The Anniversary Party

The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film co-written, co-directed, co-produced by, and co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming, both making their respective feature directorial debuts.
Plot.
Sally Nash and Joe Therrian are a Hollywood couple celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary shortly after reconciling following a period of separation. He is a novelist who is about to direct the screen adaptation of his most recent bestseller; she is an actress he has opted not to cast in the lead role, despite the fact it's partly based on her, because he feels she's too old for the part. This decision, coupled with an ongoing dispute about their barking dog Otis with their strait-laced, non-industry neighbors, clean-and-sober writer Ryan and interior decorator Monica Rose, has resulted in an undercurrent of tension between the two as they prepare for the arrival of their guests.
Among them are aging actor Cal Gold, Sally's co-star in the romantic comedy film she presently is shooting, his wife Sophia, and their two young children; director Mac Forsyth, who is directing Sally and Cal's film, and his anorexic, neurotic wife Clair; photographer Gina Taylor, whose relationship with Joe prior to his marriage and ongoing close friendship since troubles Sally; business manager Jerry Adams and his wife Judy; eccentric violinist Levi Panes; Jeffrey, Joe's roommate - and lover - at Oxford; and up-and-coming actress Skye Davidson, whom Joe has cast in the role Sally believes deservedly is hers. In an effort to dispel the simmering animosity between them and their neighbors, Sally and Joe have invited the Roses as well.
The early part of the evening is devoted to charades and lighthearted entertainment. Following a series of toasts offered by the guests, Joe distributes the ecstasy Skye brought them as a gift. As it begins to take effect, the night deteriorates, accusations are made, secrets are revealed, and relationships slowly unravel. Complicating emotions triggered by the drug are the disappearance of Otis and a phone call from Joe's father bringing tragic news about his beloved sister Lucy.
Production.
In an episode of the Sundance Channel series "Anatomy of a Scene", the filmmakers discussed the project at length. Because of conflicting schedules, there was a period of only 19 days in which the entire cast—consisting of friends and actors with whom Leigh and Cumming previously had worked—would be available for filming. This prompted the decision to film using digital video, which Leigh felt also added a sense of immediacy and intimacy that would draw the audience into the action as party guests observing everything from the sidelines.
The order in which the toasts were made was determined before the scene was filmed, although with the exception of that offered by Skye, they were improvised rather than scripted.
Retired actress Phoebe Cates returned to acting for this one film, as a favor to director Leigh, her best friend.
Soundtrack.
The film's soundtrack includes "I Know a Place" by Petula Clark, "I May Never Go Home Anymore" by Marlene Dietrich, "Comin' Home Baby" by Mel Tormé, "There Is No Greater Love" and "A Lot of Livin' to Do" by Sammy Davis Jr., "Stealing My Love from Me" by Lulu, "Troubles" by Blair Tefkin and the Adagio from the Sonata No. 1 in G minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Release.
The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in May prior to its limited release in the US the following month. It grossed $4,047,329 in the US and $884,559 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $4,931,888.
Critical reception.
In his review in "The New York Times", Stephen Holden called it "an articulate, acutely observant film [that] makes you realize how starved Hollywood movies are for great ensemble acting . . . the movie has such finely woven performances that the best scenes project a convincing illusion of spontaneity . . . Ms. Leigh and Mr. Cumming's screenplay does an amazing job of creating about a dozen fully rounded, nuanced characters with a minimum of words. The dialogue, though it comes quickly and in scraps, is so juicy that the zest with which the actors bite into it suggests they invented it themselves . . . This isn't Chekhov, by any stretch of the imagination. The empathy the film extends to its characters may be evenly distributed, but it isn't all-embracing. Yet despite its shortcomings, this smart, caustic movie is easily the most incisive and realistic comedy of manners to emerge from Hollywood in quite a while, and that's saying a lot."
Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" observed, "The appeal of the film is largely voyeuristic. We learn nothing we don't already more or less know, but the material is covered with such authenticity and unforced natural conviction that it plays like a privileged glimpse into the sad lives of the rich and famous. We're like the neighbors who are invited. Leigh and Cumming...are confident professionals who don't indulge their material or themselves. This isn't a confessional home movie, but a cool and intelligent look at a lifestyle where smart people are required to lead their lives according to dumb rules."
In the "San Francisco Chronicle", Mick LaSalle said, "Leigh and Cumming save the best roles for themselves, and both their roles reach major emotional crescendos. Yet to their credit, with all the video in the world at their disposal and nobody to rein them in, they don't indulge themselves. They're both brilliant, spot-on and wonderfully true. "The Anniversary Party" is probably one of those miracles that can happen only once. Still one can't help hoping that Leigh and Cumming collaborate on another film."
Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" stated, "The final result should be a self-indulgent mess - and, in truth, the final third of the film comes close. But until Leigh and Cumming let their actorly urge for high drama blunt their flair for bracing wit and subtle feeling, they turn what could have been an acting stunt into an intimate and compelling study of bruised emotions . . . [They] were fortunate to secure the services of master cinematographer John Bailey, who brings textured marvels of light and shadow to digital camerawork that is often crude in lesser hands. It's only when the guests head for the pool to play truth games on Ecstasy while Leigh and Cumming head for the hills for a "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" sparring match that the movie collapses under the weight of its artsy-fartsy ambitions. My advice on how to get the most from this Party is: Leave early."
In "Variety", Todd McCarthy said the film "is well observed in many particulars but is too familiar in its basic trajectory to be fresh or compelling . . . All the roles are in good hands, and it's mildly amusing in a voyeuristic way to watch the likes of Paltrow behave as we might imagine stars do at a party . . . Although the digital video imprint is still evident, ace vet lenser John Bailey has gone a long way toward making this look like a celluloid-shot picture, most successfully in the bright, daytime scenes, less so at night or under low lighting conditions, where the images sometimes appear washed out." "The Anniversary Party" currently holds a 61% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 112 collected reviews with the consensus "This Party features a killer cast and many funny scenes, but the movie feels like nothing more than an excuse for the actors to emote."


You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!


Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller

Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller ("Kai Rabe vs. the Vatican Killers") is a 1998 German comedy film directed by Thomas Jahn.


IBTL


Kammara Sambhavam

Kammara Sambhavam () is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language satirical-thriller film written by Murali Gopy and directed by Ratheesh Ambat. The film was produced by Gokulam Gopalan and stars Dileep, Siddharth, Murali Gopy, Bobby Simha, and Namitha Pramod. The film marks the Malayalam film debut of Siddharth. Principal photography began on 18 August 2016 in Kochi. The film was released in India on 14 April 2018. The film won the National Film Award for Best Production Design.
Plot.
A group of liquor barons, who are members of the Indian Liberation Party (ILP), want the declining party to win the upcoming Kerala state election to benefit their business interests. To raise the ILP's image, they decide to make a biopic about Kammaran Nambiar, the party patriarch and the last veteran of the Indian independence movement. They ask director Pulikeshi to make a film based on a chapter in the book "Unsung Heroes of India" by Robert S. Coogan, in which Kammaran is depicted as a forgotten freedom fighter.
Pulikeshi meets Kammaran, now an ailing old man living in an old house with his son Bose. Kammaran tells the young man a story: During World War II, Kammaran was a cunning medical practitioner who would do anything for personal gain. To destroy his love rival, Othenan, Kammaran incites violence between the villagers, Othenan, Othenan's cruel landlord father Kelu, and British officers. During the violence, Kammaran kills Kelu and Othenan is arrested. Later, Othenan visits Kammaran in the night, but as Kammaran tells the story he begins coughing and is unable to continue.
Pulikeshi makes the film as the ILP instructed, and when Kammaran watches it he realizes the roles have been reversed. In the film, Othenan and his friend Singh are working for the British; they are captured as traitors by Netaji (Subhas Chandra Bose) but they escape and Othenan kills the man who reported their treason. The landlord's wife Maheshwari is then shown inflicting cruelty when Kammaran arrives as the leader of the ILP, preventing the harassment of poor tenants and gaining such mass support that Maheshwari is forced to flee. Kammaran is shown doing many things for the benefit of the villages, such as looting money from the British to distribute amongst the villagers. Kammaran marries Bhanumathi when Othenan returns and plots with Maheshwari and the British against Kammaran. The plot involves using Netaji's death to gain Kammaran's trust, so that they can then blame Kammaran for the planned assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Kammaran then tells the story of how he met Netaji. During the Battle of Imphal in 1944, Kammaran saved Netaji who was injured from a grenade; Netaji found such confidence in Kammaran that he asked him to form a party for the people. As a strong symbol, Kammaran took the axe, the weapon Maheshwari's men used to murder his father, on which he swore revenge against India's landlord system. Kammaran returns to AmruthaSamudram and forms the ILP.
To foil the assassination plot, Kammaran posts his men in three places along Gandhi's procession route to a temple, while he rides on a train with Gandhi. Othenan secretly boards the train and moves against Gandhi, but an informer has warned Kammaran who stops and chases him, fighting, and Othenan is killed after a brutal struggle on top of the train. Kammaran stands to be hanged for killing a British officer. The only person who believes his story is Robert S. Coogan, who convinces Jawaharlal Nehru to free him. The film ends with Kammaran refusing his followers' request to participate in elections, but promising to be back when he is needed.
The film becomes a success, and helps the ILP return to power. Elderly Kammaran is made the Chief Minister of Kerala. Pulikesi arrives and asks him what really happened to Othenan. It is then shown that years later Othenan came for Bhanumathi who was then Kammaran's wife, and Kammaran killed him brutally but doesn't reveal this to Pulikeshi. Kammaran tells Pulikeshi that the movie is now the history in everybody's mind, and that the actual events no longer matter.
Production.
"Kammara Sambhavam" is the feature film directorial debut of advertisement filmmaker Rathish Ambat. The plot follows the adventures of Kammaran, the character played by Dileep. According to Ambat, "we can't limit the movie to any specific genre", it has politics, contemporary relevance, history and elements of a thriller. He describes the film as "a satire that has politics, history and cinema". Murali Gopi worked on the script for nearly two years. He describes the film as a satire that crisscross period, pop, and black comedy. Sidharth makes his Malayalam film debut with the film. Namitha Pramod plays the female lead.
Principal photography began on 18 August 2016 in Kochi. The production was unexpectedly stalled while it was filming in Theni, Tamil Nadu, during July 2017. After a break, filming resumed on 9 October 2017 in Vengara, Malappuram district; Dileep rejoined the film on 20 October in Malayattoor, Ernakulam district. There was a schedule in Chennai which completed before December 2017, after which one schedule was remaining to be shot in Theni. By the time it stalled production in July, the film had already spend 10 crore (100 million rupees) on budget. It was completed on a total budget of 20 crore.
Soundtrack.
The film's original songs were composed by Gopi Sundar.
Release.
The film was released in India on 14 April 2018.
It received various positive and few mixed reviews from critics while general word of mouth was positive everywhere. The reviews praised the artist performances, direction, script, visuals and music while the long runtime and excess detailing was criticised.It is the most expensive film in Dileep's career and he plays dual roles in it as well. Although the movie was an average at the box office, it gained acclaim due to its strong and bold concept.


