The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway, or simply the Parkway, is a movie theater located at 5 West North Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. The Parkway is open as of May 3, 2017, and is the new permanent home of MdFF.  The Maryland Film Festival, a 5-day annual festival created and operated by MdFF, is housed in and around the Parkway and throughout the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

According to Jed Dietz, founding director of Maryland Film Festival, the Parkway was one of the original movie palaces on the east coast and from the day it opened on October 23, 1915 till the day it closed in 1978 it served the community beautifully. It was built in 1915 and was originally intended for vaudeville, and has also been used for a live radio broadcast program named "Nocturne" with Roland Nuttrell playing the Wurlitzer Organ and Charles Purcell reading poetry from 1937-1957. It closed in 1978 but is to be renovated as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Film Center, scheduled to open on May 3, 2017.

The theater is located in the North Central Historic District of Baltimore, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 2002, as well as the Station North Arts and Entertainment District. In August 2012, the Parkway was considered for city landmark status.

History

1915–1970s
The Parkway Theatre was designed by Oliver Birkhead Wight, a native of Baltimore County who designed other theaters in the city, including The New Theater, The McHenry Theater, and the Howard Theater. Its design was "closely modeled on London's West End Theater, later known as the Rialto, with shared features like the interior's rich ornamental plaster work in a Louis XIV style." The Parkway contains Italian Renaissance and Beaux-Arts architectural elements. The exterior is terra cotta and beige brick; the auditorium was originally oval or egg shaped, as in the London model, with "royal boxes" and additional loges on either side, and had a marble lobby, a tea-room decorated in grey with old rose hangings, and chandeliers modeled on those at Versailles and Fontainebleau.

The theater cost about $120,000 to build, and was "originally envisioned by owner Henry Webb's Northern Amusement Company as a 1100-seat vaudeville house." Opening night on October 23, 1915, featured a screening of Zaza starring Pauline Frederick.

In 1926, the Parkway was purchased by Loew's Theaters Incorporated, who had it remodeled by local architect John Eberson who also designed the Valencia Theatre above the century theatre on 18 West Lexington Street in 1926 and replaced the 1915 Moller organ with a 2 manual 8 rank Wurlitzer opus #1421 style F, and had both "Royal Boxes" removed (even though the cupolas underneath both remained), seating capacity was reduced. In addition to films and vaudeville, the theater was used for live radio; in the late 1940s and early 1950s at 12:00am Roland Nuttrell and Charles Purcell produced a nightly live WCAO radio program at the Parkway entitled Nocturne, featuring poetry readings in a deep baritone voice by Charles Purcell, interspersed with melodic lullaby selections on the 2/8 Wurlitzer organ by Roland Nuttrell that were far more effective at putting a person to sleep than taking sleeping pills.
John Kilduff of Baltimore was a talented artist and saxophonist of The Red Devils (a Baltimore Jazz Band), he sketched and designed mostly all of the advertisements and coming attraction displays for the parkway and other Loew's Theatres such as The Century/Valencia Theatres, and Keith's Garden Theatre (Where he worked for years).

Local theater operator Morris Mechanic purchased the Parkway and closed the doors in 1952 and suggested that it be turned into offices. However, under a succession of later owners, it was briefly used for live theater (Hilltop Theatre Parkway) and then under the new name of Five West Art Theatre in 1956 for classic and foreign films and performances until it closed in 1978. After that, the lobby and foyer space became a Korean grocery store in the 1980s, and the owner simply walled off the screen and theater seating, so much of that is still intact.

Neglect (1970s–2012)

The theater closed its doors for good in 1978, due to poor attendance and urban decline. It changed hands several times and there were attempts to find a new use for the building. At one point it was the headquarters of an association of Korean business owners. It has been vacant since 1998. In 2004 it was opened for one evening as part of an event called "Gotta Have Art" and the Baltimore Suns Jacques Kelly described it as "a jewel-box design" and judged the plaster work only "about 10 percent damaged by neglect". The City of Baltimore included it in the Charles North Vision Plan and in 2009 contracted with developer Samuel Polakoff to convert it into a performance space at a cost of $12 million, but withdrew the rights in 2011. In the early 2000s, local engineer, theatre organ aficionado and player piano restoration technician, John R. Grant, attempted to raise consciousness about the plight of the Parkway in an effort to return it to its original splendor, to include original Wurlitzer theatre organ opus #1419, a virtual twin to opus #1421 (which was installed during the 1926 remodeling), and removed and dispersed in the 1960s. Prior to this removal, the organ was an integral feature of the popular midnight radio program "Nocturne" (detailed above). However, unable to find enthusiasm or vision for including that salient and emblematic feature of classical movie houses in the current interpretation, this proposal would have to be abandoned.

Restoration and re-opening (2016)

On October 20, 2014, Johns Hopkins University announced that the theater would be reopening in mid-2017. This announcement was prompted by a five million dollar donation from the international philanthropic organization, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Renovations on the Parkway Theatre began in early 2012, but this recent donation has greatly assisted the process. The theater will be renamed the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Centre and will contain three screens, six hundred twenty seats, and a live performance area, the main auditorium will have a seating capacity of 420 seats and the new building next door will contain two smaller 100-seat theatres bringing the total number of seats to 620. The center will not only be dedicated to exhibiting films; it will also be a space for education. It will aid both (JHU) Johns Hopkins University and the MICA's film programs by allowing them to study the production of filmmaking and documentation . It is also envisioned as a site of the Maryland Film Festival. Updates to the center will include new projection, sound, and movie viewing technology also including heating and air conditioning ventilation systems. Although there will be modern additions to the center, the goal of the renovation is to maintain the theater's historical integrity, as Jed Dietz puts it "we're not exactly Restoring it, It's more about Rescuing it". Current construction updates are as follows: The old flooring of the lobby, orchestra and stage areas have been removed and new flooring has been laid, the old deteriorated stage curtain has been removed and will be replaced with a brand new one after construction is completed, all the old seats on the balcony level have been removed and will be replaced with new wider comfortable seats that will have cup holders to accommodate patrons, the platforms on the balcony level has been deepened to create more legroom and better walking space between rows, the tea room on the second floor has been expanded twice its regular size to include a bar and lounge area, the building at 1 West North Avenue which formerly housed a pharmacy store and restaurant will be demolished and replaced by a new building which will house two smaller-sized 100-seat theatres and a small lounge in the foyer area which will be connected with the SNF Parkway.. The design phase of the project was completed in January 2015. The Parkway celebrated its 100th birthday on October 23, 2015 marking the 100th anniversary of its grand opening on October 23, 1915 with the showing of Pauline Frederick in Zaza. The Parkway is expected to have its Grand reopening in mid-2017, Station North is aiming to attract as many patrons for its Inaugural Grand Reopening. The estimated total cost of the renovation is $18.2 million. The current status of the construction phase is nearly complete, the corner building that formerly housed a pharmacy and restaurant has been demolished and the new structure that will house the 2 smaller 100-seat theatres along with the lounge is nearing completion, the interior of the Parkway has been partially restored (new paint as well as the original paint can be seen on the walls and ceiling surrounding the dome), as well as the addition of a replicated 1915 marquee with a nicely clean facade illuminated by replicated light bulbs on top above the original name PARKWAY THEATRE carved into the building.

Programming by Maryland Film Festival (2017-present)

The Parkway restoration project was completed in the Spring of 2017 and the theater opened on May 3, 2017, with the opening night of the 19th Annual Maryland Film Festival

The band Beach House shot the music video for their song "Chariots" in the historic auditorium of the Parkway in April, 2017 prior to the theater's public opening.

The first public screening in The Parkway was the Opening Night Shorts Program of the 2017 Maryland Film Festival on May 3, 2017, hosted by Josephine Decker and Kris Swanberg and the directors of each short film presented. The first short presented, and therefore the first film to screen in The Parkway in decades, was Jessica Kingdon's Commodity City. The other shorts presented that evening were Terence Nance's They Charge For the Sun, Jeannie Donohoe's Game, Matthew Salton's Richard Twice, and Nathan Truesdell's Balloonfest.

The first feature film screened in the Parkway was Barry Levinson's television film The Wizard of Lies on the afternoon of Thursday, May 4, 2017. The first theatrical film screened in the Parkway was Theo Anthony's Rat Film the same evening. The first 35mm film screened in the Parkway was Agnès Varda's Vagabond, guest-curated and hosted by the band Beach House, on the evening of Saturday, May 6, 2017. The first live music performance in the restored Parkway was Alloy Orchestra's live score for the German silent film Variety on Sunday, May 7. These screenings all took place within Maryland Film Festival 2017.

The Parkway opened for year-round business on the evening of Friday, May 12. The first feature film screened in the Parkway in a non-festival setting was John Waters' Female Trouble. Other films screened that evening included David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, Jenny Gage's All This Panic, and Kristopher Avedisian's Donald Cried. The last two titles were the first films to have week-long theatrical runs at the restored Parkway.

The first live music outside a festival setting was curated by members of the band Animal Collective in tribute to the late experimental musician Tony Conrad on the evenings of Friday, September 29 and Saturday September 30, 2017. The performers included Deakin and Geologist of Animal Collective, Dan Deacon with Jessie Hughes and M. C. (Martin) Schmidt of Matmos, Asa Osborne of Lungfish and Zomes, Owen Gardner and Andrew Bernstein of Horse Lords, Steve Strohmeier, and Daniel Conrad.

Longtime director of programming Eric Allen Hatch, who began working for MdFF in 2007, departed as lead programmer of The Parkway in February, 2018, citing creative differences detailed in a Filmmaker article concerning the need for greater risk-taking and attention to diversity in independent-film festivals and alternative venues.

References

External links

John Grant's www.parkwaytheatre.com, archived at the Wayback Machine on September 5, 2008
Parkway Theater in MOTOGRAPHY, 1916, archived at openlibrary.org

Buildings and structures in Baltimore
Cinemas and movie theaters in Maryland
Theatres completed in 1915
1915 establishments in Maryland
John Eberson buildings
Baltimore City Landmarks

Parkway Theatre (Baltimore)


Telephone companies in different countries use a variety of international telecoms routes to send traffic to each other. These can be legal (or 'white') routes or other arrangements the industry calls grey routes, special carrier arrangements, settlement by-pass and other euphemisms.

