Hendrik Gijsmans

Hendrik Gijsmans or Egidius Gijsmans (Mechelen, c. 1552 – Frankenthal, c. 1611-1612) was a Flemish painter, draftsman, tapestry designer and mayor. After training in his native Mechelen, he moved to Antwerp where he probably worked in the workshop of Gillis Mostaert. As a Protestant he left Antwerp after the fall of the city to the Spanish in 1585. He settled in Frankenthal in 1586 where he joined a large group of other Flemish émigré artists. He later became the mayor of Frankenthal. The artist’s work has only recently been rediscovered after he was identified with an anonymous artist referred to as Anonymous Fabriczy of whom a collection of about 50 drawings are held in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Life.
Hendrik Gijsmans is believed to have been born in Mechelen. After training in his native Mechelen, he moved to Antwerp where he probably worked in the workshop of Gillis Mostaert.
He is known to have travelled to Milan and Rome where he drew topographical views around 1570. He also created topographical drawings of some of the places that he visited during his trip to and from Italy including from the Rhône region and Lyon.
He became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1580, a citizen of the city in 1581 en was still documented in the city in 1585. He left the Southern Netherlands after the fall of Antwerp in 1585. He moved to Frankenthal in 1586 where he was a member of a large community of Flemish artists and merchants who had also emigrated from Flanders. Many of the Flemish artists who moved to Frankenthal were landscape painters. They were later referred to as the school of Frankenthal. The school of Frankenthal included the painters Gillis van Coninxloo, Pieter Schoubroeck, Anton Mirou and Hendrik van der Borcht the elder and the latter's son. In Frankenthal these artists could count on Flemish art dealers such as Cornelis Caymox who had settled there earlier and had built a network of patrons for Flemish art. Gijsmans and his son are recorded as having supplied Caymox with paintings on cloth.
Gijsmans was successful and thrived in his adopted new home and became the mayor of Frankenthal in 1609/1610. He may have been the teacher of Anton Mirou, another Flemish émigré artist. He remained in Frankenthal until his death in 1611-1612.
Work.
Hendrik Gijsmans was a painter and draftsman of landscapes and a tapestry designer. None of his paintings have been preserved. There are records in 1588 of the presence of three paintings (including two views of Antwerp) and in 1595 another three works (a view of the Castle Garden in Brussels and two sieges of Antwerp) in the Kunstkammer in Dresden where they are mentioned until 1603. A Viennese inventory dated after 1619 mentions another siege of Antwerp and three landscapes on parchment.
Hendrik Gijsmans is now known only through his drawings. The art historian Cornelius von Fabriczy published in 1893 for the first time fifty views of Flanders, France and Italy which were in the collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. The works were ascribed to an anonymous artist who was given the notname Anonymous Fabriczy. The unknown artist was identified with Hendrik Gijsmans by Stijn Alsteens (Hans Buijs, Véronique Mathot, Willem Schellinks, "Paysages de France: dessinés par Lambert Doomer et les artistes hollandais et flamands des XVIe et XVIIe siècles", Fondation Custodia, 2008, pp. 221–226). This was thanks to the discovery of a drawing representing Saint-Vallier in the Rhone Valley, which had been acquired by the Louvre Museum and was datable to 1567 or later. This drawing carried the inscription Henrick Ghÿsm : F. The drawing in the Louvre turned out to be a first version of one of the views preserved in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. This identification led to the attribution to Gijsmans of almost all the 50 drawings in the Staatsgalerie formerly ascribed to Anonymous Fabriczy. Part of the drawings of Stuttgart were likely part of a notebook some of the pages of which have become dispersed.
The Flemish origins of the author of the drawings in Stuttgart are not only confirmed by the inclusion among the drawings of views of cities in the Southern Netherlands such as Antwerp, Dendermonde, Brussels and Huy, but also by a style similar to the refined graphics of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The works show Gijsmans to be one of Bruegel's principal followers. His drawings show the artist's considerable talent for representing nature as well as architecture.
Some of the Italian views, made in Rome and Milan, can be dated between 1565 and 1568. It is therefore likely that the views of France date from shortly before or shortly after these years and were made during Gijsmans' outward journey to, or his return from, Italy.


Volksbuch


Tuvalu Order of Merit

The Tuvalu Order of Merit is an order of merit of Tuvalu. It was founded on 1 October 2016, on the 38th anniversary of Tuvaluan independence; with $30,000 for the award allocated in the Tuvalu 2017 National Budget.
Discussion of award.
At Kensington Palace on 30 October 2017, Prince William received His Excellency Sir Iftikhar Ayaz (Honorary Consul-General of Tuvalu) who invested His Royal Highness and the Duchess of Cambridge with the Tuvalu Order of Merit on behalf of the Governor-General of Tuvalu. The award was given to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in recognition of their visit to Tuvalu as part of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.


Giles (surname)

The surname Giles or Gyles comes from the given name Giles, for which multiple origins have been suggested.


Of Lost Love

Of Lost Love () is a 1998 Italian drama film directed by Michele Placido. For her performance Giovanna Mezzogiorno won the Pasinetti Award at the 55th Venice International Film Festival and the 1999 Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress, while her co-star Fabrizio Bentivoglio was awarded David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor. The Mezzogiorno's character is inspired by teacher Liliana Rossi.
Plot.
In the 1950s a young teacher, close to the ideals of the left, tries to help the most vulnerable people through teaching.


The Campus Flirt

The Campus Flirt (a.k.a. The College Flirt) is a lost 1926 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Clarence Badger and starred Bebe Daniels. Comedian El Brendel makes his film debut here.


Fay (surname)

Fay is an Irish surname. The name derives from the Norman surname "de Fae" which was introduced to Ireland in the 12th century. It is commonly found in counties Westmeath, Cavan and Monaghan. The native Gaelic surnames Ó Fiaich and Ó Fathaigh are sometimes anglicised as Fay. The Serer surname Faye may also be spelled as "Fay" in Serer proper. It is unrelated to the Irish surname and pronounced differently.
Notable people with the surname include:


Heritage Trail (Iowa)

Heritage Trail is a long multiuse rail trail connecting Dubuque and Dyersville, Iowa.
It is maintained by the Dubuque County Conservation Board, and was converted from a segment of the former Chicago Great Western railroad line between Chicago and Oelwein, Iowa. It is surfaced with compacted, crushed limestone.


Ein Sof

Ein Sof, or Eyn Sof (, ), in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to any self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, probably derived from Solomon ibn Gabirol's ( 1021 – 1070) term, "the Endless One" ("she-en lo tiklah"). "Ein Sof" may be translated as "unending", "(there is) no end", or infinity. It was first used by Azriel ( 1160 – 1238), who, sharing the Neoplatonic belief that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by it the negation of any attribute. Of the Ein Sof, nothing ("Ein") can be grasped ("Sof"-limitation). It is the origin of the Ohr Ein Sof, the "Infinite Light" of paradoxical divine self-knowledge, nullified within the Ein Sof prior to creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the first act of creation, the Tzimtzum self "withdrawal" of God to create an "empty space", takes place from there. In Hasidic Judaism, the Tzimtzum is only the illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, giving rise to monistic panentheism. Consequently, Hasidism focuses on the Atzmus divine essence, rooted higher within the Godhead than the Ein Sof, which is limited to infinitude, and reflected in the essence ("etzem") of the Torah and the soul.
Explanation.
The Zohar explains the term "Ein Sof" as follows:
In other words, "Ein Sof" signifies "the nameless being". In another passage the Zohar reduces the term to "Ein" (non-existent), because God so transcends human understanding as to be practically non-existent.
In addition to the "Sefer Yetzirah" and the Zohar, other well-known explications of the relation between Ein Sof and all other realities and levels of reality have been formulated by the Jewish mystical thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as Isaac the Blind and Azriel. Judah Ḥayyaṭ, in his commentary "Minḥat Yehudah" on the "Ma'areket Elahut," gives the following explanation of the term "Ein Sof":
The Ten Sefirot.
According to Gershom Scholem, the Ein Sof is the emanator of the ten "sefirot." Sefirot are energy emanations found on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Ein Sof, the "Atik Yomin" ("Ancient of Days"), emanates the sefirot into the cosmic womb of the Ayin in a manner that results in the created universe. The three letters composing the word "Ayin" (אי״ן), indicate the first three purely intellectual sefirot, which precede any emotion or action. The order of devolution can be described as:
The ten sefirot were preceded by a stage of concealment called "tzimtzum", which "allows space" for creations to perceive themselves as separate existences from their creator. The sefirot exhibit reflection in sets of triads between more exalted states of being (or "non-being," when "otherness" does not yet exist) and the lower, more mundane levels of existence:
Concerned that misinterpretation could lead to the idolatrous belief of duality or multiplicity in God, the Kabbalists frequently stress that the sefirot are bound up in the Ein Sof, and that without the Ein Sof the sefirot have no existence. However, there is an apparent contradiction, since in Kabbalah, the sefirot are sometimes called divine in themselves, despite the assertion that they are only vehicles to manifest God. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, who gave the first full systemization of Kabbalah in the 16th century, resolved the contradiction, explaining that the sefirot consist of lights invested in vessels. In detail, whereas the vessels are differentiated vehicles for creation, the light is the undifferentiated light of the Ein Sof. This is similar to how water poured into differently-shaped vessels will take on the vessels' forms, or how light streaming through different colors of glass appears in different colors. Despite the change in appearance, the water and the light emanate from a single source and are essentially unchanged; the vessels merely serve to filter and veil the light to reveal different aspects of the creator, and to permit creations to benefit from his light. This explanation was accepted and expanded upon in later works of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy.
Atzmus.
Hasidic Judaism in the 18th century internalised the esoteric, transcendent emanations of Kabbalah into immanent, psychological perception and correspondence. The term in Hasidic philosophy for the divine source is "Atzmus" ("essence"). While the Ein Sof of Kabbalah can only be infinite, Atzmus, rooted higher in the Godhead, is beyond finite/infinite duality. As the Etzem, it both transcends all levels, and permeates all levels. This is reflected in the paradoxical acosmic monism of Hasidic panentheism, and relates to the essence of the Torah and the soul. In Hasidic thought, Kabbalah corresponds to the World of Atzilus, the sephirah of Chochmah and the transcendent soul level of Chayah; Hasidic philosophy corresponds to the World of Adam Kadmon, the sephirah of Keter and the soul essence of Yechidah. The Baal Shem Tov taught that the only reflection of Atzmus is the sincerity of the soul in performing the Jewish observances and prayer. Consequently, Hasidism gave new emphasis to the common folk, and to prayer and action over traditionally pre-eminent Torah study, as Atzmus is most reflected in the lowest levels, the purpose of creation in making a "dwelling place" for God in the lowest realms. In response, Chaim Volozhin, the main theological theorist of the Misnagdim, opposed Hasidic panentheism and re-emphasised Talmudic study.
In Modern Hebrew.
In Modern Hebrew as spoken in contemporary Israel, "ein sof" (often contracted to "einsof" – אינסוף) is commonly used as simply the word for "infinity", without reference to God and to the above intricate Kabbalistic connotations.


