Klaus Wagner (March 31, 1910 – February 6, 2000) was a German mathematician known for his contributions to graph theory.

Education and career
Wagner studied topology at the University of Cologne under the supervision of  who had been a student of Issai Schur. Wagner received his Ph.D. in 1937, with a dissertation concerning the Jordan curve theorem and four color theorem, and taught at Cologne for many years himself. In 1970, he moved to the University of Duisburg, where he remained until his retirement in 1978.

Graph minors

Wagner is known for his contributions to graph theory and particularly the theory of graph minors, graphs that can be formed from a larger graph by contracting and removing edges.

Wagner's theorem characterizes the planar graphs as exactly those graphs that do not have as a minor either a complete graph K5 on five vertices or a complete bipartite graph K3,3 with three vertices on each side of its bipartition. That is, these two graphs are the only minor-minimal non-planar graphs. It is closely related to, but should be distinguished from, Kuratowski's theorem, which states that the planar graphs are exactly those graphs that do not contain as a subgraph a subdivision of K5 or K3,3.

Another result of his, also known as Wagner's theorem, is that a four-connected graph is planar if and only if it has no K5 minor. This implies a characterization of the graphs with no K5 minor as being constructed from planar graphs and Wagner graph (an eight-vertex Möbius ladder) by clique-sums, operations that glue together subgraphs at cliques of up to three vertices and then possibly remove edges from those cliques. This characterization was used by Wagner to show that the case k = 5 of the Hadwiger conjecture on the chromatic number of Kk-minor-free graphs is equivalent to the four color theorem. Analogous characterizations of other families of graphs in terms of the summands of their clique-sum decompositions have since become standard in graph minor theory.

Wagner conjectured in the 1930s (although this conjecture was not published until later) that in any infinite set of graphs, one graph is isomorphic to a minor of another. The truth of this conjecture implies that any family of graphs closed under the operation of taking minors (as planar graphs are) can automatically be characterized by finitely many forbidden minors analogously to Wagner's theorem characterizing the planar graphs. Neil Robertson and Paul Seymour finally published a proof of Wagner's conjecture in 2004 and it is now known as the Robertson–Seymour theorem.

Recognition
Wagner was honored in 1990 by a festschrift on graph theory, and in June 2000, following Wagner's death, the University of Cologne hosted a Festkolloquium in his memory.

Selected publications
.

References

1910 births
2000 deaths
20th-century German mathematicians
Topologists
Graph theorists

Klaus Wagner


Twickenham was a local government district in Middlesex, England from 1868 to 1965.

History
Twickenham Local Government District was formed in 1868, when the civil parish of Twickenham adopted the Local Government Act 1858. The district was governed by a local board of 27 members.

The Local Government Act 1894 reconstituted the area of the local board as Twickenham Urban District. Twickenham Urban District Council (UDC), consisting of 24 councillors representing 4 wards, replaced the local board.

In 1926 Twickenham was granted a charter of incorporation to become a municipal borough. The borough council consisted of a mayor, 8 aldermen and 24 councillors, and was divided into 8 wards.

In 1934 the borough was extended by a county review order: the urban districts of Hampton, Hampton Wick and Teddington were all absorbed by Twickenham. The borough council was increased in size with 10 aldermen and 30 councillors representing 10 wards. The number of wards was later increased to 11.

The local board met in rented rooms until 1881, when it moved to Queen's Hall in King Street. In 1924 Twickenham UDC purchased the historic York House, and after restoration this became the offices for the borough.

The borough was abolished in 1965 with the creation of Greater London.  It became part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, along with the Municipal Borough of Barnes and the Municipal Borough of Richmond, both from Surrey. However, York House, which had previously been Twickenham's town hall, would become the municipal headquarters of the new borough.

Coat of arms

The Twickenham Urban District Council was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms in 1913. The name "Twickenham" means two ways (roads) settlement or two-farm settlement, and the main device on the shield was a green pall or Y-shaped figure to illustrate the first reading which also resembles the arms of Diocese of Canterbury, which had historical links with the area. At the top of the shield was an antique lamp for literature, arts and sciences. At the dexter side were crossed swords, the emblem of the arms of the Diocese of London. These represented Twickenham's first appearance in historical records where Waldhere, Bishop of London was granted land in AD 704. The three red roses came from the arms of William of Wykeham (d. 1404) who had built the tower of the parish church of St Mary.

The crest above the shield was a swan on water with an eel in its beak. This represented the River Thames, a long boundary of the town for three miles (5 km). The eel was for Eel Pie Island.

The municipal borough inherited the arms in 1926 and were unaltered when the borough was extended in 1934.

The swan crest became that of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in 1965.

References

Further reading
 Entry for Twickenham in A Vision of Britain Through Time

1968 establishments in England
Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963
Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894
History of local government in Middlesex
History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Local Government Districts created by the Local Government Act 1858
Municipal boroughs of England
Municipal Borough
Teddington
Hampton, London
Whitton, London

Municipal Borough of Twickenham


An air force is the branch of a country's military which fights in the air. The air force is made up of aircraft such as fighters, bombers, helicopters and transport aircraft. When a navy has its own air force it is called Naval Aviation.

Air forces began in the early 20th century, usually as part of the army. Most countries separated their air forces in the 1930s and 1940s.

Aircraft in an air force sometimes fly in a formation. Formations are when the aircraft fly in a pattern. Air forces is part of the military.

The biggest air force in the world is the United States Air Force (USAF). Second and third largest are the United States Navy and Russian Air Force.

References

Air force


The Ohsweken Demons is a professional indoor lacrosse team that plays in Hagersville, Ontario. It is part of the Canadian Lacrosse League. The team plays its home games in Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.

The team played its first season in 2012. It won the Creators' Cup league championship that year.

Canadian Lacrosse League
Sport in Ontario

Ohsweken Demons


Rocket Man is a BBC television drama series produced in 2005 by Philip Leach, about a recently widowed Welsh man who is struggling to build a rocket in which to launch his wife's ashes into space while raising his two children. It was created by Alison Hume, directed by Jon East (episodes 1 and 2), Jane Prowse (episodes 3 and 4) and James Strong (episodes 5 and 6), and stars Robson Green, Charles Dale, John Rhys Halliwell and Lucy Evans, with Alison Newman, Janine Wood, Kay Bridgeman, Kai Owen, Dave Hill, Philip Whitchurch and Marcus Smith in supporting roles, among others. The six hour-long episodes in the series were set in coastal Wales, in a town devastated by the closure of the local carriage works though filmed in Druridge Bay, Northumberland. According to the sign on the local chocolate bonbon factory appearing in Episode 1 where George, Barney, Diane et al. work, the exact location where the set is (fictional) Tonglas, in Newport.

Cast
 Robson Green as George Stevenson, dyslexic widower and single parent
 Charles Dale as Barney Scott, George's best buddy and co-worker at the chocolate factory
 John Rhys Halliwell as Tom Stevenson, George's eight-year-old son
 Lucy Evans as Angela Stevenson, George's teenage daughter
 Kai Owen as David 'Shiner' Owen, security guard and another of George's mates
 Dave Hill as Huw Masters, another of George's friends
 Alison Newman as Diane Scott, Barney's wife
 Janine Wood as Mary Hughes, patent officer, former designer at the carriage works and George's love interest
 Philip Whitchurch as Lloyd Edwards, owner of the local scrapyard
 Kay Bridgeman as Pam Tomlyn, special needs co-ordinator / social worker at Tom's school
 Marcus Smith as Ed Fernandez, Angela's love interest
 Maureen Bennett as Barbara Masters, Huw's wife

References

External links

 Rocket Man at BBC.

2005 British television series debuts
2005 British television series endings
2000s British comedy-drama television series
2000s British television miniseries
BBC television dramas
British comedy-drama television shows
English-language television shows
Television shows set in Wales
Television series by Banijay

Rocket Man (TV series)


Aristobulus III (53–36 BCE) was the last scion of the Hasmonean royal house, brother of Herod the Great's wife Mariamne, and grandson of Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. He was a favourite of the people on account of his noble descent and handsome presence, and thus became an object of fear to Herod, who at first sought to ignore him entirely by debarring him from the high priesthood. But his mother Alexandra, through intercession with Cleopatra and Mark Antony, compelled Herod to remove Ananelus from the office of High Priest and appoint Aristobulus instead.

