Czech heraldry

Czech heraldry was formed from 12th to 13th century by Premyslid dukes and kings of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), beginning with flaming eagle of Saint Wenceslaus on coins of Duke Frederick in 1179.
From 1526 to 1918, it was greatly influenced by Austrian heraldry since the country used to be a part of the Habsburg monarchy, and by German heraldry, but also shows Hungarian and Slavic influences.
Until 1621, armorial bearings could be registered at the Royal Court of Bohemia in Prague. Then, until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, they were recorded in Vienna, from which present-day Czech Republic was ruled.
The double-tailed silver Bohemian lion is seen in many municipal arms in Bohemia but also in Moravia and in the surrounding countries in areas which used to be under the Bohemian crown. Among these are České Budějovice (Budweis), Hostomice, Karlovy Vary, Kolín, Kutná Hora in Bohemia, Slavkov u Brna in Moravia as well as Wrocław in Poland and Zittau in Germany.


Fast and Fearless

Fast and Fearless is a 1924 silent western film directed by Richard Thorpe, written by Betty Burbridge and starring Buffalo Bill, Jr. and Jean Arthur. The film is mostly lost: only reel 2 out of 5 has been saved at the Library of Congress.
Plot.
Lightning Bill Lewis (Bill, Jr.) pursues to capture a gang led by Pedro Gómez (Magrill) that has been terrorizing a border town. When Pedro captures his girlfriend (Arthur), Bill uses the help of Captain Duerta (Riverto) to stop Pedro. In the end, Pedro is caught by Mexican soldiers and Bill is free to marry his girl.


Zelman

Zelman, Zalman, or Zalmen is Jewish given name. Notable people with the name include:


Isaac Applewhite House

Isaac Applewhite House is a historic house on Church Street in Chappell Hill, Texas.
It was built in 1852 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.


Gogarty

Gogarty is an Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include:


Etruscan alphabet

The Etruscan alphabet was the alphabet used by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization of central and northern Italy, to write their language, from about 700 BC to sometime around 100 AD.
The Etruscan alphabet derives from the Euboean alphabet used in the Greek colonies in southern Italy which belonged to the "western" ("red") type, the so-called Western Greek alphabet. Several Old Italic scripts, including the Latin alphabet, derived from it (or simultaneously with it).
Origins.
The Etruscan alphabet originated as an adaptation of the Euboean alphabet used by the Euboean Greeks in their first colonies in Italy, the island of Pithekoussai and the city of Cumae in Campania.
In the alphabets of the West, X had the , Ψ stood for ; in Etruscan: X = , Ψ = or (Rix 202–209).
The earliest known Etruscan "abecedarium" is inscribed on the frame of a wax tablet in ivory, measuring 8.8×5 cm, found at Marsiliana (near Grosseto, Tuscany). It dates from about 700 BC, and lists 26 letters corresponding to contemporary forms of the Greek alphabet, including digamma, san and qoppa, but not omega which had still not been added at the time.
Letters.
The shapes of the Archaic Etruscan and Neo-Etruscan letters had a few variants, used in different places and/or in different epochs. Shown above are the glyphs from the Unicode Old Italic block, whose appearance will depend on the font used by the browser. These are oriented as they would be in lines written from left to right. Also shown are SVG images of variants shown as they would be written right to left, as in most of the actual inscriptions.
Development.
The archaic form of the Etruscan alphabet remained practically unchanged from its origin in the 8th century BC until about 600 BC, and the direction of writing was free. From the 6th century BC, however, the alphabet evolved, adjusting to the phonology of the Etruscan language, and letters representing phonemes nonexistent in Etruscan were dropped. By 400 BC, it appears that all of Etruria was using the classical Etruscan alphabet of 20 letters, mostly written from right to left.
An additional sign , in shape similar to the numeral 8, transcribed as F, was present in Lydian, Neo-Etruscan and in Italic alphabets of Osco-Umbrian languages such as Oscan, Umbrian, Old Sabine and South Picene (Old Volscian). This sign was introduced in Etruscan around 600-550 BC and was not present in the Marsiliana tablet, the earliest example of Etruscan alphabet. If previously it was thought that the sign may have been an altered B or H or an ex novo creation, or even an Etruscan invention, an early Sabellian inscription suggests that it is instead an invention of speakers of a Sabellian language (Osco-Umbrian languages). Its sound value was and it replaced the Etruscan digraph FH that was previously used to express that sound. Some letters were, on the other hand, falling out of use. Etruscan did not have any voiced stops, for which B, C, D were originally intended (/b/, /g/, and /d/ respectively). The B and D therefore fell out of use, and the C, which is simpler and easier to write than K, was adopted to write /k/, mostly displacing K itself. Likewise, since Etruscan had no /o/ vowel sound, O disappeared and was replaced by U. In the course of its simplification, the redundant letters showed some tendency towards a semi-syllabary: C, K and Q were predominantly used in the contexts CE, KA, QU.
This classical alphabet remained in use until the 2nd century BC when it began to be influenced by the rise of the Latin alphabet. The Romans, who did have voiced stops in their language, revived B and D for /b/ and /d/, and used C for both /k/ and /g/, until they invented a separate letter G to distinguish the two sounds. Soon after, the Etruscan language itself became extinct – so thoroughly that its vocabulary and grammar are still only partly known, in spite of more than a century of intense research.
Legacy.
The Etruscan alphabet apparently was the immediate ancestor for the Latin alphabet, as well as of several Old Italic scripts used in Italy before the rise of Rome, such as those used in the Oscan, Umbrian, Lepontic, Rhaetian (or Raetic), Venetic, Messapian, North and South Picene, and Camunic inscriptions.


The Hue and Cry After Cupid

The Hue and Cry After Cupid, or A Hue and Cry After Cupid, also Lord Haddington's Masque or The Masque at Lord Haddington's Marriage, or even The Masque With the Nuptial Songs at the Lord Viscount Haddington's Marriage at Court, was a masque performed on Shrove Tuesday night, 9 February 1608, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The work was written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco – the team of creators responsible for previous and subsequent masques for the Stuart Court.
The marriage.
The masque celebrated the marriage of John, Lord Ramsay, Viscount Haddington, to Lady Elizabeth Radclyffe, the daughter of Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex. Following the precedent of the masque "Hymenaei" in 1606, the marriage was celebrated at Court because it involved an important Scottish nobleman marrying an English aristocrat, which was in keeping with the policy of King James I to favor close ties between his two kingdoms. The groom, the former Sir John Ramsay, was a close confederate of the King, and had saved James from assassination eight years earlier. The preparation of the masque was supervised by James's Queen, Anne of Denmark, who was the key promoter of masquing at the Stuart Court.
The show.
The principal masquers, nobles and gentlemen of the Court, appeared in the guise of the twelve signs of the Zodiac; the men, five English and seven Scottish courtiers, were The Duke of Lennox, the Earls of Arundel, Montgomery, and Pembroke, the Lords D'Aubigny, De Walden, Hay, and Sanquhar, the Master of Mar, Sir John Kennedy, Sir Robert Rich, and a Mr. Erskine. Their Zodiac was supported by a cast of mythical figures that included Venus, Cupid, the Graces, Hymen, and Vulcan, among others. The musicians were priests of Hymen, while Cyclops beat time with their hammers.
The set for the masque was noteworthy in that it may well have been the first instance in which the proscenium arch was employed in British theatre. Within the arch, the initial set took the form of a large red cliff (suggesting "Radcliff"); clouds broke over it to reveal the chariot of Venus. The red cliff split open (a trademark Inigo Jones effect) to display a silver sphere that held the masquers, who emerged to perform four dances. Contemporary accounts state that the "singular brave masque" and the general dancing that followed lasted till three o'clock in the morning.
The twelve principal masquers reported spent £300 each on their costumes of carnation and silver.
The source.
The masque adapts a tale from the "Idyll" of the Ancient Greek pastoral poet Moschus. the "Idyll" was extremely popular during the Renaissance and was known in various French and Italian adaptations; the actual version that Jonson employed for his text is uncertain.
Publication.
The masque was published in quarto, in an undated edition that probably (to judge by the examples of previous masques) was issued soon after the February performance. The text was reprinted in the first folio collection of Jonson's works in 1616, and in subsequent collections of Jonson's works.