Settlement routes
Before the telecoms industry deregulation that started in the 1980s, most telephone companies were owned or regulated by their governments: even countries with many domestic phone companies usually had a regulated international carrier. These carriers used settlement routes to handle traffic between them.

For example, BT and the Australian carrier Telstra send each other traffic over a satellite link or by submarine communications cable. Telstra terminate calls to Australians from British callers, while BT terminate calls in the UK from Australians. At the end of the year Telstra and BT add up the traffic, measured in minutes, they have sent each other and settle net: if BT had sent more minutes to Telstra than vice versa, BT would pay at the settlement rate for the excess minutes. Settlement rates can be in the range of $0.10 - $2 per minute, depending on the countries involved. If the traffic balanced, neither company pays the other anything.

The amount of money involved in the settlement rate system is considerable. In 2003, American telephone companies made payments of three billion dollars to telephone companies and governments across the world.

The settlement route arrangement is also known as the accounting rate system. The accounting rate is the sum of the two settlement rates. The collection rate is what the subscriber pays.

Wholesale market
Telecoms carriers can obtain traffic to make up a shortfall, or send traffic on other routes, by trading with other carriers in the wholesale or carrier-to-carrier market. A carrier needs a point of presence where they can interconnect with other carriers, usually in a carrier hotel such as 60 Hudson Street in New York or Telehouse in London by using a fiber ring to link their switches. This is an easy way of doing business, but it does mean that the other carriers in the market have partial visibility of what each other is doing.

Minutes exchanges allow carriers to buy and sell termination anonymously at a contracted price and quality. The anonymity is important, as minutes exchanges are used daily by PTT's and Tier One carriers to manage their commitment deals.

Prices in the wholesale market are far lower than consumer prices but can and do change on a daily or weekly basis. A carrier will have a least cost routing function to manage its trading on the wholesale market. The quality of routes in the wholesale market can also vary, as the traffic may be going on a grey route.

Grey routes
Grey routes are arrangements where at one point in the route of a call a black (=illegal) action is taken so that even though both sides of the call look white (=legitimate), the call is actually grey. Regulators often set different tariffs for domestically and internationally originating calls and thus there is a financial incentive to take an illegal action to profit from this tariff difference. On the sending side it looks like an international call, but on the receiving side it looks like a domestic call and settlement is done as if it was a local call.

Re-origination or Refiling is the name given to the practice of substituting a new calling line identity (CLI) for the call at some point in its journey. Re-origination is made possible by exploiting the functionality of the SS7 signaling system, which allows a great deal of call information to be transmitted. In principle the receiving telecoms company can inspect the CLI to see where the call has come from and charge accordingly. In practice, switches are able to remove or change the CLI, thus disguising the origin of the call.

This is of course not allowed by the local regulator and also the receiving carriers prefers the higher international rates, but since the black action is done in a switch owned by a person or company who is willing to break the law, this is usually outside of the view of these parties and thus enforcement can be difficult. Grey routes can be prevented by good Fraud Management or by regulators or carriers opting to close the gap between the international and domestic tariffs. Tariffs are usually a maximum and thus sometimes carriers opt to lower the international rates to prevent grey routes.

Leaky PBX is the name given to the practice of using a local PBX to leak calls from country A into the network in country B, disguising them as local calls. It receives the calls on its PBX in country A, sends them over a satellite link, dedicated telephone circuit or data link to country B, and sends the calls out into the public telephone network of country B through its PBX there.
With a small satellite dish on the roofs of its offices in country A and B and a little capacity on a transponder, a company can become a small-scale international carrier.

Grey market Setup is the terminology being used in country like India for the arrangement of termination of International Long Distance Calls over internet using leaky PBX to India. There grey market setups are popularly known as illegal International Long Distance (ILD) telephone exchange.

VoIP
Voice calls can be compressed and packaged into voice-over-IP packets and sent over the public Internet or a more direct IP-based data link, thus by-passing the conventional telephone routes into a country.

A carrier receives calls in country A, turns them into IP packets using an IP gateway device and sends them over an IP connection (public or dedicated) to another carrier or ISP in country B, which re-assembles the voice call and sends it out from a PBX. The cost is composed of the cost to convert the call, IP connectivity, convert the call back. This however can be less than the cost for conventional telephone routes.

Arbitrage (or tromboning)
Arbitrage is routing traffic via an intermediate country to take advantage of the differences in settlement rates. If country B has much lower settlement rates with country C than with country A, it might be cheaper for country A to send its traffic for country B via country C. One of the first larger arbitrage routes was for traffic between Australia and the US, which was cheaper if sent via New Zealand and Canada. Arbitrage is and was practiced even before the spread of de-regulation.

Route quality
The best quality is usually over 'bilaterals': high-capacity direct fiber-optic links between the former national telephone companies. The calls go straight to the far end company managing the national network. Routes to other licensed telecoms companies in de-regulated countries will usually have as high a quality as bilaterals. Satellite transmission adds a slight delay, which is noticeable even over transatlantic calls, though the call quality can be as good as a call over a fiber-optic cable.

At the other end of the quality spectrum is a route using VoIP over the long-distance satellite link terminating in an ISP using a leaky PBX to terminate the calls.

VoIP packets contain a lot of signaling overhead: to carry the 64k of data packet a conventional telecoms network transmits needs around 100k of bandwidth with VoIP. VoIP achieves lower bandwidth by using data compression techniques on the voice part of the data packet and this reduces the call quality.

See also
 Least-cost routing
 Telephone fraud
 White,Black and Grey Route

References

 Newton's Telecoms Directory
 Carrier-Grade Voice Over IP

External links
LCR Forum
 What Are Accounting Rates And How Do They Work – ITU Publication
Impact of Traffic Re-File and Alternative Calling Procedures on Rates, Settlements, Collection Charges and Quality of Services – ITU Publication

Communication circuits

International telecommunications routes


Bot Colony is an episodic adventure game by Montreal developer North Side Inc. In the game, the player uses a natural language parser to converse with robot characters. The game is played through a PC client, whose major functions are running the 3D world, speech-to-text, and communication with the server, the game's language processing and reasoning running on a server farm. The developer has written a novel of the same name, published in December 2010.

After early prototypes in 2009 and a failed Kickstarter campaign in October 2013, the game was featured on Steam Greenlight in November 2013. It was cancelled in January 2015 because of low sales, but became available again in spring 2017 with an added introductory mission.

Plot
Bot Colony is set on Agrihan, an island in the Marianas in the Pacific, in 2021. Agrihan has become the private island of Nakagawa Corp, a large Japanese robot company, which relocated its R&D and manufacturing facilities there both to accommodate its rapid growth and to escape relentless industrial espionage by its fierce competitor, the North Korean KHT Corp. A  tall volcano covered with lush jungle rises from the centre of the island, surrounded by pristine beaches and coves. The traditional Japanese village on the island's western shore contrasts with the skyscrapers housing Nakagawa's R&D and living quarters on the northern side. People intermix naturally with robots on the island. As Nakagawa's robots will play a major role in the colonization of Mars, they need to achieve a high degree of autonomy.

The player takes on the role of a specialist in robot cognition, who occasionally accepts challenging assignments involving white-collar crime. Nakagawa Corp calls the player and asks them to investigate the disappearance of three new-generation sensors. The player is warned that KHT may have infiltrated the island and will stop at nothing to get its hands on the sensors. The game starts with the player landing in an area of the island mostly staffed by robots and hence known as "Bot Colony". The player can fly through the island in a futuristic hovercraft, sail around it, or use rickshaw robots to move on its roads. Robots travel between facilities on the island using a specially designed monorail.

The game explores the circumstances of "artificially intelligent" robots reprogrammed by a devious spy to "do as people do", and to learn about human motivation and emulate human behaviour. While engaged in the adventure, the player probes the boundaries of knowledge and understanding of robots, and trades knowledge about humanity for robot information that will enable him to move on in the game.

The player's mission evolves from finding the sensors to chasing the North Korean spy who has indeed infiltrated the island. The first part of the Bot Colony novel relates how KHT managed to infiltrate Bot Colony. Towards the game's conclusion, the player is instrumental in preventing the outbreak of global war.

Gameplay

The player communicates with the game by speaking into a microphone, and the game uses speech-to-text software to interpret and react to the spoken words. Before beginning the game, a player is usually required to build an acoustic profile and train speech-to-text, unless typing is preferred.

The player will need to control robots, vehicles, or cranes to complete missions, and may advance the story by playing cards or trading in the Bazaar, discussing food with a robotic waiter in the restaurant, training robotic animals to do tricks on the kabuki stage, or investigating a crime against a robot in Old Nakagawa. To compensate for the freedom nature of the game, intelligent help is provided in the form of Miki-05 (the player's PDA) through a conversational interface.

The player is forced to converse in order to advance in the game. North Side see this as an advance over some current state-of-the-art video games, in which the player chooses a pre-written selection from a dialogue tree. In Bot Colony the player can discover the story organically by querying characters about their environment and events they witnessed, guiding robots through complex tasks, negotiating transactions with robots and teaching them new concepts and new animations. These conversation-based interactions are mediated by speech-to-text and text-to-speech solutions integrated into the North Side dialogue pipeline as client and server side components.

Development

North Side Inc. started research on its natural language processing technology when it was founded in 2001, and at least initially, the business plan was to apply English to rapid scripting of simulations and scenarios. Bot Colony was first storyboarded in October 2007, when North Side decided that producing a video game was the best initial application of the company's natural language understanding and natural language generation technologies. The company invested in its own game engine, Anitron, as a test-bed for researching the integration of 3D graphics with language. As Anitron lacked rendering, the game was reworked with Havok Vision.

