Number 115 Squadron is a Royal Air Force squadron operating the Grob Tutor T1, training QFIs for the RAF's Elementary Flying Training (EFT) squadrons and the University Air Squadrons, as well as undertaking evaluation and standardisation duties.

No. 115 Squadron was formed during the First World War. It was then equipped with Handley Page O/400 heavy bombers. During World War II the squadron served as a bomber squadron and after the war it flew in a similar role till 1958, when it was engaged as a radio calibration unit. The squadron disbanded for the last time as an operational unit in 1993, but reformed in 2008 at RAF Cranwell as No. 115(Reserve) Squadron, part of No. 22 Group, operating the Grob Tutor T.1 before moving to their present base at RAF Wittering.

History

Formation and First World War

No. 115 Squadron, RFC, was formed at Catterick, Yorkshire, on 1 December 1917 from a nucleus provided by No. 52 Training Squadron. At the end of August 1918, after having been equipped with Handley Page O/400 twin-engined bombers, it joined the Independent Air Force in France. Its first raid was made in the night of 16/17 September when nearly 4 tons of bombs were dropped on Metz-Sablon. For this raid the squadron was congratulated by Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard and the OC 83rd Wing who described the raid as "the finest piece of work which has ever been done by a new squadron". Its most successful raid was made against Morhange airfield when five O/400s, making double trips, dropped  tons of bombs on their objective. During its service in France, No. 115 made fifteen raids, the longest being to Baden and dropped 26 tons of bombs. From November 1918, 115 Squadron was based at RAF Saint Inglevert. The squadron returned to England on 4 March 1919 and disbanded on 18 October 1919 at Ford Junction.

Reformation
The squadron was reformed from "B" Flight of No. 38 Squadron at RAF Marham, as No. 115 (Bomber) Squadron on 15 June 1937. It was now one of only two units to operate -temporarily- the Fairey Hendon monoplane bomber, but these were soon replaced by their intended equipment, the Handley Page Harrow. As these proved unsuited in the bomber role they were replaced from March 1939 with Wellingtons.

Second World War

In the Second World War, the squadron took part in scores of raids and also played an active part in Gardening (minelaying) for victory. In April 1940, while flying Wellingtons (and while on temporary loan to RAF Coastal Command) it gained the distinction of making the RAF's first bombing raid of the war on a mainland target-the enemy-held Norwegian airfield of Stavanger Airport, Sola. Sixteen months later, in August 1941, it undertook the initial Service trials of Gee, the first of the great radar navigational and bombing aids. As a result of its subsequent report on these trials Gee was put into large-scale production for RAF Bomber Command.

The memoirs of Sydney Percival Smith, a Royal Canadian Air Force Wellington pilot, contain detailed personal descriptions of 115 Squadron missions in late 1942 from its base in RAF East Wretham.  These were directed at targets in Germany (including Bremen, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich) and Italy (Turin), as well as mine laying in French ports (LeHavre, Brest, St. Nazaire, and Lorient) and the Bay of Biscay.

Hercules-engined Avro Lancaster B.IIs replaced the Wellingtons in March 1943 and these were replaced by Merlin-engined Lancaster B.Is and B.IIIs in March 1944. The squadron relocated from RAF Little Snoring to RAF Witchford in November 1943.

Post-War (1945–1957)
The squadron was retained as part of the post-war RAF and received Avro Lincolns in September 1949. The squadron was linked to No. 218 Squadron from 1 February 1949 until 1 March 1950, when the squadron was disbanded at RAF Mildenhall.

The squadron was reformed on 13 June 1950, it became a Boeing Washington unit at RAF Marham, again having No. 218 Squadron linked to it. English Electric Canberras replaced the Washingtons in February 1954 and continued in use until disbanding on 1 June 1957.

Calibration (1958–1993)

The squadron came back on 21 August 1958, when No. 116 Squadron at RAF Tangmere was renumbered. It was now a Radar Calibration unit operating Vickers Varsitys, Valettas and briefly the Handley Page Hastings. Armstrong Whitworth Argosies began arriving in February 1968 and when the last Varsity was retired in August 1970, the unit was solely equipped with this type. No. 115 Squadron moved to RAF Cottesmore in 1968 (or possibly earlier). The squadron moved to RAF Brize Norton in 1976. Hawker Siddeley Andovers were added to the strength there in November 1976 and the last Argosy left in January 1978. In 1982, No. 115 Squadron was moved to RAF Benson, the Andovers continuing until disbanding there on 1 October 1993.

Flying training (2008–present)
The squadron was reformed on 1 October 2008 at RAF Cranwell as part of the reorganisation of the RAF's elementary flying training units, including the withdrawal of RAF students from the Defence Elementary Flying Training School at nearby RAF Barkston Heath. While three other dormant squadrons, Nos. 16, 57 and 85 Squadrons, were reinstated to carry out ab initio elementary flying training, No. 115(Reserve) Squadron was given the task of the Central Flying School (Elementary) Squadron of conducting the flying stages of the training of new Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs). There are two courses run at the Squadron; for new instructors, the 'Main Course' includes 3 weeks of ground school and 80 flying hours, taking approximately 6 months in all. The 'Refresher Course', for previously qualified instructors of any background who have either spent time away from instructional duties or are changing the type of aircraft they instruct on, is 2 months long with 40 flying hours. The majority of graduates of the CFS courses will then work on one of the RAF EFT Squadrons, the University Air Squadrons or with the Army and Navy EFT Squadrons (674 Squadron Army Air Corps and 703 Naval Air Squadron respectively) at RAF Barkston Heath.

Aircraft operated

Orders, decorations, and medals
Members of the squadron have received the following orders, decorations, and medals.
142 DFC and 2 Bars to DFC
68 DFM
6 BEM
4 DSO
4 MBE
3 AFC
2 AFM and 1 Bar to AFM plus 1 CGM.

References

Notes

Bibliography

 Bowman, Martin. Voices in Flight - The Wellington Bomber. Pen & Sword, 2015.
 Collins, Dick and Jim Halladay. Despite the Elements: The History of Number 115 Squadron, 1917–1982. Brize Norton, UK: Nettlebed Press, 1983.
 Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. .
 Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). .
 Moyes, Philip J.R. Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976. .
 Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. .

External links

 No. 115 Squadron history on RAF website
 History of No.'s 111–115 Squadrons at RAF Web
 C-Cameron: Memoirs of World War II in Bomber Command by former RAF 115 Squadron pilot Donald Cameron

115
115
Military units and formations established in 1917
1917 establishments in the United Kingdom

No. 115 Squadron RAF


Salipartiano () was a fief in the Principality of Mingrelia, in western Georgia, from the middle of the 16th century down to the establishment of the Russian hegemony in 1804, when it became a canton of Mingrelia. The fiefdom, its ruler titled as Lipartiani, was mostly in possession of the cadets of the House of Dadiani, the ruling princely dynasty of Mingrelia.

Salipartiano, literally, "of Lipartiani", was located in the northeastern portion of Mingrelia, or Odishi proper, covering most of what is now the Martvili Municipality, traversed by the Tekhuri River, on the border with Imereti. Both the title of Lipartiani and the name of the fiefdom appear to have been derived from Liparit, a name of one of the Mingrelian princes—probably, Liparit I (ruled 1414–1470)—from the Dadiani dynasty.

From at least the latter half of the 16th century, Salipartiano was reserved for the cadets, that is, younger sons, of the Princes of Mingrelia. Around 1662, the fiefdom was granted, in hereditary possession, to the Chikovani family of Lechkhumi, who went on to become, in the person of Katsia I, the ruling dynasty of Mingrelia as the second House of Dadiani in 1704. Thenceforth, Salipartiano became a princely domain, not infrequently bestowed by the rulers of Mingrelia upon members of their family to buy their loyalty or appease their dynastic ambitions. Thus, in 1799, Manuchar was appanaged with Salipartiano by his brother Grigol Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, as part of a peace deal. On Grigol's death in 1804, Manuchar lost his appanage. He solicited the Russian governor of Georgia, Prince Tsitsianov, to help recover the lost possessions, but his request was rejected. Salipartiano became an estate of the Prince of Mingrelia and given in governorship (mouravi) to the noble family of Dgebuadze.

References

Historical regions of Georgia (country)
House of Dadiani
States and territories established in the 16th century
States and territories disestablished in 1804
Former principalities

Salipartiano


D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study was Anaïs Nin's first book in print, published by Edward W. Titus in Paris, 1932. The original edition saw 550 copies, and was relatively well received in the literary community. It is a study of the works of her literary hero D. H. Lawrence. The book is notable because it was published at a time when many critics were turning their backs on Lawrence. At the time, it was virtually unheard of for a woman to praise Lawrence, a man whose works had been very controversial, and in several cases, banned for their sexual content.

References

1932 non-fiction books
Books by Anaïs Nin
British biographies
D. H. Lawrence
Biographies about writers

D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study


Tarrenhendre is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales. It is  one of the Marilyns in the Cadair Idris group.

Lying to the south of Cadair Idris, it and its neighbour Tarren y Gesail form the bulk of the Tarren subgroup. The Tarrens rise from the south shore of the Tal-y-llyn Lake and end at the Dyfi estuary.

The summit is heathery and boggy, and has a small cairn to mark the highest point. The views are extensive to the south and east, with Plynlimon and Cardigan Bay ahead, while the north views are dominated by Cadair Idris and Maesglase to the west.

Between Tarren Hendre and Tarren y Gesail lies the Bryn Eglwys quarry, and Nant Gwernol railway station on the Talyllyn Railway, in the ravine of the Nant Gwernol stream.

The Tarrens can be thought of as forgotten mountains of Snowdonia, overshadowed by the popularity of Cadair Idris, occupying the sleepy south-western frontier of the Snowdonia national park.

References

Bryncrug
Llanfihangel-y-Pennant
Abergynolwyn
Pennal
Mountains and hills of Gwynedd
Mountains and hills of Snowdonia
Hewitts of Wales
Marilyns of Wales
Nuttalls

Tarrenhendre


Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. Forbes ranks it as the largest U.S. charity by revenue. Feeding America was known as America's Second Harvest until August 31, 2008.

