The Katie & Peter franchise is a series of ITV and ITV2 shows that documented glamour model Katie Price and her former husband Peter Andre. The franchise included several fly on the wall reality series and a short lived late-night chat show. The pair's separation has resulted in individual shows related to the franchise being recorded, including Katie and Peter Andre: My Life.

When Jordan Met Peter
The Katie & Peter franchise was launched after the success of a six-part documentary series broadcast on ITV in November and December 2004. Entitled "When Jordan Met Peter", the series, narrated by Terry Wogan, charted the first six weeks of the pair's relationship following their meeting on I'm a Celebrity....Get Me Out of Here. The first episode aired on 12 November 2004, and the final episode aired on 17 December. The series earned more than 1 million viewers, and as such, following its success, a further series was commissioned for broadcast in 2005.

Jordan & Peter: Laid Bare
Following the success of When Jordan Met Peter, a new ten-part series, entitled Jordan & Peter: Laid Bare, was commissioned by ITV2. Narrated by Samantha Womack, the series charted the pair's first Christmas together, and revealed what they believe the future holds for them. The first episode aired on 21 January 2005, and the last episode aired on 2 April. The series was not as successful as When Jordan Met Peter, but still managed to average more than 750,000 viewers per episode. A best bits episode was aired on 23 May 2005.

Jordan & Peter: Marriage and Mayhem
A further six-part series, entitled Jordan & Peter - Marriage and Mayhem, was commissioned by ITV2, following the news of Katie Price's pregnancy. The series followed the birth of Junior, the pair's wedding, and how Pete had to cope with Katie's post-natal depression. Narrated by Lola Buckley, the first episode aired on 23 September 2005, and the last episode aired on 28 October. The series once again averaged more than 750,000 viewers per episode.

Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter
The duo's next reality series did not hit screens until 2007, following the pair's recording of a duet album. The series was commissioned by ITV2 in late 2006. The series follows life two years on from Junior's birth, and the impending arrival of the pair's second child, Princess Tiami. The first episode aired on 19 April 2007, and the last episode aired on 7 June, with a total of eight episodes. The series became their most successful series to date, averaging 1,250,000 viewers per episode. A second, ten-part series began airing on 24 April 2008, and concluded on 3 July 2008. A third and final seven-part series began airing on 11 September 2008, and concluded on 23 October.

Katie & Peter: The Baby Diaries
The Baby Diaries was a short four-episode follow up to The Next Chapter, charting the first six weeks following Princess Tiami's birth. The first episode was aired on 5 July 2007, and the final episode on 26 July.

Katie & Peter: Unleashed
Katie & Peter: Unleashed was a late night chat-show hosted by the couple. The eight-episode series proved unpopular with viewers. The first episode aired on 19 October 2007, and the final episode aired on 11 December.

Katie & Peter: Down Under
Similarly to The Baby Diaries, Down Under was a short four-episode follow up to The Next Chapter, charting the pair's holiday to Australia in January 2008. The first episode was aired on 27 March 2008, and the final episode on 17 April.

Katie & Peter: African Adventures
Similarly to Down Under and The Baby Diaries, African Adventures was a two-part documentary following the family on a safari adventure holiday in Africa. Episode one aired on 30 October 2008, and episode two aired on 6 November.

Katie & Peter: Stateside

Katie & Peter: Stateside became the final series in the franchise, following the family as they relocated to Malibu for three months, whilst Peter recorded his comeback album Revelation, and their son Harvey attended a special school which helped with his condition. The eight-part series aired from 16 April to 9 June 2009.

References

External links
CanTV: The Official Home of Katie and Peter: The Next Chapter

2000s American reality television series
2004 American television series debuts
2007 American television series debuts
2009 American television series endings
2004 British television series debuts
2007 British television series debuts
2009 British television series endings
American television talk shows
British reality television series
British television talk shows
E! original programming
English-language television shows
ITV (TV network) original programming
Katie Price
Peter Andre

Katie & Peter


The siege of Cork took place during the Williamite war in Ireland in the year of 1690, shortly after the Battle of the Boyne when James II attempted to retake the English throne from King William III.

In a combined land and sea operation, Williamite commander Marlborough, took the city and captured 5,000 Jacobites.

Background

After the Battle of the Boyne, William occupied Dublin and the Jacobites retreated to the west of Ireland. William assaulted and besieged Limerick in August 1690 but was repulsed. To secure the Jacobite-held ports of Cork and Kinsale on the southern coast, he dispatched a force under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (then 1st Earl).

Sieges

Cork
Marlborough reached Cork by sea on 21 September 1690. His English forces were 5,000 strong and he also had at his disposal a fleet which blockaded the port of Cork. He captured several of the harbour's defences (including Fort Camden) and landed troops at Passage West on 24 September, before setting up his base at Red Abbey, to the south of the walled city. Approaching from the northern, landward, side were 4,000 Danish troops under the Duke of Wurttemberg.

The Williamites took the forts (such as Elizabeth Fort) which commanded the hills around Cork and commenced a bombardment of the city from the heights. When a breach was opened in the city walls, the city's garrison opened surrender negotiations, asking to be allowed to leave Cork and join the main Jacobite army at Limerick. Marlborough refused the request, although Württemberg was in favour of granting the terms.

A few days later, the Williamites mounted a joint English-Danish assault of the breach from the south. Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Grafton was reputedly mortally wounded while leading this assault. After the Williamites reached the walls, the Governor of Cork, Roger McElligott, opened new surrender talks and agreed that the garrison would become prisoners and would surrender their arms and stores. Marlborough accepted and the city surrendered.

In spite of this, the Williamite troops sacked the city, did a great deal of damage, looting much property and abusing the Catholic inhabitants. Many civilians were killed before Württemberg and Marlborough restored order.

Kinsale
It remained for the Williamites to take nearby Kinsale which was strongly defended by two forts, the Old Fort, also known as James' Fort, and the New Fort or Charles Fort. Marlborough assaulted these fortifications but was unable to take them by storm. The Old Fort, defended by the Governor Colonel Cornelius O'Driscoll, fell after an assault was made possible by an accidental explosion in its gunpowder magazine, which killed 40. After some 200 were slain in the following assault, including Colonel O'Driscoll, the rest surrendered, receiving quarter. Charles Fort, however, held out for ten days and surrendered only after receiving guarantees that its 1,200-strong garrison could march away to Limerick. It was defended by the elderly and experienced Governor Sir Edward Scott, and his Deputy Governor Colonel Daniel O'Donovan.

References

Cork
Cork
History of County Cork
1690 in Ireland
Conflicts in 1690
Looting in Europe

Siege of Cork


Dijon mustard is a kind of culinary mustard that was first prepared around the town of Dijon, in eastern France. Dijon mustard was first prepared in the 18th century.

Properly, it is made from black mustard seeds, but commercially brown mustard is often used. In the original recipe, citric acid was used for its preparation. Commercially, this is often replaced by vinegar. Salt is also added. The oil in the mustard seeds is not removed.

Dijon mustard is not especially hot compared with English mustard. However, it is hotter than Bordeaux mustard, which is pretty mild.

Dijon mustard is used for many recipes in French cuisine. As an example, the original mayonnaise recipe uses Dijon mustard.