The game's logic, animations and interactions are written in an English-based scripting language. A script describes in simple English how a game entity should react, when its context and probable goals are taken into account. North Side see their English-based scripting technology as having additional applications, such as rapid visualization of movie scripts, workflow visualization, evidence presentation, and exploring alternative courses of action. The developers also hope that the scripting language will enable players to extend the game world with their own content in a MMO environment in which players compete in some area (as in a Jeopardy!-style game for robots) or cooperate in a task. North Side plan for users to be able to design their own 3D content and deploy their own intelligent characters, inviting other users to experience their creations in the form of 3D animated shorts or games.

The NLP technology cost $20 million and the game itself $2 to $3 million to the developer.

Early technology prototypes were shown at GDC in San Francisco in March 2009 and at E3 in June 2010. A closed beta was announced on 13 November 2012 at the Montreal International Game Summit and featured the training level of the game, "Intruder".  In "Intruder", the player remote-controls a robot to erase the traces of an intrusion, and discovers part of the background story through conversation with Jimmy, a domestic robot. A closed alpha of Bot Colony was started in March 2013 and was extended in June of the same year. An unsuccessful Kickstarter funding campaign ran for the game in October 2013, after which the game was added to the Steam Greenlight system in November 2013.

Bot Colony was cancelled on 29 January 2015 because of low sales; it had sold 814 units and made $10,000 of revenue. However, after fan protests it was made available again in spring 2017, with an added introductory mission.

Reception
A 2014 Rock Paper Shotgun review concluded, "When [Bot Colony] works, it's oddly satisfying. When it doesn't work, it's generally amusing." A review on the same site in April 2017 was more negative, finding the game even more "janky" than expected, the story thin, and the tasks uninteresting.

References

External links

Adventure games
Cancelled Windows games
Episodic video games
Crowdfunding projects
Language in fiction
Science fiction video games
Video games developed in Canada
Video games set in the Northern Mariana Islands
Video games set on islands
Vision (game engine) games

Bot Colony


Pierre and Wright was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. It was established in 1925 by partners Edward D. Pierre, AIA (1890–1971) and  George Caleb Wright, AIA, (1889–1973). It was one of the predecessor firms of Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager.

Pierre & Wright was responsible for many landmarks in Indianapolis and greater Indiana, and a number have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the partnership disbanded in 1944, Pierre started his firm Pierre and Associates. Among the architects employed by this firm were Kenneth B. Curtiss, D. B. Hill, James O. Lewis, James M. Merrifield, J. Parke Randall, D. P. Schlegel, and Richard C. Zimmer. Wright started a new firm with Kurt Vonnegut Sr. of Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller called Vonnegut & Wright. After Ralph Oscar Yeager of Miller & Yeager joined, the firm became Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager. Later the firm was known as Wright Porteous & Lowe.

Works by Pierre & Wright Architects
Indianapolis Public School #7
Indianapolis Public School #78
Williams Creek Estates: Indianapolis News Model Houses
Oxford Gables Apartments
Tuckaway Country Club
Sears Roebuck (320 N. New Jersey, Indianapolis)
Indiana State Library and Historical Building, Indianapolis, Indiana
Milo Stuart Memorial Building, Arsenal Technical High School (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Old Trails office building (301–309 W. Washington Street)

References

Footnotes

Sources
Huntington, Jeffrey. The Indianapolis Architectural Firm of Pierre and Wright: A History of the Firm, Discussion of Major Works, and Indes of Known Commissions, 1994
Pierre and Wright Architectural Records Collection, Drawings and Documents Archive, Ball State University Libraries.

Architecture firms based in Indianapolis
Defunct companies based in Indianapolis
Design companies established in 1925
Design companies disestablished in 1944
1925 establishments in Indiana
1944 disestablishments in Indiana
Art Deco architects
Beaux Arts architects

Pierre & Wright


Radioactive Dreams is a 1985 post-apocalyptic science fiction-comedy film written and directed by Albert Pyun and starring George Kennedy, Michael Dudikoff, Don Murray, and Lisa Blount. The names of the two main characters are homages to noir detective fiction icons Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler and Mike Hammer. The film has achieved cult status and has been screened in several cult revival programs around the world.

Plot
A nuclear war breaks out, expending the world's entire nuclear arsenal, except for one missile. Two children, Philip Chandler (John Stockwell) and Marlowe Hammer (Michael Dudikoff), are left in a fallout shelter cut into the side of a wooded mountain. The pair grow up in the shelter, with 1950s detective fiction and swing music as the guiding force in their learning. On April 1, 2001 (as noted by title card), Marlowe succeeds in digging out the cave entrance. The pair give each other haircuts, dress in suits, and go to rejoin the world.

Philip narrates their adventure on their first day out: My name's Philip, and this is going to be a yarn about me and my pal, Marlowe. About the day we got out of this shelter and went off into the post-nuclear world. Now, as excited as we were about leaving the shelter, it was still a joint that held fond memories. I mean, it was the only world we'd ever known. Where I practiced my magic, Marlowe, his dancing; where we both dreamed of becoming private eyes, just like the ones we'd read about.

Marlowe hopes to find their fathers, but Philip is disgruntled that they never returned, and presumes that they are dead. The mountain is now devoid of trees. The first people they find are a trio of radiation-burned "mutants" chasing a beautiful woman, Miles Archer (Lisa Blount). They rescue Miles, who kisses Marlowe as a distraction and steals his gun. This backfires, as she drops the activation keys to the last nuclear missile. Miles leaves, and the pair are immediately attacked by a biker gang of bald women in red wigs. Afterwards the boys discover the activation keys, which bears their fathers' names. This excites Marlowe, but disturbs Philip.

They rescue another young woman, Rusty Mars (Michele Little), from a group of armed children Philip nicknames "disco mutants". She takes a liking to Philip, and leads the two of them to Edge City which is plagued by gang warfare. Rusty takes them to a dance club, where they are captured by cannibals. They want the nuclear keys, and to eat the young men, a rarity of uncontaminated meat. Although Rusty helps them escape and apologises, Philip doesn't trust her. Just after they part ways the pair meets up with a friend of Miles' who also wants the keys. After he is dispatched Miles shows up and takes them to her hideout. There she tells them about the purpose of the keys. Miles then threatens to kill them, but they escape.

Rusty has followed them to the hideout, but is attacked by the child gangsters. The pair chase them away, but Philip still doesn't trust her. He wants to shoot her, but is out of bullets. After Rusty apologises again for lying to him and originally handing him over to the cannibals he says, "That was a million years ago, and I got a short memory. In fact, I don't even remember who you are".

The pair resolves to rid the city of the gangs and keep the keys. They go to an abandoned warehouse, using themselves as bait, in the hopes that the gangs will kill each other before killing them. For the most part, the plan works. However, the bosses of the child-gangsters are in fact Philip and Marlowe's fathers. Before he dies, Philip's father tells him that the past does not matter. In the end, the only gangster left standing is Miles, who has the keys. She shoots at them, and misses, but startles Marlowe into shooting and killing her.

The film ends with Philip letting go of the angst which he had nursed for 15 years. He adopts Marlowe's "silver-lining look on life". The two demonstrate Marlowe's tap-inspired "post-nuke shuffle" to the crowds of the city. In the closing narration, Philip explains that they plan to set up shop as detectives, but that first he will find Rusty and see if he can repair his relationship with her. Of the keys, he says that he and Marlowe hid them in a secret location, because "you never know, in a tight jam a nuclear missile just might come in handy".

Cast
 John Stockwell as Phillip Chandler
 Michael Dudikoff as Marlowe Hammer
 Michele Little as Rusty Mars
 Lisa Blount as Miles Archer
 Don Murray as Dash Hammer
 George Kennedy as "Spade" Chandler
 Norbert Weisser as Sternwood
 Christian Andrews as "Brick" Bardo
 Paul Keller Galan as Chester (P.K. Galán)
 Demian Slade as Harold
 Hilary Shepard as Biker Leader (Hilary Shapiro)
 Sue Saad as Punk District Singer
 Kimberly McKillip as Sadie, Hippie Chick
 Gulcin Gilbert as Greaser Chick (Gulshin Gilbert)
 Mark Brown as Greaser
 Russell Price as Greaser

Soundtrack
Most of the songs featured in the film are pop rock in the new wave vein. The exceptions are Zim Bim Zowie, a swing number, and also a tune in the American Songbook style, Daddy's Gonna Boogie Tonight, played on a phonograph during the scene when Philip and Marlowe prepare to leave the fallout shelter. The latter and another track called All Talk were left out of the Australian and German soundtrack releases.

Songs
 Nightmare - Jill Jaxx - 5:10
 Radioactive Dreams - Sue Saad - 5:18
 She'll Burn You - Maureen Steele - 4:13
 Young Thing - Cherri Delight - 4:09
 Tickin' Of The Clock - The Monte Carlos - 2:07
 Psychedelic Man - Shari Saba - 2:41
 Eat You Alive - Lisa Lee - 2:40
 Guilty Pleasures - Sue Saad - 3:44 (Performed by Saad on-screen)
 Turn Away - Mary Ellen Quinn - 2:13
 She's A Fire - Sue Saad - 2:07
 When Lightning Strikes - Sue Saad - 6:51
 Zim Bim Zowie - Darryl Phinessee - 2:20 (Danced-To by Marlowe and Philip as the "Post-Nuke Shuffle" in the closing scene)

However, the soundtrack was also released in Spain containing ALL the songs featured in the film:

The title track is also set to be a bonus track on a digital reissue of Sue Saad's debut album on July 2, 2013.

Release
The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group in September 1986, grossing $220,038 at the box office.

It was released on VHS by Vestron Video.  As of 2017, the film has still not officially been released on DVD in the US. However, there is a rare German Region 2 Special Edition DVD. This edition also includes the soundtrack CD and is limited to 1,000 copies.

Awards
The film was awarded the Golden Raven at the 5th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, and nominated for best film at the Italian film and literature festival MystFest.

