Grèce au Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2009

Background.

Prior to the 2009 Contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-nine times since its first entry in 1974, winning it in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou, and being placed third three times: in 2001 with the song "Die for You" performed by the duo Antique; in 2004 with "Shake It" performed by Sakis Rouvas; and the 2008 entry "Secret Combination" performed by Kalomoira. Following the introduction of the semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece has had a top ten placing each year. Greece's least successful result was in 1998 when it placed twentieth with the song "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" by Thalassa, receiving only twelve points in total, all from Cyprus.  The Greek national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) broadcasts the event in Greece each year and organizes the selection process for its entry. From 2004 to 2006, ERT had selected high-profile artists internally and set up national finals to choose the song, while in 2007 and 2008 it held a televised national final to choose both the song and performer. For the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, ERT was able to secure a high-profile artist once again and planned a national final to choose the song.

Before Eurovision.

Artist selection.

In July 2008, it was announced that Sakis Rouvas will be representing Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. This marked Rouvas' second appearance at Eurovision as a performer, and third overall. In 2004, he represented Greece with "Shake It", placing third, and in 2006, he hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens alongside Maria Menounos. Johnny Kalimeris, Eurovision project manager for ERT stated that they had announced Rouvas' participation so early because they had ""already agreed with Sakis Rouvas so there was no reason to keep it a secret [and that] it was about to leak [so they] decided to make a short announcement early on to avoid the usual speculations and rumors which could do more damage than good"".  As in 2005 and 2006, when ERT also picked the artist internally, a national final was organized where three potential entries would be heard in playback and the winning song will chosen by televoting (60%) and an "expert" jury (40%). On 14 October 2008, ERT held a press conference to officially present Rouvas as the entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. It was also announced that Dimitris Kontopoulos will be the only composer to submit songs, and all performances from Rouvas will be choreographed by Fokas Evagelinos. Responding to a question about the style of the song, asked by a reporter in the press conference on 14 October 2009, Rouvas answered that he trusted in Dimitris Kontopoulos, and that Kontopoulos had written many hits for him and knew what style of songs that fit Rouvas the best.

Competing entries.

On 10 February 2009, two days ahead of the song press conference, the song titles and lyricists were revealed to the media. Alexandra Zakka wrote the lyrics for the first song, titled "Out of Control", a pop song with R&B elements, while Craig Porteils and Cameron Giles-Webb wrote the lyrics for both "Right On Time", a mid-tempo song with rock elements, and "This Is Our Night", a dance song. Craig Porteils is a Greek Australian music producer who has written songs and lyrics for Cher, Billy Idol, Tevin Campbell, Guns N' Roses, Rod Stewart, and Ozzy Osbourne among others, while Cameron Giles-Webb is another Greek Australian music producer who is currently the head of "Gusto Music". Alexandra Zakka is a young upcoming lyricist who speaks English, French, German, and Spanish among other languages.  The three competing entries were officially presented to the media in another press conference on 10 February 2009.

National final.

The final took place on 18 February 2009 at the Athinon Arena Music Hall in Athens, hosted by Betty and Mathildi Maggira. The show was directed by Giorgos Kapoutzidis, and was also streamed by the official Eurovision website "Eurovision.tv". The show had a main concept of Eurovision history and included a flashback to the Eurovision world from 1956 when the contest was broadcast on radio to the present. Rouvas performed all three candidate songs, and the winning song was chosen by televoting (60%) and a seven-member "expert" jury panel (40%), consisting of Mimis Plessas (head of the jury), Dimitris Gontikas (General Manager of ERT Television), Antonis Andrikakis (lyricist and General Manager of ERT Radio), Evangelia Piskera (President of ERT Public Relations), Olga Pavlatou (record executive), Giorgos Kyvelos (record producer), and "ESCToday" representative Stella Floras, which the votes came from the result of a poll for international fans conducted by "ESCToday".  At the end of the show, "This Is Our Night" was revealed to be the winning song, receiving 81% of the overall votes.  Interval acts during the show included a number of the 2009 contest representatives, such as Cyprus' Christina Metaxa with "Firefly", Turkey's Hadise with "Düm Tek Tek", Malta's Chiara with "What If We", Belarus' Petr Elfimov with "Eyes That Never Lie", Montenegro's Andrea Demirović with "Just Get Out of My Life", and the United Kingdom's Jade Ewen with "My Time". 2008's entrant Kalomoira also perform a medley which included Lady Gaga's "Just Dance", the Pussycat Dolls's "When I Grow Up" and the Master Tempo remix of her entry "Secret Combination".

Promotion.

Rouvas will be embarking on an extensive promotional tour around Europe after picking his song. So far it is rumored that almost all countries have invited him to be on their shows. Even before his song was picked, Rouvas was invited to perform in Belgrade, Serbia on the talent show "Operacija trijumf", the Ex-Yugoslav version of Star Academy, on December 29, 2008. On the show, which is broadcast in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia, Rouvas sang his 2004 entry "Shake It" with Aleksandar Belov, one of the shows contestants who is of Macedonian origin, while he also premiered the English version of his massive summer hit "+ Se Thelo" titled "Keep on Moving" for the first time with a fully choreographed performance.  Following the national final, initial plans for the promotion of "This Is Our Night" were revealed. The tour was revealed by Johnny Kalimeris to be quite extensive, with Rouvas visiting more Eurovision countries than had been visited in previous years. The first official stop kicking off Rouvas' promotional tour after the selection was to Bosnia and Herzegovina where Rouvas performed at the official presentation of the nation's entry "Bistra Voda" on March 1. Other guests included Turkey and Malta. The show was streamed live on eurovision.tv as had been for the Greek national final. An extensive promotional schedule was laid out for the following day, with Rouvas doing many appearances on numerous press, television, and radio networks. Rouvas was a guest at the Pink TV BH Morning Show which aired live on Balkan Net, and also starred on the live radio show "Stari Grad" at 14:00. He also gave interviews to TV Hayat, the "Obavezan smjer" show on TV Sarajevo, and on the Radio Televizija BiH show "Konacno petak". Following his two-day stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rouvas will return to Belgrade, Serbia where he will stay until March 4 and will appear on Fox TV, Radio S, live on 3 March, at 15.30 (local time), TV S, TV Avala and Pink TV. On the 4th March, he will be a special guest of Jovana Janković, the hostess of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, on the "RTS Morning Show". Rouvas will conclude his promotion in Serbia at 15:00 that day with a live appearance on Novi SAT channel. Rouvas will then fly to Moscow, where he will perform live at the Russian National Final along with past Russian representatives, namely Dima Bilan, Yulia Savicheva, Alsou, Youddiph, Natalia Podolskaya, Prime Minister, and Serebro. The next day he will give a large performance at the Kremlin for the celebration of International Woman's Day in Russia. Russia, being the host country, has been called an important stop by ERT. Rouvas has also had success on the Russian charts with his hit "Se Thelo San Trelos" in 2004 and is known in the country from his successful collaboration with successful singer-songwriter Philipp Kirkorov. At the second press conference, it was stated that Rouvas' previous success and popularity in Russia will be a definite factor in Greece conquering the Eastern votes. It has also been confirmed that Rouvas will give a concert in Cyprus on March 13, and will also be continuing promotion in Turkey from April 10–12. ERT is currently considering many more destinations for promotion, keeping Belgium and the Netherlands as a high priority.

At Eurovision.

Although Greece placed third in the 2008 contest, it was still required to compete in the semi-finals under current rules, as it was not one of the "Big Four" nor was it the host of the 2009 contest.  Fokas Evangelinos along with Elias Ledakis, will be the choreographers and artistic directors of Rouvas' stage show. Evangelinos had choreographed Rouvas' third place 2004 entry, Elena Paparizou's winning 2005 entry, the opening ceremony of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, Ani Lorak's second place 2008 entry, and Dima Bilan's second place entry in 2006 and winning 2008 entry among others. Evangelinos has worked with Rouvas for more than a decade long, being his choreographer for the majority of his shows. At a press conference that took place on October 14, 2008, it was revealed that Evangelinos will be working exclusively with Rouvas and no other contest entrants.

Semi-final.

It was announced in January that Greece would take part in the second semi-final on May 14 where it will have to qualify for the grand final. Greece was drawn to perform 13th out of a field of 19, succeeding Azerbaijan's AySel and Arash with "Always" and preceding Lithuania's Sasha Son with "Love". It was one of the ten performances which qualified for the grand final.

Final and reception.

In the final, on May 16, "This Is Our Night" finished in seventh place with a total of 120 points, receiving maximum "12 points" from Albania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus. The song therefore carried on Greece's "Eurovision" success by finishing within the top-ten for the sixth consecutive year, thus making the country the second most successful entrant of the past decade, despite not having even participated in 2000. The event was watched by 86% of the Greek television audience.  The performance included complex choreography, with "BBC News" announcing that "Greece's Sakis Rouvas had one of the more ambitious dance routines" of the contest. Rouvas wore an all white outfit designed by acclaimed Greek designer Celia Kritharioti. He performed on a rotating podium which transported him from left to right across the stage, was part of his group dance routine with four other performers and, in the end, was responsible for lifting him high into the air. In the same moment, a Greek flag is displayed on the floor, only visible to the television viewers. The final part of the performance was completed by silver fireworks in two separate parts. The official "Eurovision" website states that, this year, Greece had made "high-tech advancements" in the contest's standards. Whilst Rouvas was disappointed with his seventh-place finish, announcing to Greek media "I am so sorry, I wanted us to win", there was still unanimous support towards the artist himself in the country. "Seventh in Europe, first in our hearts" many journalists reported on Greek television. The media and public pronounced their support for Rouvas, the general consensus being that the artist gave it his best even though this did not translate in enough votes in the contest. All criticism in Greece focused on the selection of the song itself, rather than the artist's performance. Rouvas stated that, overall, it has all been a wonderful experience for him: "some win, some lose, personally, I gave everything I had. But it was a wonderful experience".  Some critics, including those from "London Greek Radio", suggested the reason why Greece failed to achieve a higher placing was due to a lack of an ethnic-sounding song. He notes the way in which all of Greece's top-three placings, including Rovas' performance of "Shake It" in 2004, had an ethnic bouzouki sound, as did the 2009 Azerbaijani and Turkish entries which finished in third and fourth place respectively.  The song has since peaked at number one on the Greek and Cypriot charts, and has also gone on to chart in Sweden, Ukraine, Iceland, Lithuania and Russia.  The Greek broadcaster ERT has confirmed that Greece will participate in the "Eurovision Song Contest 2010".

Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "This Is Our Night" sung by Sakis Rouvas. The Greek national television broadcaster Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) announced that it had internally selected Rouvas to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest on July 15, 2008, making Greece the first country to pick an artist for the 2009 edition.

La Grèce a participé au Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2009. C'est le chanteur Sakis Rouvas qui a représenté la Grèce à Moscou avec la chanson ""This Is Our Night"". Il fut sélectionné par la chaine diffusant le programme ERT et annoncé le. Faisant de lui le premier compétiteur annoncé de la saison 2009.


Early life.

He grew up in Hyderabad, India, the second son of a mother who taught American literature and a father who ran a plastics company. He went to Hyderabad Public School in Hyderabad and earned a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from University College of Engineering, Osmania University in Hyderabad, an executive MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Narayen once represented India in sailing at an Asian Regatta.

Career.

He started his career at Apple. After Apple, Narayen served as director of desktop and collaboration products for Silicon Graphics, then co-founded Pictra Inc. a company that pioneered the concept of digital photo sharing over the Internet.  Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as a senior vice-president of worldwide product research was later promoted to executive vice president of worldwide products, and was promoted to CEO in November 2007 at the age of 45.

Promotion to CEO.

In November 2007, Adobe Inc. announced that Bruce Chizen would step down as CEO effective 1 December, to be replaced by Narayen.  Narayen is paid an annual salary of $1,000,000 for his role as chief executive. He received total remuneration of $15.7 million in 2013.  In 2011, Barack Obama appointed him as a member of his Management Advisory Board.  As CEO, Narayen led the transformation of the company, moving its creative and digital document software franchises – which include flagship programs such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Acrobat/PDF – from the desktop to the cloud. In addition, during his tenure as CEO Adobe entered the digital experiences category, an expansion which began with the company’s acquisition of Omniture in 2009.  Adobe exceeded $100B in market cap for the first time in company history during Fiscal Year 2018. The company has added more than $100B in market cap during the last 5 years.  Adobe became a Fortune 400 company in 2018.

Honors and awards.

In May 2011, Narayen received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Bowling Green State University.  Narayen is the lead independent director on the board of directors for Pfizer, and vice chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. He previously served on U.S. President Barack Obama's Management Advisory Board.  In 2018, Narayen was ranked #12 on Fortune’s “Businessperson of the Year” list, and “Global Indian of the Year” in 2018 by the Economic Times of India.  In 2019 he was a recipient of India's Padma Shri award.

Shantanu Narayen (born ) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Adobe Inc. Prior to this, he was the president and chief operating officer since 2005.

Shantanu Narayen, né le à Hyderabad, est l'actuel Chief executive officer (P.-D.G.) d'Adobe Systems depuis 2007. Avant ce poste il a été président et directeur général.


History.

"Providence Journal" company president Trygve Myhren in 1990 was attempting to grow the company and decided that basic cable programming at the time was a high growth area. With many basic cable channels at the time, Myhren was looking for something different. With food selected as the channel's genre, the working title for the channel was The Cooking Channel up until the channel's launch. Myhren hired Jack Clifford, Joe Langhan and Reese Schonfeld, co-founder of CNN, to help found the channel. Schonfeld, Landghan and Clifford were CEO, vice president of production and president. Both The Cooking Channel and the Food Network trademarks were taken by other entities, with the Food Network being a newsletter. Myrhen originally wanted the network to be operated from Providence, Rhode Island as he argued that a cable network's costs were much more scalable from a lower-profile location, while Schonfeld preferred it be originated from New York, considered the American nucleus of culinary arts; Schonfeld's preference eventually won out, though at the peril of the network's launch budget, which was lower than it would have been from Providence.  Food Network was founded on April 19, 1993, as "TV Food Network"; its legal name remains Television Food Network, G. P. After acquiring the Food Network trademark after several years, it shortened the name to that. The network initially launched on November 22, 1993 with two initial shows featuring David Rosengarten, Donna Hanover, and Robin Leach. On November 23, 1993, Food Network began live broadcasting. Its original partners included the Journal itself, Adelphia, Scripps-Howard, Continental Cablevision, Cablevision, and most importantly, the Tribune Company, which provided the network's technical output.  Given that the channel could not afford to not run anything that they would produce, the channel started tapping 5 shows with a potential host to see if they worked. This was later turned into "Chef Du Jour" series. Schonfeld, was appointed as managing director of TV Food Network and maintained a spot on its management board along with two Providence Journal employees. The original lineup for the network included Emeril Lagasse ("Essence of Emeril"), Debbi Fields, Donna Hanover, David Rosengarten, Curtis Aikens, Dr. Louis Aronne, Jacques Pépin, and Robin Leach. The following year, the network acquired the rights to the Julia Child library from WGBH.  In 1995, Schonfeld resigned as managing director of the network, but remained on its board until 1998, when he sold his interest in the company to Scripps. In 1996, Erica Gruen was hired as the president and CEO of TV Food Network, becoming the second woman in history to be the CEO of a U.S. television network. Gruen led the network into an explosive growth until 1998, by launching the largest and number one site for food, FoodNetwork.com, more than doubling the subscriber base, tripling the viewership and multiplying the network's yearly revenue. In 1997, it was the second fastest growing cable network. Gruen changed the brand positioning from Schonfeld's "TV for people who cook" to "TV for everyone who loves to eat," thereby greatly improving the appeal to viewers and advertisers, and saving the network from bankruptcy. Greg Willis and Cathy Rasenberger were two of the original members of the start-up team who led the affiliate sales and marketing of the company from 1995 to 1998. Greg Willis served as senior vice president of worldwide distribution until he left to join Liberty Media in 1998. The A. H. Belo Corporation acquired Food Network when it purchased The Providence Journal Company in February 1997. Belo sold its 56% stake in the channel to the E. W. Scripps Company in October 1997, in a trade deal that resulted in Belo acquiring the television-radio station combination of KENS-AM/TV in San Antonio, Texas.  The 1080i high definition simulcast feed of Food Network launched on March 31, 2008.  Food Network was first launched outside of North America in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2009, and in Asia on July 5, 2010 (on StarHub TV channel 433 and in HD on channel 468). Since the UK launch on November 9, 2009 on Sky, the channel has been added to the Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media platforms.  In January 2015, the Food Network collaborated with Snapchat and launched its own Food Network channel, "Discover Food Network", where social media users can watch the channel through the app. The channel features recipes, food hacks, and tips to entertain and appeal to the social media savvy millennials of today while watching from the palm of their hands.

Food Network programming.

Food Network programming is divided into a daytime block known as "Food Network in the Kitchen" and a primetime lineup branded as "Food Network Nighttime". Generally, "In the Kitchen" is dedicated to instructional cooking programs, while "Nighttime" features food-related entertainment programs, such as cooking competitions, food-related travel shows, and reality shows. Promos identify "Food Network Nighttime" programming but not "In the Kitchen" daytime programming. Many of the channel's personalities routinely pull double-duty (or more) – hosting both daytime and nighttime programming – and the channel regularly offers specials which typically either follow its personalities on working vacations, or bring together a number of personalities for a themed cooking event. Food Network broadcasts on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and weekends from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET, with the rest of the day being taken by infomercials. The UK channel broadcasts from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (UK time GMT/BST as applicable) daily.  Mario Batali and Bobby Flay joined the network in 1995. In 1996, Erica Gruen, the network's CEO, and Joe Langhan, an executive producer at the Food Network, created "Emeril Live!", which became the channel's signature series. Although Batali has moved on to other endeavours, Flay still appears regularly on many programs, including "Iron Chef America", the channel's well-received remake of the original Japanese series. "Iron Chef America's" host, Alton Brown, gained a cult following for his "Good Eats", which mixed science, cooking and off-beat humor. Later the network had a series entitled, "Ruggerio to Go" hosted by David Ruggerio.  In 2002, Food Network made an appeal to the home cook by adding "Paula's Home Cooking", hosted by Paula Deen. Home Cooking focused mostly on Southern cuisine and comfort food. The show took overly complicated recipes and classic dishes and broke them down for the home cook. The show did increasingly well, and Deen revamped the show in a series called "Paula's Best Dishes". In this series, friends and family members would join her in the kitchen and put a twist on classics and introduce new recipes. In June 2013, Food Network announced that they were not renewing Deen's contract due to publicity about her racial remarks revealed in a lawsuit brought on by a former worker.  Currently, the channel's biggest cross-over stars are Rachael Ray and Paula Deen, who have both taken their cable following (primarily through the series "30 Minute Meals", "$40 a Day", and "Paula's Best Dishes") into a syndicated talk show and Positively Paula. Both Paula Deen and Rachael Ray also have merchandise lines of cookware, food products and pet lines.  Beginning in 2005, an annual reality contest, "The Next Food Network Star", brought viewers to New York City to compete for their own show on the channel. Previous winners include Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh ("Party Line with The Hearty Boys"), Guy Fieri ("Guy's Big Bite", "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives", "Guy Off the Hook," "Ultimate Recipe Showdown," "Guy's Big Night," "Guy's Family Feast", "Guy's Grocery Games"), Amy Finley ("The Gourmet Next Door"), Aaron McCargo, Jr. ("Big Daddy's House"), Melissa d'Arabian ("Ten Dollar Dinners"), and Aarti Sequeira ("Aarti Party"). For the 2010 season, production of "The Next Food Network Star" was relocated to Los Angeles. It has become the network's flagship show. For most of its 13-year run, season finales of the show have been followed by lead-out shows the network deems has great potential and will draw even more viewers. These consist of either premieres of new shows, season premieres of continuing shows, or episodes of continuing shows that are significant to the schedule. For instance, the most recent season finale of "Star" was followed by the season premiere of "Beat Bobby Flay".  In December 2007, "The New York Times" business section published an article on the end of Emeril Lagasse's show "Emeril Live", and quoted Brooke Johnson, the president, as saying that Lagasse "remains a valued member of the Food Network family". Derek Baine, senior analyst at the media research firm SNL Kagan, is reported to have commented, "It's not surprising that people move on... They pay almost nothing for the people as they are building their careers... That's been their strategy all along". The article also commented on the declining popularity of the Food Network whose daily ratings were reported had fallen "to an average of 544,000 people from 580,000 a year [earlier]". It noted, "More significant, its signature weekend block of instructional programs, known collectively as 'In the Kitchen,' has lost 15 percent of its audience in the last year, to 830,000 viewers on average. This had left the network owing refunds, known as'make goods,' to advertisers." Erica Gruen, president and CEO of the Food Network from 1996–1998 who created "Emeril Live" during her tenure, was reported to have blamed the decline on increased competition, "There's all sorts of instructional cooking video on the Web". But it reported that, "Bob Tuschman, Food Network's senior vice president for programming and production, said the weekend ratings drop was 'nothing we haven't anticipated'. He said the network's ratings in that time period grew by double digits in each of the last four years, growth that could not be sustained." It also wrote, "About a year ago, the Food Network began aggressively trying to change that with new deals that were 'way more onerous' from the stars' point of view, said a person who has been affected by the changing strategy, by insisting on a stake in book deals and licensing ventures, and control over outside activities.