History
In the mid-1960s, during rehabilitation in Phoenix, Arizona after a paralyzing injury, John van Hengel began volunteering at a local soup kitchen. He solicited food donations and ended up with far more food than the kitchen could use. Around this time, one of the clients told him that she regularly fed her children with discarded items from a grocery store garbage dumpster. She told him that the food quality was fine, but that there should be a place where unwanted food could be deposited and later withdrawn by people who needed it, like a bank.

Van Hengel began to actively solicit unwanted food from grocery stores, local gardens, and nearby citrus groves. His effort led to the creation of St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, the nation's first food bank.

In 1975, St. Mary's was awarded a federal grant to assist in developing food banks across the nation.
This effort was formally incorporated into a separate non-profit organization in 1976.

In 2001, America's Second Harvest merged with Foodchain, which was the nation's largest food-rescue organization at that time.

In 2005, Feeding America began using an internal market with a synthetic currency called "shares" to more rationally allocate food. Currency is allocated based on the need, and then individual banks bid on which foods they want the most, based on local knowledge and ability to transport and store the food offered.  Negative prices are possible, so banks could earn shares by picking up undesirable food. The previous centrally planned system had penalized banks for refusing any food offered, even if it was the wrong type to meet their needs, and this resulted in misallocations ("sending potatoes to Idaho"), food rotted away in places that did not need it, and the wrong types of food being delivered (e.g. not matching hot dogs with hot dog buns).

In May 2007, it was featured on American Idol, named as a charity in the Idol Gives Back charity program.

In September 2008, the organization name was changed from America's Second Harvest to Feeding America.

In August 2009, Columbia Records announced that all U.S. royalties from Bob Dylan's album Christmas in the Heart would be donated to Feeding America, in perpetuity.

There has been a rise in the numbers suffering from hunger since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In 2013, the USDA reported that about 49 million U.S. Americans faced poor nutrition, about one in six of the population. In September, they launched Hunger Action Month, with events planned all over the nation, to raise awareness and get more U.S. Americans involved in helping out.

In 2015, Feeding America saved more than 2  billion pounds (~907 thousand metric tons) of food that would have been thrown away otherwise, but could instead be distributed to hungry families.

In 2018, the USDA announced that food insecurity had been steadily declining since the 2009 recession ended.

In 2020, Feeding America said that there were about 11 million children suffering from hunger in the United States. Children, along with families and seniors having trouble making ends meet, were suffering the most.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased hunger levels and the number of people in need of food banks. According to Patti Habeck, the President of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, the number of people increased by 36% at the height of the pandemic and had not yet decreased until autumn of 2021.

Feeding America created the MealConnect platform in 2014, which helps food donors like grocery stores, restaurants, and caterers to connect with local food banks and pantries. The platform helps to reduce food waste and increase the efficiency of food donations. In June 2020, Feeding America expanded MealConnect's operations nationwide.

Leadership
Bob Aiken was its first CEO. Matt Knott was its interim-CEO in 2015. On October 1, 2015, Diana Aviv became its second CEO. On October 1, 2018, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot became its third CEO.

Network programs
Feeding America works to educate the general public and keep them informed about hunger in America. The national office produces educational and research papers that spotlight aspects of hunger and provides information on hunger, poverty and the programs that serve vulnerable Americans. Feeding America's public policy staff works with legislators, conducting research, testifying at hearings and advocating for changes in public attitudes and laws that support Feeding America's network and those the organization serves.

In 2017, Feeding America announced a plan to increase the nutritional value of food from food banks. By 2023, the group plans to offer more fruits and vegetables, and provide training so they can distribute more produce, whole grains and lean proteins.

There are more than 200 Feeding America food banks, each of which works in its own area. A complete and current list is available at the Feeding America web site. Food banks in the network include:
 Alameda County Community Food Bank in Oakland, California
 Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock, Arkansas
 Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C.
 Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, Utah
 Connecticut Food Bank in East Haven, Connecticut
 Feeding Southwest Virginia in Salem, Virginia
 Food Bank For New York City in New York City
 Food Bank of Delaware in Delaware
 Food Lifeline in Seattle, Washington
 Forgotten Harvest in Metro Detroit
 Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati, Ohio
 Good Shepherd Food Bank in Maine
 Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston, Massachusetts
 Greater Chicago Food Depository in Chicago, Illinois
 Houston Food Bank in Houston, Texas
 North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Texas
 Philabundance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 Redwood Empire Food Bank in northern California
 Second Harvest North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida
 Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose, California
 St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona
 Vermont Foodbank in Barre, Vermont

Partnerships
Feeding America receives financial and in-kind support from a wide variety of corporations, non-profit organizations, and individual donors, including in the form of direct food donations and advocacy support. Top providers of grocery products include 7-Eleven, Amazon, Costco, CVS Health, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Sam's Club, Target Corporation, Trader Joe's, and Walmart.

See also

 List of food banks
 Second Harvest Toronto (Canada)

References

Further reading

 Canice Prendergast. 2017. "How Food Banks Use Markets to Feed the Poor." Journal of Economic Perspectives 31(4): 145–162.
 Canice Prendergast. 2022. "The Allocation of Food to Food Banks". Journal of Political Economy.

External links

 Hunger Action Month
 BBB Wise Giving Report on America's Second Harvest
 Charity Navigator report

Food banks in the United States
Organizations established in 1979
Non-profit organizations based in Chicago

Feeding America


The Dancing Floor is a 1926 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan featuring Edward Leithen. It is the third of Buchan's five Leithen novels.

Plot

Edward Leithen, the eminent lawyer, is introduced by his young nephew Charles to  Vernon Milburne. In spite of the age difference, Leithen and Vernon become close friends. Vernon confides that since childhood he has had an annually-recurring dream in which he finds himself in a panelled chamber. A closed door faces him, and he knows that beyond that is another identical room, and another, and so on interminably. In one of the rooms something is moving towards him, one room closer each year.

In 1914, Leithen and Vernon join a friend on a cruising holiday in the Aegean. Anchoring the yacht by the island of Plakos, they go ashore near a large fortified house that looms over the harbour. Vernon is fascinated, but Leithen finds the place menacing and sinister.

The friends see less of each other during the war years, but after the armistice Leithen investigates the history of Plakos. He learns that until his recent death the island had been owned by one Shelley Arabin, a man with a reputation for violence and evil who had used the house for dissolute orgies at which ancient pre-Christian Greek gods were worshipped.

Leithen and Vernon are introduced to Koré, a young woman who outrageously flouts the expected manners of her class. She, it transpires, is Shelley Arabin's daughter, and the current owner of Plakos. Not fully understanding the depths of the Greek locals' fear and hate, Koré is stubbornly determined to return to the island to expiate her father's evil legacy. Leithen recognises Koré's naivety behind her confident facade, but in spite of his advice she leaves England for Plakos. Leithen follows. Vernon, meanwhile, and unknown to Leithen, has anchored his yacht in Plakos harbour. He has been preparing himself year by year to meet the closing crisis of his dreams, the final episode of which is now due.

Aided by a Greek army officer, Captain Maris, Leithen attempts but fails to gain access to Koré's house, where she is being held prisoner. The locals intend to burn the building and to sacrifice her as part of an ancient Greek rite. He watches in the moonlight as on a flat area of land known as the Dancing Floor young men take part in a ritual race, the winner having the honour of selecting the male victim who is to die with Koré. Unrecognised by Leithen, the winning runner is Vernon who has disguised himself as a Greek youth. Vernon selects Maris as the male sacrifice, and both enter the house, expecting to find an opportunity to escape. But there is none. Finally, as the flames rise, Koré and Vernon are seen boldly walking out towards the silent villagers, dressed in white as pagan deities summoned by the ancient rite. The villagers panic and flee.

In the house, Vernon had recognised the room that appeared in his dreams, and Koré as his yearly-advancing presence. Now a couple, Vernon and Koré escape from the island on Vernon's yacht along with Leithen, who looks back at the house flaming on the headland.

Principal characters

 Sir Edward Leithen - lawyer and member of parliament
 Vernon Milburne - tall, handsome young man, friend of Leithen
 Koré Arabin - stubborn yet vulnerable daughter of a pagan-worshipping father
 Captain Maris - Greek army officer

Background
In an introductory note, the author states that an episode of the story is taken from his earlier short story "Basilissa". In a 1933 essay, Mary Butts described The Dancing Floor as "one of the first novels to owe its origin to The Golden Bough".

References

External links

1926 British novels
Novels by John Buchan
Hodder & Stoughton books
Novels set in Greece

The Dancing Floor


Graduation is a 2007 American coming-of-age drama film starring Chris Lowell, Chris Marquette and Riley Smith released theatrically in May 2008. It was made in collaboration with the producers of The Virgin Suicides and Seabiscuit. The film was shot in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 2005. Additional scenes were shot in and outside of North Hills Senior High School.

Plot
A group of high school friends from suburban Pittsburgh—Carl (Chris Marquette), Polly (Shannon Lucio), Chauncey (Riley Smith) and Jackson (Chris Lowell)—are about to graduate. Polly and Chauncey are dating, Carl needs a date to prom and Jackson doesn't seem to know what to do with his life. When Carl's mom becomes ill and needs $100,000 for surgery, Polly comes up with a plan: rob her dad's bank. The plan seems foolproof, and graduation is the perfect alibi; all the kids need to do is steal the keys to the bank's vault. However, things get complicated when Carl falls in love with a bank teller named Suzi and Polly falls in love with Jackson. Through it all—including an unforeseen hostage crisis—the friends learn a lot about themselves.

Release
The movie was released theatrically on May 2, 2008 (limited release). It came out on DVD on May 13, 2008.

Reception
, Graduation holds a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on six reviews with an average rating of 3.08/10.

References

External links

2007 films
American teen films
American independent films
2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films
American high school films
American coming-of-age comedy-drama films
Blumhouse Productions films
Films about teenagers
2007 independent films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films

Graduation (2007 film)


Tiberiu Olah or Tibor Oláh (2 January 1928 – 2 October 2002) was a Romanian-Hungarian composer, teacher and musicologist.