Grip Ltd.

Grip was a Toronto, Ontario design firm that was home to many of Canada's premier designers and painters during the first half of the 20th century.
The company was founded in 1873 by the cartoonist J. W. Bengough to publish his satirical weekly magazine "Grip". Bengough also published chapbooks and did design work and advertising for various clients. He lost control of the company in the 1890s and the magazine ceased publication in 1892.
After that date the company became better known as an important design firm, providing artwork, wood cuts, and other services for merchandise and print advertising. In the early 20th century it was technologically and artistically one of the most sophisticated design firms in the country.
It was one of the first employers of many of Canada's major artists of the period, and is perhaps most important as where many of the Group of Seven met one another for the first time. In 1906 J.E.H. Macdonald became its head designer. In 1908 Tom Thomson and Frank Johnston joined the firm as two of Macdonald's designers. In 1911 Franklin Carmichael was hired as an office boy. That same year Arthur Lismer crossed the Atlantic to come work for the firm. The year after, Fred Varley made the same journey to work for Grip.
The company was later renamed Rapid Grip. Later it became known as Batten, then Bomac Batten, until it was finally purchased by the Laird Group.
"Grip" magazine was briefly revived in 2000 as a satirical quarterly, published by the Toronto-based Lategan Media Group.


Hereford Castle

Hereford Castle is a castle that used to be in the cathedral city of Hereford, the county town of Herefordshire, England (). Founded sometime before 1052, it was one of the earliest castles in England. Hereford Castle was probably destroyed when the Welsh sacked Hereford in 1055, but seems to have been replaced by the following decade. During the civil war of King Stephen's reign, the castle was besieged three times; the garrison surrendered each time and control of Hereford Castle changed hands.
History.
Early history.
During the 11th century, the county of Herefordshire was subject to attacks from Wales. Rather than repairing the town defences of Hereford, the county town, Ralph (son of the Count of Vexin) chose to build a castle within the settlement's defences. Ralph was made Earl of Hereford in about 1046; the date of the castle's foundation is uncertain, but it was present by 1052. This first castle is thought to have occupied the area of the later castle, in the east of the town. The areas to the north and west were densely occupied, and to the south was the River Wye. In 1055, the town and castle of Hereford were sacked by the Welsh. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" recorded the incident:
Harold Godwinson repaired the town's defences in 1056, but what happened to the castle is not mentioned. Shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066, William FitzOsbern was made Earl of Hereford. He may have rebuilt the castle as it was in use in 1067 when the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" noted that Eadric the Wild harassed its garrison. In 1071 William FitzOsbern died and his son Roger took over possession of the castle. He was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to depose King William and consequently forfeited the castle.
In April 1138, Geoffrey Talbot captured Hereford Castle from supporters of King Stephen. Later that year Stephen besieged the castle until it surrendered. In 1140 during the Anarchy Geoffrey Talbot and Miles of Gloucester captured the castle from the garrison supporting King Stephen. During the siege the cemetery of the Church of St Guthlac was desecrated. The "Gesta Stephani" recorded the event:
Geoffrey Talbot and Miles of Gloucester set up siege engines so that the castle was attacked from two directions, and the garrison eventually surrendered. In 1154 Matilda's son Henry II granted the motte of Hereford to Roger of Gloucester but a rebellion followed and Henry retook possession and for the rest of its history the castle remained royal. In 1216 John made Walter de Lacy sheriff of the county of Herefordshire and granted him the custody of the Royal castle at Hereford and the following year work was undertaken to strengthen the castle against the Welsh attacks.
During the Second Barons' War from 1264 and 1267 the castle came for a time the headquarters of the baronial party headed by Simon de Montfort and during the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion from 1400 to 1411 King Henry IV based himself at Hereford castle preparing sorties and campaigns into Wales.
Later history.
During the Civil War Herefordshire was very much a Royalist stronghold but the castle does not appear to have played a significant part. It was eventually sold to Sir Richard Harley and several of his friends but it then went into decline. Most of what remained of the castle seems to have been destroyed in the 1650s and the stone used for other buildings within the city.
According to John Leland, the antiquary, in the early 16th century the castle at Hereford was once "nearly as large as that of Windsor' and 'one of the fairest and strongest in all England".
In 1752 the ruins were leased to the Society of Tempers and the site was transformed into what is today Castle Green and, in 1833, the Castle Green (which had been the bailey of the castle) was leased to the county council for a period of 200 years. The council is still responsible today for the maintenance and upkeep of the area in its present form of a recreation area.
A monument to Lord Nelson standing on the site today was erected in the centre of the bailey in 1809.


Barry Schwabsky

Barry Schwabsky (b. Paterson, New Jersey in 1957) is an American art critic, art historian and poet. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, New York University, Yale University, and Goldsmiths College, among others.
Art criticism.
Schwabsky is art critic for "The Nation" (the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States) and co-editor of international reviews for "Artforum". Schwabsky's essays have appeared in many other publications, including "Flash Art", "Contemporary", "Artforum", "London Review of Books" and "Art in America".
His art criticism books include: "Words for Art: Criticism, History, Theory, Practice" (Ram Publications); "The Widening Circle: Consequences of Modernism in Contemporary Art" (Cambridge University Press); and contributions to "Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques" and "Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting" (Phaidon Press). He has published books on Jessica Stockholder (Phaidon Press), Mel Bochner, Chloe Piene, Karin Davie, Dana Schutz, Alex Katz, Gillian Wearing: Mass Observation (Merrill Publishers), Henri Matisse and Alighiero Boetti, among others.
He was an early contributor to The Thing.
Personal life.
Schwabsky attended Haverford College (class of 1979) and is married to artist Carol Szymanski. They reside in New York City with their two daughters.


The Hollywood Sculpture Garden

The Hollywood Sculpture Garden is an outdoor garden in Los Angeles dedicated to the display of sculptures by various artists, including local, national, and international artists.
It was founded in May 2012, by Dr. Robby Gordon, and is located at 2430 Vasanta Way, Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills (below the Hollywood sign). It currently hosts over 100 different sculptures, which can be viewed from street-level, as well as during private events and pre-arranged appointments. There are two viewing balconies overlooking the garden, as well as pathways and stairs that were added later on (2018 - 2020).
The Hollywood Sculpture Garden is open to the public (viewings by appointment only), and also holds regular art receptions and fundraisers. It was featured in Los Angeles Magazine on the "Best of LA" list (issue 08/17), as well as other publications and websites. Atlas Obscura touted it as a, "A Dazzling Hodgepodge in the Hills," in its article, "An Explorer's Guide To Hidden Hollywood."
The Hollywood Sculpture Garden is also occasionally used as a backdrop for film productions and photoshoots. It may be rented as a venue for a range of events, including fashion shows, weddings, private parties, and pop-up art shows.


Malamed

Malamed is a Hebrew surname which translates to "teacher" in English, a variant of Melamed; see this page for other variants.
Malamed may refer to:


The Ghost City

The Ghost City is a 1923 American Western film serial directed by Jay Marchant. It is considered to be a lost film.