Jam tomorrow

Jam tomorrow or jam to-morrow (older spelling) is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise. Some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize. It originates from Lewis Carroll's 1871 book "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There". This is a pun on a mnemonic for the usage of the Latin word "iam" (formerly often written and pronounced "jam"), which means "at this time", but only in the future or past tense, not in the present (which is instead "nunc" "now"). In the book, the White Queen offers Alice "jam every other day" as an inducement to work for her:
"I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!" the Queen said. "Two pence a week, and jam every other day."Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, "I don't want you to hire "me" – and I don't care for jam.""It's very good jam," said the Queen."Well, I don't want any "to-day", at any rate.""You couldn't have it if you "did" want it," the Queen said. "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.""It "must" come sometimes to 'jam to-day'," Alice objected."No, it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every "other" day: to-day isn't any "other" day, you know.""I don't understand you," said Alice. "It's dreadfully confusing!"
The passage inspired the title of the 1979 musical "But Never Jam Today".
Usage.
In more recent times, the phrase has been used to describe a variety of unfulfilled political promises on issues such as tax, and was used by C. S. Lewis in satirizing the extrapolation of evolution from biological theory to philosophical guiding principle, in his 1957 poem "Evolutionary Hymn":
John Maynard Keynes also makes use of the image of "never jam today" in order to portray vividly the tendency to excessive saving which may lead to economic stagnation:
British folk musician Billy Bragg uses it in his 1986 song "The Home Front":


Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts

The Springfield metropolitan area, also known as Greater Springfield, is a region that is socio-economically and culturally tied to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Springfield, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as consisting of three counties in Western Massachusetts. As of July 1, 2018, the metropolitan area's population was estimated at 631,982. Following the 2010 Census, there have been discussions about combining the metropolitan areas of Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut, into a greater Hartford–Springfield area, due to the region's economic interdependence and close geographic proximity (23.9 miles separate the cities' downtowns). Historically the Census has also identified the region as "Springfield–Chicopee–Holyoke, Mass.–Conn." as those cities were the area's population centers as recently as 1980; since that time the population has become further distributed, including new growth in Amherst, Westfield, and West Springfield, as well as Northern Connecticut. Greater Springfield is one of two combined statistical areas in Massachusetts, the other being Greater Boston.
An alternative system of measuring New England metropolitan areas was developed—called the New England city and town area (NECTA)—because, in New England, towns are a much more important level of government than counties. County government in New England is weak at best, and in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and most of Massachusetts, does not exist at all. In addition, major cities and surrounding towns are often much smaller in land area than in other parts of the United States. For example, the City of Springfield is 33.2 sq. miles, whereas the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is 298.9 sq. miles, nearly 10 times larger in land area than Springfield. Because of the huge discrepancy in land area, in general New England cities like Springfield feature much higher population densities. In addition, New England cities and towns have developed allegiances that transcend state borders; thus, cities in Connecticut are included in Springfield's NECTA. This system is thought to better approximate New England's metropolitan areas because it uses New England's geographically smaller building blocks. In Springfield's case, its NECTA consists of 51 additional cities and towns surrounding the city.
Demographics.
As of the census of 2010, there were 692,942 people, 269,091 households, and 168,758 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 81.10% White, 6.7% African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.6% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.4% of the population.
As of the census of 2000, there were 680,014 people, 260,745 households, and 167,924 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 83.50% White, 5.96% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.35% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.15% of the population. In the 2010 census, the metropolitan area had the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any metropolitan statistical area in the continental United States.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $42,195, and the median income for a family was $52,551. Males had a median income of $37,784 versus $28,404 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $20,633.
The median age for the MSA was 38.9 in 2010 overall, with a median age of 37.4 for males and 40.1 for females. The estimated median age in 2017 was 38.2 overall with a median age 36.6 for males and 39.6 for females. Among the 100 most populous MSAs in the United States, the Springfield metropolitan area had the 10th highest life expectancy in 2016 for the top quartile of income earners, adjusted for race and ethnicity, with an overall life expectancy of 87.2.
Transportation.
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) is the primary operator of public transportation services in the Springfield Metropolitan Area. Headquartered in Springfield, the PVTA maintains a fleet of approximately 174 buses, 144 vans, and "is the largest regional transit authority in Massachusetts." Founded in 1974 with the enactment of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 161B, the PVTA serves 24 member communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. Each member community pays an assessment fee to the PVTA based "on the number of miles served in that city or town." Alternative sources of revenue mostly originate from federal and state governments. The PVTA itself is governed by an advisory board.
Media.
The Springfield metropolitan area is tabulated by Nielen as the Springfield-Holyoke designated market area, and is the 111th largest television market in the United States, with viewership comparable to Tallahassee and Fort Wayne. The area's local news is characterized by 2 operations, the local NBC affiliate WWLP 22, and the consolidated WesternMassNews, representing CBS affiliate WSHM 3, joint ABC affiliate and FOX affiliate WGGB. In 2019 local NPR affiliate WFCR and PBS WGBY merged operations to form New England Public Media.


DoggoLingo

DoggoLingo, also referred to as doggotalk, woof, bork, and dog-speak, is an Internet language that is created from word conversion, meme lexicon, and onomatopoeia. DoggoLingo is implied to be a dog's own idiom, and is presented as what humans have long believed goes on in the canine brain. Elyse Graham, assistant professor at Stony Brook University, describes DoggoLingo as "upbeat, joyful, and clueless in a relentlessly friendly way".
Structure.
DoggoLingo appends various diminutive suffixes "-o", "-er", "-ino" to existing English words (e.g. "dog" turns into "doggo", "pup" turns into "pupper") as well as DoggoLingo words that have been created (e.g. "pupper" turns into "pupperino", "bork" turns into "borker"). DoggoLingo relies heavily upon onomatopoeia: Words such as "blep", "blop" and "mlem" describe the action of a dog sticking out its tongue; "bork", "boof", "woof" describe the various canine barking sounds. A dog with a fluffy coat may be called a "floof" or a "fluff". DoggoLingo follows a similar rudimentary style to create its verbs (e.g. "doin me a" in place of present participles, such as "doin me a scare" "scaring me") and adjectives (e.g. "heckin" in place of degree modifiers such as "extremely"). 'Heck' is frequently used in place of more conventional expletives. Some words also come from eye dialect spellings of English words, such as "fren" "friend".
Origin.
The exact origin of DoggoLingo is unknown. Various social media accounts such as WeRateDogs (Twitter), Dogspotting (Facebook), as well as social news aggregation and imageboard websites like 4chan, Reddit, or Tumblr have aided in popularizing the use of DoggoLingo by consistently using or hosting content that uses the lingo on their Internet pages. In 2014, the Dogspotting Facebook account gained popularity, especially in Australia where coincidentally adding "-o" to the end of words is also a feature of Australian slang.
Other animals.
Some other animals are referred to differently in DoggoLingo: One would refer to a snake as "snek" or "danger noodle", a human being as "hooman", a cat as "catto" (cf. "doggo"), a bird as "birb" etc.
Internet fan groups for other animals have adopted many of the conventions of DoggoLingo for their own related languages for their preferred animals (like "Posso" or "Poss-speak" for opossums). Lolcats may be a precursor to DoggoLingo. Many aspects of DoggoLingo have also been adopted into the slang terminology of the furry fandom, called “furspeech”.