Biography
Tiberiu Olah was born in Arpad, Bihor, and began his studies at the Cluj Conservatory in 1946. From 1949-54 he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and in 1958 he took a position as a lecturer and later as a professor at the Bucharest Conservatory. Notable students include Doina Rotaru, Costin Miereanu, Horațiu Rădulescu and Christian Wilhelm Berger.

Olah was a member of the Csodamalom Bábszínház Puppet Theater where he acted as a puppeteer. He received grants for research in musicology and presented studies and papers internationally. He also published reviews and articles in journals including Studii de Muzicologie, Muzica, România Literară and Melos. He died in Târgu Mureș.

Works
Olah was known for popularizing the oratorio. Selected compositions include:
Cantata for women's choir, two flutes, string and percussion instruments 1956, Csango popular texts, translated by Nina Cassian
Prind visele aripi 1959, cantata for mixed choir and orchestra
Lumina lui Lenin 1959, cantata for male choir and string orchestra on lyrics by Nina Cassian
O stâncă se înalță 1959, cantata for mixed choir and orchestra lyrics by Maria Banus
The Galaxy of Man 1960, oratorio for reciter, high voice, mixed choir and orchestra by Vladimir Mayakovsky lyrics
Symphony 1956
Michael the Brave 1971, symphonic suite from the film music
Homonymous Crescendo 1972, piece for orchestra
Condemnation 1976, music video

His music has been recorded and issued on media including:
[Electrecord ST-ECE 02941] Invocations III, Harmonies IV, Sonata for Clarinet solo, Sonata for Flute solo, Space and Rhythm (LP, 1986)
 [Electrecord ST-CS 0201] Daniel Kientzy - Stockhausen / Cavanna / Harrison / Olah / Ioachimescu- Saxophone Contemporain  (LP, 1986)

Awards
Romanian Academy Award, 1965
Film Music Award for White Pelican, 1966
International Prize for Koussewitzky, USA, 1967
Grand Prize of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania for All Creation, 1993

References

External links

1928 births
2002 deaths
People from Bihor County
Romanian musicians of Hungarian descent
Moscow Conservatory alumni
Academic staff of the National University of Music Bucharest
20th-century classical composers
20th-century musicologists
20th-century male musicians
Romanian musicologists
Hungarian musicologists
Romanian classical composers
Hungarian classical composers
Male classical composers

Tiberiu Olah


Big Ticket Television, Inc. (also known as Big Ticket Entertainment and Big Ticket Pictures) is an American production company. Big Ticket is a subsidiary of CBS Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Television and CBS Television Studios), a division of Paramount Global.  It is best known for producing the syndicated mainstay Judge Judy from 1996 to 2021.

History

The company was launched on October 21, 1994, under the Spelling Entertainment Group, who named former Warner Bros. Television and Spelling Television executive Larry Lyttle to run the division. Lyttle wanted to name the company Blockbuster Television, after its parent company Blockbuster, Inc., but Viacom opposed the idea due to the chain's fate being unclear. Viacom by that time owned Blockbuster Inc. and its 67% stake in Spelling Entertainment Group.  Lyttle chose the name "Big Ticket" by driving by a Blockbuster store and noting Blockbuster's "big ticket" logo. Big Ticket was created primarily as an outlet for non-drama TV series from Spelling, which was largely known for hit dramas at that time. All of its programming was distributed by Spelling's syndication arm, Worldvision Enterprises, until Worldvision was folded into Paramount Domestic Television, later CBS Television Distribution, and now CBS Media Ventures.

In 1999, Spelling Entertainment was bought out by Viacom Productions, resulting in Paramount Domestic Television (which Viacom had owned since its 1994 acquisition of Paramount Pictures) becoming Big Ticket's distributor in June 1999. On June 29, 2003, Paramount Television combined Big Ticket Television's production operations with its network and syndication outputs after Lyttle left the employ of Viacom. In 2006, PDT became CBS Paramount Domestic Television and later CBS Media Ventures (formerly CBS Television Distribution) in 2007.

Productions

Big Ticket's most widely viewed productions are the courtroom series Judge Judy (ended in 2021) and Judge Joe Brown (ended in 2013), with the former debuting in 1996 and the latter in 1998. This left Judge Judy as the company's only program in the 2013-14 television season, although most of the production is done by CBS as the company has been largely a figurehead organization since the CBS takeover of Viacom's television unit. In Fall 2014, Big Ticket also began to produce the three-judge court show Hot Bench, which is created and executive-produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin through her own production company, Queen Bee Productions.

Big Ticket also produced the sitcom Moesha, its spin-off The Parkers and the stop-motion animated comedy Gary & Mike for UPN, the dramas Hack created by David Koepp & starring David Morse and Wolf Lake created by John Leekly & starring Lou Diamond Phillips for CBS (only five episodes of the latter aired on CBS before cancellation, but all nine were shown on UPN), and the talk show parody Night Stand with Dick Dietrick for syndication. For the second (and final) season of the court series Swift Justice, Big Ticket became the production company after the series moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles and shared a studio with Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown.

The company's most recent program is The Drew Barrymore Show, which launched on September 14, 2020. As of the 2022–23 television season, Hot Bench and The Drew Barrymore Show are the only programs under Big Ticket management remaining in production.

References

CBS Studios
Television production companies of the United States
Paramount Global subsidiaries
American companies established in 1994
Mass media companies established in 1994

Big Ticket Entertainment


Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and is the protagonist. She also appears many times in later books of the series.

Portrayals

 The Wizard of Oz (1902 stage musical): Anna Laughlin
 The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908): Romola Remus
 The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (1910): Bebe Daniels
 His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914): Violet MacMillan
 Wizard of Oz (1925): Dorothy Dwan
 The Wizard Of Oz (1939): Judy Garland
 Rainbow Road to Oz (1957): Darlene Gillespie
 Tales of the Wizard of Oz (1961): Corinne Conley
 Return to Oz (1964): Susan Conway (speaking voice), Susan Morse (singing voice)
 Journey Back to Oz (1972): Liza Minnelli (voice)
 Oz (1976): Joy Dunstan
 The Wiz (1975): Stephanie Mills
 The Wiz (1978): Diana Ross
 Return to Oz (1985): Fairuza Balk
 Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz (1987): Janice Hiromi Kawaye
 The Wizard of A.I.D.S. (1988): Martha Murphy
 The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz (1990): Mariko Kouda
 The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story (1990): Courtney Barilla (as Dorothy Gage and Dorothy Gale)
 The Wizard of Oz (1991): Liz Georges (voice)
 The Wizard of Oz: Denise Van Outen British TV version.
 The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995): Jewel
 The Oz Kids animated series (1996-1997): Erika Schickel
 The Wizard of Oz (2001 stage show): Nikki Webster
 The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005): Ashanti
 The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's (2007): Lisa Vischer as Junior Asparagus as Darby (replacing Dorothy)
 Tin Man (TV miniseries) (2007): Zooey Deschanel as DG; Rachel Pattee & Alexis Llewellyn as Young DG; Grace Wheeler as the Grey Gale
 The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical): Danielle Hope and later Sophie Evans 2012 Toronto production Danielle Wade
 The Witches of Oz (2011): Paulie Redding
 Dorothy and the Witches of Oz: Paulie Rojas
 Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz: Grey DeLisle
 After the Wizard: Jordan Van Vranken as "Elizabeth Haskins"
 Supernatural (US TV series): Tiio Horn as "Dorothy" (Episode: Slumber Party)
 Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return: Lea Michele
 The Wiz Live!: Shanice Williams
 Dorothy Must Die (2014 book): Danielle Paige
 Lego Dimensions: Laura Bailey
 Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz: Grey DeLisle
 Emerald City: Adria Arjona
 Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Kari Wahlgren
 Lost in Oz: Ashley Boettcher
 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part: Maya Rudolph
 Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs: Katie DiCicco

Characters in written fiction

Dorothy Gale


The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s. The festival was known for attracting a largish audience for free improvisation, modern jazz composition and all kinds of British modern jazz in general.

However, over the years Bracknell featured a wide range of performers from old-fashioned rhythm and blues musicians such as Alexis Korner or Jack Bruce, fusion stars such as Allan Holdsworth or Barbara Thompson, British modern jazz performers of all shapes and ages and a strong line-up of visiting stars such as Ornette Coleman, Stanley Clarke, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, George Coleman and many more.

In the words of festival organiser John Cumming – "The keynote of the Festival is to provide the jazz scene – listeners and musicians alike – with a weekend of the best in British jazz, spiced with visiting Americans, in an informal, relaxed atmosphere.". Cumming, director of Serious Productions went on to organise Camden Jazz with Charles Alexander and Peter Luxton from the Jazz Centre Society, and the London Jazz Festival.

Overview
The festival was held from 1975 onwards in the grounds and the house of South Hill Park, a Victorian manor house converted into an arts centre in the Berkshire town of Bracknell, a typical Thames Valley new town. As well as the jazz festival, the centre is a venue for performances and education in jazz, other kinds of music and other art forms throughout the year.

Most of the performances were held in large marquees on the lawn, while some events including workshops for musicians were held in rooms in the house. The beer tent was run by the local branch of CAMRA (the campaign for real ale) offering strong ales from many parts of southern England. Journalist Steve Lake wrote in 1976, "Up against the madness of American and Continental jazz festivals Bracknell had seemed, initially, a tranquil, even sedate affair. Musicians and their families picknicked outside the main marquee, cocking lazy ears to the sound of Ralph Towner's delicate twelve-string arpeggios. It was all very pleasant."

From 1988, many elements of the festival survived as the Outside In festival held in Crawley West Sussex.

Mainstays of the Bracknell festival included the perennial compere and soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill; free improvisers such as drummer John Stevens, trombonist Paul Rutherford, drummer Tony Oxley and saxophonist Evan Parker; many musicians in and around the Mike Westbrook orchestra, such as John Surman; South Africans such as Dudu Pukwana and Johnny Dyani; drummer Roger Turner, sax player Elton Dean, and other members of the so-called Canterbury scene; pianist Django Bates and other bastions of the British modern jazz scene. The festival was always opened by local talent, the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra.

