Gameplay.

"Gift" is a 3-D action-adventure game, which parodies the world of computer games. The game is set in eight 3-D worlds. The characters found in these environments imitate characters from existing games, cartoons, and films.  The playable character, Gift, has special talents that can be manipulated throughout the game including the ability to fly, swim, climb, jump and undertake death-defying leaps. In addition to arming himself with a special energy-powered staff, water jets, cannons and a vast collection of imaginative weapons, the game features challenging real-time puzzle solving situations set against elaborately illustrated 3-D environments.  A unique feature is how light is used to impact the gameplay. Throughout the game, Gift must fend off a host of enemies including 'the Little Clears' and 'the Little Darks'. Because the Little Clears are afraid of the dark, it is important for him to remain in the light. By doing this, the Little Clears will not be able to detect Gift. In order to eliminate the Little Darks, Gift must launch a fireball to illuminate an area so he can see the foes. The game requires players to constantly make decisions by working with the unfolding story, making use of power-ups and clues along the way.  The game enables players to change from the third-person perspective to the first-person point of view. This gives the game more edge and variety, particularly when using an arsenal of weapons.

Plot.

A fictional game being tested has exhausted all the heroes who have already been assigned to rescue princess Lolita Globo. Gift, a sneaky and overweight slob with a big mouth, is the latest hero to volunteer for the job. Armed with a magic staff, his mission is to conquer The Shadow of the Black Deep Dark Night. In doing so, he must lead seven dwarves to Lolita, who suffers from Snow White delusions, in seven worlds crammed with parodies of famous games and films.  Each of the seven worlds holds danger. Gift must battle, solve puzzles, be resourceful, and constantly test his abilities to survive and conquer the opposing dark forces. Gift must collect seven dwarves from the worlds Tiptanic, Alcatraz, Star Stress, Drakuland, Iceland, Paztec and Mine of Horror, each dwarf providing clues to where Lolita can be found. In this eighth and final world, Gift must encircle the princess with the dwarves. This will enable Gift to rescue his true love from the clutches of the Shadow of the Black Deep Dark Night. Each world is led by one of the dwarves, who each have their own idiosyncratic personalities: lust, envy, anger, laziness, miser, greed, and vanity.

Development and release.

Design.

Phillipe Ulrich served as creative director over Cryo Interactive's games. Ulrich thought of the game concept ten years prior to its release and remained involved in its production. Development had been triggered by a conversation with Régis Loisel. Together, they devised the characters, world, and plot, infusing it with Loisel's unique art style. The duo approached the young development studio Eko Software, which created a 3-D game engine specifically for the game. Eko Software was founded in 1999 specifically for the game.  The team used exact measurements for each room, building it like an architectural model, informed by the gameplay rules, such as characters being allowed to move across the screen and into the light. The illustrators then designed the lighting and aesthetic of each room. The 3-D graphic artists created models of the room based on the concept art. Bitmappers drew the walls, objects, etcetera, and mappers added images to the rooms.  The characters were designed as a result of Loisel's research. The modeler created a triangle-based wire sculpture, and then texture-mapped the character image on top of the sculpture. The cartoonist created animations for physical actions of the characters walking, jumping, climbing, etc. The speed and length of movements were adjusted according to the gameplay. After creating one character, Loisel designed companions and enemies to populate the universe.  The game borrows motifs from franchises like "Tomb Raider", "Rayman", "Quake", "The Matrix" and "Star Wars". Cryo UK's MD Stuart Furnival explained, "We've taken some of the elements from "Crash Bandicoot" and "Tomb Raider", and developed a hybrid of the platform and action adventure genres to create a contemporary, sophisticated and unique game." Cryo advertised "Gift" as one of the first video games to parody other video games.

Release.

Cryo Interactive developed "Gift" for the Sony PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color, and PC platforms. The game was intended to launch first on Game Boy and PC in November 2001, then followed up with a release on PlayStation 2 late that year. The PC release was set for November 10 in the UK, alongside a game called "Arthur's Knights", based on the Arthurian legend. Their website had a Game Boy Color release for November 2000 and a PlayStation 2 release for April 2001. The Game Boy Color version was later pushed back to December. The developer demonstrated the Game Boy Color version at the European Computer Trade Show. On September 27, 2000, Cryo Interactive told "IGN" that the American publisher would be announced within two weeks. For the PlayStation 2 version, Cryo gave the game retouched graphics and fifteen extra rooms. A localized version of the game was released in Poland on May 25, 2001. The game was released May 2001 in the Czech Republic. The game was distributed in the Czech Republic by Bohemia Interactive, who also created the Czech game manual. The game was released in Spanish in 2000, including a four-page translated manual. In September 2001, the game's price was lowered. A demo of the game was released with a November 2000 issue of "Level38 Magazine". The PlayStation 2 version was cancelled in the US and unreleased in Japan and Australia.  An animated TV series adaptation of the game, directed by Fred Louf, was broadcast on France 2 in 2005. Philippe Ulrich produced the music for the project. Produced by Shipowners, Melusine Productions, and Art & Esprit, the series consisted of 26 episodes running at around 13 minutes each. The series' first wireless broadcast was on July 2, 2005, on France 2–CD2A, and reruns aired until June 8, 2008, on France 2–KD2A.

Reception.

"IGN" stated that Cryo Interactive had managed to create "a little devil of a character" that would provide a brand new platform experience to the PlayStation 2. "Eurogamer" gave the game 7 out of 10, and said "despite his cute bug-eyes he is actually quite repulsive! The game does deserve to do well though on the strength of its well worked puzzles alone." French site "Jeuxvideo.com" felt that the PlayStation 2 version was worth playing in an area lacking in good games, praising its universe and original scenario while commenting that the PC version had a friendly and tense atmosphere. Of the Game Boy version, Jeuxvideo.com deemed it simplistic, weary and too short. French site "Gamekult" felt that "Gift"'s gameplay and graphics make it a platform game that is quite recommendable, even if it was not the revelation of the year. The website stated that the game "achieved relative success on PC". Czech site "Doupe.cz" felt that Cryo Interactive was known as the creator of brilliant storytelling adventures, precise processing, and a revolutionary shift along with each new title, although "Gift" did not seem to offer as much new content to the genre as other Cryo Interactive titles.  Polish site "Kzet" found that the game's unusual characters, interesting scenario ideas and surrealistic interiors – all flavored with a pinch of humor – create a fascinating atmosphere that makes the game interesting. "Gry Online" deemed the game both interesting and addictive, and felt its difficulty challenged the perception of platforms being a genre for children. "Bonusweb" praised the title for not just being for young or casual players, but for appealing to the entire gaming community. However, it felt that the poor level design and camera work let the game down. The site felt the Game Boy Advanced version was a disappointment and not as good as it could have been. Santiago Lamelo Fagilde at "Meristation" wrote that even though he did not like the genre and reviewed the game out of obligation, he found it relatively enjoyable.  "Play2" asserted that while the creators had intended to revolutionise the genre, "Gift" had been a missed opportunity. "Game.EXE" wrote that the game was both beautiful and clever, though very difficult. Doupe felt the game proved Cryo was able to make good games in a variety of genres, not just in adventures that the company had been known for, though felt it was not as interesting as the company's other games. "Console Plus" gave the PC version a rating of 84% and felt it was a pity that the Game Boy Color version's gameplay was not very good, ultimately giving it 77%. "PC PowerPlay" deemed it a "challenging and controversial tour de force". "PPE.pl" asserts that the gameplay is relatively linear. "SME Tech" praised the game's environments, soundscape, and gameplay.

Gift is a platform game developed by French studio Eko System that parodies elements of popular adventure games. It was created by Cryo Interactive's creative director Philippe Ulrich (creator of the "Dune" video game) and by author, cartoonist and illustrator Régis Loisel. The game is set over ten levels in a full 3-D world.


Plot.

In the observatory, the astronomer is studying at his desk. Satan appears, then a woman appears and makes Satan vanish. Then she disappears. The astronomer draws a globe on a blackboard. The globe develops a sun-like head and limbs and starts to move on the blackboard. The astronomer looks through a small telescope.  The Moon appears in a building as a large face. It has eaten the astronomer's telescope. Men tumble from its mouth. Then the Moon is in the sky. The astronomer, in a different dress, stands on a table, which disappears. He falls.  The Moon becomes a crescent. A spirit, in the form of a lady, appears from it. The astronomer chases her, but she eludes him.  Now another figure stands in the crescent of the Moon, before reclining into its C shape.  The Moon appears as a large face again, and the astronomer jumps into its mouth. a woman and Satan appears. The astronomer appears again. Then, in the observatory, the astronomer is sitting asleep in his chair.