See also
 Wasteland (video game), a post-apocalyptic open world role-playing video game series that was heavily inspired by Radioactive Dreams.
 Fallout (series), a video game initially conceived as a "spiritual successor" to Wasteland that eventually turned into its own standalone series (the first game in the Fallout series was made after the initial plans for the sequels Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3 were compromised due to Electronic Arts' Fountain of Dreams) and borrows even more ideas and design ques from Radioactive Dreams than even Wasteland itself did in the beginning.

References

External links

1985 films
1980s action comedy films
1980s science fiction comedy films
American action comedy films
American adventure comedy films
American science fiction comedy films
American independent films
American parody films
American satirical films
Films directed by Albert Pyun
Films set in 1996
Films set in 2011
Films set in the future
American post-apocalyptic films
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films
Films about World War III
1985 comedy films
1986 comedy films
1986 films
Films about nuclear war and weapons
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
English-language action comedy films

Radioactive Dreams


Grey Friar is a fell in the English Lake District, it is one of the Coniston Fells and is situated  west-south-west of Ambleside. It reaches a height of  and stands to the north west of the other Coniston Fells, a little off the beaten track and tends to be the least visited of the group. It is quite a large fell and forms the eastern wall of the Duddon Valley for several kilometres, in fact all drainage from Grey Friar goes to the Duddon Valley and not to Coniston Water.

Topography
The Coniston (or Furness) Fells form the watershed between Coniston Water and the Duddon valley to the west. The range begins at Wrynose Pass and runs south for around  before petering out at Broughton in Furness on the Duddon Estuary. Grey Friar is the only major fell in the group not to stand on this main axis, rising to the west of Great Carrs across the depression of Fairfield.

Bounded to the north and west by the infant Duddon, Grey Friar has long rough slopes on this side with many small areas of crag. The southern perimeter is formed by Seathwaite Tarn and its attendant streams. The tarn was originally a much smaller waterbody, but was raised early in the 20th century to provide drinking water for the Barrow in Furness area. The dam is almost  long and is concrete cored with slate buttresses, the resulting depth of the tarn being around . Water is not abstracted directly from the tarn, but flows some distance downriver to an off-take weir. Since Grey Friar curves southward, the main ridge stands across the tarn, Brim Fell and the back of Dow Crag forming the opposing slope.

Mining
The fell has been mined for copper extensively in the past. The Seathwaite mine was situated on the southern slopes above Seathwaite Tarn while the Cockley Beck mine stood on the fell's lower north western slopes. They operated in the mid-19th century and were nowhere near as profitable or extensive as the main Coniston copper mines in the so-called "Coppermines Valley".

Ascents
Grey Friar can be climbed from several locations; it is often ascended along with the other six Coniston fells and this walk is usually started at Coniston village. Direct ascents of the fell can be started from the Duddon valley, the top of the Wrynose Pass or Cockley Beck.

Summit
The summit of the fell is stony with two cairned rock outcrops, the south easterly is the higher while the north westerly offers the better view. There is a good view of the Scafell massif and the other Coniston fells are well seen along the ridge to the south.  north west of the main summit is a distinctive pointed rock, often called the "Matterhorn Rock".

References

Hewitts of England
Fells of the Lake District
Nuttalls
South Lakeland District

Grey Friar


Screamers is a 1995 science fiction horror film starring Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, and Jennifer Rubin, and directed by Christian Duguay. The screenplay, written by Dan O'Bannon with a rewrite by Miguel Tejada-Flores, is based on Philip K. Dick's 1953 short story "Second Variety", and addresses themes commonly found in that author's work: societal conflict, confusion of reality and illusion, and machines turning upon their creators. The film received generally negative response from critics at the time of its release.  A sequel Screamers: The Hunting, was released in 2009, to mixed reviews.

Plot

In the year 2078, the planet Sirius 6B, once a thriving mining hub, has been reduced to a toxic wasteland by a war between the mining company the New Economic Block (N.E.B.) and "The Alliance", a group of former mining and science personnel. After miners discovered that their mining had released toxic gases, they went on strike, and the N.E.B. hired mercenaries as strike breakers. Five years into the war, Alliance scientists created and deployed Autonomous Mobile Swords (AMS) — artificially intelligent self-replicating machines that hunt down and kill N.E.B. soldiers. Nicknamed "Screamers" after their signature high-pitched noise, they are efficient at killing all living targets, so Alliance soldiers wear "tabs" which render them invisible to the machines. A fragile stalemate is in effect between the two exhausted, poorly-supplied, and undermanned armies.

An N.E.B. soldier carrying a message to the Alliance compound is killed by screamers. The message guarantees safe passage through N.E.B. territory to discuss a truce. Alliance commanding officer Joe Hendricksson reports to his Earth-based superiors but is told to stay put, and that peace negotiations are already underway on Earth. However, Private "Ace" Jefferson, newly arrived from Earth, refutes this claim. Hendricksson is not surprised; he has long suspected that both sides have simply written off Sirius 6B and abandoned their armies.

Deciding the truce offer is the only chance of survival for himself and his soldiers, Hendricksson and Jefferson set out for a meeting with the N.E.B. commander. While traveling through a city ruins they come upon David, a young boy clutching a teddy bear, and bring him along. The following night they are attacked by a never-before-seen reptilian screamer. Hendricksson is alarmed that their Alliance tabs did not protect them.

As the group nears the N.E.B. compound, two enemy soldiers, Becker and Ross, open fire on David. They explain to the shocked Alliance men that David was a new "type 3" screamer impersonating a human. Most of the N.E.B. contingent has been wiped out by another "David" screamer that a patrol unwittingly brought into the base; Becker, Ross, and a black marketeer named Jessica are the only survivors.

The group heads to the N.E.B. command center but finds only an empty building and pools of blood. Locating the mainframe computer, Hendricksson learns that the N.E.B. truce offer was just as false as the Alliance message from Earth. The group retreats to the N.E.B. bunker, pursued by "Davids". They discover that the screamers have "evolved" new versions on their own that are indistinguishable from humans and immune to Alliance tabs. Becker becomes convinced that Ross is a screamer and kills him, only to discover that he was human. The four survivors retreat to the Alliance base, only to find that it had been taken over by "Davids." As dozens of "Davids" pour out of the bunker's entrance, Hendricksson fires a micro-nuclear missile into the bunker, wiping them out. Jefferson rushes to help Becker, who was apparently injured in the blast, but Becker is revealed to be a "type 2" screamer and kills Jefferson. After Hendricksson destroys Becker, only he and Jessica remain. Worrying that Jessica could be a screamer, Hendricksson cuts her hand and is relieved to see blood.

The pair locate an emergency escape shuttle, but discover it can carry only one person. Hendricksson offers the shuttle to Jessica but a second "Jessica" arrives, confirming that she is an even more human-like type of screamer. Hendricksson resigns himself to death, but to his surprise, Jessica shields him, then sacrifices herself in battle with her lookalike. With her last breath, Jessica confesses her love for Hendricksson, who departs for Earth with the teddy bear carried by the original "David". As the screen fades to black, the bear slowly begins to move.

Cast
 Peter Weller as Commander Joseph A. Hendricksson
 Jennifer Rubin as Jessica Hansen
 Andrew Lauer as Private Michael "Ace" Jefferson
 Ron White as Lieutenant Commander Chuck Elbarak
 Charles Powell as Private Ross
 Roy Dupuis as Marshal Richard Cooper / Private Becker
 Michael Caloz as David
 Liliana Komorowska as Private Landowska
 Jason Cavalier as Private Leone
 Leni Parker as Corporal McDonald
 Bruce Boa as Secretary Green

Production
Screamers was stuck in development hell for over a decade before finally being produced. Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon had completed his adaptation of Dick's short story Second Variety in 1981 (along with his adaptation of another of Dick's short stories, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", which became the 1990 film Total Recall). By 1983, O'Bannon's screenplay for Screamers had been optioned by Tom Naud (SFX designer on the 1981 film Outland). However, the production never went ahead as planned. At various times, Charles Fries showed interest in the project, but it was not until the 1990s that Screamers went into production. By this time the screenplay had been rewritten by Miguel Tejada-Flores. O'Bannon was unaware that the film had been made until after its release, when his agent called him to notify him of his screenwriting credit for the film. According to O'Bannon, they had kept much of the plot and characters from his original script the same while changing much of the dialogue.

The film, directed by Christian Duguay, was made in Canada. Locations included a quarry in Quebec, in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, as well as Joliette.

Release
It premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 1995. It was released in the United States on January 26, 1996, by Columbia Pictures.

Reception

Critical response
The film holds a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews.

James Berardinelli gave the film a positive review, awarding it a rating of three stars (out of four). Berardinelli said that the film "oozes atmosphere" and "underlines an important truth: you don't need a big budget or big-name stars to make this sort of motion picture succeed."
Joe Bob Briggs also reacted positively, calling Screamers "a pretty dang decent [movie]" and saying, "I loved it. ... Three and a half stars."

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars (out of four), remarking that it was "made with a certain imagination and intelligence," "the dialogue is often effective," and "what makes the film somewhat intriguing is its Blade Runner-like ambiguity: who is, and who isn't, a human being."

Time Out New York Film Guide criticized director Christian Duguay's "flashy, aimless direction", saying that the movie "lacks the intelligence to follow through its grim premise", but added that the film "does offer many ... guilty pleasures" and "the design and effects teams have lent scale and impact to the futuristic locations and sets."

The Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film Review gave Screamers three stars out of four, calling it a "two-thirds excellent and intelligent science-fiction film" that "builds towards a climax that never arrives ... After an impressive build-up, the film blows its third act and falls into cliches."
Popcorn Pictures gave the film two and a half stars out of four, writing: "Screamers isn't terrible. The scenes inside the refinery are creepy enough with them stalking and being stalked by the Screamers. But the intro and finale are terrible ways to start and end a film respectively. There was a good film waiting to come out here, it's a shame only half of it did."