Condiments
Dijon

Dijon mustard


Jenny Marielle Pettersson (born 5 November 1975, Helsingborg, Sweden), professionally known as Velvet, is a Swedish dance-pop singer. She has released two albums since her 2005 debut in the music industry and her first eight singles have all achieved a top-twenty peak on the Swedish Singles Chart.

Early life
Velvet moved from Helsingborg to Stockholm in 1993 to study ballet at Balettakademien. She soon took singing lessons at a dance school where she "got a voice". She worked at Wallmans cabaret where she discovered that singing was what she really wanted to do. She then toured for eight years as a choir singer and dancer to major artists such as Lena PH, Markoolio, Carola, Sanne Salomonsen, Orup, Meat Loaf, Martin Stenmarck and Jessica Folcker.

Velvet was also a part of the house choir for the Swedish Eurovision organisation for five years and traveled to the various Eurovision Song Contests across Europe.

Music
Velvet was discovered in 2005 and signed with Bonnier Amigo Music Group. She stated that she came up with the name "Velvet" on her own after receiving what she referred to as "bad suggestions" from her record company. She settled on "Velvet" because she wanted to pick something that suited her and that she could stand for.

Velvet soon released her first single, "Rock Down To (Electric Avenue)" (with chorus from 1980s song "Electric Avenue)", which was a big hit in Sweden and internationally. The single, still frequently played in clubs across Sweden, reached number one in the Swedish Dance Charts for 22 weeks. Her follow-up single, "Don't Stop Movin'", was also popular and was followed by a tour.

In 2006 Velvet entered Melodifestivalen to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest but lost the spot to Carola. She entered with the song "Mi Amore", which rapidly became a favourite and achieved great success internationally & became Song of the Year 2006 in Bulgaria. It remained high in charts in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Greece and Italy.
In this year Velvet released her debut album, Finally.

In 2007 Velvet released her fourth single, "Fix Me", which has been added to the re-release of Finally. The song failed to chart as high as her previous singles in Poland and Russia, but became a big success in the US, peaking at No. 14.
Later in August she released her fifth single, "Chemistry", it being the only one of her singles to chart in Finland.

Alongside her singing career, Velvet has also worked as a show producer for several Christmas galas around Sweden, where she has also taken part as an artist.

In 2008 Velvet again took part in Melodifestivalen with the song "Deja Vu". Even though she received great reviews, as well as the song, she was knocked out in one of the semi-final rounds, missing the final. This was Velvet's second attempt to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest. "Deja Vu" was her most successful song in Sweden, but was her only single to not chart anywhere else but there.

After a strong presence in the UK club music scene for several years, "Fix Me" was officially released on 11 August 2008. Later that month, Velvet also released her new single "Take My Body Close", which reached No. 8 in Sweden and No. 14 in Poland.

"Chemistry" was released as a single in the US on 11 November 2008 as a digital download, followed by a physical release on 25 November. It includes the original version of the song and four remixes, but failed to chart. A music video for the song was shot in London in December 2008, and the song will be released in UK sometime in 2009.

Velvet competed in Melodifestivalen 2009 singing "The Queen" composed by Tony Nilsson and Henrik Janson. She was in the third semi-final in Leksand on 21 February 2009 but only reached 6th place. Her official website and her label Bonnier confirmed that her second album The Queen would be released on 18 March 2009. The album includes the singles "Fix Me", "Chemistry", Déjà Vu", "Take My Body Close", "The Queen" and "Come into The Night".

In 2010 Velvet teamed up with PJ to record a cover version of Edward Maya's "Stereo Love", which was only released on various compilation albums. In 2011 Velvet released her single "Love Struck". In 2014 Velvet released her single "Enemy". In 2015 Velvet released her single "Friendly Fire", and in 2017 collaborated with fellow Swedish singer Therese on their track "Don't Stop".

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website

1975 births
Bonnier Amigo Music Group artists
Swedish dance musicians
Swedish pop singers
Living people
Musicians from Helsingborg
Robbins Entertainment artists
Balettakademien
English-language singers from Sweden
Extensive Music artists
21st-century Swedish singers
21st-century Swedish women singers
Melodifestivalen contestants of 2009
Melodifestivalen contestants of 2008

Velvet (singer)


North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census.  It lies to the north of the River Chater,  east of Uppingham and  west of Stamford. Located to the north of the village is St George's Barracks, formerly RAF North Luffenham.

History
The village's name means 'homestead/village of Luffa'.

Discovery of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery to the north of the modern village suggests that there were people living here in the village in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. The village grew and prospered during the Middle Ages.

In the 17th century the village was the scene of a small English Civil War siege when in 1642 Lord Grey and his parliamentary forces were gathered at Leicester. With gunpowder and ammunition taken in raids on Oakham, they marched to Brooke to arrest Viscount Campden. Henry Noel, a known royalist, heard of this and decided to take a "little guard" into his house, Luffenham Hall. Disappointed at Brooke, Lord Grey and his 1300 soldiers made their way to North Luffenham, destroying the nearby hamlet of Sculthorpe and surrounded the Hall. There was little actual fighting, although the church register does record the  burial of an unnamed parliamentary soldier on 21 February 1642. Outnumbered by seven to one, Henry Noel had little choice but to surrender. The Hall was plundered and the parliamentary soldiers attacked the nearby church, smashing windows and defacing a statue of Henry Noel's first wife (the damage to the fingers and nose can still be seen). Noel was taken as a prisoner to London, where he died shortly afterwards.

The original Luffenham Hall (the village school is now on the site) was built in around 1635 and belonged to the Noel family. Although besieged during the Civil War it was occupied by the Noels until the 18th century. It was demolished in 1806. All that remains is the garden ha-ha (a sunken boundary wall) and outbuildings along Church Street.

To the east of the parish church is the present day North Luffenham Hall. Built in the mid-1500s, this was originally Digby Manor House and only later became known as Luffenham Hall.

The Church of St John the Baptist is a fine antique fabric, with a tower surmounted by a spire. The churchyard contains 31 graves maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. These include 11 Canadian servicemen who died while North Luffenham was a RCAF base in the 1950s.

Archdeacon Robert Johnson (1540–1625) was Rector of North Luffenham for 51 years, from 1574 until his death; he founded Oakham and Uppingham Schools in 1584, as well as other charitable institutions including almshouses.

St Mary & St John's Primary School is a Voluntary Aided Church of England school. It is built on the site of North Luffenham Hall and the southern boundary is a ha-ha.

One pub remains in the village; The Fox (previously The Fox & Hounds). The Horse & Panniers (popularly known as The Nag & Bag) closed in 2013.

Arts & Crafts architect C. F. A. Voysey designed The Pastures in 1903 and he also worked on another house in the village.

See also
 North Luffenham Quarry SSSI
 Vincent Wing

References

External links

 The registers of North Luffenham, in the county of Rutland. 1572-1812  (1896)

Villages in Rutland
Civil parishes in Rutland

North Luffenham


The International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) (Ukrainian: Міжнародний фонд "Відродження") is a Ukrainian NGO founded by George Soros.