Production Notes.

The film was hand colored like many of Méliès' other films.  When this film was imported into the United States by producer Sigmund Lubin in 1899 he re-titled it "A Trip to the Moon." However this had no relation to the 1902 film "A Trip to the Moon".

Current status.

Given its age, this short film is available to freely download from the Internet.

The Astronomer's Dream (, original title: La lune à un mètre a.k.a. The Moon at One Meter) (Star Film Catalogue no. 160-162) is an 1898 French short black-and-white silent film, directed by Georges Méliès.


Biography.

Baker was born in Burdine, Kentucky and learned the fiddle by accompanying his father, also a fiddler. Early on, he was influenced by the swing fiddler Marion Sumner, as well as Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. After working for Bethlehem Steel in the coal mines of Kentucky, he served in the United States Navy before pursuing a musical career full-time. He soon joined Don Gibson's band as a replacement for Marion Sumner. Baker, who played western swing, had little interest in bluegrass music until he heard ""Wheel Hoss"" and ""Roanoke"". During a package show with Don Gibson, Baker met Monroe and was offered a job. He cut his first recordings with Monroe's Blue Grass Boys on December 15, 1957.  Kenny Baker served more years in Monroe's band than any other musician and was selected by Monroe to record the fiddle tunes passed down from Uncle Pen Vandiver. After leaving the Blue Grass Boys in 1984, Baker played with a group of friends, Bob Black, Alan Murphy, and Aleta Murphy. Bob Black and Alan Murphy recorded an album with Baker in 1973, "Dry & Dusty". After the one summer with Black and the Murphy's, Baker teamed with Josh Graves, who had played resonator guitar for Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs as a Foggy Mountain Boy. Baker teamed with Graves until Graves' death in 2006.  Baker is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in bluegrass music. His "long-bow" style added a smoothness and clarity to the fiddle-based music of his boss, Grand Ole Opry member Bill Monroe. His long tenure with Bill Monroe included banjo player Bill Keith's development of the "melodic" method of banjo playing that included note for note representations of fiddle tunes on the banjo.  He recorded many albums for various record labels, including County Records, Jasmine, Rounder Records, Ridge Runner Records, and most recently OMS Records. His most recent recordings include "Cotton Baggin' 2000" and "Spider Bit the Baby" on OMS Records. It was often mentioned that Kenny Baker's records were more popular at Bill Monroe concerts than the band's own releases. There were, and remain, hordes of Kenny Baker students of the bluegrass fiddle.  As well as a performer, Baker was also a composer of many popularly played bluegrass fiddle tunes.  Prior to his death, Baker lived in Gallatin, Tennessee.  Kenny Baker died July 8, 2011 at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tennessee due to complications from a stroke.

Awards and honors.

Baker was a recipient of a 1993 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. He was named to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1999.

Kenneth Clayton Baker (June 26, 1926 – July 8, 2011) was an American fiddle player best known for his 25-year tenure with Bill Monroe and his group "The Blue Grass Boys".


History.

The first application for land in the Parish of Poowong was made on 17 April 1874 by James Scott for 320 acres of allotment 5, the selection made on behalf on his son Robert Scott. Four more selectors pegged out allotments within the next twelve months. On part of the Scott land a store, pub and butcher's shop were built. The Poowong Hotel was built by 1880 but it was destroyed by fire in 1883.  A Post Office opened around January 1878. The first survey of townships allotments took place in 1879.  The heavily timbered and hilly nature of the area meant selectors took years to clear enough of their land to make a living from their selections.

Facilities.

For a town of its size, Poowong is quite well off with regard to its facilities. These include four tennis courts, two netball courts, an indoor basketball and squash stadium, a primary school, large community hall, outdoor swimming pool, a number of churches and an Australian rules football oval. The town has an Australian Rules football team and a netball team competing in the Ellinbank & District Football League and the Ellinbank & District Netball Association respectively.

Community projects.

The Poowong community is active, with many projects being undertaken by various community groups. The largest group, by far, is the Poowong Football & Netball Club who involve themselves not only in sporting projects, but also in projects helping the wider community. One such project is the 'My Connected Community' project which was being run by the Poowong Football Club in a partnership with the Strzelecki Lions Club, and was designed to increase Internet use amongst community members.

Poowong is a small dairying town located in South Gippsland, in the Australian state of Victoria. At the, Poowong had a population of 360.


Playing career.

Minor leagues.

After spending four seasons in the Twins' organization, he was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in April 2006 and released on March 24, 2007. On March 30, 2007 Phillips signed with the Blue Jays as a Minor League free agent.

Minnesota Twins.

In four seasons with the Twins organization, Phillips hit.239 with 24 home runs and 145 RBIs.

Milwaukee Brewers.

In one season with the Brewers' Brevard County Manatees farm team, he hit three home runs, drove in 35 runs and hit.236.

Toronto Blue Jays.

Phillips spent the 2007 season with the Dunedin Blue Jays and the 2008 season with New Hampshire Fisher Cats. With Dunedin, Phillips hit.306 with 10 home runs and 62 RBIs. With New Hampshire he hit.306 with 8 home runs and 34 RBIs.  He started the 2009 season in New Hampshire hitting.175 with one home run and one RBI. Phillips was then promoted to Las Vegas, hitting.300 with 8 home runs and 29 RBIs.  He made his major league debut on September 14, 2009 getting a hit in 4 at-bats.

San Diego Padres.

On June 25, 2010, Phillips was traded to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. He hit his first major league home run in a day game against the Atlanta Braves on May 30, 2011. He was designated for assignment by the Padres on August 31, 2011. He elected free agency on October 11.

Return to Toronto.

On January 27, 2012, Phillips signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays which was later voided due to injury.

Scouting.

Phillips was hired on as an advanced scout by former GM with San Diego Jed Hoyer with the Chicago Cubs for the 2012 season.

Kyle Ray Phillips (born April 3, 1984) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Phillips was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2002 MLB Draft in the 10th round and is the younger brother of former major leaguer Jason Phillips.


Character biography.

Ángel Juan Marcos Batista is a Detective in Miami Metro Police Department's Homicide Division. He works closely with Dexter Morgan during cases, often teaming up with him for his expert advice on serial killers, and considers himself Dexter's best friend. Batista, while unable to share Dexter's fascination with blood, appreciates the art of murder. In the novel series, Batista is not a detective, but a forensic officer who works alongside Dexter.  Angel is a friendly, good natured character who provides a sense of humanity and compassion in Dexter's life. While he is prone to making rash decisions and acting on emotion, he does not harbor any resentment for even the worst fate hands to him and is shown to care deeply for those who work around him. He is also well known for his trademark fedora hat which he is almost never seen without. Due to his position as a divorced, lonely police officer, he considers himself a cliché.

Season one.

When Angel arrives on the scene of a foot chase called in by James Doakes, he finds the man dead. When first questioned by Internal Affairs, Batista lies for Doakes, saying the other man shot first. However, he later tells the truth, saying that he made a promise to his father that he would always be an honest man. When Batista cheats on his wife, he tells his wife about the indiscretion, which leads to their separation (something he tries to keep hidden from everyone).  One night at a club Batista sees a woman with a prosthetic hand, the nails painted in the same manner as the victims of the Ice Truck Killer, a serial killer who preys on prostitutes. He investigates and finds out that the woman had a customer with an amputee fetish. In an attempt to chase the lead, he talks with prosthetic technician Rudy Cooper about patients he may have that have the same fetish. Cooper — who is none other than the Ice Truck Killer — then stabs Batista. While recovering, Batista agrees to a divorce with his wife. He also helps to uncover Cooper's true identity by asking for Cooper's prints to be compared to mental institution files.  After three months of being on his own, Batista turns to spiritual enlightenment to lessen his pain. He claims to be Dexter's best friend, much to Dexter's confusion, as he has never given Batista any reason to think so. However, Dexter eventually admits that Batista is the closest thing he has ever had to a real friend.

Season two.

In season two, Batista and the rest of the department try their best to alleviate the grief from families of the Bay Harbor Butcher victims. He becomes especially involved in one case of a man named Oscar Sota. When he talks to the man's wife in the office, he ends up having a heated and frustrating argument with her about what her husband was actually doing to be targeted by the Butcher. Feeling guilty, he goes to her house and offers her a sincere apology. She begins to trust Batista, and offers him more details on the case.  He eventually takes an interest in Dexter's on-off lover Lila Tournay, and asks her out after she and Dexter break up. Unbeknownst to Batista, however, Lila is only using him to get close to Dexter. To that end, she takes Rohypnol after having rough sex with Batista, and then accuses him of date rape. Batista is terrified of being convicted, as it will ruin his career and his life. After Dexter kills Lila, the charges are dropped, much to Batista's relief. During an awkward but heartfelt conversation, Dexter tells Batista that if he were "normal", he would want to be a man like him.