To secure himself against danger from Aristobulus, Herod instituted a system of espionage against him and his mother. This surveillance proved so onerous that they sought to gain their freedom by taking refuge with Cleopatra. As told by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus, their plans were betrayed and the disclosure had the effect of greatly increasing Herod's suspicions against his brother-in-law. As Herod dared not resort to open violence, he caused him to be drowned while he was bathing in a pool in Jericho during a banquet organized by Aristobulus' mother.

See also
 Hashmonean coinage

References

53 BC births
36 BC deaths
1st-century BCE High Priests of Israel
1st-century BC Hasmonean monarchs
Ancient Jericho
Deaths by drowning

Aristobulus III of Judea


Lia Dekker (born 24 January 1987) is a Dutch swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. Dekker holds the national record in the 200 metres breaststroke in the 50 m pool. She is the younger sister of Inge Dekker, 2008 Olympic champion in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay.

Swimming career
At the Dutch National Championships in June 2008, Dekker qualified for the European SC Championships 2008 in Rijeka, Croatia. A week before the European Championships, Dekker broke the national record in the 200 m breaststroke, which was set by Linda Moes during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The day after she also lowered the national record in the 100 m breaststroke, held by Moniek Nijhuis since 2007. In Rijeka, Dekker placed 18th in the 100 m breaststroke and 20th in the 200 m breaststroke. At the Amsterdam Swim Cup 2009 she qualified herself for the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy in the 100 m breaststroke, although she lost her national record to Nijhuis. In the 200 m breaststroke Dekker lowered her own national record by two seconds, but failed to qualify for Rome for this event.

Personal bests

See also

List of Dutch records in swimming

References

External links
Official website

1987 births
Living people
Dutch female breaststroke swimmers
Sportspeople from Assen

Lia Dekker


In heraldry, the term attitude describes the position in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest.  The attitude of a heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure and its parts. Some attitudes apply only to predatory beasts, exemplified by the beast most usual to heraldry — the heraldic lion; other terms apply to docile animals, such as the doe, usually emblazoned as a "hind".

Other heraldic attitudes, such as volant (flying), describe the positions of birds, exemplified by the bird most usual to heraldry — the heraldic eagle; moreover, birds also are described by the positions of their wings. The term naiant (swimming) applies to fish, swans, ducks, and geese. The term segreant is applied to the griffin, as an approximation of rampant, and is applied to the dragon. Animal figures are positioned in profile, facing dexter (the viewer's left), and persons are shown affronté (facing the viewer), but the blazon might specify other attitudes.

Positions indicating direction
Animals and animal-like creatures are presumed to be shown in profile facing dexter. This attitude is standard unless otherwise stated in the blazon. As a warrior will usually carry a shield in the left hand, the animal shown on the shield will then face toward the knight's body. Humans and human-like beings are presumed to be shown affronté.
Note that the heraldic terms dexter ('right') and sinister ('left') represent the shield bearer's perspective, not the viewer's.
 To dexter or the viewer's left is the direction animals are presumed to face. This position is thus not specified unless necessary for clarity, as when a human or human-like being is depicted (the default position for these is "affronté") or when an animal's head and body are not turned in the same direction.
 To sinister or contourné (contourny) is said of a creature facing the viewer's right.
 Affronté () (also affronty, affrontee, affronted, or affrontant) is said of a creature (or other heraldic component such as a helm or the face of a man)  that faces the viewer (e.g., of a lion, "affronté-sejant")
 En arrière is said of a creature positioned with its back to the viewer. It is most common used of birds and insects, where the understanding is of an overhead view of the animal with its wings spread (most commonly, "volant en arrière", said of bees). However, also see "recursant" below.
 Guardant or in full aspect indicates an animal with a body positioned sideways but with its head turned to face the viewer.
 Regardant indicates an animal with its head turned backward, as if looking over its shoulder. Unless other instructions are given, the body will face "to dexter", making the head's direction "to sinister" (e.g., "passant reg[u]ardant", "rampant reg[u]ardant", where the first term describes the animal's body position and the second describes the position of its head).
 In trian aspect (a rare, later 16th and 17th century heraldry term) is an animal's head at a three-quarters view and gives the appearance of depth, with the head viewed at an angle somewhere between profile and straight-on.

Attitudes of beasts
Many attitudes commonly met with in heraldic rolls apply specifically to predatory beasts, while others may be better suited to the docile animals. These will each be discussed in detail below. Also worth note is that a lion or other beast may additionally be described in terms of the position of its head, differently coloured parts (such as teeth, claws, tongue, etc.), or by the shape or position of its tail.  A beast may be "armed" (horns, teeth and claws) or "langued" (tongue) of a tincture, while a stag may be "attired" (antlers) or "unguled" (hooves) of a tincture. The tail may be forked (queue fourchée) or doubled (double-queued).  In addition to the below, there may be rare or arguably, not entirely standard attitudes, such as a snorting bison.

Rampant

A beast rampant (Old French: "rearing up") is depicted in profile standing erect with forepaws raised. The position of the hind legs varies according to local custom: the lion may stand on both hind legs, braced wide apart, or on only one, with the other also raised to strike; the word rampant is sometimes omitted, especially in early blazon, as this is the most usual position of a carnivorous quadruped.
Note: the term segreant denotes the same position, but implies a particular wing position and is only used in reference to winged quadrupeds such as griffins and dragons.
Rampant is the most frequent attitude of quadrupeds, and as supporters they are rarely seen in any other attitude.
Forcené is the term for this position when applied to horses or unicorns.

Passant
A beast passant (Old French: "striding") walks toward dexter (the viewer's left) with the right forepaw raised and all others on the ground. Early heralds held that any lion in a walking position must necessarily be a "leopard", and this distinction persists in French heraldry; however, this use of the term leopard has long since been abandoned by English heralds. A "Lion of England" denotes a lion passant guardant Or, used as an augmentation. The Welsh flag features a dragon passant. For stags and other deer-like beasts of chase, the term trippant is used instead of passant.

Sejant
A beast sejant or sejeant (Middle French: seant, "sitting") sits on its haunches, with both forepaws on the ground.

A beast sejant erect is seated on its haunches, but with its body erect and both forepaws raised in the "rampant" position (this is sometimes termed "sejant-rampant").

Couchant
A beast couchant (Old French: "lying down") is lying down, but with the head raised.  Lodged is the term for this position when applied to the "docile" (i.e. herbivorous) animals.

Courant
A beast courant (French: "running"; also at speed or in full chase) is running, depicted at full stride with all four legs in the air.

Coward
A lion coward (Old French coart, cuard, "turning tail") carries the tail between its hind legs and is otherwise shown rampant to dexter; "coward" takes no other modifiers such as "regardant" or "sejant".

Dormant
A beast dormant (French: "sleeping") is lying down with his head lowered, resting upon the forepaws, as if asleep. (However, perhaps counterintuitively, some sources would have the lion dormant with the eyes open.)

Salient
A beast salient (Latin: saliēns, "leaping") (also springing) is leaping, with both hind legs together on the ground and both forelegs together in the air. This is a very rare position for a lion, but is also used of other heraldic beasts. The stag and other docile animals in this position are often termed springing. Certain smaller animals are sometimes blazoned as saltant rather than salient.

Statant
A beast statant (Old French: "standing") is "standing" (in profile toward dexter), all four feet on the ground, usually with the forepaws together. This posture is more frequent in crests than in charges on shields.  In certain animals, such as bears, this may refer to an upright, bipedal position (though this position may also be referred to as statant erect), though bears blazoned as 'statant' can also be found with all four feet firmly on the ground (e.g. in the arms of the former borough council of Berwick-upon-Tweed). While statant is used in reference to predatory beasts, the more docile animals when in this position may be called at bay, while such creatures statant guardant are said to be at gaze. This is particularly true of stags (harts).

Morne
Also spelled morné or mortine, a lion depicted with neither claws, teeth, nor tongue, in the rampant position. The term is from the Old French verb morner, from morne, a ring placed over the point of a lance, from Latin mora, "sword guard".

Baillone
A lion baillone is show in the rampant position holding a baton in its teeth.

Defamed
Also called diffame, infamed, and defame, a lion shown in the rampant position without its tail.

Disjointed
A lion shown with its paws and head (but not its tail) detached from its body is called "disjointed" (i.e., torn away at the joints), and it is always shown in the rampant position.