The festival often featured a work especially commissioned for the event by the Arts Council of Great Britain, these included: Stan Tracey's Bracknell Connection in 1976, Mike Westbrook's The Cortege in 1979, and Graham Collier's Hoarded Dreams in 1983.

1970s

1976
The Arts Council Commission was The Bracknell Connection a piece by the Stan Tracey Octet, featuring Peter King (alto), Art Themen (tenor), Don Weller (tenor), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Malcolm Griffiths trombone), all British jazz performers who would revisit the festival many times over the years. The piece was later recorded at the 100 Club in London and released on Steam Records. Other acts included guitarist Ralph Towner and a duet between Stan Tracey and Mike Osborne, which was released as the Tandem to good reviews.

1977
Elton Dean's Ninesense, a nonet featuring Dean, Alan Skidmore, Harry Beckett, Marc Charig, Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, Keith Tippett, Harry Miller and Louis Moholo, performing the Arts Council commission, a suite later recorded in a studio and released as Happy Daze on Ogun Records. A popular act, Ninesense were to return the following year and Elton Dean again in 1980 (with a quintet). And famously 1977 saw Bracknell's beloved compere Lol Coxhill performing his legendary monologue "Murder in the Air", following which he was asked to record it as a 12" single Chiltern Sound records.

1978
The headline act was Ornette Coleman. Other acts included the trio of British free improvisers John Stevens, Trevor Watts and Barry Guy, who returned the following year with pianist Howard Riley. Also appearing was the Pat Metheny Group – Metheny/Mays/Gottlieb/Egan – a few months after its debut UK performance. A sign of things to come; the record stalls sold out of the quartet's eponymous ECM album before the set was over.
And Saxophonist David Murray played an unforgettable long solo-concert.

1979
The headline act on the Friday night was Rocket 88 a boogie-woogie big band including Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart the "6th Stone" on piano along with bassist Jack Bruce, Alexis Korner and an array of British horn-players.

Also appearing were the Jan Garbarek Group with Bill Connors, Jon Christensen, Eberhard Weber & John Taylor.
The Arts Council commission that year was The Cortege by the Mike Westbrook Orchestra, described as "a composition for Voices and 16-piece Jazz Orchestra including settings of poetry, arranged by Kate Westbrook, by Lorca, Rimbaud, Hesse, John Clare and other European poets, sung in the original languages by Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton". The piece was later recorded as a triple album.
Other acts in 1979 included the Ed Bickert Trio and guitarist Mike Stern.

1980s
John Stevens was back again in 1980 with European free improvisers Marc Charig, Paul Rutherford, Peter Brötzmann, Barry Guy and Peter Kowald. Other acts included two electric guitarists – Jeff Clyne's's jazz-rock group "Turning Point" and the young Pat Metheny. The British group Spirit Level led by sax player Paul Dunmall, who were also to return in 1981.

1981
Drummer Max Roach played a short set, much of it a drum solo, (there are bootleg recordings available). The Ray d'Inverno trio performed a tribute to Bill Evans. Canadian electric jazz band Uzeb did their first show abroad which was recorded as Live in Bracknell and then digitally re-mastered and re-issued in 2006 to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary.

1982
The headline act was the incredible reunion of legendary John Coltrane Quartet members Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner.

John Stevens' album Freebop was recorded at the festival the band including Evan Parker, and received a five-star review from Down Beat magazine. This year saw a duet between Abdullah Ibrahim and Carlos Ward that has been described as "delicate, poignant, austere ...conjuring a resonance from the simplest tune". Trumpeter Lester Bowie, from the "Chicago Art Ensemble", appeared with his group, "From The Roots to the Source", which featured vocalists Fontella Bass, David Peaston, pianist Art Matthews, tenor saxophonist Ari Brown, and drummer Phillip Wilson.

1983
The Arts Council commission was Hoarded Dreams, a big band led by bass player Graham Collier and including musicians such as Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko, John Surman, Ted Curson, Henry Lowther, Manfred Schoof, and Malcolm Griffiths. The piece was recorded at the festival and released on Cuneiform Records. An extended documentary and profile of Collier, based around the Bracknell Jazz Hoarded Dreams concert in 1983, was broadcast by Channel 4 on March 6 1985    Another live recording made that year was the highly praised Gheim by the Paul Rutherford Trio. The headline act was the Bobby Hutcherson Quartet featuring Tete Montoliu and Billy Higgins, which was broadcast on BBC radio.

1984
Stan Tracey was back again with a quartet including his son Clark Tracey and saxophonist Art Themen performing his Poet's Suite. And Elton Dean was back again with a quintet. The Festival Commission that year was a piece by Trevor Watts 14-piece Moire Music. Other acts that year included the European Jazz Ensemble featuring Tony Oxley, Alan Skidmore, Gerd Dudek and others; Factory Records' jazz-dance act Kalima; and British fusion group Full Circle. Jazz tubist John Bodwin returned to play a short solo set.

1985
Acts included Terry Day's Kahondo Style.

1986
The headline act was trumpeter Don Cherry, this time his set, with his group "Nu" including Mark Helias, Carlos Ward and Nana Vasconcelos was recorded and later released on BBC records. Other acts included guitarist Billy Jenkins, who would return the following year.

1987
Acts included: In Cahoots featuring Canterbury music legends Phil Miller, Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle and Elton Dean; The Michael Gibbs Orchestra including trumpeter Ian Carr; and John Bodwin, in what was one of his last public performances. Headliners were The George Russell Orchestra.

Live recordings from the festival
 Tandem Mike Osborne/Stan Tracey – Live at the Bracknell Festival Ogun Records – 1976
 the 1979 set by Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia was recorded for TV
 parts of Voila Enough! by Steve Beresford, Peter Cusack, David Toop and Terry Day from 1979.
 Debut album by Canadian jazz-fusion group Uzeb – Live in Bracknell 1981 – their first concert in Europe
 John Stevens –  Freebop (Affinity (1982)
 and Freebop's 1986 performance was released as the album Live Tracks on Impetus Records, this group included Evan Parker and Courtney Pine.
 Bassist and composer Graham Collier's Hoarded Dreams (1983) (Arts Council commission, featuring Ted Curson and Manfred Schoof). Described by Jazzwise as a masterpiece.
 Paul Rutherford Trio – Gheim – Live at Bracknell 1983 – w Paul Rogers (bass) and Nigel Morris (drums) – CD includes the entire festival set, one of Rutherford's most acclaimed works.
 Dudu Pukwana and Zila – Life in Bracknell & Willisau – 1983 – including Django Bates on piano.
 Eddie Prevost Quartet's Continuum = 1983 reviewed as "one of the few 'must haves' of British free jazz" and "sounds like bebop heard at a distance or in a dream" (Alan Durant
 The 1984 performance by the Lennie Best Quintet was recorded for television
 Unofficial recordings are available of the 1984 performance by Don Cherry and The Leaders including Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, Hilton Ruiz, Cecil McBee and Famadou Don Moye.
 Cherry's 1986 show with "Nu" including Carlos Ward, Nana Vasconcelos, and Ed Blackwell was released on CD by the BBC in 2002 after years of bickering over the rights.

References

External links
South Hill Park Arts Centre

Jazz festivals in the United Kingdom
Music festivals in Berkshire
Bracknell

Bracknell Jazz Festival


Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows in June 2010. Two portable versions were released for the Nintendo DS, one featuring an Autobot campaign, the other a Decepticon campaign. A game for the Wii, Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, was developed by Next Level Games and utilizes the same characters and setting as War for Cybertron.

Set on the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron, prior to their arrival on Earth, the game depicts the deadly civil war between Autobots and Decepticons. Players may pick either faction to play as, as each has its own separate campaign (though the Decepticon campaign chronologically takes place first). The game's plot revolves around Dark Energon, a more dangerous and destructive version of Energon, the substance which powers all Transformers. While the Decepticon leader Megatron seeks this substance for himself, believing it will allow him to return the planet to its "golden age", the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, attempt to stop him, knowing it would instead doom their homeworld.

War for Cybertron received generally favorable reviews, with many viewing it as an improvement over past Transformers games. It was praised for its multiplayer, character designs, and voice acting, with criticism reserved for the visual design of the game's setting. A sequel, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, was released in August 2012, and a third game, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, was released in June 2014.

Gameplay
War for Cybertron is played from a third-person perspective. Transformers are classified into four main categories: Leader, Soldier, Scientist, and Scout. Each character in the campaign is classified as one of these types, and their weaponry, abilities and vehicle form are largely influenced by their character class. Players can change between forms at will, and each form has unique abilities. While in robot form characters can also collect different weapons, reminiscent of those found in first-person shooters. While in vehicle form each character can boost their speed.

Each campaign level gives the player a choice of three Transformers. The campaign can be played in single-player or cooperatively via online multiplayer, and players can enter or leave the game at any time. If fewer than three players are present, the game's AI controls the remaining playable characters. Cooperative and competitive modes of the game are limited to online play, with no split screen features available. The game levels are designed to allow characters to comfortably navigate and play the game in either mode.

Multiplayer
Competitive multiplayer games do not allow players to control official, named characters, and instead must design their own Transformer.  Similar to the campaign, generic multiplayer characters are split into four character classes.  Contrary to the campaign, however, each created character features some amount of customization.  Players can select a base model and vehicle form, then alter major colors for their character and modify weapon loadouts and abilities based on that character class. The multiplayer aspect also features an experience and leveling system, including perks, and upgrades reminiscent of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, another Activision game.

War for Cybertron has several multiplayer modes to choose from. Deathmatch is a free-for-all game type where the player with the most kills at the end of the game is the winner. In Team Deathmatch players are divided into Autobot and Decepticon teams.  The winning team is the one who earns the most kills. Conquest is a capture-and-hold style game, similar to the conquest mode found in the Star Wars: Battlefront series.  Multiple control points are spread across the level.  The object is for players to capture enemy control points by standing near them for a set amount of time while defending their own control points.  In Countdown to Extinction players must take an active bomb and place it at an enemy base, similar to the Assault mode in the Halo series. Power Struggle is the game's equivalent to the common King of the Hill game type. Finally Code of Power is a mode consisting of two and a half minute rounds where teams vie for a giant melee weapon. Also available is the Escalation game mode, the only multiplayer mode where players can control characters from the campaign or downloadable content.  Players choose a faction and then work cooperatively to defeat continuous waves of enemy robots until all players are defeated, similar to the Horde mode found in Gears of War and the Halo series Firefight game modes. Players earn credits by defeating enemies which can be used to unlock ammunition, weaponry, health and new areas in each map.