Season three.

In season three, Batista is promoted to Sergeant and made the department's new lead case investigator to replace the now-deceased Doakes. However it appears as his life as a divorced father is beginning to take its toll; he risks his career to get a hooker who turns out to be an undercover cop. After persistent but gentlemanly advances, Batista begins a relationship with the officer, Barbara Gianna. He so fears losing her that he begins acting irrationally, leaving her a long-winded message begging forgiveness for having to cancel dinner because of work. However, Barbara finds this funny, brings him a take-out dinner, and their relationship appears strong. After she is assaulted, Batista gets in a violent altercation with the man who hurt her, but Dexter intervenes and calms him down. He attends Dexter's wedding with Barbara as his date.

Season four.

By the start of season four, it appears that Batista and Barbara have amicably split, and he is now romantically involved with his Lieutenant, Maria LaGuerta. Neither wishes for their relationship to become public, in fear of losing their jobs and "defining something indefinable". He looks to Dexter for advice, and he then becomes an involuntary counselor between the two. Toward the end of the season, they secretly get married with Dexter as witness.

Season five.

Batista and LaGuerta's marriage is constantly challenged by their work disagreements. At first, Batista constantly caves in to LaGuerta's demands, but grows more and more frustrated and jealous. When a drunk police officer makes sexual remarks about LaGuerta ("she gave the best blowjobs in Miami"), Batista, also drunk, beats him up and ends up being investigated by Internal Affairs. LaGuerta teams up with the investigating officer, but that prompts Batista to be even more jealous; he starts checking her cell phone for suspicious messages and finds a rendezvous appointment in a hotel room. Outraged, he walks in on them, only to find out that it was intended to be a sting operation to apprehend a corrupt narcotics cop, in which LaGuerta agreed to participate to bail Batista out of the investigation. When LaGuerta's bad judgment call leads to the killing of their informant in the Fuentes brothers case, she pins the blame on Debra, rekindling their rivalry. Upset by LaGuerta's decision, Batista decides to stick to Debra's story and does so in his written statement; he also helps Debra when she insists on reopening the barrel girls case after LaGuerta closed it too soon—although he fails to convince LaGuerta himself. Ever since, Batista's approach towards LaGuerta's bossiness has drastically changed, as he has been "cutting her off" every time she seems to try to overpower his decision. However, in the season finale they seem to have set their relationship back on track.

Season six.

Batista has moved in with his younger sister Jamie in the apartment adjacent to Dexter's, thus allowing Jamie to babysit Dexter's son Harrison whenever Dexter might need to leave in the middle of the night. It turns out that he and LaGuerta separated in order for her to secure the position of Captain in Miami Metro Homicide. However, her position as Lieutenant was left open specifically for him by her recommendation. To her surprise, Deputy Chief Tom Matthews decided otherwise due to the recent heroics of Debra Morgan and instead advanced her to Lieutenant. Debra breaks this news to Batista, who takes it in stride and congratulates her, but is still hurt by constantly being involved in LaGuerta's battles with Matthews. Quinn also begins criticizing Batista for not telling LaGuerta how he feels, which almost results in a fight at a crime scene. Their relationship is further strained when Quinn drunkenly makes crude remarks about Jamie; angered, Batista punches him out.  When Jamie starts dating Louis Greene, Masuka's third intern, Batista makes a failed attempt to scare him away during a dinner with both of them.  When Batista approaches serial killer Travis Marshall's house, without Quinn for backup, Marshall knocks him unconscious.

Season seven.

In season seven, Batista considers retiring after Detective Mike Anderson is murdered. Batista wants to buy a restaurant by the beach, saying that thinking about the restaurant is the only thing that makes him happy. He initially has trouble finding the money and dealing with the paperwork, but his problems are solved when Quinn gives him a great deal of money for a down payment; he does not tell Batista that the money was laundered by the Russian Mafia. In the season finale, Batista has his retirement party at the restaurant on New Year's Eve.

Season eight.

In season eight, Batista closes the restaurant and returns to Miami Metro. He is promoted to Lieutenant of Homicide after Debra leaves Miami Metro. He holds a dedication ceremony for LaGuerta, who was killed in the season 7 finale, and gives a reluctant Dexter a vase she kept in her old office.  Quinn is now dating Batista's sister Jamie, and Batista pressures him to take the sergeant's exam to prove that he is serious about the relationship and his future. Quinn does well on the exam, but Batista ultimately chooses another candidate after being pressured by Deputy Chief Tom Matthews.  In "Monkey in a Box", Batista reinstates Debra as a detective, unaware that she killed LaGuerta. In the series finale, "Remember the Monsters?", however, Debra is shot by serial killer Oliver Saxon and falls into a persistent vegetative state. When Quinn attacks Saxon in the interrogation room, Batista does nothing to stop him, and threatens Saxon with the electric chair unless he confesses. Dexter later kills Saxon in full view of a security camera, but Batista accepts his claim of self-defense and lets him go. It is suggested that both Batista and Quinn know the truth, but turn a blind eye because they wanted to kill Saxon themselves. Batista is last seen receiving the news about Dexter's apparent death; unbeknownst to him, Dexter staged his death and is living under another identity.

Differences from the novels.

In the book series, Angel Batista habitually introduces himself as "no relation" (to Cuban former dictator Fulgencio Batista), and as a result is nicknamed "Angel-no-relation" by Dexter. He also plays a less prominent role in the novels than in the television series, and is a forensic scientist rather than a homicide detective.

Angel Juan Marcos Batista (; Spanish ) is a fictional character in the Showtime television series "Dexter" and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. He is portrayed in the television series by David Zayas. Batista spends much of the series as a Sergeant before being promoted to Lieutenant in the final season.


Background.

De La Bourdonnais was considered the world's leading player from 1821, when he surpassed his mentor Alexandre Deschapelles. In 1823 La Bourdonnais defeated William Lewis, Britain's leading player, in a match in London, and in the spring of 1825 he played and defeated the best players that England had to offer. Nine years later he returned to London when a challenge was issued on McDonnell's behalf.

La Bourdonnais and McDonnell matches.

Between June and October 1834 La Bourdonnais and McDonnell played a series of six matches, a total of eighty-five games, at the Westminster Chess Club in London. The games were recorded for posterity by the club's elderly founder William Greenwood Walker, who remained by McDonnell's side for almost the entire duration of the match. Play generally began around noon, some of the games taking more than seven hours to complete. La Bourdonnais knew no English and McDonnell knew no French. It is said that the only word they exchanged during their historic encounter was "check!”  After each game, McDonnell would return to his room exhausted, where he would spend hours pacing back and forth in a state of nervous agitation. Meanwhile, La Bourdonnais would be downstairs regaling himself at the chessboard. He would continue to play till long after midnight, smoking cigars, drinking punch and gambling. One night he reportedly played forty games before going to bed, even though he had to face McDonnell the following morning.  McDonnell and La Bourdonnais were evenly matched in their abilities across the board, but wildly contrasted in their styles of play. The Frenchman was renowned for the rapidity of his play, often replying to his opponent's moves within seconds, whereas the Irishman sometimes took as many as two hours to make a single move. But despite his deliberation, McDonnell was a reckless player. Where the Frenchman preferred to err on the side of caution, the Irishman could not resist embarking on wild and often ill-considered attacks, something which told against him during their encounter.  The characters of the two men were also very different. La Bourdonnais was an ebullient and garrulous individual. When winning, he grew talkative and affable; but when things went against him, he "swore tolerably round oaths in a pretty audible voice", as Walker recorded. McDonnell on the other hand was observed to be taciturn and imperturbable. Winning or losing, he betrayed little emotion at the table, a habit which seemingly unnerved his explosive opponent.  In the first match of the series McDonnell's lack of big-match experience told against him and he was heavily defeated by sixteen games to five, with four draws (+5 -16 =4). But he quickly recovered from this setback and went on to win the second match by five games to four (+5 -4).  Although the title of World Chess Champion was not created until 1886 (with Wilhelm Steinitz as the first champion), the world's leading players from earlier times are recognized today as unofficial world champions. La Bourdonnais is usually regarded as the champion from 1821 until his death in 1840. It is often said that he defeated McDonnell in their mammoth encounter in 1834. But the 1834 World Championship was not one match: it was a series of six matches, the second of which was won by McDonnell. It could be argued that McDonnell ought to be recognized as the unofficial world champion for the brief period between the second and third matches of his series with La Bourdonnais.  La Bourdonnais won the third match, by a score of +6 -5 =1. He also won the fourth and fifth matches +8 -3 and +7 -4 respectively. The final match was abandoned in obscure circumstances. Apparently La Bourdonnais was forced to return to France to deal with his creditors. McDonnell was leading +5 -4 at the time. It seems the players had a loose agreement to continue the match at a later date. Another story suggests that La Bourdonnais gave McDonnell odds of a three-game lead, with the first player to reach eight victories being declared the winner, but this is unlikely and impossible to confirm.  Harry Golombek evaluated the games and found them to generally be of low quality. There were some instances of brilliance, but the level of technique, especially in the endgame was low. In one game McDonnell had an endgame with a rook and two pawns versus a rook and did not know how to win. He lost his rook due to a blunder and lost the game. La Bourdonnais was not as bad as McDonnell in the endgame but he was weak in the opening. The games lacked any cohesive strategy. There were relatively few draws, but this was partly due to McDonnell's inaccurate defense, which caused him to lose games instead of draw them.