The Amateur Adventuress

The Amateur Adventuress is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Henry Otto and starring Emmy Wehlen. It is based on a short story by Thomas Edgelow that appeared in "Young's Magazine" (Oct. 1918). Maxwell Karger produced with release through Metro Pictures.


The Thrissil and the Rois

The Thrissil and the Rois is a Scots poem composed by William Dunbar to mark the wedding, in August 1503, of King James IV of Scotland to Princess Margaret Tudor of England.
The poem takes the form of a dream vision in which Margaret is represented by a rose and James is represented variously by a lion, an eagle and a thistle. The episodes of the poem present in allegory King James' view of himself and of his kingdom. Princess Margaret receives lavish praise for her beauty, virtue and high birth.
The text of the poem is found only in the Bannatyne Manuscript. It is also known as The Thistle and the Rose.
Historical Context.
The marriage of James IV, King of Scots, and Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII of England had been agreed in the Treaty of Perpetual Peace of 1502. This treaty was intended to effect a reconciliation between the kingdoms of Scotland and England which had been at war intermittently since 1296. The treaty would not be successful in establishing peace. Ten years after the marriage of James and Margaret Scotland and England aligned themselves with opposing alliances in the War of the League of Cambrai. The subsequent campaign ended with James' death in the Scots' defeat at Flodden.
The author, William Dunbar, was a prolific poet who had been employed at the Scots royal court since at least 1500. His work often recorded state events.
The thistle had first appeared in Scottish iconography on the coins of King James III. His son and successor James IV continued its use as a symbol of the Scottish monarchy.
A rose, coloured red and white, had been adopted as a dynastic symbol by Henry VII who had seized the throne of England in 1485. It represented a union of the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions of the Plantagenet dynasty which had fought a series of civil wars for the control of the English throne before being succeeded by Henry. A red rose was a badge of the Lancastrians; A white rose was a badge of the Yorkists.
The Poem.
The Thrissil and the Rois is composed in rhyme royal stanzas and makes free use of aureate vocabulary inspired by Latin and French. The narrative is presented in the common medieval device of a dream vision.
The Introduction.
Dunbar begins with a description of Spring.
The sleeping poet has a dream in which he is visited by the personification of May.
She demands that he rises and compose a poem in her honour.
The poet complains that he can't meet her request. He claims to have had no inspiration recently.
Patiently, May reminds him that he had previously promised her to write a poem about 'the most pleasant rose'.
May then departs into a beautiful garden and, dressed hurriedly, the poet follows her.
Dame Nature.
In the garden Dame Nature is holding court attended by other mythological characters.
Dame Nature sends messengers to assemble all the animals, birds and plants of the world.
The assembly gathers quickly.
The Lion.
Dame Nature calls the Lion forward. He is described as resembling the Lion Rampant standard of the Scots Kings.
Dame Nature crowns the lion as King of the animals and instructs him to exercise justice wisely.
The lion seems to symbolise the duty of the King of Scots to bring justice to his subjects both humble and powerful.
The animals acclaim their new King.
The Eagle.
Dame Nature then crowns the Eagle as King of the birds and sharpens his feathers 'like steel darts'. He is commanded to let 'no ravening bird cause trouble'.
The Eagle appears to symbolise the King's determination to keep the peace within Scotland and, perhaps, to keep the peace with England.
The Thistle.
Dame Nature then inspects the plants and judges the spiked thistle to be 'able for war'. The thistle is crowned King of the plants with a 'radiant crown of rubys'.
The thistle is commanded to 'go into the field and defend the others.'
The thistle seems to represent the King's determination to defend his Kingdom.
Dame Nature then advises the Thistle to show discretion when judging other plants.
This passage appears to be a diplomatically-worded appeal to the King to abandon his mistresses after his marriage.
Nature recommends the red-and-white rose to him above all other flowers.
The rose clearly represents Margaret of England.
The Rose.
Dame Nature then addresses the rose and, after praising her lavishly, asks her to approach and be crowned.
The new Queen is acclaimed.
The birds join the acclamation of the new Queen who is compared to a pearl. The name 'Margaret' is derived from the Latin term for a pearl, 'margarita'.
The birds' song merges with the dawn chorus which then wakes Dunbar. He looks around for the garden he saw in his dream but finds it gone. While 'half-frightened', he starts to write the poem.
It is the ninth of May.


Nicaragua lunar sample displays

The Nicaraguan lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 Moon missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Nicaragua by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.
Description.
Apollo 11.
The Nicaragua Apollo 11 lunar sample display commemorative podium style plaque consists of four rice-size "Moon rock" particle specimens collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small Nicaraguan flag that was taken to the Moon and back on Apollo 11. The four "Moon rocks" weigh about 0.05 grams total and are entirely enveloped in a clear plastic ball the size of a coin which is mounted to an approximately one foot square wooden display board on a small podium pedestal. The small sample display plaque also has mounted, directly below the "goodwill Moon rocks", a small Nicaraguan flag that went to the Moon and back on Apollo 11. The lunar sample display plaque was given to the people of Nicaragua as a gift by President Richard Nixon. Similar lunar sample displays were also given to all the states and territories of the United States and all the countries of the world.
Apollo 17.
The Nicaragua Apollo 17 lunar sample display commemorative style plaque, 10 by 14 inches in size, consists of one "Moon rock" particle specimen cut from lunar basalt 70017 and a Nicaraguan flag. The basalt 70017 was collected by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon in 1972. Once brought to Earth from the Moon, lunar basalt 70017 was cut into small fragments of approximately 1 gram. The specimen was enveloped in a plastic ball and mounted on the wooden plaque along with the Nicaraguan flag which had been taken to the Moon and back by the crew of Apollo 17. In 1973, President Nixon gave the plaque to the country of Nicaragua. He also gave similar Apollo 17 lunar sample plaques to the same recipients that had previously received the Apollo 11 gift plaques, the 134 countries of the world and all the states and provinces of the United States. The gifts were a goodwill gesture to promote peace and harmony.
History.
The Nicaragua Apollo 11 lunar plaque display with its Moon rocks were originally presented as a gift to the people of Nicaragua by way of then-Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle by President Nixon in 1970. The plaque display with the Apollo 11 "Moon rocks" was then stolen by a Costa Rican mercenary soldier who opposed the Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government in Nicaragua. The plaque was then traded to Baptist missionary Harry Coates, who sold it to Las Vegas casino magnate Bob Stupak by 1987 for $10,000 and 200,000 shares in Stupak's casino. Stupak displayed the plaque at his Moon Rock Café before he decided to store it in a safe deposit box.
Attorney Richard Wright, designated attorney for Stupak's estate, sent the Nicaragua Apollo 11 "goodwill Moon rocks" plaque display to NASA officials in Houston in May 2012, two and a half years after Stupak's death. Renee Juhans, NASA inspector general executive officer, told reporters in May 2012 that NASA was "taking steps to authenticate" the display it received from attorney Wright. If found to be the authentic Nicaragua Apollo 11 "goodwill Moon rocks" commemorative podium plaque display, it would be returned to the government of Nicaragua by NASA. The Apollo 11 Moon Rock was returned to the people of Nicaragua in November 2012.


List of New York State Historic Markers in Wayne County, New York

This is an incomplete list of New York State Historic Markers in Wayne County, New York.


List of National Historic Sites of Canada in New Brunswick

This is a list of National Historic Sites () in the province of New Brunswick. There are 63 National Historic Sites designated in New Brunswick, as of 2018, eight of which are administered by Parks Canada (identified below by the beaver icon ). The first National Historic Sites to be designated in New Brunswick were Fort Beauséjour – Fort Cumberland and Fort Gaspareaux in 1920.
Numerous National Historic Events also occurred across New Brunswick, and are identified at places associated with them, using the same style of federal plaque which marks National Historic Sites. Several National Historic Persons are commemorated throughout the province in the same way. The markers do not indicate which designation—a Site, Event, or Person—a subject has been given.
This list uses names designated by the national "Historic Sites and Monuments Board", which may differ from other names for these sites.


Sebastian Lotzer

Sebastian Lotzer (c. 1490 – after 1525) was born in Horb am Neckar. He was a furrier by trade. During his journeyman years, while in Memmingen, he became secretary to the "Baltringer Haufen", a peasant army during the German Peasants' War. Lotzer was heavily influenced by theologian Christoph Schappeler.
In 1525, representing the 27 villages of the territory of Memmingen he drew up the Memmingen Articles, and shortly afterwards, in conjunction with the Christian Confederation, the Twelve Articles.
Following the defeat of the peasants by the Swabian League Lotzer had to flee from Memmingen in April 1525. He was last heard of in St. Gallen. His date of death is unknown.