Carriage.

Past American carriage disputes.

On January 1, 2010, HGTV and Food Network were removed from cable provider Cablevision, which operates systems serving areas surrounding New York City. Scripps removed HGTV and Food Network from Cablevision following the expiration of the company's carriage contract on December 31, 2009; Cablevision and Scripps had been in negotiations for several months to agree on a new contract, but no progress had been made. The discontinuance of Food Network from Cablevision led the channel to make arrangements with Tribune-owned CW affiliates WPIX in New York City and WTXX in Hartford, Connecticut to broadcast a special episode of "Iron Chef America" with First Lady Michelle Obama on January 10, 2010, after that episode enjoyed high ratings on its January 3 cable premiere. On January 21, 2010, Cablevision and Scripps reached an agreement that resulted in Food Network and HGTV being restored on Cablevision's systems that day.  A similar carriage dispute with AT&T U-verse resulted in Food Network, Cooking Channel, HGTV, DIY Network, and Great American Country being dropped by the provider on November 5, 2010; the dispute was resolved two days later, on November 7, 2010, after the two parties reached a new carriage agreement.

Food Network video game.

Red Fly Studio developed a video game for the Wii console in partnership with Food Network called "". The game, which was published by Namco Bandai Games and was released on November 3, 2009, simulates real cooking experiences. Players can also try out the recipes featured on the game. There is also a video game based on "Iron Chef America" entitled ".

Food Network around the world.

UK.

In accordance with an agreement between Scripps and Chellomedia, Food Network programs started to air internationally in the fourth quarter of 2009 in the United Kingdom and then in other markets in early 2010.  Food Network UK initially launched on the Sky platform as a free-to-air channel, joined by a +1 hour timeshift, taking the channel slots vacated by the closure of Real Estate TV. (Following Scripps' acquisition of Travel Channel International, the four channel positions on Sky were reordered to move Food Network up the grid.) Food Network and +1 were subsequently also made available on the Freesat satellite platform.  On terrestrial service Freeview, initially a four-hour primetime evening bloc was acquired, sharing capacity with channels including Create and Craft; subsequently Food Network relocated to its own full-day service, with the four-hour berth used to bring Travel Channel to DTT. (Travel has since itself moved to all-day operation, with the evening hours now absorbed into Create & Craft.) Scripps subsequently signed a carriage deal with Virgin Media to bring Food Network and Travel Channel to the cable platform (in Travel's case this was a re-addition following its earlier removal from the cable platform.)  In September 2019 it was announced that the former UKTV channel Good Food, which Discovery had acquired full control of earlier in the year, would be closed from 12 September 2019, with its content merged into Food Network UK.

International.

Some countries have their own Food Network. Examples include: Food Network Canada, Food Network Asia, and Food Network Europe. In the second half of 2014, Food Network Brazil began broadcasting with programs fully dubbed in Portuguese and optional subtitles. On February 1, 2015, Food Network launched on Australian IPTV service Fetch TV. Food Network South America began broadcasting in March 2015 with full Spanish dubbed programs.  A localised free-to-air Australian version was launched on 17 November 2015 by SBS, which had a licensing and programming output arrangement with Scripps. Another reiteration, the Seven Network's 7food network began broadcasting in December 2018 after SBS's deal ended in November 2018. 7food network was closed on 28 December 2019, although select Food Network shows continue to air on sister network 7flix.  On 1 December 2018, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific rebranded its Food TV channel in New Zealand to a New Zealand version of Food Network.  Food Network was available in the Netherlands and Flanders between 22 April 2010 and 31 January 2019. Content from former Scripps television channels Travel Channel, Fine Living and Food Network has been integrated into the programming of Discovery, TLC and Investigation Discovery in the Benelux.

Television Food Network, G.P..

In 2011, Scripps requested to add its Cooking Channel, formerly Fine Living Network, to the partnership and Tribune agreed. With the Cooking Channel considered to be worth $350 million, Tribune would need to add additional capital.

Criticism.

Consumerism and programming.

While Food Network programming generally does not explicitly advertise products, author Cheri Ketchum argues that Food Network advertises a lifestyle that is consistent with the norms of consumer culture. Ketchum argues that Food Network deliberately chooses non-controversial programming, rather than programming which challenges aspects of consumer culture such as food waste and environmental impacts of food production. Critics of Food Network such as Michael Z. Newman argue that the use of lighting and close-ups, along with the use of conventionally attractive hosts, create a fetishization of desirable foods and a consumerist lifestyle.

Racial representation.

Critics complain of disproportionate racial representation in Food Network programming. Tasha Oren argues that the overrepresentation of Asian-Americans in competition shows on the network, along with the lack of representation of Asian-Americans as hosts of programs, contributes to the "model minority" stereotype of Asian-Americans. However, Oren also offers the perspective that competition shows are viewed by network management as a low-risk entry point for hosts, especially those for whom a program may not be well received by audiences.

Food Network is an American multinational pay television channel that is owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Discovery, Inc. (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group (which owns the remaining 31%). Despite this ownership structure, the channel is managed and operated as a division of Discovery Networks U.S. The channel airs both special and regular episodic programs about food and cooking.

La chaîne possède des déclinaisons dans de nombreux pays: Canada, Australie, Corée, Thaïlande, Singapour, les Philippines, Monaco, Andorre, Afrique, France, et les territoires français des Caraïbes et la Polynésie, et en Asie depuis le.


Biography.

George Vasey was born in 1822 in Snainton near Scarborough, England, the fourth of ten children. His family emigrated to the United States the next year, and they established in Oriskany, New York. He left school at 12 to take a job as a store clerk.  He took interest in botany after borrowing and, since he could not afford the volume, manually copying a book on the subject. This interest was later encouraged after a chance encounter with Peter D. Knieskern, another naturalist who allowed Vasey to begin writing to various other botanists. Until 1870 he would maintain an extensive correspondence and collect a great many specimens both in Oneida County and later McHenry County, but did not publish material of scientific relevance until the 1870s.  Vasey married Martha Jane Scott in 1846, having graduated the same year from Berkshire Medical Institute with a M.D. degree, and shortly after they moved to establish themselves in Ringwood, Illinois. In 1854 he opened a dry good store to support his family of 7: four children and his mother. In 1858 he was a founding member of the Illinois Natural History Society, and over the next few years, began writing prolifically for the society and the "Prairie Farmer". He had two more children by 1861, but in 1864 he lost his youngest to whooping cough. When his wife began to grow weaker, Vasey relocated the family to Richview, to no avail. Martha Vasey died in 1866.  After a brief period where he stopped writing, he remarried to a widow, but was beset with heavy financial trouble by the time John Wesley Powell invited him to participate in an expedition in 1868. Greatly enthused by the adventure, he dedicated himself to scientific pursuit. He briefly edited "Entomologist and Botanist" before being curator of the Illinois State University Natural History Museum. He resigned the latter position to succeed Charles Christopher Parry as the USDA Chief Botanist. He quickly began work to improve the poor state of the National Herbarium, then organized an exhibit of the country's trees for the Centennial Exposition. The herbarium, hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, is considered the crowning of his career, particularly its grass collection, of which he was a specialist; in 1889 the Institute named him Honorary Curator. As Chief Botanist he launched the "Contributions from the United States National Herbarium". With George Thurber he worked on grasses for Asa Gray and John Torrey's "Flora of North America".  He was granted an honorary M.A. in 1864 from Illinois Wesleyan University. In 1869 he was made a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1892, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; that same year he was representative to the 1892 International Botanical Congress in Genoa, where he was a Vice-President. Of his published work his several-volumes monograph of the United States grass, the last part of which was published after his death, is one of the most notable, as are his 1884 "Agricultural Grasses of the United States" and his work to describe unpublished species who had accumulated in the herbarium, a work he completed less than a week before his death in 1893, from peritonitis. Three genera ("Vaseya", now part of "Muhlenbergia", "Vaseyochloa", and "Vaseyanthus"), as well as numerous species were named after him, although it is not always clear whether they are named after himself or his son, George Richard Vasey, who collected widely after his father entered the USDA, and after which "Rhododendron vaseyi" is most likely named.

George S. Vasey (February 28, 1822 – March 4, 1893) was an English-born American botanist who collected a lot in Illinois before integrating the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he became Chief Botanist and curator of the greatly expanded National Herbarium.

George S. Vasey ( – ) est un botaniste américain d'origine anglaise. Il effectua de nombreuses collectes dans l'Illinois avant d'intégrer le département de l'Agriculture des États-Unis (USDA), où il devint botaniste en chef et conservateur de l'herbier national des États-Unis.


Early life.

Andrus was born in Maracay, Venezuela, the son of Emilio and Elvia Andrus. Emilio Andrus was a university professor; he died when Elvis was seven years old. He has two older brothers, Erold and Erikson. Some Venezuelan families name their children after famous non-Venezuelan people, but Andrus said that he is not sure whether he was named after Elvis Presley. Andrus said, "I asked my mother a lot of times, but she never told me. Maybe my dad liked Elvis Presley. I’m not sure about that."

Career.