Chatrichalerm Yukol

Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol (; ; born November 29, 1942), or usually known by his nickname Mui (), is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, "The Legend of Suriyothai". A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the most junior title still considered royalty. For "Suriyothai" as well as his 2007 historical epic, "King Naresuan", Chatrichalerm was backed by Queen Sirikit.
Four of his films have been submitted by Thailand for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: "The Elephant Keeper", "Song for Chao Phya", "Daughter 2" and "King of Fire". In 1981, he was a member of the jury at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.
Biography.
Early life.
Prince Chatrichalerm's parents, Prince Anusorn Mongkolkarn and Mom Ubol Yukol Na Ayudhya were filmmakers and co-founders of the Lavo Pappayon Company. His uncle was Prince Bhanu Yukol, a pioneering Thai filmmaker.
Chatrichalerm was sent to Australia for schooling, and from there he went to UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in geology. His minor was film studies, and he shared classes with Francis Ford Coppola and Roman Polanski. He also worked as an assistant to director and producer Merian C. Cooper. (Chatrichalerm's grandfather, Prince Yugala Dighambara, had helped "King Kong" makers Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack with the filming of "Chang" in 1927.)
Early films.
Though he's best known for his work on "Suriyothai," Chatrichalerm's filmography stretches back to the 1970s. His first film, 1971's "Out of the Darkness", was the first Thai science fiction film.
He was among the first of a new wave of Thai directors to produce films reflecting changes in society. One of these films was his "Khao Chue Karn" ("Dr. Karn"), based on a well-known story by Suwannee Sukhontha. Released in the months leading up to the bloody pro-democracy student uprisings of 1973, "Dr. Karn" dared to address corruption in Thai society.
Even Chatrichalerm's status as a prince didn't rate when the authoritarian government's censor wanted to cut the film. Chatrichalerm personally showed the film to Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and was able to persuade the dictator to let the film be released uncut.
Social message films.
Most of Chatrichalerm's films have some kind of social message, such as the downside of prostitution ("Hotel Angel", 1974), teenage sex and delinquency ("Daughter" and "Daughter 2"), protecting the environment ("The Elephant Keeper", 1987), or the evils of the drug trade ("Powder Road", 1991). His films resist depicting any glamor, focusing on the poor, downtrodden working classes, such as "Freedom of Taxi Driver" (1984) or "Song for Chao Phya" and often with gritty action, such as "Gunman" (1983), "Salween" (1993), and "The Colonel" (1974).
Three of his films from this period were submitted by Thailand for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: "The Elephant Keeper", "Song for Chao Phya" and "Daughter 2".
Royal epics.
Around 1999, Chatrichalerm embarked on the most ambitious film project of his career, "The Legend of Suriyothai", a lavish production about a 16th-century Siamese queen, Suriyothai. For his production, he received the backing of Queen Sirikit and the royal family. The film was at first conceived as being eight hours long. By the time it premiered in Thai cinemas, it was nearly three hours long. An even-more-condensed version was released in the United States in 2003, edited and "presented by" Francis Ford Coppola, a former classmate of Chatrichalerm's from UCLA.
After "Suriyothai", Chatrichalerm started work on an even bigger project, "King Naresuan", about the 16th century Siamese monarch, Naresuan. More epic in scope than "Suriyothai", "Naresuan" was initially released in two parts in early 2007. Under the title "King of Fire", the second part of the series was submitted by Thailand for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. As of late 2007, a third part is scheduled to start production in early 2008.


Beasts of Paradise

Beasts of Paradise is a 1923 American adventure silent film serial directed by William James Craft. The film stars William Desmond and Eileen Sedgwick and was produced and released by Universal Pictures. The film is presumed to be lost.
Synopsis.
The story is told in 15 episodes which Universal advertised as: Laid aboard ship and on a mysterious island in the South Seas, the picture plot admitted of romantic and suspenseful handling. The action includes much jungle stuff and adventures on the part of the leading characters in which wild animals figure. These punch scenes include fights with lions, alligators, elephants and other jungle denizens. Especial pains were taken at Universal City, which boasts the best menagerie in the film industry, to inject real suspense and dangerous situations into the animal sequences. The sea sequences also were made with an eye to the outdoing of all previous serial thrills. Under-water fights, shark fights, submarine adventures and other aquatic thrills figure in many of the fifteen episodes of the serial.


South Oxfordshire Courier

The South Oxfordshire Courier was a free newspaper distributed throughout the towns of Abingdon, Wantage, Faringdon, Wallingford and Didcot in Oxfordshire, UK. It was owned by Courier Newspapers (Oxford) Ltd and later Tri-Media Publishing.
It was launched in 1981 and in 2004 was renamed "Courier Journal" as part of a merger with its sister paper, the "Oxford Journal". The paper became part of the Milestone Group in 2003. In September 2006, the original title was reinstated after Milestone Group sold the Courier group to its managing director for £50,000.
On 3 January 2008, it was announced that the "South Oxfordshire Courier" would be retired in favour of the "Oxford Journal" name, effectively ending the "Courier" after 27 years. However, a new paper was launched in August 2011 called the "Oxfordshire Guardian", which covers the area of the Courier.


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

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


Rahere

Rahere (pronounced ), or Raher or Raherius, was an Anglo-Norman priest and monk. He was a favourite of King Henry I and is most famous for having founded the Priory of the Hospital of St Bartholomew in 1123.
Many of the details of Rahere's life have become confused, having been variously described as a cleric, a courtier, a minstrel and a jester, but undoubtedly Rahere existed and did many of the things in the legends about him. He may at different times in his life have been all of these.
Rahere is listed as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral in a document of 1115. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he fell ill and had a reputed vision of St Bartholomew, who directed him to establish a religious hospital. Upon his return to England, he followed this calling and founded a priory at Smithfield in London, being installed as its prior, a position he held until his death. An ornate tomb in his memory can be found inside the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great.
He is the subject of Rudyard Kipling's poem "Rahere", collected in "Debits and Credits", as well as being a major figure in Kipling's story "The Tree of Justice", featuring in "Rewards and Fairies". He is also a significant character in Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novel for children, "The Witch's Brat" (1970). It seems likely that Sutcliff was first introduced to Rahere by reading Kipling's "Rewards and Fairies" as a child and later chose him as a character for one of her own books: Kipling's works are a significant and openly acknowledged inspiration for Sutcliff.


Masino Intaray

Masino Intaray was a Filipino poet, bard artist, and musician who is a Palawan native known for his performance of the local traditions of "basal", "kulilal" and "bagit". He is also a recipient of the National Living Treasure recognition.
Intaray was born on April 10, 1943, in Makagwa Valley and lived in Brooke's Point, Palawan. He is known for playing multiple indigenous instruments namely the "basal" (gong), "aroding" (mouth harp), and the "babarak" (ring flute). Intaray is also known for his performance of "kulilal" or songs and bagit, a form of vocal music.
The Palawan native was married and had four children. Intaray died on November 30, 2013, due to complications from diabetes which included multiple bouts of stroke. He was aged 70.


Armorial of Mexico

Each of the 31 states of Mexico and Mexico City has a separate coat of arms. Each Mexican state flag contains the respective state arms, typically on a white background.


