Ulvi Cemal Erkin

Ulvi Cemal Erkin () (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904–1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic. These composers distinguished themselves with their use of Turkish folk music and modal elements in an entirely western symphonic style.
Biography.
Ulvi Cemal Erkin's aptitude for music was noticed at an early age by his mother, herself a pianist. His father was a senior civil servant in the Ottoman administration, contracted sepsis and died when the young Erkin was seven. The widowed mother and her three sons took refuge at the mansion of the maternal grandfather also a high-ranking official of the declining Ottoman Empire and an intellectual.
Erkin took his first piano lessons from Mercenier, a Frenchman, and later from Adinolfi; then, a renowned professor of music in Istanbul. He graduated from Galatasaray High School. Concurrent with his studies at the Galatasaray High School dispensing education in the French language, he pursued his efforts in the path of becoming a musician and availed himself of every opportunity which could contribute to his aspirations.
The newly founded republic was aiming to expand modernisation and westernisation to every aspect of life, including music. Atatürk had long pondered a renovation also in this domain and was very keen on seeing it in progress. To this end, scholarships were being given to gifted young students in European academic institutions. Ulvi Cemal Erkin was 19 years old when he won the contest of the Ministry of Education and was awarded a scholarship to study music in Paris, together with two other students, Cezmi Rifki Erinc and Ekrem Zeki Un in 1925. He studied in the Paris Conservatory and the Ecole Normale de Musique. He studied piano with Isidor Philipp, and composition with Jean and Noël Gallon and Nadia Boulanger at the Paris Conservatoire and the École Normale de Musique.
Upon his return to Turkey in 1930, he began teaching at the Musiki Muallim Mektebi (School of Musical Education). He met his wife Ferhunde Erkin (née Remzi) at the Musiki Muallim Mektebi. On September 29, 1932, he married her, herself a pianist, graduate of the Leipzig Conservatoire, and his colleague at the school in Ankara. She became his muse and best interpreter and they shared a lifetime of dedicated endeavours to encourage and train young musicians with the scanty means afforded to institutions and to build up audiences of polyphonic music throughout Anatolia.
Erkin shared the grand prize of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi with Ahmet Adnan Saygun and Hasan Ferit Alnar in 1943 for his Piano Concerto. He wrote the famous "Köçekçe" orchestral suite the same year. It was Alfred Cortot who gave him the idea of composing a piano concerto during his visit to Turkey, after listening to his Quartet.
The Piano Concerto and the Köçekçe suite were premiered by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra on March 11, 1943. The orchestra was conducted by Dr. Ernst Praetorius, and Ferhunde Erkin was the soloist. On the request of Ambassador Franz von Papen, the piano concerto was performed in Berlin, Germany on October 8, 1943. The Berlin City Orchestra was conducted by Fritz Zaun and the soloist was again Ferhunde Erkin.
Erkin, who composed his first works while a student in Paris, was productive as a composer throughout his career as a professor of music which he embarked in 1930 at the age of 24, or occasion appearing as a pianist to perform a concerto, on others as an accompanist or as an orchestra conductor to interpret his own works or operas. He also conducted the Conservatoire Student Orchestra at its periodic concerts and composed the "Sinfonietta", a work composed expressly to help instrumentalists overcome certain rhythmic and modal difficulties, peculiar to Turkish music.
With its genuine quality, warmth and apparent simplicity Erkin's music was very influential in arousing the enthusiasm of the Turkish public towards polyphonic music, and his works were among those most frequently performed. This is still the case to-day. The spiritual power of modal traditional music is masterfully reflected in spite of the absence of quarter tones in western orchestral instruments and the uneven rhythmic beats of folk music are exquisitely employed in enchanting harmonic structure and orchestration.
His works are widely and frequently performed and broadcast outside Turkey and he personally conducted his own works with orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, the Colonne Orchestra at the Brussels Fair and "The Paris Radio Symphony Orchestra".
Erkin's heart had been failing since his late forties and he succumbed to a last stroke on September 15, 1972 at the age of 65. He was laid to rest at the Karşıyaka Cemetery in Ankara.
Honours.
Erkin was awarded with the Palm Academique, Légion d'honneur chivalarous and official degrees, and the Italian Republic Medal. He was conferred the title of State Artist by the Turkish government in 1971. Erkin was awarded post-mortem medal of honor by the Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation in 1991. A postage stamp commemorating his life was issued by the Turkish postal system in 1985.
In July 2010, The Municipality of Çankaya (Ankara) organised a national architectural competition for a concert hall with 2000 seats which shall be named after his name; Ulvi Cemal Erkin Concert Hall. The competition won by architects Ramazan Avcı, Seden Cinasal Avcı and Evren Başbuğ; a design team formed by the partners of SCRA Architects and Dist Architects. The site for the concert hall is in Çankaya, the central metropolitan district of the city of Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
References.
Notes
Further Reading


Wynsors World of Shoes

Wynsors World of Shoes is the trading name of Courtesy Shoes Limited, comprising a chain of over 40 shoe stores in England.
Growth of Wynsors.
When established in May 1956 Courtesy Shoes began life as a small number of Market Hall stalls and Shops. In the sixties Courtesy Shoes purchased two chains of high street shoe shops called Seftons and Lees of Leeds which were re-branded as Medina Shoes. Both were chains consisting of around 12 shops, Seftons based around the Bradford area and Lees in the towns surrounding Leeds city centre. With success on the high street and the desire to expand quickly Courtesy began to open concession stores within Kwik Save supermarkets at the height of Kwik Save's success in the seventies, again trading as Medina Shoes.
Toward the end of the 1970s and early 1980s there was a change in trends towards out of town shopping and Courtesy began to move away from the high street. The first out of town shop opened was in Cleckheaton called The Factory Shoe Shop. The success of Cleckheaton gave the company a lot of confidence and shortly after in 1984 they opened their second out of town store in Thurcroft. The previous owners of the building were Wynsor House Discount Carpets which was changed to Wynsor House Discount Footwear before eventually becoming the first Wynsors World of Shoes. The store was opened by Martin Shaw from the television series "The Professionals", one of the most popular shows on TV at the time, generating interest for the company.
The mid to late 1980s saw Wynsors flourish with many shops opening around the North of England, eventually becoming a larger part of Courtesy Shoes business than the Medina stores.
As Wynsors entered the early 1990s, they expanded into the branded sports footwear market. This helped with the steady growth in the number of stores throughout the 1990s and 2000s and helped Wynsors establish itself as one of the largest specialist footwear retailers in UK.
Wynsors now have more than 40 stores and an e-commerce site Wynsors.com allowing them to supply both nationally and throughout Europe.
In 2019, Wynsors World of Shoes has employed Fluid Digital to help boost the Amazon ads revenue. The high street supermarket headquartered in Rossendale has a network of 45 stores but has seen its ecommerce revenues expand lately. Fluid's job would be to develop and execute Amazon ads, taking advantage of users utilizing the ecommerce website to browse for products, rather than Google.


Franco-Giacomo Carbone

Franco-Giacomo Carbone is an American production designer.
He began as a set and costume designer in New York. He has worked off Broadway for Lincoln Center Theater, La Mama and others. He graduated from the American Film Institute in 1998. Carbone's very first film, "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss", garnered favorable reviews nationwide for its bold production design.
 His motion picture credits include Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky Balboa" and "John Rambo", William Friedkin's "Bug", Eli Roth's "Hostel" and "Cabin Fever", David Jacobson's "Down in the Valley" and James Cox's "Wonderland".


Probabilistic automaton

In mathematics and computer science, the probabilistic automaton (PA) is a generalization of the nondeterministic finite automaton; it includes the probability of a given transition into the transition function, turning it into a transition matrix. Thus, the probabilistic automaton also generalizes the concepts of a Markov chain and of a subshift of finite type. The languages recognized by probabilistic automata are called stochastic languages; these include the regular languages as a subset. The number of stochastic languages is uncountable.
The concept was introduced by Michael O. Rabin in 1963; a certain special case is sometimes known as the Rabin automaton (not to be confused with the subclass of ω-automata also referred to as Rabin automata). In recent years, a variant has been formulated in terms of quantum probabilities, the quantum finite automaton.
Definition.
The probabilistic automaton may be defined as an extension of a nondeterministic finite automaton formula_1, together with two probabilities: the probability formula_2 of a particular state transition taking place, and with the initial state formula_3 replaced by a stochastic vector giving the probability of the automaton being in a given initial state.
For the ordinary non-deterministic finite automaton, one has
Here, formula_9 denotes the power set of formula_4.
By use of currying, the transition function formula_6 of a non-deterministic finite automaton can be written as a membership function
so that formula_13 if formula_14 and formula_15 if formula_16. The curried transition function can be understood to be a matrix with matrix entries
The matrix formula_18 is then a square matrix, whose entries are zero or one, indicating whether a transition formula_19 is allowed by the NFA. Such a transition matrix is always defined for a non-deterministic finite automaton.
The probabilistic automaton replaces these matrices by a family of right stochastic matrices formula_20, for each symbol a in the alphabet formula_5 so that the probability of a transition is given by
A state change from some state to any state must occur with probability one, of course, and so one must have
for all input letters formula_24 and internal states formula_25. The initial state of a probabilistic automaton is given by a row vector formula_26, whose components are the probabilities of the individual initial states formula_25, that add to 1:
The transition matrix acts on the right, so that the state of the probabilistic automaton, after consuming the input string formula_29, would be
In particular, the state of a probabilistic automaton is always a stochastic vector, since the product of any two stochastic matrices is a stochastic matrix, and the product of a stochastic vector and a stochastic matrix is again a stochastic vector. This vector is sometimes called the distribution of states, emphasizing that it is a discrete probability distribution.
Formally, the definition of a probabilistic automaton does not require the mechanics of the non-deterministic automaton, which may be dispensed with. Formally, a probabilistic automaton "PA" is defined as the tuple formula_31. A Rabin automaton is one for which the initial distribution formula_26 is a coordinate vector; that is, has zero for all but one entries, and the remaining entry being one.
Stochastic languages.
The set of languages recognized by probabilistic automata are called stochastic languages. They include the regular languages as a subset.
Let formula_33 be the set of "accepting" or "final" states of the automaton. By abuse of notation, formula_34 can also be understood to be the column vector that is the membership function for formula_34; that is, it has a 1 at the places corresponding to elements in formula_34, and a zero otherwise. This vector may be contracted with the internal state probability, to form a scalar. The language recognized by a specific automaton is then defined as
where formula_38 is the set of all strings in the alphabet formula_5 (so that * is the Kleene star). The language depends on the value of the cut-point formula_40, normally taken to be in the range formula_41.
A language is called "η"-stochastic if and only if there exists some PA that recognizes the language, for fixed formula_40. A language is called stochastic if and only if there is some formula_41 for which formula_44 is "η"-stochastic.
A cut-point is said to be an isolated cut-point if and only if there exists a formula_45 such that
for all formula_47
Properties.
Every regular language is stochastic, and more strongly, every regular language is "η"-stochastic. A weak converse is that every 0-stochastic language is regular; however, the general converse does not hold: there are stochastic languages that are not regular.
Every "η"-stochastic language is stochastic, for some formula_48.
Every stochastic language is representable by a Rabin automaton.
If formula_40 is an isolated cut-point, then formula_44 is a regular language.
"p"-adic languages.
The "p"-adic languages provide an example of a stochastic language that is not regular, and also show that the number of stochastic languages is uncountable. A "p"-adic language is defined as the set of strings
in the letters formula_52.
That is, a "p"-adic language is merely the set of real numbers in [0, 1], written in base-"p", such that they are greater than formula_40. It is straightforward to show that all "p"-adic languages are stochastic. In particular, this implies that the number of stochastic languages is uncountable. A "p"-adic language is regular if and only if formula_40 is rational.
Generalizations.
The probabilistic automaton has a geometric interpretation: the state vector can be understood to be a point that lives on the face of the standard simplex, opposite to the orthogonal corner. The transition matrices form a monoid, acting on the point. This may be generalized by having the point be from some general topological space, while the transition matrices are chosen from a collection of operators acting on the topological space, thus forming a semiautomaton. When the cut-point is suitably generalized, one has a topological automaton.
An example of such a generalization is the quantum finite automaton; here, the automaton state is represented by a point in complex projective space, while the transition matrices are a fixed set chosen from the unitary group. The cut-point is understood as a limit on the maximum value of the quantum angle.