Minor leagues.

At the age of 16, Andrus was signed by the Atlanta Braves and received a signing bonus of more than $500,000. He started the 2005 season with the Orlando Braves of the Gulf Coast League, and was promoted to Danville late in the season. He spent 2006 with Class-A Rome, being named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team.  In 2007, Andrus joined the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Carolina League. During the season, he was selected to the All-Star Futures Game and was selected again for the showcase in 2008.  On July 31, 2007, Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and three minor league pitchers (Matt Harrison, Neftalí Feliz and Beau Jones) were traded from the Braves to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay.

Texas Rangers (2009–present).

With Rangers shortstop Michael Young agreeing to move to third base in 2009, Andrus earned the starting job on Opening Day. He was the second-youngest player in the American League at the time. As Andrus was only 20 years old, Texas signed veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel for insurance.  Andrus stole his 20th base on July 28, 2009, in his rookie season. Andrus was the 10th player in major league history to steal 20 bases under the age of 21. The last player to do that was then-teammate Andruw Jones in 1997 with the Atlanta Braves. Andrus was named to the 2010 American League All-Star team as a reserve shortstop.  In 2010, he batted.265, without any home runs. He led the AL in sacrifice hits (17), was 2nd in caught stealing (15), and 9th in stolen bases (32).  In 2011, Andrus batted.279, with 5 home runs. He was 3rd in the American League in sacrifice hits (16), 4th in caught stealing (12), and 5th in stolen bases (37). On defense, he led all AL shortstops in errors, with 25, and was 2nd among league shortstops in putouts (245) and 3rd in assists (407). In 2012, Andrus earned his second All-Star selection, batting.286 while leading the American League in sacrifice hits with 17.  Before Opening Day of 2013, Andrus signed an eight-year, $120 million extension. On September 14, he stole his 40th stolen base of the season against the Oakland Athletics, stealing second base off of Bartolo Colón. Andrus later surpassed Ian Kinsler for the Texas Rangers all-time leader in stolen bases with 175. He finished the year again leading the American League in sacrifice hits (16) while batting.271 and scoring 91 runs. Andrus began the 2014 season with an 11-game hitting streak that ultimately ended with an early ejection April 13. On June 8, Andrus had a 39-game hitting streak against the Cleveland Indians snapped as he went 0 for 4. That game marked the first time in his career where he did not get a hit against the Indians. Only Vladimir Guerrero had a longer streak against a team with (44, against Texas). Andrus stole his 180th career stolen base against the Seattle Mariners but led the American League in caught stealing with 15, batting.263 for the season.  Andrus finished 2015 with career lows in batting average (.258), OBP (.309), and sacrifice hits, while posting a career-best seven home runs and stealing 25 bags for the AL West champion Rangers. On defense, he led the major leagues in assists, with 516. He batted.182 in the Rangers' ALDS series against Toronto and made two of the team's three errors in the pivotal seventh inning of Game 5, won by the Blue Jays. In 2016, hit.302 with eight home runs and 69 RBIs.  He continued the following season, in 2017, to post a career offensive season, hitting.297 with 20 home runs and 88 RBIs and 25 steals in 158 games. On defense, he led the major leagues in assists, with 490.  On April 11, 2018, Andrus was hit by a pitch on his right arm and left the game. X-rays and CT scans tested positive that Andrus had suffered a fractured right elbow. As a result, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time of his Major League career. No surgery was required, but to keep out of baseball activity for 6-8 weeks. He was activated on June 18 from the disabled list. Andrus finished 2018 hitting.256/.308/.367/.675 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI.  Andrus hit.275/.313/.393/.707 with 12 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases in 2019. He tied for the AL lead with 10 sacrifice flies.

Personal.

Andrus is a Christian. In 2012, Andrus donated $12,500 to OurCalling, a Christian charity that helps homeless people in Dallas County.  Andrus married girlfriend Cori Febles in a ceremony at his home on June 1, 2017. The couple welcomed their first child, Elvis Emilio, on July 6, 2017. On November 28, 2018 they welcomed their second child, a girl, named Lucia Alessandra. For the 2019 season, Andrus adopted "Baby Shark" as his walk-up song because it reminded him of his children.  Two of Andrus' brothers remain in Venezuela. Andrus voiced concern about his home country during civil unrest in early 2014. "As a human being, you always get angry when you see what's happening with the military back home doing stuff to the civils, and to the students, and that's what really gets me angry. I'm not a political guy, but I just hate when you see somebody just walking and trying to say something get hit by police, or get hit by any military from the country that's supposed to defend the country instead of shoot him or hit him", he said.  Andrus' older brother Erold Andrus played in the independent leagues in 2009 and 2010 as an outfielder. He has played in the organizations of several MLB teams. During spring training of 2011, though Erold was in minor league camp, he got the opportunity to play in a Rangers spring training game, the first time that Erold and Elvis played together in the United States.  On July 26, 2019, Andrus became a naturalized US citizen.

Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (born August 26, 1988) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball shortstop for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (né le 26 août 1988 à Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela) est un joueur d'arrêt-court des Rangers du Texas de la Ligue majeure de baseball.


Synopsis.

An invisible woman is kidnapping newborn babies who are destined to be emperors and delivering them to the mysterious subterranean supernatural Evil Master. The police are powerless, and the city must be saved by three very different women who share a terrible past. Anita Mui plays the mild-mannered wife of a police inspector who's also the mask-wearing, sword-slinging and knife-throwing crime fighter, Wonder Woman. Maggie Cheung plays the shotgun-toting, hard-boiled bounty hunter, Thief Catcher. Michelle Yeoh is Invisible Woman, the troubled but determined strong right arm of the Evil Master.

Characters.

Female Heroes.

Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is a crime fighting vigilante, trained from childhood by her strict martial arts master father. Her secret identity is Tung, wife of Police Inspector Lau, who eventually finds out who she is. Aside from her fighting prowess, she uses a collapsible sword and throwing knives in the shape of butterfly wings. She is played by Anita Mui. She is referred to as Shadow Fox in the English dub.

Invisible Woman.

Ching aka Ching Ching is the martial sister of Tung, and left their disciplinarian father as a child. She was then taken in by Evil Master, and serves as his main servant. Though the Thief Catcher is her childhood friend, the two are only reunited as adults. Ching is responsible for the kidnapping of the babies using an invisible robe, which is given to her by the Professor. She is ordered to kill the Professor for the robe, but is conflicted because she has fallen in love with him, eventually deciding to fight in his memory after he dies. Ching is known to the Evil Master as "Number 3". She is the most skilled fighter of the trio, and uses a chain whip. She is portrayed by actress Michelle Yeoh in the film.

Thief Catcher.

Thief Catcher is an irresponsible and greedy bounty hunter. She is initially hired by the Police Chief to rescue his own kidnapped son, and she steals a baby from the hospital as bait for the kidnapper. In the ensuing struggle with Wonder Woman, the baby is accidentally killed, causing her to reevaluate her life. She grew up and underwent similar training with Ching as a child, though she escaped after 3 years (taking another 10 to regain her humanity); her designation was originally "Number 7". She is referred to as Mercy (short for Mercenary) in the English dub. Often, she prefers to use her rifle and explosives in a fight, though she also has a boomerang-like sword. She is also an expert motorcycle rider. She is played by Maggie Cheung.

Villains.

The Evil Master.

He is the main villain of the film. He compels Ching to steal newborn babies as part of his supernatural scheme to provide China with a new emperor. Ching has worked for him for many years. The Thief Catcher likes to refer to him as "Damned Old Monster!" as she strongly dislikes him. Played by Shi-Kwan Yen.

Production.

On its release, the film was promoted as a "ground-breaking novelty for Hong Kong cinema" Producer Ching Siu-Tung used the film to try to make a name for himself outside of his work with Tsui Hark while Johnnie To developed it as pitch to become accepted as one of Hong Kong's leading action film directors.

Reception.

In contemporary reviews, Tony Rayns ("Sight & Sound"), stated that the film was visually similar to Kirk Wong's "Health Warning", but "predictably takes none of that film's risks." He noted that both Mui and Cheung approached "their iconic roles with gusto and deliver the odd camp frisson, while "Yeoh seems dispirited from start to finish." Rayns complimented parts of the film, stating that it "offers a number of simple pleasures. Its design and "mise en scene" are expansive and occasionally exhilarating, and it has a good sense of intersperse scenes of would-be pathos between its action set-pieces." "Variety" called the film a "flashy kung fu superheroine adventure full of solid production values but marred by some disturbingly gratuitous plot elements." The review went on to note that the ambitious plot does "not always mesh with recurring comic-book tone. Full-blown climax has heroines battling their nemesis both above and below ground as the villain, as in “Terminator 2,” continues to struggle even when reduced to skeletal remains."  From retrospective reviews, Donald C Willis described the film as "an amusing series of outrageous stunts" in his book "Horror and Science Fiction Film IV".

The Heroic Trio ("Dung fong saam hap", TC: 東方三俠, pinyin: "dōng fāng sān xiá") is a 1993 Hong Kong action film directed by Johnnie To, starring Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui as the titular trio. Other cast include Damian Lau, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Paul Chun, James Pak and Yan Yee Kwan. The main characters of the film are reunited in a sequel, another 1993 film, "Executioners".

The Heroic Trio ("Dung fong saam hap") (en chinois: 東方三俠) est un film hongkongais réalisé par Johnnie To, sorti en 1993.


Early life and education.

Cook was born in Camden, New Jersey to Bill Cook (a licensed civil engineer in California) and JoAnn (a pre-school teacher). Growing up in Somerdale, he has two sisters, Michelle and Janean, and a brother, Michael. When he was very young, his family moved to California. At an early age, Jason began studying the piano. As his musical skills improved, he got occasional jobs performing at weddings. He did not consider acting until high school, when he served as an emergency replacement in "Whodunnit". A friend of Jason's mother, whose husband was an agent and manager for child actors, helped Jason get his first auditions and roles. Jason attended Westlake High School in Westlake Village, California and graduated in 1998.  Jason attended Moorpark College, a two-year junior college, in Moorpark, California and completed his freshman year in the spring semester of 1999. While attending Moorpark College he was active on the speech and debate teams, competing nationally.

Career.