The La Bourdonnais – McDonnell chess matches were a series of chess matches in 1834 between Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais of France and Alexander McDonnell of Ireland. These matches confirmed La Bourdonnais as the leading chess player in the world. They are sometimes seen as having been unofficial World Chess Championship matches, before the title of World Chess Champion existed.


History.

"World Book" was founded by Chicago publishers J. H. Hansen and John Bellow, who realized that existing encyclopedias were off-putting to young readers. In 1915, they enlisted the help of Michael Vincent O'Shea, a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin.  The first edition of "The World Book Encyclopedia" was published (as simply "The World Book") in 1917, by the Hanson-Roach-Fowler Company. "As a rule," wrote O'Shea, the founding editor, in the preface of that first edition, "encyclopedias are apt to be quite formal and technical. A faithful effort has been made in the World Book to avoid this common defect."  In 1919, "World Book" became the property of W.F. Quarrie & Company. The new owners created an editorial board to help make sure the entries were aligned with what students studied, from kindergarten through high school.  In 1945, the "World Book" became the property of Field Enterprises.  In 1978, "World Book" was purchased by Scott Fetzer Company, an Ohio conglomerate that left the encyclopedia company in Chicago. That year, the company had a sales force of 60,000 and vastly outsold Encyclopædia Britannica.  In 1985, the Scott Fetzer Company was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway. In the late 1980s, while the World Book sales force had declined, it still had 45,000 door-to-door representatives. For the year 1990, Berkshire Hathaway reported that the business of producing the encyclopedia had generated profits of $32 million. But as sales plunged in the 1990s, World Book's results were no longer broken out in Berkshire Hathaway financial reports.  In 2009, Funk & Wagnalls was acquired by "World Book Encyclopedia"; the company's "Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia" had ceased publication in 1997.  As of 2018, the only official sales outlet for the "World Book" encyclopedia is the company’s website; the official list price is $1,199. A company representative said, that year, that "thousands” of print sets are still ordered annually, mostly by schools who use them as teaching tools for library research skills; public libraries and homeschooling families are also frequent purchasers.

Production.

The first edition (1917) contained eight volumes. New editions have since appeared every year except 1920, 1924, and 1932, with major revisions in 1929 (13 volumes), 1947 (19 volumes), 1960 (20 volumes), 1971 (22 volumes), and 1988 (new typeface and page design, and some 10,000 new editorial features).  Unlike the way most other encyclopedias were printed, "World Book" has traditionally been published in variously sized volumes, depending on the letter of the alphabet. Although most volumes cover exactly one letter completely, the letters with exceptionally numerous entries ("C" and "S") are divided between two volumes, while adjacent letters with relatively few entries ("J"–"K", "N"–"O", "Q"–"R", "U"–"V", and "W"–"Z") share a volume.  "World Book" editors lay out major articles distinctly, often starting them on a page of their own, perhaps with a two-column heading. Materials are reviewed and authored by experts. It recognizes that one of the primary uses of general-purpose encyclopedias is students' work on school reports. For instance, every article for a U.S. state has a box giving information about such things as the official state bird and tree; each President of the United States gets a very distinctive look with an oversized portrait, a timeline and significant historical events that occurred during that president's administration.

Alternative editions.

In 1962 "World Book" produced a Braille edition, which filled 145 volumes and nearly 40,000 pages. It was the first encyclopedia in Braille. The project was mainly an effort in goodwill, for the company did not see its way clear to selling enough copies of the set to cover production costs. Eventually, all sets of the Braille edition were donated to several institutions for the blind. In 1964 the company also published a large-print edition.  An international version, aimed at English-speakers outside of North America, was also produced in 1992.  Since 1998, in addition to the print and CD-ROM editions of the 22-volume, 13,800-page encyclopedia, "World Book" also publishes an online version called "World Book Online". The online version includes 23 subscription databases with all of the articles contained in the print set, as well as several thousand additional articles and the contents of every yearbook "World Book" has published since 1922. Articles are also available in Spanish. The online version contains links to current web sites and magazine articles, a news section, and video and audio samples.

Digital multimedia encyclopedia.

"World Book Encyclopedia" was also published in electronic form for Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X. Electronic editions contained the entire text of the 22-volume "World Book Encyclopedia", plus illustrations, video clips, 3D panoramic views, and sounds. The articles bring together a complete story, multimedia content, an article outline, research aids and links to related information. Online updates to articles and a "Month in Brief" time browser are available by subscription.  In 2002, Apple included a bundled copy of the Mac OS X Edition of "World Book Encyclopedia" when they made OS X the default operating system for all new computers. This edition had some Mac-only features including a more intuitive user interface, Sticky Notes sharing via Bonjour technology, "Trivia Challenge" game, a collection of editor-approved webcams, Notepad, speech capabilities and "This Day in History", "Media Showcase" and "Librarian" widgets.  Since November 2007, both the Windows and Mac electronic editions of "World Book Encyclopedia" have been developed and published by Software MacKiev.

Associated publishing projects.

Other "World Book" products include:

The World Book Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia published in the United States. The encyclopedia was designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, and medical subjects.


Description.

Race "sinha".

The upperside of the wings are rich ochre yellow. The forewing is dusky brown towards the base and near the tornus. The cel has three black sinuous lines and there is a line along the discocellulars. The interspaces beyond the apex of the cell are dark brown, the dark colour continues out in interspace 4 and joins a broad oblique short band from the costa. The dusky-brown shading at bases of interspaces 1–3 darkens outwards; Other marks include a transverse postdiscal series of dark brown spots, interrupted by large quadrate dark brown marks in interspace 4 and below costa; a subterminal lunular line and a broad terminal band dark brown or black. Hindwing is shaded toward the posterior and outer half by dusky brown and has a postdiscal row of dark brown spots, followed by a subterminal series of broad lunules and a broad terminal band dark brown or black. Underside of forewing has the basal area purplish brown, posterior half ochraceous yellow; the cell is crossed by three sinuous dark brown lines, the innermost of the three bordered inwardly with purplish white, the space between the outer two also pale purplish, the interspaces beyond the apex of the cell very pale ochre, followed by a transverse series of purple-white lunules, a row of dark brown spots, a subterminal inner series of dark ochre lunules and an outer dark ochre transverse line. Hindwing: the disc purplish brown, lightening to pale purple broadly along the dorsal and tornal areas; an obscure subbasal, dark brown, highly sinuous and irregular transverse line, followed by a sinuous transverse series of pale purple hmules, a discal series of dark ferruginous spots, obscure postdiscal and more clearly defined subterminal lines of dark lunules; the terminal margin narrowly brown. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark ochraceous, the thorax and abdomen beneath buffy white.  The wingspan is 64–70 mm.  Found mainly in the Sub-Himalayan zone from Mussoorie to Assam extending into the Malayan region east to the Philippines. Also noted from the Eastern Ghats.

Vagrans is monotypic genus with the species vagrant (Vagrans egista) a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.


Early life.

Philippe Cousteau Jr. was born in Santa Monica, California in 1980 to Jan Cousteau, the widow of Philippe Cousteau, who died six months before the birth; he is the grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Cousteau grew up in France and the United States. He attended high school at St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island, and later graduated from St. Andrews University in Scotland where he earned an M.A. in History.

Career.