Massey Hall

Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The theatre was designed to seat 3,500 patrons, but after extensive renovations in the 1940s it now seats up to 2,765.
Massey Hall and the more intimate Eaton Auditorium were the only substantial concert venues in Toronto before the 1982 opening of Roy Thomson Hall.
Massey Hall was designated a National Historic Site of Canada on June 15, 1981. The Hall was closed in July 2018, as it started a two-year-long renovation, including a new seven-storey addition and two smaller concert rooms.
History.
The idea of Massey Music Hall began with Hart Massey, who wanted to build a music hall in order to fill the need for a secular meeting place where people from Toronto and area could meet and enjoy choral music not of a religious theme. Massey also wanted to construct the building in memory of his son Charles, who loved music. Massey also did not want the music hall to make large profits. He wanted both rich and poor to attend events. Ideally, once all expenses were paid, Massey wanted tickets for a season of lectures to sell for $1.
The building was designed with a neoclassical facade, and features moorish arches that span the width of the interior hall. This interior was inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Spain as well as Louis Sullivan's Chicago Auditorium. The exterior neoclassical facade was a preference voiced from Lillian, Hart Massey's daughter.
Designed by architect Sidney Badgley, Massey Hall was completed in 1894 at a cost of $152,390.75. Construction was financed by Hart Massey of Massey-Harris (later Massey Ferguson) holding company. The hall's debut concert was on June 14, 1894. The Albert Building, at 15 Shuter Street, was added as a janitorial residence in 1917, and later converted as backstage space. However, it will be demolished and replaced by a new addition during pending renovations in spite of potential historic value (featuring a two storey oriel window). The exterior is Palladian architecture while the interior is Moorish Revival architecture.
10 years after the completion of construction, a pair of fire escape staircases were installed along the front face of the building. They were installed to deal with fire concerns of the building. These fire escapes are considered an iconic part of Massey Hall's exterior. At some point in its renovation history, three of the windows at the front of the venue were converted into doors, The doors at the front of the venue were painted red (from their earlier brown-gold colour), a large neon sign was hung above the main entrance, and notice boards listing upcoming acts were revamped on either side of those doors.
In 1933, the Massey Foundation undertook further renovations to the hall. It is currently used for a variety of events and is operated by the same corporation as Roy Thomson Hall.
In 1994, to commemorate the hall's 100th anniversary, the basement was completely refurbished to include Centuries, a fully stocked bar. Prior to this addition, alcohol was not permitted in the hall. The decor of Centuries includes hundreds of photos of artists who have performed there over the years (largely collecting portraits of popular music stars since the eighties) including many autographs. Centuries has a capacity of 220 people, and often hosts CD release parties and post-show parties for the visiting artists. Roughly five years after Centuries was created, an additional bar in the balcony lounge was added.
According to the venue's website: "Massey Hall is undergoing the most significant renovation in its 124 year history and is closed for two years as of the beginning of July, 2018", including a new seven-story addition and two smaller concert rooms. The addition will be called Allied Music Centre and will have an artists' lab, studio, lounge and theatre; there will also be a new retractable seating system at Massey Hall.
Notable appearances.
Many dignitaries have attended the hall since its inauguration. In 1901, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King George V and his wife Queen Mary) visited with Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier.
Many famous figures have appeared on the broad stage of this stately hall, including Montserrat Caballe, William Booth, Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Winston Churchill, George Gershwin, Jerry Seinfeld, Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, Dalai Lama, Gordon Lightfoot, Luciano Pavarotti, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Cream, Thomas Mann, The Kinks, Billy Joel, Lenny Kravitz, Oscar Peterson, Joe Satriani, Arturo Toscanini and Yngwie Malmsteen.
It was the site of the legendary Charlie Parker-Dizzy Gillespie concert, recorded as "Jazz at Massey Hall", in May 1953. Accompanying Gillespie and Parker in this acoustically sound hall were Bud Powell, Max Roach and Charles Mingus.
Neil Young's performance on January 19, 1971, was recorded and later released as a live album, entitled "Live at Massey Hall 1971".
Rush, in June 1976, recorded the live album "All the World's a Stage" here.
Matthew Good performed and recorded his concert, on May 29, 2008, which was released as a live album, entitled "Live at Massey Hall".
During the Natty Dread Tour, Bob Marley and The Wailers performed for the first time in Toronto on June 8, 1975.
On January 8, 1995, Ronnie Hawkins celebrated his 60th birthday by throwing a concert here, which was documented on the album "Let It Rock". The concert featured performances by Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Band and Larry Gowan. Jeff Healey sat in on guitar for most, if not all, of the performances. Hawkins' band, The Hawks, or permutations of it, backed most, if not all, of the acts. All of the musicians performing that night were collectively dubbed "The Rock ‘N’ Roll Orchestra".
On December 21, 2011, Justin Bieber performed a special Christmas concert, which sold out in 30 minutes.
Max Webster, a Toronto band, headlined at the venue in 1977 and again in 1978, as well as opening for Rush for three nights in June 1976.
Kim Mitchell, former guitarist and lead vocalist of the band Max Webster, played to a capacity crowd in 1984 after the release of his platinum selling album "Akimbo Alogo".
American rock band Van Halen played their first ever Canadian concert on March 14, 1978, to a capacity crowd at the venue.
Canadian rock band Spirit of the West's 2015 concert at the venue, and the preparations for it, are profiled in the 2016 documentary film "Spirit Unforgettable".
Toronto-born comedian Russell Peters filmed his Netflix Original stand-up special "Almost Famous" over two nights at Massey Hall in April 2016.
On his first solo tour, after One Direction went on hiatus, English singer Harry Styles performed at the venue on October 4, 2017. His tour sold out in seconds, setting a new Ticketmaster record.
Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish performed at the venue on March 21, 2018, as part of their .
In conjunction with their first-ever performance at the venue, folk-rock band Whitehorse released the 2013 EP "The Road to Massey Hall", comprising covers of songs by other musicians who had played the hall in the past.
Public transportation.
An entrance to Queen subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University is located nearby at the corner of Shuter Street and Yonge Street.
The 501 Queen streetcar line has stops at the corner of Victoria Street and Queen Street.
Historic designations.
In 1973, Toronto City Council designated Massey Hall a Heritage Property under the province's "Ontario Heritage Act". Massey Hall was designated a National Historic Site of Canada on June 15, 1981.


Szembek coat of arms

Szembek is a Polish coat of arms used by the Szembek szlachta family in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. This family originated from Tyrol, their name Schönbeck was polonized around 1566.
Notable bearers.
Notable bearers of this coat of arms include:


Grennan

Grennan is an Irish surname. It may be of Norman origin, from the French name . Notable people with the surname include:


The Crooked Billet

The Crooked Billet is a 1929 British drama film directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Madeleine Carroll, Carlyle Blackwell and Miles Mander. It was released in both silent and sound versions, as its production came as the industry was shifting over. It was made by Gainsborough Pictures at their Islington Studios.
It was one of the first films to use RCA's synchronized sound system for dialogue.
The plot has been summarized as: "An international spy searches for lost documents hidden in an old inn."
It is listed on the British Film Institute's 75 Most Wanted list of lost films.
Reprise.
An identically titled film with a similar theme was released in 2017. A sequel was released in 2018, and a third feature is planned.


Fischer House (Austin, Texas)

The Fischer House is a historic mansion in downtown Austin, Texas, United States, completed in 1882. Its builder, Joseph Fischer, was a prominent mason in Austin at the time, and its bold high Victorian era, Italianate architecture and ornamentation reflect his family's skill in the trade.
The home is located at 1008 West Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 16, 1982. The house is also a City of Austin Historic Landmark and is listed as the Burlage - Fischer House on that register.


Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sarajevo


The Ancient Highway

The Ancient Highway is a 1925 American adventure silent film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Oliver Curwood, James Shelley Hamilton and Eve Unsell. The film stars Jack Holt, Billie Dove, Montagu Love, Stanley Taylor, Lloyd Whitlock and William A. Carroll. The film was released on November 8, 1925, by Paramount Pictures.
The picture is presumed to be lost.
Plot.
It is based on the novel of the same title by James Curwood, published in 1925 by Grosset & Dunlap.


Asian conical hat

The Asian conical hat, commonly known as an Asian rice hat, coolie hat (in the UK), oriental hat or farmer's hat, is a simple style of conical hat originating in East, South and Southeast Asia; and notable in modern-day nations and regions of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, parts of Outer Manchuria, Taiwan, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, and Vietnam.
It is kept on the head by a cloth (often silk) or fiber chin strap.
Use.
Asian conical hats are, throughout Asia, primarily used as a form of protection from the sun and rain. When made of straw or other woven materials, it can be dipped in water and worn as an impromptu evaporative cooling device. It is also widely understood in East Asia, most notably Japan, as a symbol of Buddhism, as it is traditionally worn by pilgrims and Buddhist monks in search of alms. They were also worn by the samurai of Japan, where they were known as (travelling hat) or .
In the Philippines, the "salakot" is more commonly a pointed dome-shape, rather than conical, with a spike or knob finial. Unlike most other mainland Asian conical hats, it is characterized by an inner headband in addition to a chinstrap. It can be made from various materials including bamboo, rattan, nito, bottle gourd, buri straw, nipa leaves, pandan leaves, and carabao horn. The plain type is typically worn by farmers, but nobles in the pre-colonial period (and later "principalia" in the Spanish period) crafted ornate variations with jewels, precious metals, or tortoiseshell. These are considered heirloom objects passed down from generation to generation within families.
The "salakot" was also commonly worn by native soldiers in the Spanish colonial army. It was adopted by Spanish troops in the early 18th century as part of their campaign uniform. In doing so, it became the direct precursor of the pith helmet (still called "salacot" or "salacco" in Spanish and French).
In Vietnam, the ("leaf hat") forms a perfect right circular cone which tapers smoothly from the base to the apex. Special conical hats in Vietnam contain colourful hand-stitch depictions or words while the varieties are famous for their (lit. poem conical hats). These contain random poetic verses and which can be revealed when the hat is directed above one's head in the sunlight. In modern times, they have become part of Vietnam's national costume.
In China, it was typically associated with farmers, while mandarins wore tighter circular caps, especially in the winter.
Similarly in India and Borneo, the plain conical hat was worn by commoners during their daily work, but more decoratively-colored ones were used for festivities. In Sabah, the colorful conical hat is worn for certain dances while in Assam they are hung in homes as decoration or worn by the upper classes for special occasions.
Regional names.
English terms for the hat include sedge hat, rice hat, paddy hat, bamboo hat and sometimes coolie hat.
In Southeast Asia, it is known as (ដួន) in Cambodia; in Indonesia; () in Laos; in Malaysia; () in Myanmar; , and among other names in the Philippines; and in Vietnam.
In East Asia it is called (, literally meaning a "one- bamboo hat") in China; or in Japan; and () or (, )) in Korea.
In South Asia, it is known as () in Assam (India); in Bangladesh it is known as ().