Joe Bennett (dancer)

Joe Bennett (1889 - August 31, 1967) was an American vaudeville eccentric dancer. Harland Dixon described him as "[having] legs of iron ... He only had a few routines but they were gifts from heaven - the greatest comedy dancer I ever saw."
Biography.
He was born in 1889. He died on August 31, 1967 at Our Lady of Consolation in Amityville, New York, at age 78.


Reach out and touch someone


Alice Knott

Alice Knott is a 2020 novel by American author Blake Butler. The novel concerns the theft and destruction of a painting collection and its impact on the painting's original owner, the titular Alice Knott. In "The Nation", Brooks Sterritt wrote that the book "...resonates so strongly with life under lockdown", though noting that the book was completed before the 2020 pandemic.
Development and writing.
Butler's earliest inspiration for the book was a note written to himself reading “Corporation that buys and destroys art”. He was further inspired by the Thomas Pynchon novel "The Crying of Lot 49".
Reception.
Critics highlighted that the book could be challenging.


Noises Off (film)

Noises Off is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, with a screenplay by Marty Kaplan based on the 1982 play of the same name by Michael Frayn. Its ensemble cast includes Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Nicollette Sheridan, Julie Hagerty and Mark Linn-Baker, as well as featuring the last performance of Denholm Elliott, who died the same year.
Plot.
The film follows the rehearsal and performance of a dreadful farce called "Nothing On", a hit British show that is preparing for its American debut in Des Moines, Iowa, with a second-rate, Broadway-bound theatrical troupe under the direction of Lloyd Fellowes (originally named Lloyd Dallas in the play and portrayed by Caine). Among the cast members are fading star Dotty Otley (Burnett), hot-tempered and scatter-brained Garry Lejeune (Ritter), insecure matinee heartthrob Frederick Dallas (originally named Frederick Fellowes in the play and portrayed by Reeve), myopic leading lady Brooke Ashton (Sheridan), bubbly Belinda Blair (Henner), and alcoholic character actor Selsdon Mowbray (Elliott). Frantically working behind the scenes are Tim Allgood (Linn-Baker) and Poppy Taylor (Hagerty).
The film opens with the final dress rehearsal before opening night, with an unfinished set and the cast still forgetting lines, missing cues, and mishandling props. Fellowes is reduced to cajoling, yelling at, and pleading with them to get things right. Complicating matters are the personal problems and backstage relationships of the cast and crew, which are simmering under the surface during rehearsal but erupt into the open as the play works its way across the country en route to New York.
After the rehearsal, the film goes on to show two performances of the play, one a matinee in Florida in which the feuding cast are barely able to finish the first act, and another in Cleveland, which quickly degenerates into complete chaos and anarchy as none of the cast are able or willing to perform professionally. However, against all odds, they manage to sort out their personal differences and pull together for the Broadway debut, and the show becomes a massive hit.
Production.
According to original playwright Michael Frayn, he was asked by various British producers to adapt the stage play into a screenplay before the play opened in New York. "I was very eager to do it," he said, "but could not see any way for it to be done. In fact, (Bogdanovich's) movie is virtually the same as the play, with a new bit at the end and at the beginning. He's shot it with great bravura. Whether people will like it or not I don't know, but he's had a pretty good go at it."
Frayn said he suggested the characters be changed to Americans. "It would be easier, I felt, for an American producer to set it up with the American cast, and it would be better if their struggles with British accents and style were part of the action. This policy seems to me to have paid off handsomely—the film is most perfectly cast, with quite superlative comic actors."
Bodganovich originally offered the role played by Carol Burnett to Audrey Hepburn. Annie Potts was meant to be in the film but was in a car accident and had to be replaced by Marilu Henner. Filming began in May 1991.
Bogdanovich said his "intention was to get the audience on a kind of ride and not stop. Somebody once wrote a book about silent films called "Spellbound in Darkness". I like that phrase. That's the goal. When movies are at their best, they are spellbinding. They're like a dream. Orson Welles called them 'a ribbon of dreams.' And I think that's very accurate. If you can get everybody on your wavelength or on your dream, it's a wonderful feeling."
Retrospectively, Bogdanovich said, "I purposely kept a lower profile on this picture because I didn't want people writing about me and my career. I didn't want anything to distract from this movie." However, he added that the film was a personal project for him. ""Texasville" is about certain aspects of my life," he said. "But those characters are really Larry's characters. And I feel empathy and sympathy and interest in them as human beings. But I think I know the people in "Noises Off" better. They're more people I get along with -- the actors and the characters they play. They are people I've grown up with. I've been in show business since I was 15, and I really like actors. I like show people."
Release.
"I liked the film," said Frayn. "I couldn't see for the life of me beforehand how such an inherently theatrical confection could be made to work in the cinema, but I think Bogdanovich has brought it off." However, Frayn was unhappy with the film's happy ending and said the filmmakers insisted that "Nothing On" had to be a success. "I offered a dozen or so cinematic extrapolations of the final disaster," said Frayn, adding that Bogdanovich "argued forcefully and intelligently back. The play had in effect ended happily in the theater, he suggested, when the real actors came out all smiles for their curtain calls. Then again, in a film the audience empathized much more with the characters. People felt cheated if they didn't know what happened to them as individuals, and it was part of the aesthetic of popular cinema entertainment that things ended well."
Box office.
The film was not a box office success, earning less than $1 million in its opening week.
Critical reception.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. In his review in the "New York Times", Vincent Canby noted, "There are a number of hefty laughs scattered throughout . . . this woozy film adaptation" and added, ""Noises Off" is a practically perfect stage piece, constructed with such delicacy that any opportunistic adjustment can destroy it, which is what happens here . . . It may not even be Mr. Bogdanovich's fault. He hasn't opened up the play in any foolish way. There are even times when the camera successfully catches the tempo of the lunatic action without being overwhelmed by it. Yet too often the action and the dialogue are so fuzzily understood that the laughs are lost. The film's problem is more basic: the attempt to Americanize a fine English farce about provincial seediness. It can't be done."
Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" observed, "The performers all seem to be relishing this sendup, but we're always aware that it is a vehicle better suited to the stage."
In "The New Yorker", Michael Sragow said, "Most of the time, Bogdanovich sticks to Frayn's gleefully proscenium-bound play without making it work for the movies. The result is roughly equivalent to the pan and scan TV version of a wide-screen spectacle. Bogdanovich has cast actors you want to see . . . in a production that grows increasingly impossible to watch."
In his review of the video release, Lawrence O'Toole of "Entertainment Weekly" said, "Nothing is as murderous on a farce as film. Its mechanics can work beautifully from the distance of the stage . . . but the closeness of the home screen points up every flaw in Peter Bogdanovich's futile adaptation: anorectic visuals, bloated acting, broad timing, and often dull direction. The cast members . . . are all game, but it's exhausting watching actors try so hard."
"Time Out London" says the film "undoubtedly has its moments, but will still disappoint those who laughed themselves silly at the original."
Channel 4 notes, "Frayn's frenetic farce was always going to be a difficult act to pull off on the big screen, but Bogdanovich and an enthusiastic cast do their damnedest to sustain the mayhem and the momentum. Those who remember the original theatrical hit are bound to be disappointed by the lack of immediacy and the occasional sense of artifice, but this is perfectly serviceable."
Siskel & Ebert gave the film two thumbs down.
"Noises Off" holds a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on twenty-three reviews.


The Hitman and Her

The Hitman and Her was a British television dance music programme hosted by Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan. The programme was produced for Granada Television and ran from September 1988 until December 1992 on ITV's Night Network.
The show toured various nightclubs, broadcasting the music and dancing at the club. The programme was often recorded on a Saturday night, edited on-the-fly, and shown a few hours later in the early hours of Sunday morning. In this era many television channels stopped showing programs altogether in the early hours of the morning, "The Hitman and Her" was one of the first UK shows to broadcast regularly late at night.
Background.
The programme presented a taste of late-night clubbing, with long segments showing crowds dancing to popular hits, occasional celebrity performances, and party games, with Waterman and Strachan acting as masters of ceremony. The programme was sponsored by Eric Baskind's Ultimate Response Group.
The show toured various nightclubs. The first show came from Mr Smiths in Warrington on 3 September 1988, and the final show aired on 5 December 1992 from The Discothèque Royale in Manchester. The programme was often recorded on a Saturday night, edited on-the-fly, and shown a few hours later in the early hours of Sunday morning, the second half of the Saturday/Sunday version being repeated during the following night. The earlier shows were split into two halves: the first at 1am and the second at 4am, with the LWT's "Night Network" magazine show sandwiched in between. During 1988, "The Hitman and Her" was moved to 2am in some areas, while London still broadcast the show at 4am. "The Hitman and Her" remained at the 2am slot from April 1989 until its very last broadcast. A special edition of "The Hitman and Her" was broadcast as part of the ITV Telethon in 1992.
Clubbers would arrive at the featured club hoping to appear on television. Often members of the crowd would be plucked out to participate in games such as "Pass The Mic!", "Showing Out", and "Clothes Swap". It was produced for Granada Television at first by Music Box Productions, then by Granada TV itself, and later by Clear Idea Productions through to the final edition.
In "", Pete Waterman said that the idea for "The Hitman and Her" came to him when he turned on the TV late one night and the only TV station still on-air was featuring guest Elvis Costello talking about Irish politics.
Music.
The theme tune, "Cocoon", was performed by Timerider, a pseudonym of the German singer Fancy. The track also appeared in the film "The Fruit Machine", and Waterman also used it as the signature tune for his Saturday morning Radio City show. It is still today used as the theme tune for Barnsley F.C. and is played as the team comes out onto the pitch at every home game. Latterly, the show's theme tune changed to "Rofo's theme" by Rofo.
The show acted as both an outlet to showcase artists from the PWL stable – such as Kylie Minogue, 2 Unlimited, Anticapella, and Opus III, as well as featuring the key club tunes from the day – largely as a result of Waterman's interest in the fledgling acid house scene. Speaking to "The Guardian" in November 2013, Waterman explained "I loved acid house and trance. I just absolutely adored it." One track the show championed in particular was "Stakker Humanoid" by Brian Dougans, which Waterman described as "a Hitman and Her tune".
In April 1992, "The Hitman and Her" hosted a special show at the rave night "Energy" from The Eclipse, Coventry. Strachan would memorably comment that "It's too hot ... they've all got eyes like saucers...".
Stage dancers.
Clive Donaldson was the resident dancer. Jason Orange was invited to join Take That after appearing as a regular dancer, and former dancers Jimmy Constable and Spike Dawbarn would go on to be members of the boy band 911. Neil Rutherford (Damson) went onto further work on TV and stage.