In 2000, he co-founded EarthEcho International with his mother Jan Cousteau and his sister Alexandra Cousteau. EarthEcho International is based in Washington, D.C., and its mission is to "empower youth to take action that protects and restores our water planet."  In 2007, he co-founded Azure Worldwide, an environmental consulting, development, marketing and media company which was the successor to his earlier for-profit venture, Thalassa Ventures Corporation.  In May 2012, Cousteau and AdvisorShares launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) called the AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF Exchange, focused on sustainable investing; the fund said it would donate a portion of its fund management fees to philanthropic projects around the world, including the Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo (which focuses on the treatment and empowerment of women).  He has lectured at the UN, Harvard University and other institutions on environmental issues, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Ocean Conservancy, National Environmental Education Foundation and the Marine Conservation Institute. In January 2017, he gave a TED Talk at TEDx Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC.

Television & media.

From 2007–2009, Cousteau served as Chief Ocean Correspondent for Animal Planet, and appeared on "Ocean's Deadliest" and "Springwatch". He has co-hosted a series called "Oceans" on BBC Two, and has served a correspondent on CNN and for the public radio show, "Living on Earth".  In 2010, he spent a great deal of time covering the BP Oil Spill with ABC's Good Morning America and Sam Champion and later CNN. Cousteau was the first person to scuba dive on television into the spill.  From 2010 through 2014 Cousteau was a Special Correspondent for CNN International and the host of Going Green, a series that explored critical conservation issues around the world. In addition, Cousteau hosted Expedition Sumatra for CNN in 2013, an 8-part series exploring the deforestation crisis in Sumatra, Indonesia.  Since 2014, Cousteau has been the host and executive producer of Xploration Awesome Planet, a series syndicated on FOX and Hulu. In 2015 he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Lifestyle/ Travel/ Children’s Series Host" category..  In 2015, Cousteau and his wife Ashlan traveled to Nepal to film wild Bengal tigers in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation; this led to a series about the expedition entitled "Treasures of the Terai" which aired online at Takepart.com and KTLA.  In 2016, Ashlan and Philippe produced and co-starred in an hour-long documentary for Discovery Channel's Shark Week called "Nuclear Sharks", which looked at how grey reef sharks in Bikini Atoll were able to recover from nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s.  The couple currently appear as the co-stars of the Travel Channel series Caribbean Pirate Treasure.

Personal life.

Cousteau married entertainment journalist Ashlan Gorse on September 25, 2013 in a civil ceremony at the City Hall of the 8th arrondissement in Paris, and had a second ceremony on September 28, 2013 at the Château d’Esclimont in Saint-Symphorien-le-Château. They have one daughter (born in May 2019)

Books.

Cousteau has co-written two books, "Going Blue" and "Make a Splash". "Going Blue" won five awards. His latest book, "Follow the Moon Home", was released in 2016.

Philippe-Pierre Jacques-Yves Arnault Cousteau Jr. (born January 20, 1980) is the son of Philippe Cousteau and the grandson of Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau has continued the work of his father and grandfather by educating the public about environmental and conservation issues. In 2017, he received an Emmy nomination for hosting the syndicated science series "Awesome Planet".


Plot.

Dr. Ackerman (Troy Donahue) is the high school biology teacher. Leaving school one night he crashes his car after encountering a UFO.  Wesley Littlejohn is a nerd who is in Dr. Ackerman's class, along with his opportunistic friend Marvin (Stuart Fratkin). Wesley is the stereotypical nerd who is bullied at school and relies on Marvin to defuse situations with the bullies. He is also in love with a girl named Leanne, but is too shy to make any kind of approach to her.  Instead of Dr. Ackerman teaching biology that day, a sexy, blond substitute teacher named Ms. Xenobia arrives and informs the class she will be teaching for the time being. All the boys in the class are stunned at having such a sexy woman as a teacher, apart from Wesley. Looking for a participant in an experiment, all the boys in class volunteer but Ms. Xenobia selects Wesley and asks him to attend after school has finished.  Wesley goes back to the class after school, where he encounters Drax, Ms. Xenobia's assistant (Raymond O'Connor). Ms. Xenobia arrives and explains that the experiment involves being injected with a vitamin supplement and observing Wesley's reaction. Wesley does not want to participate and Ms. Xenobia agrees, before injecting him with the "supplement" when his back is turned. A phallic stalk starts to emerge from Wesley's head as a result. Becoming sexually excited by the sight of the stalk, Ms. Xenobia proceeds to remove her lab coat, revealing white lingerie underneath. She then has sex with Wesley (who is oblivious to his surroundings) with Drax recording the findings. After the "experiment" Wesley is sent home.  At home Wesley's parents and brother start to see changes in him; he becomes more confident and assured, which allows him to get closer to Leeane. After the experiment, however, there is a tendency for the stalk to emerge at the most inconvenient times, usually when there are women around. This leads to several sexual encounters with them, notably with a former bully's girlfriend and the gym teacher Miss Buckmeister (Edy Williams). Each time these encounters happen, Wesley is left with amnesia, and he starts to suspect Ms. Xenobia has given him something more than a vitamin supplement. Challenging Ms. Xenobia on the experiments, he is injected again with the serum by Drax and again has sex with Ms. Xenobia.  Away from school, Wesley becomes the singer of a heavy metal band called the Sex Mutants (prior to this, he played classical piano). He also goes on a date with Leanne, although it is interrupted by the stalk which leads Leanne to become passionate with him before "waking up" and accusing Wesley of trying to take things too fast. Wesley protests his innocence later on and invites her to a gig that the Sex Mutants are playing.  The Sex Mutants play their gig, along with support from the Poon Tangs (an all-girl group featuring Ginger Lynn Allen, Linnea Quigley & Laura Albert). After the show has finished, Wesley is backstage with the Poon Tangs when Leanne arrives. Shocked that Wesley appears to be flirting with the girls, she runs off and Wesley follows her. Outside the venue, Wesley encounters Ms. Xenobia, who is wearing a silver spacesuit. Ms. Xenobia informs Wesley that she and Drax are aliens from the planet Alterion who had been experimenting on him to help their race, as the males of their species lost the ability to procreate and Ms. Xenobia was tasked with finding a cure. With humans having a similar biology to her species, she and Drax landed on Earth (inadvertently causing the demise of Dr. Ackerman) and began their experiments with Wesley. When a skeptical Wesley does not believe this, Ms. Xenobia then proceeds to peel off her face, revealing that she is a blue-skinned alien with a large head rather than a sexy woman. This causes Wesley to panic, throw Ms. Xenobia into a garbage can, and flee.  Wesley returns to the school (encountering Drax) where he blows up the biology lab, destroying Ms. Xenobia's serum. Meanwhile, Ms. Xenobia starts to shoot up the music venue with a ray gun. Wesley arrives with the last batch of serum and threatens to drop it unless Ms. Xenobia stops her violent spree. When Ms. Xenobia refuses, Wesley destroys the serum, shocking her enough that she stops shooting.  Despondent that the chances of saving her race are over, Drax appears with a stalk growing from his head; he had taken some of the serum because he was in love with Ms. Xenobia. This allows Ms. Xenobia to have a change of heart and she apologizes for all the hassle she caused Wesley. The film ends as Ms. Xenobia and Drax head home to their planet, while Wesley continues his new career with the Sex Mutants and his relationship with Leeane.

Dr. Alien is a 1989 sci-fi comedy film starring Judy Landers, Billy Jacoby, and Olivia Barash. Directed by David DeCoteau, the film was also released under the titles I Was a Teenage Sex Maniac and I Was a Teenage Sex Mutant. The alternative titles explain the movie's plot.


Career.

Ryan began performing at the age of six at Oakland's Henry Duffy Theatre. She attended Stanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops. She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago, and launched her television career two decades later. Her television debut came in episode 43 of "Batman", in 1966, followed by a bit part in "Beverly Hillbillies". She also appeared in a 1972 episode of "Columbo", Dagger of the Mind, as "uncredited woman at the airport."  Ryan's first supporting cast television role was as Aggie Thompson in the first several episodes of "The Doris Day Show". The same season, she was offered the replacement role on the series "Green Acres" as Doris Ziffel from 1969 to 1971. Ryan replaced Barbara Pepper, who was in poor health and died five months later of heart ailments on July 18, 1969. Ryan also starred on the long-running TV Western series "Gunsmoke" during its 20th and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb). In 1987, she reprised the role of Miss Hannah in the TV movie "".  Ryan played the role of Rosie Carlson in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" (1976–1979) and Sister Agatha in "General Hospital" in 1989. She also did voices for cartoons such as "Hong Kong Phooey", "Mister T", and "Little Dracula". Fran starred on some TV shows for children, such as "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" in 1975 as Gertrude Grouch, the 1970s children's show "New Zoo Revue" as Ms. Goodbody, the 1980s TV series "No Soap, Radio" as Mrs. Belmont, and the short-lived 1980s CBS TV series "The Wizard" as Tillie Russell from 1986 to 1987. Her last regular TV role was on "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show".  Ryan also appeared in a series of commercials for Hungry Jack biscuits beginning in 1975.  She appeared in many feature films, including "Big Wednesday" (1978), as Frank and Jesse James' mother in "The Long Riders" (1980), "Take This Job and Shove It" (1981), "Pale Rider" (1985), "Chances Are" (1989), and a cameo appearance in 1981's "Stripes", as a cab fare to Bill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the film. Ryan made many guest appearances on TV shows, including "Batman" (episode 43), "Adam-12", "CHiPs", "Quantum Leap", "Night Court", "Taxi", "Baywatch", and "The Commish".