Elio Berhanyer

Elio Berenguer Úbeda, known as Elio Berhanyer (20 February 1929 – 24 January 2019) was a Spanish fashion designer who gained several prizes in his career. His designs were worn by actresses such as Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse and royals like Queen Sofía and Infanta Pilar.
Early life.
Berhanyer was born in Córdoba, Andalusia on 20 February 1929. His father was executed by Nationalist faction at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. He then moved with his aunt to Seville and later with his uncle, where together with his cousin started to draw the firsts designs. At the age of 17 moved to Madrid.
Career.
In 1956, Berhanyer began working as a seamster. After four years of doing this, he opened up his own shop in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona. His name spread quickly and he quickly won the Cadillac House Award for being the best designer of the year. He had a collection that gained recognition in order to win this award. He had upon occasion represented Spain in the International Fashion Week. He has also designed uniforms for Iberia airline, RTVE and the hostesses for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He taught Fashion at the University of Córdoba.
He died in Madrid on 24 January 2019 at the age of 89.


Call It Spring

Call It Spring is a Canadian retailer of men's and women's shoes, with locations primarily found in shopping malls.
History.
Aldo Bensadoun, founder of Aldo Groupe, founded Spring in 1991 under the name Transit, with locations primarily in Canada. With the expansion of the chain across the United States, the name of some stores was changed to Transit Spring. By 2008, all the stores were renamed Spring.
During 2010 the company made a major announcement that indeed call it spring will lead to it expanding in the American market. Aldo Group and JCPenney announced the launch of the Call It Spring brand which will sell as a shop-in-shops concept in JCPenney stores across the United States. The Call It Spring concept is expected to be in 600 JCPenney stores by the fall of 2011 and JCPenney will be the only department store retailer of the brand in the United States.
The Company opened its stores in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Honduras, India, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, UK.


Glenn Thain


Daniel Benmergui

Daniel Benmergui is an independent game designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina known for the creation of art games such as "Today I Die", "I Wish I Were the Moon", and "Storyteller".
Life and career.
Benmergui grew up at his childhood home in a rural area inland in Argentina. Benmergui spent much of his childhood exploring outdoors, and hanging out with much older children from his neighborhood.
Before becoming an independent game developer, Benmergui was a development director at the French mobile game studio Gameloft, managing more than 120 game developers. When asked by "Timothy Courtney" about his time spent at "Gameloft", Benmergui stated "My job was to define and enforce policies on how things are supposed to be done, as well as help with complicated technical problems. I became wiser on how to deal with people, something I am quickly unlearning now!"; Benmergui eventually left his job at a AAA game studio to focus on independent games. Benmergui went on to focus his full-time efforts on "I Wish I Were the Moon", calling this time "an emotional revolution".
Between 2008–2009, Benmergui created six games, which most notably included "I Wish I Were the Moon", "Today I Die", and "Storyteller". This was a turning point in Benmergui's career. When asked if he had cycles of creative passion, Benmergui replied "Exactly that: cycles. Sometimes I am productive designing, others programming, others just thinking, and yet others in which I'm not very productive at anything. It is frustrating how at the mercy of our emotional states we are sometimes."
Awards.
"Today I Die" was chosen as a finalist for the Nuovo Award at the 2010 Independent Games Festival. His multiple-game package "Moon Stories" was awarded the Jury Award at Indiecade 2009 and was featured at Sense Of Wonder Night 2008 in Tokyo.


Vera Maxwell

Vera Huppe Maxwell (April 22, 1901, New York City – January 15, 1995, Rincón, Puerto Rico) was a pioneering sportswear and fashion designer.
Background and personal life.
Born Vera Huppe in the Bronx, Maxwell spent part of her childhood in Austria. She attended Leonia High School in Leonia, New Jersey.
She studied ballet in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1919, dancing until her marriage to financier Raymond J. Maxwell in 1924. Vera and Raymond J. Maxwell had one child and divorced in 1937.
Maxwell married architect Carlisle H. Johnson in 1938 and divorced him in 1945.
Career.
In the late 1920s, Maxwell began modelling at B. Altman and other New York City stores. As she explained, "When the opera season ended in May, the fashion houses on Seventh Avenue were just opening their collections. I would just walk across the street and hire on as a model." Around 1929, Maxwell began sketching for the fashion houses she modeled for.
After years of designing for other manufacturers, she founded her own company, Vera Maxwell Originals, in 1947. Her first collection was sporty, featuring after-ski clothes, tennis outfits, and riding apparel.
Maxwell was part of a pioneering group of American designers creating more relaxed and quintessentially American clothing. Her contemporaries included Claire McCardell, Clare Potter, Carolyn Schnurer, and Tina Leser. Maxwell gave her clothing distinctively American names like "Daniel Boone" for Western wear. By the 1950s, she also was designing evening wear.
Maxwell was the first American designer to make clothes of Ultrasuede and the synthetic fabric Arnel. One of her earliest best-sellers was a wrap blouse over a permanently pleated skirt made of Arnel meant for travelers.
In 1935, Maxwell released a "weekend wardrobe" of two jackets, two skirts and a pair of trousers. Inspired by Albert Einstein, the jacket was collarless with four patch pockets in tweed and gray flannel. The jacket could be mixed and matched with all three accompanying pieces: a short pleated flannel tennis skirt, a longer tweed skirt, and a pair of flannel cuffed trousers. In 1999, the "New York Times" wrote that the "weekend wardrobe" was "so classic they could still be worn today."
In the 1940s, she designed a cotton coverall uniform for war workers at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation. Known as the "Rosie the Riveter" jumpsuit or coveralls, they received an "E" for excellence rating from the United States government. They were a forerunner of the modern jump suit.
Maxwell always created her designs in a range of sizes, generally going up to a size 18 or 20 at a time when it was unusual for a designer to design clothes above a size 8. Her use of wrap-and-tie closures and supple fabrics suited a range of body types and allowed for weight fluctuations. According to Maxwell, "The most fashionable women will always be the ones who know themselves."
Maxwell won the Coty Award in 1953. Maxwell met Grace Kelly in 1955 when they were both received Neiman Marcus Fashion Awards and she frequently visited the Royal Family in Monaco.
Maxwell designed for First Ladies Rosalynn Carter and Pat Nixon, as well as performers such as Martha Graham and Lillian Gish.
By 1960, Maxwell's clothes were being sold in 700 stores around the country. But in the 1960s, her star waned as fashion's attention shifted to swinging London designers like Mary Quant.
After the debut of an unsuccessful collection in 1964, Maxwell withdrew from the industry. She resurfaced in 1970 with a collection that was introduced at B. Altman. She was honored in 1970 with a retrospective at the Smithsonian Institution and in 1980 with an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.
In 1975, Maxwell introduced a pull-on dress with a stretch top and no zippers, buttons, snaps or ties. Called a speed suit, it was a dress a woman could slip it on in 17 seconds. It was inspired by the West German Olympic uniform and the dresses were initially priced at $99 to $199.
Maxwell retired in 1985 and closed her company. She returned in 1986 with one final collection designed for Peter Lynne before permanently retiring.
Later life and death.
Maxwell spent her final years with her son and daughter-in-law. She split her time between Gilgo Beach, Long Island and Rincon, Puerto Rico. Maxwell died on January 15, 1995 at age 93.
She lived in Manhattan until three years before her death.
Legacy.
Vera Maxwell's designs are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Cooper Hewitt, and the Museum of the City of New York.