Synopsis

Setting
War for Cybertron is set on the planet Cybertron, prior to the Transformers' contact with the planet Earth. Robotic in nature, each Transformer has the ability to transform from their robot mode to an alternate form, usually a vehicle, such as a tank or jet. The Transformers are engaged in total civil war with one another, with two factions emerging: the Decepticons, a splinter group led by the powerful and ruthless Megatron, who seeks to conquer Cybertron to force a regime change, perceiving the current leadership as weak and corrupt; and the Autobots, who follow the command of Zeta Prime and seek to put an end to Megatron's revolution and restore peace and order to Cybertron. However, after Zeta Prime is killed in battle, an inexperienced leader named Optimus must take his place and lead the Autobots to victory before Megatron can corrupt the planet, itself a Transformer, with Dark Energon.

Both factions have their own campaign, each containing five chapters, and players may choose either to play through first. Chronologically, the Decepticon campaign takes place first, with the Autobot story directly following it.

Characters

Originally a pre-order bonus
Downloadable content for multiplayer
Not playable in campaign
Not playable in multiplayer
Unlocked as a multiplayer character

Decepticon campaign
The Decepticon leader Megatron seeks to return Cybertron to its "Golden Age" using the legendary Dark Energon, an unstable, corrupting substance of immense power which is rumored to be kept in an orbital research station guarded by the Autobot Sky Commander Starscream. Megatron leads the Decepticons, including Barricade and Brawl, in an assault on the station, fighting their way through Starscream's troops and seizing control of the Dark Energon manufacturing plant. After Megatron successfully immerses himself in it, Starscream offers his fealty to Megatron in exchange for teaching him how to control Dark Energon. Megatron accepts when Starscream reveals he knows how to manufacture more Dark Energon. Shocked by Starscream's betrayal, his partner Jetfire escapes to warn the Autobot leader Zeta Prime.

Now Decepticons, Starscream and his fellow Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp, are ordered by Megatron to reactivate an Energon Bridge beneath Cybertron's surface, which will feed the station with raw Energon and allow more Dark Energon to be manufactured. Once they succeed, Megatron develops a plan to infect Cybertron's core with Dark Energon and launches a full-scale assault on Iacon City, the Autobot capital, to obtain the Omega Key, which will grant him access to the core. As the Decepticons lay siege on the city, Megatron, Soundwave, and Breakdown confront Zeta Prime, defeating him and obtaining the Key. However, Zeta reveals that the Key is not the actual means to unlocking the core, but rather a device that summons the real key: a colossal Autobot called Omega Supreme.

With Omega pursuing them and destroying everything in his path, Megatron, Soundwave, and Breakdown devise a plan to lure him into an ambush using commandeered Autobot turrets. They succeed, and Omega is shot down, plummeting into Cybertron's lower levels. Omega makes a last stand against the Decepticons but is soon corrupted with Dark Energon and taken prisoner. After forcing Omega to unlock Cybertron's core, Megatron infects it with Dark Energon, which quickly begins to spread over the entire planet, revealed to be a living Transformer.

Autobot campaign
While defending Iacon from the invading Decepticons, Autobot soldier Optimus is informed by scout Bumblebee about Zeta Prime's presumed death. Temporarily assuming leadership of the Autobots, Optimus recruits Bumblebee and Ratchet to reactivate Iacon's defenses and communication grid. The trio then travels to the Decagon Plaza and defeats Starscream, thwarting the Decepticon attack. Soon after, the Autobots receive a distress call from Zeta, who is still alive and being held prisoner in the Decepticon capital city of Kaon. Optimus, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe allow themselves to be captured in order to infiltrate the prison complex, whereupon they break free with the help of  Air Raid and rescue the other Autobot prisoners. As the prisoners escape using Decepticon transports, the trio fights their way to Zeta's cell, guarded by Soundwave and his minions Frenzy, Rumble, and Laserbeak. The Autobots fight them off, but Zeta succumbs to his injuries. Optimus brings Zeta's body before the Autobot High Council, who name him the new Prime and inform him of Megatron's activities.

Tasked with purging Cybertron's core of Dark Energon, Optimus, his friend Ironhide, and rookie Autobot soldier Warpath travel to the core's entrance, discovering it has been converted into a Decepticon stronghold. The trio frees Omega Supreme, who has been tortured with Dark Energon, and defend Ratchet while he heals him, whereupon Omega grants the Autobots access to the core. Fighting their way past Deception soldiers and a Cybertronian worm corrupted by Dark Energon, the Autobots eventually reach the core, which speaks to Optimus. It reveals that the only way to fix the damages done by the Dark Energon is to reboot itself, which will leave Cybertron a cold, barren and lifeless planet for millions of years. However, the core can stay partially alive during this time if Optimus carries a small piece of it with him. Optimus accepts the burden and the core bestows the Autobot Matrix of Leadership into Optimus' chest.

With Cybertron beginning to shut down, Optimus orders the evacuation of all Autobot cities. As the evacuation transports reach orbit, many are destroyed by Starscream's orbital space station, which Megatron has converted into a superweapon. The Aerialbots—Silverbolt, Jetfire, and Air Raid—lead a secret mission to infiltrate the station and destroy it from within. However, they soon discover that the station is actually a massive Decepticon known as Trypticon, who transforms into his robot form. The Aerialbots battle Trypticon, who is knocked out of orbit and crash-lands in Iacon. Optimus confronts him there and defeats him with Bumblebee and Ironhide's help. Later, Optimus commissions a massive vessel known as the Ark to transport the remaining Autobots into space, with only a small group led by Optimus staying behind on Cybertron to fight off Megatron's forces for as long as possible.

Development and marketing
War for Cybertron was announced December 16, 2009, and was released in North America on June 22, 2010 with the PAL region release following on June 25, 2010. It is powered by Unreal Engine 3.  Physics for the game are handled using the Havok physics library. A demo was released on June 10, 2010 which allowed for players to play various multiplayer matches using two of the game's character classes.  Developer High Moon Studios designed the friendly AI so that as a player progresses through the story any accompanying characters will help the player, but still require the player to advance through the game.  "The buddies don't advance the story for you.  They get to the point to kinda show you where to go, but then they'll take up defensive positions and wait for you to progress the story" said Game Director Matt Tieger.  "They're not finishing objectives for you, but they like to stay near you, they'll heal you if you get too wounded, they're pretty smart."

Setting and plot

War for Cybertron developer High Moon Studios and publisher Activision worked closely with Hasbro to create the design and story for the game. "I want to make the game I've been waiting 25 years to play" said Tieger.  The studio brought the concept and idea to Hasbro for approval. It began with a sketch of Bumblebee. "That was that first sketch that we slid across the table to Hasbro and said 'What do you guys think?'  And that's where it all started" said Tieger. High Moon presented the idea of setting the game on Cybertron during the Transformers' civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons.  Aaron Archer, Senior Design Director for Hasbro, stated of the Cybertron-based setting "that's a really cool place [...] and the early days of that civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons was a story that hadn't really been fleshed out in any format."

Each of the characters was totally redesigned for the game, taking cues from previous iterations from the Transformers lore.  "What they've allowed us to do is take a licensed property and treat it like a brand new IP" stated Tieger. The vehicle modes for car-based characters initially consisted of wheels, however, the developers found that it crippled gameplay by removing the player's ability to strafe while in vehicle mode.  Taking the dilemma to Hasbro, the two companies agreed that characters would turn their wheels down and hover while in vehicle mode, allowing for more movement.  The vehicles would then revert to the traditional wheeled mode while using a character's boost, maintaining what the Transformers license had established with previous canon.

The world of Cybertron was designed in such a way that the Transformers would have a proper scale on their homeworld.  "It doesn't make sense that things would be smaller than them in their world," Tieger said, adding "the key character in scale was making their world gigantic and huge."  Matt Krystek, Lead Designer at High Moon stated that since the game is not tied to a movie they were able to tell their own story.  He cited the G1 universe as the inspiration for the game. Jim Daly, Lead Concept Artist at High Moon also cited the G1 universe as the main inspiration for the design of Cybertron itself, also stating that there were elements from Disney's TRON, Blade Runner, and the Aliens franchise.

Hasbro's Aaron Archer stated the game would be only part of a bigger group of media.  "This won't be the only touch point.  It's a big place that we're going to build off of." At a BotCon 2010 panel, War for Cybertron Creative Director Matt Tieger stated Activision is currently in talks with Hasbro on creating additional titles. He also added that Hasbro is "considering" expanding the brand further into the realm of video games. Joe Moscone, Senior Account Manager for Hasbro's public relations team, further clarified that War for Cybertron is in the same continuity as the Transformers: Prime animated series and Transformers: Exodus novel, and that this would be the primary continuity going forward. Hasbro has released a toy line based on the War for Cybertron setting.  Transforming figures of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron and Soundwave from the game have been released by Hasbro under the Transformers: Generations banner.

Audio
The soundtrack for the console versions was composed by Tyler Bates. The ending theme is "Till All Are One" by Stan Bush, from his 2007 album In This Life. Peter Cullen returns to voice Optimus, having voiced the character several times in the Transformers franchise.  Other voice actors include Kari Wahlgren as Arcee, Liam O'Brien as Air Raid, Johnny Yong Bosch as Bumblebee, Fred Tatasciore as Megatron, Ratchet, Omega Supreme, and Trypticon, Keith Szarabajka as Ironhide, Steven Blum as Barricade and Shockwave, Nolan North as Brawl, and Sam Riegel as Starscream.

Downloadable content
Two downloadable content packs were produced for console versions of the game.  The first, entitled simply Character and Map Pack 01, was announced on July 2, 2010.  Character and Map Pack 01 contains the three previously pre-order exclusive characters, Demolishor, Jazz and Shockwave, as well as two new characters, Onslaught and Scattershot.  Four new multiplayer maps are also included.  Two maps are exclusive to the game's Escalation mode, while the other two are used in all other game modes. It was released July 27, 2010. The second pack, known as Character and Map Pack 02, adds the characters Dead End and Zeta Prime and five new maps. It was released September 7, 2010.