Outhouse (venue)

The Outhouse was a hardcore punk music venue located east of Lawrence, Kansas, United States, on 15th Street. Original shows listed the venue as Past the Pavement Hall, being as the county pavement ended about 3/4 of a mile from the building.
History.
The parcel The Outhouse sits on used to house a one-room country school. Two large heritage trees still mark the entrance to the school site. The venue hosted many live music acts between the time it was leased for fraternity parties and biker bashes in 1985, until it was discovered by young rock bands desperate for a place to perform.
The first hardcore/alternative rock shows at The Outhouse happened in the late summer/fall of 1985. The growing mainstream popularity of pop punk music in the early 1990s led to the decline of the Outhouse, but what ultimately caused its closing was the Great Flood of 1993. Its doors were permanently closed in 1998. The building once known as the Outhouse is now a BYOB strip club with a small outhouse out near the road.
The Outhouse was unique because it was a gutted cinder-block storage garage in the middle of a corn field. The walls (if any) had been torn out leaving only cinder-block walls. Original shows in 1985 featured no stage until a stage was built by volunteers from the University of Kansas student radio station, KJHK, and various local bands. KJHK and others had made an arrangement with the Flaming Lips to play there and felt a stage was needed to attract other non-local acts. During the construction of the stage, it was suggested that the name be changed from Past the Pavement Hall. One KJHK staffer remarked that the place was a "shithole" and it should be called The Outhouse. The name stuck. Unfortunately, the Flaming Lips tour van broke down and that seminal show never occurred.
In the April 1986 issue of "Spin", KJHK was recognized for "excellence in supporting a local music scene" for their work in bringing many national acts to The Outhouse and other Lawrence, Kansas music venues. It was a vibrant time for alternative live music in the Midwest.
The stage was a box that stood approximately a foot and a half above the cement floor. Much later, a bar area was added to the back that was used to sell T-shirts, and other band merchandise, as well as non-alcoholic refreshments. People often brought their own alcohol. At first alcohol was allowed in the club, but after The Outhouse received publicity in the local press, the Kansas ABC told the owner that it would begin enforcing the law at The Outhouse. Thereafter, alcohol was openly consumed in the parking-lot/front-yard, but not inside.
People would park in the front yard, and for large concerts, they would often park on the nearby gravel road. The field across the street was rumored to have housed a missile silo, but this was incorrect.
The building stood just outside the jurisdiction of the Lawrence police department. The Outhouse rarely had any sort of security, but negative incidents were rare. No one stood between the audience and the band.
Prior to the Outhouse, venues such as Veterans of Foreign Wars Halls in Kansas City and the Lawrence Opera House (later called Liberty Hall) would host hardcore concerts. When several of the local venues closed, the Outhouse quickly became the place to see punk shows. Concerts at the Outhouse were very inexpensive, with the first shows costing $3, and with $8 being the high end in the early 1990s.
Shows at the Outhouse weren't limited to the typical hardcore genre; there were ska, alternative, thrash metal, Oi! and other types of underground genres. People would come from as far as Topeka, Kansas, Kansas City and sometimes further, and with the University of Kansas nearby, there was no shortage of patrons.
Flyers.
The Outhouse promoters had few options to advertise concerts. The University of Kansas's KJHK radio was instrumental in promoting Outhouse shows. In Kansas City, the local public radio station, 90.1 KKFI, had a two-hour hardcore/alternative show called "The Little Orphan Annie Show" (which went through several hosts and names), that would often announce concerts. The concerts were also sometimes announced in the local alternative newspaper "The Pitch". The most common promotion technique was plastering flyers in Lawrence and in areas like the Westport neighborhood of the Kansas City Metropolitan area.


Laws protecting monuments by country

Throughout the world, different laws exist that protect monuments.
International law.
Under international criminal law, monuments are considered a type of cultural heritage and their systematic destruction is prohibited by various international agreements.
By country.
Austria.
Austrian laws protecting and preserving monuments have existed since 1853. The current law dates from 1923, and also protects the historic centers of Salzburg, Graz, and Vienna. The Federal Monuments Office oversees monuments protection.
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments oversees monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
France.
The number of protected monuments in France has increased, so has the budget for maintaining them.
Germany.
German law protects monuments from being destroyed during redevelopment.
Hungary.
Like other countries, Hungary has laws to regulate and protect historical monuments.
Thailand.
The main legislation covering the protection of historical monuments in Thailand is the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums, B.E. 2504 (1961).
United Kingdom.
In the UK a bill against desecration of war memorials is considered.
United States.
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 protects historic sites in the United States, including monuments.
A Pennsylvania law states that a person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if he: (1) intentionally desecrates any public monument or structure, or place of worship or burial; or (2) intentionally desecrates any other object of veneration by the public or a substantial segment thereof in any public place; Desecrate means defacing, damaging, polluting or otherwise physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.


Vase with carved peony scrolls

Vase with carved peony scrolls is a Cizhou-type stoneware vase of the Northern Song dynasty, made about 1100 and now in the Asian collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where it is currently on display in the Richard M. Fairbanks Gallery.
This Cizhou-style, stoneware vase features a wide, stylish body that was crafted using a white slip and clear glaze overcoat. Rising out of the body is a long, thin neck, topped with a "saucer-shaped mouth." Adorning the central body of the vase is a blend of peony flowers and leaves, with rows of elegant patterns bordering the top and base of the body. Each design was carved deep into the surface of the vase to expose to the dark body beneath the white slip, creating a two-tone color effect and natural shading elements.
Background.
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) marked a new period of artistic design, with ceramics reaching new levels of perfection and popularity. One such ceramic style known as Cizhou wares, were produced at kilns across northern China, ranging from the Ningxia to Shandong provinces. The name of this style is derived from the largest manufacturing kilns in the Hebei and Henan provinces, which were located in a region known as Cizhou during the Northern Song dynasty, located in present-day Cixian county. Cizhou ceramics were created to withstand continuous daily use and were manufactured in large enough quantities to be accessible to the general populace. As a result, Cizhou-wares have come to be called "the people’s ware." One result of these wares being considered folk art, is that the potters were able to experiment with new techniques and designs, utilizing both glaze and slip processes as well as brush painting designs. This Cizhou vase featured at the Indianapolis Museum of Art serves as an example of a glaze and slip etching technique, while Cizhou-wares created in later periods often featured brush paintings placed directly on the slip with a protective glaze overcoat.
Overall, Cizhou wares have one of the longest histories of all the ceramic styles. This style is noted for having been produced continuously from the 10th century onward, with significant manufacture rates during the Northern Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties.
Symbolism.
Adorning this vase are a series of peonies, a motif that was very common among Chinese artworks. Due to their bold colors and large size, many in China believe the flowers to symbolize royalty and rank. This symbolic association has earned the peony the name "fùguìhuā" (富贵花), which means "flower of riches and honor." Tree peonies, or those belonging to the woody family, are the versions traditionally found in Chinese art motifs. These peonies are characterized by large red flowers, which has resulted in them often being called the "king of flowers."
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the peony was officially introduced into the Chinese imperial gardens. It was not however until royal consort Wu Zetian, who later became the only woman to serve as emperor of China, took an interest in the flower that it gained in popularity. Under her reign, many officials who sought to advance their careers began to show an increased appreciation for the peony, eventually resulting in its widespread acceptance as a flower of wealth and rank.
Acquisition.
This piece is listed as being a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Eli Lilly to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The vase was donated to the museum in 1947.


