Premise.

Set in the fictional town of Gulfhaven, Florida, which is nicknamed "Cougar Town" because its high school team mascot is a cougar, the series focuses on Jules Cobb, a recently divorced woman in her 40s facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls, and rewards of life's next chapter, along with her teenage son, her ex-husband, and her wine-loving friends who together make up her dysfunctional, but supportive and caring, extended family. Most scenes in the series take place in Jules' home, Gray's Pub, or around her ex-husband’s boat.

Cast and characters.

Each season features seven main cast members, with other characters recurring or appearing as guests.

Recurring cast.

Guest stars on the show included three of Cox's former "Friends" co-stars: Jennifer Aniston in season two as Glenn, Jules' therapist, Lisa Kudrow in season one as a mean dermatologist, Matthew Perry in season 5 as the millionaire that proposes to Jules; and, the show's producer and Cox's then husband David Arquette. Danny Pudi made a brief appearance as his character Abed Nadir from "Community", tying into a reference made on the other show about Abed appearing on "Cougar Town".  Many of the show's guest stars were either regulars or had recurring roles on Bill Lawrence's two previous television series "Spin City" and "Scrubs" – Barry Bostwick, Bob Clendenin, Michael McDonald, Scott Foley and Ken Jenkins – to name a few. The final scene of season 3's "A One Story Town" featured several actors from "Scrubs" including Robert Maschio, Sarah Chalke, Sam Lloyd, with an uncredited cameo by Zach Braff.

Synopsis.

The first season premiere episode shows Jules while she examines her naked body in the mirror for signs of aging. Jules, now divorced from her husband Bobby, tries to re-enter the dating world and relate to her young assistant Laurie. Jules' best friend and neighbor Ellie tries to prevent her from going out while her son is constantly being embarrassed by both of his parents. The show was originally about older women ("cougars") dating younger men, as Jules begins dating Josh (Nick Zano) and Barb is often seen "hunting". Jules' relationship with Josh ends when he tells her that he loves her and Jules does not feel the same way. Later Jules begins a relationship with Jeff (Scott Foley) a client who infuriates Jules with his indecision. Her relationship with Jeff ends when the relationship becomes too serious for Jules who is not looking for anything too serious so soon after her divorce, whereas Jeff is ready to settle down as he has been "playing the field" for a long time. After her relationship with Jeff ends, Jules falls into bed with her ex-husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt). This causes Bobby's feelings for Jules to stir even more and he later tells her that he wants her back. Jules, however, tells him that she loves him but "not that way any more" and that their happy ending is them as friends, raising their son Travis (Dan Byrd) together. Toward the end of the season, the simmering feelings between Jules and neighbor Grayson (Josh Hopkins) boil to the surface, and the two begin a relationship.  The second season follows the development of Jules and Grayson's relationship. In "The Damage You've Done", Grayson and Laurie decide to tell Jules that they had slept together in season 1, leaving Jules angry at Laurie, who had known that she was attracted to Grayson. However, her anger at Laurie dissipates when Laurie's boyfriend Smith breaks up with her, having realized that he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him. Later in the season, Laurie rediscovers her love of partying and one-night stands. After Bobby helps Stan get into a great preschool, Andy and Ellie reverse their previous decision to revoke his title as Stan's emergency legal guardian in the event of Jules, Andy, and Ellie's deaths. Travis begins college, making friends with his roommate Kevin and starting to date a slightly older girl named Kirsten. When Kirsten gets a job in Chicago, he proposes to her in an attempt to get her to stay, which she rejects. Travis falls into a depressive funk, stops going to college, and moves into Bobby's boat (while Bobby moves into an apartment). Finally, he impulsively moves to Hawaii and gets a job cleaning surfboards, forcing everyone else to follow him. At the same time, Grayson brings up the idea of having kids with Jules, who tells him she can't even consider it because of her stress over what her only child is doing with his life. However, when Laurie convinces Travis to not let romantic feelings influence his life and to come back to Florida, her joy causes Jules to reconsider, and she tells Grayson, "I will go on any adventure with you."  The third season begins with Grayson proposing to Jules in the season premier. With the help of the Cul-de-sac Crew, Grayson tricks Jules into being less predictable in her day-to-day life, but when she fails, Grayson is able to plan ahead and propose to her outside at night under a teepee'd tree. The season follows the ups and downs of their engagement, including their many trips to a new psychiatrist (played by guest star Nicole Sullivan). Laurie guilts Jules into letting her be Co-Maid of Honor (Co-Mo's!) with Ellie, much to Ellie's dismay. Travis gets into a skateboarding accident while being pulled by Dog Travis, and goes into the hospital. His injury causes him to wear a helmet for six episodes. Laurie falls for a guy via Twitter, a soldier from Iraq named Wade. Meanwhile, Bobby falls for Travis’ photography professor Angie (recurring guest star Sarah Chalke). In "A One Story Town", Jules and the gang decide Bobby needs help with Angie so they start "operation kiss-the-girl". With help from Ted and his a'capella group, they pull it off and Bobby and Angie get together. (This episode also signifies a special "Scrubs" cast reunion including: Christa Miller, Sarah Chalke, Bob Clendenin, Ken Jenkins, Sam Lloyd, Robert Maschio, and Zach Braff). One of Grayson's old hookups, Holly, returns with news that Grayson is the father of her baby. Although Jules is extremely upset at first, she comes to terms with the fact that baby girl Tampa will be in Grayson's life from now on. Bobby soon finds out that Angie is cheating on him, although she says they never agreed to be exclusive, and they break up. Ellie's mom is introduced, and no one will believe Ellie when she tries to tell the crew that her mother is a sociopath. When a hurricane strikes Gulfhaven, Travis and Laurie get closer than ever when Laurie can't decide what to do about her army boyfriend Wade. Although he has feelings for her, Travis wants to see Laurie happy, so he tells her to try to make it work with Wade. The hurricane destroys Grayson's house, causing him to move in with Jules. Grayson wants his and Jules's relationship to be more private and suggests that they elope to Napa, but Jules invites the whole group. While there, Travis and Laurie almost kiss but are interrupted when her boyfriend Wade comes back from Iraq to see her. The night of Travis's 21st birthday he gets drunk, strips, and tells Laurie that he has feelings for her and she is being unfair to him. Because Grayson's daughter isn't with them, Jules and Grayson decide not to elope, instead getting married on the beach near their home, but because beach weddings aren't legal there, it becomes a wedding on the go, and they walk down the beach as they say their vows.  The fourth season focuses mostly on Jules and Grayson adjusting to married life, and the will they/won't they relationship between Laurie and Travis. Beginning a week after their wedding, the season shows Jules and Grayson going through a lot of changes now that they are newlyweds. Grayson learns never to lie to Jules and quickly becomes her "wine guy" and her "coffee bitch." They try to keep things fresh by starting fights and having a naked day. Travis is having trouble dealing with his feelings for Laurie, and begins dating around and sleeping with girls in college in an attempt to repress his feelings. Tom officially becomes part of the group, but the gang continues to play tricks on him throughout the season. In a flashback episode, "Flirting With Time," we learn how the group came to be, when Jules and Bobby moved to the Cul-de-sac nine years earlier. Bobby becomes friends with a tomboyish girl named Riggs, and after a makeover she becomes beautiful and he realizes that he has feelings for her. The two begin dating and continue dating for the rest of the season. Laurie's army boyfriend Wade returns from Afghanistan for good and wants to make their relationship work. They eventually decide to move in together, but Wade leaves when he realizes that Laurie has feelings for Travis. Jules' father Chick returns to visit the gang, and it turns out that he has developed some memory problems. Later, in the season finale, Jules and Grayson take Chick to the doctor, where he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In an attempt to cheer him up, the gang takes him on a trip to Hollywood to meet his favorite celebrity, Tippi Hedren. Travis and Laurie admit their feelings for one another, and after a series of awkward moments and "almosts" they share their first kiss in Hollywood. Jules's favorite wine glass, Big Lou, is shattered in the finale when Grayson knocks him over while dancing. Ellie and Grayson give her a new wine glass as a gift and name it Big Tippi.  The fifth season frequently focuses on the growing relationship between Laurie and Travis. As their relationship becomes more physical, Jules has difficulty. She later sees their relationship as being stronger than the one she shares with Grayson, before Grayson convinces her of the advantages of the "mature" relationship that they have. Grayson and Bobby both struggle with aging as they reach their mid 40s. Chick's Alzheimers'disease worsens, and he has to move closer to Jules. Andy faces some challenges to his reputation as mayor of Gulf Haven and deals with a new boss at his day job. Laurie and Ellie pretend to be a lesbian couple to get preferential treatment in getting Stan into an exclusive school. Travis graduates art school but struggles to find employment, ultimately working at a coffee shop. Jules breaks "Big Tippi" and replaces it with "Big Chuck". Tom reveals he has built a scale model of the cul-de-sac in his garage, complete with figurines of the entire gang, which he uses to recap events or play out his fantasies, which often end with Grayson dying or getting kicked out. In the finale, Laurie and Travis face a breakup after arguing about their future, before Travis confides that the only future that matters to him is one with Laurie in it. Jules then breaks the news that Laurie is pregnant, which she discovered after "borrowing" Laurie's urine for a physical exam.  In the sixth and final season, major changes threaten upheaval in the gang's lives, but they manage to work through them. Bobby finally becomes gainfully employed and moves out of the boat, but to Andy's dismay, the job is in Georgia. Laurie gives birth to "Baby Bobby", and she and Travis begin their lives as parents. Travis starts a business. Andy loses his job and his mayorship, and becomes a stay-at-home dad, while Ellie returns to work as a corporate lawyer. Tom finds love. Jules breaks Big Chuck in the series finale — this time on purpose.

Running gags.