Cook portrayed Shawn-Douglas Brady on "Days of Our Lives" from October 1999 and was very popular with fans, especially in Shawn's relationship with Belle Black. Cook elected to leave the show when his contract with "Days of Our Lives" expired in September 2006. On May 28, 2015, it was announced that he would reprise the role for the show's 50th anniversary in the fall of 2015.  While on the show, Cook turned his attention to writing and directing films, making the indie film "The Making of Triassic Park" and later "Social Security Guard", starring "General Hospital" co-star John Ingle. He left the show to pursue production full-time on "Numb To Life", a documentary exploring pharmaceutical drug abuse, as his first feature documentary.  On April 23, 2008, it was announced that Cook would be returning to Daytime TV on "General Hospital" as new character Matt Hunter. His first appearance was on June 27, 2008.  Cook elected to leave "General Hospital" at the end of his contract to once again return to projects behind the camera. His first project was a philanthropic reality show co-produced with the Mandela family titled LifeCHANGE. This was followed up with the production of "State of Bacon", a mockumentary surrounding the largest Bacon festival in the world, held yearly in Des Moines, Iowa.  In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show "The Choice" and portrayed 2014 James Thomas in Dean Jones' mystery thriller film "Dark Awakening". opposite Lance Henriksen and Valerie Azlynn.  In 2018 he wrote, produced, and directed The Creatress, a film about a writer following up a bestselling debut novel starring Lindy Booth, Peter Bogdanovich, and Fran Drescher.

Awards and nominations.

Jason Cook has received recognition for his work on "Days of Our Lives":

Jason John Cook (born September 13, 1980) is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and film producer best known for the soap opera television roles of Shawn-Douglas Brady on "Days of Our Lives" from 1999 to 2006, Matt Hunter on "General Hospital" from 2008 to 2012, and most recently the writer, director, and producer of the feature film "The Creatress".

Jason John Cook né le est un acteur américain. Il est surtout connu pour son rôle de Shawn-Douglas Brady dans le soap opera "Des jours et des vies".


History.

The channel began broadcasting on 1 February 1995 under the name VT4. The channel initially had no Belgian broadcasting license and was transmitted via London (actually from Arqiva's transmission station at Brookmans Park in Hertfordshire).  Today, VIER broadcasts legally from Zaventem in Belgium. It is available on the cable network in Brussels as well as in Flanders. It's also available throughout Belgium on the IPTV network of Belgacom, who offers triple play everywhere in Belgium where VDSL is available.  On 17 September 2012, VT4 was rebranded as Vier.

HD broadcast.

VT4 HD was launched as a temporary high-definition channel on June 7 2008 to coincide with the kick-off of UEFA Euro 2008. It was merely a simulcast of VT4's schedule, but the Euro 2008 matches and all related talk shows were broadcast in HD. VT4 HD was available exclusively to Telenet Digital TV subscribers and was shut down on June 29, 2008.  On September 1, 2012 VT4 HD, along with sister channel VijfTV HD, launched as a HD simulcast. The channel was made available to Belgacom TV subscribers. On September 17, the day of the relaunch, both VIER HD and VIJF HD were made available for Telenet Digital TV subscribers.

Video on demand.

C-More was the VOD service of SBS Belgium. The name and logo are the result of the C More Entertainment group which delivers pay-TV, C More Entertainment was a part of the SBS Broadcasting Group which was bought by the ProSiebenSat.1 Media group which sold it to TV4 Gruppen. After the rename of the channel the service has been renamed to MEER (MORE). The service is available through Telenet Digital TV & Belgacom TV and is available on its own website MEER.be.

VIER ("four") is a Belgian-Flemish commercial television channel. It is part of SBS Belgium and production company Woestijnvis. As of 2010, the channel has a market share of more than 7%.

Vier (« Quatre » en néerlandais ; stylisé « 4 »), anciennement VT4, est une chaîne de télévision privée belge émettant principalement en Flandre et à Bruxelles. Média néerlandophone, elle appartient à SBS Belgium, filiale du groupe audiovisuel NV De Vijver Media.


Plot.

A young man (Marc-André Grondin) in France shaves off all his body hair and turns himself in to the police. The man claims to be a 16-year-old boy from Louisiana named Nicholas Mark Randall, who had been missing for four years. His story is that he was kidnapped by a child prostitution ring in France who physically altered his appearance.  He is reunited with his family who immediately have their suspicions regarding his story. His mother (Ellen Barkin) and half brother Brendan (Nick Stahl) do not seem to accept him, and many questions are open regarding whether this man could in fact be their lost family member, considering he bears little resemblance to the boy who left and now talks with a French accent. His sister Kathy (Emilie de Ravin) accepts his story without hesitation and eventually so does his possible mother.  F.B.I. Agent Jennifer Johnson (Famke Janssen) strongly suspects that he is lying because she has had extensive experiences with people lying to her, including a man who was a child murderer whom she had dated. Meanwhile, his story starts to unravel and the true story of what happened to Nicholas starts to emerge.

Release.

The film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in the United States.

Critical reception.

The film received mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the film a 41 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 5 reviews. Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" said the film barely addresses the central issue of Nicholas being an imposter, except at the film's "unsatisfying, sentimental conclusion. Aaron Hillis of "The Village Voice" said the film's psychological, emotional, and moral implications are not explored.

The Chameleon is a 2010 film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, who co-wrote the screenplay with Natalie Carter. The film is based upon the true story of Frédéric Bourdin who impersonated a missing child named Nicholas Barclay in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1990s. Much of the true story was incorporated into the film although the years have been altered and the location was moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Le Caméléon est un film français réalisé par Jean-Paul Salomé et sorti en 2010. "Le Caméléon" est inspiré de la véritable histoire de Frédéric Bourdin condamné à plusieurs reprises pour usurpation d’identité. Il est issu du roman éponyme de Christophe d'Antonio, biographie autorisée de l'usurpateur.


History of the term.

The term was used the first time by Alfred Marshall in "The Principles of Economics" (1890, 1922). and in "Industry and Trade". Marshall talks of a... ""thickly peopled industrial district"".  The term was also used in political struggle. The 1917 handbook of the Industrial Workers of the World states:-  The term also appears in English literature. For instance, in a short story of 1920 by D. H. Lawrence, "You Touched Me" (aka 'Hadrian'):-  The strong specialisation of the workers and an appropriate support of public goods and institutions are supported by an "Industrial Atmosphere" related to a locally developing division of labour. Competences and knowledge are shared in informal way with processes of learning by doing and learning by using, and this promotes innovation over time. Local firms, families and civic organisations are connected by way of both market mechanisms and non-market mechanisms, like trust within bilateral or team exchanges, and collective action supporting the availability of local industrial, social and environmental infrastructure. Also, the notion that firms located in geographical proximity benefit from agglomeration effects in having a common or collective infrastructure is frequently mentioned as one of the main bases in the industrial district literature.

Recent evolution of the use of the term.

Within the study of economics, the term has evolved. Giacomo Becattini rediscovered the concept to describe the Italian industrial configuration of the middle of the 20th century. Since the 1980s, the dynamic industrial development in NEC (North, East and Centre) of Italy, where after the Second World War geographical concentration of specialised small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) raised up, led to an increasing attention to the Marshall' seminal works. A growing literature with an accompanying cloud of definitions of what is meant as an industrial district characterised the international dabate, e.g. Cluster. Industrial districts in Italy have a coherent location and a narrow specialisation profile, e.g. Prato in woollen fabric, Sassuolo in ceramic tiles or Brenta in ladies' footwear.  The success of SME-based Italian districts in the last century and the alternate fortunes of the current ones led to investigate more thoroughly some related aspects. The general characteristics of the ID are consistent with gradual change supported by processes of innovation from below, or decentralized industrial creativity. However, the globalisation processes asked non-gradual changes to the historical IDs and technical and organisational difficulties could hit them.  In the Industry 4.0 era, the specialised capabilities of these areas seem to have the possibility to encourage the emergence of the New Artisans, Maker in the context of adapted models like the "ID mark 3.0".

Industrial district concept was initially used by Alfred Marshall to describe some aspects of the industrial organisation of nations. Industrial district (ID) is a place where workers and firms, specialised in a main industry and auxiliary industries, live and work. At the end of the 1990s the industrial districts in developed or developing countries had gained a recognised attention in international debates on industrialisation and policies of regional development.

La notion de district industriel désigne un ensemble industriel, voire artisanal, composé d'un grand nombre de petites entreprises indépendantes les unes des autres qui sont spécialisées dans la même production et qui, de façon combinée, permettent une production à grande échelle. Le terme est proche de la notion de "cluster", anglicisme qui est d'ailleurs parfois utilisé comme synonyme de district industriel, même s'il peut recouvrir une notion plus large.


History.

Earlier precedents.