PassAlong Networks

PassAlong Networks, also known as Tennessee Pacific Group, LLC, was a developer of digital media innovations and services located in Franklin, Tennessee. The company had a digital music library of three million licensed songs, two million of which were raw MP3 music files, and provided a series of products and services in the digital media marketplace.
The company had digital music catalog agreements with the four major record labels: Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, EMI, and Sony/BMG. PassAlong’s catalog was composed of non-DRM, MP3 music files. The other major catalogs were DRM-protected files based on Microsoft WMA technology. The Independent MP3 catalog included songs from The Orchard, Nettwerk Music, IODA, CD Baby, Naxos Records, and many others.
Products.
The Company Products include:
History of PassAlong Networks.
Founded in 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee, the company moved their headquarters to the Factory at Franklin, south of Nashville. The founders included former Microsoft executive Dave Jaworski, digital media producer Brad Edmonson, former EMI executive Scott Hughes, Scott Lewis, Robin Pou, and independent music producer Jozef Nuyens, who also owns The Castle Studio in Franklin, Tennessee.
In September 2004, PassAlong launched its first digital music download store in conjunction with eBay. The store became the largest store on eBay. The eBay relationship is longer in place however. Then the company launched over two hundred stores, including Procter & Gamble's Home Made Simple store and the f.y.e.- for your entertainment, digital download store. PassAlong became Microsoft PlaysForSure certified in December 2004. In 2006 the company released a non-DRM solution that helps guard artist content without restricting interoperability on the consumer side. In that year PassAlong joined DDEX to develop metadata standards across the industry. Members include Microsoft and Apple Computer.
The company stopped operations on May 5, 2009. The closing was evidently a result of losing investors who were forced to pull out by the effects of the waning economy. At the time of closing, new initiatives included variable-pricing programs and in-car music downloads, digital video libraries, and social networks.
DRM and Microsoft PlaysForSure.
The PassAlong library of digital songs includes both DRM files and MP3 files. The DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology used was developed by Microsoft to protect digital music files. They are called WMA or Windows Media Audio files.
The certification program developed by Microsoft to ensure that portable devices (portable media players, phones, etc.) and content services have been tested against several hundred compatibility and performance requirements, is called Microsoft PlaysForSure. PassAlong is PlaysForSure certified.
See also.
Artist-rights, Rightsholder organizations, and royaties:
Alternative artist rights/royalty models and open source:
Consumer rights, user experience, and device interoperability:
News, Blogs and Sources:


Inspector of Regimental Colours

The Inspector of Regimental Colours is an officer of arms responsible for the design of standards, colours and badges of the British Army and of those Commonwealth states where the College of Arms has heraldic jurisdiction. The office was created in 1806, and is currently held by Thomas Woodcock, Garter Principal King of Arms.
History.
From 1747 the Crown exercised control over the design of the colours carried by regiments of foot of the British Army, which had previously been unregulated and subject to the whim of the colonel of the unit concerned. From that date only devices or badges granted by royal authority were to borne on colours or clothing. A royal warrant dated 19 December 1768 restated these principles and also included cavalry regiments. From 1770 the general officers making inspections of troops were instructed to ensure that colours were in conformity with the 1768 warrant. However, they had little knowledge of the correct emblazoning of heraldic devices, and regiments frequently turned to the officers of the College of Arms for advice on the matter. Delays in issuing new colours due to doubts about the regulation design meant that old ones remained in service long after they had become unserviceable: for example the colours of the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot were found in 1798 to be "...nothing but rags, so that no device or number could be seen on them".
In 1803 and 1804 the Board of Ordnance, which was the agency responsible for providing colours to the troops, exchanged correspondence with George Nayler, York Herald, about the delay in issuing colours. It was a result of this that the office of Inspector of Regimental Colours was instituted on 4 June 1806, with Nayler appointed to the post. Nayler immediately contacted the various regiments seeking details of their colours and ensuring that they were in conformity with the 1768 warrant. From that date the office of the inspector has prepared official paintings and from 1855 assumed responsibility for militia colours and from 1908 those of yeomanry and infantry regiments of the Territorial Force.
The office today.
The Inspector of Regimental Colours approves the design of all colours, guidons, standards, cap badges and defence agency insignia. Artwork of the design is executed by an heraldic artist at the College of Arms and is signed by the inspector and by the Queen.


What Women Love

What Women Love is a lost 1920 American silent comedy drama film directed by Nate Watt and starring Annette Kellerman.


Aufseherin


Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines is a 2012 documentary film exploring the concept of heroic women from the birth of the superhero in the 1940s to the TV and big screen action blockbusters of today.


Inder Raj Anand

Inder Raj Anand (died 6 March 1987) was an Indian film dialogue and screenwriter in Hindi cinema, who worked on many Raj Kapoor films, starting with "Aag" (1948), "Aah " (1953), "Anari" (1959) and "Sangam" (1963). While formally referred to as a writer for Hindi films, he was actually an Urdu writer, writing his scripts and dialogues in Urdu.
He was father to actor-director Tinnu Anand and producer Bittu Anand. Inder's grandson is noted film director Siddharth Anand ("Salaam Namaste" (2005) and "Anjaana Anjaani" (2010)). Famous director Mukul Anand was Inder's nephew. Shahenshah, starring Amitabh Bachchan, was Inder's last film as a writer. It was produced by his son, Bittu, and was directed by Tinnu. Shahenshah was released after Inder's death and it became one of the biggest hits of that year.
Career.
Anand started off as a writer for Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatres and also People's Theatre in Mumbai, and was a close friend of writer-director K.A. Abbas through IPTA.
In his career, Inder Anand wrote almost 120 films including "Safar", "Sangam" and "Ek Duuje Ke Liye". Many of his films like Haathi Mere Saathi, Jaani Dushman and Shahenshah were successful.


Director X videography


Crean

Crean is an Irish surname anglicised from Ó Croidheáin meaning "descendant of Croidheán", the name Croidheán is derived from the word "croí/croidhe" meaning "heart". Notable people with this surname include:


Boyle

Boyle is an Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:


Jupiter vainqueur des Titans

Jupiter vainqueur des Titans ("Jupiter, Vanquisher of the Titans") is an opera by the French composers François Colin de Blamont and Bernard de Bury, first performed at Versailles on 11 December 1745. It takes the form of a "tragédie en musique" in a prologue and five acts. The libretto is by Michel de Bonneval.


American literary regionalism

American literary regionalism or local color is a style or genre of writing in the United States that gained popularity in the mid to late 19th century into the early 20th century. In this style of writing, which includes both poetry and prose, the setting is particularly important and writers often emphasize specific features such as dialect, customs, history, and landscape, of a particular region: "Such a locale is likely to be rural and/or provincial." Regionalism is influenced by both 19th-century realism and romanticism, adhering to a fidelity of description in the narrative but also infusing the tale with exotic or unfamiliar customs, objects, and people.
Literary critics argue that nineteenth-century literary regionalism helped preserve American regional identities while also contributing to domestic reunification efforts after the Civil War. Richard Brodhead argues in "Cultures of Letters", "Regionalism's representation of vernacular cultures as enclaves of tradition insulated from larger cultural contact is palpably a fiction ... its public function was not just to mourn lost cultures but to purvey a certain story of contemporary cultures and of the relations among them" (121). Amy Kaplan, in contrast, debates race relations, empire, and literary regionalism in the nineteenth century, noting that, "The regions painted with 'local color' are traversed by the forgotten history of racial conflict with prior regional inhabitants, and are ultimately produced and engulfed by the centralized capitalist economy that generates the desire for retreat" (256). Critic Eric Sundquist ultimately suggests the social inequity inherent in the aesthetic distinction between realist and regionalist authors: "Economic or political power can itself be seen to be definitive of a realist aesthetic, in that those in power (say, white urban males) have been more often judged 'realists,' while those removed from the seats of power (say, Midwesterners, blacks, immigrants, or women) have been categorized as regionalists" (503).


Buffalo Gap Historic Village

Buffalo Gap Historic Village is a museum complex of historic buildings in Buffalo Gap, Texas, near Abilene. Elements of the complex are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Anund Jacob