The gang's love of red wine, particularly by Jules, is a leading theme of the show. Each season Jules has had, in succession, a series of increasingly larger drinking vessels. Firstly, she used the oversized glass "Big Joe", followed by the 44-ounce "Big Carl" (actually part of a lamp), "Big Lou" (actually a vase), "Big Tippi" (a stolen vase from the crew's Hollywood trip in Season 4) and "Big Chuck" (introduced in Season 5). During their Hawaiian holiday, she drank from "Big Kimo" (actually a candle holder from the hotel room). At one point, the group forces Laurie to drink from a miniature glass called "Little Richard" as punishment.  Another running gag is the group's love of making up social rules for each other, such as having a "Council" that creates unusual punishments for the members who commit a social infraction. The gang often plays 'Penny Can', a simple yet popular game made up by Bobby that involves throwing pennies into an empty paint can. The gang also frequently changes the meaning of words – such as "cake walk" - to mean something different, as it is difficult to walk while carrying a cake. These changes to linguistic rules are predicated upon Ellie shouting "Change approved!".  Since the second season, every episode had a running gag in the opening credits sequence — often making fun of the show's name because it was no longer about man-hungry cougars.

Production.

Conception.

"Cougar Town" was created by Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel. Following the cancellation of "Dirt", Courteney Cox wanted to return to television and do another comedy. Lawrence, who is best known as the creator of "Scrubs" and "Spin City", was approached by Cox about "wanting to do something". While developing the concept of the show, Lawrence thought he would do a tryout with Cox on "Scrubs", by guest starring in the first three episodes of the eighth season. Lawrence and Biegel, who worked together writing episodes on "Scrubs", came up with the concept of the show with Cox as a 40-year-old newly single woman because he thought that it was a real "zeitgeist-y topic". He drew inspiration from his real-life wife, actress Christa Miller who also stars in the show as Ellie; Miller had previously worked with Cox as part of the story-arc of the three part "Scrubs" tryout. Lawrence told Cox that the show could be "high risk, high reward", although Cox decided to go for it. He added, "I rarely have this much trepidation because usually the only person I could let down is myself. I want to make it work for her."  Before he pitched the idea to ABC, other titles for the show included "40 and Single" and "The Courteney Cox Show", which was eventually named "Cougar Town" because Lawrence thought that "the title is noisy and that people will be aware of this show". He felt that the risk of the title was that the audience wouldn't watch it because people would say "the title bums me", commenting: "it's a risky roll of the dice... We don't call women 'cougars' in it. We certainly don't use the word beyond the unbelievably big cheat that the high school mascot is a cougar." Lawrence believed that with the subsequent scripts they'd be doing and the reshoots in the pilot, the show would be "creatively satisfying". After he pitched the idea to ABC, they asked him to have a pilot ready to shoot by the end of January 2009. Lawrence and Biegel together wrote the script with Lawrence, who has written and directed many episodes on "Scrubs", directing the episode. In casting beyond Cox, Lawrence created the character of Ellie for his wife, Christa Miller. Miller felt that her character started off "gleefully" and reported that Lawrence would write down little things that she would say.

Filming.

The series takes place in the fictional town of Gulf Haven in Sarasota County, Florida. Filming took place on the Miami Street back lot located at the Culver Studios in Culver City, California. The Cul-de-sac used for filming is also located in Culver City on Lamarr Avenue. Lawrence served as executive producer/writer/director, Kevin Biegel as writer/co-executive producer, and Courteney Cox and David Arquette as executive producers. "Cougar Town" was produced by Doozer Productions and Coquette Productions and was aired weekly on ABC, before moving to TBS for its fourth season. The sitcom was filmed in the single-camera format.

Music.

The original theme is written by WAZ and original music for "Cougar Town" is composed by WAZ, Jamie Jackson, Will Golden and Al Sgro. Bill Lawrence stated; "As a show composer WAZ brings something incredibly special. He has the ability to make score music sound current, like it was just lifted off the radio, and yet, it still services the show perfectly... As a group we're confident that WAZ will be the next singer/songwriter that we try to claim credit for. He's that good." Songs such as Phoenix's "Lisztomania", Foghat's "Slow Ride", and La Roux's "Bulletproof (Remix)" were all used in the pilot episode. In the second episode, Beyoncé Knowles's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and Keren DeBerg's "Today" as well as "Tell Me" were used on the show. A full version of the theme song was released in February 2012 to coincide with the shows return.

Opening sequence.

"Cougar Town"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s opening sequence features a map of Florida showing Sarasota County, Florida. In the Season 1 episodes, the title sequence zooms in from the outline of Florida to show Sarasota with a "Welcome to Cougar Town" sign. The producers wanted something different for the setting of the show and decided to include a map of the show's setting in the sequence, commenting: "Everyone's in New York or Los Angeles. I think there's a lot of fun to be had in that area and with those characters." Jeanne Corcoran, the director of the Sarasota County Film commission, spoke to the show's production assistants to be able to use the locality as the setting as well as including it on the opening sequence. For the second season, each episode (excluding the second episode) replaced the 'Welcome to' subtitle to a reference regarding the "bad" title of the show (e.g., "(Badly Titled) Cougar Town", "It's Okay to Watch a Show Called Cougar Town").

Episode format.

All but two of the episodes have been named after songs by Tom Petty, who is from Florida. In one episode, Jules describes Josh as among the top 10–15 people she has met, which includes "Tom Petty and Colonel Sanders".

Potential name change.

In May 2010, it was reported that the show's producers were considering a name change because the plot had strayed so far from its initial premise. Stephen McPherson, who headed ABC Entertainment, was said to be "on board" with a name change should the producers decide to go ahead. Research also showed that many viewers who ignored the show based on its name actually enjoyed it after seeing a screening of an episode. However, the name change was scrapped, and the show retained the title "Cougar Town" for its second season. Bill Lawrence later stated that two potential titles that they wanted to change to were declined by ABC"Sunshine State" (declined because ABC also had a Matthew Perry sitcom on their mid-season schedule that season known as "Mr. Sunshine") and "Grown Ups" (declined because of the then-recent film with the same name).  On May 27, 2011, Bill Lawrence announced through his Twitter account that the name of the show would change for season 3 with input from the fans, but did not give any further details. In June 2011, Courteney Cox hinted that one of the frontrunners for the new title is "Friends with Beverages", but stated that "there are still other titles on the board". Lawrence tweeted on September 9, 2011, that "Those that loved title "Cougar Town"... Not around for much longer", hinting that the title would be changed. Ultimately, the show retained the original title for the third season, with the first opening sequence subtitle stating that "[they're] not happy about it".  On February 14, 2012, Cox and Lawrence revealed in an interview that a title change could still take place for the fourth season, mentioning "Wine Time", "The Sunshine State" and "Family Jules" as potential titles. However, after announcing that the show would move to TBS for the fourth season, Lawrence said if TBS wants that title to change, then it will, but also said that he doubts it will happen.  On August 28, 2012, the show announced its new season on its new Facebook page for the now TBS show, with a picture that stated, "Turns out even a new network couldn't change the title." However, even TBS has poked fun in their promos for the new season, referring to "Cougar Town" as a "crappy title".  In the final episode, the title sequence called the show "Sunshine State".

Network change.

On May 10, 2012, TBS announced that "Cougar Town" would join its lineup in the beginning of 2013 for 15 episodes, after ABC canceled the series. Moving to TBS gave the show the possibility of receiving more episodes and publicity than had the show remained on ABC.

Reception.

In the US the audience dropped from 11 million to 6 million over the first season. In Australia the audience dropped from 1.3 to 1 million in one week after the chief executive of the Australian channel showing it (Seven Network) described it as a "shit show" that he could get large audiences for by promoting it. In the United Kingdom, the first season aired on LIVING, and was shown in double-bills on Tuesday nights at 9pm. The season premiered on March 30, 2010 to a strong 802,000 viewers and concluded on June 15, 2010 to a series low of 593,000 viewers. However, the entire season was the most-watched show on LIVING, averaging 769,000 viewers.

Broadcast.

"Cougar Town" premiered on September 23, 2009 in the Wednesday 9:30 pm timeslot. The pilot episode aired between the other two pilots, "Modern Family" and "Eastwick". The series premiered with 11.4 million viewers, coming first in its timeslot. The second episode scored 9.14 million viewers, although it dropped 2.14 viewers from the pilot, as well as other shows that night such as "Modern Family" and "Eastwick".

International.

In Canada the show aired on City. The fifth season began on the network on February 26, 2014. The sixth season premiered on February 19, 2015.  In the United Kingdom, after being dropped by Sky Living, the show is now streamed by Blinkbox (from Tesco).

Critical reception.