Personal life.

Fran's first husband, Walter Kenneth Wayne (whom she married in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1949), died in a plane crash, in a plane he was piloting in January 1951, while Fran was pregnant with their first and only child. She gave birth to their son, Christopher, in April 1951. Fran remarried in January 1953 to Howard Schafer. Howard, too, perished in a plane crash in Oregon in May 1953 in a plane he was piloting. The wreckage of Howard's plane was not discovered until 15 years later in November 1968. The remains of Howard and his passengers were never found. All that was found at the crash site was a woman's shoe, four combs, and two pair of eyeglasses.

Death.

Ryan died on January 15, 2000, at age 83. She is buried in the family plot, alongside her mother Mary, at the Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery, Hayward, California.

Fran Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California.


Club career.

Born in Lisbon, José Luís was promoted to hometown's S.L. Benfica's first team at only 18, finishing his first season with 25 matches, 20 starts and two goals as the club won the Primeira Liga championship. Until the end of his tenure he was irregularly used, his best years being 1983 to 1985 as he appeared in 57 games combined – six goals – and won the 1984 league and the following year's Portuguese Cup; he also played the full 90 minutes in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup final's first hand, a 0–1 away loss against R.S.C. Anderlecht (1–2 on aggregate).  José Luís left Benfica in summer 1987 and signed for C.S. Marítimo, competing in a further four top division campaigns and eventually amassing totals in the competition of 283 matches and 28 goals. He retired in June 1993 at the age of 35, after two years with A.D. Ovarense in the second level.  Subsequently, José Luís worked as a manager in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Vietnam, also coaching teams in his country's third division (including his former club Marítimo's reserves).

International career.

José Luís played four times for Portugal during two years, his debut being on 21 September 1983 against Finland for the UEFA Euro 1984 qualifiers, scoring the fourth goal in a 5–0 home win. He was not, however, picked for the final stages in France, with the nation finishing third.  José Luís was appointed at newly created East Timor national team in late 2004, coaching the country in its first-ever international competition, the 2004 Tiger Cup.

Personal life.

José Luís' younger, brother, Jorge, was also a footballer. A striker, they shared teams in all the clubs the former represented.

Honours.

Benfica

José Luís Lopes Costa e Silva (born 17 May 1958), known as José Luís, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.


History.

Black Swan's parent company, Pace Phonograph Corporation, was founded in March 1921 by Harry Pace and was based in Harlem. The new production company was formed after Pace's music publishing partnership with W. C. Handy, Pace & Handy, had dissolved.  Bert Williams was an early investor in Pace Phonograph. Williams also promised to record for the company once his exclusive contract with Columbia Records ended, but he died before that could occur.  Pace Phonograph Corporation was renamed Black Swan Phonograph Company in the fall of 1922. Both the record label and production company were named after 19th century opera star Elizabeth Greenfield, who was known as the Black Swan. Former employees of Pace & Handy staffed the new company: Fletcher Henderson, the recording manager, provided piano accompaniment for singers and led a small band for recording sessions. William Grant Still was named arranger and later musical director. Noted author, activist, and academic W. E. B. Du Bois was a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of Black Swan. Ads for Black Swan often ran in "The Crisis", the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which Du Bois edited.  Black Swan proved moderately successful. It recorded African American musicians, but as the label grew in popularity, Pace believed competing white-owned labels such as Columbia Records sought to "obstruct the progress and curtail the popularity of Black Swan Records". Although advertising for Black Swan Records claimed all its musicians and employees were African American, it sometimes used white musicians to back some of its singers.  The production company declared bankruptcy in December 1923, and in March 1924 Paramount Records bought the Black Swan label. "The Chicago Defender" reported the event by noting important accomplishments of Black Swan in a short career span, including: pointed out—to the major, all white-owned, record companies—the significant market demand for black artists; prompted several major companies to begin publishing music by these performers. In addition, the Defender credited Pace with showing the majors how to target black audiences and to advertise in black newspapers. Paramount discontinued the Black Swan label a short time later.  The Black Swan label was revived in the 1990s for a series of CD reissues of historic jazz and blues recordings originally issued on Black Swan and Paramount. These CDs were issued by George H. Buck's Jazzology and GHB labels under the control of the George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation, which gained rights to the Paramount back-catalogue but not the Paramount name. Rights to the name "Black Swan Records" were also transferred to GHB.

Black Swan Records was an American jazz and blues record label founded in 1921 in Harlem, New York. It was the first widely distributed label to be owned, operated, and marketed to African Americans. (Broome Special Phonograph Records was the first to be owned and operated by African Americans). Black Swan was revived in the 1990s for CD reissues of historic jazz and blues recordings.


Education and Affiliations.

Parker is the daughter of noted trumpeter Sidney Mear and a native of Rochester, New York. She obtained her J.D. degree in 1983 from the University of San Francisco School of Law, interning at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS), and externing for Justice Frank C. Newman of the Supreme Court of California. She received a diploma in Droit international et droit comparé des droits de l'homme (International and Comparative Law of Human Rights) from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France in 1982. That same year, she founded the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers and continues to serve as its president. She is the chief delegate of International Educational Development - Humanitarian Law Project, a nongovernmental organization accredited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Through the years, she has represented or served as a consulting attorney for Disabled Peoples' International, Human Rights Advocates, and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. She is currently a member of the Committee of 100 for Tibet.

Notable Activities.

In 1985, Parker intervened on behalf of Salvadoran rebel commander Nidia Diaz, captured after being shot by government forces during the civil war in that country. Diaz' imprisonment and subsequently arranged surgery were widely publicized when actor Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H* fame assisted a neurosurgeon during the operation. Throughout the war, Ms. Parker participated in investigative delegations and testified in numerous forums about humanitarian law violations, as well as the principle of non-refoulement.  In 1991, Parker petitioned the newly created U.N. Working Group on Detention on behalf of the relatives of Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader in Burma who won the Nobel Peace Prize later that year. The U.N. group ruled that Suu Kyi's detention by military authorities was arbitrary and that the activist should be released. She was in 1993, but detained again in 1996.  In the mid-1990s, Parker's legal arguments on the subject of war rape were incorporated into a landmark civil action filed in Japan on behalf of the comfort women. While the plaintiffs' case did not prevail, the Japanese government set up the Asian Women's Fund in 1994 to distribute small payments to victims in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.  In 1997, concerning the use of depleted uranium munitions by the United States during the first Gulf War, Parker delivered a statement at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights regarding the legality of this type of weaponry. She later participated in an international advocacy campaign to outlaw the use of this material, including a lawsuit filed at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.  In 2000, she assisted the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Sanctions in developing a six-prong test to determine if a trade embargo and other economic sanctions violate human rights and humanitarian law.  In 2007, Parker worked as a consulting attorney in the civil case of Xiaoning v. Yahoo! Inc.. Filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern California, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement, with an undisclosed sum paid to the plaintiffs.

Karen Parker (born August 12, 1949) is an attorney based in San Francisco specializing in human rights and humanitarian law. Since the early 1980s, she has contributed to the evolution of international legal norms in the fields of economic sanctions, use of weaponry, environment as a human right, sexual slavery, and the rights of disabled persons. She regularly testifies at the United Nations Human Rights Council, formerly the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and has served as an expert witness in disputes concerning armed conflict law, including conflicts in Central America, Iraq and Afghanistan. She has also worked as a mediator on behalf of several resistance movements active in the world today, especially Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Kashmir, Maluku, and Iran.


Early women's basketball.