Anund Jacob or James, Swedish: "Anund Jakob" was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on July 25, in either 1008 or 1010 as "Jakob", the son of King Olof Skötkonung and Queen Estrid. Being the second Christian king of the Swedish realm, his long and partly turbulent reign saw the increasing dissemination of Christianity. He is referred to in positive terms in German and Norse historical sources.
Accession.
The main sources for Anund Jacob's reign are the near-contemporary ecclesiastic chronicle of Adam of Bremen and several Norse histories from the 12th and 13h centuries, in particular Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. Adam and Snorri both relate that Anund Jacob's father Olof Skötkonung (c. 995–1022) ran into trouble with his subjects towards the end of his reign. According to Adam, the still pagan population of Svealand urged the fervently Christian ruler to withdraw to Västergötland. Snorri, on the other hand, asserts that King Olof's high-handed rule caused the Swedes to rise against him, whereby his young son Jacob was hailed as king. When the Swedish Thing was to elect him the ruler of Sweden, the people objected to his non-Scandinavian name. They then gave him the name of "Anund". Olof and Anund Jacob eventually came to an agreement: Olof was to retain his royal title for the rest of his life, but Anund Jacob would be co-ruler and govern part of the realm, and had to support the peasantry if Olof caused further trouble. In Snorri's chronology this happened in c. 1019. Three years later Olof died, leaving Anund Jacob as the sole ruler.
Political agenda.
Indigenous Swedish historiography has preserved very meager recollections of the pre-1250 rulers, but points out Anund Jacob as a heavy-handed master. The enumeration of kings appended to the "Westrogothic law" (c. 1240) says that he had the epithet of "Kolbränna" ("Coal-burner") as he had the habit of burning down the houses of his opponents. This may refer to the practice known from medieval Sweden of legally burning the houses of people who opposed the authorities. A different opinion of his character is given by Adam of Bremen: "Certainly he was young of years, but he surpassed all his predecessors in wisdom and piety. No king was as beloved by the Swedish people as Anund". The Norse sagas emphasize his amicable and helpful attitude to his royal Norwegian kinsmen.
Anund Jacob continued the minting of coins in Sigtuna in Central Sweden; however, the issuing of coins was broken off later during his reign, and was only resumed by King Canute I in the late 12th century. Snorri mentions Central Sweden, Västergötland and Småland among the regions ruled by Anund Jacob, but his ideas of Sweden might be influenced by conditions in the High Middle Ages. A poem from the 1040s, describing a Norwegian battle against Danes and Swedish auxiliaries, suggests that at least some Geats stood under Anund Jacob: "Geatic shield and hauberk / did I bring home from the battle".
According to Adam of Bremen, Christianity reached rather widely in the reign of Anund Jacob, with missionary work led by Bishop Thurgot of Skara in Västergötland until 1030 when he was nominally succeeded by Gottskalk. Both were appointed by the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. Gottskalk, however, was a passive church magnate who preferred to stay home in Germany. An English missionary, Sigfrid, filled the void to an extent. From a Norwegian base, he visited Sweden, Götaland "and all the islands beyond the northern land".
King Anund Jacob's political agenda included maintaining the balance of power in Scandinavia, which is why he supported the Norwegian kings Olaf II (Olav the Saint) and Magnus I against Denmark's and England's king Cnut the Great during the 1020s and 1030s. According to Snorri, Cnut tried to neutralize Anund Jacob, when a dispute flared up with Olaf around 1025, by sending him rich presents and offers of friendship. However, the envoys noted Anund Jacob's strong affinity to Olaf, who was married to his sister Astrid. In fact Anund Jacob traveled with a large entourage to Kungahälla where he met Olaf for a friendly parley. Some time later, when Cnut was away tending his English kingdom, Olaf attacked and ravaged Sjaelland, while Anund Jacob came down with a fleet from Svealand to attack Scania. The allies combined their forces and awaited Cnut, who returned from England with a superior fleet in 1026. While the late Norse accounts are highly unreliable, some details of the war are mentioned in contemporary scaldic verses and confirm Anund Jacob's intervention.
The Battle of Helgeå.
According to Snorri's account of the Battle of Helgeå, the Swedish and Norwegian fleets arrived at the estuary of Helge å on the east coast of Scania. There they prepared a trap by building a levee of wooden branches and turf close to the estuary. When Cnut's fleet approached, the levee was torn down and the rushing water and floating logs created disorder in the Danish fleet. However, many Danish ships were soon ready to confront the Swedes and Norwegians. In the face of the superior enemy, Anund Jacob and Olaf withdrew. Olaf later sneaked back to Norway with his entourage via Småland and Västergötland.
The actual circumstances of the Battle of Helgeå are debated among historians due to conflicting sources. The near-contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle asserts, under the year 1025 (error for 1026): "This year King Cnut went to Denmark with a fleet to the holm by the holy river [Helge å]; where against him there came Ulf and Eilaf, with a very large force both by land and sea, from Sweden. There were very many men lost on the side of King Cnut, both of Danish and English; and the Swedes had possession of the field of battle." The identity of Ulf and Eilaf (probably subordinate officers to Anund Jacob) is not known - possibly they are identical with two brothers by that name who were sons of the Swedish or Geatish magnate Ragnvald Ulfsson. They could also be the Anglo-Danish Ulf Jarl and his brother Eilaf, since some late accounts allege that Ulf fought on the Swedish-Norwegian side in the war. A contemporary scaldic verse by Sigvat Thordarson partly conforms with Snorri by stating that Cnut beat back or stopped the Swedish attack (Svíum hnekkðir Þu) and defended his realm against two kings. However, this is a poem in praise of Cnut and thus not an impartial source. It is therefore not entirely clear if Anund Jacob and Olaf were victorious over or defeated by Cnut. It has even been suggested that the battle in fact was fought in southeastern Uppland, where a river appears to have been called "Helgå" in the Middle Ages. According to that hypothesis, the site fits the topographical details of Snorri's account much better than eastern Scaniae.
Thus, the results of the war are not clear in either of the sources. It is obvious, however, that the Swedish-Norwegian attack failed, since Cnut remained master of his realm and was able to make a pilgrimage to Rome in 1027. On his way back to Denmark he dictated a letter, saying that he intended to make peace with the peoples and nations which had tried to deprive him of his kingdom and life but had failed since God deprived them of their power. In the following year Olaf II was driven from Norway and Cnut was hailed as overlord in his stead. Cnut also claimed to be king over part of the Swedes in these years. Coins in the name of Cnut were minted in Svealand at about the same time. All this suggests that the peoples around Lake Mälaren may have ousted Anund Jacob for a while, and hailed Cnut. The possibility of a brief Danish suzerainty in Central Sweden has engendered considerable debate; on one hand Cnut's coins might simply be copied from the Anglo-Danish coinage in a mechanical way, but on the other hand a number of numismatists have argued that the coins are too original in making to be considered copies. At any rate King Anund Jacob was in power again around 1030.
Supporting Magnus the Good.
When expelled by Cnut, Olaf II of Norway went via Sweden to Kievan Rus with his son Magnus. In 1030 he made an attempt to regain his throne. Anund Jacob provided him with a force of 400 skilled men, and allowed him to recruit as many men as possible from his realm. However, Olaf was killed fighting a Norwegian peasant army at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. Five years later his son Magnus came over to Sigtuna in Sweden from Rus and met with his stepmother Astrid Olofsdotter, Anund Jacob's sister. According to Snorri's account, supported by a number of contemporary scaldic verses, Astrid advocated Magnus's cause at a thing in Hangrar. A sizable force of Swedish warriors gathered under Magnus, who invaded Norway via Hälsingland in 1035. The enterprise was a great success and the pretender was hailed as king (Magnus I, Magnus the Good). Cnut the Great died in the same year and his sons lacked his capacity. When the last of them, Harthacnut, died in 1042, Magnus inherited Denmark as well. Anund Jacob's policy of maintaining a Nordic power balance can be seen in the agenda shift that followed. Anund Jacob kept Cnut's nephew Sweyn Estridsen as a protégé and supported his pretensions to the Danish throne. As related by both Snorri and Adam of Bremen, Sweyn made repeated attempts to establish his authority in Denmark, only to be defeated by King Magnus on each occasion. After every defeat, he found refuge with Anund Jacob in Sweden. Magnus died in 1047 and bequeathed Norway to his uncle Harald Hardrada, while Sweyn's right to the Danish throne was acknowledged. In spite of that, a new war flared up between Sweyn and Harald, where Anund Jacob seems to have continued supporting Sweyn. The struggle was still on when Anund Jacob died.
Eastern politics.
The Russian Nestor Chronicle relates that the "varyag prince" "Yakun", dressed in a golden cloak, led an eastbound Swedish expedition to the other side of the Baltic Sea in 1024. He provided military reinforcements to Yaroslav I the Wise in a battle against Mstislav of Chernigov. The battle was fought during a thunderstorm and ended in a defeat for the allies, and Yakun went back across the sea. According to Gudmund Jöran Adlerbeth of the Swedish Academy (1802), Yakun was identical with King Anund Jacob. Alternatively, the name Yakun could correspond to someone named "Håkan", unknown in the history of the era.
A major Swedish Viking expedition to the east was carried out around 1040, and was led by the chief Ingvar the Far-Travelled. The expedition is mentioned on a large number of rune stones from Central Sweden. Judging from the inscriptions the enterprise ended up in Serkland (the Muslim lands to the southeast of Russia), apparently under disastrous circumstances. A late Icelandic saga contains all sorts of fantastic details about the expedition. According to the saga, Ingvar was a kinsman of King Anund Jacob, being a great-grandson of Eric the Victorious.
Death and succession.
Anund Jacob's reign has traditionally been dated from 1022 to approximately 1050, but there is uncertainty about the year he died. He was probably alive in 1049, since Adam places his death after the death of the Danish prince Bjørn, an earl in England, in that year; his half-brother and successor Emund is certain to have ruled Sweden in the summer of 1060. According to Adam of Bremen, Anund Jacob was married to a certain Gunhild who might previously have been the wife of Sven Estridsen. Adam does not suggest that they had any children, but a later chronicler Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1200) says that Sweyn Estridsen's spouse Gyda was a daughter of the Swedish king, by implication Anund Jacob. It has been suggested by Birger Nerman and others that King Anund Jacob was buried where "King Ane's Stone" is located in West Gothland.
Two skalds are known to have served Anund Jacob: Sighvatr Þórðarson and Óttarr svarti.
The "Hervarar saga" from the 13th century concludes with a chronicle of the Swedish kings which briefly epitomizes Anund Jacob's reign:


Achall

Achall, daughter of Cairbre Nia Fer, king of Tara, and his wife Fedelm Noíchrothach, is a minor character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. After her brother Erc was killed by Conall Cernach, she died of grief on a hill near Tara, which was named Achall after her.
The legendary High King of Ireland Túathal Techtmar is said to have taken power after defeating the previous High King, Elim mac Conrach, in battle on the hill of Achall. According to "The Expulsion of the Déisi", another legendary High King, Cormac mac Airt, lived on the hill of Achall after he lost an eye, his physical imperfection meaning he could no longer rule at Tara. The hill is now known as Skryne.


Mike Caveney

Michael Douglas Caveney (born June 17, 1950) is an American magician, author, publisher, magic historian and collector. He is a life-member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood and a member of The Magic Circle of London. His work as a magician and publisher spans over four decades. He has appeared onstage or on TV in more than 20 countries worldwide and most of the 50 States.
Life and career.
Caveney was raised in the San Gabriel Valley, California. He discovered magic at age nine and as a pre-teen worked for Owen Magic Supreme, where he was paid in magic apparatus. He was a member of the Long Beach Mystics, a club for young magicians, founded in 1955 in Long Beach, California. The club met regularly in the backroom of Brownies Hobby and Magic Shop and produced a myriad of professional magicians including Michael Weber, Stan Allen, Kevin James and Dana Daniels. In 2005, a documentary about the Mystics was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the organization.
In 1995 he received the "John Nevil Maskelyne Award" for literature by the Magic Circle of London. Four years later he was awarded the "Literary Fellowship Award" by the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle. In 2006, he was voted "Stage Magician of the Year" and has been nominated as "Lecturer of the Year" several times by that same organization. In 2010, Caveney received a Special Award for History, Research and Scholarship from FISM.
He is co-organizer and host of the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History, a biennial invitation-only conference to showcase historical magic. The conference is co-hosted by Ricky Jay, John Gaughan and Jim Steinmeyer. As a magic historian, he was featured on A&E's 1997 "Story of Magic", hosted by Ricky Jay.
Author and publisher.
Since 1979, Caveney has published over 50 titles on the theory, practice and history of magic.
His biographical works include" Kellar’s Wonders" (2003) with Bill Miesel, and "Carter the Great" (1995). In 2010 he co-authored, "Magic, 1400s-1950s" for Taschen Books. He is also a contributing editor to "MAGIC - The Independent Magazine for Magicians". He recently published a book of his life's work titled "Mike Caveney Wonders".
Personal life.
Caveney lives in Pasadena, California with his wife Tina Lenert, a magician, mime and harpist. The couple married on April 22, 1979.