"Cougar Town" opened to mixed reviews from critics. Metacritic gave the series 49 out of 100 based on the pilot episode, from the 21 reviews it collected, and a user score of 4.5 out of 10 based on 46 votes. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the pilot episode a B, commenting that the show mixes "clinical realism (when did you last hear a C-section scar used as a punchline?) with ridiculous slang (a new boob job is referred to as "gorilla heads"), "Cougar Town" is so brashly vulgar, it's endearing". Tucker also wrote that "the entire show is about getting and having sex... "Cougar" is so single-minded that this obsession itself becomes funny". "Variety" stated that the show "does feed into the dual sense of insecurity and self-empowerment that women harbor about getting older... though, the execution here is consistently about as subtle as a kick to the groin". "Los Angeles Times"' Mary McNamara said that the "maddening thing about "Cougar Town" is that it isn't completely unfunny or uncharming". Alan Sepinwall of "The Star-Ledger" feels that ""Cougar Town" is still finding itself, but it's already much better than the title would suggest [...] the show "has to walk a very careful line between making fun of the cougar concept and embracing it" although based on the two episodes ""Cougar Town" is self-aware enough to pull that off". "USA Today" was also favorable, saying that the show has "the right cast and good writing".  Many critics have speculated that the show will only have a narrow target audience: older women; with Alessandra Stanley of "The New York Times" stating that the show's "plot description alone could drive away male viewers" while the "Los Angeles Times"' Mary McNamara opined that it "is fun and exciting for women over 40". Despite speculation, the show has done well with young males and young adults in all key demographics.  In contrast, a writer for feminist blog Jezebel disapproved stating, "It's clichéd, it's lame, it's undignified. It smacks of predatory desperation." Ryan Brockington of "New York Post" compared the show to "Samantha Who?". The "Daily News"' David Hinckley opined that the show is "a waste of Cox's comic talents". In "The Irish Times" Kate Holmquist writes that "Cox is both a symbol and a red light warning for everything that is wrong with the Hollywood portrayal of middle-aged women, who are rarely wise or strong or naturally aged" and states that she is "the female version of the pervert in a dirty raincoat".  In contrast to the previous year, the second season received more positive reviews from critics. The second season currently holds an average score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on seven reviews, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'. Tim Stack from "Entertainment Weekly" regarded the season in a positive light, citing that "very few shows can get away with genuine moments of emotion while also incorporating the phrase 'dead-baby tacos. "Hitfix" writer Alan Sepinwall also gave a positive review of the show, saying that "midway through the first season the writers realized their cast was so funny together that the wisest course was to just put everyone together as often as possible. This is still the show that "Cougar Town" became at mid-season last year."  The much-delayed third season of "Cougar Town" became the most critically acclaimed season of the series thus far, garnering an average Metacritic score of 80 out of 100, based on five reviews. RedEye gave the season a positive review, stating that it "returns with its wit, silliness and good-heartedness fully intact." TV Guide concluded: "witty and wacky, this sharp-tongued, sweet-souled sitcom picks up without losing a (heart)beat." The Huffington Post summed up their review by noting that fans of the show will "find a lot to like about the new season." Despite this, the 3rd season ranked 107th among viewers, and was quickly dropped by ABC afterwards. The show continued its run on the cable network TBS.

Home media.

In early 2013, Lionsgate Home Entertainment acquired the home video rights to shows produced by ABC Studios and announced the release of season three on DVD for February 5, 2013. That same day, Lionsgate re-released seasons one and two. The re-releases retained the same artwork and disc content as their original releases.  As of July 2017, seasons four through six have not been released on DVD in the United States or Canada, and the DVD releases for the first three seasons have been taken out of print. Since 2016, Seasons 5–6 have not been released in the United Kingdom, and a "Complete Collection" boxset hasn't been released since the series ended. Despite this, the entire series is available for purchase on iTunes and streaming on Hulu.

Cougar Town is an American television sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons, from September 23, 2009 until March 31, 2015. The first three seasons aired on ABC, with the series moving to TBS for the remaining three seasons. The pilot episode was broadcast after "Modern Family". ABC officially gave the series a full season pickup on October 8, 2009. On May 8, 2012, ABC canceled the series after three seasons. Two days later, TBS picked up the series for a fourth season.

Cougar Town (auch bekannt als Cougar Town – 40 ist das neue 20) ist eine US-amerikanische Fernsehserie, die von September 2009 bis Mai 2012 auf ABC ausgestrahlt wurde. Mit der vierten Staffel wechselte die Serie im Frühjahr 2013 zum Kabelsender TBS. Die Sitcom erzählt von den Höhen und Tiefen im Leben einer kurz zuvor geschiedenen 40-jährigen Frau und ihrer Freunde.


History.

Designed by American firm Creative Kingdom Inc. Shaka Marine World opened on 30 April 2004 after 3 years of development. In 2005, the park was awarded for "Outstanding Achievement in thematic creative design" by the Themed Entertainment Association.

uShaka Sea World.

uShaka Sea World the fifth largest aquarium in the world, with 32 tanks totalling 17,500 cubic meters of water. The underground aquarium is designed around five shipwrecks, with its entrance through the above ground "Phantom Ship", which contains several restaurants including the "Cargo Hold," with a wall sized shark aquarium visible from most of the dining areas, and the "Upper Deck," with views of the open sea exhibits that surround the "ship". The dolphin stadium can seat 1,200 visitors, and the seal stadium can seat about 450. The aquarium is home to shark species such as ragged-tooth sharks, spinner sharks, hammerhead sharks, and local catsharks, large rays including eagle rays, local moray species including honeycomb morays and geometric morays, local gamefish, and large fish species including giant groupers, potato bass, kingfish, and cobia. uShaka also housed a Manta ray for a short period of time before it was moved to the Georgia Aquarium in the United States.  Visitors can take part in an animal encounter. It is possible to snorkel in the lagoon with approximately 1500 fish. Underwater adventures including shark cage diving and walking on the floor of the aquarium with an ocean diver are also available.  Calypso, the local dive centre at Ushaka, also runs discover scuba and bubble maker experiences in the snorkel lagoon. 'Bubble maker' is for children aged 8-under 10. A scuba diving course is available to people over 10 years old. Certified divers can also dive in the open ocean lagoon with pelagic fish and rays.  The Dangerous Creatures exhibit includes various reptiles, amphibians and arachnids, some of which are venomous in their newly set-up Dangerous Creatures section, which is apart from the main aquarium. This sub-section contains both local and exotic animals, from rock pythons to Burmese pythons, Nile crocodiles, black mambas, tarantulas, scorpions, and gila monsters.

uShaka Wet 'n Wild.

uShaka Wet 'n Wild is a water park inside uShaka Marine World.  Slides: The Body Tornado; Mamba Tunnel Slide; Squid: Mini Supertube; Cuda: Supertube; Zoom Zoom: Multi Lane Racer; Torpedo: Kamikaze Speed Slide; Plunge: Free Fall Slide; The Drop Zone; Jika Jika (Family Rafter); Toti Splash (Kiddies Slide); Fast River Ride (Pre-adventure); Dizzy Duzi (Adventure Ride)  'The Drop Zone' is the highest slide in Africa, with an 18-metre drop.

uShaka Beach.

uShaka Beach is a beach which has direct access from the amusement park. It has sand beaches and a large pier leading out into the ocean.

uShaka Village Walk.

uShaka Village Walk is designed similar to an African village, and includes restaurants, cafes and numerous shops.

uShaka Dangerous Creatures.

Dangerous Creatures is an adventure reptile enthusiasts and adrenalin junkies won't want to miss! Find it in the Village Walk at uShaka Marine World. Home to Dart Frogs, Tarantulas, Bearded Lizards, which never let go once they bite down, a False Water Cobra, Goliath Bull Frogs, Tree Vipers & more.

Chimp & Zee.

Durban's ultra-thrilling, new rope adventure park - with the longest continuous belay* system in Africa! Test your limits and challenge yourself at uShaka Marine World's Chimp & Zee Rope Adventure Park.

Financial troubles.

The park was built at a cost of ZAR 700-million and has been subsidized for a total of ZAR 450-million by the eThekwini Municipality. In the 2009-2010 financial year, the park suffered a net loss of ZAR 44.5-million, and a total deficit of ZAR 377.5-million. There were also irregular expenditures (expenditures which did not undergo normal procurement procedures) of ZAR 3.15-million on the park.

uShaka Marine World is a theme park which was opened on 30 April 2004 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It comprises 8 sections: uShaka Sea World, uShaka Wet 'n Wild, uShaka Sea Animal Encounters Island, uShaka Beach, uShaka Village Walk, uShaka Kids World, uShaka Dangerous Creatures and Chimp & Zee. It is located on the strip of land between the beachfront and the harbour. It was the first phase in the redevelopment of the Durban Point.

uShaka Marine World ist ein Freizeitpark in Durban in der südafrikanischen Provinz KwaZulu-Natal. Der Park besteht aus sechs Bereichen: "Sea World", "Wet ’n Wild", "uShaka Beach" und "Village Walk" sind die ursprünglichen; neu sind "Dangerous Creatures" und "Rayz Kids World". Der Park liegt auf einem Landstreifen zwischen Hafen und Strand. Er wurde in der ersten Phase der Neugestaltung des Durban Point als neues touristisches Zentrum der Stadt gebaut.


History.

Located on a plateau on the eastern bank of the Rock River, the city was named after the River Doon in Scotland, made famous as the subject of Robert Burns' poem, "The Banks O' Doon". Founded by G. W. Bowers and A. H. Davison on September 6, 1889, the railway town was connected first by the Rock Valley Railway, followed by the Iowa & Dakota Railroad. The city was incorporated on March 8, 1892.

Geography.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land.  The Rock River, a tributary of the Big Sioux River, flows past the north and west sides of the town and the Little Rock River flows past to the south to join The Rock just southwest of the community.  The city is served by U.S. Route 75, three miles east of Doon, connected by Iowa Highway 167. The Burlington Northern passes the west side of the community.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 577 people, 214 households, and 150 families living in the city. The population density was. There were 224 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 98.6% White, 1.2% from other races, and 0.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.  There were 214 households of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.8% were married couples living together, 1.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.9% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.33.  The median age in the city was 32.5 years. 30.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 20.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 54.6% male and 45.4% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 533 people, 202 households, and 151 families living in the city. The population density was 924.1 people per square mile (354.8/km2). There were 217 housing units at an average density of 376.2 per square mile (144.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 99.81% White and 0.19% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.  There were 202 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.13.  In the city, the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $33,281, and the median income for a family was $39,773. Males had a median income of $26,607 versus $19,286 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,698. About 6.4% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.

Doon is a city in Lyon County, Iowa, United States, along the Rock River. The population was 577 at the 2010 census. The BNSF Railway passes through Doon.

Doon ist eine Kleinstadt im US-Bundesstaat Iowa im Lyon County in der Nähe von Sioux Falls und Orange City. Durch die Stadt fließt der Big Sioux River. Nahezu alle Einwohner sind in der Landwirtschaft beschäftigt.


Career.