Hasui Kawase

 was an artist, one of modern Japan's most important and prolific printmakers. He was a prominent designer of the "shin-hanga" ("new prints") movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Like many earlier ukiyo-e prints, Hasui's works were commonly landscapes, but displayed atmospheric effects and natural lighting.
Hasui designed approximately 620 prints over a career that spanned nearly forty years. Towards the end of his life the government recognized him as a Living National Treasure for his contribution to Japanese culture.
Life.
Born 1883, from youth Hasui dreamed of an art career. His maternal uncle was Kanagaki Robun (1829–94), a Japanese author and journalist, who produced the first manga magazine. Hasui went to the school of the painter Aoyagi Bokusen as a young man. He sketched form nature, copied the masters' woodblock prints, and studied brush painting with Araki Kanyu. His parents had him take on the family rope and thread wholesaling business, but its bankruptcy when he was 26 freed him to pursue art.
He approached Kiyokata Kaburagi to teach him, but Kaburagi instead encouraged him to study Western-style painting, which he did with Okada Saburōsuke for two years. Two years later he again applied as a student to Kaburagi, who this time accepted him. Kiyokata bestowed the name Hasui upon him, which can be translated as "water gushing from a spring", and derives from his elementary school combined with an ideogram of his family name.
After seeing an exhibition of Shinsui Itō's "Eight Views of Lake Biwa" Hasui approached Shinsui's publisher
Shōzaburō Watanabe, who had Hasui design three experimental prints that Watanabe published in August 1918. The series "Twelve Views of Tokyo", "Eight Views of the Southeast", and the first "Souvenirs of Travel" of 16 prints followed in 1919, each issued two prints at a time.
Hasui's twelve-print "A Collection of Scenes of Japan" begun in 1922 went unfinished when the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake destroyed Watanabe's workshop, including the finished woodblocks for the yet-undistributed prints and Hasui's sketchbooks. Hasui travelled the Hokuriku, San'in, and San'yō regions later in 1923 and upon his return in February 1924 developed his sketches into his third "Souvenirs of Travel" series.
Kawase studied "ukiyo-e" and Japanese style painting at the studio of Kiyokata Kaburagi. He mainly concentrated on making watercolors of actors, everyday life and landscapes, many of them published as illustrations in books and magazines in the last few years of the Meiji period and early Taishō period.
During the forty years of his artistic career, Hasui worked closely with Shōzaburō Watanabe, publisher and advocate of the "shin-hanga" movement. His works became widely known in the West through American connoisseur Robert O. Muller (1911–2003).
In 1956, he was named a Japanese Living National Treasure. The government Committee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Treasures had intended to honor traditional printmaking via awards to Hasui and Ito Shinsui in 1953. Because the artists' work necessitated collaboration between designer, engraver, and printer, objections were raised over singling out individual participants for recognition. Therefore they commissioned the artists to make new prints, the production of which was carefully documented. Hasui's biographer, Narazaki Munishige, was one of those who recorded the process.
Hasui died on November 27, 1957. He had created around 620 prints over the course of his career. In 1979 Narazaki published a biography and compiled the first catalogue raisonné. An exhibition of 180 of his prints was held in Tokyo in 1982. The catalogue was entitled: "Kawase Hasui: The End of the Line For Ukiyo-e".
His works are currently kept in several museums worldwide, including the British Museum, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Stanley Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Clark Art Institute, the Smart Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Style.
Kawase worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches and watercolors he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely "meishō" (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier "ukiyo-e" masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Kawase's prints feature locales that are tranquil and obscure in urbanizing Japan.
In 1920 Hasui designed his first falling snow print. His snow scenes are among the most original and best of his works. He later recalled "In my earlier works there are novel expressions in carving line and forms: the artisans used to complain." He said of the relationship between designer and printer:
Hasui considered himself a realist and employed his training in Western painting in his compositions. Like Hiroshige he made travel and landscape prints, though his subjects were less known locations rendered with naturalistic light, shade, and texture, without the captions and titles that were standard in prints of Hiroshige's age.
Kawase left a large body of woodblock prints and watercolors: many of the watercolors are linked to the woodblock prints. He also produced oil paintings, traditional hanging scrolls and a few "byōbu" (folding screens).
Important works.
About dating of the prints: Many of them are reprinted 1960 after Kawase's death. (In Japan, it is unusual to number the prints, e.g. "5th of 100".)


BloodRayne 2

BloodRayne 2 is an action hack and slash video game developed by Terminal Reality for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. It does not follow on directly from where "BloodRayne" finished; instead, it takes place 60 and 70 years later in a contemporary 2000s setting.
This game was re-released as BloodRayne 2: Terminal Cut in November 20, 2020.
Plot.
The FMV opens with a flashback set shortly after the first game. Rayne is seen entering a library (called Blood Library), with a few Nazis inside. She finds that Brimstone members have been slaughtered and realizes her vampiric father Kagan is here, acting as an influential Nazi. Rayne rushes to confront him for revenge for her mother's rape and the murder of her family, and Kagan mocks Rayne by saying he doesn't recognize her, as he sired numerous offspring that way. He finds what he was looking for, called the Vesper Shard. Knowing Rayne still wants to kill him, he then brings Professor Trumain up from the floor, strangled by his own small intestine, but barely alive. Kagan knows that they know each other, and that Trumain "stole" yet another offspring from him. While Kagan mocks Rayne, Truman pulls out a detonator, first giving time for Rayne to run, then detonating the grenade, killing himself and seemingly taking Kagan with him.
Denied the pleasure of killing him herself, Rayne spends the 60 years after the war seeking out and destroying Kagan's offspring. These offspring, Rayne's half-siblings, have banded together to form a group called the Cult of Kagan. The Cult has created the Shroud, a substance that can render sun rays harmless to vampires, allowing them to surface at all times of the day, and which twists nature into a nightmarish perversion (trees dying almost instantly, grass catching on fire, corpses twitching). Using the Shroud, the Cult has pledged to create a new era of vampiric supremacy, continuing Kagan's legacy.
Rayne and her ally Severin find high ranking members of the Cult, who are responsible for hundreds of disappearances in a city. Rayne learns of their plot and defeats her ambitious half-sister Ferrill, the apparent leader of the cult. It's soon revealed that Kagan himself has long survived over the years and has come out of hiding. After Kagan has Ferrill dispatched, he sets about the plot to activate the Shroud, blocking out the sun and setting loose an army of vampires and demonic entities to destroy the city, making it his kingdom. Rayne again sets her sights on killing Kagan.
With Kagan's army having taken over the city, Rayne seeks out his tower to face him once and for all, fighting his army to get to him. A vengeful Ferrill makes an army of her own to usurp Kagan. After Rayne dispatches the last of her half-siblings, she confronts Kagan in his throne room, with Kagan mocking her one last time about the effort he took to create her. A fight ensues and Rayne kills her father, avenging her family.
Despite Kagan's death, the vampires still plague the city, and Severin suggests that Rayne should run it now. Brimestone declares martial law to rescue the surviving humans, cracking down hard on all vampires and more vampire overlords setting their sights on the city.
Reception.
"BloodRayne 2" received "average" reviews on all platforms, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.


Jonathan Crowther

Jonathan Crowther is a British crossword compiler who has for over 45 years composed the Azed cryptic crossword in "The Observer" Sunday newspaper. He was voted "best British crossword setter" in a poll of crossword setters conducted by "The Sunday Times" in 1991 and in the same year was chosen as "the crossword compilers' crossword compiler" in "The Observer Magazine" "Experts' Expert" feature.
Career.
He was born in Liverpool on 24 September 1942, the son of a doctor, and grew up in Kirkby Lonsdale in the Lake District. He was educated at Rugby School before going on to read classics and classical philology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. From there, in 1964, he joined Oxford University Press and he worked for them, in India, London, and Oxford, until his retirement in early 2000. His final position was as a lexicographer writing dictionaries for foreign students of English. Married with two sons, he lives in Oxford.
Encouraged by his father, Jonathan enjoyed solving crosswords from an early age. He caught the Ximenes bug while still at Rugby and "just lived for Sundays" thereafter. His first puzzles to be published were in the university weekly, "Varsity", under the pseudonym Gong and after leaving university he started submitting to "The Listener". They published sixteen Gong puzzles between June 1965 and February 1972. He continued to be a Ximenes competitor until Ximenes' death in 1971.
Appointed as Ximenes' successor, he cast around for a new pseudonym. His two predecessors had taken theirs from Spanish inquisitors-general but none of the names remaining seemed suitably impressive. However, reversing the last name of one, Diego de Deza, gives (to British ears at least) the first and last letters of the alphabet. Letter manipulation and word reversal are integral parts of a cryptic crossword: thus Azed was born. Azed No. 1 appeared in "The Observer" in March 1972 and monthly clue-writing competitions à la Ximenes resumed. These still continue and in the monthly "slip", he gives details of each competition and discusses points of technique and more general interest relating to his puzzles. He relishes the dialogue the competitions generate and many regular solvers have become his friends. Among the technical comments can sometimes be found glimpses into his private life – he is very interested in cricket and less so in football ... he took part in a performance of Haydn's "Nelson Mass" at Radley College ... one of his sons is a rock musician. Interesting in their own right, these snippets are seized on by the more cunning competitors as ways to make their clues more appealing to the judge and so increase their chances of success.
Tastes and Technique.
Proudly Ximenean in his crossword philosophy, he favours puzzles whose setters have similar ideas (Dimitry, Duck and Phi, for example). Though he may not always approve of some accompanying clues, he praises the ingenuity of construction of the specialised thematic crosswords in the "Times Listener" series, the "Crossword Club" magazine, and "1 Across". He himself is responsible for a number of the "special" formats which have appeared regularly in the Azed series. These include "Cherchez la Femme", "Eightsome Reels", "Give and Take", "Overlaps", and "Spoonerisms". Ideas such for specials may strike him anywhere but Thames-side walks with his dog have been specially productive.
His methods of crossword composition are traditional. Many setters use computer programs to fill in one of the standardised grids imposed on them by their newspapers but Azed does not. "The Observer" has always allowed him freedom in construction and he strives to make interesting and varied diagrams. The grid comes first, drawn in pencil in an exercise book with squared paper. Then the bars at the end of each word are inked in for clarity. Then he chooses his words. "The Chambers Dictionary" is consulted, together with "Chambers WORDS" and "Chambers BACKWORDS" to find combinations that will fit into the grid. Finally, the clues are composed in the order that the words appear in the grid, starting with the first Across clue. He deliberately avoids tackling the most interesting-looking words first. He feels that to do that leaves a morass of drab-looking words at the end, quite likely receiving lifeless clues to match. When cluing, "Chambers Thesaurus" is a standard aid, assisted by a wide variety of reference books (many now out of print) which he has accumulated over the years. Composing a plain crossword takes him four to five hours, spread across a week. His specials can take considerably longer.
He also sets occasional puzzles under the pseudonym Ozymandias – "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!".
He believes that "the whole business about the setting and solving of crosswords is that it is a battle of minds – a tussle of wits between the setter and the solver. The solver should win but not without a bit of a struggle"
Bibliography.
"Azed Book of Crosswords", Latimer (1975), SBN 901 539 39 2, reissued as "The World's Most Difficult Crosswords" by Pantheon (1976 )
"Elementary Crosswords for Learners of English as a Foreign Language", OUP Japan (1980),
"Intermediate Crosswords for Learners of English as a Foreign Language", OUP Japan (1980), ,
"Advanced Crosswords for Learners of English as a Foreign Language", OUP Japan (1981), ,
"Introductory crosswords for Learners of English as a Foreign Language", Oxford University Press (1983), ASIN: B0007B5BTM
"Lost for Words", as Ozymandias, with cartoons by Jon, Angus and Robertson (1988),
"Best of Azed Crosswords", Chambers (1989), ,
"Observer Azed Crosswords", Chambers (1991), ,
"Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English", Co-editor, various editions (OUP Oxford)
"Making the most of dictionaries in the classroom: A guide for teachers of English" (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Oxford Wordpower Dictionary) (ELT) co-authored with Sally Wehmeier, Oxford University Press (1994), ,
"Indian and British English": A Handbook of Usage and Pronunciation, Co-author, Oxford University Press; 2nd Ed edition (2004), ,
"Chambers Book of Azed Crosswords", Chambers Harrap (2005) ,
"The Best Of Azed", Guardian Books (2005), ,
"Oxford Guide to British and American Culture", OUP Oxford; Rev Ed edition (2005), ,
"The Art of the Crossword Setter" – essay in "Chambers Crossword Dictionary" (2nd edition, Chambers 2006), "Chambers Concise Crossword Dictionary" (2nd edition, Chambers 2005), and "Chambers Crossword Companion" (Chambers 2007)
"A to Z of Crosswords", Collins (2006) ,