Discontinued support
As of 2020, Activision has discontinued support for War for Cybertron, and the game's multiplayer servers have been shut down.

Reception

Critical reaction has been generally positive, with many reviews citing that War for Cybertron is an improvement over past Transformers games. Aggregate scores across all three platforms were fairly uniform. The PC version holds a score of 76.25% at GameRankings and 76/100 at Metacritic. The PlayStation 3 version has a 78.47% and 77/100 at the two aggregate sites, while the Xbox 360 version reports scores of 79.45% and 76/100.  Individual review scores ranged from a 50% approval by Edge magazine to a 94% approval by Gaming Trend.

Reviewers praised the in-game voice acting.  G4TV's Matt Kell noted that Peter Cullen's voice work as Optimus was "commanding and familiar", adding that the other actors "even do their best to replicate the voices of the original cartoon."  Mike Nelson of Game Informer agreed and noted the game's excellent dialogue, stating "the script has all the overwrought melodrama you'd expect from giant talking robots." Several critics also gave high marks for War for Cybertrons multiplayer.  IGN's Arthur Gies noted the influences from Unreal Championship, Tribes, Team Fortress 2, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 adding that "War for Cybertron leverages its transformation mechanic to create something that feels shockingly new." Tom McShea of GameSpot noted that the game's Escalation mode provided a Transformers twist on Gears of Wars Horde mode.  GamePros Kat Bailey noted that the multiplayer was "probably the most appealing part of the package", adding it had a "strong suite [of] options." 1UP.com's Matt Miller lauded the ability to play through the game's campaign with up to three players online, as did G4TV's Matt Kell.  Both reviewers also praised the new character designs, with Kell calling them "inventive." Wired.com's John Mix Meyer gave praise to the game's campaign length, stating "The game's 10-hour single-player campaign means there's plenty of time for the crazy transformations to strut their stuff."  John Hamblin of Eurogamer praised the transformation animations.  He stated players will "occasionally wish there was a Max Payne slow-mo option so you could appreciate the nuance of these feats a little more."

The repetitive visual design of Cybertron drew criticism from critics. Tom McShea of GameSpot stated that "the majority of the game entails walking through similar-looking corridors." Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann also cited repetitive visuals, but conceded that "the metallic world of Cybertron doesn't lend itself particularly well to a lot of environmental variety."  1UP.com's Matt Miller also raised issue with the repetitive visuals, but provided a counterpoint in saying "there are a host of features in place to save the game from spiraling into mediocrity." John Hamblin of Eurogamer and Tom McShea of GameSpot also pointed out the game's vast lack of ammunition.  "Watching Lord Megatron repeatedly suffering the indignity of being shot at by drones while he desperately scours the debris looking for an elusive ammo box [...] is just sad" stated Hamblin.  He was further critical of the game's checkpoint system, which often leaves players in difficult situations upon respawning.

The first downloadable content pack received mixed reception from IGN's Arthur Gies.  While he praised the design of the multiplayer maps, he noted that the lack of online players for War for Cybertron hurt the ability to play the new content online.  Gies stated that he attempted to host the two Escalation maps, adding that he waited for several minutes for players to join, but had no success. "That's the problem", he stated. "War for Cybertrons multiplayer is all-but-abandoned." Gies went on to cite a peak population of approximately 4,600 players on Xbox Live, 800 on PlayStation Network, and only 158 players on the PC version at the time of his writing.  Despite the lack of online players he felt the content may fit a player's needs, stating "If you've got nine other friends who bought War for Cybertron and can set up your own private matches, then Character and Map Pack 01 might be worth checking out."

The game sold 219,000 units in the United States.

Sequel

A sequel to War for Cybertron was announced in November 2010. "This is the most highly-rated, critical success of any game that's had the Hasbro brand yet and we're looking forward to a sequel in 2012," stated Hasbro representative Mark Belcher. The game was slated for a 2012 release, and its official title, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, was revealed on October 6, 2011. It is a direct continuation of War for Cybertron, completing the story of the planet Cybertron's demise and the exodus of the Transformers. One new Autobot character, Grimlock, was confirmed in the title announcement.

References

External links

2010 video games
Activision games
Cooperative video games
PlayStation 3 games
Third-person shooters
War for Cybertron
Unreal Engine games
Video games scored by Tyler Bates
Video games set on fictional planets
Video games with alternative versions
Windows games
Xbox 360 games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Video games set in the future
Video games developed in the United States
High Moon Studios games

Transformers: War for Cybertron


Dromaeosaurus was a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur which lived during the Upper Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago. Its remains were found in the western United States and Alberta, Canada.

Description
Dromaeosaurus albertensis was a small carnivore, the size of a wolf, about 2 m (7 ft) in length and 15 kg (40 lb) in weight. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth, and it had a large "sickle claw" on each foot. It lived during the Upper Cretaceous: some teeth which may belong to it have been found from the latest Cretaceous, 65.5 million years ago.

Although only a few bones are known from the hind limb, they indicate that Dromaeosaurus was a powerfully built animal. The presence of feathers in closely related animals makes it extremely likely that it was feathered as well.

Dromaeosaurus had large eyes and excellent vision. It also probably had a good sense of smell and hearing. Its neck was curved and flexible and its jaws were solidly built. The tail was flexible at the base but sheathed in a lattice of bony rods; this allowed it to be carried in an upturned position.

Discovery and later findings
Despite widespread attention in popular books about dinosaurs, and complete mounted skeleton casts in many museums, Dromaeosaurus is surprisingly poorly known from actual fossils. The popular cast by the Tyrrell Museum was only made possible by knowledge gained from other dromaeosaurs discovered more recently.

The first known Dromaeosaurus remains were discovered by paleontologist Barnum Brown during a 1914 expedition to Red Deer River on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History.

Several species of Dromaeosaurus have been described, but Dromaeosaurus albertensis is the most complete specimen. The genus is even rarer than other small theropods, although it was one of the first small theropods described.

Matthew and Brown originally placed Dromaeosaurus within "Deinodontidae" (now known as Tyrannosauridae), based on some similarities in the general proportions of the skull. In 1969, John Ostrom recognized that Dromaeosaurus shared many features with Velociraptor and the newly-discovered Deinonychus, and assigned these forms to a new family: Dromaeosauridae.

Palaeobiology and diet

Dromaeosaurus differs from most of its relatives in having a short, massive skull, a deep mandible, and robust teeth. The teeth tend to be more heavily-worn than those of its relative Saurornitholestes, suggesting that its jaws were used for crushing and tearing rather than simply slicing through flesh. Dromaeosaurus had a bite nearly three times as powerful as that of a Velociraptor.

It is possible that, unlike most other dromaeosaurs, Dromaeosaurus relied more on its jaws than its claws to dispatch its prey. It was probably better suited to tackling large prey than the more lightly-built Saurornitholestes.

Relationships
The relationships of Dromaeosaurus are unclear. Although its rugged build gives it a primitive appearance, it was actually a very specialized animal. It is usually given its own subfamily, the Dromaeosaurinae; this group is thought to include Utahraptor, Achillobator, Adasaurus, and possibly Deinonychus. However, the relationships of dromaeosaurs are still in a state of flux.

In popular culture
Dromaeosaurus are featured in Walking with Dinosaurs, stalking juvenile Torosaurus and attempting to steal eggs from Tyrannosaurus, despite never coexisting with the latter in real life.
Dromaeosaurus makes an appearance in Jurassic Fight Club, where a pack is shown being capable of taking down Edmontosaurus in spite of the carnivores' small size, but the carcass is later taken by a Tyrannosaurus (despite the tyrannosaur not being contemporaneous with Dromaeosaurus).

References

Cretaceous dinosaurs
Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosaurus


There are four national trade union centers in Turkey. The oldest and largest is the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ).

 Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ, founded 1952, 1.75m members)
 Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK, founded 1967, 327,000 members)
 Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (HAK-İŞ, founded 1976, 340,000 members)
 Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK, founded 1995, 300,000 members)

Some unions, such as the KESK-affiliated education union Eğitim-Sen, have witnessed repeated attempts on banning and member imprisonment.

See also

 Turkish labour law

Law of Turkey

Trade unions in Turkey


Jacqueline Jill Collins  (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. Her books have sold more than 500 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. Eight of her novels have been adapted for the screen, either as films or television miniseries. She was the younger sister of Dame Joan Collins.

Early life
Collins was born in 1937, in Hampstead, London, the younger daughter of Elsa (née Bessant) Collins (died 1962) and Joseph William Collins (died 1988), a theatrical agent whose clients later included Dame Shirley Bassey, the Beatles, and Sir Tom Jones.

Collins's South African-born father was Jewish, and her British mother was Anglican. A middle child, Collins had an elder sister, Joan Collins (actress and author), and a younger brother, Bill (who became a property agent).

Collins attended Francis Holland School, an independent day school for girls in London and was expelled at age 15. During this period, she reportedly had a brief affair with 29-year-old Marlon Brando.

Early career
In 1956, Collins visited her older sister, Joan, who was then based in Los Angeles. She returned to London after failing to gain a U.S. work permit to enable her to be groomed for stardom at 20th Century Fox. Collins began appearing in acting roles in a series of British B movies. These included Barnacle Bill (1957), Rock You Sinners (1957), The Safecracker (1958), Intent to Kill (1958), Passport to Shame (1958), and The Shakedown (1960), in which she was credited as Lynn Curtis. After minor appearances in such television series as Danger Man and The Saint, Collins gave up on pursuing an acting career, although she did play briefly on the television series Minder in 1980.

Her first book, The World Is Full of Married Men (1968), became a best-seller. Four decades later, she admitted she was a "school dropout" and "juvenile delinquent" when she was 15: "I'm glad I got all of that out of my system at an early age," she said, adding that she "never pretended to be a literary writer."