William Baines

William Baines (26 March 1899 – 6 November 1922) was an English pianist and composer who wrote more than 150 works for solo piano and a number of larger orchestral works before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 23.
Life.
Born in Horbury near Wakefield, Yorkshire, Baines came from a musical family. His father was a cinema pianist and organist at a Primitive Methodist Chapel. Encouraged by his parents, Baines began piano lessons at a young age and had formal lessons at the Yorkshire Training College of Music in Leeds, although his later compositional style was largely self-taught. In 1913 the family moved to Cleckheaton and whilst there Baines attended Bradford Permanent Orchestral Society concerts and acquainted himself with the basic orchestral repertoire. The family moved to York in 1917 where, aged 18, Baines became a professional musician and gave his first public piano recital at which a number of his original compositions were heard. He wrote a symphony which was not performed until 1991.
In 1918 Baines was conscripted into the British Army during the last months of World War I. Within a fortnight of being called up, he was hospitalised due to septic poisoning. The war was over by the time he was discharged, and his health, already delicate, never fully recovered. He continued to compose and give recitals until a few months before his death, although his only major recital outside Yorkshire was in Bournemouth at the invitation of the conductor Sir Dan Godfrey in 1921.
Works.
Despite his youth, William Baines completed roughly 150 works, mostly in the genre of the piano miniature and he left a symphony, a poem for piano and orchestra and a number of chamber works. Many of his piano works are influenced by the natural world, and often have descriptive titles. Perhaps his best known works are the piano portrait "Goodnight to Flamboro'" and "The Lone Wreck" comprising the collection "Tides", named after Flamborough Head, the promontory on the Yorkshire coast. His "Seven Preludes" from 1919 are considered to be amongst his finest compositions. His Symphony in C minor was premiered by the Airedale Symphony Orchestra at the Grassington Festival in 1991.
Baines was the subject of a 90-minute drama written by Martyn Wade for BBC Radio 3 first broadcast in 1989, called "Goodnight to Flamboro, which traced the final months of his life. It was repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra in September 2011, June 2013 and April 2015. His piano works have twice been recorded by Eric Parkin – once for the Lyrita label, and later, a fuller selection on Priory. A number of Baines works (including some first recordings) have been recorded by Alan Cuckston, on Swinsty Records.


Ned Herrmann

William Edward "Ned" Herrmann (1922 – December 24, 1999) was an American creativity researcher and author, known for his research in creative thinking and whole-brain methods. He is considered the "father of brain dominance technology."
Biography.
At Cornell University, Herrmann majored in both physics and music in the Class of 1943. He continued to study at the Graduate Studies R.P.I., New York University.
After graduation Hermann became manager of Management Education for General Electric (GE) in 1970. His primary responsibility was to oversee training program design; specifically, maintaining or increasing an individual's productivity, motivation, and creativity.
In 1978, Herrmann created the "Herrmann Participant Survey Form." He profiled workshop participant's thinking styles and learning preferences in accord with brain dominance theory. This quickly evolved into a theory of stable brain quadrants, independent of brain anatomy facts, each with its own characteristic “genius.” He developed the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), the scored and analyzed Participant Survey, and designed the Applied Creative Thinking Workshop (ACT), which remains a leading personality assessment instrument and workshop topic in corporate training.
Herrmann's contributions brought him worldwide recognition. In 1992, he received the Distinguished Contribution to Human Resource Development Award from the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). In 1993, he was elected President of The American Creativity Association.
Work.
Herrmann was a pioneer in exploring, explicating and expanding understanding of the brain in close-up view as a four quadrant system. He was one of the first to ascertain, through testing, how individuals use or prefer one, two, three or all four possible brain quadrants. His approach to brain balance was to encourage experiments, use and exercise of weaker quadrants through live, in-person games, small group processes and discussion. This evolved into more and better ideas about whole-brainedness.
He spent 30 years from approximately 1964-1996, exploring and explicating Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument to teaching, learning, increased self-understanding and enhanced creative thinking capabilities, on both an individual and corporate level.
Selected publications.
Books:
Articles, a selection:


Philip Jeck

Philip Jeck (born 1952) is an English composer and multimedia artist whose work is best known for utilising antique turntables and vinyl records, along with looping devices and both analogue and digital effects. Initially composing for installations and dance companies, since 1995 he has released music on the UK label Touch. He has collaborated with artists such as Gavin Bryars, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit, David Sylvian, and Janek Schaefer.
Biography.
Philip Jeck studied Visual Arts at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, England. He became interested in record players after visiting New York in 1979 and being introduced to the work of DJs such as Walter Gibbons and Larry Levan. He began exploring composition using record players and electronics in the early 1980s. In his early career, he composed and performed scores for dance and theatre companies, including a five-year collaboration with Laurie Booth. He has also composed scores for dance films "Beyond Zero" on Channel 4 and "Pace" on BBC 2.
Jeck is perhaps best known for his 1993 work "Vinyl Requiem" with Lol Sargent, a performance for 180 Dansette record players, 12 slide-projectors and 2 movie-projectors which won the "Time Out" Performance Award in 1993. He signed to Touch in 1995, and has released his best known works on the label, including "Surf" (1998), "Stoke" (2002), and "7" (2003). In 2004, he collaborated with Alter Ego on a 2005 rendition of composer Gavin Bryars's "The Sinking of the Titanic". His 2008 album "Sand" was named the 2nd best album of that year by "The Wire". Much of his studio releases are pieced together from recordings of his own live performances and stitched together with a MiniDisc recorder.


Peggy Fears

Peggy Fears (June 1, 1903 – August 24, 1994) was an American actress, who appeared in Broadway musical comedies during the 1920s and 1930s before becoming a Broadway producer.
Theater.
Leaving New Orleans at the age of 16, she attended the Semple School. Yale University student Jock Whitney took her to the Richman Club where vocalist Helen Morgan heard her singing and encouraged her to attend auditions being conducted by Florenz Ziegfeld.
Beginning with "Have a Heart" (1917). Fears performed in ten Broadway productions, including the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1925". In Ziegfeld's "No Foolin" (1926) she appeared with Edna Leedom and the Yacht Club Boys plus a chorus line with Paulette Goddard, Susan Fleming, Clare Luce and Baby Vogt. By 1932, with "Child of Manhattan" (written by Preston Sturges), Fears became a Broadway producer. Her only motion picture appearance is the role of Gaby Aimee in "The Lottery Lover" (1935).
In 1971, Louise Brooks, a former lover to Fears by her own account, wrote for "Sight & Sound" about meeting Peggy Fears and W.C. Fields in 1925:
Marriages and relationships.
On June 19, 1927, she married Alfred Cleveland Blumenthal. As Broadway producers during the early 1930s, they co-produced "Music in the Air", written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. The show had a run of 342 performances in 1932-33.
Blumenthal earned $15 million during the first three years of their marriage. Fears purchased five Rolls-Royce autos and a $65,000 chinchilla coat, retaining only $300 in her bank account. The couple fought and split up. Eventually, they reunited and renewed their vows during three different marriage ceremonies. In 1950 Fears and Blumenthal separated permanently. Fears entertained in night clubs, and Blumenthal lived in Mexico.
Although she had been married, Fears is described by those who knew her as having been bisexual or lesbian, primarily preferring the company of women in her private life. According to actress Louise Brooks, she and Fears were involved with one another, but Brooks never allowed herself to let the affair develop into a serious relationship.
Death of mother.
In 1938, her mother was found dead from gas asphyxiation.
Real estate.
Fears built Fire Island Pines, New York's original Yacht Club. Part of the construction was a cinderblock hotel which still stands today. She invested $10,000 and bought an inlet on Great South Bay. In 1959, she paid off the last of her debt on her property. It was then valued at $350,000.
While a resident of Fire Island, she had a stormy romantic relationship with Tedi Thurman, famed in the 1950s as the sexy voice of Miss Monitor on NBC's "Monitor". Thurman was interviewed about her life with Fears for Crayton Robey's documentary film, "When Ocean Meets Sky" (2003), which features Sara Ramirez as the voice of Peggy Fears. In 1966 she sold out her interest to John B. Whyte.
Fears died August 24, 1994 at the age of 91 in La Crescenta-Montrose, California.