Prior to releases in the US through composer Giorgio Moroder's Oasis record label during the 1970s, Kelly recorded a single in Germany entitled "Kung Fu Is Back Again" (1974), released on Atlantic and produced by the songwriter-producer Pete Bellotte alongside Moroder.  In 1975 she released the single "Love Power" a cover version of a 1967 hit by The Sandpebbles, written by Teddy Vann, and later made famous as part of the repertoire of Luther Vandross. The single was backed with "Drifter", never included in any album and an example of the pre-disco Moroder-Bellotte production, similar to Donna Summer's "Lady of the night" material. In April 1976, Kelly turned to disco with the single "Trouble-Maker" and released an album by the same name. The album contained five tracks, including an extended version of "Love Power".  In 1977, she released "Zodiac Lady," a controversial album that Casablanca Records, during the disco heyday, refused at first to release. Imports from Italy swamped the international dance floors, creating a hit for the title track and songs such as "Love Sign". This album spawned a twelve-inch single, "Zodiacs," which had major club and radio play. "Funky Stardust", "Love Sign" and "I’m Sagittarius" were released from that album, in addition to "Zodiacs" itself in different countries. "Zodiacs" peaked at No. 24 in the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1977, and at No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart in 1978. "Love Sign" was released as a single in Italy only. Both "Trouble-Maker" and "Zodiac Lady" were produced by Moroder and Bellotte.  "Gettin' The Spirit", followed in March 1978. Produced by Giorgio Moroder and Bob Esty, it was an album consisting of gospel songs, performed in the disco style. The album featured dance versions of the Edwin Hawkins penned, "Oh Happy Day" and "To My Father's House," with both songs released on one single. "Gettin' The Spirit" was also released with a disco version of "My Sweet Lord". It peaked at No. 9 on the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1978.  When Pope John Paul II succeeded John Paul I in 1978, Kelly released the single "John Paul II", The single never made it onto an album, but the B-side "Tribute to Love" did in the late 1980 release, "Roots Can Be Anywhere." By this time, Kelly was no longer with Casablanca Records. Two singles were released: "Kabacka Shaka" and "Roots Can Be Anywhere", but the album had limited success also due to poor distribution. It was also released as “This is Roberta Kelly” with a longer version of Kabacka Shaka” and without “Coconut Rock”. It was produced by Michael Holm.  In 1981, Kelly released the album, "Tell Me", through Baby Records in Italy, featuring "Patty Cake", produced by Jürgen Koppers. It was a last attempt to revive disco. After that, Kelly's next release was not until 1995, when she issued "The Sound of Color" and "Jubilee in Germany," celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.  During the summer of 2008, Kelly resurfaced with the single, "America (The Sound of Colour Realized)".

Roberta Kelly (born November 23, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American disco and urban contemporary gospel singer who scored three hits on the US "Billboard" Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart between 1976 and 1978. Her most successful US hit single, "Trouble-Maker", spent two weeks at No. 1.

Roberta Kelly (* 23. November 1942 in New Mexico) ist eine US-amerikanische Sängerin. Sie wurde in den 1970er Jahren zunächst mit Disco-Musik bekannt, arbeitete bei ihren größten Erfolgen mit Giorgio Moroder zusammen und wandte sich schließlich der Gospelmusik zu.


Kathedrale von Portsmouth (anglikanisch)

History.

Around the year 1180, Jean de Gisors, a wealthy Norman merchant and Lord of the Manor of Titchfield, gave land in his new town of Portsmouth to the Augustinian canons of Southwick Priory so that they could build a chapel "to the Glorious Honour of the Martyr Thomas of Canterbury, one time Archbishop, on (my) land which is called Sudewede, the island of Portsea". It was given so that they could build a chapel dedicated to the honour of St Thomas of Canterbury, who was assassinated and martyred ten years earlier. This chapel was to become, in turn, a parish church in the 14th century and then a cathedral in the 20th century.  The medieval building, dedicated in 1188, was cruciform in shape, with a central tower, which was used as a lookout point and lighthouse, over the crossing. Of the original building, only the chancel and the transepts remain. The church survived a French raid in 1337 which had laid waste most of Portsmouth during the Hundred Years War. However, in 1449, Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester, was murdered by local sailors. The town's inhabitants were excommunicated and the church was closed. In 1591, Elizabeth I worshipped in St Thomas's Church.  During the English Civil War, when the Parliamentary forces attacked the town in 1642, the Royalist garrison used the church tower to observe the movement of enemy forces. Parliamentary gunners positioned in Gosport fired on the tower and inflicted damage to the church. This resulted in the ruin of the medieval tower and nave. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 came the authorisation by Charles II for a collection in churches across the country to raise the £9,000 required to rebuild the tower and nave, which took place from 1683 to 1693. The nave was built in the classical style. Galleries were added in 1708 to cater for growing congregations, and were extended in 1750. The wooden cupola with a lantern for shipping was added to the top of the tower in 1703. A ring of eight bells was given at the same time. Two additional bells were cast in 1957 and currently the central tower contains a total of 12 bells. All of the bells were cast at Taylor's Bell Foundry and are hung in the wooden octagonal part of the tower. Various repairs and alterations were made during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1902, the church was closed for two years so that much-needed work on the foundations could be carried out. During this period, St Mary's Colewort, a chapel of ease, served as the temporary parish church.

Cathedral.

The establishment of the Diocese of Portsmouth, which had split from the Diocese of Winchester in 1927, brought about significant changes. On 1 May of that year, the parish church of St Thomas of Canterbury became the pro-cathedral of the new diocese, becoming the second cathedral in Portsmouth, as the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist had already opened in 1882. At a chapter meeting in October 1932, a first sketch plan for an extension to the church was submitted by Charles Nicholson. He was called upon to extend the church to a size that would dignify its cathedral status; by 1935 the "provisional" nature of its title had been dropped.  The style that Nicholson chose is that of a round-arched "Neo-Byzantine" style that echoed the "classical" style of the late seventeenth century quire. By 1939 the outer quire aisles, the tower, the transepts and three bays of the nave had been completed. The base of the seventeenth century tower had been opened up to form the tower arch. However, with the Fall of France in June 1940 during World War II, work on the extension scheme stopped and the bays of the nave were blocked off with a "temporary" brick wall. This wall remained there for over fifty years. During the Second World War, the Cathedral suffered minor damage to the windows and the roof. Nicholson died in 1949 and attempts headed by Bernard Montgomery to finish the structure in the 1960s proved unsuccessful due to substantive failure to find sufficient funds. However, as the building had been used for many years without its extension, it was quite usable and there was no urgency to finish the work. By the mid 1980s, however, the "temporary" brick wall was found to have become unstable and in danger of collapse, which made the completion work pressing. The task of the architects was to find a solution to the problem of finishing Nicholson's truncated nave: the nave was originally intended to be longer, in the traditional style of an English cathedral, but the changing needs of the diocese meant that the building was finally built with a foreshortened nave, the final west wall being located close to where the temporary structure had been. Efforts were started to raise the £3 million necessary to carry out the plans. Work began in January 1990 and eventually a fourth bay of the nave, western towers, tower rooms, rose window, gallery, ambulatory, together with the stone altar beneath Nicholson's tester and the new stone font were added. In November 1991, the completed building, much smaller than the original plans envisaged, was consecrated in the presence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Architecture.

The formal entrance into the cathedral is through the bronze west doors, designed by Bryan Kneale. The design is based on the tree of life, an ancient symbol representing the renewal of life. The completed nave is a square space that is enclosed by an outer ambulatory. The ambulatory is low and vaulted. Because the furniture in the nave is not fixed, it can be used for various means, including concerts and exhibitions as well as services. On the rood screen, beneath the nave organ case is a sculpture called "Christus" by Peter Eugene Ball. The nave organ case was designed by Didier Grassin in 2001; the inside of the panels were designed by Patrick Caulfield. The left side depicts night, with a stylised lighthouse shining on the sea (which alludes to the City of Portsmouth's motto, "Heaven's Light Our Guide"). The right door depicts day, showing the sun and the hull of a fishing boat.  The tower is pierced to provide an organ loft raised on a low dark passage. The font (1991), made to a Greek design of the ninth century, is placed centrally between the nave and the quire. In the south tower transept is the bronze status of St John the Baptist by David Wynne. It was cast in 1951 as a memorial to a Winchester College pupil killed on the Matterhorn. On the north wall of the south tower transept is the painting "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" by William Lionel Wyllie. The north tower transept contains a ceramic plaque of the Virgin and Child by the Florentine sculptor Andrea della Robbia. The principal altar stands on a podium of Purbeck stone, with mosaic work by Richard Noviss. The lectern was the gift of Edward VII in 1903. The pulpit was installed in 1693 and is all that remains of a three-decker pulpit. The organ case, built by Francis Bird, with carved figures of cherubs and King David playing his harp, belongs to the Nicholson Organ and bears the date 1718.  In 1939, an extension of the Portsmouth Cathedral used granite from a quarry as far away as Pulau Ubin, Singapore, which was then a British colony.

Music.

Music department  There are three choirs at the cathedral. The cathedral choir consists of up to 20 boys and a 'back row' of adult alto, tenor and bass singers made up of six choral scholars and six layclerks. They sing Choral Evensong each Monday (low voices only), and Tuesday, Friday and Sunday (with the boys). Cantate is the girls' choir, established in 2006 to sing Choral Evensong each Thursday. The Cathedral Consort (previously known as the Parish Choir) is a mixed choir of adults and younger singers which sings Choral Evensong on Saturdays and other periods outside term time. Often, the choirs combine to form the Great Choir, usually at large services and events.  The choirs regularly go on tour, with recent European visits including destinations such as Tallinn (Estonia), Stockholm (Sweden), Salzburg (Austria), Berlin (Germany), Gozo (Malta), Ypres (Belgium) and Notre Dame des Neiges in the Alpe d'Huez (France).  The Organist and Master of the Choristers, currently David Price, oversees the Music Department and is assisted by the sub-organist and Michael James Organ Scholar. Sachin Gunga has been sub-organist since January 2018. The Michael James Organ Scholar is appointed annually and is usually undertaken by a postgraduate during their gap year.  Cathedral organs  The cathedral's three-manual and pedal, forty-nine stop organ was installed in 1994 by Nicholson & Co of Worcester The pipes were taken from the John Nicholson organ of 1861 built for Manchester Cathedral, which was relocated to Holy Trinity Church, Bolton, in 1874; it was rebuilt by Jardine & Co in 1905. In 2001, the West Great division was added, in order for the organ to speak into the nave. The renovated organ was officially inaugurated in November 2001, by a recital given by Olivier Latry, titular organist at Notre Dame de Paris. Finally, in 2017, horizontal Trompete de Maris fanfare reed division above the main entrance was added.  In 2007, the cathedral introduced a single manual, three-stop chamber organ built by Kenneth Tickell & Co of Northampton.