Tricorporated
A lion tricorporated is shown having three bodies combined with one head, with the main/ central lion facing "rampant guardant" (i.e., with its face towards the viewer and with body upright facing to dexter).

Pascuant
Herbivores can be shown as pascuant ("grazing") or paissant ("peaceful"), with head lowered to the same level as their four legs, as the head of a cow would be when eating grass.

Attitudes of birds

Some attitudes describe the positioning of birds. The eagle is so often found displayed in early heraldry that this position came to be presumed of the eagle unless some other attitude is specified in the blazon.

The terms expanded and elevated or abaissé and inverted are similar terms often used interchangeably in heraldry but have specific meanings. There is also sometimes confusion between a rising bird with displayed wings and a displayed bird. The difference is that rising birds face either to the dexter or in trian aspect and have their feet on the ground. Displayed birds face the viewer, have their legs splayed out, and the tail is completely visible.

Several terms refer to the particular position of the wings, rather than the attitude of the bird itself.  A bird in nearly any attitude, except overt, may have its wings displayed or addorsed.
 Wings displayed means the bird's right wing is extended forward and its left wing extended rearward, turned so that the undersides of both wings are fully shown.
 displayed and expanded or espanie / épandre ("expanded") are spread with the wing tips pointing upward.
 displayed and lowered or abaissé ("lowered") are spread with the wing tips pointing downward.
 Wings addorsed means the wings are raised and spread behind it back-to-back as if about to take flight, so that only the top of the bird's right wing shows behind the fully displayed left wing.
 addorsed and elevated are raised with the wing tips pointing upward.
 addorsed and inverted are raised with the wing tips pointing downward.

Displayed
A bird displayed is shown affronté with its head turned to dexter and wings spread to the sides to fill the area of the field.  This position is presumed of the eagle, and the symbolic use of eagles in this position was well established even before the development of heraldry, going back to Charlemagne.

Overt
A bird overt ("open") or disclosed has wings open and pointing downward.

Close
Close ("closed"), the bird's equivalent of statant, is shown in profile and at rest with its feet flat on the ground and its wings folded at its sides. Trussed is the term used for domestic or game birds, implying the bird is tied up or caught in a net respectively, and is not applied to predator birds like the eagle and hawk. Perched is overt while sitting atop a charge. If a bird's attitude is not blazoned, it is assumed to be close; the exception is the eagle, whose default attitude is displayed.

Issuant
Used to describe a phoenix, though potentially other flying creatures as well, when depicted arising from, for example, a line of flames, a coronet, an amphora, etc.

Rising
A bird rising, rizant or rousant faces dexter with its head upturned, wings raised, and standing on the tips of its feet as if about to take flight. A bird rising may have its wings described as either displayed or addorsed, and the wings may be further described as elevated or inverted.

Volant
A bird volant faces the dexter with its wings spread in flight (usually shown addorsed and elevated) and its legs tucked under its body. Volant en arrière is when the bird is shown from a top-down perspective with the head facing straight ahead, its back to the viewer, and the wings spread in flight (usually shown displayed and inverted). A bird volant is considered in bend ("diagonal") as it is flying from the lower sinister to the upper dexter of the field.

Recursant

An eagle or hawk shown recursant has its back towards the viewer, e.g., "an eagle volant recursant descendant in pale" is an eagle flying downward in the vertical center of the shield with its back towards the viewer.

Vigilant

A crane standing on one leg (usually with a stone held in the other foot) may be called vigilant or in its vigilance (e.g. Waverley Borough Council's "crane in its vigilance"). A stone is usually shown held in the claw of the raised leg. This is as per the bestiary myth that cranes stayed awake by doing so. If it dozed, the crane would supposedly drop the rock, waking itself up.

Vulning / in her piety

One peculiar attitude, reserved only to the pelican, is the pelican in her piety. The heraldic pelican, one of the few female beasts in heraldry, is shown with a sharp stork-like beak, which it uses to vuln (pierce or wound) her own breast. This is per the bestiary myth that a female pelican wounded herself thus to feed her chicks. This symbol of sacrifice carries a particular religious meaning (usually a reference to Christ's sacrifice), and became so popular in heraldry that pelicans rarely exist in heraldry in any other position. A distinction is sometimes observed, however, between a pelican vulning herself (alone, piercing her breast) versus "her piety" (surrounded by and feeding her chicks).

Other attitudes

Few attitudes are reserved to the rarer classes of creatures, but these include segreant, a term which can only apply to winged quadrupeds; naiant and hauriant, terms applying principally to fish; glissant and nowed, terms applying to serpents.  Serpents also sometimes appear in a circular form, biting their own tail, but this symbol, called an Ouroboros, was imported ready-made into heraldry, and so it needs no term of attitude to describe it.

Segreant
A creature segreant has both forelegs raised in the air, as a beast rampant, with wings addorsed and elevated. This term is reserved to winged quadrupeds (such as griffins and dragons). It is of uncertain etymology; it is first recorded as sergreant in the 16th century. Payne Fisher's 1682 Synopsis of Heraldry uses the term segriant, as seen in some blazons.

Combatant or respectant
Creatures combatant (French, "fighting") are shown in profile facing each other in the rampant or segreant position, always paired and never appearing singly.  Nearly any creature can be rendered combatant, although this term is usually applied to predatory beasts and mythical creatures; herbivorous animals in such a position are typically blazoned as respectant (Latin respectāns, "watching").

Addorsed
Creatures or objects addorsed or endorsed (Latin ad-, "to" and dorsum, "back"; Middle English endosse, Old French endosser, influenced by Medieval Latin indorsare) are shown facing away from each other.  As with combatant, charges addorsed can only appear in pairs. One also frequently finds keys addorsed (placed in parallel, wards facing outward).

Naiant
An animal or creature naiant is swimming.  This term is typically applied to fish (when shown in a horizontal position), but may also apply to other sea creatures and, occasionally, water fowl (i.e. swans, ducks or geese shown without legs). A dolphin blazoned as naiant is always shown as embowed, unlike any other sea creature or monster, even though the blazon may not specify this.

Hauriant
A fish, dolphin, or other sea creature hauriant (Latin hauriēns, "drawing up") is in a vertical position with its head up.

Urinant
A fish, dolphin, or other sea creature urinant () (Latin ūrīnāns, "diving") is in a vertical position with its head down.

Glissant
A serpent glissant is gliding horizontally in an undulant posture.

Nowed
Serpents, and the tails of other beasts and monsters, may be nowed ( (French noué, "knotted")—often in a figure-eight knot.

See also

Notes

Further reading

Heraldry

Attitude (heraldry)


Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.

Paxton's songs have been widely recorded, including modern standards such as "The Last Thing on My Mind", "Bottle of Wine", "Whose Garden Was This", "The Marvelous Toy", and "Ramblin' Boy". Paxton's songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, the Weavers, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Seekers, Marianne Faithfull, the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Flatt & Scruggs, the Move, the Fireballs, and many others (see covers).

Early life
Paxton was born on October 31, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to Burt and Esther Paxton. His father was "a chemist, mostly self-educated", and as his health began to fail him, the family moved to Wickenburg, Arizona. It was here that young Paxton began riding horses at the numerous dude ranches in the area. It was also here that he was first introduced to folk music, discovering the music of Burl Ives and others.

In 1948, the family moved to Bristow, Oklahoma, which Paxton considers to be his hometown. Soon after, his father died from a stroke. Paxton was about 15 when he received his first stringed instrument, a ukulele. He was given a guitar by his aunt when he was sixteen, and he soon began to immerse himself in the music of Burl Ives and Harry Belafonte.

In 1955, Paxton enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, where he studied in the drama school. It was here that he first found other enthusiasts of folk music and discovered the music of Woody Guthrie and the Weavers. He would later note, "Woody was fearless; he'd take on any issue that got him stirred up ... and he became one of my greatest influences." In college, he was in a group known as the Travellers, which sang in an off-campus coffeehouse.

Career

Early career
Upon graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Paxton acted in summer stock theatre and briefly tried graduate school before joining the Army.  While attending the Clerk Typist School in Fort Dix, New Jersey, he began writing songs on his typewriter and spent almost every weekend visiting Greenwich Village in New York City during the emerging early 1960s folk revival.