It was founded in April 1990. IRF is an integral part of the Open Society Foundations which incorporates national and regional foundations in more than thirty countries around the world, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the former Soviet Union. These foundations share a common goal of supporting educational, social and legal initiatives that promote the development and establishment of an open society.

IRF is one of Ukraine's largest charity organization. Its main objective is to provide financial and operational assistance to the development of an open and democratic society in Ukraine by supporting key civic initiatives in this area.

Over the period from 1990 to 2010 the International Renaissance Foundation supported numerous Ukrainian non-governmental organizations, community groups, academic and cultural institutions, publishing houses etc. in the amount of over $100 million.

Key areas
The International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), finances projects and programs which foster the development of civil society, promote rule of law and independent mass media. Funds are also allocated for diversification of information resources for the third sector, democratization of education and public health, advancing of social capital and academic publications, as well as ensuring protection of national minorities rights and their integration into Ukrainian society.

IRF is providing financial support to the projects that encourage European integration, strengthening the impact of civil society and its control over the government, the system of civic protection of rights and establishment of the rule of law in Ukraine, penitentiary reform, civic activities of ethnic minorities, educational and public health reforms, publishing activities etc.

IRF's Executive Board and Program Boards determine the program priorities. Composed of prominent public figures and experts, the Boards address IRF's key action areas: civil society, rule of law, education, mass media, health care etc. As the chief civic structure within IRF, it elaborates the general strategy for the entire organization.

Transparency
IRF keeps public informed of its programs and their implementation through publications in print media, by holding news conferences and presentations, via the Internet etc. Foundation employees, as well as its regional information partners consult public on IRF-supported projects and grants.

Principles
IRF makes its grants only to non-governmental organizations. As a rule, the International Renaissance Foundation announces project competitions in advance. Grants are made to Ukrainian organizations whose projects meet the priorities of the competitions. At the same time, IRF considers applications of citizens regarding the financing of various projects, whose aims meet the Foundation's objectives. Apart from making grants to other organizations, IRF conducts its own operational activities by implementing projects in priority action areas.

IRF finances national programs from its budget upon the recommendations of the Executive Board and Program Boards. The Foundation's experience in Ukraine and its close cooperation with other donor organizations in Central and Eastern Europe make it possible to monitor changes in Ukrainian society. Moreover, IRF attempts to predict these changes. IRF program activities are predominantly oriented to the European experience.

See also
Ukraine Crisis Media Center
Open Society Foundations
George Soros

References

External links

Charities based in Ukraine
Foundations based in Ukraine
Non-profit organizations based in Ukraine
George Soros

International Renaissance Foundation


Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action-comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan.

In Lethal Weapon, a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives—Martin Riggs (Gibson), a former Green Beret who has become suicidal following the death of his wife, and veteran officer and family man Roger Murtaugh (Glover)—work together as partners.

The film was released on March 6, 1987. Upon its release, Lethal Weapon grossed over $120 million (against a production budget of $15 million) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound. It spawned a franchise that includes three sequels and a television series, with a fourth sequel in development.

Plot

Following the recent death of his wife, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) narcotics Sergeant Martin Riggs, a former Special Forces soldier, has become suicidal and erratic. Despite the protests of the police therapist, the captain believes Riggs is faking his psychosis to be forcibly retired with a generous pension and partners him with fellow war veteran and seasoned Homicide Sergeant Roger Murtaugh. Riggs and Murtaugh do not get along well at first as Murtaugh is equally dismissive of Riggs's mental state, but is eventually convinced Riggs is truly suicidal.

Murtaugh is contacted by a former Vietnam War friend, Michael Hunsaker, ostensibly to help his daughter Amanda escape her life of prostitution and pornography, but Amanda kills herself by jumping from an apartment balcony before she and Murtaugh meet. Her autopsy shows she was fatally poisoned with tainted drugs, indicating she was potentially murdered. Riggs and Murtaugh attempt to question her pimp, but are assaulted after finding drugs on the premises, forcing Riggs to kill the pimp to save Murtaugh's life. Their final lead is Dixie, a prostitute who witnessed Amanda's death, and whom the pair believe may have poisoned her. Dixie's home explodes as they arrive and her corpse is later recovered. Riggs locates components of a mercury switch explosive among the debris, a specialty explosive he recalls being used by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mercenaries in Vietnam. The suspect is detailed by neighborhood children, who noticed he had an elite special forces tattoo similar to Riggs's.

Suspecting Hunsaker is withholding information, Riggs and Murtaugh visit him at Amanda's funeral. He reveals that during the Vietnam War he worked for "Shadow Company", a defunct CIA paramilitary unit tasked with destabilizing the local heroin trade. Following the war, the ex-CIA agents, mercenaries, and soldiers involved reformed Shadow Company as a criminal organization and began shipping large quantities of heroin from Asia to the United States, under the leadership of retired General Peter McAllister and his right-hand man Mr. Joshua. Hunsaker's role as a banker allowed him to make the illicit funds seem legitimate. He initially called Murtaugh to confess and turn witness against Shadow Company, and McAllister had Amanda killed in retaliation. Joshua arrives in a helicopter and kills Hunsaker before escaping. He later attempts to kill Riggs in a drive-by shooting, but the latter is saved by his bulletproof vest; Riggs's death is faked to give the pair an advantage.

Concerned Murtaugh knows too much, Shadow Company kidnaps his daughter Rianne and forces Murtaugh to meet them at El Mirage Lake. Riggs provides sniper support to help Murtaugh and Rianne escape, but all three are captured and recovered to a nightclub basement, a Shadow Company front. Riggs and Murtaugh are tortured for information until Riggs escapes, kills several Shadow Company members, and frees Murtaugh and Rianne. Although Joshua escapes, Murtaugh kills McAllister. Deducing Joshua will seek revenge at Murtaugh's home, Riggs and Murtaugh ambush him. Riggs defeats Joshua in a brawl, but chooses not to kill him. Police officers take Joshua into custody, but he breaks free, takes an officer's gun, and attempts to shoot Riggs and Murtaugh; the pair return fire and kill Joshua.

A short time later, after visiting his wife's grave, Riggs shares a Christmas Day meal with Murtaugh and his family. Riggs gifts Murtaugh a hollow-point bullet he has been saving to commit suicide, as he no longer needs it.

Cast

 Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs
 Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh
 Gary Busey as Mr. Joshua
 Mitchell Ryan as General Peter McAllister
 Tom Atkins as Michael Hunsaker
 Darlene Love as Trish Murtaugh
 Traci Wolfe as Rianne Murtaugh

In addition, the film introduces various minor characters—and the actors who portray them—seen in all four films of the franchise, including: Murtaugh children Nick and Carrie, played by Damon Hines and Ebonie Smith, respectively; Steve Kahan as police Captain Ed Murphy; and Mary Ellen Trainor as police psychologist Stephanie Woods.

Other actors in the film include Jackie Swanson as Amanda Hunsacker, Grand L. Bush as Detective Boyette, Jack Thibeau as Detective McCaskey, Don Gordon as Officer Hines, Ed O'Ross as Mendez, Al Leong as Joshua's assistant Endo, Lycia Naff as Dixie, and Sven-Ole Thorsen and Gilles Kohler as Shadow Company mercenaries. Jimmie F. Skaggs, Jason Ronard and Blackie Dammett play the trio of drug dealers Riggs apprehends.