Cinema of France

French cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.
Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the French government.
Apart from its strong and innovative film tradition, France has also been a gathering spot for artists from across Europe and the world. For this reason, French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of foreign nations. Directors from nations such as Poland (Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Andrzej Żuławski), Argentina (Gaspar Noé and Edgardo Cozarinsky), Russia (Alexandre Alexeieff, Anatole Litvak), Austria (Michael Haneke), and Georgia (Géla Babluani, Otar Iosseliani) are prominent in the ranks of French cinema. Conversely, French directors have had prolific and influential careers in other countries, such as Luc Besson, Jacques Tourneur, or Francis Veber in the United States.
Another element supporting this fact is that Paris has the highest density of cinemas in the world, measured by the number of movie theaters per inhabitant, and that in most "downtown Paris" movie theaters, foreign movies which would be secluded to "art houses" cinemas in other places are shown alongside "mainstream" works. Philippe Binant realized, on 2 February 2000, the first digital cinema projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris. Paris also boasts the Cité du cinéma, a major studio north of the city, and Disney Studio, a theme park devoted to the cinema and the third theme park near the city behind Disneyland and Parc Asterix.
France is the most successful film industry in Europe in terms of number of films produced per annum, with a record-breaking 300 feature-length films produced in 2015. France is also one of the few countries where non-American productions have the biggest share: American films only represented 44.9% of total admissions in 2014. This is largely due to the commercial strength of domestic productions, which accounted for 44,5% of admissions in 2014 (35.5% in 2015; 35.3% in 2016). Also, the French film industry is closer to being entirely self-sufficient than any other country in Europe, recovering around 80–90% of costs from revenues generated in the domestic market alone.
In 2013, France was the 2nd largest exporter of films in the world after the United States. A study in April 2014 showed the positive image which French cinema maintains around the world, being the most appreciated cinema after American cinema.
History.
Les frères Lumière released the first projection with the Cinematograph, in Paris on 28 December 1895. The French film industry in the late 19th century and early 20th century was the world's most important. Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinématographe and their "L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat" in Paris in 1895 is considered by many historians as the official birth of cinematography. French films during this period catered to a growing middle class and were mostly shown in cafés and traveling fairs.
The early days of the industry, from 1896 to 1902, saw the dominance of four firms: Pathé Frères, the Gaumont Film Company, the Georges Méliès company, and the Lumières. Méliès invented many of the techniques of cinematic grammar, and among his fantastic, surreal short subjects is the first science fiction film "A Trip to the Moon" ("Le Voyage dans la Lune") in 1902.
In 1902 the Lumières abandoned everything but the production of film stock, leaving Méliès as the weakest player of the remaining three. (He would retire in 1914.) From 1904 to 1911 the Pathé Frères company led the world in film production and distribution.
At Gaumont, pioneer Alice Guy-Blaché (M. Gaumont's former secretary) was made head of production and oversaw about 400 films, from her first, "La Fée aux Choux", in 1896, through 1906. She then continued her career in the United States, as did Maurice Tourneur and Léonce Perret after World War I.
In 1907 Gaumont owned and operated the biggest movie studio in the world, and along with the boom in construction of "luxury cinemas" like the Gaumont-Palace and the Pathé-Palace (both 1911), cinema became an economic challenger to theater by 1914.
After World War I.
After World War I, the French film industry suffered because of a lack of capital, and film production decreased as it did in most other European countries. This allowed the United States film industry to enter the European cinema market, because American films could be sold more cheaply than European productions, since the studios already had recouped their costs in the home market. When film studios in Europe began to fail, many European countries began to set import barriers. France installed an import quota of 1:7, meaning for every seven foreign films imported to France, one French film was to be produced and shown in French cinemas.
During the period between World War I and World War II, Jacques Feyder and Jean Vigo became two of the founders of poetic realism in French cinema. They also dominated French impressionist cinema, along with Abel Gance, Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein.
In 1931, Marcel Pagnol filmed the first of his great trilogy "Marius", "Fanny", and "César". He followed this with other films including "The Baker's Wife". Other notable films of the 1930s included René Clair's "Under the Roofs of Paris" (1930), Jean Vigo's "L'Atalante" (1934), Jacques Feyder's "Carnival in Flanders" (1935), and Julien Duvivier's "La belle equipe" (1936). In 1935, renowned playwright and actor Sacha Guitry directed his first film and went on to make more than 30 films that were precursors to the New Wave era. In 1937, Jean Renoir, the son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed "La Grande Illusion" ("The Grand Illusion"). In 1939, Renoir directed "La Règle du Jeu" ("The Rules of the Game"). Several critics have cited this film as one of the greatest of all-time, particularly for its innovative camerawork, cinematography and sound editing.
Marcel Carné's "Les Enfants du Paradis" ("Children of Paradise") was filmed during World War II and released in 1945. The three-hour film was extremely difficult to make due to the Nazi occupation. Set in Paris in 1828, it was voted Best French Film of the Century in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in the late 1990s.
Post–World War II.
1940s–1970s.
In the magazine "Cahiers du cinéma", founded by André Bazin and two other writers in 1951, film critics raised the level of discussion of the cinema, providing a platform for the birth of modern film theory. Several of the "Cahiers" critics, including Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette and Éric Rohmer, went on to make films themselves, creating what was to become known as the French New Wave. Some of the first films of this new movement were Godard's "Breathless" ("À bout de souffle", 1960), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Rivette's "Paris Belongs to Us" ("Paris nous appartient", 1958 – distributed in 1961), starring Jean-Claude Brialy and Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" ("Les Quatre Cent Coups", 1959) starring Jean-Pierre Léaud. Later works are "Contempt" (1963) by Godard starring Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli and "Stolen Kisses" starring Léaud and Claude Jade. Because Truffaut followed the hero of his screen debut, Antoine Doinel, for twenty years, the last post-New-Wave-film is "Love on the Run" in which his heroes Antoine (Léaud) and Christine (Jade) get divorced.
Many contemporaries of Godard and Truffaut followed suit, or achieved international critical acclaim with styles of their own, such as the minimalist films of Robert Bresson and Jean-Pierre Melville, the Hitchcockian-like thrillers of Henri-Georges Clouzot, and other New Wave films by Agnès Varda and Alain Resnais. The movement, while an inspiration to other national cinemas and unmistakably a direct influence on the future New Hollywood directors, slowly faded by the end of the 1960s.
During this period, French commercial film also made a name for itself. Immensely popular French comedies with Louis de Funès topped the French box office. The war comedy "La Grande Vadrouille" (1966), from Gérard Oury with Bourvil and Terry-Thomas, was the most successful film in French theaters for more than 30 years. Another example was "La Folie des grandeurs" with Yves Montand. French cinema also was the birthplace for many subgenres of the crime film, most notably the modern caper film, starting with 1955's "Rififi" by American-born director Jules Dassin and followed by a large number of serious, noirish heist dramas as well as playful caper comedies throughout the sixties, and the "polar," a typical French blend of film noir and detective fiction.
In addition, French movie stars began to claim fame abroad as well as at home. Popular actors of the period included Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Simone Signoret, Yves Montand, Jean-Paul Belmondo and still Jean Gabin.
Since the Sixties and the early Seventies they are completed and followed by Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret as character actors, Annie Girardot, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Isabelle Huppert, Anny Duperey, Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Miou-Miou, Brigitte Fossey, Stéphane Audran and Isabelle Adjani. During the Eightees they are added by a new generation including Sophie Marceau, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Sabine Azema, Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil.
The 1979 film "La Cage aux Folles" ran for well over a year at the Paris Theatre, an arthouse cinema in New York City, and was a commercial success at theaters throughout the country, in both urban and rural areas. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and for years it remained the most successful foreign film to be released in the United States.
1980s.
Jean-Jacques Beineix's "Diva" (1981) sparked the beginning of the 1980s wave of French cinema. Movies which followed in its wake included "Betty Blue" ("37°2 le matin", 1986) by Beineix, "The Big Blue" ("Le Grand bleu", 1988) by Luc Besson, and "The Lovers on the Bridge" ("Les Amants du Pont-Neuf", 1991) by Léos Carax. These films, made with a slick commercial style and emphasizing the alienation of their main characters, was known as Cinema du look.