Women's basketball began in the fall of 1892 at Smith College. Senda Berenson, recently hired as a young "physical culture" director at Smith, taught basketball to her students, hoping the activity would improve their physical health. While for men, basketball was designed as an indoor addition to existing team sports such as baseball and football, basketball became the first women's team sport, followed shortly after by hockey, rowing, and volleyball. Basketball's early adherents were affiliated with YMCAs and colleges throughout the United States, and the game quickly spread throughout the country.  However, Berenson was taking risks simply in teaching the game to women. Nineteenth-century Victorian culture stressed the frailty of women and prioritized the status of women in the home, and Berenson expressed concern about the women suffering from "nervous fatigue" if games were too strenuous for them. In order to keep it acceptable for women to play at all within Victorian ideals of refinement and gentility, she taught modified rules. She increased participation to nine players per team, and the court was divided into three areas. Three players were assigned to each area (guard, center, and forward) and could not cross the line into another area. The ball was moved from section to section by passing or dribbling, and players were limited to three dribbles and could only hold the ball for three seconds. No snatching or batting the ball away from another player was allowed. A center jump was required after each score. Variations of Berenson's rules spread across the country via YMCAs and women's colleges, where educated middle-class women were following the prevailing trend in men's games of playing intercollegiate sports.  Early basketball was played with peach baskets and soccer balls, similarly to the men's game, but women's uniforms again reflected the Victorian culture of the times and were designed to be practical, yet maintain the woman athlete's dignity and femininity. While upper-class women had been playing sports at country clubs since the mid-nineteenth century, they were able to participate in activities such as tennis and croquet in full-length skirts and corsets. However, similar attire was impractical for a more active sport like basketball, so the first trousers for women were worn. Initially loose and covered by a knee-length skirt, these early pants were replaced soon after by loose bloomers over stockings. Despite men being forbidden from watching these collegiate games, the attire still drew public ridicule. Originally exclusively intramural, the first intercollegiate women's basketball game was played between teams from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, on April 4, 1896. Berenson herself opposed intercollegiate play for women, and prioritized the health and fitness benefits for a larger goal: she believed that women, newly entering the workforce and seeking paid jobs outside the home, were at a health-related disadvantage to men, which she saw as limiting women's opportunities and the possibility for equal wages. For much of the early 20th century, other coaches and administrators felt similarly, due in part to an increasing sentiment that men's college sports were becoming too commercialized and exploitive of the athletes. The women's branch of the National Amateur Athletic Foundation was founded in the 1920s, and the organization's goals included keeping women's sports non-competitive by discouraging travel and awards, discouraging publicity, and keeping women coaches and administrators in charge of women's sports.

Recent women's basketball.

The popularity of women's basketball grew steadily around the world for decades. By the 1970s the sport had attracted the notice the International Olympic Committee, which added women's basketball as an official sport of the Olympic Games in 1976, the men debuted in 1936. Throughout the 1970s, funding for (and interest in) women's basketball began to dramatically increase as schools receiving federal funding began to come into compliance with new laws mandating a lack of discrimination based on sex. The sport was also gaining attention at the collegiate level, under the auspices of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). A major development in women's basketball occurred in 1982 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began to sponsor the sport.. After several failed attempts at women's professional leagues in the U.S., the NBA founded the WNBA in 1996.  The first nationally televised championship game occurred in 1979. Ivy Kirkpatrick of Stephen F. Austin State University coordinated the collaboration between NBC Sports and the AIAW. Only the title game was televised with Old Dominion University defeating Louisiana Tech University. Thereafter the Women's Final Four has been televised as an annual event. At the moment the WNBA consist of 12 Teams all over America.

Rules and equipment.

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly with five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop. The rules for women's basketball are identical to the rules for men's basketball. The most noticeable differences are in the circumference of the women's basketball and the location of the women's three point line. The circumference of the women's basketball is less than the men's basketball. The smaller ball was introduced for NCAA play in the. The women's three-point line is closer to the basket than men's.

Basketball size.

The regulation WNBA ball is a minimum in circumference, which is smaller than the NBA ball. This is a standard size 6 ball. As of 2008, this size is used for all senior-level women's competitions worldwide.

Court dimensions.

The standard court size in U.S. college and WNBA play is, while the FIBA standard court is slightly smaller at. For most of its distance, the three-point line is from the middle of the basket under both FIBA and WNBA rules. Near the sidelines, the three-point line runs parallel to the.sideline, at a distance of exactly 3 feet in the WNBA and 0.9 m in FIBA play. Under NCAA rules, the three-point distance is for most of the width of the court, with a minimum distance of from the sidelines. The WNBA, FIBA, and NCAA all use a block/charge arc near each basket, with the WNBA and NCAA distance at from the center of the basket and FIBA using a marginally wider radius of exactly.

Shot clock.

The WNBA shot clock was changed from 30 to 24 seconds, which has been in FIBA play since 2000, and has been used by the NBA since the shot clock was first introduced in 1954. Both men's and women's NCAA college basketball use a 30-second shot clock; the men's clock was introduced in 1985 at 45 seconds, lowered to 35 seconds in 1993, and 30 seconds in 2015.

Game clock.

Most high school games are played with four 8-minute quarters, while NCAA, WNBA, and FIBA games are played in four 10 minute quarters. In 2015-2016 the NCAA changed the rules to 10 minute quarters from 20 minute halves. High lobs or tip-ins can be attempted with up to 0.3 seconds left in the period per the Trent Tucker Rule.

Governance.

Women's basketball is governed internationally by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Since 1953 FIBA has hosted a world championship tournament for women, currently known as the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The event, renamed from "FIBA World Championship for Women" after its 2014 edition, is currently held in even-numbered non-Summer Olympic years. There has been some concern about the reach of the sport after one governing body disallowed Muslim women playing in hijabs.

Levels of competition.

University.

Berenson's freshmen played the sophomore class in the first women's collegiate basketball game held on 22 March 1893. University of California and Miss Head's School, had played the first women's extramural game in 1892. Also in 1893, Mount Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb College, coached by Clara Gregory Baer (the inventor of Newcomb ball) women began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women's game was on 4 April 1896. Stanford women played California, 9-on-9, ending in a 2–1 Stanford victory. Clara Gregory Baer published the first book of rules for women's basketball in 1895 she first called the game 'Basquette', a name later dropped in her first revision of rules, the Newcomb College Basketball Rules, published in 1908.  Despite participating in the first intercollegiate women's basketball game, Stanford's faculty athletic committee banned intercollegiate competition for women, first in team sports like basketball and later extending to all sports, and Cal (as well as many other prestigious colleges at the time) followed suit. In many cases, such bans were not lifted until the 1970s and the introduction of Title IX.  While Senda Berenson's desire to limit competition was not realized forever, her larger goals were. College basketball and other women's college sports impacted the American cultural mindset around women and women's rights at the turn of the century, and colleges played a large role in enabling women to participate in athletics at all levels. Though in 1900 only 2.8% of American women were enrolled in college, the percentage of total college graduates who were women had increased to 36%, as colleges increased in number, size, and accessibility to larger portions of the population. The cultural significance of these college graduates exceeded their numbers, as college-educated women comprised the bulk of progressive professionals of their era. Women who played sports were able to craft a new image of femininity and athleticism, and the association between athletics and college was able to make sports acceptable and a central part of the image of progressive women in the early 1900s.  Women's basketball continued to grow in universities across the country, expanding especially rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s as the Equal Rights Amendment raised awareness of unequal treatment in college athletics and the official position of the Division for Girls and Women in Sport (which later developed into the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) was changed to allow and encourage women's intercollegiate competition. In 1971 the five-player, full court game was adopted, followed by the Women's Sports Foundation, which was formed in 1974. Women's college basketball remains very popular throughout North America, with the sport being sponsored by all of the major college athletic associations: the NCAA, the NAIA, the NJCAA, the NCCAA, the CCAA and the CIS. Division I of the NCAA is considered the highest level of college competition, with the winner of the annual NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship game declared "national champion."

Professional leagues.

There have been several professional leagues established in several countries including the United States, Europe, Japan, England and Australia.

International competitions.

Though it was originally an American sport, it quickly spread internationally and outstanding players and teams are found today all over the world. Women's basketball leagues now exist in most areas of the world including Australia, Asia, South America, and Europe.

Olympics.

Women's basketball has been contested in the Summer Olympics since 1976.

Additional International Competitions.

In addition to the Olympics and Women's World Cup, women's basketball is also contested in the Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games. Women's basketball made its first appearance at the Commonwealth Games in 2006. Basketball (for both men and women) is one of the sports that the host nation of the Island Games may select for competition. Women also compete in wheelchair basketball in the Paralympic Games.

Around the world.