Dean and chapter.

As of 29 May 2019:

Prayer.

"As the Cathedral of the Sea," "we pray for all those at sea this day/evening/night," "and for those whose task it is to support them in their work."  "Creator and Father of all," "we pray for those who go down to the sea in ships," "and serve upon the waters of the world."  "Bless them and those who serve their needs," "that they may put their trust in you" "and find in you a strong anchor for their hopes" "and so be filled with your peace," "through Jesus Christ, our Lord."  "Amen."

The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in Portsmouth, England, located in the centre of Old Portsmouth. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of the bishop of Portsmouth.

Die Kathedrale von Portsmouth (Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth) ist die anglikanische Kathedrale der Stadt Portsmouth und ist dem heiligen Thomas von Canterbury geweiht. Sie liegt in "Old Portsmouth" und ist Sitz des Bischofs von Portsmouth. In Portsmouth gibt es eine weitere Kathedrale, die römisch-katholische "Kathedralkirche von Johannes dem Evangelisten", die ebenfalls häufig als "Portsmouth Cathedral" bezeichnet wird.


Early life.

Samuel Michael Simon was born on June 6, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, United States. He grew up in Beverly Hills and Malibu. Simon's family lived opposite Groucho Marx. Simon's father was a cheap clothing manufacturer and was of Estonian-Jewish heritage. Simon had a childhood which has been described as "comfortable" and "privileged". Although his parents wanted Simon to become a lawyer, he was interested in art from a young age, appearing on televised local art programs as young as the age of five. He once was told by Walt Disney that he would one day work at his studio.  Simon attended Beverly Hills High School, where he was on the football team and served as a cartoonist for the school newspaper. He was named "Most Humorous" and "Most Talented" in his senior yearbook. He later attended Stanford University, graduating in 1977. Simon had not wished to attend college, but Stanford persuaded him to apply due to his sufficient grades and proficiency at football; Simon quit the football team after one day. Simon drew comics for The Stanford Daily, a college newspaper, but was denied admission to a drawing class for not being talented enough. As he recalled to the Stanford alumni magazine, he was told, "You'd be taking the space of a student who has talent." Simon majored in psychology, but did not focus on his academics.

Career.

Early career.

While still at Stanford, Simon's first job was a newspaper sports cartoonist for "The San Francisco Chronicle" and "The San Francisco Examiner". After graduating, he worked as a television storyboard artist, and later a writer, at Filmation Studios. There he worked on several animated shows, including "The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle" and "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" (1979). Simon recalls Filmation approving of his work because he was "self-taught and unschooled," but Simon felt the majority of what the studio produced was "awful". On the suggestion of Filmation producer Lou Scheimer who was impressed by Simon's writing ability, Simon submitted a spec script for the series "Taxi" which was produced as "Out of Commission" and aired in 1981 during its third season. Simon was hired as a writer, quickly becoming showrunner for its fifth and final season in 1983. Simon next worked as a writer and producer on "Cheers" from seasons one to three (1982–1985), writing five episodes: "Endless Slumper", "Battle of the Ex's", "Fairytales Can Come True", "Cheerio Cheers" and "The Bartender's Tale". Simon created, wrote and produced the short-lived sitcom "Shaping Up" in 1984, alongside Ken Estin; the show starred Leslie Nielsen as a gym owner and ran for five episodes on ABC. Simon also wrote and produced for "Best of the West" (1981), "Barney Miller" (1982) and "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (1987–1988), and wrote the 1991 film "The Super".

"The Simpsons".

Simon co-developed the animated series "The Simpsons", which premiered on the Fox network in 1989 and has remained on air ever since. The show is regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, with "Time" magazine naming it the 20th century's best series. The premise for the series originated as a series of short cartoons airing in 1987 as part of "The Tracey Ullman Show", on which Simon was a writer and executive producer alongside James L. Brooks, with whom Simon had worked on "Taxi". The cartoons were developed into a full series two years later. For "The Simpsons", Simon served alongside Matt Groening (who conceived the show and the five main characters) and Brooks as executive producer and showrunner for the show's first (1989–1990) and second (1990–1991) seasons, and was creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He assembled and led the initial team of writers, consisting of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky. The cartoonist and writer Mimi Pond, who wrote the first broadcast episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (1989), has asserted, via third-party hearsay she repeated, that Simon deliberately kept women out of the writing team.  Simon has been credited with "developing [the show's] sensibility." Former "Simpsons" director Brad Bird has described him as "the unsung hero" of the show, while Vitti has stated to "leave out Sam Simon" is to tell "the managed version" of "The Simpsons" history, because "he was the guy we wrote for." Writer Ken Levine called Simon "the real creative force behind "The Simpsons"... The tone, the storytelling, the level of humor—that was all developed on Sam's watch." Levine says that Simon "brought a level of honesty to the characters" and made them "three-dimensional," adding that his "comedy is all about character, not just a string of gags. In "The Simpsons", the characters are motivated by their emotions and their foibles. 'What are they thinking?'—that is Sam's contribution. The stories come from the characters." Simon crafted much of the world of Springfield, and designed the models for many of the show's recurring characters, including Mr. Burns, Dr. Hibbert, Chief Wiggum and Eddie and Lou, as well as many of the one-time and guest-star roles, such as Bleeding Gums Murphy. One of his contributions to the show's character development was his proposal that Waylon Smithers should be gay, but that this should never have too much attention drawn to it; Smithers' sexuality became one of the show's longest-running gags. Simon saw "The Simpsons" as a chance to solve "what [he] didn't like about the Saturday-morning cartoon shows [he had] worked on... [he] wanted all the actors in a room together, not reading their lines separated from each other. "The Simpsons" would have been a great radio show. If you just listen to the sound track, it works."  "The Simpsons" utilized a process of collaborative script re-writing by the show's whole writing staff; this meant the credited writer may not have been responsible for the majority of an episode's content. Nevertheless, Simon was credited with co-writing the season one episodes "The Telltale Head," "The Crepes of Wrath," and the season finale "Some Enchanted Evening." "Some Enchanted Evening" was intended to be the show's premiere but was delayed due to substandard animation. Simon adapted Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" for the third segment of the season two episode "Treehouse of Horror." Groening was nervous about "The Raven" because it did not have many gags, and felt it would be "the worst, most pretentious thing [they had] ever done" on the show. Nevertheless, the segment has often been praised as one of the best "Treehouse of Horror" stories in the show's history. Ryan J. Budke of "TV Squad" described the segment as "one of the most refined "Simpsons" pop references ever," and knows "people that consider this the point that they realized "The Simpsons" could be both highly hilarious and highly intelligent." Simon co-wrote the episode "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" with Swartzwelder, an episode which Tom Shales of the "Washington Post" has described as "a bull's-eye political satire". The final episode he co-wrote for season two was "The Way We Was," alongside Jean and Reiss. While Reiss and Jean took over as showrunners, Simon remained on the writing staff for seasons three (1991–1992) and four (1992–1993). For the third season he co-wrote "Treehouse of Horror II," and conceived the story for the Sideshow Bob episode "Black Widower," together with mystery author Thomas Chastain, hoping to construct a full mystery story; Vitti wrote the episode's teleplay. Simon also substantially contributed to the episode "Stark Raving Dad," pitched the episode "Homer at the Bat," and proposed the "Land of Chocolate" sequence from "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk." Simon's final writing credit was for the "Dial 'Z' For Zombies" segment of "Treehouse of Horror III."  Although they initially worked well together, Simon and Groening's relationship became "very contentious" according to Groening. Simon never expected the show to be a success, often proclaiming to fellow staff members "We're thirteen and out"—meaning that the show would be canceled after the thirteen episodes of the first season. Therefore, he also told the staff that they had creative freedom to do whatever they wanted to make "The Simpsons" as good a show as possible, regardless of network or public opinion, because he thought it inevitably would not be renewed; he elaborated in 2009 that "Really I was saying that to take the pressure off of everyone. I was just saying let's just go out and make 13 episodes that are really good and really funny." However, Groening interpreted it as meaning Simon was uncommitted and did not care whether the show was a success or not, as Simon's career would survive, whereas his own would not. In 2001, Groening described Simon as "brilliantly funny and one of the smartest writers I've ever worked with, although unpleasant and mentally unbalanced." According to John Ortved's book "", when the show became successful Simon resented the media attention Groening received, particularly the praise for the show's writing; Simon felt that Groening's involvement was limited, and that he should have been the one receiving credit for the show. Simon later spoke well of Groening's influence, particularly on the show's positive tone.  As well as Groening, Simon was often at odds with Brooks and production company Gracie Films. While working on "The Simpsons", he and Brooks had co-created the series "Sibs" (1991) and "Phenom" (1993) as part of a multi-series deal for ABC. Simon did not want to work on either series, both of which were poorly received and swiftly canceled, which put a strain on the pair's relationship.  Simon left Gracie Films and "The Simpsons" in 1993; he commented that he "wasn't enjoying it anymore," wished to pursue other projects, and that of "any show I've ever worked on, it turns me into a monster. I go crazy. I hate myself." Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that saw him receive a share of the show's profits every year, particularly from home media, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993. The deal means he made over $10 million a year from "The Simpsons"; he later told "Stanford Magazine" that "tens of millions" was a closer figure. Simon commented: "When I was there I thought I was underpaid. I thought I wasn't getting enough credit for it. Now, I think it's completely the opposite. I get too much credit for it. And the money is ridiculous."