Even though the term "wuxia" as the name of a genre is a recent coinage, stories about xia date back more than 2,000 years. Wuxia stories have their roots in some early youxia tales from 300–200 BCE. The Legalist philosopher Han Fei spoke disparagingly of youxias in his book "Han Feizi" in the chapter "On Five 'Maggot' Classes" about five social classes in the Spring and Autumn period. Some well-known stories include Zhuan Zhu's assassination of King Liao of Wu, and most notably, Jing Ke's attempt on the life of the King of Qin (who became Qin Shi Huang later). In Volume 86 of the "Records of the Grand Historian" ("Shi Ji"), Sima Qian mentioned five notable assassins – Cao Mo, Zhuan Zhu, Yu Rang, Nie Zheng and Jing Ke – in the Warring States period who undertook tasks of conducting political assassinations of aristocrats and nobles. These assassins were known as "cike" (刺客; literally "stabbing guests"). They usually rendered their loyalties and services to feudal lords and nobles in return for rewards such as riches and women. In Volume 124 of the "Shi Ji", Sima Qian detailed several embryonic features of xia culture from his period. These popular phenomena were also documented in other historical records such as the "Book of Han" and the "Book of the Later Han".  Xiake stories made a turning point in the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and returned in the form of "chuanqi" (傳奇; literally "legendary tales"). Stories from that era, such as "Nie Yinniang" (聶隱娘), "The Kunlun Slave", "Thirteenth Madame Jing" (荊十三娘), "Red String" (紅線) and "The Bearded Warrior" (虬髯客), served as prototypes for modern wuxia stories. They featured fantasies and isolated protagonists – usually loners – who performed daring heroic deeds. During the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), similar stories circulated in the "huaben", short works that were once thought to have served as prompt-books for "shuochang" (traditional Chinese storytelling).  The genre of the martial or military romance also developed during the Tang dynasty. In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE), Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an wrote "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" respectively, which are among the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The former is a romanticised historical retelling of the events in the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, while the latter criticises the deplorable socio-economic status of the late Northern Song dynasty. "Water Margin" is often seen as the first full-length wuxia novel: the portrayal of the 108 heroes, and their code of honour and willingness to become outlaws rather than serve a corrupt government, played an influential role in the development of jianghu culture in later centuries. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is also seen as a possible early antecedent and contains classic close-combat descriptions that were later emulated by wuxia writers in their works  In the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 CE), further developments were the "gong'an" (公案; literally "public case") and related detective novels, where xia and other heroes, in collaboration with a judge or magistrate, solved crimes and battled injustice. The Justice Bao stories from "Sanxia Wuyi" (三俠五義; later extended and renamed to "Qixia Wuyi") and "Xiaowuyi" (小五義), incorporated much of social justice themes of later wuxia stories. Xiayi stories of chivalrous romance, which frequently featured female heroes and supernatural fighting abilities, also surfaced during the Qing dynasty. Novels such as "Shi Gong'an Qiwen" (施公案奇聞) and "Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan" (兒女英雄傳) have been cited as the clearest nascent wuxia novels.  The term "wuxia" as a genre label itself first appeared at the end of the Qing dynasty, a calque of the Japanese "bukyō", a genre of oft-militaristic and bushido-influenced adventure fiction. The term was brought to China by writers and students who hoped that China would modernise its military and place emphasis on martial virtues, and it quickly became entrenched as the term used to refer to xiayi and other predecessors of wuxia proper. In Japan, however, the term "bukyō" faded into obscurity.  Many wuxia works produced during the Ming and Qing dynasties were lost due to the governments' crackdown on and banning of such works. Wuxia works were deemed responsible for brewing anti-government sentiments, which led to rebellions in those eras. The departure from mainstream literature also meant that patronage of this genre was limited to the masses and not to the literati, which led to the stifling of the development of the wuxia genre. Nonetheless, the wuxia genre remained enormously popular with the common people.

20th century.

The modern wuxia genre rose to prominence in the early 20th century after the May Fourth Movement of 1919. A new literature evolved, calling for a break with Confucian values, and the xia emerged as a symbol of personal freedom, defiance to Confucian tradition, and rejection of the Chinese family system.  The early 20th century and the period from the 1960s–80s were often regarded as the golden ages of the wuxia genre. Xiang Kairan (pen name Pingjiang Buxiaosheng) became the first notable wuxia writer, with his debut novel being "The Peculiar Knights-Errant of the Jianghu" (江湖奇俠傳). It was serialised from 1921–28 and was adapted into the first wuxia film, "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" (1928). Zhao Huanting (趙煥亭), who wrote "Chronicles of the Loyal Knights-Errant" (奇俠精忠傳, serialised 1923–27), was another well-known wuxia writer based in Shanghai. Starting from the 1930s, wuxia works proliferated and its centre shifted to Beijing and Tianjin in northern China. The most prolific writers there were collectively referred to as the "Five Great Masters of the Northern School" (北派五大家): Huanzhulouzhu, who wrote "The Swordspeople from Shu Mountains" (蜀山劍俠傳); Gong Baiyu (宮白羽), who wrote "Twelve Coin Darts" (十二金錢鏢); Wang Dulu, who wrote "The Crane-Iron Pentalogy" (鹤鉄五部作); Zheng Zhengyin (郑証因), who wrote "The King of Eagle Claws" (鹰爪王); Zhu Zhenmu (朱貞木), who wrote "The Seven 'Kill' Stele" (七殺碑).  Wuxia fiction was banned at various times during the Republican era and these restrictions stifled the growth of the genre. In spite of this, wuxia writing prevailed in other Chinese-speaking regions, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. Writers such as Liang Yusheng and Louis Cha (Jin Yong) spearheaded the founding of a "new school" of the wuxia genre that differed largely from its predecessors. They wrote serials for newspapers and magazines. They also incorporated several fictional themes such as mystery and romance from other cultures. In Taiwan, Wolong Sheng, Sima Ling, Zhuge Qingyun (諸葛青雲), Shiao Yi (萧逸) and Gu Long became the region's best known wuxia writers. After them, writers such as Woon Swee Oan and Huang Yi rose to prominence in a later period. Chen Yu-hui is a contemporary female wuxia novelist who made her debut with the novel "The Tian-Guan Duo Heroes" (天觀雙俠).  There have also been works created after the 1980s which attempt to create a post-wuxia genre. Yu Hua, one of the more notable writers from this period, published a counter-genre short story titled "Blood and Plum Blossoms", in which the protagonist goes on a quest to avenge his murdered father.

Themes, plots and settings.

Modern wuxia stories are largely set in ancient or pre-modern China. The historical setting can range from being quite specific and important to the story, to being vaguely-defined, anachronistic, or mainly for use as a backdrop. Elements of fantasy, such as the use of magic powers and appearance of supernatural beings, are common in some wuxia stories but are not a prerequisite of the wuxia genre. However, the martial arts element is a definite part of a wuxia tale, as the characters must know some form of martial arts. Themes of romance are also strongly featured in some wuxia tales.  A typical wuxia story features a young male protagonist who experiences a tragedy – such as the loss of his loved ones – and goes on to undertake several trials and tribulations to learn several forms of martial arts from various fighters. At the end of the story, he emerges as a powerful fighter whom few can equal. He uses his abilities to follow the code of xia and mends the ills of the jianghu. For instance, the opening chapters of some of Jin Yong's works follow a certain pattern: a tragic event occurs, usually one that costs the lives of the newly introduced characters, and then it sets events into motion that will culminate in the primary action of the story.  Other stories use different structures. For instance, the protagonist is denied admission into a martial arts sect. He experiences hardships and trains secretly and waits until there is an opportunity for him to show off his skills and surprise those who initially looked down on him. Some stories feature a mature hero with powerful martial arts abilities confronting an equally powerful antagonist as his nemesis. The plot will gradually meander to a final dramatic showdown between the protagonist and his nemesis. These types of stories were prevalent during the era of anti-Qing revolutionaries.  Certain stories have unique plots, such as those by Gu Long and Huang Yi. Gu Long's works have an element of mystery and are written like detective stories. The protagonist, usually a formidable martial artist and intelligent problem-solver, embarks on a quest to solve a mystery such as a murder case. Huang Yi's stories are blended with science fiction.  Despite these genre-blending elements, wuxia is primarily a historical genre of fiction. Notwithstanding this, wuxia writers openly admit that they are unable to capture the entire history of a course of events and instead choose to structure their stories along the pattern of the protagonist's progression from childhood to adulthood instead. The progression may be symbolic rather than literal, as observed in Jin Yong's "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", where Linghu Chong progresses from childish concerns and dalliances into much more adult ones as his unwavering loyalty repeatedly thrusts him into the rocks of betrayal at the hands of his inhumane master.

Code of xia.

The eight common attributes of the xia are listed as benevolence, justice, individualism, loyalty, courage, truthfulness, disregard for wealth, and desire for glory. Apart from individualism, these characteristics are similar to Confucian values such as "ren" (仁; "benevolence", "kindness"), "zhong" (忠; "loyalty"), "yong" (勇; "courage", "bravery") and "yi" (義; "righteousness"). The code of xia also emphasises the importance of repaying benefactors after having received deeds of "en" (恩; "grace", "favour") from others, as well as seeking "chou" (仇; "vengeance", "revenge") to bring villains to justice. However, the importance of vengeance is controversial, as a number of wuxia works stress Buddhist ideals, which include forgiveness, compassion and a prohibition on killing.  In the jianghu, martial artists are expected to be loyal to their master (Shifu). This gives rise to the formation of several complex trees of master-apprentice relations as well as the various sects such as Shaolin and Wudang. If there are any disputes between fighters, they will choose the honourable way of settling their issues through fighting in duels.

Skills and abilities.

The martial arts in wuxia stories are based on wushu techniques and other real life Chinese martial arts. In wuxia tales, however, the mastery of such skills are highly exaggerated to superhuman levels of achievement and prowess.  The following is a list of skills and abilities a typical fighter in a wuxia story possesses:  In wuxia stories, characters attain the above skills and abilities by devoting themselves to years of diligent study and exercise, but can also have such power conferred upon them by a master who transfers his energy to them. The instructions to mastering these skills through training are found in secret manuals known as "miji" (秘笈). In some stories, specific skills can be learned by spending several years in seclusion with a master or training with a group of fighters.

Jianghu.

Evolving interpretations of the term "jianghu".

The meaning of the term "jianghu" () has evolved over the course of Chinese history, but usually refers to the martial arts world of ancient China. First coined by Zhuangzi in the late 4th century BC, it referred to a way of life different from that of being actively involved in politics. At the time, it referred to the way of life of underachieving or maligned scholar-officials who distanced themselves from the circles of political power. In this sense, jianghu could be loosely interpreted as the way of life of a hermit.  Over the centuries, "jianghu" gained greater acceptance among the common people and gradually became a term for a sub-society parallel to, and sometimes orthogonal to, mainstream society. This sub-society initially included merchants, craftsmen, beggars and vagabonds, but over time it assimilated bandits, outlaws and gangs who lived "outside the existing law". During the Song and Yuan dynasties, bards and novelists began using the term "jianghu" in the process of creating literature covering a fictional society of adventurers and rebels who lived not by existing societal laws, but by their own moral principles. The core of these moral principles encompassed "xia" (), "yi" (), "li" (), "zhong" () and "chou" (). Stories in this genre bloomed and enriched various interpretations of "jianghu". At the same time, the term "jianghu" also developed intricate interconnections with gang culture because of outlaws' mutually shared distaste towards governments.  The inclusion of martial arts as a feature of jianghu was a recent development in the early 20th century. Novelists started creating a fantasy world of jianghu in which characters are martial artists and in which the characters' enforcement of righteousness is symbolised by conflicts between different martial artists or martial arts sects and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Martial arts became a tool used by characters in a jianghu story to enforce their moral beliefs. On the other hand, there are characters who become corrupted by power derived from their formidable prowess in martial arts and end up abandoning their morality in their pursuit of power. Around this time, the term "jianghu" became closely related to a similar term, "wulin" (), which referred exclusively to a community of martial artists. This fantasy world of jianghu remains as the mainstream definition of "jianghu" in modern Chinese popular culture, particularly wuxia culture.