The Apes of God

The Apes of God is a 1930 novel by the British artist and writer Wyndham Lewis. It is a satire of London's contemporary literary and artistic scene.
The novel is set in 1926, leading up to the General Strike in May. It has an episodic structure, following a young simpleton called Dan Boleyn from one encounter with the literati to another. Dan follows the directions of an infatuated sixty-year-old albino, Horace Zagreus, who believes him to be a genius. The 'Apes of God' that he meets are imitators of true creators; they are characterised as "prosperous mountebanks who alternately imitate and mock at and traduce those figures they at once admire and hate." (p. 123) Zagreus is himself only the imitator of another character, Pierpoint, who appears to be the origin of all the ideas that circulate in the society depicted in the novel. Pierpoint, though often mentioned and often maligned, never appears in the novel. He is described as 'a painter turned philosopher' (p. 129), a description that could be applied to Lewis himself (his 1927 book, "Time and Western Man", contains a great deal of philosophical arguments).
Lewis's "enemies", such as his patron Sidney Schiff (and his wife), Edward Wadsworth (a fellow Vorticist) and John Rodker, along with members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Lytton Strachey, are clearly recognisable under fictional names and are treated with savage humour. The penultimate and longest chapter, 'Lord Osmund's Lenten Party' (over 250 pages), is a satirical account of a fancy-dress party held by three members of the 'Finnian Shaw' family, who are clearly modeled on the Sitwell family, Osbert, Edith and Sacheverell.
The political and cultural 'diagnosis' of England that the novel aspires to make is partly a development of the ideas put forward by Lewis in his 1926 book, "The Art of Being Ruled".


Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai

Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai () is a 2012 Hindi-language comedy film directed by Rajnish Thakur and produced by Narendra Singh. The film stars Sunil Shetty, Udita Goswami, Rajpal Yadav, and Om Puri amongst others. The film's title is adapted from a scene of "Om Shanti Om" featuring Shahrukh Khan saying "Picture abhi baki hai, mere dost (The film isn't over yet, my friend)" apparently. The movie was a disaster on box office.
Plot.
"Picture Abhi Baki Hai" is the journey of Amar Joshi (Sunil Shetty) who runs a video library in Benaras and aspires to be a film maker. Despite facing objection from his father Amar Joshi decides to sell his video library and joins a film Institute in London.
After completing his course he lands in the city of dreams "Mumbai" to make his film. Suraj (Rajpal Yadav) is a struggling actor doing bit roles in T.V. serials, who Is Amar's only connection in Bollywood.
Amar Joshi starts his struggle to make his film by meeting different type of producers who have their own take on Amar's story. After many failed attempts He finally bumps into Monty Chadda (Rakesh Bedi) a P.R. Publicity man who sees good potential in Amar and decides to produce his film.
Amar & Monty take help of star secretary Guptaji (Akhil Mishra) to convince Mohini (Udita Goswami) & her starry mother Mummyji (Neena Gupta) who agrees to do the film.
Amar's film starts, But is stalled all of a sudden when Monty suddenly disappears. Amar is summoned by Sudama Bhosle (Deepak Shirke) a don who was financing his film. He wants Amar to complete his film and also wants him to cast his girlfriend "Tina" (Mummait Khan) Amar reluctantly agrees as he has no option. But as luck would have it Sudama Bhosle is shot dead and Amar's film is stalled once again. Monty Chaddha resurfaces again and decides to make Amar's Film into a magnum opus. so a veteran silver jubilee writer Mr. Baig (Om Puri) is brought on board. Once in, Mr. Baig takes over the reins of the film from Amar and changes it into a totally different film.
What follows is a chain of events which gives the audience a never seen before insight into the modus operadi of how films are generally made in Bollywood. In a nutshell, "Picture Abhi Baki Hai" will take you on a wild journey inside the dreamy world of Bollywood where you will see the reality of the largest film industry of the world. It won't just make you laugh; it will make you appreciate the efforts of those who try to entertain you every minute.


Reality-based community

Reality-based community is a derisive term for people who base judgments on facts. It was first attributed to a senior official working for U.S. president George W. Bush by the reporter Ron Suskind in 2004. Many American liberals adopted the label for themselves, using it to portray themselves as adhering to facts in contradiction to conservatives presumably disregarding professional and scientific expertise.
Origin.
The phrase was attributed by journalist Ron Suskind to an unnamed official in the George W. Bush administration who used it to denigrate a critic of the administration's policies as someone who based their judgments on facts. In a 2004 article appearing in the "New York Times Magazine", Suskind wrote:
International relations scholar Fred Halliday writes that the phrase "reality-based community" (in contrast to "faith-based community") was used "for those who did not share [the Bush administration's] international goals and aspirations". The source of the quotation was guessed to be Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove, although Rove has denied saying it.
Reactions.
Political scientist and former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski characterized the encounter with the senior White House aide, as reported by Suskind, as exemplary of the "arrogance that swept the Bush White House". Journalist Steven Poole compared the phrase to Hannah Arendt's definition of totalitarian thinking, which she described as having "extreme contempt for facts".
Many American liberals adopted the term as a badge of honor. The words "[Proud to be a Member of the] Reality-Based Community" appeared on blogs and T-shirts. The term was used to mock the Bush administration's funding of faith-based social programmes, as well as a perceived hostility to professional and scientific expertise among American conservatives.
The phrase was given a second life by growth of so-called post-truth politics.


Beryl McBurnie

Beryl Eugenia McBurnie (2 November 1913 – 30 March 2000) was a Trinidadian dancer. She established the Little Carib Theatre, and promoted the culture and arts of Trinidad and Tobago as her life's work. She helped to promote the cultural legitimacy of Trinidad and Tobago that would ultimately arm its people to handle independence psychologically and healthily. McBurnie dedicated her life to dance, becoming one of the greatest influences on modern Trinidadian pop culture.
Early life.
At the age of eight years she was invited to recite the "Sycamore Tree" for a charity concert in the district. Soon after that she set about gathering children from the neighbourhood to form a group, which would present concerts. The first concert planned did not take place, but she and her friends tried again, borrowing chairs from neighbours. This time the performance was well appreciated and this successful venture encouraged her to continue.
Beryl McBurnie began dancing as a child, performing regularly in dances and plays at Tranquility Girls' School, Port-of-Spain. In her youth she performed Scottish reels, jigs, and other British folk dances that the teacher instructed. Though she appreciated their beauty, she yearned for more. In her teens, she decided to focus on promoting "the emotions of the folk, and which in some cases gave an insight into the history and the way of life of the ordinary people."
Rise to prominence.
On leaving Tranquility Girls School, McBurnie became a teacher and used this opportunity to engage in the extracurricular activities surrounding the preparation for school concerts, play productions and operettas. She danced at every opportunity that came her way, at the same time becoming quite accomplished at piano and in the use of voice.
She trained at Mausica Teachers' College and started her career teaching in Port-of-Spain. She instead decided to pursue her dream career in folk-dance after touring the country with Trinidad's leading folklorist, Andrew Carr. Many melodies and folk dances that would have been lost to Trinidad and Tobago were rescued by McBurnie and promoted in her dancing. In 1938, she enrolled at Teachers CollegeColumbia University in New York and studied dance with dance pioneer Martha Graham. McBurnie also worked with American modern dancer and choreographer Charles Weidman, African-American choreographer Katharine Dunham, and studied eurhythmics with Elisa Findlay - a student of Emile Jacques Dalcroze. McBurnie also taught Trinidadian dance at the New Dance Group
Beryl McBurnie was the first person to promote primitive and Caribbean dance. In 1938 when Katherine Dunham arrived in New York from Chicago, McBurnie taught her privately the rhythms and dances of the West Indies. During these sessions she taught Dunham ritual chants and from the Shango of Trinidad and dances such as the Bongo - a dance done at wakes - and Kalinda, a dance between two opponents using sticks in a mock battle.
In 1940, McBurnie enjoyed a brief return to Trinidad. She presented "A Trip Through the Tropics" at the Empire Theatre, Port of Spain. McBurnie combined Caribbean and Brazilian dances with interpretations of New York and modern dances, performed to the music of Wagner, Beethoven and Bach, to a packed audience. Her performances sold out.
She returned to New York in 1941 and stayed until 1945. During that time she began teaching classes in West Indian dance and she organized the material in an educational yet attractive package which she used in a series of lecture demonstrations and lecture recitals.
She also danced and sang with Sam Manning and his ensemble, in the production of the only known calypso "soundies," film clips made for film jukeboxes located in restaurants and bars.
She became a popular teacher at the New Dance Group, where in 1942 Pearl Primus was a student. Primus, like Katherine Dunham, studied West Indian dance from McBurnie and joined the group, which appeared at various venues in New York.
In 1941 McBurnie assumed a pseudonym name "La Belle Rosette" and performed professionally under that stage name. She was booked to perform at "coffee concerts" at the Museum of Modern Art by philanthropist Louise Crane, then a young theatrical agent. The poet Hilda Doolittle wrote a very positive review of her "coffee concert" showing. After her "coffee concert" performances, "La Belle Rosette" performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the 92nd Street Y alongside American dancers Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham. . In June 1942 McBurnie replaced Carmen Miranda in the hit Broadway musical revue "Sons o' Fun" at the Winter Garden Theatre. A review of her performance in the People voice of New York, a reporter wrote “Belle Rosette the talented Trinidadian performer scheduled to take Carmen Miranda’s role in the hit show Son O’Fun...amply proved to an enthusiastic audience at the Y.M.H.A on Sunday evening, that she has ‘what it takes’-in the Broadway parlance."
Between 1942 and 1945, McBurnie made several appearances at places such as Hunter College, Henry Street Settlement Playhouse in New York, Madison Square Gardens, The Village Gate and New York City College.
During that time, she also completed two further study periods at Columbia, where she studied Dramatic Arts, Painting, Music and other Creative Arts courses that she considered important for her work.
 The following year, she made a film appearance with the Trinidadian vocalist Sam Manning in "Quarry Road".
Creation of The Little Carib Theatre.
McBurnie left the United States in 1945 at the height of her popularity in New York to become a dance instructor with the Trinidad and Tobago government's Education Department in 1945. In 1948 she established the first permanent folk-dance company and theatre in Trinidad. Her first show was "Bele" (pronounced Bay-lay) pre-carnival 1948 at her newly opened Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, Port of Spain. Paul Robeson laid the cornerstone of the building during a tour of the Caribbean in 1948. Among the many highlights of her work from this period were "Talking Drums"; "Carnival Bele", in which the j'ouvert ballet danced to a steel band; "Sugar Ballet"; "Caribbean Cruise"; and "Parang". She is considered to be one of the foremothers of Parang music.
By the 1960s, the work of the Little Carib Dance Company had been recognised and celebrated overseas, performing at such events as the Caribbean Festival of Arts in Puerto Rico in 1952, the Jamaica Tercentenary Celebrations in 1955 and the opening of the Federal Parliament of Toronto in April 1958. In fact, the celebration in Canada in 1958 would influence the way Caribbean culture was understood in Canada. Her performances in Canada helped pave the way for Canada's Caribana festival in the 1960s. In 1965 the Little Carib building, no longer safe in Port-of-Spain, had to be closed down and was re-built in three years. However the permanent dance troupe had disbanded and McBurnie instead focused her energies on teaching children.
Recognition and passing.
In 1950 McBurnie was appointed the director of dance in the Education Department. The British Council sent her on a dance tour of England and Europe. In 1959 she was appointed OBE, and in 1969 she was presented with the Hummingbird Gold Medal of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976 the University of the West Indies conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and in America in 1978 she was honoured along with Katharine Dunham and Pearl Primus at the Twentieth Anniversary Gala of the Alvin Ailey Theater. In 1989, McBurnie received the Trinity Cross, the highest national award in Trinidad and Tobago then, for Promotion of the Arts. She died on 30 March 2000.