Institute of Fashion Technology Kerala

The Institute of Fashion Technology Kerala or IFTK-Kollam is a fashion technology institute located at Vellimon in Kollam, India. IFTK-Kollam is first and one of its kind, established by Government of Kerala with the intention of developing professionals for taking up leadership positions in fashion business in the emerging global scenario. IFTK-Kollam is inaugurated by the then honorable Chief Minister Sri.V.S Achuthanandan on 5 April 2010. The academy is in technical collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The Institute aims at providing a common platform for fashion education, research and training.
Location.
The institute is located at the beautiful surroundings of Vellimon in Kollam, about 13.5 km away from Kollam city centre.


David Wesely

David Wesely (born 1945) is a wargamer, board game designer, and video game developer. Wesely's developments, inspired by "Kriegsspiel" wargames, were important and influential in the early history of role-playing games.
Early life and education.
Dave Wesely was born in 1945.
Wesely studied physics at Hamline University, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
"Strategos".
In 1967, Wesely rediscovered the 19th-century professional wargame "Strategos", by Charles A. L. Totten, at the University of Minnesota library. An avid hobby wargamer and reader of wargaming literature, Wesely seized upon these rules and incorporated their principles into the miniature wargames played by the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA). These included the role of the referee, and the principle of free "kriegsspiel" that players could attempt anything, although not always successfully, and that the referee should be able to make judgements to cover anything not ordinarily covered by the rules. Totten's "Strategos" became the cornerstone text for the Twin Cities gamers.
"Strategos N".
The incorporation of Totten's "Strategos" into MMSA wargaming culminated with the 1968 development of "Strategos N", a compact set of Napoleonic wargaming rules devised by Wesely and other MMSA members. Dave Wesely developed "Strategos N" as the first MMSA "Strategos" variant for the first time in 1968. It was later self-published in 1970, and again in 1984.
"Strategos C".
Dave Wesely developed "Strategos C" for wargames set during the American Civil War, and it circulated in draft form in 1969, acting as a precursor to "Valley Forge" (1976).
Role-playing games.
The concept of the referee in Totten's "Strategos" led to Dave Wesely expanding upon these ideas to create the "Braunstein" games, which were influential in the early history of role-playing games. This development of the role of the referee became a catalyst for the evolution of role-playing games.
In a 1981 interview published in "Pegasus Magazine", Dave Arneson described Wesely's "Braunstein" as a game in which each player had a "role" that they were playing. He also described his "Blackmoor" game as a variation of Dave Wesely's earlier "Braunstein", based on Wesely's ideas about role-playing, but set in a fantasy world. Peterson cites Arneson's "Blackmoor" as being the most significant precursor to "Dungeons & Dragons".
"Valley Forge".
Wesely created the wargame "Valley Forge", which was published by TSR Hobbies in 1976. Dave Arneson wrote an introduction for the game. Peterson describes "Valley Forge" as an adaptation of "Strategos N" to the American Revolutionary War.
Video games.
Wesely designed video games for Discovery Games, including "Winged Samurai".


Margaret Calkin James

Margaret Calkin James (June 1895 - 1985), was a calligrapher, graphic designer, textile printer, watercolour painter and printmaker, and is best known for her posters designed for the London Underground and London Transport between 1928 and 1935. Untold numbers of commuters admired her Kenwood House and Box Hill posters while oblivious of her identity.
Early life.
Margaret Calkin James was born in Emmanuel, West Hampstead, the third of seven children of Harry Bernard Calkin (1861–1926), a senior underwriter at Lloyd's of London and Margaret Agnes Palfrey (1870–1936), daughter of Penry Powell Palfrey (1830–1902), a well-known artist in stone and stained glass.
She attended North London Collegiate School from 1909 to 1913. She was a student at the Central School of Arts and Crafts between 1913 and 1915, specialising in calligraphy and winning the Queen's Scholarship in her final year. She then enrolled at the Westminster School of Art.
Family.
In June 1922 she married Charles Holloway James, a distinguished architect who trained under Sir Edwin Lutyens. After her marriage she worked from a studio at her home 'Hornbeams'. Her daughter, Elizabeth Argent, lived in Alcester till her death in 2016. Her grandchildren Alison, Jennifer, Nicholas and Jeremy continue to promote their grandmother's legacy.
Career.
Her work was displayed at "The Rainbow Workshops" in Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, which she opened in 1920 after World War I and was one of the first galleries started by a woman to promote art, craft and design. She lived and worked at Lapstone Farm, in Chipping Campden during World War II.
She designed posters for London Transport, book jackets for Jonathan Cape, pattern papers for Curwen Press, programmes and booklets for the BBC and a greetings telegram for the GPO. Some of her textiles were used at the new Norwich City Hall in 1938.
Later life.
In the late 1960s she suffered a stroke, paralysing her right side and depriving her of speech. Undaunted, she started a series of wool embroidery designs using her left hand. She died in 1985.


Jan Hoogervorst

Johannes Adrianus Petrus (Jan) Hoogervorst (born ca 1952) is a Dutch organizational theorist, business executive, management consultant, and Professor Enterprise Governance and Enterprise Engineering at the University of Antwerp, known for his work in the field of enterprise engineering.
Biography.
Hoogervorst received his MA in Electrical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in 1977. Later in 1998 he obtained his PhD in Work and Organizational Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam with a thesis entitled "Quality and customer oriented behavior : towards a coherent approach for improvement."
After his graduation in Delft he started his 27 years long career at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as Manager at the Aircraft Systems Group. From 1983 to 1987 he was manager of the Avionics and Accessories Overhaul Department. In 1988 he was promoted to Vice President Aircraft Maintenance. In 1992 he became Vice President Flight Crew Training, and from 1998 to 2004 Vice President Corporate Information Strategy.
Since 2005 he is management consultant at Sogeti, and since 2011 Professor Enterprise Governance and Enterprise Engineering at the University of Antwerp and at the Antwerp Management School. He is also lecturer at the Delft TopTech, School of Executive Education at the Delft University of Technology.
Work.
Hoogervorst's research interests are in the field of enterprise engineering and enterprise governance. With his work he is aiming to "provide an overarching multidisciplinary perspective to integrate and unify insights from the traditional organisational sciences into an overall enterprise design perspective."
Publications.
Hoogervorst authored and co-authored several publications in the field of enterprise engineering. Books, a selection:
Articles, a selection:


Aline Bonetto

Aline Bonetto is a French production designer and set decorator, best known for her work with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on films such as "Amélie" (2001), "A Very Long Engagement" (2004), and "Micmacs" (2009), among others. Her work on the first two of those films each earned her the César Award for Best Production Design, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.
She served as production designer on the DC Extended Universe film "Wonder Woman" (2017), as well as its sequel "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020).


Ty Bomba

Ty Bomba is a prolific wargame designer from the United States. He is credited as the designer of over 125 board games or game items. At times between 1976 and 1988, Bomba held a security clearance as a certified Arabic and Russian linguist for the US Air Force, US Army, and the National Security Agency. In 1988, he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame. He was previously a senior editor at Strategy & Tactics Press. Bomba was co-founder and designer for XTR Corporation, a company that existed between 1989 and 2001.


Piero Gherardi

Piero Gherardi (20 November 1909 – 8 June 1971) was the Costume and Set Designer of Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" and "8½", winning an Oscar for each film in the category of Best Costume Design.
Born in Poppi, Tuscany, Piero Gherardi began his artistic collaboration with Fellini during the 1953 production of "I vitelloni". The director recognized his talent for scouting locations and extras and his deep knowledge of the region of Lazio. Gherardi soon pr oved his skills in set design by building Cabiria's shack in Fellini's "Le notti di Cabiria" (1957).
Gherardi had studied to become an architect but started working in film production in Italy, in the late 1940s.
Beside his two Academy Awards, he was nominated an additional four times: three times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design for "La Dolce Vita", "8½" and "Juliet of the Spirits" and another in the category of Costume Design for "Juliet of the Spirits."
Before his death in Rome in 1971, Gherardi had mastered numerous roles as Costume Designer, Production Designer, Art Director, and Set Decorator.