Africa.

AfroBasket Women is the women's basketball continental championship of Africa, played biennially under the auspices of FIBA, the basketball sport governing body, and the African zone thereof. The tournament also serves to qualify teams for participation in the quadrennial FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament.

Americas.

United States.

One of the major important events in the development of women's basketball in the United States was Title IX.  Title IX was passed in 1972 to end sexual discrimination and stereotyping in admission to colleges and also in academic subjects (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Therefore, Congress' original goal was eliminating this discrimination in academic and educational processes. “Title IX is today generally viewed as having fixed the problem of gender inequality of sports, at least in educational settings” (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 79). It started out as simply involving education but then shifted in a debate to sports. Some groups such as the NCAA fought to keep things the way they were in reference to men's sports. The NCAA had built up the programs and earned financial support and popularity and did not want to throw that down the drain (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). In 1974, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued Title IX regulations regarding intercollegiate athletics (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Title IX implies that if a school has a specific sport's team for boys then they must have a team in that same sport for girls. This will occur unless the men's sport happens to be a contact sport in which the rule will not necessarily apply (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). In 1978, colleges and universities were forced to apply Title IX's rules and regulations. Athletic departments had to adhere to one of three requirements which were the proportionality rule, the gender equity rule, or historical progress rule (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Each of these requirements addressed Title IX and its regulations in a fair manner. To ensure that schools comply with Title IX, they face the consequence of losing federal funding for any violation (Sadker, 2001).  The proportionality rule entails that a school provides opportunities proportional to its enrollment. As an example, if a school is 55% male and 45% female then the athletic participation should be 55:45 (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Not only does the proportionality rule apply to athletic participation, but it also addresses scholarships. “So if a college is spending $400,000 per year on athletic scholarships and half of the athletic participants are women then half of that amount, $200,000, should be funding athletic scholarships for women (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 299). The gender equity rule entails that a school must prove that it “meets the interest of the gender that is underrepresented” (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 107) which happens to be women. The historical progress rule entails that if a school is unable to provide proportional opportunities then they must put forth an effort to create more opportunities for the underrepresented gender (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008).  Between 1971 and 2000, Title IX has proven to have had a huge impact on female collegiate sports. Sports participation among college women has risen from 372 percent over that time, from 32,000 to more than 150,000 women (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 108). Also now 33.5% of female students participate in sports (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). The issue still remaining is that women's sports beyond college do not benefit from Title IX. As a whole, they make less income than men in professional sports which Title IX cannot do much about. However due to Title IX some women have gotten recognition as a result of the debate. "Women athletes receive greater respect today but relatively skimpy media attention. Thank Title IX for...the growing visibility of women's college basketball that has USA Today producing a pullout section for the women’s NCAA March Madness tournament" (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 109).  Professional women's basketball has been played in the United States. There have been several leagues, the most recent of which is the WNBA. The first attempt was the Women's Pro Basketball League. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league is generally considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be founded.  The second women's professional league to be created in the United States was the WBA. The league played three seasons from the summer of 1993 to the summer of 1995. The league is considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be successful as a summer league, like the WNBA. The league played three full seasons with plans to play as a 12-team league in 1997 but disbanded before 1997 season. The WBA played a 15-game schedule and games were broadcast on Liberty Sports of Dallas. When FOX Sports purchased Liberty Sports and the WBA, they disbanded the league.  In 1996, two professional women's leagues were started in the United States. They were the American Basketball League and the WNBA. The American Basketball League was founded in 1996 during an increase in the interest in the sport following the 1996 Summer Olympics. The league played two full seasons (1996–97 and 1997–98) and started a third (1998–99) before it folded on 22 December 1998.

WNBA.

The Women's National Basketball Association or WNBA is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States. The WNBA was formed in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play began in 1997. The regular WNBA season is June to September (North American Spring and Summer). Most WNBA teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterparts. Most team names are also very similar to those of NBA teams in the same market, such as the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx.  Officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on 24 April 1996, the creation of the WNBA was first announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes in attendance. While not the first major women's professional basketball league in the United States (a distinction held by the defunct WBL), the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA.  On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the USA women's national team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the WNBA began its first season on 21 June 1997 to much fanfare. The league began with eight teams. The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBC, ESPN and Lifetime Television Network.  The league is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each of the 12 teams plays a 34-game regular season schedule, beginning in June and ending in mid September. Although the WNBA is divided into conferences for scheduling purposes, it has used a single table for purposes of playoff qualifying since the 2016 season. The eight teams with the best overall records, regardless of conference affiliation, compete in the WNBA Playoffs during September with the WNBA Finals in early October.  An All-Star Game is typically held in the middle of July, while regular play stops temporarily for it. In Olympic years, there is no all-star game, but a break of about five weeks in the middle of the WNBA season allows players to participate in the Olympics as members of their national teams.  There have been a total of 18 teams in WNBA history. A total of five teams have folded: the Charlotte Sting, the Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, the Miami Sol and the Portland Fire. Three other teams have moved, two of them twice and the other once. The Utah Starzz have moved twice, first after the 2002 season to San Antonio, where they were first known as the Silver Stars and later as the Stars, and then after the 2017 season to Las Vegas as the Aces. At the same time the Starzz moved to San Antonio, the Orlando Miracle moved to Uncasville, Connecticut, where they now play as the Connecticut Sun. The Detroit Shock moved after the 2009 season to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they played as the Tulsa Shock, and then moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex after the 2015 season, now playing as the Dallas Wings.Since 1997 when the league was established there have been 9 teams that have won the WNBA championship. The Houston Comets were the first team to win the championship and they won it 4 years in a row, 1997, 1998, 1999,2000. The Los Angeles Sparks have won 3 championships in their time in the league, 2001,2002, 2016. The Tulsa Shock also won 3 championships when they were still in the league, 2003, 2006, 2008.The Seattle Storm also have 3 championships to their name, 2004, 2010, 2018. The Sacramento Monarchs were a WNBA team that won 1 championship in 2005. The Phoenix Mercury Won the WNBA championship 3 times in 2007, 2009, 20014. The Indiana Fever have one championship to their name and that came in 2012. The Minnesota Lynx have the most championships of any of the teams currently active in the WNBA with 4 championships that came in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017. The Washington Mystics have won the most recent championship in 2019.

Asia.

The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) is a professional women's basketball league established in 2002.  The Women's Hong Kong Basketball Association is the highest women's professional club basketball competition in Hong Kong.  The Indian National Basketball Championship for Women is a professional basketball tournament in India for women  The Women's Japan Basketball League is a premier women's basketball league in Japan.  The Lebanese Basketball League or FLB League is the top-tier professional basketball league in Lebanon.  The Women's Philippine Basketball League was a women's basketball league in the Philippines  The Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) is the premier women's basketball league in South Korea  The Women's Super Basketball League is the highest women's professional club basketball competition in Republic of China

Europe.

The Russian Women's Basketball Premier League is the dominant league in Europe (largely because it is the main attraction of the WNBA players during the off-season). Other notable leagues are the Italian Serie A1, the Spanish Liga Femenina and the Turkish Women's Basketball League.

England.

Professional basketball exists in England. Women's English Basketball League is major professional competition. The league has grown steadily over recent years, and has now reached a level of thirty national league sides. The league is split into two levels. Division 1 is as close to professional as women's sport gets in the United Kingdom, with teams such as Rhondda Rebels and Sheffield Hatters bringing in players from the US and Europe. The Nottingham Wildcats make up the trio of clubs that helped establish the women's league and remain amongst the top three or four places. The gap between these top teams and the rest of the league has remained, but gradually as the women's game has developed, the gulf in results has been reduced, and each year there have been more competitive games.  Promotion from Division 2 has always reinforced the gap between the two leagues, as the winner of the Division 2 promotion play-offs has found the step-up difficult. The Division 2 play-offs take the top four teams from the North and South of the Second Divisions, with the top playing the bottom of the other pool. This year (2006/7) saw several new teams join the second division, showing the continual growth of the women's game. These included the SevenOaks Suns, Enfield Phoenix, Taunton Tigers and Bristol Storm.

Oceania.

Australia.

Professional women's basketball exists in Australia in the form of the Women's National Basketball League. The league was founded in 1981 as a way for the best women's basketball teams in the various Australian States to compete against each other on a regular basis. Today the WNBL is the premier women's basketball league in Australia.

Women's basketball was developed in the late 1800s in tandem with its men's counterpart. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. From 1895 until 1970, the term "women's basketball" was also used to refer to netball, which evolved in parallel with modern women's basketball. It is mostly popular in America.