Current interpretations of the term "jianghu".

The following description focuses more on the martial arts aspect of jianghu, its well-established social norms, and its close relation with wulin.  A common aspect of jianghu is that the courts of law are dysfunctional and that all disputes and differences (within the community) can only be resolved by members of the community, through the use of mediation, negotiation or force, predicating the need for the code of "xia" and acts of chivalry. Law and order within the jianghu are maintained by the various orthodox and righteous sects and heroes. Sometimes these sects may gather to form an alliance against a powerful evil organisation in the jianghu.  A leader, called the "wulin mengzhu" (武林盟主; literally "master of the wulin alliance"), is elected from among the sects in order to lead them and ensure law and order within the jianghu. The leader is usually someone with a high level of mastery in martial arts and a great reputation for righteousness who is often involved in some conspiracy and/or killed. In some stories, the leader may not be the greatest martial artist in the jianghu; in other stories, the position of the leader is hereditary. The leader is an arbiter who presides and adjudicates over all inequities and disputes. The leader is a "de jure" chief justice of the affairs of the jianghu.

Relationship with the government.

Members of the jianghu are also expected to keep their distance from any government offices or officials, without necessarily being antagonistic. It was acceptable for jianghu members who are respectable members of society (usually owning properties or big businesses) to maintain respectful but formal and passive relationship with the officials, such as paying due taxes and attending local community events. Even then, they are expected to shield any fugitives from the law, or at the least not to turn over fugitives to the officials. Local officials who are more savvy would know better than to expect co-operation from jianghu members and would refrain from seeking help except to apprehend the worst and most notorious criminals. If the crimes also violated some of the moral tenets of jianghu, jianghu members may assist the government officials.  An interesting aspect is that while senior officials are kept at a distance, jianghu members may freely associate with low-ranking staff such as runners, jailers, or clerks of the magistrates. The jianghu members maintained order among their own in the community and prevent any major disturbance, thus saving a lot of work for their associates in the "yamen". In return, the runners turn a blind eye to certain jianghu activities that are officially disapproved, the jailers ensured incarcerated jianghu members are not mistreated, and the clerks pass on useful tips to the jianghu community. This reciprocal arrangement allowed their superiors to maintain order in their jurisdiction with the limited resources available and jianghu members greater freedom.

Norms of the jianghu.

Although many jianghu members were Confucian-educated, their attitudes towards the way of life in the jianghu is largely overshadowed by pragmatism. In other words, they feel that Confucian values are to be respected and upheld if they are useful, and to be discarded if they are a hindrance.  The basic (spoken and unspoken) norms of the jianghu are:

Jianghu in modern times.

The term jianghu is linked to cultures other than those pertaining to martial arts in wuxia stories. It is also applied to anarchic societies. For instance, the triads and other Chinese secret societies use the term jianghu to describe their world of organised crime. Sometimes, the term jianghu may be replaced by the term "underworld" "à la" "criminal underworld".  In modern terminology, jianghu may mean any circle of interest, ranging from the entertainment industry to sports. Colloquially, retirement is also referred to as "leaving the jianghu" (退出江湖). In wuxia stories, when a reputable fighter decides to retire from the jianghu, he will do so in a ceremony known as "washing hands in the golden basin" (金盆洗手). He washes his hands in a golden basin filled with water, signifying that he will no longer be involved in the affairs of the jianghu. When a reclusive fighter who has retired from the jianghu reappears, his return is described as "re-entering the jianghu" (重出江湖).

Books and writers.

Notable modern wuxia writers include:

Comics.

New and original wuxia writings have dwindled significantly in modern times, particularly so as patronage and readerships of the genre decimated due to readily available alternatives in entertainment such as DVDs, gaming consoles and so forth. The genre has proliferated in manhua (Chinese comics) in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the core essentials of the wuxia genre living on in weekly editions equivalent to the Japanese manga.  Some notable comic artists are listed as follows:

Film and television.

The earliest wuxia films date back to the 1920s. Films produced by King Hu and the Shaw Brothers Studio featured sophisticated action choreography using wire and trampoline assisted acrobatics combined with sped-up camera techniques. The storylines in the early films were loosely adapted from existing literature.  Cheng Pei-pei, Jimmy Wang and Connie Chan are among the better known wuxia movie stars in the 1960s–70s, when films made by King Hu and the Shaw Brothers Studio were most prominent. More recent wuxia movie actors and actresses include Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi. Yuen Woo-ping is a choreographer who achieved fame by crafting action-sequences in wuxia films.  Wuxia was introduced to Hollywood studios in 2000 by Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", though influence of the genre was previously seen in the United States in the 1970s television series "Kung Fu". Following in Lee's footsteps, Zhang Yimou made "Hero", targeted for the international market in 2003, "House of Flying Daggers" in 2004 and "Curse of the Golden Flower" in 2006. Western audiences were also introduced to wuxia through Asian television stations in larger cities, which featured miniseries such as "Warriors of the Yang Clan" and "Paradise", often with English subtitles.  Western attempts at the genre have been limited, such as the 2008 film "The Forbidden Kingdom", which starred Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michael Angarano. However, a major exception is DreamWorks Animation's media franchise "Kung Fu Panda". Created as an earnest, if humorous, emulation by producers who were knowledgeable admirers of the genre, the series has been particularly hailed in China as an excellent contribution to the form. More recently, 1990s–2000s Hong Kong stars Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung have worked with AMC Networks to bring wuxia to a US television audience with "Into the Badlands", which premiered in 2015 and has since been renewed for second and third seasons.

Video games.

Some notable wuxia video games of the action RPG genre include "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", "Xuan-Yuan Sword", "Jade Empire", and "Kingdom of Paradise", all of which blend wuxia with elements of Chinese mythology and fantasy. "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", in particular, expanded into a franchise of eight video games, two of which were adapted into the television series "Chinese Paladin" (2005) and "Chinese Paladin 3" (2009). There are also MMORPGs, such as "Heroes of Kung Fu" and "Age of Wulin", and hack and slash games, such as "Bujingai" and "Heavenly Sword".  Games adapted from the works of wuxia writers include "Heroes of Jin Yong", an RPG based on characters in Jin Yong's novels; "Dragon Oath", an MMORPG inspired by Jin Yong's "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils"; and "Martial Kingdoms", a strategy game featuring several martial arts sects which commonly appear in wuxia fiction.

The word "" is a compound composed of the elements (, literally "martial", "military", or "armed") and (, literally "chivalrous", "vigilante" or "hero"). A martial artist who follows the code of is often referred to as a (, literally "follower of ") or (, literally "wandering "). In some translations, the martial artist is referred to as a "swordsman" or "swordswoman" even though he or she may not necessarily wield a sword.

Le terme wuxia ou "wu-xia" (, Wade-Giles wu3-hsia2), est une expression chinoise formée de xiá (侠), « héros », « chevalier », « redresseur de torts » et wǔ (武), « militaire » ou « martial » ; on la traduit généralement par « chevalier errant », même si le terme consacré est plutôt youxia (). Elle désigne un genre littéraire chinois et les œuvres de fiction ayant pour thème les aventures de « Chevalier errant » qui se déroulent généralement durant l'ancienne Chine.


Background.

Samuel was born on August 11, 1961 at "Coyote Sands Relocation Center", AZ, where his mother and brother Joseph were residents at the time. His delivery was filmed by Dr. Chandra Suresh who recorded much of his research as part of Project Icarus. Even at birth his ability was present: during his birth, he produced a major seismic event, leading Chandra to understand that Samuel’s ability grew when surrounded by other evolved humans. Knowing this, Samuel's mother asked Joseph to keep Samuel under control by limiting his closeness to other evolved humans.  It is unknown if Samuel and his family got out of Coyote Sands before "Hurricane Alice" or survived the massacre of evolved humans on May, 1961. Whatever the case, he and his family were released at some point according to Joseph. After Coyote Sands, the Sullivan family lived and worked on the Wheelers' estate, NY. Young Samuel fell in love with the Wheelers' daughter, Vanessa and spent a lot of time with her and shared dreams about the future with her. Later, the Sullivans moved out the manor, and eventually opened the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival". Samuel tried to train his power into a carnival act so people would come to see him, but Joseph stated he only wanted Vanessa to come and must forget her.  Years later, Samuel found Vanessa at college, and they began a relationship. Samuel asked her to marry him and come to the carnival, but she refused to leave her life.  At the carnival, under Joseph’s leadership, Samuel grew up into a trouble-maker, and together with his right hand Eli dabbled in petty crime and felonies, such as robbery, etc. Knowing he couldn’t control Samuel anymore, Joseph exiled Eli from the carnival and even sent Arnold back in time to kill baby Samuel at Coyote Sands, unsuccessfully. Ultimately, Joseph gave Emile Danko a compass to find and capture Samuel for everyone’s sake.

Main Series.

Redemption.