"Camille Claudel", directed by newcomer Bruno Nuytten and starring Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu, was a major commercial success in 1988, earning Adjani, who was also the film's co-producer, a César Award for best actress. The historical drama film "Jean de Florette" (1986) and its sequel "Manon des Sources" (1986) were among the highest grossing French films in history and brought Daniel Auteuil international recognition.
According to Raphaël Bassan, in his article «"The Angel": Un météore dans le ciel de l'animation,» "La Revue du cinéma", n° 393, avril 1984. , Patrick Bokanowski's "The Angel", shown in 1982 at the Cannes Film Festival, can be considered the beginnings of contemporary animation. The masks erase all human personality in the characters. Patrick Bokanowski would thus have total control over the "matter" of the image and its optical composition. This is especially noticeable throughout the film, with images taken through distorted objectives or a plastic work on the sets and costumes, for example in the scene of the designer. Patrick Bokanowski creates his own universe and obeys his own aesthetic logic. It takes us through a series of distorted areas, obscure visions, metamorphoses and synthetic objects. Indeed, in the film, the human may be viewed as a fetish object (for example, the doll hanging by a thread), with reference to Kafkaesque and Freudian theories on automata and the fear of man faced with something as complex as him. The ascent of the stairs would be the liberation of the ideas of death, culture, and sex that makes us reach the emblematic figure of the angel.
1990s.
Jean-Paul Rappeneau's "Cyrano de Bergerac" was a major box-office success in 1990, earning several César Awards, including best actor for Gérard Depardieu, as well as an Academy Award nomination for best foreign picture.
Luc Besson made "La Femme Nikita" in 1990, a movie that inspired remakes in both United States and in Hong Kong. In 1994, he also made "" (starring Jean Reno and a young Natalie Portman), and in 1997 "The Fifth Element", which became a cult favorite and launched the career of Milla Jovovich.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet made "Delicatessen" and "The City of Lost Children" ("La Cité des enfants perdus"), both of which featured a distinctly fantastical style.
In 1992, Claude Sautet co-wrote (with Jacques Fieschi) and directed "Un Coeur en Hiver", considered by many to be a masterpiece. Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film "Hate" ("La Haine") received critical praise and made Vincent Cassel a star, and in 1997, Juliette Binoche won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The English Patient".
The success of Michel Ocelot's "Kirikou and the Sorceress" in 1998 rejuvenated the production of original feature-length animated films by such filmmakers as Jean-François Laguionie and Sylvain Chomet.
2000s.
In 2000, Philippe Binant realized the first digital cinema projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris.
In 2001, after a brief stint in Hollywood, Jean-Pierre Jeunet returned to France with "Amélie" ("Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain") starring Audrey Tautou. It became the highest-grossing French-language film ever released in the United States. The following year, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980 and went on to gross more than $70 million worldwide.
In 2008, Marion Cotillard won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of legendary French singer Édith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose", the first French-language performance to be so honored. The film won two Oscars and four BAFTAs and became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980. Cotillard was the first female and second person to win both an Academy Award and César Award for the same performance.
At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, "Entre les murs" ("The Class") won the Palme d'Or, the 6th French victory at the festival. The 2000s also saw an increase in the number of individual competitive awards won by French artists at the Cannes Festival, for direction (Tony Gatlif, "Exils", 2004), screenplay (Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, "Look at Me", 2004), female acting (Isabelle Huppert, "The Piano Teacher", 2001; Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Antichrist", 2009) and male acting (Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila and Bernard Blancan, "Days of Glory", 2006).
The 2008 rural comedy "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" drew an audience of more than 20 million, the first French film to do so. Its $193 million gross in France puts it just behind "Titanic" as the most successful film of all time in French theaters.
In the 2000s, several French directors made international productions, often in the action genre. These include Gérard Pirès ("Riders", 2002), Pitof ("Catwoman", 2004), Jean-François Richet ("Assault on Precinct 13", 2005), Florent Emilio Siri ("Hostage", 2005), Christophe Gans ("Silent Hill", 2006), Mathieu Kassovitz ("Babylon A.D.", 2008), Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter", 2002; "Transporter 2", 2005; Olivier Megaton directed "Transporter 3", 2008), Alexandre Aja ("Mirrors", 2008), and Pierre Morel ("Taken", 2009).
Surveying the entire range of French filmmaking today, Tim Palmer calls contemporary cinema in France a kind of eco-system, in which commercial cinema co-exists with artistic radicalism, first-time directors (who make up about 40% of all France's directors each year) mingle with veterans, and there even occasionally emerges a fascinating pop-art hybridity, in which the features of intellectual and mass cinemas are interrelated (as in filmmakers like Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Olivier Assayas, Maïwenn, Sophie Fillières, Serge Bozon, and others).
2010s.
One of the most noticed and best reviewed films of 2010 was the drama "Of Gods and Men" ("Des hommes et des dieux"), about the assassination of seven monks in Tibhirine, Algeria. 2011 saw the release of "The Artist", a silent film shot in black and white by Michel Hazanavicius that reflected on the end of Hollywood's silent era.
French cinema continued its upward trend of earning awards at the Cannes Festival, including the prestigious Grand Prix for "Of Gods and Men" (2010) and the Jury Prize for Poliss (2011); the Best Director Award for Mathieu Amalric ("On Tour", 2010); the Best Actress Award for Juliette Binoche ("Certified Copy", 2010); and the Best Actor Award for Jean Dujardin ("The Artist", 2011).
In 2011, the film "Intouchables" became the most watched film in France (including the foreign films). After ten weeks nearly 17.5 million people had seen the film in France, Intouchables was the second most-seen French movie of all-time in France, and the third including foreign movies.
In 2012, with 226 million admissions (US$1,900 million) in the world for French films (582 films released in 84 countries), including 82 million admissions in France (US$700 million), 2012 was the fourth best year since 1985. With 144 million admissions outside France (US$1,200 million), 2012 was the best year since at least 1994 (since Unifrance collects data), and the French cinema reached a market share of 2.95% of worldwide admissions and of 4.86% of worldwide sales. Three films particularly contributed to this record year: "Taken 2", "The Intouchables" and "The Artist". In 2012, films shot in French ranked 4th in admissions (145 million) behind films shot in English (more than a billion admissions in the US alone), Hindi (?: no accurate data but estimated at 3 billion for the whole India/Indian languages) and Chinese (275 million in China plus a few million abroad), but above films shot in Korean (115 million admissions in South Korea plus a few millions abroad) and Japanese (102 million admissions in Japan plus a few million abroad, a record since 1973 et its 104 million admissions). French-language movies ranked 2nd in export (outside of French-speaking countries) after films in English. 2012 was also the year French animation studio Mac Guff was acquired by an American studio, Universal Pictures, through its Illumination Entertainment subsidiary. Illumination Mac Guff became the animation studio for some of the top English-language animated movies of the 2010s, including "The Lorax" and the "Despicable Me" franchise.
In 2015 French cinema sold 106 million tickets and grossed €600 million outside of the country. The highest-grossing film was "Taken 3" (€261.7 million) and the largest territory in admissions was China (14.7 million).
Government support.
As the advent of television threatened the success of cinema, countries were faced with the problem of reviving movie-going. The French cinema market, and more generally the French-speaking market, is smaller than the English-speaking market; one reason being that some major markets, including prominently the United States, are reluctant to generally accept foreign films, especially foreign-language and subtitled productions. As a consequence, French movies have to be amortized on a relatively small market and thus generally have budgets far lower than their American counterparts, ruling out expensive settings and special effects.
The French government has implemented various measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theaters. The Canal+ TV channel has a broadcast license requiring it to support the production of movies. Some taxes are levied on movies and TV channels for use as subsidies for movie production. Some tax breaks are given for investment in movie productions, as is common elsewhere including in the United States. The sale of DVDs is prohibited for four months after the showing in theaters, so as to ensure some revenue for movie theaters.
Co-production.
The French national and regional governments involve themselves in film production. For example, the award-winning documentary "In the Land of the Deaf" ("Le Pays des sourds") was created by Nicolas Philibert in 1992. The film was co-produced by multinational partners, which reduced the financial risks inherent in the project; and co-production also ensured enhanced distribution opportunities.
In Anglophone distribution, "In the Land of the Deaf" was presented in French Sign Language (FSL) and French, with English subtitles and closed captions.
Film distribution and production companies.
Notable French film distribution and/or production companies include:


Hermogenes of Priene

Interest in Hermogenes of Priene (late 3rd - early 2nd century BC), the Hellenistic architect of a temple of Artemis Leukophryene ("Artemision") at Magnesia in Lydia, an Ionian colony on the banks of the Maeander river in Anatolia, has been sparked by references to his esthetic made by the 1st-century Roman architect Vitruvius ("De Architectura", books iii, 2 and 6).
Hermogenes' rules on symmetry and proportion define what Vitruvius calls "eustyle" ("eu stylos" "right column"), an architectural ideal that prescribed a series of proportional relationships for temples that was all derived from the diameter of the column, as a module or unit of measure. Ideal "eustyle" intercolumniation (the space between the columns) should be two-and-a-quarter column-thicknesses, and the height of the Ionic column nine-and-a-half times its diameter. If the intercolumniation was to be tighter, columns should be taller in their proportions, and thicker if they were farther spaced. It is this sense of rational relations that Vitruvius is expressing when he writes "in the members of a temple there ought to be the greatest harmony in the symmetrical relations of the different parts to the general magnitude of the whole." One element in a classical system cannot be changed without changing the other proportions too.
The geographer Strabo mentions this temple, the third greatest temple after those in Didyma and Ephesus, but considered finest of all for its proportions.
Consequently, archaeologists have been curious to rediscover the site of Hermogenes' temple, traces of which are not apparent. Even the site of the colony of the mother-city of Magnesia in Thessaly was not established until W. M. Leake got the site correctly identified in 1824 ("Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor" pp 242ff). In the winter of 1842-3, a French team struggled with swampy ground and a high water table at the heavily sedimented site, and succeeded in removing 40 meters of the temple's frieze, comprising 41 blocks, and some other architectural elements. These were taken to the Louvre Museum, but the excavations were never published. In 1887 Osman Hamdi Bey, director of the Archaeological Museums of Constantinople, carried off to Constantinople a further 20 meters of frieze blocks from the Artemision. More rigorous excavations at Magnesia were undertaken by the German Institute at Constantinople in the 1890s and by German and Turkish scholars since 1984. The result is that sculptural elements of Hermogenes' Artemision are scattered among the Pergamum Museum, Berlin, the Louvre Museum, Paris and Istanbul.
Since the 1980s, enough remnants of the U-shaped raised colonnaded altar that faced the temple have been recovered to permit modern reconstructions of its original appearance, for the first time since Antiquity.
Hermogenes was the architect of the hexastyle peripteral Temple of Dionysus in Teos, also mentioned by Vitruvius. It was the largest temple to Dionysus in the ancient world; only the platform ("stylobate") remains, measuring 18.5 by 35 meters (61 by 115 feet). It is in the western part of the lower city, against the walls. It was constructed early in the 2nd century BC and later reconsecrated to the cult of Tiberius and partly rebuilt during Hadrian’s reign. The temple has been excavated by a team of the University of Ankara.
Hermogenes also appears to have written a text, no longer extant, on his symmetrical principles. (De Architectura 3.3.9)


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

This is a complete list of New York State Historic Markers in Wyoming County, New York.


Factory Benelux discography

Factory Benelux was the Belgian imprint of Factory Records, operated by Les Disques du Crépuscule from August 1980 until March 1988, releasing a large number of exclusive recordings as well as Benelux issues of regular Factory releases. The imprint was founded by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. A detailed history of both Factory Benelux and Crépuscule can be found in the book "Shadowplayers: The Rise & Fall of Factory Records" by James Nice (Aurum Press, 2010).
Factory Benelux was reactivated in 2012 by James Nice for select reissues and special editions, as well as new recordings by original FBN artists.


Domestic Troubles

Domestic Troubles is a lost 1928 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Clyde Cook, Louise Fazenda and Betty Blythe. It was produced and released by Warner Brothers with a Vitaphone musical track.
Preservation status.
The film is now lost.


Russian heraldry

The Russian heraldry involves the study and use of coats of arms and other heraldic insignia in the country of Russia since its formation in the 16th century. Compare the socialist heraldry of the Soviet period of Russian history (1917–1991).
History.
Precursors.
Before conventional heraldry was introduced to Russia, rulers of ancient Rus' principalities – precursors to the modern Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian states – used a variety of symbols to represent their authority. Up until the 13th century, the Rurikids, rulers of Kiev, used unique stylised symbols, resembling tridents, on seals, coins and weapons that belonged to them. These were inherited from father to son in one way or another – although each descendant tweaked the symbol somewhat – but were not heraldic in the traditional sense of the word, and were closer to Turco-Mongolian tamgas. Other Rus principalities frequently used mythical animals, or human figures, such as knights, in their seals. Byzantium's influence in Rus culture was often felt in these emblems, some of which featured Byzantine elements, such as angels, perhaps due to princes employing Greek seal-stampers. In the seal of the Grand Principality of Moscow, the usage of a Byzantine symbol – the two-headed eagle – was also a sign of pretense, as its rulers, after Ivan III's marriage to Sophia Palaiologina, could trace their ancestry to the empire's ruling house.
While not actually heraldic, many of these early Rus symbols would later become the foundation for true coats of arms in Russia and other East Slavic countries. The two seal designs used in Moscow – the aforementioned double-headed eagle and the "yezdets", a horseman (or more specifically Saint George) killing a dragon – became the two main elements in the modern-day coat of arms of Russia, as well as the arms of the Russian Empire before that. A symbol similar to the yezdets, known as "Pahonia", was the coat of arms of the Grand Principality of Lithuania (where the majority of citizens were East Slavic, ancestors of the modern Belarusian people), as well as the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic, Belarus (from 1991 to 1995), and modern-day Lithuania.
Imperial heraldry.
True armorial bearings were not used in Russia until the 17th century, although some have speculated about times earlier than this. Early arms were at least partly inspired by Western designs, and this was made more great by the acquisition of Ukraine, which had already been influenced by western heraldry. Early designs did not follow the usual rules of heraldry. By 1689, there was some legal status of arms, helped by the nobility reforms of 1682, and the ideas of Peter the Great. He oversaw the first officers of arms, the turning of state symbols into true heraldry, and started to protect certain families' rights to particular arms.
Soviet heraldry.
The Soviet Union, created after the 1917 revolution, required insignia to represent itself in line with other sovereign states, such as emblems, flags and seals, but the Soviet leaders did not wish to continue the old heraldic practices which they saw as associated with the societal system the revolution sought to replace. In response to the needs and wishes, the national emblem adopted would lack the traditional heraldic elements of a shield, helm, crest and mantling, and instead be presented more plainly. This style was followed then by other socialist and communist states, which wished to also focus attention on the nation's workers and diverge from feudalism and all of its associations.
Coat of arms of Russia.
The coat of arms of the Russian Federation derives from the earlier arms of the Russian Empire, as restored in 1992/3 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Though modified more than once since the reign of Ivan III (1462–1505), the current coat of arms is directly derived its medieval original. The general chromatic layout corresponds to the early-15th-century standard. The shape of the eagle can be traced back to the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725), although the eagle in the modern arms is gold instead of the imperial black. It is similar to the national emblems of the Russian Empire. The current coat of arms was designed by artist Yevgeny Ukhnalyov; it was adopted officially on November 30, 1993.
A horseman, considered to be Saint George, killing a dragon, is the second of the two main Russian symbols. It is the coat of arms of Moscow and used on the flag of Moscow (which is a banner of arms) and as an inescutcheon (smaller shield) on the coat of arms of Russia.
The state coat of arms of the Soviet Union (Russian: Государственный герб СССР "Gosudarstvennyiy gerb SSSR") was adopted in 1923 and was used until the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it doesn't follow heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб (transliteration: gerb), the word used for a traditional coat of arms.
Regulation.
In Imperial Russia, the use of coats of arms was not regulated – although comparatively common among the upper classes, arms of non-nobles were rare, although they were not banned. However, since they were not condoned, they were rare. In modern times, use has become more common. There has been no change in regulation, although the use of traditional noble indicators (certain types of helms, and supporters, for example) is restricted.
When the Soviet regime took over in Russia, it abolished all titles of nobility (although at that time they did not control the whole of Russia). However, this failed to abolish their heraldic lineage, which continued. There are, therefore, a large number of noble arms, complete with supporters and helms. In the Russian Empire, arms were actively used as a symbol of one's nobility. Unlike coats of arms in other countries (such as in English heraldry), they were largely granted to the family as a whole.
Some states have State Herald Masters, which have some regulating effects.
Heraldic Council.
The Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation (translated various ways) advises the President, and hence the State, on heraldic matters. This includes the use of official symbols, and preventing their use by non-authorised sources. It helps local and regional governments devise coats of arms. It also discusses matters, and researches heraldry in Russia. It runs, and has authority over, the State Heraldic Register.