Tommy Lee Wallace

Thomas Lee Wallace (born September 6, 1949) is an American film producer, director, editor, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror genre, directing films such as "", "Fright Night Part 2" and the 1990 miniseries, "It". He is a long-time collaborator of director John Carpenter, receiving his first credit as art director on Carpenter's directorial debut, "Dark Star". Along with Charles Bornstein, he edited both the original "Halloween" and "The Fog".
Early life.
Born Thomas Lee Wallace in Somerset, Kentucky to Robert G. and Kathleen Wallace, he has one older sister, Linda. He grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and attended high school at Western Kentucky University teachers training school (College High).
Early career.
Wallace entered the film business while attending USC film school, starting as an art director and film editor for commercials and industrial films. While in school, he began collaborating with childhood friend and fellow student John Carpenter, working on Carpenter's "Dark Star" (1974), a low-budget, science-fiction comedy that began as a student film. In 1976, he worked as sound effects editor and art director on Carpenter's second film, "Assault on Precinct 13". He continued working with Carpenter, serving as production designer and co-editor of "Halloween" (1978) and "The Fog" (1980). In addition to his behind-the-scenes duties for these last two films, Wallace also appeared in front of the camera: intermittently as The Shape (the masked Michael Myers in the closet scene) in "Halloween", and in "The Fog" as several different ghosts; his voice was also featured in both films as TV/radio announcers.
Directorial debut.
For "Halloween II", John Carpenter (who was producing) initially offered directorial responsibilities to Wallace. After careful deliberation, Wallace declined, citing disappointment with the script (the job eventually went to Rick Rosenthal). He did, however, agree to write and direct the third film in the franchise, "", which was the first and only one to deviate from the Michael Myers storyline (Wallace's voice was also featured as the announcer and the munchkin singers in the "Silver Shamrock" commercial).
Later work.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Wallace continued to write and direct for television and film. Notable work includes writing the screenplay for 1982's ""; co-writing and directing 1988's "Fright Night Part 2" starring Roddy McDowell; and adapting and directing 1990's made-for-television miniseries, "It", based on the novel by Stephen King.
Wallace's work in television was varied, including directing episodes of the cult TV series "Max Headroom"; the 1980s revival of "The Twilight Zone"; and "Baywatch". At the height of television film popularity in the 1990s, Wallace directed several notable films, including an adaptation of the Vincent Bugliosi novel, "And the Sea Will Tell" (1991), "The Comrades of Summer" (1992), "Steel Chariots" (1997), and "The Spree" (1998).
In 1986, he performed the title song of Carpenter's film "Big Trouble in Little China" as part of the band The Coup de Villes, alongside Carpenter and another friend, Nick Castle.
Personal life.
Wallace is divorced from actress Nancy Kyes, with whom he has two children. He still lives in California and continues to write.
Filmography.
Films.
"Unproduced screenplay: The Ninja" (1983).


Nancy Melcher

Nancy Melcher Diemand (1916-2015) was a fashion designer specializing in lingerie. In 1950, she became the first underwear designer to win a Coty Award.
Biography.
Nancy Melcher was the daughter of the publisher Frederic G. Melcher and his wife, children's author Marguerite Fellows Melcher. She was born 21 January 1916 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey.
She studied at Williams College, Smith College, and the McDowell School for Costume Design in New York.
In 1942 she married John Anthony "Buzz" Diemand Jr., and the couple lived in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. The marriage lasted until his death in 1992. Aviation was one of Melcher's favorite pastimes, although she also studied watercolor painting and pursued many different handicrafts, from pottery to quilting to carpentry. After her husband's death, Melchard volunteered at the Porter Hospital cafeteria and other local charitable establishments. She died at the age of 99 in the Eastview nursing home, Middlebury, Vermont, on 28 March 2015, and was survived by her son and daughter.
Fashion designer.
Melcher joined the firm Vanity Fair in 1937 as a designer. Her work, in conjunction with clever advertising, helped make the firm famous and successful. In 1939, she patented a design for a combined corset and brassiere for Vanity Fair, which was approved in 1941. She was particularly known for her use of nylon, a synthetic fiber invented and produced by DuPont, who stated in 1950 that Vanity Fair was the first firm to commercially produce heat-set, permanently-pleated nylon lingerie.
Nancy Melcher won a Special Coty Award in 1950, making her the first underwear designer to be so recognized. The award-givers particularly noted her use of nylon tricot as original and having "brought new excitement and beauty to traditional and highly functional lingerie fashions."


Richard Vander Wende

Richard Vander Wende is an American visual designer and video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film "Aladdin" and the Cyan Worlds computer game "Riven".
Career.
Vander Wende's career began at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), working on projects such as the films "Willow" and "Innerspace" as a concept designer. Because of a fondness for the old Disney films, Vander Wende took a position at Walt Disney Feature Animation. His early visual development for "Aladdin" led directors Ron Clements and John Musker to choose that story as the subject for their next film. Vander Wende eventually became production designer for the film.
Following his stint at Disney, Vander Wende became interested in the potential of computer games as a medium for telling a different kind of story. After a chance meeting with Robyn Miller, he began working at Cyan (currently, Cyan Worlds) and eventually became co-director and co-designer of the computer game "Riven; the sequel to Myst". His more cinematic visual influence is clearly seen throughout the "Riven" world. His wife Kate had a cameo appearance in the game as Leira/Keta. After the successful launch of "Riven", Vander Wende left Cyan to pursue other projects.


Agnew-Surpass

Agnew-Surpass Shoe Stores Ltd. was a Canadian shoe retailer. Agnew Shoes was founded in Brantford, Ontario in 1879, and merged in 1928 with Surpass Stores. In 1962 the chain was acquired by American firm Genesco, and in 1987 it was sold to a numbered company controlled by former Bata Shoe executive Michael Graye. Despite being the largest chain of shoe stores in Canada, the chain went bankrupt in 2000. The company maintained locations on major shopping streets, sometimes in the same location for decades, and moved with the times, opening in shopping malls when those became popular. In its last days, franchising was attempted but all to no avail. The rise and fall of Agnew-Surpass is a relatively small scale example of the fate of Canadian business in the 21st century. Old, large firms such as the T. Eaton Company have vanished entirely and others such as the former Steel company of Canada teeter under bankruptcy protection. Meanwhile, surviving retailers such as Canada's oldest corporation, The Hudson's Bay Company are foreign owned.


Gavin Thorpe

Gavin Thorpe is a game designer who has worked primarily on board games. He has also authored a number of novels and short stories for the Black Library.
Career.
Gav Thorpe has been designing and developing products for Games Workshop since 1994. His credits include the "Inquisitor" skirmish game, as well as work on several editions of "Warhammer" and "Warhammer 40,000", and supplements for both game systems. He also designed the board game "Gobbo's Banquet", and has written more than half a dozen novels for the Black Library. He also wrote the script for the "Mark of Chaos" computer game.
Thorpe lives in Nottingham, England.
Reception.
In reviewing the Warhammer novel "The Blades of Chaos" (2003), critic Don D'Ammassa wrote that it is "better written than most similar novels", although it has "little to offer readers who aren't fond of this subgenre." D'Ammassa also reviewed "The Heart of Chaos" (2004), stating that "Thorpe always does a competent job and this one has a rousing finish."


CA Suleiman

CA Suleiman is a writer, game designer, and musician who has worked primarily in dark fantasy and horror for role-playing games and fiction.
Early life and education.
Suleiman attended the Landon School as a child and Churchill High School, and went to the University of Maryland in the late 1990s.
Career.
C.A. Suleiman has contributed to books for "Dungeons & Dragons" and the World of Darkness. Suleiman co-wrote ' and conceived and developed the ' line.
His "D&D" work includes "City of Stormreach", "Cityscape", "Dragonmarked", "Heroes of Horror", and "Faiths of Eberron".
He launched a transmedia fantasy property called "The Lost Citadel", based around the meshing of zombie horror and traditional fantasy tropes. The world debuted with a fiction anthology, and then with a Kickstarted game line.
C.A. Suleiman created and developed a Cthulhu Mythos game and setting called "Unspeakable: Sigil & Sign", which focuses on the Old One cultists as protagonists.
Music.
C.A. Suleiman is the founder of the Washington D.C. based interstitial rock group Toll Carom.