Chalk Marks

Chalk Marks is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by John G. Adolfi and starring Marguerite Snow and June Elvidge. It was distributed by Producers Distributing Corporation.
Preservation.
With no prints of "Chalk Marks" located in any film archives, it is a lost film.


Adam Bruce

The Honourable Adam Robert Bruce (born 18 January 1968) is a Scottish solicitor, businessman, and aristocrat who serves as an officer of Arms at the Court of the Lord Lyon.
Education.
Bruce was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the second son of Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin, and Victoria Usher. He was educated at Glenalmond College. Bruce went up to Balliol College to read history, and while at the University of Oxford he was elected as the President of the Oxford Union in 1989. He also took a Law degree at the University of Edinburgh.
Career.
Formerly a solicitor with McGrigors in Edinburgh, where he was Director of Public Policy, Bruce now works in the environmental power industry, having been UK chief executive of Airtricity and the first Chairman of the British Wind Energy Association, now RenewableUK.
He is currently global head of corporate affairs at Mainstream Renewable Power, and from 2009-2015 was a director of the Friends of the Supergrid. In October 2012 he was appointed chairman of the UK Government's Offshore Wind Programme Board. He sat on the steering committee of Norstec, the global offshore wind industry network.
In 2008 Bruce was appointed an officer of arms at the Lyon Court as Unicorn Pursuivant. In April 2012 he was promoted to the position of Marchmont Herald. He was previously Finlaggan Pursuivant (private officer of arms to the Clan Donald), in which role he was installed in 2005 by Godfrey Lord MacDonald. This marked a reinstatement of the traditional MacDonald heraldic role after a break of 510 years.
Bruce is also a Trustee of the St Andrews Fund for Scots Heraldry and a Member of the Council of the Society of Writers to HM Signet.
He sits on a number of advisory bodies, including the Advisory Board of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Safe Access to Fuel and Energy programme, the Steering Board of RE100, and the Development Board of Oxford University's Maths, Physics and Life Sciences Division. He became a Trustee of National Museums Scotland in April 2017 and his term of appointment runs until March 2021.
in 2016 Bruce narrated a three-part series for UCV TV of Chile on the life of his ancestor Admiral Lord Cochrane.
Family.
On 17 May 2003, he married "Donna" Maria Sofia Giovanna Rosa Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte, a younger daughter of the 13th Prince of Belmonte. They live in Edinburgh and have two children.
He is a descendant of Walter FitzAlan, thus a distant relative of the Stewart dynasty and distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.


The Carpet from Bagdad

The Carpet from Bagdad is a 1915 American silent adventure film directed by Colin Campbell and based on Harold MacGrath's 1911 eponymous novel. In the story, Horace Wadsworth (played by Guy Oliver), one of a gang of criminals also planning a bank robbery in New York, steals the titular prayer rug from its Baghdad mosque. He sells the carpet to antique dealer George Jones (Wheeler Oakman) to fund the robbery scheme. But the theft places both men and Fortune Chedsoye (Kathlyn Williams), the innocent daughter of another conspirator, in danger from the carpet's guardian.
Marketing for the film included a media tour of part of the set and an invitation-only screening sponsored by the publisher of MacGrath's book. "The Carpet from Bagdad" was released on May 3, 1915 to mostly positive reviews. Many praised the tinted desert scenes and realistic Middle East imagery, although some felt the scenery overshadowed the characters. The film is now mostly lost, although one badly damaged reel was salvaged from the RMS "Lusitania" in 1982.
Plot.
Horace Wadsworth, disinherited brother of New York banker Arthur Wadsworth, joins a gang of international criminals. He plots to rob his brother's bank by constructing a tunnel from the nearby home of antique dealer George Jones, who is currently on a trip to Cairo to purchase antique rugs. Horace follows him there, and, learning of the Sacred Carpet of Bagdad, joins the caravan of its sworn guardian, Mohamed. Meanwhile, Horace's confederates Major Callahan and Mrs. Chedsoye arrive in Cairo along with Mrs. Chedsoye's daughter, Fortune, who is unaware of her mother's illicit activities.
When the criminals meet with Jones in Cairo, Jones becomes enamored of Fortune. Horace steals the Sacred Carpet from Mohamed's mosque and sells it to Jones to fund the robbery plan. Fortune, becoming suspicious of her mother and the surrounding events, steals the prayer rug from Jones and hides it in her mother's effects. Unable to locate the stolen carpet, Mohamed kidnaps Horace, Jones, and Fortune. Meanwhile, Mrs. Chedsoye and Major Callahan return to New York, where a fourth member of the conspiracy, Wallace, has acquired forged paperwork to gain access to the Jones residence.
The captives escape from Mohamed's planned torture and flee to Damascus. Horace immediately returns to New York to rejoin his compatriots. Fortune and Jones, who have fallen in love, also travel back to New York. Once there, Jones learns of the forgery, and returns home to confront the gang, who still have the Sacred Carpet and who have completed their tunnel into the vaults of Arthur Wadsworth's bank. Sympathetic to Horace after their shared experiences, Jones offers the robbers a two-hour lead before he notifies the police, but keeps the prayer rug. Meanwhile, Mohamed resigns himself to the loss of the carpet.
Production and marketing.
"The Carpet from Bagdad" is a film adaptation of Harold MacGrath's 1911 novel of the same name. MacGrath was a well-traveled, successful author of over a dozen novels. Stories with Asian settings were in vogue at the time, and both "The Carpet from Bagdad" and the Selig Polyscope Company's previous adaptation of MacGrath's work, the popular serial "The Adventures of Kathlyn", are set in part in the Near East.
Director Colin Campbell was concerned with the film's realism. He had sets constructed to represent the streets of Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus, and used animals from the Selig Zoo. Scenes set in the Arabian and Sahara Deserts were filmed in the deserts of California. The Arab characters' clothing was genuine, and the actors portraying those roles were required to remain dressed in-character throughout the several days of desert filming to ensure they would appear more natural in the imported garments. Much of the film, including the desert scenes, was hand tinted. Production costs exceeded $35,000, the equivalent of over $ in present-day terms.
William Selig aggressively promoted his studio and its films. One such promotion, a March 1915 media tour of the unfinished Selig Zoo, allowed reporters a visit to "The Carpet from Bagdad"'s bazaar set. This was the first film distributed by V-L-S-E, a conglomerate created by Vitagraph Studios, Lubin Manufacturing Company, Selig Polyscope Company, and Essanay Studios. The film was also screened in a special invitation-only showing at the art gallery of the Bobbs-Merrill Company, publisher of MacGrath's novel, an early example of a sponsored exhibition of a feature film in a location other than a theater.
Reception.
"The Carpet from Bagdad" was released on May 3, 1915, to generally positive reviews. "Variety" described it as a more interesting film than its title might imply, with "perfect direction and faultless acting". Peter Milne of "Motion Picture News" approved of Campbell's attention to detail and realism. "The Moving Picture World"'s James McQuade praised the film's acting and special effects. Although he believed an unfilmed Cairo scene made Mohamed's motivations easier to understand in the novel, he considered the film a "close second" to Campbell's 1914 "The Spoilers". Clarence Caine's review in "Motography" also compared "The Carpet from Bagdad" favorably to "The Spoilers", but he viewed the film's color as its best feature, especially the closing scene of a desert sunset. Several newspaper reviews also complimented the tinted desert scenes, with New Zealand's "The Levin Chronicle" describing the film as "a gem of the cinematographer's art" for its use of color. The "Chicago Daily Tribune" offered a more mixed opinion on the film; reviewer Kitty Kelly found it difficult to care about characters "overshadowed by environment", and considered the 35-year-old Williams unconvincing as an ingenue.
Despite the acclaim from many contemporary reviewers, modern scholars of the silent film era would not consider "The Carpet from Bagdad" a masterpiece, according to the British Film Institute's Clyde Jeavons.
Partial rediscovery.
Like many films from the silent era, "The Carpet from Bagdad" was believed completely lost, but in 1982 an Oceaneering International diving expedition salvaged a number of artifacts from the wreck of the RMS "Lusitania", including one reel of film. With the assistance of BBC technical advisor Laurie Ward, the BFI National Archive was able to recover images from several feet of the film, sufficient to identify the title, but not to restore any of the film to projectable condition. Although there was a theater on "Lusitania", this print of "The Carpet from Bagdad" was probably being taken to London as a film distributor's preview, as was the case for several other films known to have been on board.