Mohiniyattam

Mohiniyattam, (), is one of the famous classical dances of India that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name from the word Mohini – a historical enchantress avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who helps the good prevail over evil by developing her feminine powers.
Mohiniyattam's roots, like all classical Indian dances, are in the "Natya Shastra" – the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text on performance arts. However, it follows the Lasya style described in "Natya Shastra", that is a dance which is delicate, eros-filled and feminine. It is traditionally a solo dance performed by women after extensive training. The repertoire of Mohiniyattam includes music in the Carnatic style, singing and acting a play through the dance, where the recitation may be either by a separate vocalist or the dancer herself. The song is typically in Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid called Manipravalam.
The earliest mention of the word is found in the 16th-century legal text "Vyavaharamala", but the likely roots of the dance are older. The dance was systematized in the 18th century, was ridiculed as a Devadasi prostitution system during the colonial British Raj, banned by a series of laws from 1931 through 1938, a ban that was protested and partially repealed in 1940. The socio-political conflict ultimately led to renewed interest, revival and reconstruction of Mohiniyattam by the people of Kerala, particularly the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.
Etymology.
Mohiniyattam, also referred to as Mohini-attam, is derived from "Mohini" – a famous female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in Indian mythology.
Mohini refers to a divine enchantress or a supreme seductress. She appears in Hindu mythologies during a battle between Devas (good) and Asuras (evil), after the evil had won control of "Amrita" (nectar of immortality). Appearing in her youthful bloom, dressed rapturously she uses her charms to seduce the Asuras, who seeking her favors, give her the "Amrita" to distribute among the evil forces. Mohini after gaining the "Amrita" gives it to the good instead, depriving the evil from gaining immortality.
The details of the Mohini story varies by the Purana and region, but she is consistently an enchantress avatar of the supreme in Vaishnavism. "Aattam" is a Malayalam language word, and means rhythmic motion or dance. "Mohiniyattam" thus connotes "a dance of an enchantress, a beautiful woman".
History.
Mohiniyattam is a classical Indian dance, which by definition traces its repertoire to the foundational text "Natya Shastra". The "Natya Shastra" text is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni. Its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The text describes the basic elements and the structure of two types of dance: the vigorous, high energy Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva) and the gentle, calmingly graceful Lāsyā dance (Parvati, Shiva's lover). Mohiniyāttam follows the structure and aims of the Lāsyā dance in "Natya Shastra".
According to Reginald Massey, Mohiniyattam's history is unclear. Kerala, the region where this dance genre developed and is popular, has a long tradition of "lasya" style dances whose basics and structure may be at the root. The earliest evidence of Mohiniyattam, or a Mohiniyattam-like dance tradition is found in temple sculpture of Kerala. The 11th century Vishnu temple at Trikodithanam, and the Kidangur Subramanya temple, have several sculptures of female dancers in Mohiniyattam pose. The textual evidence from 12th century onwards suggest that Malayalam poets and playwrights included Lāsyā themes. The 16th century "Vyavaharamala" by Nambootiri contains the first known mention of the term Mohiniyattam, in the context of a payment to be made to a Mohiniyattam dancer. Another text, "Gosha Yatra", from the 17th century too mentions the term. The 18th century "Balarama Bharatam", a major secondary work on "Natya Shastra" composed in Kerala, mentions many dance styles including "Mohini Natana".
In the 18th and 19th century, Mohiniyattam grew as dance arts received patronage of competing princely states. In particular, the early 19th century sponsorship and building of a joint Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam team of artists by the Hindu king, poet and music composer Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma contributed to the growth and systematization of modern Mohiniyattam.
Colonial era.
With the spread of colonial British rule in the 19th century India, all classical dance forms of India were ridiculed and discouraged, leading to their severely decline. This was in part the result of the Victorian morality of sexual repressiveness along with Anglican missionaries who criticized Hinduism.
The seductive gestures and facial expressions during temple dances were caricatured in "The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood", published at the start of the 20th century, as evidence of "harlots, debased erotic culture, slavery to idols and priests" tradition, and Christian missionaries demanded that this must be stopped, launching the "anti-dance movement" or "anti-nautch movement" in 1892. This movement affected all classical dances in India and contributed to their decline, including the stigmatization of Mohiniyattam in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin in the British Empire.
According to Justine Lemos, the conventional stereotype has been to label the temple dancers as prostitutes and that Mohiniyattam was banned by the Maharaja under pressure from the British rule and his citizens, but an examination of historical evidence suggests that neither did any law or proclamation ban Mohiniyattam nor is there any evidence that dancing girls of Mohiniyattam were devadasis, temple prostitutes or even menial servants of the temple. However, adds Lemos, there is evidence of rewards being given, scholarship being sponsored, and payments being made to the dancers of Mohiniyattam, as well as laws enacted between 1931 and 1938 that – without naming Mohiniyattam – banned devadasis, banned all forms of "lewd dance or theatre", and banned dancing in temples while the princely states of Kerala were part of the British Empire, in a manner similar to bans on Hindu performance arts in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta Presidencies enacted earlier. In 1940, the ban was partially repealed, by allowing "voluntary dances in temples". In 1941, a new law clarified that voluntary dance was permitted, but the dancers should never be paid. This led to protests, public riots and demands by dancers that performance art is a form of economic activity and religious freedom, that Mohiniyattam artists should be paid by the state or the audience, but the state did not pay them.
Some women continued to dance Mohiniyattam in Hindu temples, regardless of the historic politics during the 1940s.
Modern era.
The ridicule and bans enacted during the British colonial era contributed to nationalist sentiments, and impacted all Hindu performance arts including Mohiniyattam. It too was revived and reconstructed, particularly in the 1930s by the nationalist Malayalam poet Vallathol Narayana Menon, who helped repeal the ban on temple dancing in Kerala, as well as established the Kerala Kalamandalam dance school and encouraged Mohiniattam studies, training and practice.
Other significant champions of Mohiniyattam in the 20th century have been Mukundraja, Krishna Panicker, Thankamony, as well as the guru and dancer Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma.
Repertoire.
Mohiniyattam is a "lasya" subgenre of dance, performed in the "Kaisiki vritti" (graceful style), as discussed in ancient Indian performance arts texts such as the "Natya Shastra". More specifically, it is a dance that excels in "Ekaharya Abhinaya" form, that is a solo expressive dance performance aided by singing and music. The dance includes "nritta" (pure dance, solo), "nritya" (expressive dance, solo) and modern productions sometimes include "natya" (play, group dance):
The basic posture of Mohiniyattam is parted feet, knees bent outwards, an erect upper torso, gentle 8-shape side to side swaying of body along with hips ("Ati Bhanga"). The footwork is soft, sliding and synchronous with the musical beat and acting. The body movement is sometimes described in terms of calming images of nature as the swinging of the palm leaves, and the gentle undulating of ocean waves.
The basic dance units in Mohiniattam are known as "atavus" or "atavukal", and these are grouped into four: "Taganam", "Jaganam", "Dhaganam" and "Sammisram". The hand and facial gestures of the dance follow the classical text of "Hastha Lakshanadeepika", which has elaborate description of mudras.
Sequence.
The repertoire sequence of Mohiniyattam is similar to that of Bharatanatyam, so of contains seven items that are performed to a structure described in classical dance texts: Cholkettu (invocation, but starts with offering reverence to a goddess Bhagavati and ends with a prayer to Shiva), Jatisvaram or more precisely "Swarajeti", Varnam (a play wherein she embeds a mimicry for distraction while communicating the underlying story or message), Padam (song), Tillana (dancer's interpretation of melody the musician create), Shlokam and Saptam.
Costumes.
The costume includes plain white or off-white such as ivory or cream colored sari embroidered with bright golden or gold laced colored brocade (similar to a ceremonial "Kasavu" saree). She wears a fitted "choli" (blouse) matching the sari, below which at the waist is a golden belt which tucks in the end of the sari, and highlights the waist. In front of the saree, below the belt is pleated sheet with concentric bands in gold or saffron colors, which allow freedom of movement and assist in visually communicating the mudra to distant audience.
The dancer wears relatively simple jewelry and no masks, in contrast to the other major classical dance of Kerala called Kathakali. Her jewelry typically includes items on fingers, wrists, neck and ears (which may have bells). The face makeup is natural, but lips are brilliant red, she has the Hindu tikka ("Gobi") on her forehead and her eyes are lined to help prominently highlight the eye movements during the dance. Her ankles are adorned with leather straps with bells ("chilanka"), feet and fingers colored red with natural dyes. Her hairdo is gathered and tied into a smooth tight round chignon on one side of her head (typically left) and the bun then ringed with fragrant flowers (typically jasmine "mulla").
Music and instruments.
The vocals (music) of Mohiniyattam involves various rhythms. There are numerous compositions for a Mohiniyattam repertoire, most of whose lyrics are in Manipravalam, a mixture of Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam.
The musical instruments usually used in Mohiniyattam are Mridangam or Madhalam (barrel drum), Idakka (hour glass drum), flute, Veena, and Kuzhitalam (cymbals). The ragas (melody) are rendered in the "sopana" (steps) style, which is a slow melodic style with roots in the "Natya Shastra".


