhimaan (2016) - "Mon Bechara"
 Inspector Notty K (2018) - "Chai Na Kichui"

Dubbing
 High School Musical 2 (2007)
 High School Musical (2006)

Spiritual and Sanskrit devotional albums
 Mahalakshmi with Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj
 Dashavatar with Rattan Mohan Sharma
 Ganesha with Shankar Mahadevan
 Sukh Samriddhi Suraksha with Shrradha Pandit
 Raaz Diyan Gallan with Gurmit Singh
 The Stars'' with Gurmit Singh

References

External links

Living people
Indian women pop singers
Indian women playback singers
Bollywood playback singers
Bengali-language singers
Punjabi-language singers
Tamil playback singers
Telugu playback singers
Filmfare Awards South winners
21st-century Indian women singers
21st-century Indian singers
21st-century Indian actresses
Singers from Mumbai
Women musicians from Maharashtra
1986 births

Shweta Pandit


Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg is a former Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") in the district of Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. On 1 January 2017 it was disbanded, and its member municipalities were divided over the Verbandsgemeinden Rüdesheim and Bad Kreuznach. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde was in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, itself not part of the Verbandsgemeinde anymore since 1 July 2014.

The Verbandsgemeinde Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg consisted of the following Ortsgemeinden ("local municipalities"):

 Altenbamberg
 Duchroth
 Feilbingert
 Hallgarten
 Hochstätten
 Niederhausen
 Norheim
 Oberhausen an der Nahe
 Traisen

Former Verbandsgemeinden in Rhineland-Palatinate

Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg (Verbandsgemeinde)


Choto Shona Mosque (, Small Golden Mosque) is located in Chapai Nawabganj district of Bangladesh. The mosque is situated about  south of the Kotwali Gate and  to the south-east of the Mughal Tahakhana complex in the Firozpur Quarter.

History

The mosque was built during the reign of the Sultan of Bengal Alauddin Husain Shah, between 1493 and 1519. The fifteen domes of the mosque were once gilded, giving the mosque the name of Choto Shona Masjid (Small Golden Mosque). The mosque is one of the best-preserved sultana monuments under protection by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Governments of Bangladesh. The gilding that gave the building its name does not exist anymore. The mosque premise, which covers an area of 42 m from east to west by 43.5 m from north to south, was originally surrounded by an outer wall (now restored) with a gateway in the middle of the east side.

Design

Built of brick and stone, the mosque proper forms a rectangle having outside dimensions of  from north to south and  from east to west. All the four walls are veneered externally and to some extent also internally with granite stone blocks. These stones have disappeared from the southern side of the west wall because of conservation works after the destruction by the earthquake of 1897. The four exterior angles of the building are strengthened with polygonal towers, of which nine facets are visible. The cornices are curvilinear and have stone gutters to drain off the rain water from the roof. There are five arched doorways in the eastern facade and three each on the north and south walls. Corresponding to the five archways in the east wall, there are five semi-circular mihrabs inside the west wall. The stones of most of these mihrabs have disappeared.

The interior of the mosque, measuring , is divided into three aisles by two rows of stone pillars, four in each row. A wide central nave has cut the aisles into halves, each half showing six equal square units with a side of 3.5 m. The nave has three rectangular units, each measuring 3.5 by 4.5 m. The interior of the mosque has therefore a total of fifteen units, of which the three rectangular units are covered with chauchala vaults, and the remaining twelve square units each by an inverted tumbler-shaped dome. They are all carried on radiating arches springing from the free-standing stone pillars and the engaged pilasters. The upper corners in between the arches of the square units are filled with corbelled brick pendentive to make up the phase of transition for the domes. At the northwest corner of the mosque there is a royal gallery forming an upper floor, which is still standing in a dilapidated condition. It was approached from the northwest corner of the mosque through a stepped platform connected with a doorway. The gallery has a mihrab in front.

Stone carving, brick-setting, terracotta, gilding, and glazed tiles were used in decorating the building, and of them the former played the dominant role. The subject matters of the stone carving were chosen according to the demand of the spaces, e.g., the borders of the panels with creepers and their interior with various forms of stylised hanging patterns adapted from the chain-and-bell of the Bauddha and Jaina period. The spandrels of arches and the spaces above the frames are always dotted with rosettes, an attractive form of designs, but are all carved differently. The interior of the domes and vaults are decorated with terracottas, those of the vaults being copies of the bamboo frames of local huts. All the frontal archways and those of the mihrabs are cusped.