Excel Entertainment

Excel Entertainment is an Indian production company, founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar in 1999. Based in Mumbai, they mainly produce Hindi films. They are also known to be the pioneers of original content on Online Digital platforms in India. In 2017, they released India's first original series for Amazon Prime Video – Inside Edge, which was nominated for the International Emmy Awards for Best Drama Series.
Their first film, Dil Chahta Hai, received critical acclaim. They won national awards for "Dil Chahta Hai" and "Rock On!!". With movies like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Don, Fukrey, Raees and Dil Dhadakne Do, Excel is known for its contemporary and diversified characters and style of cinema. Their film Gully Boy was also India's official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards.
Excel Entertainment also produced the Hindi dubbed versions of the 2018 Indian Kannada-language period action K.G.F: Chapter 1 starring Yash and the 2019 Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, an Indian Telugu-language epic action film, starring Chiranjeevi.
Their upcoming film releases include Toofaan starring Farhan Akhtar,   starring Yash and Phone Bhoot starring Katrina Kaif, Ishan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi. Their upcoming O.T.T. show is Inside Edge Season 3.
Personalities.
Farhan Akhtar.
Farhan Akhtar is the son of scriptwriter, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar and screenplay writer Honey Irani. He is also the grandson of Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar. His stepmother is actress Shabana Azmi.
Ritesh Sidhwani.
Ritesh Sidhwani was born in a Sindhi family in Mumbai, where he received his education. His father is Chandan Tootaram Sidhwani.
Films.
2001 - 2010.
The company’s first production was the critically acclaimed film Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, which marked the directorial debut of Farhan Akhtar. The film received a National Award in the category of Best Feature Film Hindi.
The company then went on to produce the war-drama film Lakshya (2004). While Lakshya (2004) was critically acclaimed, it did not fare well at the box office. Excel also produced the film Don (2006), an official remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don (1978), which did critically and commercially well.This was followed by Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), which was directed by Reema Kagti.
They then produced a short film Positive (2007) directed by Farhan Akhtar, which was a part of AIDS JaaGo (AIDS Awake), in a joint initiative of Mira Nair's Mirabai Films, voluntary organizations Avahan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Excel's next release was Rock On (2007), a musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor. The movie received positive to mixed reviews from critics and did not do well at the box office. It also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Supporting Actor for Arjun Rampal.
This was followed by Zoya Akhtar’s directorial debut film Luck by Chance (2009). The film was well received by some critics, but it again did not do well at the box office.
Excel's next release was Vijay Lalwani’s, psychological thriller film Karthik Calling Karthik (2010) starring Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, and Ram Kapoor. To indulge and prepare for the role, Farhan Akhtar isolated himself at home and turned off his phone. He also learned to solve the Rubik's Cube, an activity that his character completes in only one try.
2011 - 2015.
In 2011, Excel produced an action thriller film Game (2011) directed by Abhinay Deo featuring a large ensemble cast led by Abhishek Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Jimmy Sheirgill. Later that year, Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) film became a critical and commercial success; it starred Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. This was followed by Farhan Akhtar’s second installment in the Don series, Don 2 (2011) starring Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Om Puri. With a box office gross of over ₹202 Crores, the film was one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time and is the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2011.
Excel's second collaboration with Aamir Khan was Talaash (2012), starring Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shernaz Patel. This was followed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba’s light comedy film Fukrey (2013) starring Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Richa Chadda. The film was a sleeper hit and received mixed reviews. The film was also re-released in September 2013 due to public demand.
Excel produced a dark humour film Bangistan (2015) starring Ritesish Deshmukh and Pulkit Samrat. Later that year, the production house produced the social satire family drama film Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) directed by Zoya Akhtar starring Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Anushka Sharma, Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah. The film grossed ₹1.45 billion at the box office against a budget of ₹830 million, and earned a number of accolades.
2016 - Present.
In 2016, Excel produced Nitya Mehra’s romance film Baar Baar Dekho (2016) starring Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, as well as Rock On 2 (2016) starring Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Shraddha Kapoor among others.
The company’s first film in 2017 was Rahul Dholakia’s Raees (2017). It featured Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira Khan. Raees received positive reviews from critics and was a success at Box Office.
This was followed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba’s Fukrey Returns (2017), which was a sequel of the film Fukrey. It received negative reviews.
In 2018, Excel produced a Thriller Drama Film Three Storeys (2018).
After this came Reema Kagti’s historical sports drama Gold (2018) starring Akshay Kumar, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Mouni Roy, Vineet Kumar Singh and Sunny Kaushal. The film netted ₹25.25 crores on its opening day, becoming one of the year's biggest opening day releases.
Excel Entertainment then teamed with Anil Thadani and distributed . The movie received a positive response from audiences while critics gave the film mixed reviews. KGF: Chapter 1 on the first day of its release collected ₹25 crores worldwide, which was the highest opening in the Kannada film industry.
February 2019 saw the release of Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Varma, Kalki Koechlin. The movie won a record 13 Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Ranveer Singh), and Best Actress (Alia Bhatt), and became the second film to win all four acting awards. Additionally, the film was India’s official entry for The Academy Awards in 2020 in the Best Foreign Film Category. Gully Boy received positive reviews from critics with praise directed to Akhtar’s direction, Maurya’s dialogue, Ranveer Singh, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Alia Bhatt for their performances.
In October, Excel distributed the Hindi-dubbed version of Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, starring superstar Chiranjeevi and Amitabh Bachchan, which was originally filmed in Telugu. The movie has also been touted as one of the most expensive films to date with a budget of about ₹ 300 crores. It also boasts of some extravagant VFX shots which promise to be a visual delight.
OTT.
In July 2017, Excel pioneered into the OTT sphere with a sports-drama series Inside Edge created by Karan Anshuman starring Vivek Oberoi, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Richa Chadha, Angad Bedi, Tanuj Virwani, Sayani Gupta among others. The series was critically acclaimed for its strong performances and story line. The series was also nominated for the 46th International Emmy Awards in the category for Best Drama Series.
Their second web series was a Crime-Thriller named Mirzapur (2018) created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna starring Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, Divyendu Sharma, Shweta Tripathi. The series was well received by audiences, but received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Pankaj Tripathi won the Best-Actor Drama at the iReel Awards for the series.
The TV series Made In Heaven (2019) released in March. The show was created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti starring Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh among others. The web-series was appreciated heavily by several critics and multiple positive online reviews. The web-series received an award at the ITA awards for the category Best Series Jury Award and prize for the Best Direction.
A show named Fukrey Boyss (2019) was launched on Discovery Kids.
December 2019 saw the release of Karan Anshuman’s Inside Edge season 2. The second season invites viewers to look at cricket much beyond just a game and manifested a huge public demand.
On 23 October 2020, season 2 of Mirzapur released on Amazon Prime Video.
Upcoming projects.
"" is scheduled to release on 16 July 2021, a sequel to the 2018 film K.G.F: Chapter 1 starring Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty. Excel’s next project, Toofaan starring Farhan Akhtar, Paresh Rawal and Mrunal Thakur directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, is slated to release in 2021.
Phone Bhoot, a horror/comedy is currently being shot and is starring Katrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter in the lead roles, directed by Gurmmeet Singh.
On 15 February 2021, Yudhra starring Siddhant Chaturvedi, Malavika Mohanan and Raghav Juyal was announced. The film is helmed by Ravi Udhyavar and is slated to release in Summer 2022.


Willem Benson

Willem Benson (1521 – 1574), was a Flemish Renaissance painter.
Biography.
He was born in Bruges as the son of Ambrosius Benson, and was the brother of Jan, and the father of Ambrosius II.
His works are confused with Adriaen Isenbrant, and he was sometimes called "Guillaume" or "Guillermo".
He died in Middelburg.

References.


Supa Sirisingh

Supa Sirisingh née Luesiri, (b. 13 August 1945), is a Thai author who writes under the pseudonym Botan, which translates literally from Thai as 'peony'. Her first name frequently appears as Supha. She is married to Viriya Sirisingh, a well-known publisher. Supa Sirisingh is best known for her novel, "Letters from Thailand" ("Chotmai Chak Muang Thai").
Early life.
The youngest daughter in her family, Sirisingh was born in the Phasi Charoen District of Thonburi, separated from Bangkok by the Chao Phraya River. Sirisingh's father was an immigrant from southern China, and her mother was of Chinese descent born in Thailand. She spent much of her childhood working at her parents orchard in Thonburi. Even though her father didn't believe in educating women, she managed to earn enough scholarships, the first of which she won when she was nine years old, to put herself through secondary and primary school, and then through college.
Education.
Sirisingh went to the Sutham Sueksa School for her primary and lower secondary schooling. She continued her upper secondary schooling at Watthana Sueksa School, and, finally, she graduated from high school and earned her diploma at the Triam Udom Sueksa School. She went on to earn her BA and MA degrees in 1966, from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, with a double major in English and Thai.
Career.
Sirisingh first worked as a teacher before becoming a magazine editor, and then a freelance writer. In 1965, she was working as a writer for a Thai women's magazine named "Satrisan" when she first started using the pen name "Botan", one of many she would use throughout her career. She still works as a freelance writer and has published more than sixty novels. Many of her books have been successfully adapted for television and film.
Works.
"Letters from Thailand".
Sirisingh's novel, "Letters from Thailand" ("Chotmai Chak Muang Thai"), was written when she was twenty-one. Susan Fulop Kepner translated the book into English thirteen years later, and it was published in Thailand. Her highly acclaimed novel, which depicts the conflict between Chinese-Thai cultures and the life of ethnic Thais, is one of the best-known English translations of a Thai literary work, and it has been translated into ten languages. The book was never formally published in the West.
At the time of its writing, "Letters from Thailand" was considered controversial because the author refused to leave out aspects of the prevalent culture, opinions, or family matters that others would have ignored. Many Chinese-Thais as well as some native Thais found reasons to be offended by the way their cultures were depicted in the novel.
The book consists of ninety-six letters, ranging from 1945 to 1967, written by a young man to his mother as he makes his way south from south China to emigrate to Thailand.
"That Woman's Name is Boonrod".
"That Woman's Name is Boonrod" ("Phu Ying Khon Nan Chue Boonrod") was published in Thailand in 1980. Vichit Kounavudhi (1922–1997) directed an independent film based on "That Woman's Name is Boonrod" in 1985. The film was featured at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2005.
"Waewvan".
"Waewvan" is briefly mentioned. The title does not translate to English, but like other books Sirisingh has written, it is about the plight of Thai women in the male-dominated Chinese culture.
Awards.
Sirisingh received the (SEATO) literary award for "Letters from Thailand" in 1969, the same year it was published. Some time later, the book would become required reading in high school in an effort to promote detente between the Thai and Chinese cultures. Thirty years later, in 1999, Sirisingh was named a Thailand National Artist of the Year.