Production

Development

Recent UCLA graduate Shane Black wrote the screenplay in mid-1985. Black stated that his intention was to do an "urban western" inspired by Dirty Harry where a violent character "reviled for what he did, what he is capable of, the things he believed in" is eventually recruited for being the one that could solve the problem. The protagonists would be everymen policemen, "guys shuffling in a town like Los Angeles searching for something noble as justice when they're just guys in washed and worn suits seeking a paycheck".

According to Black, his original first draft of the script was very different and much darker than the final film. It was 140 pages long and both the plot and characters were different, and action scenes were also much bigger. The ending of the script contained a chase scene with helicopters and a trailer truck full of cocaine exploding over Hollywood Hills with cocaine snowing over the Hollywood sign. Black hated this first draft and initially discarded it but later picked it up again and re-wrote it into the new drafts that were eventually used for filming.

His agent sent the Lethal Weapon script to various studios, being rejected before Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton took a liking to it. Canton brought along producer Joel Silver, who loved the story and worked with Black to further develop the script. Director Richard Donner also brought in writer Jeffrey Boam to do some uncredited re-writes on Black's script after he found parts of it to be too dark. Boam mostly added some more humor into the script, and later did a complete re-write of Shane Black and Warren Murphy's rejected script for the second film. He also wrote the script for the third film and an unused draft for the fourth film.

After the script was purchased for $250,000, studio production executives offered it to director Richard Donner, who also loved it. Leonard Nimoy was one of the choices considered for directing, but he did not feel comfortable doing action films, and he was working on Three Men and a Baby at the time.

Casting
Mel Gibson was invited by Richard Donner as he was interested in working with the actor after Ladyhawke. Casting director Marion Dougherty first suggested teaming Gibson with Danny Glover, given Murtaugh had no set ethnicity in the script. She arranged for Gibson to fly in from his home in Sydney while Glover was flown in from Chicago, where he was appearing in a play, to read through the script. According to June 2007 Vanity Fair magazine article, Bruce Willis was considered for the Riggs role. This is referenced in the spoof of the Lethal Weapon films, Loaded Weapon 1. Bruce (as John McClane) appears after the villains attack the wrong beach residence, looking for the protagonist.

According to Donner: "It took about two hours and by the time we were done, I was in seventh heaven. They found innuendoes; they found laughter where I never saw it; they found tears where they didn't exist before; and, most importantly, they found a relationship—all in just one reading. So if you ask about casting... it was magical, just total dynamite".

Gibson said that "this particular story was a cut above others I had passed on, because the action is really a sideline which heightens the story of these two great characters. I picture Riggs as an almost Chaplinesque figure, a guy who doesn't expect anything from life and even toys with the idea of taking his own. He's not like these stalwarts who come down from Mt. Olympus and wreak havoc and go away. He's somebody who doesn't look like he's set to go off until he actually does".

The draw for Glover was equally strong. Fresh from his success as Mister in The Color Purple, he felt the role of Roger Murtaugh offered a whole new range of character expression and experience: "Aside from the chance to work with Mel, which turned out to be pure pleasure, one of the reasons I jumped at this project was the family aspect. The chance to play intricate relationships and subtle humor that exist in every close family group was an intriguing challenge, as was playing a guy turning 50. Murtaugh's a little cranky about his age until everything he loves is threatened. His reawakening parallels Riggs'".

Both actors were signed by early spring 1986. Gibson and Glover then flew home to pack, and, returning to Los Angeles, began an intensive two months of physical training and preparation. Meanwhile, the crucial role of Joshua was settled when Gary Busey asked for a chance to read for the part. An established star since his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Buddy Holly Story, Busey had not auditioned for a film in years. In Busey's comment: "I had butterflies, I'd never played a bad guy. And no one had seen me since I'd lost 60 pounds and got back into shape. But I decided to take the initiative in order to have the opportunity to work with Dick, Joel, Mel, and Danny. I'm constantly looking for someone to pull the best performance out of me and any of those guys could. They even talked me into dyeing my hair!" In his E! True Hollywood Story biography, Busey says he was hired to play Joshua because they were looking for someone big and menacing enough to be a believable foe for Mel Gibson. Busey also credits the film for reviving his failing film career.

Pre-production
Stunt coordinator Bobby Bass planned and supervised all phases of Gibson's and Glover's intense pre-production training; physical conditioning, weight workouts, and weapons handling and safety. Bass also used his own military experiences to bring a greater depth of understanding to the Riggs character. To familiarize the actors with the specialized skills and sensibilities acquired by undercover cops, arrangements were made for Gibson and Glover to spend time in the field accompanying working LAPD officers. Throughout filming, technical advisers from the LAPD as well as the LA County Sheriff's Department worked closely with Donner and the actors to ensure authenticity.

Cedric Adams was the first technical adviser brought in. Donner said that "Adams thought the best possible way to show just how lethal Riggs really is—is to show his mastery of a form of martial arts never before seen onscreen". Donner wanted Riggs's style of fighting to be unique with the second assistant director Willie Simmons, who was interested in unusual forms of martial arts, choosing three martial arts styles. Gibson and Busey were instructed in Capoeira by Adams, Jailhouse rock by Dennis Newsome and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Rorion Gracie. Bobby Bass, the stunt coordinator, a former US Army Special Forces instructor and judo champion, also provided training in various techniques. At one point, the actors trained in between filming, for four hours a day for six weeks and did months of choreography.

Music

Michael Kamen, who just completed work on Highlander, composed the score for Lethal Weapon. Editor Stuart Baird had used Edge of Darkness heavily as a temp score for the film, resulting in Kamen being brought on to create the score. The guitar part of Riggs's theme was performed by Eric Clapton. Kamen and Clapton had worked together on the music for the 1985 BBC TV series Edge of Darkness (the feature adaptation of which would later, by coincidence, star Mel Gibson). The saxophone part of Murtaugh's theme was performed by David Sanborn. The Christmas song "Jingle Bell Rock", performed by Bobby Helms, is played during the film's opening credits. Honeymoon Suite's song, "Lethal Weapon", is played during the film's end credits without being credited.

Release

Box office
Released on March 6, 1987, Lethal Weapon was  1 at the box office for three weeks before Blind Date supplanted it. It grossed $120.2 million worldwide and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing (Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bill Nelson) (losing to The Last Emperor).

Critical reception

Variety wrote, "Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious, but thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls." Richard Schickel of Time called it "Mad Max meets The Cosby Show", saying that it works better than expected. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post described it as "a vivid, visceral reminder of just how exciting an action film can be". At The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "The film is all fast action, noisy stunts and huge, often unflattering close-ups, but it packs an undeniable wallop." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, saying Donner "tops himself".

Home media
Lethal Weapon has been released on Betamax, VHS and DVD numerous times, along with a single Blu-ray Disc release. The first DVD was released in 1997 and featured the film's theatrical version. The Director's Cut was released in 2000. Since then, numerous sets have been released that contain all four films in the series (featuring the same DVDs). The theatrical version was also released on Blu-ray in 2006.