Rob Blackwelder of SplicedWire said, "Screamers is inundated with movie clichés, stock characters, stolen premises and scenes that just don't make sense."
Beyond Hollywood wrote, "One of the biggest problems with Screamers is the near absence of a likeable character, or at least someone who we actually give a damn about escaping those slice-and-dice robots. ... There's no doubt Screamers could have been a lot better than it is. The whole sequence at the refinery is the best of the movie, managing to elicit both a couple of scare scenes and a lot of creepiness. The rest, unfortunately, doesn't live up to that middle section."

Box office
The film earned about $5.7 million in the United States and Canada, on a $20 million budget. It was moderately popular in France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Worldwide box office was approximately $7 million.

Awards

Sequel

Screamers: The Hunting, directed by Sheldon Wilson and starring Gina Holden, Jana Pallaske, Greg Bryk, Stephen Amell and Lance Henriksen, was released straight to DVD in 2009.

The sequel is set several years after the events of the original film.  Hendricksson died when he deliberately allowed his escape shuttle to burn up in the atmosphere during reentry to Earth. The official determination is that he committed suicide due to post-traumatic stress; but it is strongly implied that he actually did it to prevent the "teddy bear" screamer on board from reaching Earth.  Meanwhile, an SOS signal arrives from Sirius 6B.  A contingent of seven soldiers, including Hendricksson's daughter Victoria Bronte (Holden), is dispatched to the war torn mining planet to investigate.  The film features all of the screamers from the original film, as well as a sleeker, longer, and more serpentine screamer with cutting mandibles for a mouth.

As with Screamers, critical reaction to Screamers: The Hunting was mixed. David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote that "the visual effects were surprisingly effective" and "[p]ractical effects impress as well", but added, "Unfortunately ... the script defaults to a clichéd finale, and a predictable—though well-executed—final twist ending."  He concluded, "I had a pretty decent time with [Screamers: The Hunting] ... [I]f you're hankering for a serving of effective sci-fi B-movie shenanigans, you could do a lot worse."
Scott Foy of Dread Central wrote, "They've basically recycled the first film but dumbed it and dulled it down considerably, doing away with the paranoia and sense of desolation that gave the original some spark in favor of logic gaps and tedious predictability. ... The best that can be said ... is that most of the production values and make-up effects are top notch for a direct-to-DVD production. Too bad they didn't put as much work into crafting the screenplay."

See also
 Grey goo scenario
 Self-reconfiguring modular robot

References

External links

1995 films
1990s American films
1990s Canadian films
1990s English-language films
1990s science fiction action films
1990s science fiction horror films
Canadian post-apocalyptic films
Canadian science fiction action films
Canadian science fiction thriller films
Canadian war films
American dystopian films
American post-apocalyptic films
American robot films
American science fiction action films
American science fiction thriller films
American war films
English-language Canadian films
Films based on American short stories
Films based on science fiction short stories
Films based on works by Philip K. Dick
Films directed by Christian Duguay (director)
Films scored by Normand Corbeil
Films set in 2078
Films set in the 2070s
Films set in bunkers
Films set on fictional planets
Films shot in Montreal
Films using stop-motion animation
Films with screenplays by Dan O'Bannon
Quebec films
Space adventure films
Triumph Films films

Screamers (1995 film)


Sara Hall (née Bei; born April 15, 1983) is a professional American distance runner. She won the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico representing the United States. Hall's personal best time for the marathon is 2:20:32 set at the Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona on December 22, 2020, making her the third-fastest American woman in history. She is the second-fastest American woman to ever run the half marathon, running 1:07:15 on January 16, 2022–an American record at the time.

Hall has won several notable mile road races including the Drake Relays Grand Blue Mile and the US National Road Mile Championships. She also has won prestigious 1500 meter titles including one at the Millrose Games. She is a two time world team member for the United States at the world indoor track and field championships. Her best finish came in 2006 where she finished 12th in the finals of the 3000 meters at the 11th IAAF World Indoor championships. She was also a member of the 2006 and 2015 United States world cross country championship team.

Hall won the 2012 American title at the USA Cross Country Championships, edging Molly Huddle at the line.

Early life and high school
Hall was born in Santa Rosa, California and competed for Montgomery High School, winning four state cross country titles.  At the CIF California State Meet she also earned three state track titles in the 1600 and 3200 meters, and won the Footlocker National High School Cross Country Championships in 2000.

College
Hall was a three-time NCAA track and field runner up in the 5000 meters and indoor 3000 meters, and a 7-time All-American, competing for Stanford University. In 2003, she finished 3rd at the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship, leading Stanford to a team title. As a college athlete she competed in the finals of the United States Olympic trials in the 5000 meters.

Career
2015
On March 15, 2015 Hall made her marathon debut at the Los Angeles Marathon and battled through cramps, finishing 22nd with a time of 2:48:02 (6:25 minutes/mile).

On March 28, 2015, Hall led the USA Team with a 20th place 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race after placing 5th at the 2015 USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder.

Hall finished 10th at 2015 Chicago marathon in 2:31:14, running an Olympic Standard time.
2016
Hall improved her marathon best with 2:30:06 on April 24, 2016, finishing 12th at the 2016 London Marathon.
2017
On February 26, 2017, Hall again improved her marathon best with a 2:28:26 sixth place performance at the 2017 Tokyo Marathon.

On October 1, 2017, Hall won the Women's US 10 mile road championship in the Twin Cities, in 53:43, 2 seconds ahead of Natosha Rogers. She narrowly lost the equalizer competition male winner Shadrack Kipchirchir, but later it was discovered the women were supposed to be given a 6:18 lead, while they were actually given 6:10, so both runners were give the $10,000.

On October 29, 2017, Hall again improved her marathon best with a 2:27:21 fifth place performance at the 2017 Mainova Frankfurt Marathon.

On December 3, 2017, Hall won the Women's U.S. Marathon in California at 2017 California International Marathon in 2:28:10.
2018
On May 27, Hall was third in the 2018 Ottawa Marathon in 2:26:19.

In July 2018, she placed 3rd at Women's US 10 km road championship at the Peachtree 10K in 32:41.

On September 3, 2018, she won the Women's US 20 km road championship at Faxon Law New Haven Road Race 20 km in New Haven, Connecticut in 1:09:04.

On October 7, 2018, Hall won the Women's US 10 mile road championship in the Twin Cities, in 52:47, repeating her 2017 victory and edging out Molly Huddle by 1 second.
2019
On September 29, 2019, Hall finished fifth in the Berlin Marathon, finishing in a personal best time of 2:22:16.

Just one week later, on October 6, 2019, she won the USATF 10 mile championships for the third time in a row in a time of 53:11.
2020
On October 4, 2020, Hall finished 2nd in 2:22:01 at the 2020 London Marathon behind Brigid Kosgei.

On December 20, 2020, Hall finished first at the Marathon Project in a personal best 2:20:32 in Chandler, Arizona, running with male pacers with the goal of breaking the US record, missing Deena Kastor's 2:19:36 record by just under one minute.
2021
On October 10, 2021, Hall finished third at the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:27:19.
2022
On January 16, 2022, Hall broke the American record in the half marathon at the Houston Half Marathon, finishing in 1:07:15 to lower the previous American record set by Molly Huddle in 2018 by ten seconds. New record was set by Emily Sisson finishing in 1:07:11 on 7 May 2022 on USATF.

On March 6, 2022, Hall finished eighth at the Tokyo Marathon with a time of 2:22:56.

On July 18, 2022, Hall finished fifth at 2022 World Athletics Championships in the marathon with a time of 2:22:10.
2023
On April 17, 2023 Hall finished seventeenth at the 2023 Boston Marathon with a record master's time of 2:25:48 (2 days after her 40th birthday.).

Personal life
Hall has been married to U.S. Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall since 2005. The two met at Stanford, where they both competed collegiately. In 2009, they formed the Hall Steps Foundation to empower the running community to use the energy and resources that fuel runners' athletic achievements for social justice efforts. Both are committed Christians. The couple adopted four sisters in 2015.

References

External links

 official website

1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Santa Rosa, California
Track and field athletes from California
American female middle-distance runners
American female long-distance runners
American female marathon runners
American female steeplechase runners
American female cross country runners
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games
Christians from California
Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games
20th-century American women
21st-century American women

Sara Hall


Monzón Castle is a fortress located in Monzón, Spain.

Built during the tenth century by the Banu Hud dynasty of the Taifa of Zaragoza, Aragonese forces captured the castle in 1089 when it was conquered by Sancho Ramírez. In 1143 the castle passed to the Templars who added walls, towers, stables, a dining hall and dormitories. King James I of Aragon lived in the fort under Templar protection during his childhood .

In 1309, at the time of the dissolution of the Templars, the castle was besieged and captured by the army of James II of Aragon. The fort continued to maintain garrisons until the nineteenth century which led to the logical evolution in their walls and defenses, and their appearance today reflects their eighteenth century configuration. Monzón Castle is today partially restored and is designated as a National Monument.

See also
Castle of Montearagón

External links

 Virtual tour of Monzón Castle
 History of Monzón Castle

Castles in Aragon
Buildings and structures in the Province of Huesca
Military history of al-Andalus

Monzón Castle


Chen Junsheng (; June 1927 – 8 August 2002) was a Chinese politician. As a provincial official in Heilongjiang in the early 1980s, he distinguished himself as an advocate of the household responsibility system, resulting in the implementation of the reform in China's last bastion of collective agriculture. Consequently, he was elevated to the national government and served as Secretary-General of the State Council (1985–1988), State Councillor (1988–1998), and Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1998–2002).

Early life and career
Chen was born in June 1927 in Huanan County, Heilongjiang province. During the Chinese Civil War, he was a member of the Mass Movement Group in Yilan County from 1946 to 1948, and was in charge of organizational affairs in Yidong County.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, from 1950 to 1957 he worked in the publicity department of Suihua, Fuyu, and Keshan counties, and became party secretary of Keshan. During the Cultural Revolution, he suffered from persecution between 1967 and 1973.