Writing career

1960s
Collins had begun many works of fiction but abandoned them, and only completed her first novel after being persuaded to do so by her second husband Oscar Lerman. "You're a storyteller", he told her. After the publication of her first novel The World Is Full of Married Men, romantic novelist Barbara Cartland called the book "nasty, filthy and disgusting", and charged Collins with "creating every pervert in Britain". The book was banned in Australia and South Africa, but the scandal bolstered sales in the United States and the UK.

Her second novel, The Stud, was published in 1969. It also made the best-seller lists.

1970s
Collins's third novel, Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick (first published under the title The Hollywood Zoo in the UK and then retitled Sinners worldwide in 1984) was published in 1971 and again made the best-seller lists. This was Collins's first novel to be set in the United States.

Lovehead followed in 1974 (retitled as The Love Killers in 1989). This novel was Collins's first foray into the world of organized crime, a genre that would later prove to be extremely successful for her.

Following this, Collins published The World Is Full of Divorced Women (unrelated to her first novel) in 1975, and then Lovers & Gamblers in 1977, which told the story of rock/soul superstar Al King.

In the late 1970s, Collins made a foray into writing for the screen. She co-wrote the screenplay for The Stud (1978), based on her second book; the film starred her older sister Joan as the gold-digging adulteress Fontaine Khaled. Following this, Collins wrote the screenplay for The World Is Full of Married Men (1980), the film adaptation of her first novel. She also released her seventh novel, The Bitch (1979), a sequel to The Stud; The Bitch was also made into a successful 1979 film, with Joan Collins reprising the role. Around the same time, Collins wrote an original screenplay (not based on any of her novels) for the film Yesterday's Hero (1979).

1980s

In the 1980s, Collins and her family moved to Los Angeles on a full-time basis, where she would continue to write about the "rich and famous". She said, "If you wish to be successful, there is a place you should be at a certain time. And Los Angeles in the 1980s was it."

Her next novel was Chances (1981). It introduced one of her best-known characters, Lucky Santangelo, the "dangerously beautiful" daughter of a gangster.

While living in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, Collins collected the knowledge and experience to write her most commercially successful novel, Hollywood Wives (1983), which hit The New York Times best-seller list at number one. Marketed as a "scandalous exposé", the novel sold over 15 million copies and placed Collins in a powerful position, making her a celebrity of near equal status to her sister Joan, whose own career had taken an upwards direction with her role in the television drama Dynasty.

In 1985, Hollywood Wives was made into a television miniseries, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring Candice Bergen, Stefanie Powers, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Hopkins, Suzanne Somers, and Rod Steiger. Although credited as a "creative consultant", Collins later stated that she was never consulted during production and that she did not agree with some of the casting choices.

She then went on to write the sequel to Chances, titled Lucky (1985), followed by Hollywood Husbands  (1986) and Rock Star (1988).

1990s
In 1990, Collins published her third Lucky Santangelo novel, Lady Boss, and wrote and co-produced the television miniseries Lucky Chances, which combined her first two Lucky Santangelo novels and starred Nicollette Sheridan (in the lead role) and Sandra Bullock.

In 1992, Collins was widowed when her husband of 26 years, Oscar Lerman, died of cancer. Around this time, she wrote and produced another miniseries based on the Lady Boss novel, with Kim Delaney playing the lead role. Collins's run of best-sellers continued with American Star (1993), Hollywood Kids (1994), and the fourth Santangelo novel, Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (1996).

She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1993, when she was surprised by Michael Aspel.

In 1998, she made a foray into talk show television with the series Jackie Collins' Hollywood, but this was unsuccessful. She also published the novel Thrill (1998) and wrote a four-part series of mini-novels, called L.A. Connections, to be released in a newspaper every six weeks and which introduced a new heroine in the form of investigative journalist Madison Castelli. The fifth Lucky Santangelo novel, Dangerous Kiss, was published in 1999.

2000s
The 2000s turned out to be Collins's busiest time; she published eight best-sellers, more than in any other decade in her career. In 2000, Collins brought back the character of Madison Castelli in a new novel, Lethal Seduction. In 2001, she published Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, which was adapted as a 2003 television movie starring Farrah Fawcett, Melissa Gilbert, and Robin Givens. (Collins was credited as an executive producer.) A new Madison Castelli novel, Deadly Embrace, was published in 2002, and Hollywood Divorces was published in 2003. In 2004, Collins hosted a series of television specials, Jackie Collins Presents, for E! Entertainment Television.

Collins continued with Lovers & Players (2006); the sixth Lucky Santangelo novel, Drop Dead Beautiful (2007); and  Married Lovers (2008), which concerns the affairs of a female personal trainer named Cameron Paradise. This was followed by Poor Little Bitch Girl (2009), which stemmed from an idea Collins had worked on for a television series about heiresses that was ultimately never made.

2010s
Paris Connections (2010), a direct-to-DVD movie adapted from Collins's L.A. Connections series of mini-novels, was made by Amber Entertainment in association with the UK supermarket chain Tesco. The movie stars Charles Dance, Trudie Styler, and Nicole Steinwedell (as Madison Castelli). Collins served as co-producer, and three more Connections movies with the Madison Castelli character are planned.

Collins continued to write Lucky Santangelo books, including Goddess of Vengeance. Her 29th novel, titled The Power Trip, was published in February 2013. Confessions of a Wild Child, was published in February 2014, with a movie deal announced even before the book came out.

Collins's cookbook, The Lucky Santangelo Cookbook (2014), is named after the protagonist of nine Collins novels, who is often portrayed preparing elaborate gastronomic creations for her intimates (and who watched her father throw a plate of food at her mother as a child).  Collins's final novel was The Santangelos (2015), a conclusion to the Santangelo series she had begun with Chances (1981).

Personal life
Collins held dual citizenship: British (by birth) and U.S. (by naturalization, from 6 May 1960). She married her first husband, Wallace Austin, in 1960; they divorced in 1964. Austin's addiction to drugs prescribed for manic depression ultimately caused their separation, and he died from a deliberate overdose the year after their marriage ended. The couple had one daughter, Tracy, born in 1961.

In 1965, Collins married again, this time to American art gallery and nightclub (Ad-Lib and Tramp) owner, Oscar Lerman, who was 18 years her senior. The wedding took place in the home of her sister Joan and her husband at the time, Anthony Newley. Collins and Lerman had two daughters, Tiffany (born 1967) and Rory (born 1969). Lerman also formally adopted Collins's daughter, Tracy, from her previous marriage. Lerman died in 1992 from prostate cancer.

In 1994, Collins became engaged to Los Angeles business executive Frank Calcagnini, who died in 1998 from a brain tumor. She said that what got her through the tragedies of losing two loved ones was "celebrating their lives, as opposed to dwelling on their deaths."

In 2011, when asked if she were dating anyone, Collins said: "I have a man for every occasion", adding:

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to fiction and charity.

Throughout Collins's career, she fictionalized aspects of her personal life as a source for her novels. She said she loved Los Angeles and recalled that while growing up in England, she often read novels by Harold Robbins, Mickey Spillane, and Raymond Chandler. Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne explains that Collins "loved the picture business, the television business, the record business, and the people in them, the stars, celebrities, directors, and producers." And although she was a "great partygoer", he says, she went to them "more as an observer than participant", using them as part of her "research." "Write about what you know", Collins said at a writer's conference. "I love what I do. I fall in love with my characters. They become me, and I become them."

Death
Collins died on 19 September 2015, of breast cancer. She had been diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer more than six years before her death but kept her illness almost entirely to herself. She reportedly informed her sister Joan Collins two weeks before she died and flew from Los Angeles to London to appear on the ITV chat show Loose Women nine days before her death.

Bibliography

 The World Is Full of Married Men (1968)
 The Stud (1969)
 Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick (later Sinners) (1971)
 Lovehead (later The Love Killers) (1974)
 The World Is Full of Divorced Women (1975)
 Lovers and Gamblers (1977)
 The Bitch (1979)
 Rock Star (1988)
 American Star (1993)
  Thrill! (1998)
 Lovers & Players (2006)
 Married Lovers (2008)
 The Power Trip (2012)

Hollywood series
 Hollywood Wives (1983)
 Hollywood Husbands (1986)
 Hollywood Kids (1994)
 Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2001)
 Hollywood Divorces (2003)

Santangelo novels

 Chances (1981)
 Lucky (1985)
 Lady Boss (1990)
 Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (1996)
 Dangerous Kiss (1999)
 Drop Dead Beautiful (2007)
 Poor Little Bitch Girl (2009)
 Goddess of Vengeance (2011)
 Confessions of a Wild Child (2013)
 The Santangelos (2015)

Madison Castelli series
 L. A. Connections (serialised novel):
 Power (1998)
 Obsession (1998)
 Murder (1998)
 Revenge (1998)
 Lethal Seduction (2000)
 Deadly Embrace (2002)

Other
 The Lucky Santangelo Cookbook (2014)

Source

See also
 Publishers Weekly lists of bestselling novels in the United States

References

External links

 Jackie Collins at the Internet Book List
 Jackie Collins (Aveleyman)

1937 births
2015 deaths
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English women writers
21st-century English novelists
21st-century English women writers
English people of South African-Jewish descent
English women novelists
English expatriates in the United States
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Francis Holland School
Writers from Hampstead
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in California
Naturalized citizens of the United States

Jackie Collins


Jeff Pope is a British television producer and screenwriter who co-wrote the film Pierrepoint and the television drama The Fattest Man in Britain and who won a BAFTA in 2006 for the drama See No Evil: The Moors Murders. He is also the Head of ITV Productions Factual Drama. Pope wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Stan & Ollie, and co-wrote the 2022 film The Lost King.

Career
Pope's first media job was as a reporter for the Ealing Gazette. He joined London Weekend Television in 1983 as a researcher on The Six O'Clock Show. In 1996 Pope was appointed Head of Factual Drama at LWT before moving to Granada Television in the same role. He finally moved to ITV where he is Head of Factual Drama. Among Pope's television writing credits are Fool's Gold: The Story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery (1992), The Place of the Dead (1997), Essex Boys (2000), Bob Martin (2000), Dirty Filthy Love (2004), Christmas Lights (2004), Pierrepoint (2005), Northern Lights (2006), City Lights (2007), The Fattest Man in Britain (2009) and The Widower.