Ornamentation

The most important ornamentation of the mosque is to be seen on the frontal courtyard of the mosque, only recently excavated. The ornamentation consists of mosaic roundels in blue and white colours of variegated design. The mosaic design is not in situ, but a roundel has been composed by the excavators, putting the flakes in their appropriate places and exhibiting it in a room attached to the guesthouse nearby. At a distance of 14.5 m to the east of the gateway, there is a stone platform containing two tomb sarcophagi inscribed with verses from the Quran and some names of God. It is unknown who is buried here. Cunningham suggests these are the tombs of Wali Muhammad, the builder of the mosque, and his father Ali.

Current situation
The glamour of the Chhoto Sona Masjid is not there as it was originally, particularly because of the stripping of the decorative mihrabs and the mosque courtyard, but the remains are nevertheless one of the most attractive monuments of Guar-Lakhnauti.

See also
 List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh

References

Further reading

 Husain, A. B. (2007). Architecture – A History Through Ages. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, p. 117 , .
 Abu Sayeed, M. Ahmed (2006) Mosque Architecture in Bangladesh. UNESCO Dhaka. p. 102 .
 The Islamic heritage of Bengal (1984) UNESCO, p. 69 .

Bengal Sultanate mosques
Mosques in Chapai Nawabganj
Architectural history

Choto Sona Mosque


Émile Dantinne (19 April 1884 in Huy – 21 May 1969) was a Belgian philosopher and esotericist.

Member, then leader of several esoteric societies based in Belgium such as 'La Rose+Croix Universitaire' and 'L'Ordre d'Hermès Tétramégiste', he founded in 1934 the F.U.D.O.S.I., or 'Fédération Universelle Des Ordres et Sociétés Initiatiques' (Universal Federation of Initiatic Orders and Societies). By that time he had adopted the esoteric name of Sâr Hieronymus.

The main Esoteric Order in the F.U.D.O.S.I. was the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis also known as A.M.O.R.C., to which Dantinne belonged since the days of his friendship with Grand Master Joséphin Péladan. Dantinne was never a member of AMORC. Neither was Josephin Peladan. The latter was the founder and Grand Master of the Ordre Rose+Croix Catholique. Dantinne was an enthusiastic disciple of Peladan and inherited the mantle of Imperator of the OR+CC when Peladan died, changing its name to the Ordre Rose+Croix Universelle. Dantinne spoke several languages, among which Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Latin and Ancient Greek. He also was an accomplished writer. During his lifetime he published over 30 titles concerning topics such as foreign languages, local history, metaphysics, occultism etc.

References

Belgian occultists
Rosicrucians
1884 births
1969 deaths

Émile Dantinne


The church of St Nicholas in Harpenden is a parish church in the Church of England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Background

It is the oldest known church in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. It was originally built as a Chapel-of-Ease in about 1217, until it was enlarged and the existing tower added in 1470. The old church was demolished in 1861 to make way for a larger building. The tower contains a ring of eight bells, the oldest of which dates from 1612.

Harpenden remained part of the ecclesiastical parish of Wheathampstead until 1859 but was, from the Middle Ages, a separate civil parish with its own officials, who were elected annually at the Abbot's Manorial Court, held at Wheathampstead. In 1862, only three years after the long-sought separation from the parish of Wheathampstead, the church was rebuilt to accommodate the growing congregation.

The church is part of the Parish of Harpenden St Nicholas, a Church of England Parish within the Diocese of St Albans. Within the parish are two daughter churches, All Saints on Station Road in the Batford district to the east of Harpenden, and St Mary's on the northern outskirts. These churches have their own District Committees (as St Nicholas does) and enjoy a degree of autonomy and distinctive styles of worship.

Notable interments
 Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy (1847–1923; spy, buried under the name of Jean de Voilemont)
 Joseph Henry Gilbert (1817–1901; chemist)
 John Bennet Lawes (1814–1900; agricultural scientist)
 Eric Morecambe (1926–1984; comedian and entertainer; ashes)
 Edward John Russell (1872–1965; agricultural scientist)
 Frank O. Salisbury (1874–1962; artist)
 Katherine Warington (1897–1993; botanist)

See also

Saint Nicholas

References

External links
St Nicholas parish website
Diocese of St Albans

Harpenden
Harpenden, Church of St Nicholas
History of Hertfordshire
Tourist attractions in Hertfordshire
Harpenden

St Nicholas Church, Harpenden