Subsequent media work.

In January 1994, Simon co-created with comedian George Carlin the sitcom "The George Carlin Show" for Fox. It aired for 27 episodes before being canceled in December 1995. Simon served as showrunner throughout its run and directed several episodes. Simon persuaded Carlin to do the show after writing it as something which would not be "typically sitcomy." He conceived the show as what Carlin's life would have been like had he never become a comedian; Carlin played a heavy drinking New York taxi driver. Simon commented: "When I was doing "The Simpsons", people couldn't see how smart it was because of the low moments. There's something about this show. People who like it say it's classy. They don't see how vulgar it is." Carlin wrote negatively of his relationship with Simon. On his own website, Carlin wrote of the show: "always check mental health of creative partner beforehand. Loved the actors, loved the crew. Had a great time. Couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there." In his final book, the posthumously published "Last Words" (2009), Carlin elaborated: "I had a great time. I never laughed so much, so often, so hard as I did with cast members Alex Rocco, Chris Rich, Tony Starke. There was a very strange, very good sense of humor on that stage... The biggest problem, though, was that Sam Simon was a fucking horrible person to be around. Very, very funny, extremely bright and brilliant, but an unhappy person who treated other people poorly." Simon described himself as "combative" and said that most people see him as having a "bad attitude".  In the late 1990s, Simon primarily worked as a director. He directed on the American adaptation of the sitcom "Men Behaving Badly" in 1996, the "Friends" season three episode "The One Without the Ski Trip" in 1997, and several episodes of "The Norm Show" (1999) and "The Michael Richards Show" (2000). From 1998 to 2003, he served as a consulting producer and director for "The Drew Carey Show", and directed the show's series finale. He was also a creative consultant on "Bless This House" in 1996.  From 1999 to some time in the early 2000s, Simon was President of e-Nexus Studios the once entertainment content arm of ZeniMax Media, Parent Company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. After E-Nexus was shut down, Simon became President of the creative group at ZeniMax Productions, another subsidiary of ZeniMax.  After leaving "The Simpsons" and "The George Carlin Show", Simon sought to find a "life outside television," as working in the industry "made [him] crazy." On working in television, Simon concluded: "In some ways, it's the greatest job in the world. You make a product that's given away, and all it does is make people smile. Nobody gets hurt, there's no damage, and you can get crazy rich." Simon retired from full-time television work, although still worked in the media, frequently contributing, as a writer and a participant, to Howard Stern's radio shows. He wrote and directed the one-off radio sitcom "The Bitter Half" for Stern's Howard 101 in 2006. Simon had his own show on Radioio. Simon returned to television production work in 2012, serving as a consultant and director on the series "Anger Management" for half a day a week.

Other ventures.

Simon was a staunch advocate for animal rights and veganism, and described himself as an "animal lover". Around the year 2000, he joined People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Their relationship began after Simon asked the staff of "The Drew Carey Show" to change a part of an episode which involved greyhound racing, but they refused to do so and that led Simon to donate his fee to the organization. Starting in 2002, he self-funded, at an annual cost of several million dollars, The Sam Simon Foundation, which has a mobile clinic that provides free surgeries for cats and dogs, as well as rescuing and retraining shelter dogs who might otherwise be euthanized. An episode of "60 Minutes" broadcast in March 2007 described it as "the grandest dog shelter in the country, a five star, [] spread in Malibu, perhaps the most desirable real estate on the planet. Here, among the waterfalls and the manicured grounds, The Sam Simon Foundation gives stray and abandoned dogs a new lease on life, literally." As Simon explained, the foundation aims to "rescue dogs" and "train them to be service dogs, [to help] people with disabilities," primarily the deaf. It also provides free veterinary surgeries to pets belonging to low-income families, and trains dogs to help soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Simon said the money he used was "well spent just for the pleasure it gives me." The training program has a 20% success rate, because many of the rescued dogs "have physical and psychological problems" but the dogs who cannot be trained are put up for adoption. The foundation is non-profit, does not accept public donations, but does receive some federal government funding due to a bill written and passed by Senator Al Franken. In 2011, Simon established and self-funded the Sam Simon Foundation Feeding Families program, a food truck which delivers vegan food to low-income families; the program helps feed some 200 families per week. He donated an undisclosed sum to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2012 for the purpose of purchasing another vessel for their fleet, the, which was unveiled in December 2012. Simon was also a board member for Save the Children, and hosted the largest annual fundraiser for PETA, who named him an Honorary Director and their Norfolk, Virginia headquarters building after him. Simon has stated that animal rights charities have been his main target for donations, over other causes like human disease and environmental damage, because "your money can bring success" with visible results. Simon stated in 2011 that there is "nothing [which gives him] more pleasure than" helping others via his charities, and gave away most of his fortune.  Simon was a long time fan of boxing, attending fights with his grandfather, but his interest increased particularly after seeing the 1990 heavyweight championship fight between Evander Holyfield and James "Buster" Douglas which he described as "the most electrifying feeling I'd had in my life." He began training and won six out of nine amateur fights; he was also a reserve contestant on the Fox series "Celebrity Boxing". Simon was for eight years the manager of heavyweight boxer Lamon Brewster, the now-retired former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion. He met Brewster in 1997 and began managing him, helping him rise to the top of the WBO rankings. He considers guiding Brewster to his April 2004 victory over Wladimir Klitschko to win the vacant WBO Heavyweight Championship, with Klitschko the heavy favorite, to be amongst the greatest moments of his life; it "eclipsed everything he had achieved in a glittering 26-year showbiz career." Before the Klitschko fight, Simon calculated he had spent several hundred thousand dollars funding Brewster, paying him a large salary on top of match fees as well as letting him stay rent-free at one of his houses, and taking only a 10% cut of the match fees; however, he never intended boxing to be a substantial "source of revenue". Simon retired from boxing management soon after Brewster became WBO Heavyweight Champion.  Simon was a regular poker player, and Texas hold 'em in particular. He was introduced to the game as a child through weekly family poker games and casino trips with his grandfather. Simon did not consider himself a serious player until a game at writer David Steinberg's house with several "scholarly" players, which encouraged him to study the game and enter numerous tournaments, although he decided not to become professional. He competed at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) each year between 2007 and 2011, finishing in the money in six events. In 2007, at the 6,358-player $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event, he finished 329th with $39,445. He also finished 16th winning $35,493 at the $1,000 1,048-player No-Limit Hold'em w/Re-Buys in 2007, 41st winning $10,708 at the $1,000 706-player No-Limit Hold'em w/ReBuys in 2008, 53rd winning $10,692 at the $1,000 879-player No-Limit Hold'em w/ReBuys in 2008, 20th winning $24,066 at the $10,000 275-player World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em in 2009, and 500th winning $23,876 at the $10,000 6,865-player No-Limit Hold'em Championship in 2011. He also won the $300 438-player No-Limit Hold'em Bounty $100,000 Guarantee at the 2009 L.A. Poker Open, winning $22,228. His biggest win in terms of both field size and prize money was the $200 1,082-player No-Limit Hold'em $150,000 Guarantee at the 2010 Winnin O' The Green, where he won $57,308. Simon's private poker games between him and his celebrity friends have been described as "raucous and very entertaining". Their reputation led Playboy TV to produce the show "Sam's Game", a televised version featuring Simon as host and master of ceremonies of a Las Vegas celebrity Texas Hold 'em match; he produced the show. He had previously appeared on a 2009 episode of "High Stakes Poker".

Awards.

Simon won nine Primetime Emmy Awards and received ten further nominations for his work. For "The Tracey Ullman Show" he won the Emmys for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series in 1989 and Outstanding Writing In A Variety Or Music Program in 1990. In the former he was nominated again in 1990, for the latter he was also nominated in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He received the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) for "The Simpsons" in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 with further nominations in 1990 (for "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" which was counted as a separate special), 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2002. He was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for "Taxi" in 1983 and "Cheers" in 1985, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "It's Garry Shandling's Show" in 1988 and Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special for "The Best of Tracey Ullman Show" in 1990. He also won a Peabody Award for "The Simpsons" in 1996. In 2013, Simon was awarded the Writers Guild of America Award Animation Writers Caucus lifetime achievement award for his work in animation; the following year the WGA awarded him the Valentine Davies Award for his humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.

Personal life.

Simon was married to actress Jennifer Tilly from 1984 to 1991 and remained friends with her. He married "Playboy" Playmate Jami Ferrell in 2000, and the marriage lasted three weeks. Simon was engaged to chef and caterer Jenna Stewart around 2011. He was dating Kate Porter, a make-up artist, from 2012 until his death. Simon became a vegetarian at the age of nineteen and when joining People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals around 2000, he turned to veganism. He had three dogs.  He lived in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, in the restored Bailey House, designed by Richard Neutra. After his home was destroyed by a fire in 2007, Simon redesigned it to be environmentally friendly; much of the interior is constructed from recycled materials while solar panels provide virtually its entire power needs. The building has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certificate. He had an extensive art collection; he owned paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, John Singer Sargent and one of the original casts of Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker". He also had a sculpture by Robert Graham and works by Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren, Ed Ruscha and Richard Estes.

Illness and death.

In late 2012, Simon was diagnosed with terminal colorectal cancer which later metastasized to his other organs, including his liver and kidneys. He had been feeling ill for some time and had earlier been misdiagnosed. He was given between three and six months to live; chemotherapy treatment reduced the size of his tumors over the following six months. He arranged for his fortune to be left to various charitable causes, stating "The truth is, I have more money than I'm interested in spending. Everyone in my family is taken care of. And I enjoy this." Simon died in his Los Angeles home from complications of the disease on March 8, 2015, aged 59. His remains were interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.  Controversy surrounds the management of his trust, and the lack of donations to groups which he supported in his lifetime.  "The Simpsons" episode "Waiting for Duffman" was dedicated to him.