As a producer, Pope's credits include Fool's Gold: The Story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery (1992), The One That Got Away (1996), The Show (1997), This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (2000), Bob Martin (2000), Essex Boys (2000), Christmas Lights (2004), Northern Lights (2006), City Lights (2007), Pierrepoint (2005), and The Fattest Man in Britain (2009).

In addition to winning a BAFTA for the television drama See No Evil: The Moors Murders in 2007, Pope was also nominated in 2001 for My Beautiful Son, and again in 2004 for Dirty Filthy Love. In 2004 he appeared as himself in an episode of The South Bank Show. Pope and Steve Coogan were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 86th Academy Awards for writing Philomena starring Judi Dench and Coogan. In 2014, he wrote and produced Cilla, a TV miniseries about the early career of Cilla Black, starring Sheridan Smith as Black.

In 2015, Pope's contributions were recognised when he received the Alan Clarke special BAFTA award.

Pope wrote the screenplay for Stan & Ollie (2018), a biographical comedy-drama film based on the lives of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It premiered in October 2018 at the BFI London Film Festival and was released in the United States on 28 December 2018 and in the United Kingdom on 11 January 2019. In 2022, Archie a TV series Pope wrote about Cary Grant was commissioned by ITV.

Pope executive-produced The Reckoning, a mini-series about the life of Jimmy Savile, starring Steve Coogan as Savile. The show had been delayed to 2024, with a source saying: "The four-part drama is being edited in such a meticulous and careful way, so as not to create more pain and suffering for Savile's victims"; However, it was then pushed forward and was broadcast in October 2023.

References

External links

'Pope's message - an interview with Jeff Pope' Broadcast Now 15 February 2007

Living people
Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
British television writers
British television producers
British male screenwriters
British male television writers
1961 births

Jeff Pope


Boy with Goose, is a public artwork by Italian artist Girolamo Piccoli, currently in storage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Description
The work is cast bronze  high x  wide x  deep.  A small naked boy sits holding a pet goose in his lap. The boy holds the goose's head in his proper left hand. Water for the fountain comes from the bird's open beak. The sculpture is mounted on an irregularly shaped, tiered base and set in a planter.

Historical information
In 1925 Andrew A. McCabe, a local resident, commissioned the original Boy with Goose as a fountain for his home on North Lake Drive.  According to a newspaper account, the real-life model for the figure was Dominic Joseph Balestrieri, who later became a city of Milwaukee fireman who died in 1961. Other citizens liked the work so much they raised $800 to have a replica cast in Bremen, Germany, and placed in Lake Park in 1927, north of the streetcar depot.  The fountain charmed visitors to the park until 1964 when vandalism to the base caused park officials to remove it and place the bronze in storage.

Location history
When the Mandel Group, developers of East Point Commons, announced plans for multi-family housing to be located on nine blocks of the abandoned Park East freeway corridor, the City of Milwaukee dedicated part of the land to become a small public park to be maintained by the owners.  An art advocacy citizens' group, Art Action, saw this development as an opportunity to retrieve the Boy with Goose bronze, which had languished in county storage for many years.  Art Action coordinated the cooperation between the private sector, the city, and the county to find the work and subsequently have the bronze restored, re-patinated, and sited in its present location.

Artist
The artist, Girolamo Piccoli, was born in Palermo, Italy in 1902. Brought to Milwaukee by his parents at the age of four, he later studied at the Wisconsin School of Art in Madison, and with Frank Vittor (1888–1968) in Pittsburgh (1921–1922), and Lorado Taft in Chicago (1923). Piccoli began teaching at the Layton School of Art in 1924 and became chair of the modeling (sculpture) department a year later.

From 1924 to 1928 the sculptor won several awards for his work from the Milwaukee Art Institute and completed many private commissions. Piccoli left Layton in 1928 for New York City, where he opened a studio with his wife, also an artist. In the 1930s he was named Director of Sculpture for New York City under the Federal Art Program of the Great Depression.

References

1927 sculptures
Sculptures of birds in Wisconsin
Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin
Nude sculptures in the United States
Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee
Statues in Wisconsin
Vandalized works of art in Wisconsin
Sculptures of children in Wisconsin
Geese

Boy with Goose


Cornelis Janszoon Speelman (2 March 1628 – 11 January 1684) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1681 to 1684.

Cornelis Janszoon Speelman was the son of a Rotterdam merchant. He was born on 2 March 1628. In his 16th year, he left aboard the Hillegersberg for the Indies. He was employed as an assistant () in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Biography
In 1645, he arrived in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. He became bookkeeper (boekhouder) in 1648 and second merchant (onderkoopman) in 1649. He became secretary (secretaris) to the Dutch Council of the Indies (Raad van Indië). He travelled with ambassador Joan Cunaeus to Persia that year, and wrote an account of the voyage. They were received by the Shah Abbas II with great festivity. Even before his voyage came to an end, in 1652, he was promoted to buyer (koopman).

On his return to Batavia, he took up a post in the office of the bookkeeper-general (boekhouder-generaal), for whom he deputed for a long time, and whom he succeeded in 1657. Meanwhile, he had married the fifteen-year-old Petronella Maria Wonderaer, daughter to the receiver-general (ontvanger-generaal). In 1659, he was placed in charge of the company's clerical and administrative staff (kapitein over de compagnie pennisten) in Batavia. In 1661, he became schepen van Batavia (a sort of alderman post connected with local government there).

Career
On 12 June 1663, Cornelis Speelman was appointed governor and director of Dutch Coromandel, but was suspended by the Heren XVII (Lords Seventeen), being accused of having illegally engaged in private trading. He had bought a diamond for his wife and later re-sold it because she had not liked it. Despite his strenuous protests, the court in Batavia wanted to make an example of him and he was sentenced to a 15 months suspension and a fine of 3,000 guilders. In 1666, he was named admiral and superintendent of an expedition to Makassar. On 18 November 1667, he concluded the so-called Bongaais Treaty (Treaty of Bongaya). In the same year, he was named commissioner (commissaris) of Amboina, Banda, and Ternate. Consequently, he became counsellor-extraordinary (raad extra-ordinaris) to the Dutch Council of the Indies. He travelled once again, in 1669, as admiral of another expedition to Makassar where he completely subjugated the kingdom, receiving a gold chain and medallion in recognition of this the following year.

He became a full Counsellor of the Indies on 23 March 1671. The following year he was admiral of a fleet sent against the French. In December 1676, he led an expedition to Central Java, supporting the ruler of Mataram who was facing the Trunajaya rebellion. On Java's East Coast, he went to war against the rebel leader Trunajaya. It took some time before peace was re-established. He was called back to Batavia at the end of 1677 and on 18 January 1678 named First Counsellor and Director-General of the Indies (Eerste Raad en Directeur-Generaal van Indië). Also in that year he was appointed president of the College van Schepenen (to do with local government) in Batavia. On 29 October 1680 he was named governor-general, a post he took up on 25 November 1681, succeeding Rijckloff van Goens.

During the term of office of Cornelis Speelman as governor-general, the sultan of Ternate was defeated. He ceded all his lands of his kingdom to the company. Speelman also subdued the city of Bantam. Cornelis Speelman died on 11 January 1684 in the Castle at Batavia. His funeral was accompanied with great clamour and splendour, for which no pains or monies were spared. He was buried in the Kruiskerk to the salute of 229 cannon shots. He was followed as governor-general by Johannes Camphuys.

Sources
 Site in Dutch dedicated to the VOC
 Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië, part Soek-Zij.
 Putten, L.P. van, 2002. – Ambitie en onvermogen : gouverneurs-generaal van Nederlands-Indië 1610–1796.

1628 births
1684 deaths
Dutch East India Company people from Rotterdam
Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies
Governors of Dutch Coromandel
17th-century Dutch colonial governors

Cornelis Speelman


Osvaldo "Ozzie" Altobello is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the 1990 film The Godfather Part III. In the film, he is portrayed by Eli Wallach.

Casting
Frank Sinatra biographer Tom Santopietro notes that Francis Ford Coppola approached Sinatra to play Altobello. The singer considered accepting the role, but was not keen on the heavy shooting schedule. Ultimately, his wife Barbara talked him out of it.

Appearances

The Godfather Part III
Altobello is an aging gangster and longstanding ally of the Corleone crime family. He is an influential member and liaison of the Sicilian Mafia in New York City and an old friend of the Corleone family. He is also a member of Propaganda Due (P2). By the time of The Godfather III, he has become a close friend and ally of Michael Corleone's. Altobello even donates one million dollars to be a part of the Vito Andolini Corleone Foundation. Aside from being Michael's associate, Altobello is Connie Corleone's godfather.

Altobello wants in on Michael's investments as he attempts to complete his family's move from crime-based profits to legitimate business. Altobello skillfully hides his nefarious intentions, but Michael grows suspicious after Joey Zasa, a Corleone family rival, orchestrates an assassination attempt on Michael and other family heads assembled for a Commission meeting in Atlantic City. Altobello had left the conference room just prior to the attack. Michael escapes unharmed, but many others are killed. Michael instructs his nephew Vincent Corleone to approach Altobello pretending to pledge his allegiance to Altobello, without promising to betray Michael.

While in Sicily, Altobello enlists a legendary, aged assassin named Mosca to kill Michael. He plans the attack for when Michael's son, Anthony, is performing in Cavalleria Rusticana at Teatro Massimo in Palermo.  Before the performance, Connie presents Altobello with a box of cannoli as a birthday gift. He takes one from the box and offers Connie the first bite. She takes a small taste, seemingly calming his suspicions. Altobello eats the rest of the poisoned cannoli throughout the performance and dies in his seat as Connie watches through her opera glasses.

Sequel novels
Altobello is a supporting character in the novels The Godfather Returns and The Godfather's Revenge, set before the events of The Godfather Part III.

Other
 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories - Uncle Leone is based on Don Altobello.

References

Sources

The Godfather characters
Film characters introduced in 1990
Fictional mass murderers
Fictional Italian American people
Fictional crime bosses
Male film villains
Cultural depictions of the Mafia
Fictional murdered people

Don Altobello