Shortly after his honorable discharge from the Army, Paxton auditioned for the Chad Mitchell Trio via publisher Milt Okun in 1960.  He initially received the part, but his voice did not blend well enough with those of the group members. However, after singing his song "The Marvelous Toy" for Okun, he became the first writer signed to Milt's music publishing company, Cherry Lane Music Publishing.

Paxton soon began performing at The Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, where he became a mainstay. In 1962, he recorded a privately produced live album at the Gaslight entitled, I'm the Man That Built the Bridges. During his stay in Greenwich Village, Paxton published some of his songs in the folk magazines Broadside and Sing Out!, and performed alongside such folksingers as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, Dave Van Ronk, and Mississippi John Hurt.  Paxton met his future wife, Margaret Ann Cummings (known as "Midge"), at the Gaslight one night in January 1963 after being introduced to her by David Blue.

Pete Seeger learned a few of Paxton's songs in 1963, including "Ramblin' Boy" (which Seeger performed at The Weavers reunion concert at Carnegie Hall) and "What Did You Learn in School Today?" Paxton increased his profile as a performer, appearing at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, which was recorded by Vanguard Records. A month after Newport in 1963, Paxton married Midge. He began traveling the country on the coffeehouse and small-venue circuit before returning to New York. Paxton became involved with causes that promoted human rights, civil rights and labor rights. In 1963, Paxton and a group of other folk musicians performed and offered moral support to striking coal miners in Hazard, Kentucky.

After returning to New York in 1964, Paxton signed with Elektra Records, a label which at that time featured a distinguished roster of folk musicians. He would go on to record seven albums for Elektra.  As the folk revival hit its peak, Paxton began getting more work outside of New York City, including benefit concerts and college campus visits. In 1964, he took part in the Freedom Summer and visited the Deep South, with other folk musicians, to perform at voter registration drives and civil rights rallies.  His civil rights song "Beau John" was written after attending a Freedom Song Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, and the song "Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney" was written about the murders of three civil rights activists (Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney) in the summer of 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Paxton's own compositions began to be increasingly recognized within folk music circles, and in other genres.

Of the songwriters on the Greenwich Village scene of the 1960s, Dave Van Ronk said, "Dylan is usually cited as the founder of the new song movement, and he certainly became its most visible standard-bearer, but the person who started the whole thing was Tom Paxton ... he tested his songs in the crucible of live performance, he found that his own stuff was getting more attention than when he was singing traditional songs or stuff by other people ... he set himself a training regimen of deliberately writing one song every day.  Dylan had not yet showed up when this was happening, and by the time Bobby came on the set, with at most two or three songs he had written, Tom was already singing at least 50 percent his own material.  That said, it was Bobby's success that really got the ball rolling.  Prior to that, the folk community was very much tied to traditional songs, so much so that songwriters would sometimes palm their own stuff off as traditional."

In 1965, Paxton made his first tour of the United Kingdom. The tour was the beginning of a still-thriving professional relationship that has included yearly performances there. He met Bruce Woodley, one of the founding members of the Australian folk group The Seekers and they collaborated on the song "Angeline (Is Always Friday)" which The Seekers recorded and featured in their concerts, TV shows and a DVD. In 1967, the rock group Clear Light recorded a menacing and lengthy psychedelic version of Paxton's song "Mr. Blue" on their only album Clear Light.  Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton's recording of "The Last Thing on My Mind" reached the top ten on the U.S. country singles charts in December 1967.  Then in 1968, Paxton scored a Top 10 radio hit when The Fireballs recorded his song "Bottle of Wine".  In the 1960s, Paxton licensed one of his songs, "My Dog's Bigger than Your Dog", for use in a Ken-L Ration dog food commercial.  Not too fazed by the success of some of his songs, Paxton continued writing and performing. He was not interested in jumping on the folk rock (or, as he once joked, "folk rot") bandwagon though, and continued his folk singer-songwriter style on albums like Outward Bound (1966) and Morning Again (1968).  On January 20, 1968, three months after the death of Woody Guthrie, Paxton and a number of other prominent folk musicians performed at the Harold Leventhal produced "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie" concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall.

Paxton decided to try some more elaborate recording techniques, including neo-chamber music with string sections, flutes, horns, piano, various session musicians, as well as his acoustic guitar and vocals, similar to what his labelmate Judy Collins and his friend Phil Ochs were experimenting with around this time.  Paxton finally broke into the album pop charts himself with The Things I Notice Now in the summer of 1969, and also charted with Tom Paxton 6 in the spring of the following year. His song "Whose Garden Was This", an environmentalist anthem written for the first Earth Day, was later recorded by John Denver and became the title track of Denver's 1970 album. Another Paxton song Denver recorded was "Forest Lawn", in whose lyrics Paxton satirized the "theme park approach" to death that Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, has been accused of having taken.

The diverse "Baroque Folk" experimentation on Paxton's recordings was basically short-lived though, and he tended to think that the music was becoming too overproduced and away from the more natural acoustic roots that he loved best.  Regarding this time, he said, "the acoustic guitar has always been what I loved the most ... I know I didn't have that rock mentality or anything.  I was still a kid from a small town in Oklahoma.  And I just wanted to hear folk songs." Paxton continued to sing and perform his songs on acoustic guitar at his live performances, and it was not too long before his albums would once again generally reflect his original traditional-sounding style.

Middle career
Paxton, his wife and their two daughters lived in Holland Park, London, for about four years in the early 1970s.  After a stay in England due to professional success and love of the country, Paxton and Midge went on a tour of New Zealand and China and even appeared on a Chinese talk show.  Paxton released How Come the Sun in 1971. The album gave him his highest chart ranking in the U.S. but it only reached number 120 and his next album, Peace Will Come (1972), barely even reached the charts.  He soon returned to New York City and the Long Island town of East Hampton before moving to the Washington, D.C., area around 1977.  After recording three albums for Reprise Records and a few for "an English label that didn't pan out well", Paxton signed with Vanguard Records, with whom he recorded a live album with Steve Goodman, New Songs From the Briarpatch (1977), which contained some of Paxton's topical songs of the 1970s, including "Talking Watergate" and "White Bones of Allende" as well as a song dedicated to Mississippi John Hurt entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" In 1978, Paxton released his album Heroes, which contained a song, "Phil", about his friend Phil Ochs, who had taken his own life in 1976.  The album also includes the song "The Death of Stephen Biko", which details the murder of anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko in South Africa.
Paxton's 1979 album, Up and Up, contains the song "Let the Sunshine", which addresses issues concerning environmentalism and solar energy.  Paxton has also performed at the Clearwater Festival, an annual event, started by Pete Seeger, dedicated to environmentalism and cleaning up the Hudson River.  His 1983 album Bulletin includes a song about Woody Guthrie entitled "They Couldn't Take the Music".

After recording for labels such as Mountain Railroad and Flying Fish in the 1980s, Paxton started his own label, Pax Records, in 1987. It was during this time that Paxton continued to suffer from an undiagnosed and deepening depression that affected his work.  With some advice from Midge, he began to look for a solution and was eventually diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, for which he received ongoing treatment.

Later career
In the 1990s, Paxton began delving deeply into children's music, recording nine children's albums during the decade.  In July 1994, Paxton was invited to perform at a folk festival in Israel, "Jacob's Ladder", and he played there and a series of concerts around Israel accompanied by folk guitarist and harmonica player Shay Tochner.  Paxton recorded a live album in 1996 with his good friend Jim Rooney, and it contained some new comical songs about current events.  Eric Weissberg, John Gorka, Robin and Linda Williams, among others, also performed; and the album was titled Live: For the Record.  In the mid-1990s, Paxton also began to give more workshops in songwriting.

In 2000, Paxton once again began to write more of the topical songs that had been prominent during his early career.  In 2001, he released an album with Anne Hills entitled Under American Skies, and in 2002, he released an album of all new songs entitled Looking for the Moon (Appleseed Recordings).  At the time of its release, Paxton was quoted saying that it might be his best album so far.  Looking for the Moon contains the song "The Bravest", which is about the firefighters who gave their lives while trying to save others in New York City on September 11, 2001. Around this time, Paxton began writing and releasing his "Short Shelf Life Songs" about current events for free download on his website. Paxton wrote a number of topical protest songs that were critical of the Bush administration's actions. In 2007, he rewrote a song of his from 1965 entitled "Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation", about the escalation of the war in Vietnam, and transformed it into "George W. Told The Nation", about the surge in the Iraq war. In 2007, Tom Paxton became one of the founding members of the Copyright Alliance, whose purpose is to promote the cultural and economic benefits of copyrights.