Alternate versions
An alternate opening and ending were both filmed and can be seen on the Lethal Weapon 4 DVD. The alternate opening featured Martin Riggs drinking alone in a bar where he is accosted by a couple of thugs who attack him for his money, but are easily subdued by Riggs. Director Richard Donner felt the film should open with a brighter look at Riggs, and replaced the bar scene with the scene in which Riggs awakens in his trailer. The alternate ending featured Riggs telling Murtaugh not to retire. Without even thinking about the possibility of sequels, Donner decided that Riggs and Murtaugh's relationship is one of friendship, and filmed the ending that appears in the completed film.

In addition to the film's theatrical release, an extended Director's Cut version was released later on DVD. The Director's Cut version is longer (117 minutes) than the original theatrical release version (110 minutes), and features additional scenes. One extended scene depicts Riggs dispatching a sniper who had been firing at children in a playground. In another scene, Riggs picks up a street-walking prostitute, but instead of having sex with her, he takes her home to watch The Three Stooges on TV, thus illustrating his loneliness following the death of his wife.

Reboot
In 2011, Warner Bros. announced it would reboot the Lethal Weapon franchise without Gibson and Glover. The new franchise was set to feature the same characters but a brand-new cast. Will Beall was hired to write the script, but was eventually cancelled. A television version premiered in September 2016 on Fox starring Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs, Damon Wayans as Roger Murtaugh, and Thomas Lennon as Leo Getz.

References

External links

1980s buddy cop films
1987 films
1987 action thriller films
American action thriller films
American buddy cop films
American police detective films
1980s English-language films
Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department
Films about United States Army Special Forces
Films directed by Richard Donner
Films produced by Joel Silver
Films scored by Eric Clapton
Films scored by Michael Kamen
Films set in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Shane Black
Lethal Weapon (franchise)
Silver Pictures films
Warner Bros. films
American Christmas films
1980s American films

Lethal Weapon


The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is a travel journal by Scotsman James Boswell first published in 1785. In 1773, Boswell enticed his English friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through the highlands and western islands of Scotland. Johnson was then in his mid-sixties and well known for his literary works and his Dictionary. The two travellers set out from Edinburgh and skirted the eastern and northeastern coasts of Scotland, passing through St Andrews, Aberdeen and Inverness. They then passed into the highlands and spent several weeks on various islands in the Hebrides, including Skye, Coll, and Mull. After a visit to Boswell's estate at Auchinleck, the travellers returned to Edinburgh. Johnson published his Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland on 18 January 1775.

It was widely read, discussed and criticised, especially for some sceptical remarks Johnson made questioning the authenticity of the Ossian poems, which were then all the rage. After Johnson's death in 1784, Boswell published his Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. This work was based on a diary Boswell had kept during the 1773 tour and included detailed descriptions of where he and Johnson had gone and what Johnson had said.

The Journal served as a teaser for the longer biography Boswell was preparing for publication, his Life of Samuel Johnson, which would exhibit the same qualities. Boswell's Journal and Johnson's Journey make an interesting study in contrasts. Johnson considers things philosophically and maintains a high level of generality. Boswell's approach is more anecdotal, even gossipy, and succeeds in large part because of Boswell's keen eye and ear for detail. Both accounts are still widely read and admired today.

See also
Scottish literature

External links
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides at Internet Archive (scanned books color illustrated original editions)
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 1936 edition, expanded from the original manuscript. Reviewed in "Boswell in Full", Time Magazine, 1936.
 (plain text)

The Native Scottish Diet in Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides

18th century in Scotland
Scottish non-fiction books
1785 non-fiction books
British travel books
Books about Scotland
Books by James Boswell
Works about Samuel Johnson

The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides


A squamish (also known as an Arctic outflow wind in winter months) is a strong and often violent wind occurring in many of the fjords, inlets and valleys of British Columbia.  Squamishes occur in those fjords oriented in a northeast–southwest or east–west direction where cold polar air can be funneled westward, the opposite of how the wind generally flows on the Coast. These winds in winter can create high windchills by coastal standards of . They are notable in Jervis, Toba, and Bute Inlets and in Dean Channel and the Portland Canal. Squamishes lose their strength when free of the confining fjords and are not noticeable more than 25 km offshore.

In Northern Washington including Lynden and Bellingham, and Lower Mainland, including Eastern Vancouver Island, of British Columbia, they are mainly referred to as outflow winds, they are noticeable especially in the winter, when a cold Arctic air mass holding in the high plateau country of the interior flows down to the sea through the canyons and lower passes piercing the Coast Mountains and crossing the Strait of Georgia.  The town of Squamish, British Columbia, is named for the wind, and upper Howe Sound, just off the Squamish River estuary, is known widely in the windsurfing and kiteboarding worlds for its excellent, steady winds.

During the Christmas season of 1996, a major blizzard which brought record snowfalls to the Lower Mainland and Eastern Vancouver Island was followed up by hurricane-force winds pouring west through the towns of the Fraser Valley, as the coastal system's strength – which had brought the snow – was forced back by the breaking of the interior's cold air mass.  Intense outflow winds are relatively common year-round (during stormy weather, and sometimes fair) in the Upper Fraser Valley, particularly on Sumas Prairie between Abbotsford and Chilliwack, and farther upriver towards the mouth of the Fraser Canyon.  Known by different names in each region up the Coast, outflow winds or squamishes are also major maritime threats off the openings of the major fjords and up their narrow, deep lengths.  Queen Charlotte Strait in particular is known for heavy winds coming out of the mouth of Knight Inlet, at the upper east end of the strait.

See also
Williwaw
Chinook wind

References

Winds
British Columbia

Squamish (wind)


Roy Jay Glauber (September 1, 1925 – December 26, 2018) was an American theoretical physicist. He was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Born in New York City, he was awarded one half of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence", with the other half shared by John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch. In this work, published in 1963, he created a model for photodetection and explained the fundamental characteristics of different types of light, such as laser light (see coherent state) and light from light bulbs (see blackbody). His theories are widely used in the field of quantum optics. In statistical physics he pioneered the study of the dynamics of first-order phase transitions, since he first defined and investigated the stochastic dynamics of an Ising model in a paper published in 1963.
He served on the National Advisory Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the research arms of Council for a Livable World.

Education
Glauber was born in 1925 in New York City, the son of Felicia (Fox) and Emanuel B. Glauber. He was a member of the 1941 graduating class of the Bronx High School of Science, the first graduating class from that school.  He then went on to do his undergraduate work at Harvard University. After his sophomore year he was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, where (at the age of 18) he was one of the youngest scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His work involved calculating the critical mass for the atom bomb. After two years at Los Alamos, he returned to Harvard, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1946 and his PhD in 1949.

Research
Glauber's recent research dealt with problems in a number of areas of quantum optics, a field which, broadly speaking, studies the quantum electrodynamical interactions of light and matter. He also continued work on several topics in high-energy collision theory, including the analysis of hadron collisions, and the statistical correlation of particles produced in high-energy reactions.

Specific topics of his research included: the quantum mechanical behavior of trapped wave packets; interactions of light with trapped ions; atom counting-the statistical properties of free atom beams and their measurement; algebraic methods for dealing with fermion statistics; coherence and correlations of bosonic atoms near the Bose–Einstein condensation; the theory of continuously monitored photon counting-and its reaction on quantum sources; the fundamental nature of "quantum jumps"; resonant transport of particles produced multiply in high-energy collisions; the multiple diffraction model of proton-proton and proton-antiproton scattering.