In "Orientation", carnies are gathered around during Joseph’s burial while Samuel is eulogizing his deceased brother. Later he is seen with his associate Lydia. He pokes her with a long stick and ink floods into her skin. After she gives him information on Danko, he sends Edgar to "go get the compass", once again using his ability to make him do so. Next, he is seen asking Lydia for information on Hiro Nakamura. After gaining the information, he asks Arnold to send him back in time. Fourteen years in the past, Samuel tries to persuade Hiro to use his power to right past wrongs. Later, he uses his power again on Lydia. Using his strange tattoo power once again, images of Claire Bennet, Sylar, and Peter Petrelli appear on Lydia's back.  Following Edgar's revelation of meeting an empath (Peter Petrelli), in the episode "Ink", Samuel pretends to be one of the people Peter had recently saved in a bus crash, and sues Peter to get to meet him. Over the course of the day, Samuel breaks into Peter's apartment and uses ink to make himself appear in the crash photo, resulting in having Peter seemingly empathize with Samuel (his primary goal); before leaving, he watches Peter admiring Emma's cello play. Later, Samuel goes to his old home - a mansion where his father and mother, both servants, worked - to see the carriage house. After being denied entry, Samuel levels the mansion by creating a sinkhole.  In the episode "Hysterical Blindness", while sitting around the breakfast table, he remarks to his carnival family that since his brother's death, their circle has been broken (one empty chair), and that before the day is done he will bring a new member to the family. As the day wears on, he reveals to Lydia that he does not know who it is, but that he has a feeling that someone is coming. Late in the evening, getting a bit desperate, he tries to tattoo Lydia to see if anyone's face shows up. While he is waiting, Becky reports in to him on her progress with pushing Claire and isolating her in an effort to bring her into the family. Finally, the ink settles and (although it is not revealed on screen, it is implied that) Sylar's face appears. As Sylar (in his amnesiac state) runs from the police, he stumbles upon the entrance to the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival" where Samuel is holding out his arm welcoming him into the family. A cello appears in Emma's apartment so she starts playing it while her ability evolves; the cello was in a box with the "Sullivan Bros. Carnival" label on it.  In "Tabula Rasa", after Sylar rests, Samuel shows him around the carnival, intent on trying to awaken Sylar's memories immediately. However, he is surprised when Sylar refers to himself as 'Nathan', and returning memories reveal not to be the real Sylar's. Talking to Damien, he has Sylar sent to the Hall of Mirrors to attempt to regain his memories, while having tickets sent to the police officer bent on arresting Sylar. After telling Sylar that it is his duty to become a guardian of the carnival, he sends Sylar to kill the police officer, although Edgar ends up actually killing the man. Not worried, Samuel makes Sylar one of the carnival members, cryptically saying that in time, Sylar would regain his murderous tendencies.  In "Strange Attractors", Samuel then moves his sights to other superhumans, namely Tracy Strauss and Jeremy Greer. He somehow teleports Tracy to the carnival, and begins trying to convince Tracy that she belongs to the carnival, as she and Jeremy are both lost in their ways. Spooked, Tracy demands to be sent back to Georgia to help Jeremy out of prison with Noah, but they fail when Jeremy loses control and kills a civilian who attacks him as they are leaving. As a result, an officer and his friend kidnap and kill Jeremy. Samuel obtains vengeance by returning to Georgia and leveling a building the two men enter, presumably killing them.  In "Once Upon a Time in Texas", Samuel and Lydia talk about Arnold's terminal condition and imminent death, feeling that Hiro's path has grown too long for them to wait. Lydia's ability directs him to travel back in time three years ago so he could find Hiro in Midland, TX. Once there, he asks Hiro about his plans and warns him about the risks of changing what is meant to happen (Charlie's death at the hands of Sylar). However, Hiro manages to change it anyway after making Sylar fix Charlie's aneurysm and then teleporting him directly to Odessa, TX. Samuel kidnaps Charlie, sending her to the carnival in the present, and then forces Hiro to control his ability and teleport there. Once at the carnival, Samuel tells him that Arnold hid Charlie somewhere in time, and blackmails Hiro to stay there and help him right the wrongs for Charlie's sake. Samuel doesn't want the carnies to know that Arnold's final effort killed him because Samuel asked too much of him. It is revealed that Samuel is somehow responsible for the apparent death of Mohinder Suresh eight weeks earlier, and that he needs Hiro to undo this event.  In the episode "Shadowboxing", Samuel comes to Claire's college to stop Becky from getting out of control. In the meantime, he talked to Claire about how Bennett will never understand people like them and that he's just a hunter. At first Claire doesn't fall for it but towards the end, after Bennett tried to tase Becky, had handcuffed Samuel, and tried to chase after them when they got away, Claire realized there was truth to his words. In the end, Samuel promises that she will be able to have her revenge on Claire and Bennett, and also notes that even though she screwed up, Claire's mindset is now in a place better than what he had hoped for.  It was revealed in "Brother's Keeper" that Samuel becomes stronger when he is surrounded by people with abilities, and this is presumably why he's been expanding his "family." His brother, Joseph, kept that fact from him, and kept him away in the then-small carnival. Having overheard Joseph and Mohinder talking about his ability, Samuel went to Mohinder's hotel room to get a video about his ability, but Mohinder had destroyed it, so Samuel killed him. Samuel sent Hiro to go back in time to switch the videos being burnt. Unbeknownst to Samuel, Hiro also strapped a bulletproof vest on Mohinder, so that the rock fragments that Samuel shot at him didn't kill him. He also meets with Tracy at the end of the episode, talking with her about the carnival, which she apparently joins.  It was revealed in "Thanksgiving" that Samuel killed his brother, Joseph, because Joseph had lied about Samuel's true abilities; after Samuel kills him, he seems to show regret. In the present, Samuel blames Edgar for his crime, forcing Edgar to flee the carnival. Consequentially both Lydia and Edgar agree that Samuel must be replaced as leader of the Carnival by someone like Joseph; Lydia believes the best candidate for the job is Peter Petrelli. In "Brave New World", Samuel plans to kill thousands of people in Central Park for his 'coming out party' and to make people fear him. Emma draws the large crowd while under the control of Eric Doyle. Meanwhile, after escaping the trailers with the help of Tracy Strauss, Claire explains Samuel's plans to the carnival workers. Samuel denies everything, but Noah and Edgar (with the support of Eli) reveal the truth about the murders of Joseph and Lydia, convincing the carnival workers to leave Samuel which will weaken his power. Angered, Samuel charges on-stage and attempts to create an earthquake but is stopped by a flying tackle courtesy of Peter. Peter copies Samuel's power and the two battle each other to a draw. Hiro teleports the crowd away, weakening Samuel's power severely. Peter then successfully blocks a physical attack from Samuel and throws him onto the stage. Finally, the desperate and enraged Samuel stumbles out onto the empty Carnival grounds, accuses the absent carnival workers of being cowards, and collapses to his knees in defeat.

Brave New World.

Samuel is arrested for his actions and taken by the police as the heroes gather around the carnival.  In the graphic novel "Consequences", Angela foresees the possible outcome of Samuel's plan if the Heroes couldn't stop him.

"Slow Burn" Webisodes.

During the "Redemption"'s arc, the story of Amanda Strazzulla took place as an online serial, along with several graphic novels. Amanda just discovered her abilities and contacts Lydia, her mother, to help her adjusting, but Lydia tries desperately to avoid Amanda to find her as she feels the potential danger Samuel represents for all of them. Nevertheless, Amanda reaches the carnival and finds in Samuel some sort of paternal figure to rely on, disliking Lydia for attempting to send her away. Finally, Samuel helps Amanda feel safe and home within the carnival, joining the Bowman Family's fire act.

Powers and abilities.

Samuel has the ability to control earth and other minerals with his mind. His ability manifested before he was even born, as it was shown in one of Chandra Suresh's videos that Samuel caused a seismic tremor while still in his mother's womb. Samuel becomes stronger when he is surrounded by people with abilities. The exact range that he needs to be from other evolved humans for them to enhance his powers is unclear; although he possessed enough power to throw a rock with enough force to penetrate a human skull while some distance from the main carnival before he learned the full potential of his power, after he began to gather evolved humans to him, once his carnival was rapidly emptied by Hiro teleporting the rest of the residents away, Samuel found himself completely powerless when only Peter, Sylar, Doyle and Emma were in the carnival (Although it may be that prolonged use of his powers in proximity to other superhumans left him, like a drug addict deprived of his substance of choice, totally reliant on their presence just to achieve what he would have once been capable of on his own).  He seems to evoke some sort of green aura when he gets angry. This is seen while creating an earthquake to sink an entire town in "Pass/Fail" and depicted in graphic novels as well.  The extensions of his ability includes manipulating ink on peoples' skin and paper, evoking water from the depths of the earth, creating a sandstorm, propelling rocks as bullets, and creating earthquakes to sink buildings and even a whole town.  It is unknown if his power somehow lets him instantly teleport people or the carnival itself.  Without his powers, his skills in a fight are relatively limited, allowing Peter Petrelli to easily defeat him in a fight.

Samuel Sullivan, portrayed by Robert Knepper, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series "Heroes", being the primary antagonist of "Volume 5: Redemption". Samuel has the ability of terrakinesis. He is the mysterious leader of a carnival ring, "Sullivan Bros. Carnival".

Samuel Sullivan, interprété par Robert Knepper, est le principal antagoniste de la saison 4 de la série Heroes. Il a le pouvoir de contrôler la terre (Géokinésie).


Biography.

Obruchev was born in Warsaw in a military family. He entered the First Cadet Corps and went on to the Nicholas Military Academy in 1848. In 1858, he founded "Voyenny Sbornik" (Military Collection) as a professional military journal. However after printing articles critical of Russian military logistics in the Crimea War, he was removed from the position. However he became a protégé of Dmitry Milyutin who in 1863 appointed him secretary of the Military Academic Committee of the Main Staff. From this position he helped ensure Miliutin's military reforms were put into effect.  He played a key role in preparing for the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878. In July 1877 he was posted to the Caucasus front where he successfully planned the defeat of the Turkish Army. Then he was moved to the Balkan front where his plan for winter operations helped lead to the capitulation of the Ottoman Empire  In 1881 Pyotr Vannovskiy, the new Minister of War appointed him chief of the Main Staff. Obruchev now played a role in rearming the Russian Army, constructing fortifications on the western military frontier and laying plans for amphibious operation across the Bosphorus. At this time he proposed reorganising the Main Staff into five directorates: First and Second Quartermaster Generals, Adjutant General, Military Communications and Military Topography. However this structure was not implemented until 1903.  He attended the Franco-Russian Military Convention of 1892 and persuaded Nicholas II not to intervene in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895. Retired from active service in 1897, Obruchev died in France in June 1904.

Nikolai Nikolayevich Obruchev (1830–1904) was a General Staff Officer in the Imperial Russian Army, imperial Russian general staff officer, military statistician, planner and chief of the Main Staff.

Nicolas Nikolaïevitch Obroutchev, né en 1830 à Varsovie et mort en France en 1904 à Jaure (Dordogne) Inhumé à Saint-Pétersbourg, est un général et homme de lettres russe.