In 2008, Paxton rewrote his song "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler", about the federal loan guarantee to Chrysler in 1979, as "I Am Changing My Name to Fannie Mae", about the 700 billion dollar "bailout of the U.S. financial system". He continues to perform yearly tours of the United States and UK.

In March 2015, Paxton released the studio album Redemption Road. In January 2017, Paxton released Boat in the Water, his sixty-third album.

Paxton is now in "semi-retirement", though he still performs occasional shows and did a ten-venue UK tour in 2017.

Paxton toured the UK in 2018 and 2019 (11 venues), accompanied by The Don Juans. His shows featured his 2011 song "What if, no matter" ("He couldn't lay his hands on a gun").

Personal life and family
Paxton married his wife, Midge (born Margaret Anne Cummings, February 23, 1945), in 1963. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Kate, and three grandsons. Jennifer is a history professor who has published courses for The Teaching Company. Midge Paxton died June 1, 2014, after a long illness.

He has described his political views in the following way:  "My own politics more or less resembled Will Rogers's politics. He had said that he belonged to no organized political party — he was a Democrat ... being young and impassioned almost automatically put me over on the radical side of most issues. Being older, I find myself still more or less there, somewhat to my surprise."

Awards, honors, and nominations

In February 2002, Paxton was honored with the ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award in Folk Music. A few days later, he received three Wammies (Washington, DC, Area Music Awards); as Best Male Vocalist in the "traditional folk" and "children's music" categories, and for Best Traditional Folk Recording of the Year for "Under American Skies" (2001).

Paxton has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards, all since 2002. He was first nominated in 2002 for his children's album, Your Shoes, My Shoes. The following year, Looking for the Moon received a 2003 nomination for "Best Contemporary Folk Album". Live in the UK (2005), received a 2006 Grammy nomination in the "Best Traditional Folk Album" category. Most recently, his 2008 album Comedians and Angels received a 2009 nomination, also in the "Best Traditional Folk Album" category.  Paxton was honored with a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, and the formal announcement was made during the 51st Annual Grammy Awards telecast, which aired on February 8, 2009.

In 2004, the Martin Guitar Company introduced the HD-40LSH Tom Paxton Signature Edition acoustic guitar in his honor. In 2005, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at BBC Radio 2's Folk Awards at London's Brewery Arts Centre. In 2006, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance. On January 22, 2007, Paxton was honored with an official Parliamentary tribute at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the start of his 2007 UK tour. On May 3, 2008, Paxton was honored with a special lifetime tribute from the World Folk Music Association, and a concert was held at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Discography

Writings
2000: The Honor of Your Company; by Tom Paxton New York, NY: Cherry Lane Music Company

References

External links
Official website
[ allmusic entry]
Music of Tom Paxton
Tom Paxton MySpace Page
Tom Paxton Interview
Fleming Artists
Tom Paxton Bio at Answers.com

Tom Paxton Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2017)

1937 births
Living people
Singers from Chicago
People from Bristow, Oklahoma
Musicians from Greenwich Village
American folk singers
American male singer-songwriters
American folk musicians
American folk guitarists
American male guitarists
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
Military personnel from Chicago
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
University of Oklahoma alumni
American civil rights activists
American environmentalists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American anti–Iraq War activists
Vanguard Records artists
Fast Folk artists
Elektra Records artists
Political music artists
People from Wickenburg, Arizona
Guitarists from Chicago
Guitarists from Oklahoma
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
Red House Records artists
Flying Fish Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
Singer-songwriters from Arizona
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Tom Paxton


Zanj (, adj. , Zanjī; ) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is also the origin of the place-names Zanzibar ("coast of the Zanji") and the Sea of Zanj.

The latinization Zingium serves as an archaic name for the coastal area in modern Kenya and Tanzania in southern East Africa. The architecture of these commercial urban settlements are now a subject of study for urban planning. For centuries the coastal settlements were a source of ivory, gold, and slaves, from sections of the conquered hinterland, to the Indian Ocean world.

Etymology
Zanj in Arabic means the "country of the blacks". Other transliterations include Zenj, Zinj, and Zang. Anthony Christie argued that the word zanj or zang may not be Arabic in origin: a Chinese form (僧祇 sēngqí) is recorded as early as 607 AD. Christie argued that the word is South East Asian in origin. The Javanese word  means African people, specifically the people of Zanzibar.

It is known that the Indonesian Austronesian peoples reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 CE. As for their route, one possibility is that the Indonesian Austronesians came directly across the Indian Ocean from Java to Madagascar. It is likely that they went through the Maldives, where evidence of old Indonesian boat design and fishing technology persists until the present.

Division of East Africa's coast
Geographers historically divided the eastern coast of Africa at large into several regions based on each region's respective inhabitants. Arab and Chinese sources referred to the general area that was located to the south of the three regions of Misr (Egypt), Al-Habasha (Abyssinia) and Barbara (Somalia), as Zanj.

Zanj was situated in the Southeast Africa vicinity and was inhabited by Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj. The core area of Zanj occupation stretched from the territory south of present-day Ras Kamboni to Pemba Island in Tanzania. South of Pemba lay Sofala in modern Mozambique, the northern boundary of which may have been Pangani. Beyond Sofala was the obscure realm of Waq-Waq, also in Mozambique. The 10th-century Arab historian and geographer Abu al-Hasan 'Alī al-Mas'ūdī describes Sofala as the furthest limit of Zanj settlement, and mentions its king's title as Mfalme, a Bantu word.

Zanj territory

History

The Zanj traded with Persians, Arabs, and Indians, but according to some sources, only locally, since they possessed no ocean-going ships.

The settlements in Zanzibar identified them as economically part of the cosmopolitan culture of the Indian Ocean Basin with trade links as far as Arabia, Persia, and as far east as India and China.

The main source of Zanj slaves was likely the frontier between Eastern Cushitic language speakers and Bantu language speakers, where warlike Somali pastoralists were expanding southwards and subjecting the scattered colonies of Bantu agriculturalists.

Since Arab and Persian identity is patrilineal, elite Swahili claimed, often correctly, prestigious Persian genealogy. Modern conceptions of cultural fusion or Persian origins developed from the tendency of wealthy Swahili to claim Persian patrilineal origins (which has been supported by DNA studies) and the disproportionate 19th-century importation of Omani elements to Zanzibari and Swahili society. Standard Swahili is the Zanzibari dialect and thus includes far more Arabic loanwords than the other, older Swahili dialects.

Prominent settlements of the Zanj coast included Kilwa,  Kunduchi, Mbuamaji, Tongoni, Kimbiji, Kaole, Malindi, Gedi, and Mombasa. By the late medieval period, the area included at least 37 substantial Swahili trading towns, many of them quite wealthy.

The urban ruling and commercial classes of these Swahili settlements included male Arab, Persian, and Indian immigrants. However, Islamic culture prized familial origins from Persia or Arabia; consequently claims of Middle Eastern descent may be untrustworthy for modern genealogical research.

The richest and most powerful slave trader in all of recorded history is Tippu Tip, a man born in Zanzibar with mixed Bantu and Omani ancestry.

The Zanj were for centuries shipped as slaves by slave and ivory traders to all the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs recruited many Zanj slaves as soldiers and, as early as 696 AD, we learn of slave revolts of the Zanj in Iraq (see below). Ancient Chinese texts also mention ambassadors from Java presenting the Chinese emperor with two Seng Chi (Zanji) slaves as gifts, and Seng Chi slaves reaching China from the Hindu kingdom of Sri Vijaya in Java.

The sea off the south-eastern coast of Africa was known as the Sea of Zanj, and included the Mascarene islands and Madagascar. During the anti-apartheid struggle it was proposed that South Africa should assume the name Azania, to reflect ancient Zanj.

As of 2023, the Lemba people still refer to the populations of neighboring tribes as "Zenj."

Ancient DNA analysis
A study by Brielle et al in 2023 completed ancient DNA analysis of several samples from the ruins of Zanzibar. Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis was completed for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250–1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650 in order to determine the proportions of "African-like, Persian-like, and Indian-like" DNA sequences. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originated from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion — sometimes more than half—of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80–90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian (predominantly Persian) origins began to mix by about AD 1000. Samples were taken from two boxes of human remains located the in British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) in Nairobi, originally excavated in the 1950s and 1960s by Chittick.