Murathan Mungan

Murathan Mungan (born 21 April 1955 in Istanbul) is a Turkish author, short story writer, playwright and poet.
Biography.
His family originates from Mardin. His father is an Arab and mother is a Bosnian. After receiving his BA from the Faculty of Letters and Drama at Ankara University, he worked as a dramaturg before devoting all his time to write poetry, plays, short stories, novels, film scenarios and songs. His first collection of poems, "Osmanlıya Dair Hikayat" ("Stories about Ottomans") was published in 1980, making Mungan an overnight success.
His output remained prolific and various poetry books followed, notably "Yaz Gecer" ("Summer Passes") and "Metal". He has written four theatre plays, which earned him wider success. "Mahmud ile Yezida", "Taziye" are two of the most staged plays of the modern Turkish theatre.
His short stories were compiled in successful volumes such as "Kırk Oda" "(Forty Rooms)" and "Paranın Cinleri" "(Genies of Money)". His screenplay "Dağınık Yatak" (Messy Bed) was later filmed by director Atıf Yılmaz in 1986 starring Turkish actress Müjde Ar.
Mungan also wrote lyrics to some of Yeni Türkü's songs, and for pop singers such as Nükhet Duru.
In 2006, Murathan Mungan supervised the production of a music album by Turkish arabesk singer Müslüm Gürses, featuring cover versions of popular songs such as "Alexandra Leaving" by Leonard Cohen, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan, and "I'm Deranged" by David Bowie, all of which were selected by Mungan.
Openly gay, Mungan has been often associated with the Turkish gay movement as a gay icon.


Nersornaat

Nersornaat ("Greenlandic language:Deserved") or the Greenland Medal for Meritorious Service "(Danish:Grønlands Hjemmestyres Fortjenstmedalje)", is awarded by the Greenland Home Rule government. It is the highest award based in Greenland. The medal was instituted on 1 May 1989 in connection with the ten-year anniversary of the Greenlandic home rule. The medal is awarded for meritious service for Greenland in fields such as public service, business, art or science. The medal is worn in a ribbon of the Greenlandic colours; red symbolising the sun and white symbolising the snow. The medal is awarded in two grades: gold and silver.


Rocky Ryan

Michael Joseph "Rocky" Ryan (30 December 1937 – 15 January 2004) was a British media hoaxer, who became known in the UK for providing newspapers with numerous stories that turned out to be fabrications. Earlier in his life, he had been a small-time criminal and film stuntman.
Ryan was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and in his youth served time in borstals. He was involved in film stunt work, and was injured during work in 1975 on "The Slipper and the Rose", released the following year. He began his series of hoaxes in the mid-1970s, he said, after one newspaper contacted the police (falsely) claiming he was Donald Neilson, known as the Black Panther, the armed robber and murderer.
Ryan used numerous aliases, showing an ability with accents, when he gave stories to the press, including Major Travis, Peter Bernstein, David Oppenheimer, and Rocco Salvatore. The last name, supposedly a businessman, was used to dupe "The Daily Telegraph" into believing the contact was involved in a military coup in the Seychelles. Other stories concocted by Ryan included his claim to "The Sun" that the kidnapped racehorse Shergar was alive and well and living in Jersey, and telling the same newspaper Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, was being allowed out of Broadmoor to attend discos. A tip off that the vanished Lord Lucan was hiding in South Africa led the "Daily Express" to send one of their staff to investigate. Another newspaper published a false story about Koo Stark, a former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, which led to a libel action and the award of £300,000 in damages.
Threatening behaviour towards "The Observer" journalist Farzad Bazoft, and threats to the journalist's family, ended up in court and Ryan was bound over. Ryan told "The Independent" in 1993 he had tipped off the Iraqis that Bazoft was spying for Iran and Israel as a result of the personal grudge. Bazoft was executed for spying by Saddam Hussein's government in 1990; Ryan's involvement in the case is unconfirmed.
In a 1993 interview with "The Independent" newspaper, believed to have been given by Ryan himself, he claimed to have been born Michael Rocco Ryan, with his mother being of Sicilian origin, and to have been raised in the East End of London with the Kray twins. In fact, only the part about the East End and the Krays is true.
After a stroke in 2001, which affected a hand, Ryan became a recluse. An inquest after he died found that a potentially lethal dose of painkillers was in his body. The coroner recorded an open verdict.