Heilongjiang provincial committee
From 1973 to 1981, he served as deputy director and then director of the Heilongjiang Party Committee Policy Research Office, deputy director and director of the General Office of the Provincial Party Committee, member of the provincial party standing committee and secretary-general of Heilongjiang Party Committee, and party secretary of Qiqihar City.

From 1981 to 1984, Chen served as party secretary (then equivalent to deputy party chief) of Heilongjiang Province. In the early 1980s, when the rest of China was implementing the household responsibility system, Heilongjiang's party chief Yang Yichen resisted the reform and the province was the last bastion of collective agriculture. Chen, a supporter of the reform, conducted an investigation in Nenjiang Prefecture in 1982, and concluded in his report that peasants supported household contracts because they directly rewarded their work and prevented abuse by officials and egalitarianism. Chen's work, together with another official's investigation of conditions in other provinces, caused Yang to change his position. In a meeting in January 1983, Chen's report was approved by the provincial party committee and propagated as a policy guide. A month later, Yang lost his job as the province's party chief. He was later appointed procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate in an ostensible "promotion".

National government
Because of his advocacy of the rural household responsibility reform, Yang was transferred to the central government in Beijing. From 1984 to 1985 Chen was vice president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and deputy director of the Rural Policy Research Office under the CPC Central Committee. He became Secretary-General of the State Council from 1985 to 1988, and served as a vice-premier-level State Councillor from 1988 to 1998. He became a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1998, serving until his death in 2002. He was a member of the 13th and 14th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.

Chen died in Beijing on 8 August 2002.

References

1927 births
2002 deaths
People from Jiamusi
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Heilongjiang
People's Republic of China politicians from Heilongjiang
State councillors of China
Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Political office-holders in Heilongjiang
Qiqihar

Chen Junsheng


The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter in 1681. The college has over 14,000 fellows and members worldwide.

History
The RCPE was formed by a royal charter, granted in 1681, with Sir Robert Sibbald recognised as playing a key part in the negotiations. Three applications preceded this and had been unsuccessful. There were 21 original Fellows, eleven of whom were graduates or students of the University of Leiden. The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 resulted in several items from the College's Charter becoming obsolete, and they obtained a further charter on 31 October 1861. In 1920 the College enacted changes that allowed women to be admitted on the same terms as men. The charter was amended on 7 May 2005.

Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia

In 1699 The College first published a medical guide with standardised recipes Pharmacopoea Colegi Regii Medicorum Edimburgensium; thirteen editions of this Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia were published unit 1841 when it was replaced by a British Pharmacopoeia.

Buildings
In 1704 the College acquired a house and grounds on Fountain Close, on the Cowgate, in the Old Town.

On 27 November 1775 William Cullen laid the foundation stone for a new hall and library in George Street in the New Town. Architect James Craig, had ideas about expansion but the builders of neighbouring properties found favour instead. The hall was not fully completed until 1830. Unfortunately the great cost of the hall's exterior exhausted the College's finances leaving no money to finish the interior of a building. The College's debt was so much that there was talk of selling the Hall before it was even occupied. The Hall was sold to the Commercial Bank of Scotland in 1841 and was demolished.

Between 1843 and 1846 the College did not own a meeting place, instead renting a premises at 119 George Street.

The foundation stone of a new Hall at 9 Queen Street was laid on 8 August 1844. The new Queen Street Hall was designed by Thomas Hamilton. The Queen Street Hall was completed in 1846.

An adjacent building, Number 8 Queen Street was designed by Robert Adam as a house for Robert Ord and built between 1770 and 1771, one of the earliest New Town constructions. In 1868 it was purchased by the College, who then leased it to other organisations until 1957. A restoration project began in 1990 and lasted seven years.

Numbers 11 and 12 were built around 1780. They were purchased by the college in the 20th century. The space behind 11 was used for the Conference Centre and 12 contains flexible meeting rooms and office space.

In 1984 the college put Richard Dadd's painting of Alexander Morison up for sale, to raise money to treat dry rot.

Sibbald Library

In 1682, Robert Sibbald donated around one hundred books to the college. At the end of the 18th century the library was located at the Royal Infirmary. The college's library in Queen Street bears Sibbald's name in commemoration. The library also has artefacts, such as a medicine chest that belonged to Stuart Threipland, physician to Bonnie Prince Charlie. In the 1960s, the information held by the library was modern. From the sixties onward, medical information became more available and college's library became more known for its historical works.

In 2015, a project with the University of Glasgow digitised a collection of 5,000 letters of William Cullen from the mid-1750s to 1790, making them available online.

, the college has catalogued more than 30,000 records that are in its archives.

Laboratory
In 1888 the College took the decision to establish its own research laboratory and initially rented a house in Lauriston Lane, near the Royal Infirmary. A three-storey building on Forest Road was acquired and in 1896 was formally opened as the college's new laboratory. It had areas equipped and fitted for a range of disciplines: Bacteriological, Chemical, and Histological and Experimental. With the creation of the NHS, the laboratory could not depend upon income from their reporting service and it closed in 1950.

Publications

The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (JRCPE) is a peer reviewed medical journal published quarterly by the College. It was established in 1971 as Chronicle, renamed in 1988 to Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and obtained its current title in 2002.

Membership
Following successful completion of the MRCP(UK) or MRCPCH examinations, doctors are eligible to become Members of the College.

See also
 List of presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

References

Further reading

External links

1681 establishments in Scotland
Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh
Scottish medical associations
Professional associations based in Scotland
Organisations based in Edinburgh
College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Physicians of Edinburgh
Science and technology in Edinburgh
Charities based in Edinburgh
Educational charities based in the United Kingdom
Health charities in Scotland


Valentin Adamberger, also known by his Italian name Adamonti, (22 February 1740 or 6 July 174324 August 1804) was a German operatic tenor. His voice was universally admired for its pliancy, agility, and precision, and several composers of note, such as Mozart, wrote music specifically for him.

Biography
Adamberger was born either in Rohr, Bavaria in 1740 or in Munich in 1743. Beginning in 1755, he studied singing with Johann Walleshauser (also known as Giovanni Valesi) while at the , a Jesuit institution in Munich. In 1760, he joined the Kapelle of Duke Clemens and upon the Duke's death in 1770 was taken into the Elector's Hofkapelle. He made his opera début at Munich in 1772. This was the beginning of a successful career singing leading tenor roles in opera seria at Modena, Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. He created roles in operas by J. C. Bach, Giuseppe Sarti, Pietro Guglielmi, Antonio Sacchini, Ferdinando Bertoni and others. The arias they wrote for his voice tended to be moderate in tempo and often were written in B major. Many of the composers orchestrated his arias with obbligato clarinets and expressive chromatic inflections.

In Rome, Adamberger sang under the italianized stage name Valentino Adamonti from 1775 to 1777. From 1778-1779 he sang at the King's Theatre in London. After returning to Italy briefly for appearances in Florence and Milan, he joined the Singspiel company of the National Court Theater at Vienna. He made his début there on 21 August 1780. The following year, he married the Viennese actress Maria Anna Adamberger (1753–1804); their daughter was Antonie Adamberger, later a popular actress. In 1783, the Singspiel company disbanded but Adamberger was kept on for the Italian company that replaced it. When the Singspiel company was revived in 1785, alongside the Italian, he again became its leading tenor, and when it was disbanded for the second time, in 1789, he returned to the Italian company. In 1793, he retired from the stage but continued as a member of the imperial Hofkapelle and as an eminent singing teacher. He died in Vienna.

Although Adamberger's voice was admired where ever he went, he did have his critics. Christian Schubart and Mount Edgcumbe remarked on the nasal quality of his voice in the higher vocal register and Charles Burney, generally a harsh critic of singers, remarked that "with a better voice [he] would have been a good singer". However, he was universally liked by the public in Italy, Germany, and England, and was a particularly popular singer in Vienna. Michtner, a local Viennese journalist, wrote of Adamberger that he was "the favourite singer of softer hearts". Mozart, who admired Adamberger, wrote the part of Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) for him. In a letter dated 26 September 1781, Mozart wrote, "Let me now turn to Belmonte's aria in A major, 'O wie ängstlich, o wie feurig'. Would you like to know how I have expressed it – and even indicated his throbbing heart? By the two violins playing in octaves. This is the favourite aria of all who have heard it, and it is mine also. I wrote it expressly to suit Adamberger's voice. You see the trembling, the faltering, you see how his throbbing breast begins to swell; this I have expressed by a crescendo. You hear the whispering and the sighing – which I have indicated by the first violins with mutes and a flute playing in unison." Mozart also composed the role of Vogelsang in Der Schauspieldirektor (1786) for Adamberger, as well as several concert arias (K.420 and K.431) and the cantata Die Maurerfreude (K.471).

References

External links

 Valentin Adamberger : a portrait and a musical playlist on AllAboutMozart.com

1740s births
1804 deaths
18th-century German male actors
German male stage actors
German operatic tenors
German expatriates in Italy
German expatriates in Austria
People from Kelheim (district)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's singers
18th-century German male opera singers

Valentin Adamberger


Scarlet Heart (, lit. Startling by Each Step) is a 2011 Chinese television series based on the novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua. It premiered in China on Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) on 10 September 2011.

The series tells the story of a modern-era woman, Zhang Xiao, who time-travelled from the 21st century to the Qing Dynasty during Emperor Kangxi's reign, where she, as her previous incarnate Ma'er'tai Ruoxi, encountered the Emperor's sons, who were involved in a lengthy battle for the throne. During the course of the series, the female protagonist would meet and eventually fell in love with Fourth Prince Aisin Gioro Yinzhen, who would later on ascend the throne as Emperor Yongzheng. The plot of the series largely followed the original novel's plot, though the series's ending differed from the novel's, along with a few minor differences from both the series and novel.

A pioneer of the time slip genre in Asian television, Scarlet Heart was a commercial and critical hit, both in China and across Asia. A "sequel", Scarlet Heart 2 first aired in China on Zhejiang TV on 22 April 2014.