Awards and honors
Glauber received the Albert A. Michelson Medal from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia (1985), the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America (1985), the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics from the American Physical Society (1996), and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics Glauber was awarded the 'Medalla de Oro del CSIC' ('CSIC's Gold Medal') in a ceremony held in Madrid, Spain. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1997.

After Glauber was selected for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005, a University of Texas at Austin Physics Professor, George Sudarshan, claimed that he had been overlooked by the Nobel Prize Committee for the award, having published some of the earliest papers on quantum optics. Glauber, a theorist, was awarded half the prize, along with physics experimenters John Hall and Theodor Hänsch, recognized for their work on precision spectroscopy.

Ig Nobel
For many years before winning his Nobel Prize, Glauber took part in the Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies, where he appeared each year as "Keeper of the Broom," sweeping the stage clean of the paper airplanes that have traditionally been thrown during the event.  He missed the 2005 event as he was being awarded his real Nobel Prize for Physics.

Personal life
Glauber lived in Arlington, Massachusetts. He was a guest scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1967, during a sabbatical. In 1951, he became a temporary lecturer at the California Institute of Technology, where he replaced Richard Feynman.

Glauber had a son and a daughter, and five grandchildren. He died on December 26, 2018, in Newton, Massachusetts.  He was buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.

References

External links

2013 Video Interview with Roy Glauber by Cynthia C. Kelly Voices of the Manhattan Project
Audio Interview with Roy Glauber by Owen Gingerich Voices of the Manhattan Project
 Glauber States: Coherent states of Quantum Harmonic Oscillator
 Roy J. Glauber at the 2012 Harvard Physics Department Faculty website

1925 births
2018 deaths
Nobel laureates in Physics
American Nobel laureates
Jewish Nobel laureates
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
21st-century American physicists
The Bronx High School of Science alumni
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Harvard College alumni
Harvard University faculty
University of Arizona faculty
Manhattan Project people
Honorary members of Optica (society)
People from Arlington, Massachusetts
American people of German-Jewish descent
Jewish American physicists
Scientists from New York City
People associated with CERN
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

Roy J. Glauber


Feeling Minnesota is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama crime movie starring Cameron Diaz, Dan Aykroyd and Courtney Love. It was released in the USA on September 13, 1996, and is about confusion and problems in romance decisions.

References

Other websites

1996 comedy-drama movies
1996 crime drama movies
1990s criminal comedy movies
1996 romantic comedy movies
American crime drama movies
American criminal comedy movies
American romantic comedy movies
American romantic drama movies
1990s English-language movies
Movies set in Minnesota

Feeling Minnesota


Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell became the Redskins' first African-American star after joining them in 1962, when they became the last NFL team to integrate. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Early life
Mitchell was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and attended Langston High School. There, he played football, basketball, and track, and was good enough at baseball to be offered a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

College career
Instead of playing professional baseball, Mitchell chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which he picked from a host of schools that offered him scholarships. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and had a particularly good sophomore year. At the beginning of the 1955 season, he was behind junior Harry Jefferson on the depth chart. Seven games into the season, Jefferson went down with an injury, and Mitchell took over at one of the halfback spots. The first time he handled the football, he ran 64 yards for a touchdown. Though he entered in the third quarter, Mitchell gained 173 yards in 10 carries, and the Illini upset third-ranked Michigan, 25–6. He gained more than 100 yards in each of the final two games of the season, when he also played as a defensive back. That year, he averaged a record 8.6 yards per rush.

As a junior in 1956, Mitchell did not see the field much due to a knee injury. After his senior season, he was invited to play in the College All-Star Game, where he got behind defensive back, James David on an 84-yard touchdown reception, and then scored again on an 18-yard pass from Jim Ninowski. The All-Stars' upset the Detroit Lions, 35–19, and Mitchell and Ninowski shared game MVP honors. Mitchell was named first-team All-Big Ten football in 1955 and second-team status in 1957. He was named to The Pigskin Club Honor Roll by The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C.

Mitchell was even more successful in track. In February 1958, he set an indoor world record (one that lasted only six days) with a 7.7 mark in the 70-yard low hurdles. In the Big Ten championships, he scored 13 points and helped Illinois win the title. Mitchell was unsure whether he wanted to pursue a career in football or track. Even though the 1960 Summer Olympics were still two years away, he had his sights set on competing on the American team. However, Browns head coach Paul Brown offered to pay him $7,000 during his rookie season and was able to convince Mitchell to play football instead of participating in the Olympics.

NFL playing career

Cleveland Browns (1958–1961)
Mitchell was drafted in the seventh round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, where he played as a halfback. He was teamed with Jim Brown to give the Browns one of the most successful running back combinations from 1958 through 1961.

As a rookie, Mitchell had a 98-yard kickoff return. A year later against Washington, he rushed for 232 yards, including a 90-yard scoring scamper. The same year, he returned a punt 78 yards against the New York Giants. He earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 1960.

As a Brown, Mitchell accumulated 2297 yards rushing, 1463 yards receiving, 607 yards on punt returns, 1550 yards on kickoff returns, and scored 38 touchdowns. He once held the Browns' career record for kickoff returns for touchdowns, and he also currently holds the team's best rookie rushing average (6.3 in 1958).

Washington Redskins (1962–1968)
Under pressure to integrate the team by the U.S. federal government, the Washington Redskins selected Ernie Davis with the first overall pick of the 1962 NFL Draft. However, Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, wary of Davis's potential salary demands, traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns for Mitchell and first-round draft pick Leroy Jackson. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time of the draft, Davis had leukemia, and died without ever playing a down in professional football.

Mitchell, along with John Nisby and Ron Hatcher, was one of three black players on the 1962 Redskins, as the franchise became the last professional football team to integrate. Bill McPeak, in his first year as head coach, immediately announced Mitchell would become a flanker. In his first game in Washington, Mitchell ran back a 92-yard kickoff return against the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins finished the season with a 5–7–2 record, their best record in five years. Mitchell led the league with 72 catches and 1384 yards and ranked third with 11 touchdowns. He was selected to the first of three consecutive Pro Bowls.

In 1963, Mitchell recorded 69 catches for 1436 yards and seven more touchdowns. During this season, he also became the second player in league and franchise history to record a 99-yard pass play. The pass from George Izo was the first 99-yard pass in over 23 years, when the Redskins' Frank Filchock and Andy Farkas set the original record October 15, 1939. During the next four years, Mitchell's reception totals were 60, 60, 58 and 60. In 1967, new head coach Otto Graham chose to move Mitchell back to halfback because of Graham's decision a year earlier to move the team's best running back, Charley Taylor, to wide receiver. Mitchell enjoyed only moderate success running the ball but he did catch 60 passes for 866 yards and six touchdowns.

In 1969, Vince Lombardi became head coach and promised Mitchell that he would return him to flanker. But as training camp progressed, Mitchell realized that he was not in the same shape he once was and chose to retire.