Gillian Welch

Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, country and Americana, is described by "The New Yorker" as "at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms."
Welch and Rawlings have collaborated on seven critically acclaimed albums, five released under her name, and two released under the name Dave Rawlings Machine. Her 1996 debut, "Revival", and the 2001 release "Time (The Revelator)", received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her 2003 album, "Soul Journey", introduced electric guitar, drums, and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, she released a fifth studio album, "The Harrow & The Harvest", in 2011, which was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the soundtrack of the Coen brothers 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. She also appeared in the film attempting to buy a Soggy Bottom Boys record. Welch, while not one of the principal actors, did sing and provide additional lyrics to the Sirens song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby." In 2018 she and Rawlings wrote the song "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" for the Coens' "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", for which they received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Welch has collaborated and recorded with Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, the Decemberists, Sam Phillips, Conor Oberst, Ani DiFranco, and Robyn Hitchcock.
Early life.
Gillian Howard Welch was born on October 2, 1967 in New York City, and was adopted by Mitzie Welch (née Marilyn Cottle) and Ken Welch, comedy and music entertainers. Her biological mother was a freshman in college, and her father was a musician visiting New York City. Welch has speculated that her biological father could have been one of her favorite musicians, and she later discovered from her adoptive parents that he was a drummer. Alec Wilkinson of "The New Yorker" stated that "from an address they had been given, it appeared that her mother ... may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina". When Welch was three, her adoptive parents moved to Los Angeles to write music for "The Carol Burnett Show". They also appeared on "The Tonight Show".
As a child, Welch was introduced to the music of American folk singers Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family. She performed folk songs with her peers at the Westland Elementary School in Los Angeles. Welch later attended Crossroads School, a high school in Santa Monica, California. While in high school, a local television program featured her as a student who "excelled at everything she did."
While a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Welch played bass in a goth band, and drums in a psychedelic surf band. In college, a roommate played an album by the bluegrass band The Stanley Brothers, and she had an epiphany:
The first song came on and I just stood up and I kind of walked into the other room as if I was in a tractor beam and stood there in front of the stereo. It was just as powerful as the electric stuff, and it was songs I'd grown up singing. All of a sudden I'd found my music.
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in photography, Welch attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in songwriting. During her two years studying at Berklee, Welch gained confidence as a performer. Welch met her music partner David Rawlings at a successful audition for Berklee's only country band.
Career.
Upon finishing college in 1992, Welch moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She recalled, "I looked at my record collection and saw that all the music I loved had been made in Nashville—Bill Monroe, Dylan, the Stanley Brothers, Neil Young—so I moved there. Not ever thinking I was thirty years too late." Rawlings soon followed. In Nashville, after singing "Long Black Veil," the two first realized that their voices harmonized well and they started to perform as a duo. They never considered using a working name, so the duo were simply billed as "Gillian Welch." A year after moving to Nashville, Welch found a manager, Denise Stiff, who already managed Alison Krauss. Both Welch and Stiff ignored frequent advice that Welch should stop playing with Rawlings and join a band. They eventually signed a recording contract with Almo Sounds. Following a performance opening for Peter Rowan at the Station Inn, producer T-Bone Burnett expressed interest in recording an album. Burnett did not plan to disturb Welch's and Rawlings' preference for minimal instrumentation, and Welch agreed to take him on as a producer.
"Revival".
For the recording sessions of Welch's debut, "Revival", Burnett wanted to recapture the bare sound of Welch's live performance. Welch recalled, "That first week was really intense. It was just T-Bone, the engineer, and Dave and myself. We got so inside our little world. There was very little distance between our singing and playing. The sound was very immediate. It was so light and small." Later, they recorded several more songs and played with an expanded group of musicians; guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee James Burton, bassist Roy Huskey, Jr., and veteran session drummers Jim Keltner, and Buddy Harman.
The album was released in April 1996 to mostly positive reviews. Mark Deming of Allmusic called it a "superb debut" and wrote, "Welch's debts to artists of the past are obvious and clearly acknowledged, but there's a maturity, intelligence, and keen eye for detail in her songs you wouldn't expect from someone simply trying to ape the Carter Family." Bill Friskics-Warren of "No Depression" praised the album as "breathtakingly austere evocations of rural culture." The Arlington Heights, Illinois "Daily Herald"s Mark Guarino observed that "Revival" was "cheered and scrutinized as a staunch revivalist of Depression-era music only because her originals sounded so much like that era." He attributed this to the biblical imagery of the lyrics, Burnett's threadbare production, and the plainly-sung bleakness in Welch's vocals. Ann Powers of "Rolling Stone" gave "Revival" a lukewarm review and criticized Welch for not singing of her own experiences, and "manufacturing emotion." Robert Christgau echoed Powers: Welch "just doesn't have the voice, eye, or way with words to bring her simulation off."
The song, "Orphan Girl," from "Revival" has been covered by Emmylou Harris, Ann Wilson, Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine, Mindy Smith, Patty Griffin, Linda Ronstadt and Holly Williams. Others who have recorded Welch's songs include Joan Baez, Grace Porter, Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Punch Brothers, Mike Gordon, Bright Eyes, Calexico, Ani DiFranco, The Decemberists, Karl Blau and Jim James.
"Revival" was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad."
"Hell Among The Yearlings".
The duo's 1998 "Hell Among the Yearlings" continued the rustic and dark themes; the songs' subject matter varies from a female character killing a rapist, a mining accident, a murder ballad, and an ode to morphine before death. Like "Revival", "Hell Among The Yearlings" featured a sparse style that focused on Rawlings and Welch's voices and guitars.
The album also received favorable reviews. Robert Wilonsky of the "Dallas Observer" observed that Welch "inhabits a role so completely, the fiction separating character and audience disappears". Thom Owens (Allmusic) stated that the album "lacks some of the focus" of "Revival", but is "a thoroughly satisfying second album" and proof that her debut was not a fluke. "No Depression"'s Farnum Brown commended the live and "immediate feel" of the album, Welch's clawhammer banjo, and Rawlings' harmonies. Similar to "Revival", Welch was praised for reflecting influences such as the Stanley Brothers, but still managing to create an original sound, while Chris Herrington from Minneapolis's "City Pages" criticized the songs' lack of authenticity. He wrote "Welch doesn't write folk songs; she writes folk songs about writing folk songs."
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?".
Welch sang two songs and served as the associate producer for the Burnett-produced soundtrack to the 2000 film of the same name. She shared vocals with Alison Krauss on a rendition of the gospel song "I'll Fly Away." Dave McKenna of "The Washington Post" praised their version: the singers "soar together." Burnett and Welch wrote additional lyrics for the song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," sung by Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Krauss. The song is an elaboration of an old Mississippi tune discovered by Alan Lomax, and was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The platinum album won the 2002 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The surprise success of the soundtrack gave Welch a career boost. Welch also made a cameo appearance in the film.
"Time (The Revelator)".
When Universal Music Group purchased Almo Sounds, Welch began her own independent label, Acony Records (named for the Appalachian wildflower, Acony Bell, subject of the song of that name on "Revival"). Rawlings produced the first release on Welch's new label, the 2001 album "Time (The Revelator)." All but one song on the album was recorded in the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville. "I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll" was recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium in the recording sessions for the concert film "Down from the Mountain".
Welch has said the album is about American history, rock 'n' roll, and country music. There are songs about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Titanic Disaster, John Henry, and Elvis Presley. "Time" continues Welch and Rawlings' style of mellow and sparse arrangements. Welch explained, "As opposed to being little tiny folk songs or traditional songs, they're really tiny rock songs. They're just performed in this acoustic setting. In our heads we went electric without changing instruments."
"Time (The Revelator)" received extensive critical praise, most of which focused on the evolution of lyrics from mountain ballads. For Michael Shannon Friedman of "The Charleston Gazette", "Welch's soul-piercing, backwoods quaver has always been a treasure, but on this record her songwriting is absolutely stunning." Critics compare the last track, the 15-minute "I Dream a Highway", to classics by Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Zac Johnson of Allmusic described "I Dream ..." as akin to "sweetly dozing in the [river] current like Huck and Jim's Mississippi River afternoons". "No Depression"s Grant Alden wrote, "Welch and Rawlings have gathered ... fragments from across the rich history of American music and reset them as small, subtle jewels adorning their own keenly observed, carefully constructed language." "Time" finished thirteenth in the 2001 "Village Voice" Pazz & Jop music critic poll. "Time (The Revelator)" appeared in best of decade lists of "Rolling Stone", "Paste", "Uncut", "The Irish Times", and the "Ottawa Citizen". The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft". "Time" peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Independent Album chart.
"The Revelator Collection" DVD was released in 2002. It featured live performances and music videos of songs from "Time", and some covers. The concert footage was filmed in 2001, and the music videos included Welch and Rawlings performing three songs at RCA Studio B. "No Depression"s Barry Mazor praised the DVD as an accompaniment for "Time", calling it "one last exclamation point on that memorable and important project."
"Soul Journey".
For the 2003 release, "Soul Journey", Welch and Rawlings explored new territory. Welch said: "I wanted to make it a happier record. Out of our four records, I thought this might be the one where you're driving down the road listening to it on a sunny summer day." Rawlings again produced the record. The album also reflected a change in the typically sparse instrumentation: Welch and Rawlings introduced a dobro, violin, electric bass and drums, and Welch later said, "Everything's not supposed to sound the same, you want it to reflect change and growth."
In three songs of "Soul Journey," for the first time Welch and Rawlings recorded their own versions of traditional folk songs.
"Soul Journey" also garnered significant acclaim. John Harris of "Mojo" magazine described the album as "pretty much perfect", and "Uncut"s Barney Hoskyns favorably compared it to Bob Dylan and The Band's "The Basement Tapes". Will Hermes of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that Welch has "never sounded deeper, realer, or sexier." "Soul Journey" peaked at No. 107 on the Billboard charts, and reached No. 3 for Independent Albums.
Dave Rawlings Machine.
Welch and Rawlings continued their partnership in the band Dave Rawlings Machine. Welch co-wrote five of the songs with Rawlings, and provided guitar and harmony vocals. Andy Gill of "The Independent" described the 2009 debut album "A Friend of a Friend" as "akin to one of Welch's albums, but with the balance of their harmonies swapped to favour Rawlings' voice". Although ostensibly Rawlings' first solo album, Alex Ramon of "PopMatters" noted the similarities to Welch albums. "Paste Magazine"s Stephen Deusner praised "A Friend of a Friend" for incorporating "a wide swath of traditional American music," comments echoed by "Rolling Stone"s Will Hermes and in the "PopMatters" piece.
On September 18, 2015, the duo released their second album under the band title Dave Rawlings Machine, "Nashville Obsolete". The band includes Willie Watson, Paul Kowert, Brittany Haas, and occasionally includes Jordan Tice.
"The Harrow and The Harvest".
In a 2007 feature in "The Guardian", critic John Harris expressed frustration that there had not been a Gillian Welch release in four years. Creation Records founder Alan McGee showed optimism about Welch and Rawlings testing out some new songs while opening some concerts for Rilo Kiley, and wrote in a 2009 blog entry "the long gestation period signals nothing less than a perfect album". In 2009, Rawlings said that recording for the next Gillian Welch album has started, but did not give a release date.
"The Harrow & The Harvest" was released on June 28, 2011. Welch attributed the long time period between releases to dissatisfaction with the songs they were writing. She explained: "Our songcraft slipped and I really don't know why. It's not uncommon. It's something that happens to writers. It's the deepest frustration we have come through, hence the album title." The writing process involved "this endless back and forth between the two of us," Welch said, stating that "It's our most intertwined, co-authored, jointly-composed album."
The album received praise from publications such as "The Los Angeles Times", "Uncut", and" Rolling Stone". Thom Jurek of Allmusic wrote that the album "is stunning for its intimacy, its lack of studio artifice, its warmth and its timeless, if hard won, songcraft".
The album peaked at No. 20 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 25 on the UK Albums Chart. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, as well as Best Engineered Album.
"Boots No 1: The Official Revival Bootleg".
"Boots No 1: The Official Revival Bootleg", was released on November 25, 2016. It received the status of 'universal acclaim', receiving a Metascore of 79, based upon eight critic reviews of the album. The album celebrates the 20th anniversary of Welch's debut album, "Revival", and includes outtakes, alternate versions, and demos of the songs featured on the original, as well as eight new unreleased tracks.
Musical style.
Welch and Rawlings incorporate elements of early twentieth century music such as old time, classic country, gospel and traditional bluegrass with modern elements of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and punk rock. "The New Yorker"s Alec Wilkinson maintained their musical style is "not easily classified—it is at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".
The instrumentation on their songs is usually a simple arrangement, with Welch and Rawlings accompanying their own vocals with acoustic guitars, banjos, or a mandolin. Welch plays rhythm guitar with a 1956 Gibson J-50 (or banjo), while Rawlings plays lead on a 1935 Epiphone Olympic Guitar. "The New Yorker"s Wilkinson described Rawlings as a "strikingly inventive guitarist" who plays solos that are "daring melodic leaps". A review in "No Depression" by Andy Moore observed that Rawlings "squeezes, strokes, chokes and does just about everything but blow into" his guitar.
Themes.
Many songs performed by Welch and Rawlings contain dark themes about social outcasts struggling against such elements as poverty, drug addiction, death, a disconnection from their family, and an unresponsive God. Despite Welch being the lead singer, several of these characters are male. Welch has commented, "To be commercial, everybody wants happy love songs. People would flat-out ask me, 'Don't you have any happy love songs?' Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. I've got songs about orphans and morphine addicts." To reflect these themes, Welch and Rawlings often employ a slow pace to their songs. Their tempo is compared to a "slow heartbeat", and Cowperthwait of "Rolling Stone" observed that their songs "can lull you into near-hypnosis and then make your jaw drop with one final revelation".
Reception.
Geoffrey Himes of "The Washington Post" described Welch as "one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of her generation". In 2003, Tom Kielty of "The Boston Globe" observed that she was "quietly establishing one of the most impressive catalogs in contemporary roots music", and a 2007 piece in "The Guardian" by John Harris called Welch "one of the decade's greatest talents". Critic Robert Hilburn of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "At every turn, she demonstrates a spark and commitment that should endear her to anyone from country and folk to pop and rock fans who appreciate imagination and heart."
When Welch's first two albums came out, critics questioned the authenticity of her music, as she was raised in Southern California, but performed Appalachian themed songs. For "Revival", Welch was criticized for "manufacturing emotion", and a review of "Hell Among the Yearlings" by Chris Herrington of "City Pages" stated, "Welch is someone who discovered old-time music in college and decided that her own sheltered life could never be worth writing about", and that she is "completely devoid of individuality". Other critics rejected the notion that her background affects the authenticity of her music. Music critic Mark Kemp defended Welch in a "The New York Times" piece:
The first-person protagonist of Ms. Welch's song ("Caleb Meyer") may be a young girl from a time and place that Ms. Welch will never fully understand, but the feelings the singer expresses about rape, and the respect she displays for her chosen musical genre, are nothing if not poignantly authentic. Likewise, it matters not whether Ms. Welch has ever walked the streets of "the black dust towns of East Tennessee" about which she sings in "Miner's Refrain" because the sense of foreboding that she expresses for the men who once labored in coal mines with futile hopes of a better life comes through loud and clear.
"The Wall Street Journal"'s Taylor Holliday echoed this: "Stingy critics give Ms. Welch a hard time because she's a California city girl, not an Appalachian coal miner's daughter. But as Lucinda or Emmylou might attest, love of the music is not a birthright, but an earned right. Listen to Ms. Welch yodel, in a tune about that no-good "gal" Morphine, and you know she's as mountain as they come."
On September 16, 2015 the duo was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting by the Americana Music Association.
Influences and collaborations.
Welch emphasizes music from a previous era as her major influence. She said that "by and large I listen to people who are dead. I'm really of the tried-and-true school. I let 50 years go by and see what's really relevant." Welch has acknowledged inspiration from several traditional country artists, including the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys. She explained her relationship with traditional music by saying, "I've never tried to be traditional. It's been a springboard for me and I love it and revere it and would not be doing what I do without the music of the Monroe Brothers, the Stanley Brothers and the Carter Family. However, it was clear I was never going to be able to do exactly that; I'm a songwriter."
In addition to the strong country influence, Welch also draws on a repertoire of such rock 'n' roll artists as Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground. She has noted alternative rock bands Throwing Muses, Pixies and Camper Van Beethoven "don't directly inform my music, but they're in there." Her cover of Black Star by Radiohead became notorious and was released as a single in 2005.
Welch has recorded songs with a variety of notable artists, including Ryan Adams, Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, Jay Farrar, Alison Krauss, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bright Eyes, Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Earle, Ralph Stanley, The Decemberists, Solomon Burke and Mark Knopfler. Welch and Rawlings' contributions on Hitchcock's album "Spooked" was described by Christopher Bahn of "The A.V. Club" as "subtle but vital". She later created the cover art for Hitchcock's 2014 album "The Man Upstairs". Mark Deming of Allmusic wrote that their work on Ryan Adams' album "Heartbreaker" "brought out the best in Adams".
Artists who have recorded songs written by Welch include Jimmy Buffett, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Trisha Yearwood, Joan Baez, Brad Mehldau & Chris Thile, Allison Moorer, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Madison Cunningham, Kathy Mattea and ZZ Top.
Performances.
Welch and Rawlings have played many music festivals, including The Newport Folk Festival, Coachella Festival, The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival, MerleFest, The Austin City Limits Festival, and Farm Aid. They have toured North America extensively, and have played in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Concert reviews have praised the chemistry between Welch and Rawlings on stage. Tizzy Asher of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" wrote "there was a startling unspoken intimacy between them. They anticipated each other's movements and shifted when necessary to fit each other."
The Dave Rawlings Machine have toured North America, with the band originally composed of Rawlings, Welch and three members of Old Crow Medicine Show. The band is currently composed of Rawlings, Welch, Wilie Watson, Paul Kowert, and Brittany Haas. Welch and Rawlings also participate in group tours with notable musicians. In 2004, they were part of the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, a three-week US tour with Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris. In 2009, The Dave Rawlings Machine joined Old Crow Medicine Show, the Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle for the Big Surprise Tour, a US tour described as a "roots-music extravaganza". In 2011, Welch was a support act for Buffalo Springfield, who reformed and toured that year.