After AD 1500, the sources of male Asian DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with increased interactions with southern Arabia. From medieval times until the modern day, subsequent interactions with different Asian and African people have changed the ancestry of the present-day people living on the Swahili coast compared to the medieval individuals whose DNA was sequenced.

Potentially dating from 1300-1600 AD (more precise radiocarbon dating techniques were unable to be completed in time for these samples), analysis was completed of the individuals' mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and X chromosome DNA. Analysis of mtDNA in the individual, demonstrating maternal ancestry patterns, showed a L* haplotype. The L* haplotype is predominantly found in present-day Sub-Saharan African populations. Y chromosome analysis, demonstrating paternal ancestry patterns, showed that the individual was carrying the J2 haplotype, a DNA pattern found in Southwest Asian or Persian individuals. X chromosomes, containing larger maternal influence, were compared with the 22 autosomal chromosomes, which contain equal maternal and paternal influence. X chromosomes contained more indicators of African ancestry compared to the autosomal DNA, further adding to evidence of African ancestry on the maternal side and Persian or Southeast Asian ancestry on the paternal side.

Contemporary descriptions
We know from Kwale-ware sites that starting in the Iron Age Bantu-speaking people were spreading into the area south of Ethiopia and Somalia and these people were referred to as Zanj and were being exported as slaves all along the Indian Ocean. Chinese sources from the 9th century make a clear distinction between "Somali (Barbar) pastoralists of Po-Pa-Li" and "savage blacks of Ma-Lin," which is probably to be identified with Malindi in Kenya. A description of the Zanj is found in the following passage from Kitab al-Bad' wah-tarikh, by the medieval Arab writer al-Muqaddasī:

As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence.

In 1331, the Arabic-speaking Berber scholar and explorer Ibn Battuta visited the Kilwa Sultanate in the Zanj. Ibn Battuta recorded his visit to the city around 1331, and commented favorably on the generosity, humility, and religion of its ruler, Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman. Ibn Battuta also describes how the sultan would go into the interior and raid the people taking slaves and other forms of wealth. He was also particularly impressed by the planning of the city and believed that it was the reason for Kilwa's success along the coast. From this period, the construction of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant extension to the Great Mosque of Kilwa, which was made of coral stones, the largest mosque of its kind. Kilwa was an important and wealthy city for the trade of gold and ivory. Because of trade, some of the people who lived in Kilwa had a higher standard of living, but many others were poor. The wealthy enjoyed indoor plumbing in their stone homes and the poor lived in mud huts with thatched roofs.
Ibn Battuta characterized the enslaved Zanj people as "jet-black in color, and with scarification on their faces."

Kilwa is one of the most beautiful and well-constructed towns in the world. The whole of it is elegantly built. The roofs are built with mangrove pole. There is very much rain. The people are engaged in a holy war, for their country lies beside the pagan Zanj. Their chief qualities are devotion and piety: they follow the Shafi'i sect. When I arrived, the Sultan was Abu al-Muzaffar Hasan surnamed Abu al-Mawahib [loosely translated, "The Giver of Gifts"] ... on account of his numerous charitable gifts. He frequently makes raids into the Zanj country [neighboring mainland], attacks them and carries off booty, of which he reserves a fifth, using it in the manner prescribed by the Koran [Qur'an].

Zanj Rebellion

The Zanj Rebellion was a series of uprisings that took place between 869 and 883 AD near the city of Basra in present-day Iraq. Many Zanj were taken as slave soldiers, but many had earned their freedom and chose to stay in Iraq as free persons and make Iraq their home living amongst the Marsh Arabs.

M. A. Shaban explains that the Zanj Rebellion was not a slave rebellion but rather an Arab rebellion supported by East African immigrants in Iraq:

It was not a slave revolt. It was a "zanj", i.e. a Negro, revolt. To equate Negro with slave is a reflection of nineteenth-century racial theories; it could only apply to the American South before the Civil War...On the contrary, some of the people who were working in the salt marshes were among the first to fight against the revolt. Of course there were a few runaway slaves who joined the rebels, but this still does not make it a slave revolt. The vast majority of the rebels were Arabs of the Persian Gulf supported by free East Africans who had made their homes in the region.

References

External links
African Revolts
Map of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1886 showing Zanj

Historical regions
Southeast Africa
Arabic words and phrases
Ethno-cultural designations
Exonyms
Indian Ocean trade

Zanj


Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in Last Man On Earth, and film roles in Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000) and Batman Begins (2005), Die Hard 2 (1990), and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).

Early life and education
Boone was born Mark Heidrich in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Ginny, a retired teacher, and Bob Heidrich, a former construction consultant. He grew up on Chicago's North Shore and attended the University of Vermont and played on the school's men's soccer team. He moved to New York after college, where he started his career performing stand-up comedy with long-time friend Steve Buscemi. His stage name surname, Boone, is also his nickname; he chose it from a New York City war memorial.

Career
Boone frequently portrays a corrupt policeman or other authority figure, such as in Seven (as an FBI agent) and as corrupt Detective Flass in Batman Begins. He has performed in over 70 movies, including 2 Fast 2 Furious, Get Carter, The General's Daughter, The Thin Red Line, and Die Hard 2. He has made guest appearances on TV in Law & Order, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and several other shows. He played a small role in Armageddon and in an episode of the HBO prison drama series Oz. In 1984 he acted in The Way It Is (1985) by Eric Mitchell, which included actors Steve Buscemi and Rockets Redglare. He has appeared in some of Buscemi's directorial work, including Trees Lounge and as "Evil" in Lonesome Jim. (Buscemi was also in Armageddon.) In 1987, Boone co-starred with Richard Edson in Not a Door: A Spectacle, Scott B and Joseph Nechvatal's collaborative art performance at Hallwalls based on the poetry of St. John of the Cross, Flaubert's Temptation of St. Anthony and works of Jean Genet and Georges Bataille. He played Dr. Eduard Gillespie in the 2023 film Atrabilious.

Boone was a regular cast member on the TV drama series Sons of Anarchy, playing Bobby "Elvis" Munson. In an episode of the TV series Quantum Leap, he played a biker named Maddog, similar to his character many years later in Sons of Anarchy. In 2011, he played the role of Vincent Dooly's father in The Mother of Invention.

He has appeared in two Christopher Nolan films: Memento, as Burt, the front desk manager at the Discount Inn, and Batman Begins, as Detective Flass, James Gordon's crooked partner.

Filmography

Film and television

Video games

References

External links

1955 births
Male actors from Cincinnati
American male film actors
American male television actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
New Trier High School alumni
University of Vermont alumni
Vermont Catamounts men's soccer players
Men's association football players not categorized by position
Association football players not categorized by nationality

Mark Boone Junior


Reverse diffusion refers to a situation where the transport of particles (atoms or molecules) in a medium occurs towards regions of higher concentration gradients, opposite to that observed during diffusion. This phenomenon occurs during phase separation and is described by the Cahn–Hilliard equation. Reverse diffusion also refers to when water is forced from a region of lower concentration to high. It can occur in osmosis.

Diffusion

cs:Reverzní osmóza

Reverse diffusion


The Three Counties of England are traditionally the three agrarian counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Including towns and cities such as Worcester, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Hereford, Leominster, Stourbridge, Evesham, Malvern and Kidderminster, they extend from the southern boundaries of Birmingham in the north to Bristol in the south. Traditionally rugby union and cricket playing areas, there is a Three Counties Showground situated in the Worcestershire town of Malvern that holds an annual agricultural show, and the area is also referred to in the names of local businesses and in the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association – the popular apple and pear derived alcoholic beverages, many of which are made in this area.

The Three Choirs Festival is a festival of sacred choral music which has been held since 1724. It rotates between the three county towns (Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester). It often features music by local composer Edward Elgar.

References

Counties of England
Southern England

Three Counties (Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire)


Carlos McConnie is a Puerto Rican television host and actor. He hosts the show Euromaxx produced by Deutsche Welle, and appeared on Univision's Sábado Gigante.

Early life and education
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, McConnie attended Robinson High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Masters in Communications degrees.