Double X (feminist art collective)

From 1975 and 1985 Double X was active as an artist collective, their aim was to expand the visibility of art made by women.
The work shown by Double X was not only the work by their members but also by other women, established as well as emerging. One can find many perspectives which are now considered to be the foundation of the feminist art movement within Double X's founding statement.
"“We are committed to expanding the notion of what is considered art . . . .We recognize a pluralistic art that is both stylistically diverse and expressive of a variety of points of view in a framework such that although different modes may conflict with one another, they do not negate one another."”
However Double X has been left out of many history books while their legacy is 'incontournable'.
Double X comprised members such as: Faith Wilding, Audrey Chan, Barbara McCullough, Micol Hebron, Nancy Youdelman, Merion Estes, Connie Jenkins, Carol Kaufman, Rachel Rosenthal, Nancy Buchanan, Jan Lester Martin, Nancy Webber, Marsia Alexander-Clarke, Vanalyne Green, Diane Calder, Mayde Herberg, Judith Simonian, Rachel Youdelman, Vaughan Rachel.


Eric Emerson

Eric Emerson (June 23, 1945 – May 28, 1975) was an American musician, dancer, and actor. Emerson is best known for his roles in films by pop artist Andy Warhol, and as a member of the seminal glam punk group the Magic Tramps.
Career.
Growing up in New Jersey, Emerson trained as a classic ballet dancer. It was this talent that caught the eye of artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol. After seeing Emerson dancing at The Dom in April 1966, Warhol asked Emerson to be in one of his underground films. Emerson made his film debut in 1967's "Chelsea Girls", and soon became a Factory regular. Emerson starred in other Warhol films, most notably "Lonesome Cowboys", "San Diego Surf", and "Heat". "Heat" would be Emerson's last film.
Emerson began his musical career with The Magic Tramps. The band, which began in Hollywood in 1969, relocated to New York City in 1971 after Emerson joined as lead vocalist. The Magic Tramps played under various names, including Messiah and Star Theater, and played gigs at Max's Kansas City, a favorite hangout among Factory regulars. They were one of the early bands to play at CBGB. Later that year, Emerson appeared in Jackie Curtis' play "Vain Victory: Vicissitudes of the Damned", with Ondine, Holly Woodlawn, and Candy Darling, and music by the Magic Tramps and Lou Reed.
Album cover lawsuit.
When the debut album of "The Velvet Underground and Nico" was first issued, the main back cover photo (taken at an Exploding Plastic Inevitable performance) featured an image of Emerson projected upside-down on the wall behind the band. Emerson threatened to sue over this unauthorized use of his image unless he was paid.<ref name="33 1/3"></ref> Rather than complying, MGM recalled copies of the album and halted its distribution until Emerson's image could be airbrushed from the photo on subsequent pressings. Copies that had been printed were sold with a large black sticker covering the actor's image. The image was restored for the 1996 CD reissue.
Personal life.
Emerson's bisexuality was well known within Warhol's circle and he had relationships with many of the Factory regulars. When Emerson's father accused his son of being "a little sweet", Emerson responded by saying, "What he don't understand is that my generation can swing both ways". On July 21, 1969, Emerson agreed to marry Warhol superstar, Jackie Curtis. When Emerson failed to show up, Curtis married a wedding guest. The wedding, which was a publicity stunt arranged by Curtis, was covered by "The Village Voice".
Emerson has two children from two prior relationships. He had a son, Branch Emerson, with Stilettos singer Elda Gentile. In 1970, he and model and actress Jane Forth, who appeared in Warhol's "Women in Revolt", "L'Amour", "Trash", and "Bad", had a son named Emerson Forth. At the time of his death, Emerson was living with Barbara Winter, ex-wife of musician Edgar Winter.
Death.
On May 28, 1975, Emerson's body was found next to his bicycle, near the West Side Highway in Manhattan. Emerson's death is listed officially as a hit and run. He was 29 years old. To date, no one has been arrested or charged in connection with his death. Following a weekend-long wake hosted by Max's Kansas City owner Mickey Ruskin, Emerson was buried in Wharton, New Jersey.
After Emerson's death, various reports surfaced that he was not killed in a hit and run accident, but overdosed on heroin in a different location, and was dumped as a staged hit and run. These reports have never been substantiated, and Emerson's official cause of death never has been changed.
In the book "Making Tracks", Debbie Harry provided an account of the circumstances surrounding Emerson's death:
One night we were over at Eric's apartment working on a tape of "Heart of Glass" on his Teac four-track tape recorder, when he suddenly staggered out of the kitchen looking ashen. He looked even more distraught and sad when we left. Being satisfied drove him crazy in the end, because he had everything so he didn't care about anything anymore. He used to go out jogging every day, and did feats of physical endurance like strapping twenty-pound weights to each ankle and then bicycling up to the Factory. The next day we were sitting around the house just after we woke up when Barbara called with the bad news. "Oh, Eric got hit by a truck." He had been a good friend and inspiration to so many people. We didn't quite understand what had happened, but we went up to a party/wake held for him and saw a lot of people from the earlier glitter days. Eric's death definitely marked an end to the glitter period. We still miss him.