Tabitha Simmons

Tabitha Simmons is a British fashion designer, stylist, and magazine editor.
Biography.
Simmons was born and raised in rural Cambridgeshire. She attended Kingston University, where she studied film and set design. While at university, Simmons worked as a fashion model.
After a short career in modelling, Simmons began working as a stylist. She worked for Jefferson Hack at "Dazed". She moved to New York City and signed a styling contract with Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana. She also styled runway shoes for Alexander McQueen.
Simmons is a contributing editor at "Vogue". She partnered with Swarovski on a jewellery line and designed a clothing line for Equipment.
In 2009 Simmons launched her own shoe company. She was awarded the Emerging Talent Prize British Fashion Awards in 2011. In 2015 she won a CFDA Award for Accessories Designer of the Year. In 2017 she won a "Glamour Award" for Best Accessories Designer. In 2019 she was nominated for another CFDA Award.
Simmons was married to British photographer Craig McDean and has two sons, Dylan and Elliot McDean. The family lived in a 5-story Queen Anne Revival townhouse in Chelsea, Manhattan. She and McDean divorced in 2013.
She began dating Robert Livingston "Topper" Mortimer, the son of John Jay Mortimer, in 2014 after they met in The Hamptons. On January 29, 2018 Simmons gave birth to a daughter, Violet Elizabeth Mortimer. She and Mortimer were married in an Episcopal service at the Church of the Resurrection on June 9, 2018. A reception was held at The Brook followed by an after party at Dorrian's Red Hand Restaurant. Wedding guests included Tory Burch, Dasha Zhukova, Hamish Bowles, Katie Grand, Karen Elson, Lily Aldridge, Lauren Santo Domingo, Alejandro Santo Domingo, Lady Charlotte Wellesley, Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Minnie Mortimer, Georgina Chapman, Liv Tyler, and Sienna Miller. Her husband had previously been married to socialite and reality television personality Tinsley Mortimer.


MiKTeX

MiKTeX is a free distribution of the TeX/LaTeX typesetting system for Microsoft Windows (and for Mac and certain Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora). It also contains a set of related programs. MiKTeX provides the tools necessary to prepare documents using the TeX/LaTeX markup language, as well as a simple TeX editor: TeXworks. The name comes from Christian Schenk's login: MiK for Micro-Kid.
MiKTeX can update itself by downloading new versions of previously installed components and packages, and has an easy installation process. Additionally, it can ask users whether they wish to download any packages that have not yet been installed but are requested by the current document.
The current version of MiKTeX is 20.12 and is available at the MiKTeX homepage. Since version 2.7, MiKTeX has support for XeTeX, MetaPost and pdfTeX and compatibility with Windows 7. A portable version of MikTeX, as well as a command-line installer of it, are also available.