Samuel Michael Simon (June 6, 1955 – March 8, 2015) was an American director, producer, writer, animal rights activist and philanthropist, who co-developed the television series "The Simpsons".

Samuel „Sam“ Michael Simon (* 6. Juni 1955 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; † 8. März 2015 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Fernsehproduzent. Zusammen mit James L. Brooks und Matt Groening produzierte er die ersten beiden Staffeln der Serie "Die Simpsons".


Plot.

Reynolds plays Caine, a gunrunner who becomes stranded in a small port in the Red Sea. He meets an attractive woman who propositions him to dive into shark-infested waters off the coast for scientific research.  Caine realizes the woman and her partner are actually treasure hunters.

Production.

Development.

The film was based on the novel "His Bones Are Coral" by Victor Canning. This was serialized in 1954 and published in 1955. The original screenplay was written by Ken Hughes.  In July 1966 it was announced Gaumont Pictures would make a film from the novel, directed by Byron Haskin, starring George Montgomery and produced by Mark Cooper. It was to be called "Twist of the Knife" and to be filmed in Mexico in July. Filming did not proceed.

Sam Fuller.

In April 1967 it was announced "Twist of the Knife" would be produced by Skip Steloff for Calderon-Stell and directed by Sam Fuller, his first film since "The Naked Kiss". The cast would include Burt Reynolds, Arthur Kennedy and Barry Sullivan.  The film was to be the first in a series of co productions between Skip Steloff, Marc Cooper's Heritage Productions, and Jose Luis Calderon's Cinemtographia Calderon.  When Sam Fuller joined the project, he rewrote the script and retitled it "Caine". He shared writing credit with John Kingsbridge.  Fuller later said "I liked the idea of making a story where, for once, the hero is really the heavy, the heavy is the girl, there's another heavy, and you find out in the end they're all heavies."  He elaborated, saying he liked "doing a story about four amoral characters... to show not only a double cross on a double cross but when we think we know who the heavy is, we find out the real heavy behind it all is the girl... I have the hero not only allow her to die, but he shrugs it off.I thought that was exciting... I had such fun because I went beyond the average switch of revealing the villain. I also didn't have the guy just let the girl go to jail; he lets her be eaten by sharks."  Even before filming began, the producers announced they had signed Fuller to a four-picture deal, including a sequel to "Caine".

Shooting.

Filming took place for nine weeks in 1967, in Manzanillo, Mexico, which stood in for the Sudan.  During production, one of the film's stuntmen, Jose Marco, was attacked and killed on camera by a white shark that broke through protective netting. The attack was captured on film and prompted a photo spread in "Life" magazine. The title was changed to "Shark!" to cash in on the controversy.

Post Production.

Fuller supervised editing in Mexico City for four weeks. His cut was later re-edited by the producers without his approval. When Samuel Fuller finally saw the version that was released to theaters, he said he thought it was "terrible. I told them I wanted to restore my original cut. They said they didn't know if they could get it from Mexico."  Fuller demanded the producers take his name off it. The producers refused.

Release.

Critical Reception.

The "New York Times" thought the film "still suggests the imagination of" Fuller.

Re-releases.

The film was re-released by Hallmark in 1975 as "Man-Eater" to cash in on the success of "Jaws". Advertising focused on the death of the stuntman in the film.  The "Los Angeles Times" called this version "threadbare".

Shark! (also known as "Caine" and "Man-Eater") is a 1969 Mexican-American action film directed by Samuel Fuller and starring Burt Reynolds and Silvia Pinal.

Outsider (Arbeitstitel: "Caine", später umbenannt in "Shark!", Re-Release unter dem Titel "Maneater"; deutscher Verweistitel auch "Hai") ist ein in US-amerikanisch-mexikanischer Co-Produktion entstandener Actionfilm aus dem Jahre 1969 von Samuel Fuller mit Burt Reynolds in der Hauptrolle. Das Drehbuch basiert auf dem Roman "His Bones Are Coral" von Victor Canning.


Organization.

The governing body for the Canada Games is the Canada Games Council, a non-profit private organization incorporated in 1991. The individual games are run by the local Host Society, a non-profit private organization that is established 2–4 years prior to the event. The Host Society functions in accordance with an agreement between the Canada Games Council, the government of Canada, the government of the province or territory and the government of the municipality. The Canada Games Council maintains and secures long-term partnership agreements with governments, corporations and national sport organizations. For example, the 2011 Halifax games were run by the Halifax 2011 Canada Games Host Society on the basis of an agreement between the host society and the Canada Games Council, Canada, Nova Scotia, and the city of Halifax. In 2015, for the first time, there was also a local host First Nation, Lheidli T'enneh.  Funding for the games comes from the several levels of government together with donations and corporate sponsorships. A considerable portion of the work during the games is performed by local volunteers.

History.

The Games were first held in 1967 in Quebec City as part of Canada's Centennial celebrations. For the first time in Canada's history, 1,800 athletes from 10 provinces and two territories gathered to compete in 15 sports. Since 1967, over 75,000 athletes have participated in the Games. Facilities built for the Games include the Saint John Canada Games Aquatic Centre (1985), the Hillside Stadium and Aquatic Centre in Kamloops, B.C. (1993), the Corner Brook Canada Games Centre and Annex (1999), and the TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ontario (2001).

Summer sports.

Sports for the 2021 Canada Summer Games in Niagara, ON. Box lacrosse will be making a return to the Summer Games for the first time since 1985.

Winter sports.

The winter games include some sports not associated with winter. Sports for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta.

List of Canada Games.

For per Games medal standings see List of Canada Games.

The Canada Games () is at multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. The 2019 games took place in Red Deer, Alberta, between February 15 – March 3, 2019. The 2021 games will take place in Niagara, Ontario, from August 6 – 21, 2021.

Die Canada Games (frz. Jeux du Canada) sind eine mehrere Sportarten umfassende Sportveranstaltung in Kanada, die alle zwei Jahre stattfinden. Dabei wechseln sich Sommer- und Winterspiele ab. Zu den Canada Games sind ausschließlich Amateursportler zugelassen, die einer der Provinzen oder Territorien repräsentieren. Die erste Austragung war 1967 in der Stadt Québec, als Teil der Hundertjahrfeier der Kanadischen Konföderation.


Biography.

Education and emigration to America.

Born on the estate of Arbigland in the parish of Kirkbean, County of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, Craik was the illegitimate son of William Craik, 1703 -1798, an agricultural pioneer and landowner. His half-sister, Helen, writes that he was about six years old at the time of his father's marriage in 1733. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, then joined the British Army after graduation and served as an army surgeon in the West Indies until 1751. Craik then opened up a private medical practice in Norfolk, Virginia, and shortly thereafter relocated to Winchester, Virginia.

French and Indian War career.

On 7 March 1754, Craik resumed his military career, accepting a commission as a surgeon in Colonel Joshua Fry's Virginia Provincial Regiment. While with this force, he became good friends with George Washington, at that time a lieutenant colonel in the regiment. Craik saw a great deal of action in various battles of the French and Indian War. He fought at the Battle of the Great Meadows and participated in the surrender of Fort Necessity, then accompanied General Edward Braddock on Braddock's unsuccessful attempt to recapture the region in 1755, treating Braddock's ultimately fatal wounds. Craik then served under Washington in actions in Virginia and Maryland, during various engagements with Indians.

Between the wars.

After the war's end, Craik opened another medical practice at Port Tobacco, Maryland, and on 13 November 1760, he married Mariamne Ewell at her family's estate, Bel Air, located in Prince William County, Virginia. Marriamne would later become the great-aunt of Richard S. Ewell. They had six sons and three daughters. In 1760, he moved to Charles County, Maryland, where in 1765, he built La Grange near La Plata, Maryland. In both 1770 and 1784 he went on surveying expeditions with Washington, examining military claims in Pennsylvania and what is now West Virginia.

Revolutionary War career.

With the outbreak of hostilities during the American Revolution, Craik once more rejoined the army. He served as an army surgeon, ultimately advancing to the second-highest post in army medicine. Craik warned Washington about the plots of the Conway Cabal, and treated the wounds of General Hugh Mercer at the Battle of Princeton and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette at the Battle of Brandywine. Mercer died of his wounds, but La Fayette was more fortunate.  Washington persuaded him to move his practice to Alexandria, Virginia, where he built his house Vaucluse, where he died. He also had a town house at 117 South Fairfax Street, 209 Prince Street, and then 210 Duke Street.  Washington summoned Craik out of private practice in 1798 in connection with the Quasi-War against France, installing him as Physician General of the Army on 19 June of that year. After the conclusion of hostilities, Craik mustered out on 15 June 1800.  His grandson, who was named after him, would build his house Elm Grove, later renamed to the Craik-Patton House, on a tract of land awarded to Dr. Craik as payment for his service in the Revolutionary War.

At Washington's death.

As Washington's personal physician, Craik was one of three doctors to attend on him during his final illness on 14 December 1799. Washington complained of respiratory distress, described by Craik as "cynanche trachealis". When Washington proved unable to swallow medicines orally, Craik and the other two physicians (Dr. Elisha C. Dick and Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown) treated his condition with bloodletting, the application of various poultices, and a rectal solution of calomel and tartar. Washington's condition continued to deteriorate, but Craik and Brown decided against Dick's suggestion of a tracheotomy (which might have been lifesaving, but likely would have spread the infection and caused sepsis), and Washington died at 10:10 p.m. Brown and Craik co-published an account of their treatment in December 1800. Craik died in Alexandria in 1814; he is buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in that city.