Wormwood (Moe album)

Wormwood is an album by Moe. It was released on February 4, 2003 by Fatboy Records.
"Wormwood" is considered an interesting album for the way it was recorded. The band took live recordings of their new songs from various Summer 2002 shows onward and interlaced them with studio takes. For this reason, there are sometimes cheers of the crowd evident (such as during the beginning of "Bullet"). Additionally, the album can be viewed as one seamless track, with the instrumental tracks bridging the gaps (segues) into the next.
2004 Jammy Award winner for best studio album.
Personnel.
moe.:

Becca Childs Derhak: art direction, cover design

Scott Elmquist: photography

Bill Emmons: engineer, mixing

Fred Kevorkian: mastering

Mike Lapierre: assistant engineer


Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation


Nelson Barclift

Edgar Nelson Barclift (September 14, 1917 – March 11, 1993) was an American choreographer and dancer. As a member of the United States Army's Theatre Section during the Second World War, he was the co-choreographer and principal dancer of Irving Berlin's "This Is The Army" (1942). He choreographed the musical "Around the World" (1946). He became the romantic partner of the composer and songwriter Cole Porter in the early 1940s.
Early life.
Edgar Nelson Barclift was born on September 14, 1917, in Hopewell, Virginia.
Career.
Barclift found work as a dancer in Kurt Weil's 1937 opera "The Eternal Road" but the production was postponed as a result of designer Norman Bel Geddes striking water while creating a replica of a mountain at the Manhattan Opera House. Due to the postponement Barclift was able to attend the Bennington School of the Dance in 1937; while there he studied with Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Martha Graham. He returned to New York City in the autumn to resume work on "The Eternal Road". In 1939 Barclift danced at the World's Fair in New York. His first solo work was in Rodgers and Hart's "Too Many Girls" (1939).
With the entry of the United States into the Second World War, Barclift joined the United States Army in 1942 and was stationed at West Point and Fort Jay, where he was a part of the army's Theatre Section. A romance developed between Barclift and the songwriter Cole Porter during the latter's work on the 1942 musical "Something for the Boys". Porter would regularly write to Barclift; often at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning while he was working on songs. Porter's letters often contained Hollywood gossip and flirtatious epithets. Porter addressed Barclift as his "cute little nose". Barclift later said that "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" was his and Porter's 'song'.
Barclift wrote an article titled "Dancer – In the Army" for "The American Dancer" magazine in 1942 about his military service in the ongoing war. Porter wrote to Barclift with gossip and recommendations of friends to see when Barclift was stationed in Italy during the war.
Barclift was the principal dancer and co-choreographer of Irving Berlin's "This is the Army" (1942). He was the choreographer of the musical "Around the World" (1946). "Around the World" was produced and directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the book for the musical. It was composed by Porter. "This is the Army" ran at the Broadway Theater; the subsequent success of the musical saw it being made into a film of the same name. Barclift also played the dancer Zorina in the show.
Recollections.
The dancer Dorothy Bird recalled dancing with Barclift in her 2002 memoir "Bird's Eye View", describing him as a "happy-go-lucky lighthearted dancer" who was "very proud of his native American Indian heritage". Bird described Barclift's physique as "tall and loose-limbed" and related that he was "open and generous in his movements". Barclift and Bird auditioned for the musical "Lady in the Dark", showing their prepared act for the show to the show's choreographer, Albertina Rasch. Bird related in her memoir that Rasch simply appropriated her and Barclift's dance for the show without asking their permission, a common practice at the time. Barclift was drafted into the United States Army during the run of "Lady in the Dark", and once surprised Bird by taking his place to dance with her in the musical while on temporary leave.
Barclift is mentioned by Christopher Isherwood in his diary entry for April 15, 1968, when he visits Isherwood and asks him to be in a television programme with Laura Huxley.
Death.
Barclift died on March 11, 1993, aged 76, in Palm Springs, California, after a long illness.


Laughing Matters

Laughing Matters is the longest-running improvisational comedy troupe in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Formed in 1985, the troupe has since branched out and now provides a wide variety of audience interactive entertainment, including murder mysteries, team building, and children’s performances.
Laughing Matters performs both public and private shows at venues that include the Alliance Theatre, Dave & Busters, and the Fox Theatre. They perform improv comedy monthly at a public show at Manuel's Tavern (founded by prominent Atlanta politician Manuel Maloof).
Colleges where Laughing Matters have performed include Emory University, Georgia Tech, and the University of Georgia. Corporate clients include the 1996 Paralympic Organization Committee, BusinessWeek, Coca-Cola, IBM, and the March of Dimes.
For several years, members of Laughing Matters have portrayed clients and witnesses for the National Criminal Defense College in a program designed to sharpen the skills of defense lawyers. The National Criminal Defense College is held in Macon, Georgia adjacent to Mercer Law School.


Lylas

 Dating back to the 80s, elementary friends started using the term "LYLAS" (Love You Like A Sister) when sending correspondence in classes. This correspondence is not found in today's classrooms.
Historically, kids used pen, or pencil, and paper. Thumb strains were not as common as they are with today's teens. More hand strains and cramping were an issue, so creating clever acronyms to display ones feelings were becoming more and more popular.


The Way to Paradise

The Way to Paradise () is a novel published by Mario Vargas Llosa in 2003.
The novel is a historical double biography of Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin and his grandmother Flora Tristan, one of the founders of feminism. The book is divided into 22 chapters, each alternating narratives of Flora Tristan and Paul Gauguin, the grandson she never knew as he was born after she died. Flora Tristan, illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Peruvian man and a French woman, is repelled by sex, detests her husband, and abandons him to then later fight for women's and workers' rights. The story of Paul Gauguin unfolds along a similar quest for an ideal life. Gauguin abandons his wife and children, and job as a stock-broker in Paris, to pursue his passion for painting. In the process he does his best to distances himself from European civilization, fleeing to Tahiti and French Polynesia for inspiration. The contrasts and similarities between two lives attempting to break free from conventional society present a long, elegant development.
Translations.
Written in Spanish the English translation was by Natasha Wimmer and was published by Faber and Faber in 2004.
The French translation by Albert Bensoussan is called "Le Paradis, un peu plus loin".
It has also been translated into German by Elke Wehr as "Das Paradies ist anderswo". In Spanish, the book's title literally means: "The Paradise in the Other Corner".
In Bulgarian, the title is "Рая зад другия ъгъл".
Awards and honors.
The "New York Times" listed "The Way to Paradise" as a Notable Book of the Year. In 2010, Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize in Literature.


CTTOI


The Five Red Herrings

The Five Red Herrings (also The 5 Red Herrings) is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title "Suspicious Characters".
Foreword.
The novel includes a foreword in the form of a personal letter from the author "To my friend Joe Dignam, kindliest of landlords". The letter starts "Here at last is your book about Gatehouse and Kirkcudbright. All the places are real places and all the trains are real trains, and all the landscapes are correct, except that I have run up a few new houses here and there".
Plot.
The novel is set in Galloway, a part of Scotland popular with artists (Kirkcudbright Artists' Colony) and fishermen. Sandy Campbell is a talented painter, but also a notoriously quarrelsome drunkard. When he is found dead in a stream, with a still-wet half-finished painting on the bank above, it is assumed that he fell in accidentally, fracturing his skull. Lord Peter Wimsey, who is in the region on a fishing holiday, suspects murder when he realises that something is missing from the scene which makes it impossible for Campbell to have worked on the painting. Sayers includes a parenthetical note at this point: "Here Lord Peter Wimsey told the Sergeant what he was looking for and why, but as the intelligent reader will readily supply these details for himself, they are omitted from this page". A local doctor believes that the degree of rigor mortis suggests that Campbell died during the previous night.
Whoever killed Campbell also executed the painting in Campbell's distinctive style, to contrive the appearance of an accident. Six artists in the area are talented enough to achieve this: Farren, Strachan, Gowan, Graham, Waters and Ferguson. All had recent public brawls with Campbell. One of the six is the criminal, and five are red herrings.
All the suspects behave suspiciously: some leave the district without explanation, others give obviously inaccurate statements or conceal facts. Wimsey investigates, with some assistance from his friend in London, Charles Parker. The task of identifying the culprit is made more difficult because of the complexities of the local train timetables, the easy availability of bicycles, and the resultant opportunities for the murderer to evade notice.
All six suspects are eventually traced and give statements in which they deny killing Campbell, but none are entirely satisfactory. The Procurator Fiscal, the Chief Constable and the investigating police officers meet with Wimsey to review the evidence. The police put forward several theories, implicating all of the suspects either as killer or as accessory. Asked for his opinion, Wimsey finally reveals that the true killer was in fact Ferguson, the only one of the artists who while painting often kept spare tubes of paint in his pocket and who absentmindedly pocketed a tube of white while creating the faked painting. It was the absence of that tube that Wimsey had noted at the start. The police are sceptical, but Wimsey offers a reconstruction, and over the course of twenty-four hours demonstrates how the killer contrived the scene above the stream and also established a false alibi.
Ferguson confesses, but states that Campbell's death happened accidentally during a fight, and was not murder. When the case is tried, the jury brings in a verdict of manslaughter, with a strong recommendation to mercy on the ground that "Campbell was undoubtedly looking for trouble".
Literary significance and criticism.
The first edition was reviewed in "The Spectator" of 1931 by MI Cole who found the impregnable alibis of the rather indistinguishable artist suspects, and the elaborate examination of timetables, ticket punches and so on, to be really taxing to the intelligence. He noted that Lord Peter Wimsey and the author's usual pleasant fantasies have retired into the background leaving a "pure-puzzle" book which is disappointing, dry, and dull. He acknowledged, however, that it has been appreciated immensely by puzzle fanatics who possess "the type of mind that goes on solving crossword puzzles for ever and ever".
In their review of Crime novels (revised edn 1989), the US writers Barzun and Taylor called "The 5 Red Herrings" "A work that grows on rereading and remains in the mind as one of the richest, most colorful of her group studies. The Scottish setting, the artists in the colony, the train-ticket puzzle, and the final chase place this triumph among the four or five "chefs d'oeuvre" from her hand".
Adaptations.
"The Five Red Herrings" was adapted for television in 1975 as part of a series starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter and Glyn Houston as Bunter. It has also been dramatised for BBC Radio with Carmichael as Lord Peter and Peter Jones as Bunter.