During his first six seasons with the Redskins, Mitchell never caught fewer than 58 passes. When he retired, his 14,078 combined net yards was the second-highest total in NFL history. He had also scored 91 touchdowns (18 by rushing, 65 on receptions, 3 on punt returns, and 5 on kickoff returns). He amassed 7,954 yards on receptions and 2,735 yards on rushes. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post wrote an appreciation of Mitchell after his death: "As a four-way threat — running the ball from the backfield, catching passes as a wide receiver and returning kickoffs and punts — Mitchell is unique. No player has been among the very best in all four areas. Mitchell is a group photo of one ... Who is the only NFL player with more than 500 career rushes and 500 receptions to average more than five yards per carry (5.3) and more than 15 yards per catch (15.3)? Bobby Mitchell."

On June 20, 2020, the Washington Redskins announced that they would retire his number, #49. He was just the second member of the team to have his number retired, alongside Sammy Baugh's #33.

Front-office career (1969–2003)
After retiring from football in 1968, Mitchell remained with the Redskins, at the request of then head coach Vince Lombardi, as a pro scout. He gradually moved up in the ranks to assistant general manager in the organization, and he aspired to become the NFL's first black GM. In 1978, Washington owner Edward Bennett Williams passed over Mitchell for the GM position in favor of Bobby Beathard. Mitchell retired in 2003, stating that he was "deeply hurt" by how owner Jack Kent Cooke passed him over as the team's general manager in favor of Charley Casserly in 1989 and by coach Steve Spurrier's decision to issue his No. 49 uniform number, which had not been issued for years though never retired, to Leonard Stephens that season.

As a player and a front office executive, Mitchell spent 41 years with the Redskins.

Personal life
Mitchell lived in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Gwen, who is an attorney. They had two children, Robert Jr. and Terri.

Beginning in 1980, Mitchell hosted the Bobby Mitchell Hall of Fame Classic, an annual golf fundraiser that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Mitchell also worked in many efforts and organizations, including the United Negro College Fund, the Howard University Cancer Research Advisory Committee, the American Lung Association of D.C., the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, the Boys Club of Washington, the National Urban League, the NAACP, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the University of Illinois Presidents Council and the University of Illinois Foundation.

Mitchell died at age 84 on April 5, 2020.

References

External links

1935 births
2020 deaths
African-American players of American football
American football halfbacks
American football return specialists
American football running backs
American football wide receivers
Cleveland Browns players
Illinois Fighting Illini football players
Washington Redskins executives
Washington Redskins players
Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
National Football League players with retired numbers
Hot Springs High School (Arkansas) alumni
Sportspeople from Hot Springs, Arkansas
Players of American football from Arkansas
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people

Bobby Mitchell


Traditional Persian residential architecture is the architecture employed by builders and craftsmen in the cultural Greater Iran and the surrounding regions to construct vernacular houses. The art  draws from various cultures and elements from both Islamic and pre-Islamic times.

Persian residential architecture
Being farmers mean great calls.
have hot summers, and cold, dry winters. Iran's traditional architecture is designed in proportion to its climatic conditions. The continued design and existence of traditional homes amidst the preponderance of mid-rise apartments in Iran's ongoing modernisation projects is testament to a strong connection and identification with Persian architectural heritage.

Iran's old city fabric is composed of narrow winding streets called koocheh with high walls of adobe and brick, often roofed at various intervals. This form of urban design, which used to be commonplace in Iran, is an optimal form of desert architecture that minimizes desert expansion and the effects of dust storms. It also maximizes daytime shades, and insulates the "fabric" from severe winter temperatures.

Islamic beliefs coupled with the necessity to defend cities against frequent foreign invasions encouraged traditional Persian residential architects to create inward seeking designs amidst these narrow complicated koochehs, weaving tightly knit residential neighborhoods. Thus, the house becomes the container as opposed to the contained. These houses possess an innate system of protection: they all have enclosed gardens with maximum privacy, preventing any view into the house from the outside world. Hence residential architecture in Persia was designed in a way to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants during times of tension and danger, while furnishing a microcosm of tranquillity that protected this inner "paradise garden".

Neighborhoods in old Persian cities often formed around shrines of popular saints. All public facilities such as baths, houses of mourning (tekyehs), teahouses, administration offices, and schools were to be found within the neighborhood itself. In addition to the main bazaar of the city, each neighborhood often had its own bazaar-cheh as well (i.e. "little bazaar"), as well as its own ab anbar (or public water reservoir), which provided the neighborhood with clean water. Qazvin, for example had over 100 such reservoirs before being modernized with city plumbing in modern times.

When visiting Kashan in 1993, the chairman of UNESCO remarked: "Kashani architects are the greatest alchemists of history. They could make gold out of dust". Indeed, almost all of Kashan's masterpieces, as in many other parts of Iran are made of humble, local, earth.

Like many other cities throughout Iran, stucco was the most widespread method of ornamentation in Persian houses. One reason was the relatively cheap price of the materials used (like gypsum for example) that don't require a high temperature to be transformed into plaster. This is an important consideration in places like central Iran where wood is relatively scarce. Another reason is that it is easily shaped, molded, or carved. Thanks to stucco, a wall of crudely fashioned stone blocks or raw brick, gives an impression of great luxury. Thus stucco owes its luxurious appearance to the skill of the craftsman. And with a tradition of stucco technique going back to pre-Islamic Iran, this is an art fully mastered by Persian craftsmen, as seen here.

Earthquakes in Iran leave massive destruction. Most of Iran's remaining traditional houses date from the post-quake eras during the Qajar period. Despite the efforts of architects to build resistance to earthquakes into their works, hardly anything remains from the spectacular Safavi palaces or anything prior to those as recounted by French and British explorers in many parts of Persia.

Characteristics of traditional Persian residential architecture
Almost all traditional Persian houses were designed in order to satisfy the following essential features:

 Hashti and Dalan-e-vorudi: Entering the doorway one steps into a small enclosed transitional space called Hashti. Here one is forced to redirect one's steps away from the street and into the hallway, called Dalan e Vorudi. In mosques, the Hashti enables the architect to turn the steps of the believer to the correct orientation for prayer hence giving the opportunity to purify oneself before entering the mosque.
 Convenient access to all parts of the house.
 A central pool (howz) with surrounding gardens containing trees of figs, pomegranates, and grape vines.
 Important partitionings such as the biruni (exterior) and the andaruni (interior).
 Specific orientation facing toward and away from Mecca.

Furthermore, Persian houses in central Iran were designed to make use of an ingenious systems of wind catchers that create unusually cool temperatures in the lower levels of the building. Thick massive walls were designed to keep the sun's heat out in the summertime while retaining the internal heat in the winters.

Persia's distinctive artistic heritage with efficient yet ancient technical know-how thus created houses and spaces whose features were aesthetic talars and roofscapes with intriguing light wells, as well as intricate window and mirror works, paintings, reliefs, and a beautifully crafted iwan amidst comfortable residential spaces in hot arid regions.

Whereas the geometrical rigor seen in the works such as those in Safavi era Isfahan invoke the perfect order of the celestial world, the vegetal ornamentation realized in the interiors of houses, testify to the Persian love of gardens. And the stucco carvings, frescoes, and paintings executed by royal craftsmen, exemplify the level of Persian aesthetics.