James Craik (; 17276 February 1814) was Physician General (precursor of the Surgeon General) of the United States Army, as well as George Washington's personal physician and close friend.

James Craik (* 1730 in Kirkcudbright, Schottland; † 6. Februar 1814 in Alexandria, Virginia) war "General Physician" (Vorläufer des Surgeon General) der United States Army sowie George Washingtons Leibarzt und enger Freund.


Memorial.

The Memorial Wall is located in the Original Headquarters Building lobby on the north wall. There are 133 stars carved into the white Alabama marble wall, each one representing an employee who died in the line of service. Paramilitary officers of the CIA's Special Activities Division compose the majority of those memorialized.  A black Moroccan goatskin-bound book, called the "Book of Honor", sits in a steel frame beneath the stars, its "slender case jutting out from the wall just below the field of stars", and is "framed in stainless steel and topped by an inch-thick plate of glass." Inside it shows the stars, arranged by year of death and, when possible, lists the names of employees who died in CIA service alongside them. The identities of the unnamed stars remain secret, even in death. In 1997, there were 70 stars, 29 of which had names. There were 79 stars in 2002, 83 in 2004, 90 in 2009, 107 in 2013, 111 in 2014, 125 in 2017, 129 in 2018, and 133 in 2019. Of the 133 entries in the book, 94 contain names, while 39 do not. These 39 are represented only by a gold star followed by a blank space.  The Wall bears the inscription "In honor of those members of the Central Intelligence Agency who gave their lives in the service of their country." The Wall is flanked by the flag of the United States on the left and a flag bearing the CIA seal on the right.

Adding new stars.

When new names are added to the Book of Honor, stone carver Tim Johnston of the Carving and Restoration Team in Manassas, Virginia adds a new star to the Wall if that person's star is not already present. Johnston learned the process of creating the stars from the original sculptor of the Wall, Harold Vogel, who created the first 31 stars and the Memorial Wall inscription when the Wall was created in July 1974. Although the wall was "first conceived as a small plaque to recognize those from the CIA who died in Southeast Asia, the idea quickly grew to a memorial for Agency employees who died in the line of duty." The process used by Johnston to add a new star is as follows:

Candidates.

The Honor and Merit Awards Board (HMAB) recommends approval of candidates to be listed on the wall to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA states that  [i]nclusion on the Memorial Wall is awarded posthumously to employees who lose their lives while serving their country in the field of intelligence. Death may occur in the foreign field or in the United States. Death must be of an inspirational or heroic character while in the performance of duty; or as the result of an act of terrorism while in the performance of duty; or as an act of premeditated violence targeted against an employee, motivated solely by that employee's Agency affiliation; or in the performance of duty while serving in areas of hostilities or other exceptionally hazardous conditions where the death is a direct result of such hostilities or hazards. After approval by the director, the Office of Protocol arranges for a new star to be placed on the Wall.  The first suicide to be added to the wall was for employee Ranya Abdelsayed, who committed suicide in 2013 after working for a year in Afghanistan. CIA leadership was criticized by some who feel she did not meet the criteria for the wall.

Other fatalities.

First fatality.

Jane Wallis Burrell was the first CIA officer to die in the Agency's service when an Air France DC-3 from Brussels crashed on approach to the Le Bourget Airport near Paris on January 6, 1948, killing all five crew members and 10 of the 11 passengers. She died only 110 days after the CIA was officially established the previous September. Burrell was never a candidate for a Star on the CIA's Memorial Wall because the Wall commemorates Agency employees who died in specific circumstances and deaths from commercial aircraft crashes have generally not qualified.

Civil Air Transport.

On May 6, 1954, during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, two CIA pilots, James B. McGovern, Jr. and Wallace Buford, were killed when their C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane was shot down while on a resupply mission for the French military. They worked for Civil Air Transport, which was later reorganized as Air America. Neither of them has a star on the Memorial Wall.

Air America.

There were more than 30 pilots and other crew members of the CIA's Air America company who were killed during the Vietnam War that were not counted as part of the Agency even though they worked for it. The names of some of them were: Eugene DeBruin, Joseph C. Cheney, Charles Herrick, John Lerdo Oyer, Jack J. Wells, George L. Ritter, Edward J. Weissenback, and Roy F. Townley.

The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.

Die CIA Memorial Wall ist seit Juli 1974 eine Gedenkstätte im Hauptquartier der Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. Das Ehrenmal soll an jene Mitarbeiter erinnern, die in Ausübung ihres Dienstes ihr Leben ließen. Die Gedenkstätte befindet sich an der Nordwand der Lobby im Hauptquartier. Derzeit sind dort 111 Sterne auf weißen Marmor eingraviert. Jeder Stern symbolisiert einen CIA-Mitarbeiter, der im Dienst verstorben ist. Jeder Stern ist 21⁄4 Zoll (~ 5,71 cm) breit und hoch sowie 1⁄2 Zoll (~ 1,3 cm) tief. Der Abstand zwischen den Sternen beträgt 6 Zoll (~ 15,25 cm). Eingerahmt wird das Ehrenmal durch zwei Fahnen, der US-Flagge auf der linken und der CIA-Flagge auf der rechten Seite.


Ministerium für auswärtige Angelegenheiten und internationale Zusammenarbeit (Italien)

History.

The first official manifestation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was called "The Secretary of the State of Foreign Affairs" for the now defunct Kingdom of Sardinia. The original name was derived from the Albertine Statute that founded the Ministry in 1848. The original location was the Palazzo della Consulta in Rome, where it remained until 1922.  The first significant reform came under the direction of the minister Carlo Sforza who reorganized the Ministry around territorial bases. However, this system was later replaced during Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. During this time the Ministry was housed at Palazzo Chigi; after a brief period in Brindisi during the war, Cabinet President Pietro Badoglio restored the full services of the Ministry with a ministerial decree on 15 July 1944.  Since 1959 the Ministry has been at its current location in Palazzo della Farnesina, which together with the Reggia di Caserta is one of the biggest buildings in Italy.

Functions.

The current role of the MAECI are laid out in the laws passed on 23 April 2003 n. 109 which states that the Ministry holds the explicit function of representing and guarding the interests of Italy concerning its political, economic, social, and cultural relations with the world and its direct relations with other states and international organizations. The ministry represents Italy in its implementation and revisions of treaties and international conventions. Within the organization of the European Union, the ministry advocates Italy's positions on councils of foreign politics and common security such as, CFSP, The European Community and Euratom. It cooperates with international organizations on issues of development, immigration, and the protection of Italians and workers abroad.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation ( or "MAECI") is the foreign ministry of the government of the Republic of Italy. It is also known as the Farnesina as a metonym from its headquarters, the Palazzo della Farnesina in Rome. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Luigi Di Maio.

Das italienische Ministerium für auswärtige Angelegenheiten und internationale Zusammenarbeit () ist eines der Ministerien der italienischen Regierung. Es ist für die Außenpolitik Italiens zuständig. Nach seinem Sitz im Palazzo della Farnesina in Rom wird es inoffiziell kurz "Farnesina" genannt. Amtierender Außenminister ist Luigi di Maio.


Biography.

Antoine was born in Saint-Quentin, France, on 31 January 1713, to Jean-Étienne de Bénézet (later known as John Stephen Benezet) and his wife Judith de la Méjanelle, french Protestants or Huguenots. The Protestants had been persecuted and suffered violent attacks since the Crown's revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes, which had provided religious tolerance. For a while his family had received protection owing to their powerful connections. However in 1715 his father's goods were seized, like so many others, decided to leave France rather than give up their religion. They moved first to Rotterdam, Netherlands; then briefly to Greenwich before settling in London, England, where there was a sizeable Huguenot refugee community. In 1727 Benezet joined the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers).  In 1731 the Benezet family migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded by Quakers and one of the English colonies of North America. Then 18 years old, Anthony Benezet joined John Woolman as one of the earliest American abolitionists. Like Woolman, Benezet also advocated war tax resistance.  In Philadelphia, Benezet worked to persuade his Quaker brethren that slave-owning was not consistent with Christian doctrine. He believed that the English ban on slavery in the British Isles should be extended to the North American and Caribbean colonies. (After the Americans gained independence in the Revolutionary War, Benezet continued to urge the United States to ban slavery, and the state of Pennsylvania legislated slavery's gradual abolition in 1780.)  After several years as a failed merchant, in 1739 Benezet began teaching at a Germantown school, then a separate jurisdiction northwest of Philadelphia. In 1742, he moved to the Friends' English School of Philadelphia (now the William Penn Charter School). In 1750 he added night classes for black slaves to his schedule.  In 1755, Benezet left the Friends' English School to set up his own school, the first public girls' school on the American continent. His students included daughters from prominent families, such as Deborah Norris and Sally Wister.  In 1770, he founded the Negro School at Philadelphia for black children. There was a growing free black community in Philadelphia, which increased after the state abolished slavery. Abolitionist sympathizers, such as Abigail Hopper Gibbons, continued to teach at Benezet's Negro School in the years before the American Civil War.  In 1775, he helped found the first anti-slavery society, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. After Benezet's death, Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush reconstituted this association as the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.

Works.

This brief work, written while Benezet was teaching at the Quaker Girls' School in Philadelphia, was the author's first publication to draw on sources documenting the African trade in slavery.

Anthony Benezet, born Antoine Bénézet (January 31, 1713May 3, 1784), was an American abolitionist and educator who was active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the early American abolitionists, Benezet founded one of the world's first anti-slavery societies, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage (after his death it was revived as the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery); the first public school for girls in North America; and the Negro School at Philadelphia, which operated into the nineteenth century. He was a vegetarian and advocated for the kind treatment of animals; integrating this in his teachings.

Anthony Benezet, oder "Antoine Bénézet" (* 31. Januar 1713 in Saint-Quentin; † 3. Mai 1784 in Philadelphia) war amerikanischer Lehrer und Abolitionist.