History
McConnie appeared as a host on MTV Puerto Rico before he was cast for WAPA-TV's show Jangueo TV in 2007. He later became co-host of Univision Puerto Rico's weekly entertainment newscast Flashazo VIP in 2009. In 2011, McConnie became a guest-host on Telefuturas daily show Escándalo TV. He made his acting debut in the TV movie El Corillo in 2012.

McConnie moved to Los Angeles, California in 2013. There he started acting in short films and hosted web-based shows, including Actors E Chat Show and ¡Enterate! con McConnie before he was recruited by Univision Network in Miami, Florida. He was a presenter on the show Mira Quien Baila, and then became a co-host on Nuestra Belleza Latina in 2014, as well as their aftershows, MQB Extra and NBL Extra. He co-hosted Sábado Gigante with Don Francisco, and in 2015 became host of Deutsche Welle's culture magazine Euromaxx for its editions in Spanish and English.

Filmography

References

External links

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican television hosts

Carlos McConnie


Vince Clarke (born 3 July 1960) was the original lead songwriter for Depeche Mode. He was in the band from 1980 until 1981. He formed Yazoo in late 1981 with Alison Moyet. Yazoo ended in 1983 then in late 1983 The Assembly was formed. They only made two songs. Clarke then helped his best friend Robert Marlow to make the album The Peter Pan Effect in 1983, that was later released in 1999. In 1985, he formed Erasure.

English musicians
English songwriters
1960 births
Living people
Depeche Mode members

Vince Clarke


Shwe (Ꚗ ꚗ; italics: Ꚗ ꚗ) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. It resembles the letter Sha (Ш ш Ш ш) with a long tail attached to its bottom.

Shwe is used in an old alphabet of the Abkhaz language, where it represents the labialized voiceless postalveolar fricative (/ʃʷ/). It corresponds to Шә in the modern Abkhaz alphabet.

Cyrillic letters

Shwe (Cyrillic)


Saalkreis Nord was a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was situated northwest of Halle (Saale). The seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft was in Wettin. It was disbanded in January 2011.

The Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Saalkreis Nord consisted of the following municipalities:

 Brachwitz
 Döblitz
 Domnitz
 Gimritz
 Löbejün
 Nauendorf
 Neutz-Lettewitz
 Plötz
 Rothenburg
 Wettin

Former Verwaltungsgemeinschaften in Saxony-Anhalt

Saalkreis Nord


Canapitsit Channel is a channel that runs from Cuttyhunk Harbor to the Vineyard Sound and separates Nashawena Island from Cuttyhunk Island, two of the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It is one of four straits allowing maritime passage between Buzzards Bay and the Vineyard Sound. The others are Quick's Hole, Robinson's Hole and Woods Hole. Canapitsit is an Indian word meaning "current passage".

Strong tidal currents (up to 6 knots) separate the islands from each other. The currents are driven by the different sizes and filling rates of Vineyard Sound to the southeast and Buzzards Bay to the northwest.

One Cuttyhunk Island website offers the following boating advisory:  DO NOT use Canapitsit Channel, which separates Cuttyhunk from Nashawena Island, without local knowledge. The channel is narrow, rocky and subject to strong currents making the passage dangerous.

References

Bodies of water of Dukes County, Massachusetts
Straits of Massachusetts

Canapitsit Channel


Abram Smythe Palmer (1844 – 10 July 1917) was a doctor of divinity, lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, and enthusiastic lexicographer and mythographer.

For most of his life he was the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, South Woodford, today a north-eastern suburb of London. He was the father of the composer Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer.

Müller's solar myth
Palmer re-issued Max Müller's Comparative Mythology (1856) in 1908, with an extensive introduction and annotations, stating that he noted "a reaction taking place in favour of the views advanced by Max Müller". Müller had introduced the "solar myth" school of thought, which interpreted the world's mythology in terms of a supposed prehistoric solar myth. Palmer included in his edition the "Oxford Solar Myth", an 1870 parody by R. F. Littledale, which "proved" that Max Müller was himself a solar divinity.

Selected publications
Palmer's publications include:
 Leaves from a Word-Hunter's Note-Book, Being Some Contributions to English Etymology (1876)
 Folk-Etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions or Words Perverted in Form or Meaning by False Derivation or Mistaken Analogy (1882)
 Babylonian Influence on the Bible and Popular Beliefs: "Tĕhôm and Tiâmat", "Hades and Satan": A Comparative Study of Genesis I. 2 (1897)
 Jacob at Bethel: The Vision, the Stone, the Anointing: An Essay in Comparative Religion (1899)
 The Folk and Their Word-Lore (1904)
 The Ideal of A Gentleman; or, A Mirror for Gentlefolks, A Portrayal in Literature from the Earliest Times (1908)
 The Samson-Saga and Its Place in Comparative Religion (1913)

References

Bibliography

External links

Holytrinitysouthwoodford.org.uk
Scholarworks.iu.edu

1844 births
1917 deaths
Irish lexicographers
Mythographers

Abram Smythe Palmer


OutTV (stylized OUTtv) is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. It broadcasts general entertainment and lifestyle programming aimed at the LGBT community.

The network is owned by OUTtv Media Global Inc., majority owned (51%) by Ronald N. Stern through OM Acquisitions.

History

As PrideVision

The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 as PrideVision TV. Owned by Headline Media Group, it was Canada's first 24-hour cable television channel targeted at LGBT audiences. It was also the second LGBT-focused channel to be established in the world, after the Gay Cable Network in the U.S., which shut down in 2001.  PrideVision TV was one of 21 digital specialty services that were granted a Category 1 license by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on November 24, 2000; all  digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers would be obliged to carry the network in their lineup. Headline Media Group owned 70.1% of the licence, while Alliance Atlantis owned the remaining interest. In February 2001, before the channel was launched, Alliance Atlantis sold its entire interest in the licence to Headline Media Group, which became the sole owner of the licence.

The network launched with a lineup of lifestyle and general entertainment programming, consisting of dramas, comedies, feature films, documentaries and talk shows during the day and in prime time, as well as pornographic films nightly after 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

As PrideVision, the channel maintained a national advisory committee to provide input and feedback on the station's programming and its effectiveness at serving LGBT communities. The committee included businessman and activist Jim Deva, Outlooks publisher Roy Heale, Egale Canada executive director John Fisher, Suzanne Girard of Divers/Cité, Carmela Laurignano of Evanov Communications, Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, Toronto city councillor Kyle Rae, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes, Ruby Hamilton of PFLAG and Halifax businesswoman Shelley Taylor.

Carriage difficulties
PrideVision had considerable difficulty building an audience in its early years, due primarily to its pornographic programming: the network did not have a timeshift channel for the west coast, which led to PrideVision's adult content airing as early as 9:00 p.m. in the Pacific Time Zone. As such, the channel was marketed by many television providers as a standalone, premium service adult channel, rather than in a bundle with other specialty services, considerably reducing the number of potential subscribers. The channel also faced particular resistance from Shaw Cable, the largest cable television provider in Western Canada, which was accused of constraining the availability of PrideVision during the channel's first few months in operation. During a three-month long free preview period that was mandated by the CRTC to help launch the slate of new digital specialty channels that had launched at that time, Shaw customers who tuned to PrideVision were prompted with a screen and had to navigate through various others to ultimately come to the conclusion that they were to be charged a 1¢ fee to view the channel. This process would have to repeated every time a customer turned back to PrideVision, including the 1¢ fee. This process was not required for any other similarly licensed specialty channel. PrideVision took its concerns to the CRTC, who sided with the network and ordered Shaw to properly offer a free preview of PrideVision to its customers.

Mounting issues with distribution, disputes with television service providers, slow growth among digital channels as a whole among the industry, and faced with criticisms of providing a weak mix of programming, PrideVision was losing a considerable amount of money. The channel's subscriber base grew much more slowly than expected, with only roughly 20,000 subscribers by the end of 2002 compared to channels such as IFC, which had over 520,000 subscribers in the same time period. To help grow its subscriber base, PrideVision offered another free preview period to its distributors, and launched an advertising campaign comparing this business situation to impotency. Many in the gay community interpreted this as the company blaming them for the channel's problems, although the owners denied this. Despite this, PrideVision's subscriptions did increase slowly. In an effort to reduce its losses, staff at PrideVision were cut from 25 to 10, most of its original programming was dropped, and the street-level studio on Church Street in Toronto was closed in December 2002.