Synopsis

Zhang Xiao (Cecilia Liu), a young woman from the 21st century, suffers a near-fatal accident that sends her back in time to the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Emperor's (Damian Lau) reign. She finds herself trapped in the body of one of her previous incarnations: Ma'ertai Ruoxi, the teenage daughter of a Manchu general. In this new timeline, she has an elder sister, Ruolan (Annie Liu), who is a concubine of the Kangxi Emperor's eighth son, Yinsi (Kevin Cheng). Ruoxi initially tries to return to the future, but she soon adjusts to life in this era. She meets some of Kangxi's other sons, including the fourth prince Yinzhen (Nicky Wu), tenth prince Yin'e (Ye Zuxin) who falls in love with her, and fourteenth prince Yinti (Lin Gengxin). She also forges a close friendship with the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang (Yuan Hong).

Ruoxi attracts the attention of the emperor with rumors of her brashness and bravery, and manages to charm him with her intelligence and wit. Later, at the imperial palace's "beauty draft" (during which concubines and wives are chosen for the princes or the emperor himself), conflicting arrangements are made by Yinsi and his first wife, Gogoro Minghui (Shi Xiaoqun), leading to Ruoxi being drafted into the service of the dowager empress to keep the peace. Ruoxi is given an appointment as a servant to the emperor himself, specifically to prepare and serve tea to him and those he hosts.

During Ruoxi's stay in Yinsi's house, Yinsi falls in love with her. She initially rejects him but eventually returns his feelings, and later agrees to marry him if he gives up competing for the succession to the throne. This is because Ruoxi's knowledge of history makes her aware that Yinsi's ambition will ultimately lead to his death in prison after Yinzhen becomes emperor. However, Yinsi refuses to and thus Ruoxi breaks up with him. Before leaving, Ruoxi warns Yinsi of Yinzhen's plans to usurp the throne and came up with solutions for him to prevent being taken down by Yinzhen.

Ruoxi then started to get closer to Yinzhen, and their interactions changed her unfavorable opinion of him, and she unwittingly falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Yinsi and his supporters, acting on Ruoxi's advice, frame Yinzhen for plotting against the crown prince Yinreng (Zhang Lei). Yinxiang steps forward to take responsibility and is ultimately sentenced to house arrest. After this incident, Yinsi realizes that Ruoxi is now romantically involved with Yinzhen. Yinreng is deposed after his criminal ways are exposed and is imprisoned for life. Kangxi then begins showing preference for Yinti and offers Ruoxi as a concubine to him. However, Ruoxi boldly defies the emperor's order, and as a penalty, she is demoted to the laundry department.

Ruoxi works within the laundry department for a number of years, and is offered some level of protection and special treatment by ways of the princes. Kangxi falls ill during this time, and when Ruoxi is brought back to the emperor's service by Eunuch Wang to prepare pastries and help stimulate Kangxi's appetite, he pardons her and restores her to her former role as his lead tea server.

Kangxi eventually dies of his illness, and with military support from Longkodo (Zhao Jialin) and Nian Gengyao (Xing Hanqing), Yinzhen falsely claims that Kangxi named him the successor, effectively staging a coup and taking the throne from Yinti to become the Yongzheng Emperor. Yinzhen then releases Yinxiang from custody and moves Ruoxi into his quarters, eventually consummating their relationship. He does not, however, marry her, as he wants to be able to live with her and see her every day—wives and concubines have their own estates between which the emperor must divide his time. Ruoxi is pleased enough with this arrangement, as she has always been reticent about marriage and enjoys seeing Yinzhen daily as well. Ruoxi's happiness, however, is marred by Yinzhen's paranoia and his ruthless persecution of Yinsi and his followers. She is often caught between the rivaling factions of Yinzhen and Yinsi.

When Gogoro Minghui tells Ruoxi that Yinsi acted against Yinzhen years ago because of her advice based on the knowledge of the future, she is shocked, and her despair causes her to miscarry Yinzhen's child and is unable to conceive again. Enraged, Yinzhen blames Yinsi and his wife, issuing an edict forcing them to divorce, which leads her to commit suicide. Ruoxi fears Yinzhen's punitive actions against his brothers and confesses the truth to him and Yinxiang. Yinzhen is stunned when he understands why Yinsi plotted against him and starts treating Ruoxi coldly. Ruoxi is unable to withstand the mental stress and asks Yinti to help her leave the palace. Yinsi knows that Yinzhen will not allow Ruoxi to leave and decides to intervene. He discloses details of his past romance with Ruoxi, and an angered Yinzhen eventually agrees to let Ruoxi and Yinti leave the Forbidden City.

Despite Yinti's excellent care, Ruoxi's emotional anguish deeply affects her health, and she begs him to send a letter to Yinzhen, requesting to see the emperor one last time before she dies. However, a misunderstanding between Yinzhen and Yinti causes the letter to be thrown aside unread. Ruoxi struggles to stay alive, but after three days, she concludes that Yinzhen's absence confirms that his love for her has ended, and she dies. When news of Ruoxi's death reaches Yinzhen, he rushes to Yinti's house, regretting his actions after learning that Ruoxi still loved him.

In the later years, Yinsi and Yintang (Han Dong) were imprisoned as Yinzhen blames them for everything that happened. Yinxiang went to visit them in prison and hands them poison, which was Ruoxi's request to him before she left the palace. Both Princes commit suicide and end their suffering. Yinxiang dies a few years later, followed shortly by Yinzhen himself, whose 12-year reign as Emperor was the shortest in Qing history. Yinti lives on but does not find another wife. Only Yin'e has a happy ending with his wife (Liu Yuxin) whom he grew to love, watching Qianlong Emperor ascend the throne.

Back in 2011, Zhang Xiao regains consciousness in a hospital and is informed that she had been in a coma for weeks. She wonders if her experiences in the past were real or just a dream. After recovering, Zhang researches the Qing Dynasty era, only to find that history remains on its proper course, and there are no records on Ma'ertai Ruoxi.  However, she later visits a museum where she recognizes some Qing Dynasty-era artifacts and sees a woman in a Kangxi Emperor portrait that resembles her. Meanwhile, a man who bears a striking resemblance to Yinzhen visits the exhibition and encounters Zhang Xiao but does not recognize her. The show ends with a cliffhanger of the man walking away as Zhang Xiao's tears start to fall.

Cast

Main
 Cecilia Liu as Maer'tai Ruoxi (馬爾泰·若曦) / Zhang Xiao (張曉)
A modern day 9-to-5 white-collar worker, who accidentally goes back in time from the 21st century to the Qing Dynasty as the teenage daughter of a Manchu general. Intelligent, witty and armed with the knowledge of history, she was able to quickly adapt to life in that era, and ended up befriending the various princes.
 Nicky Wu as Yinzhen(胤禛)
The aloof and reserved fourth prince, known for his perceptive thinking and cruelty. In order to protect the people around him and driven by his mother's cold treatment toward him, Yinzhen decides to fight for the throne. He first became interested in Ruoxi when he noticed her avoiding him, and ultimately falls deeply in love with her.
 Kevin Cheng as Yinsi (胤禩)
The virtuous eighth prince. Having been born to a lowly palace maid, Yinsi wants the respect of his fellow brothers and ministers, therefore driving him to seek ultimate power. He falls in love with Ruoxi, but gives up on her when he was asked to choose between the throne or his love. He later expresses his regret over this decision.
 Yuan Hong as Yinxiang (胤祥)
The rebellious and free-spirited thirteenth prince, who seeks a carefree live outside the palace. His easygoing and steadfast nature allowed him to relate to Ruoxi's 21st century mindset, and they become best friends.
 Lin Gengxin as Yinti (允禵)
The forthright and sincere fourteenth prince, and the favored son of Consort De. He is loyal to his brothers and cares for them. Although he dislikes Ruoxi initially because of her ultimatum to Yinsi, he ultimately falls in love with her, and marries her in order to bring her out of the palace.

Supporting

Emperor and Other Princes
 Damian Lau as the Kangxi Emperor (康熙)
 Zhang Lei as Yinreng (胤礽), the crown prince
 Yang Xiaobo as Yinti (胤禔), the First Prince, he was jailed for life as he was found out by the Emperor that he's a culprit for cursing Yinreng to being deposed.
 Chen Jingyu as Yinzhi (胤祉), the Third Prince, he spread rumours accusing the First Prince of using sorcery to overthrow Yinreng from his Crown Prince position, causing he lost favour from the Emperor.
 Wang Xiaodong as Yinqi (胤祺), the Fifth Prince
 Han Dong as Yintang (胤禟), the Ninth Prince who is calculating and brusque. He is aligned with Yinsi and thinks of ways to help him plot against Yinzhen.
 Ye Zuxin as Yin'e (胤礻我), the Tenth Prince who is cheerful and bumbling. He has an unrequited crush on Ruoxi, but the two later becomes close friends.
 Qu Aohui as Hongshi (弘时), the third son of Yinzhen who stands against his father.