Albert Heschong

Elmer Albert Heschong (February 22, 1919March 1, 2001) was an American art director and production designer, principally for television. In a career that spanned more than 40 years, he worked on over 2,500 productions and was posthumously inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame.
A native of Cincinnati, he served in the United States Army during World War II and worked in scenic design for the live theater after the war. He began working for the American Broadcasting Company in 1949 and worked on the network's early live drama series, "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse" and "Celanese Theatre". He continued to work on live television drama in the 1950s, working on "United States Steel Hour", "Climax!", and "Playhouse 90". He won an Emmy Award for his art direction on "Playhouse 90"'s 1956 production of "Requiem for a Heavyweight".
In the 1960s, he worked on multiple CBS series, including "Gunsmoke" (1961–1973), "The Wild Wild West" (1965–1967), and "Hawaii Five-O" (1968–1969). During the 1970s and 1980s, he worked principally on television movies, winning Emmy nominations for his work on ' (1982) and ' (1985).
Early years.
Heschong was born in Cincinnati in 1919. His father, Albert Heschong, designed and made clothing. As a boy, he enjoyed building model boats and airplanes, drawing, and building things with Erector Sets. He attended Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, graduated "cum laude", and was voted "most all-around boy in the class." He was also in drama club, where he both acted and designed sets.
After graduating high school, his high school drama teacher contacted the drama department at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Institute of Technology and secured a scholarship for Heschong. In the second half of his sophomore year, he transferred to the architecture department to develop his technical drawing skills. He left Carnegie Tech after two years to work at a playhouse in Chautauqua, New York. He next worked for a year at a theatrical company in Cincinnati and then for the Baltimore Museum of Art, where he designed and built sets and exhibits.
During World War II, he was drafted into the United States Army. He was assigned to a camouflage design unit at Richmond Air Force Base, where he worked with Broadway designer Jo Mielziner. He was later assigned to interpret aerial reconnaissance photographs. He spent 18 months in India, supervising photographic reconnaissance in the China Burma India Theater.
After the war, Heschong returned to Carnegie Tech to finish his degree. He was then hired to assist in teaching scenic design at Carnegie Tech. He also did design work for stage productions, including scenic design for The Woodstock Playhouse.
Television career.
ABC.
In 1949, he was hired by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as an art director. His early works included futuristic settings for ABC's "Buck Rogers" television show, including the interior of Buck Rogers' spaceship and the use of sparkler for the blastoff of rockets.
In 1950, he was assigned to create all the settings for ABC's live drama "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse". For the first episode, "You Can't Take It with You", he built a large Victorian house set for $15,000.
While at ABC, he also worked with Alex Segal on the live drama series "Celanese Theatre", including productions of "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" (1950) with Raymond Burr, "Winterset" (1951) with Burgess Meredith, "Ah Wilderness" (1951), "Anna Christie" (1952), and "The Street Scene" (1952). In the early 1950s, the ABC art department in New York worked out of a building that had previously been horse stables. They built sets using quarter-inch plywood on one-by-three framing.
United States Steel Hour.
In 1954, he began working on the "United States Steel Hour", which aired on NBC. His work at the "Steel Hour" included "P.O.W." (1953), "The Last Notch" (1954), "Hedda Gabler" (1954), "A Garden in the Sea" (1954), "No Time for Sergeants" (1955), and "Freighter" (1955). "No Time for Sergeants" featured highly stylized sets and was the first dramatic show that was aired with an audience. For "The Last Notch", the first Western done for television, he designed an entire Western street scene. For "A Garden in the Sea", he designed a villa in Venice, including a gondola approaching the villa.
First stint at CBS.
In the fall of 1955, he moved to Los Angeles to work for CBS. His first series for CBS was "Climax!" with Martin Manulis. His work for "Climax!" included "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1955) and "The Circular Staircase" (1956). Heschong also worked on the "Meet Millie" sitcom, the "Red Skelton Hour", and an early-summer replacement show starring Johnny Carson. On the Skelton show, he was asked to design numerous trick shots.
When Manulis left "Climax!" in 1956, Heschong followed him to "Playhouse 90". Heschong won an Emmy Award for his art direction on the Rod Serling boxing drama "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956). For "Requiem", his notable designs included sets at the boxing venue and a railroad car. Heschong's other notable "Playhouse 90" productions included "The Miracle Worker" (1957), "Helen Morgan" (1957), "Seven Against the Wall" (1958), "The Velvet Alley" (1959), and "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1959). He designed the courtroom for "Judgment at Nuremberg".
20th Century Fox.
In 1959, he was hired by 20th Century Fox to work on the series "Adventures in Paradise", a South Pacific adventure series created by James Michener. He did not stay at Fox for very long.
Return to CBS.
After leaving Fox, he returned to CBS and worked on the sitcom "Pete and Gladys", the Western "Have Gun – Will Travel", and later another sitcom "The Cara Williams Show".
In 1961, Heschong became the production designer on the Western series "Gunsmoke". When the series moved from Hollywood to Studio City, he had to restore and redesign the sets. The sets were built along one long street with multiple buildings and interiors, including the sheriff's office, a livery stable, a hotel lobby, and a doctor's office. He worked on about 140 episodes of "Gunsmoke".
During the 1963–64 season, he also worked on "The Great Adventure". The first episode of that series was "The Hunley", a story about a Civil War submarine. He prepared a full-size submarine (full-size exterior and interiors and miniatures) and docks for that production.
In addition to his regular art directing work, Heschong became the head of the CBS art department in 1964.
From 1965 to 1967, he also worked on another Western series, "The Wild Wild West". He worked on that show from the start and designed all the sets. The writers came up with many strange concepts and effects that were a challenge, including a steam-driven wheel chair, a steam engine that spit flames, and other unusual vehicles. He did 48 episodes on "Wild Wild West".
He left "Gunsmoke" during the 1968–69 season to work on "Hawaii Five-O". He also covered a few episodes of the "The Bob Newhart Show" in the 1970s.
Television movies.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he worked on numerous television movies, including Steven Spielberg's "Something Evil" (1972). One of his favorites was the television movie "Visions" (1972), for which he designed a large rubble scene to show the aftermath from the explosion of a water treatment plant.
He received an Emmy nomination for his art direction on " (1982). Much of his work on that project involved selecting locations in Natchez, Mississippi.
He received his final Emmy nomination for " (1985). Heschong recalled that the number of sets was enormous, and executives became very nervous about the budget. As a result, he had to cut many corners.
In all, Heschong was art director or production designer on more than 2,500 productions.
Personal life and later years.
Heschong married former Naomi Eva Harris in 1946. They had three children, Gregg, Eric, and Lisa. He lived in Encino, California. In 2001, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home at age 82. He was posthumously inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame in 2011.


Abdallah Zakher

Abdallah Zakher () (1684–1748) was a Syrian (born in Aleppo) and typographer. He was a Melkite Christian at the time of the Church's re-establishment of Communion with Rome and among other accomplishments he set up the first printing press in the Middle East.
His printing press used Arabic movable types and was installed in 1733 in the motherhouse of the Basilian Chouerite Order, the monastery of Saint John the Baptist at Choueir (or "Dhour El Shuwayr", near "Khinchara") in Mount Lebanon, where it still can be visited.
Zakher was also an accomplished writer and craftsman.


Carolina Engman

Carolina Engman (born 5 March 1987) is a Swedish fashion blogger, model and stylist. Engman started her blog entitled 'FashionSquad' in April 2006. She has been featured by magazines like Teen Vogue, NYLON Japan, Vogue Girl Korea, Vogue Germany and Elle Spain.
Carolina has modeled in campaigns for Botkier, Mango (clothing), Penny Black, Bik Bok, and Nastygal. In 2010 she was featured on a T-shirt sold by Forever 21.


Clarence Remus Wilson

Clarence Remus Wilson was a Rosine, Kentucky farmer who also played the fiddle and five-string banjo. He has been called one of the "greats" of hillbilly music, along with James "Uncle Pen" Vandiver, Kennedy Jones, and Bill Monroe. He also played with Blues musician Arnold Schultz, when Schultz was in town. There is a photo of Schultz and Wilson sitting outside on folding chairs, posing with their instruments, Schultz with his guitar and Wilson with his fiddle.


Marie-Denise Douyon

Marie-Denise Douyon (born 1961 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Canadian painter, illustrator and graphic artist. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Africa.
Life.
Douyon was born in Haiti in 1961. She fled the Duvalier regime with her parents in 1964, and eventually settled in Morocco in 1966. She completed a visual arts degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York in Manhattan, New York City. After Jean-Claude Duvalier fell from power in 1986, Douyon returned to Haiti. In the early 1990s, she was arrested, tortured and imprisoned by Haiti's military junta, but was released on February 7, 1991 as part of a general amnesty of Haitian political prisoners. Since 1991, Douyon has lived and worked in Montreal, Quebec.
Career.
Douyon's work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Canada, France, the United States and in the Caribbean. In 2004, her work was shown at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Douyon integrates found and discarded objects into her art to "reinforce a social collective consciousness" regarding global warming and consumer culture. Her work also references her multicultural identity and African heritage.


Pierluca Zizzi

Pierluca Zizzi is an Italian board game designer responsible for the creation of critically acclaimed games such as Asgard, Hyperborea, Signorie and Simurgh.
Born in 1970 in Turin, Pierluca began his working career as an architect. It's not long however before he realizes that his passion for board games should become his full-time job.
Career.
As of 2017, Pierluca has designed 21 published board games:
Upcoming projects.
According to Board Game Geek database, Pierluca Zizzi is currently working on two new projects:
Reception.
Although Pierluca Zizzi has designed 21 games, his most popular game remains Hyperborea, published in 2014 by Asmodée Éditions. The game has received positive reviews, and currently hold a score of 7.3 out of 10 on Board Game Geek database. Popular outlets that have reviewed the game are Opinionated Gamers, Nonsensical Gamers, Meepletown, Play Board Games and Dice Tower.
Other main games created by Pierluca Zizzi are "Lamborghini: The Official Race Game", a game based on the official license of Lamborghini sport cars, the strategy game based on worker placement mechanics "Signorie" and "Simurgh", the fantasy game published on kickstarter by and NSKN Games.
Other projects.
Pierluca Zizzi has an interest for esoteric things, and has produced and released his own version of Zener Cards and other divination tools such as "Infinity Tarot", "Egyptian Oracle Cards", "2012: Tarot of Ascension" and "Universal Transparent Tarot".