Sale, split, and re-launch as OutTV

On December 3, 2003, Headline Media Group announced that it was selling a majority interest in PrideVision to 6166954 Canada, Inc., a consortium led by broadcaster William Craig. Craig would own the majority share in the company and act as managing partner, while Pink Triangle Press and various other independent production companies and investors held minority stakes. Headline Media retained a minority stake in the company. The transaction was finalized later in 2004.

In September 2004, 6166954 Canada submitted an application to the CRTC for a new premium service, which would be devoted to gay adult programming. In November, PrideVision expanded its adult programming—now branded with the double entendre-tinged monicker Hard on PrideVision—into primetime (from 9:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m. Eastern Time), in preparation for the expansion of the block into a 24-hour service, alongside a non-adult network tentatively named "Glow TV".

In February 2005, it was officially announced that PrideVision would drop its adult programming and re-launch as OutTV in March 2005, alongside the launch of the standalone Hard on PrideVision channel. Its license was approved on March 4, 2005. Craig explained that the removal of adult programming would make OutTV more attractive to television providers and improve its distribution, and the narrower focus would allow the two networks to expand their lineups with more programming of interest to the LGBT community.

Hard on PrideVision was expected to launch on April 7, 2005, but the launch was delayed to April 12 due to difficulties gaining carriage. Concurrently with the official launch of Hard, PrideVision was re-branded as OutTV, with a 24-hour lineup of general entertainment and lifestyle programming. Even with the launch of Hard and the removal of all adult content from the newly renamed OutTV, the channel was still facing resistance from Shaw Communications and its national satellite television service, Star Choice. Both distributors wanted to continue packaging OutTV as a standalone premium service rather than a general interest specialty channel, which most other major television providers had done. OutTV filed a complaint with the CRTC; however, the parties settled their disagreement before the matter was taken to a hearing before the CRTC and had agreed on a packaging deal. A similar deal was made with Bell later that year.

Acquisition by Shavick Entertainment

On July 19, 2006, Shavick Entertainment, a film and television producer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced it would acquire the majority interest in both OutTV and Hard on PrideVision from William Craig. Shavick also announced plans to rename OutTV, upgrade the technology infrastructure, and provide a wider variety of programming to the channel. Shavick listed its Hollywood-based partner Regent Studios, owners of American LGBT channel here!, as a major content provider to the channel.

In 2008, the channel ended its long-standing dispute with Shaw Cable, securing an agreement that would see the channel marketed and distributed in the same package as other Category A digital channels.

On December 3, 2009, the CRTC approved an application that would see HardTV sold and spun off into its own company, 4510810 Canada Inc., a company owned by Pink Triangle Press (55%) and Peace Point Entertainment (45%). The transaction closed at a later date.

On May 23, 2012, OutTV announced that it had passed 1 million subscribers, and would launch a high-definition feed on July 2, 2012. Concurrently, the network also introduced a new logo and refreshed on-air branding. The HD simulcast feed was launched on July 2, and the new website was launched on January 17, 2013.

In December 2012, Shavick Entertainment purchased Pink Triangle Press's 24.94% interest and Peace Point Entertainment Group's 15% interest in the channel.

Under Shavick's management, the channel has seen significant increases in its subscriber base, going from just 185,000 subscribers when they first purchased the channel to over 1.2 million today. The channel's improved ratings have been driven most significantly by the hit reality series RuPaul's Drag Race, although the channel has also seen ratings success with Sex & Violence, an original drama series created by Canadian film director Thom Fitzgerald. A nationwide free preview period in March 2014 saw the network achieve fully 300 per cent higher ratings than the same month in the previous year, and led to a rise in new subscriptions in the months following the preview.

In 2013, the channel applied to the CRTC to have its Canadian content commitment reduced from 49 to 35 per cent of revenues. According to chief operations officer Brad Danks, the library of viable LGBT-themed Canadian programming is limited enough that the channel has sometimes had to rely on repeat airings of programming from other networks, such as the talk shows 1 Girl 5 Gays and Steven & Chris, on "not obviously gay" programs such as The New Addams Family, and on overscheduling multiple airings of the same programming, to meet its licensing obligations.

OutTV is also a partner with Wolfe Video in GayDirect, a premium subscription channel for LGBT content on YouTube.

Acquisition by Ronald N. Stern

In November 2016, the CRTC approved the sale of the channel from Shavick Entertainment and the other minority owners to a new company, OM Acquisition. OM is owned and controlled by Ronald N. Stern, who is also president of Stern Partners, a conglomerate whose other holdings include a share in the Winnipeg Free Press. It was revealed through CRTC filings that the new owners intend to purchase additional channels, including international channels, and launch an online streaming service. Media reports revealed on January 11, 2017, noted that the agreement to purchase the channel closed in December 2016 and that the new owners of OUTtv will shift focus from the specialty channel to its online subscription service, OUTtvGO. Citing positive audience trends for adopting online television services and sagging cable subscription numbers, the television service is expected to close at a later date, however, the company revealed that the channel will remain on the air until at least 2020. The agreement was later modified to include minority owners, James Shavick (18%), Bradly Danks (18%), Phillip Webb (11%), and other minority owners at 2%.

Programming

OutTV's programming includes both original and acquired programming of LGBT-interest, including shows acquired from the U.S-based Logo TV and Here!.

The channel notably receives its highest ratings overall for the domestic airings of the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise. OutTV has also produced its own short series of weekly commentaries on several seasons of the main series, hosted by Richard Ryder in character as drag queen Wilma Fingerdoo. In June 2019, OutTV and Bell Media's Crave announced that they had co-commissioned a Canadian version of RuPaul's Drag Race. Canada's Drag Race was announced to be airing on both services, first premiering on Crave on July 2, 2020. As part of the deal, OutTV and Crave also share Canadian rights to the franchise, airing episodes of the U.S. and British version on their platforms day-and-date with their domestic premieres.

In recent years, the channel has reduced its reliance on acquired library programming and increased its investment in new original content, including both Canadian-based productions such as Cam Boy, Fak Yaass, Group Sext and Call Me Mother, and as a production partner in American content such as Jonny McGovern's talk show Hey Qween!, Ginger Minj's cooking show Wigs in a Blanket, Willam Belli's courtroom show Iconic Justice, and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula.

OutTV's reality dating series For the Love of DILFs, hosted by Stormy Daniels, premiered on Jan 31, 2023 and received mainstream coverage.  Following the success of the series, OutTV announced a multi-year first look deal with producer Daddy TV, including a second season of For the Love of DILFs.

International distribution
In mid-2006, OutTV ventured into its first international market when it reached a deal with SelecTV to distribute the network on its lineup in Australia through a package called "CurveTV". However, in early 2007, OutTV and the CurveTV package was discontinued due to a low number of subscriptions.

On April 4, 2008, a European version of OutTV initially launched in the Netherlands through a licensing agreement with the newly formed Dutch company, OUTTV Media Group. In the years since the Dutch channel was launched, the channel had launched in several additional countries including Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Austria, while also launching in Israel through a similarly branded channel called PRIDEtv in 2019. Although the channel was initially launched through a licensing deal, it is unknown whether that relationship currently stands, as the programming and branding remain separate other than the name, and all references to each other's networks have been removed from each networks' respective websites.

In 2018, OUTtv expanded to New Zealand through a partnership with TVNZ on their TVNZ+ online streaming service.

OUTtv launched as a month long experimental pop-up channel, from October 4 to November 4, 2018, on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa. In 2020, OUTtv signed a distribution deal with MultiChoice's Showmax where they'll distribute content to their streaming service. The network launched as a full scale linear channel in South Africa in March 2023.

In 2020, the company launched a streaming network in the U.K. and Ireland called "FROOTtv".

In March 2021, OUTtv launched in the United States as a streaming service. Later that year, in November, OUTtv would also launch a streaming service in Australia.

In November 2022, OUTtv announced the launch of a FAST channel called "OUTtv Proud" in partnership with Fuse Media.

References

External links

OUTtvGo Website
OUTtv USA

English-language television stations in Canada
LGBT-related television channels
LGBT-related mass media in Canada
Digital cable television networks in Canada
Companies based in Vancouver
Television channels and stations established in 2001
2001 establishments in Canada

OutTV (Canadian TV channel)