Royal ladies
 Dai Chunrong as Consort De (德妃), Yinzhen and Yinti's mother
 Liu Jie as Consort Liang (良妃), Yinsi's mother
 Mu Tingting as Lady Ula Nara (乌喇那拉氏), Yinzhen's first wife
 Lu Meifang as Consort Nian (年妃), Yinzhen's second wife and Nian Gengyao's sister
 Shi Xiaoqun as Gororo Minghui (郭络罗·明慧), Yinsi's wife
 Annie Liu as Ma'ertai Ruolan (马尔泰·若兰), Yinsi's second wife and Ruoxi's sister. She is unwillingly married to Yinsi, who loves her and thus led to her father killing her lover in a bid to get her married to Yinsi.
 Liu Yuxin as Gororo Mingyu (郭络罗·明玉), Yin'e's wife
 Li Linlin as Lady Fuca (富察氏), Yinxiang's wife
 Chai Wei as Princess Chenghuan (承欢), Yinxiang and Lüwu's daughter

Ministers and servants
 Xing Hanqing as Nian Gengyao (年羹尧), a trusted minister of Yinzhen and Consort Nian's brother
 Zhao Jialin as Longkodo (隆科多), a trusted minister of Yinzhen
 Gao Sen as Li Guangdi (李光地), a trusted minister of Emperor Kangxi
 Ye Qing as Yu Tan (玉檀), a tea servant under Ruoxi who is the ninth prince's spy
 Deng Limin as Li Dequan (李德全), head of the internal department who serves Emperor Kangxi
 Zhou Yancheng as Wang Xi (王喜), Li Dequan's disciple
 Cao Xinye as Qiao Hui (巧慧), Ruolan and Ruoxi's maid
 Qi Qinglin as Li Fu (李福), a eunuch who serves Yinsi
 Hu Zhonghu as Gao Wuyong (高无庸), a eunuch who serves Yinzhen and later becomes the new head of internal department
 Shen Baoping as Zhang Qianying (张千英), the head of the washing department
 Lian Teyue as Imperial Physician He (何太医)
 Kang Mingtong as Yun Xiang (芸香)
 Huo Dongdong as Yan Ping (艳萍)
 Zao Yang as Xiao Shunzi (小顺子)
 Ji Xue as Mei Xiang (梅香)
 Guo Jinying as Ju Yun (菊韵)

Mongolians
 Guo Xiaoting as Princess Suwan Guwalgiya-Minmin (苏完瓜尔佳·敏敏), a Mongolian princess who falls in love with Yinxiang
 Ba Sen as King Suwan-Guwalgiya (苏完瓜尔佳王爷)
 Zheng Kai as Prince Irgen Gioro Zuoying (伊尔根觉罗·佐鹰)

Others
 Guo Zhenni as Lüwu (绿芜), a courtesan and the love interest and confidante of Yinxiang. She ultimately kills herself when she realizes that her lowly birth will hinder Yinxiang's future endeavors.
 Wang Xiaodong as Chang Qingshan (常青山), Ruolan's lover who was killed by her father.
 Ma Tianyu as Huang Di (黄棣), Zhang Xiao's present-day boyfriend.

Deviations from the novel

The show's producers have announced that the series will remain mostly faithful to Bu Bu Jing Xin, the novel by Tong Hua on which it is based. However, there are some differences:

In the novel's beginning, though in the television series Zhang Xiao remains a 25-year-old white-collar worker — her alter ego, Ma'ertai Ruoxi, was 13 years old, not 16. Another difference was that Zhang came from the year 2005, not 2011.
In the novel, Ruoxi is unable to return to her own time and ultimately succumbs to her illness, while Yinzhen dies ten years later amid hopes of reuniting with Ruoxi after death. The story ends with Yinzhen's son Hongli's (whom he fathered with Lady Niohuru) ascension to the throne as the Qianlong Emperor. In the television series, after Ruoxi and Yinzhen's deaths, Ruoxi's soul returns to her incarnation in the 21st century. Whilst struggling to get over the trauma of her experiences of time travel, she encounters a man who resembles Yinzhen and is possibly a present-day incarnation of him. The man does not recognize her, though he did inquire her if they knew each other before making his leave. Zhang Xiao remains in guilt over everything that happened when she was Ma'ertai Ruoxi. She chooses not say anything and tearfully watches the man leave.

Soundtrack

Songs not included in the commercial release
Aide Lianyi (爱的涟漪; Love's Ripples) performed by Ailiya & Alicia [04:30]
Diaoke Aiqing (雕刻爱情; Sculpture of Love) performed by Zheng Jiajia [03:35]
Xuehua Hongmei (雪花红梅; Snowflakes and Red Plum Blossoms) performed by Gong Shujun [04:14]

Awards

Remake
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is a South Korean remake, directed by Kim Kyu-tae. It is the first Korean drama project for Universal Studios and has a budget of $13 million. It began airing on 29 August 2016 for 20 episodes. It received criticisms for its screenplay, direction and performances, but was well received overseas. In China, the series aired at the same time as its Korean broadcast on Youku and Mango TV, also, in Hong Kong on LeTV, and on ONE TV ASIA in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia under the title Scarlet Heart. Due to its simultaneous broadcast and extensive publicity campaign, including a fan-meeting with Kang Ha-neul before the premiere, the drama was well received in Singapore and Malaysia, and has 2.5 billion cumulative views on China's biggest video platform, Youku.

See also
Palace

References

External links

2011 Chinese television series debuts
2011 Chinese television series endings
Chinese romance television series
Chinese historical television series
Chinese time travel television series
Alternate history television series
Television shows about dreams
Cultural depictions of Chinese men
Television shows about reincarnation
Television shows based on works by Tong Hua (writer)
Television series by Tangren Media
Television series set in 2011
Television series set in 18th-century Qing dynasty
Hunan Television dramas
Television series about dysfunctional families
Television shows set in Beijing
Television shows set in Shenzhen
Television shows about spirit possession

Scarlet Heart


Campbell Jackson (born 20 June 1981) is a former Northern Irish darts player who currently played in the Professional Darts Corporation tournaments.

Career
In 2010, Jackson won an Irish Players Championship by beating Shane O'Connor 6–2 in the final. A year later he almost won the Players Championship Grand Final but lost 6–3 to Damien O'Driscoll in the final.

In January 2013, Jackson entered Qualifying School in an attempt to secure a full-time place on the PDC tour. On the third day he won six matches concluding with a 6–5 victory over Ryan de Vreede to earn a two-year tour card. He qualified for the UK Open for the first time but was beaten 5–2 by Connie Finnan in the preliminary round. He also qualified for his first European Tour event, the Austrian Darts Open and lost 6–4 to Wayne Jones in the opening round. His deepest run in a PDC to date came at the Dutch Darts Masters where Jackson saw off three time world champion John Part 6–3 and came back from 5–0 down against Mark Cox to level their last 32 game, but then lost the deciding leg.

Jackson had a very disappointing 2014 season as he played in 27 events but only reached the last 64 on four occasions and suffered a loss once there in all of them. He won the 2014 Weigh Inn Irish Open with a 5–4 victory in the final over Davy Guy and a year later was beaten 5–0 by Joshua Richardson in the Weigh Inn Bar Shootout Classic final. Jackson has not played in an event since failing to come through Q School in January 2016.

Personal life
Jackson works as a stonemason. He travels to darts events with compatriot Daryl Gurney.

References

External links

1981 births
Living people
Darts players from Northern Ireland
Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders

Campbell Jackson


Anna Marie Falcon (born September 17, 1982 in Las Piñas, Philippines), known by her stage name Francine Prieto, is a Filipino actress, fashion model, radio DJ, and singer. She is of Chinese Filipino and Norwegian descent.

Education
Prieto studied B.S. Psychology at Adamson University but was unable to finish her degree when she joined show business.

Career
Prieto began her career in the entertainment industry as a member of That's Entertainment. In her teen years, she showed the makings of a high-profile model that got her into the modeling industry. At 13, she was fielded in the Elite Model Look Search Philippines 1994 (formerly Look of the Year) and she emerged as one of the finalists. Top model Linda Evangelista flew into Manila to judge the search. Prieto, then known as Anna Marie Falcon did ramp modeling and photoshoots with her stunning Eurasian features towering at  in her teen years.

A professional model at 14, she joined the Bodyshots Philippines competition and landed as 1st runner-up. It opened more doors for her in the modeling industry for years. Prieto represented the Philippines at the Miss South East Asia Peninsula International Pageant where she emerged as 2nd runner-up. In 2003, she ventured into a major beauty contest, Binibining Pilipinas 2003 pageant. Unfortunately, although she did well in the competition, she only managed to reach the Top 12 finalists. Prieto screened as a candidate for Mutya ng Pilipinas 2003 but eventually dropped the plans after being offered exclusively starring roles contracts by a then giant production outfit, Seiko Films.

As an actress, she did several sexy roles with Seiko Films together with Diana Zubiri. Her biggest break was when she played Queen Avria in Etheria, the second book of Encantadia. She has also done comic roles in Bubble Gang, where she was one of the mainstays. She recently played Kuran, a villainess in Kamandag. She also played a supporting role as Aureana in Codename: Asero. In early 2009, she played Sheila, one of the villains in Ang Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang.

As of 2012, she played Mrs. Smith in Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo. Prieto terminated her contract with GMA-7. She has a contract with Kapamilya, although it is non-exclusive. In 2010, she played a vampire co-revolutionary leader Imelda Fontanilla, in the supernatural thriller series Imortal. She played one of the main roles as Shaina Magdayao's mother Aida Natividad / Mira Fuentes in Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Alyna after leaving the beginning of the series until she was returned back to the series.

Also in 2010, Prieto became the model and face of Ever Bilena Cosmetics. Aside from being an actress, she was a radio presenter at DZMM TeleRadyo's program 'Ka-Date' together with Bobby Yan, which also aired on DZMM 630 simultaneously.

In 2016, Prieto returned to GMA Network and had a part in the teleserye Oh, My Mama!.

Personal life
On March 26, 2010, Prieto's mother Amelia Falcon died at age 54 from ovarian cancer. Prieto has a paternal younger half-sister who lives in Norway, as well as a maternal older half-brother, and three more younger half-siblings from her stepfather.

Filmography

Television

Film

Radio

References

External links

Francine Prieto's original pictorials at FHM Philippines
Startalk: Francine Prieto speaks out

1982 births
Living people
Binibining Pilipinas contestants
Filipino child actresses
Filipino female models
Filipino film actresses
Filipino people of Chinese descent
Filipino people of Norwegian descent
Filipino radio personalities
Filipino television actresses
Actors from Las Piñas
That's Entertainment (Philippine TV series)
GMA Network personalities
Star Magic
ABS-CBN personalities
TV5 (Philippine TV network) personalities

Francine Prieto


Northern Canada, sometimes referred to by Canadians as simply the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada. The term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Other parts of Northern Canada may include Northern Quebec and Northern Labrador.

Regions of Canada

Northern Canada