Elements

Talar
Iwan
Dalan-e vorudi
Badgir
Qanat
Kariz
Gonbad
Garden (hayāt)
Shabestan
Kucheh
Panjdari
Hashti
Andaruni
Biruni
Ab anbar
Yakhchal
Howz

Samples
Abbasian House
House of Tabatabaei
Amerian House
Borujerdi ha House
House of Qavam
Tiznoo House

Notes

Architecture in Iran
Persian gardens

Islamic architecture


USS Gilliam (APA-57), named for Gilliam County in Oregon, was the lead ship in her class of attack transports serving in the United States Navy during World War II.

Construction and commissioning
Gilliam was launched on 28 March 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Wilmington in Los Angeles, California, sponsored by Mrs. A. O. Williams of Wilmington. The U.S. Navy acquired Gilliam on 31 July 1944 and commissioned her on 1 August 1944.

Operational history

World War II
The first of a new type of attack transport, Gilliam stood out of San Francisco Bay 16 October 1944 with 750 United States Army troops for Oro Bay, New Guinea, and delivered them to that port 4 November. Embarking nearly 1000 troops of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division, she sailed a week later and off-loaded her passengers at Leyte, subsequently returning to Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, 22 November. Gilliam got underway again 29 November under orders to steam to Leyte Gulf and embark elements of the 6th Army Headquarters for passage to Lingayen Gulf.

Heavy air attacks

Gilliam was part of a 36-ship convoy heading toward the Philippines when, on 5 December 1944, the convoy came under heavy air attack while  from Leyte Gulf. At 12:18 Gilliam spotted a plane coming in low over the water at deck level, headed for the middle of the convoy. Coming under limited fire, the Japanese plane released a torpedo two minutes later which hit . Just after 12:30 two more planes came in low and fast, and one got another torpedo into the stricken merchantman, which was then dead in the water.

Intense fire from the convoy drove the planes off, but later that afternoon another Japanese aircraft dove in at 15:30, and after running into heavy fire, made a suicide crash on SS Marcus Daly. The Japanese caught her on the bow at waterline and started fires and explosions. A second kamikaze tried his luck but missed and crashed into the sea after repeated hits from the convoy's gunners.

Anton Saugraine and Marcus Daly were kept afloat by quick damage control, but the former ship was attacked again the next day while under tow and finally sunk. During this engagement, Gilliam'''s unflinching crew stood at General Quarters for nearly 12 hours and the ship reached Leyte on 6 December without damage.

Invasion of Luzon

At Leyte Gilliam acted as receiving ship for the crews of damaged warships and undertook medical and salvage operations in spite of continued air alerts. After embarking over 500 soldiers at Tacloban, she sailed from that port 7 January 1945 bringing troops to Lingayen Gulf in support of the invasion. She returned to Leyte on 14 January to embark elements of the 32nd Infantry Division and brought them safely back to Lingayen Gulf 27 January.

Invasion of Okinawa

After loading casualties for passage to Leyte, Gilliam sailed from that port 2 February to embark Marines of the III Amphibious Corps at Guadalcanal and conducted training exercises in preparation for the coming invasion of Okinawa.Gilliam closed Okinawa on 1 April and in the face of kamikaze attacks debarked reconnaissance parties of the 3rd Amphibious Corps and unloaded vital cargo. On 5 April she sailed for the United States via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, mooring at San Francisco 27 April for drydock repairs.

Subsequently Gilliam embarked men of the 6th Seabee Battalion a Port Hueneme, California, and sailed 28 May 1945 for Okinawa via Eniwetok and Ulithi. She off-loaded cargo and passengers at Okinawa and then headed back to San Francisco.

After hostilitiesGilliam arrived back at San Francisco on 10 August, where nearly 1,000 troops were embarked and brought to Pearl Harbor on 27 August. Men of the Headquarters and Service Battalions, 5th Amphibious Corps came on board at Hawaii, and Gilliam sailed 1 September for Sasebo, Japan, and put her occupation troops ashore 3 weeks later.

On 25 September 1945 she got underway for Manila, and after embarking more than 450 veterans of the 33rd Infantry Division at Lingayen Gulf, she carried them to Sasebo, arriving 15 October.

Operation Magic Carpet

After returning to Cebu in the Philippines 29 October, she became part of the Operation Magic Carpet fleet and sailed 2 November with 1,000 sailors and soldiers, debarking them at Portland, Oregon, 21 November 1945.

Operation Crossroads

Following a voyage to Samar, Gilliam moored at Pearl Harbor on 16 February 1946 and prepared to participate in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll in the summer of 1946. On the morning of 1 July 1946, Gilliam, a target ship for Test Able, was the first ship struck by the blast and sunk quickly in Bikini lagoon, badly damaged. She was decommissioned, 5 July 1946 and struck from the Naval Register, 20 July 1946.

Decorations
  Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars
  World War II Victory Medal
  Navy Occupation Service Medal (two awards)Gilliam'' received three battle stars for World War II service and two Navy Occupation Service Medals for her actions during the occupation of Japan.

References

USS Gilliam (APA-57), DANFS Online.
APA-57 Gilliam, Navsource Online.

Gilliam-class attack transports
Transports of the United States Navy
World War II auxiliary ships of the United States
World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
USS Gilliam APA-57
Ships built in Los Angeles
1944 ships
Ships involved in Operation Crossroads
Ships sunk as targets
Maritime incidents in 1946

USS Gilliam


The Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system, operated by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), serves as the official source for municipal securities disclosures and related financial data in the United States.  EMMA provides free on-line access to centralized new issue municipal securities disclosure documents (known as official statements), on-going continuing disclosures for all municipal securities, escrow deposit agreements for advance refundings (i.e., refinancings) of outstanding bonds, real-time municipal bond trade price information, interest rates and auction results for municipal auction rate securities (the first free source for this kind of information on the auction rate securities market) and interest rate reset information for variable rate demand obligations, together with daily statistics on trading activity and investor education materials.

EMMA's disclosure collection operates in coordination with the MSRB's investor protection rules mandating that securities firms and banks selling municipal securities to customers provide them with complete disclosure of all important information about the investment. EMMA also is the central information utility through which municipal securities disclosures mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through its Rule 15c2-12 are made freely available to the general public.  The EMMA continuing disclosure service provides access to audited financial statements, default notices, taxability notices, notices of rating changes, and approximately 30 additional categories of financial and other updates relating to municipal securities.  The MSRB and SEC continue to work toward expanding the types and timeliness of disclosures available through EMMA.

Public access to the integrated collection of primary market and secondary market disclosure provided through EMMA parallels the centralized disclosure currently available for securities offerings by public companies through the SEC's EDGAR system, although EMMA provides additional items of information beyond the base disclosures provided by EDGAR, such as trade prices, interest rates, market statistics and educational materials.  The collection of disclosure documents available through EMMA for municipal securities is not identical to what is available through EDGAR for registered offerings of corporate or other securities since municipal securities and their state & local governmental issuers are afforded broad exemptions from most provisions of the federal securities laws (such as the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940) otherwise applicable to private-sector issuers of corporate and other types of securities.

References

External links

Financial regulation in the United States
Local government finance

Electronic Municipal Market Access