Leon Danielian

Leon Danielian (31 October 1920 – 8 March 1997) was an American ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and educator. As guest artist with ballet companies around the world, he became one of the first American male dancers to achieve international recognition.
Early life and career.
Leon Danielian, born in New York City, was the son of Armenian immigrants Frank and Varsik (Coolidganian) Danielian. As a child, he took private ballet classes with Madame Seda Suny, a well-known Armenian dance teacher, and later continued his studies under Mikhail Mordkin, Michel Fokine, Igor Schwezoff, and Vecheslav Swoboda. He made his debut with the Mordkin Ballet in 1937, became a charter member of Ballet Theatre in 1939, and appeared, briefly, with Colonel Wassily de Basil's Original Ballet Russe in 1941. He also danced in Broadway musicals during these early years. In 1943 he joined Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as a soloist and remained with that company until 1961, having become a "premier danseur" with an unusually wide repertory. Admired for his classical technique as well as his gift for comedy, he made many guest appearances with other companies, among them Les Ballets de Champs-Élysées, as partner to Yvette Chauviré, and San Francisco Ballet, which toured internationally.
Technique and style.
Danielian was a virtuoso dancer, possessing a buoyant technique and a noble carriage in princely roles in classic ballets. His clean, incisive "batterie" (jumps in which the feet quickly cross and the legs beat together) made him an ideal performer of such sparkling roles as the Bluebird in "The Sleeping Beauty" as well as showpiece solos in "Swan Lake" and "Raymonda". He often partnered ballerina Ruthanna Boris, having originated bravura roles in her ballets "Cirque de Deux" (1947) and "Quelques Fleurs" (1948). In 1949, in recognition of his classical technique and strong stage presence, Danielian was the recipient of the Dance Magazine Award for best male dancer of the 1948–1949 season.
With a ready wit and mischievous sense of humor, Danielian also excelled in "demi-caractère" roles such as Harlequin in "Le Carnaval", the Blackamoor in "Night Shadow", the First Cadet in "Graduation Ball", and, especially, the Peruvian in "Gaîté Parisienne". After Léonide Massine left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1943, Danielian inherited the role of the excited Peruvian tourist and became closely identified with it. Over time he altered the original choreography to suit his personal style and invented new mannerisms for comic effect, virtually re-creating the character. He was much admired in the role and was said by many to have exceeded the characterization of the originator.
While still performing with Ballet Russe, Danielian turned his attention to choreography and made three ballets for the company: "Sombreros" (1956), set to Mexican folk tunes orchestrated by Ivan Boutnikoff; "The Mazurka" (1957), to music by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Strauss, arranged by Boutnikoff; and "Espaňa" (1961), to music by Breton, Chapel, and Granados. All three were lighthearted works with inventive choreography requiring both technical brilliance and comedic flair from their dancers, characteristics of Danielian's own performing style.
Later life and career.
In his late thirties, debilitated by arthritis, Danielian gave up performing and devoted himself to teaching. He taught technique classes, men's classes, and partnering classes at the Ballet Russe School in New York in the early 1960s, and from 1968 to 1980 he was director of American Ballet Theatre School. There he not only taught classes but was an effective leader of the faculty and administrator of the school. In 1982 he became director of the dance program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named a professor of fine arts. Although he had never graduated from high school, he prized learning and was well versed in art, theater, and dance history. He thus fit very well in a university setting. Although he suffered from the effects of a hip replacement, a heart operation, and a stroke in his later years, he continued teaching until his retirement in 1991. A dance studio at the university is named in his honor.


Marietta Piekenbrock

Marietta Piekenbrock (born 1964 in Westfalen) is a German art curator, dramaturge, author and a cultural manager.
Her projects combine theatre, dance, performances and music with cultural history, architecture and everyday life. As an artistic manager of the Cultural Capital of Europe RUHR.2010 and Istanbul.2010, and for the Ruhrtriennale 2012-14, she invited international artists and curators to collaborate with the local cultural participants and players on developing new artistic projects in areas of radical social change. Her programmes of events and initiatives made a strong case for sustainable cultural practice. Her 2012 series of events "No Education" promoted a new discourse on the relationship between art, children and education.
Life.
Piekenbrock studied Theatre, Philosophy and Art history in Aix-en-Provence, Munich and Paris with Julia Kristeva
where she first worked as an author, curator and translator. In subsequent years she collaborated closely working theatres, museums, galleries, archives and publishers generating exhibitions, installations and artist's book. From 2000 she was active as an independent journalist for various newspapers and periodicals, from 2003–2003 as drama critic for the daily 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'. 2004–2007 she worked for the RuhrTriennale as a dramaturg under general director Jürgen Flimm. 2007 she joined the administration of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 as a head of music, theatre, dance and performance programming. The composer and intendant Heiner Goebbels invited her to become leading dramaturg for the Ruhrtriennale 2012-2014. Marietta Piekenbrock lives in Essen, and is mother to three children.
European Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010/ European Capital of Culture Istanbul.2010.
She worked intensively with many important artists such as Hans Werner Henze, who wrote his last opera, Gisela! For the RUHR.2010 (an opera for and about youth, premiered at the RuhrTriennale)., the Pottfiction festival, the Odyssee Europa project which involved six theaters of the Ruhrgebiet area performing modern versions of Homer's Odyssey in two days. and artist groups like Rimini Protokoll and raumlaborberlin.
Ruhrtriennale.
Patti Smith, Michel Houellebecq, Harun Farocki, Tarek Atoui, Jérôme Bel, Boris Charmatz, Tino Sehgal, Laurent Chétouane, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Rimini Protokoll, Köbberling & Kaltwasser, Mischa Kuball and Dan Perjovschi are some of the international artists and artist groups Piekenbrock invited to the Ruhr area, in whose artistic work Piekenbrock sees "The deeply poignant reflection of change, that society and individuals experience in modern times".
Jury Memberships.
Piekenbrock is a member of various specialist juries, including


Joe Russo (musician)

Joe Russo (born December 18, 1976) is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur (featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead). He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
Musical career.
Russo's drumming is fierce and complex (he has been nicknamed "The Madness" and "Octo-Russo" by fans). His Roland SPD-S sampler is often used for electronic drum samples, which play an important role in many of The Duo's compositions, such as "Welcome Red", "Becky", and "My Pet Goat". Two songs appearing on "Play Pause Stop", "Memphis" and "Powder", were written by Russo and feature his guitar playing.
Russo has twice won the New Groove award at the Jammys, in 2000 and 2005. In the summer of 2006 he was the drummer in a collaboration with Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and Marco Benevento (sometimes referred to as GRAB or Mike & the Italians).
During the fall of 2008, Russo traveled to London to record an album with the band Younger Brother.
In December 2008, Russo joined Ween front man Gene Ween and fellow Bustle In Your Hedgerow band mates Scott Metzger and Dave Dreiwitz for a short east coast tour with an outfit called the Gene Ween Band. On this tour, Joe played his "house kit," which notably includes a rare 30-inch bass drum purchased off of eBay.
In Fall 2009, Russo joined Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti and John Kadlecik (from Dark Star Orchestra) to form the band Furthur. Jay Lane left Furthur in March 2010 to rejoin Primus, and Russo continued to tour with the band as their sole drummer until they disbanded in November 2014.
In 2013 Joe Russo formed a band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead with Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz, Marco Benevento on keyboards and Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton on vocals and guitars. Joe Russo's Almost Dead interpret the music of the Grateful Dead. The project was originally conceived for the Freaks Ball, an annual party hosted by the NYC-Freaks music community.
Russo has recorded multiple albums with Craig Finn of the Hold Steady
Personal life.
On September 17, 2011, Joe married Pooja Raj.


Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples

"Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series "Community", and the 30th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on October 21, 2010. The episode's plot surrounds a religious film created by Greendale Community College student Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi).
Plot.
The episode begins with Ian Duncan incompetently pretending to teach anthropology by showing viral videos from YouTube. The students are excited by the crude videos, until Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) brings the class down by asking what videos can be found by searching for "God." Later, Shirley asks Abed to make a viral video promoting a Christian message, but he's not interested. Meanwhile, Pierce (Chevy Chase) grows tired of being mocked by his younger friends, and starts hanging out with a group of elderly scofflaws called the "Hipsters," named for the fact that they've all had hip replacements.
Abed finds Shirley in the library, and tells her he's read the entire New Testament at her earlier suggestion. Abed is drawn to the story and the character of Jesus , but he wants to approach it in a new way and envisions a "Jesus movie for the post-post-modern world". Unfortunately for Shirley, Abed's idea is an impenetrable story about a filmmaker exploring Jesus, involving the filmmaker realizing that he is in some way Jesus and the camera is God, starring Abed and called "ABED". Shirley is not impressed, and she disassociates herself from the project.
The Hipsters are betting on poker while drinking liquor; Leonard advises Pierce to pretend that they're playing bingo if they're caught. Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) walks in and Pierce convinces him to allow the game to continue by pretending to be befuddled due to age. Pierce's ruse earns him the respect of his peers, presenting a contrast to how the study group views him.
Shirley continues in her mission, convincing Troy and reluctant atheist Britta to help with her Jesus rap video. They are interrupted by Abed, who has convinced the student body that they are part of something important. Out on the lawn the students are all gathered around Abed as he continues filming his epic. Enraptured Greendale students discussing the film and flock to Abed to ask questions about his work. When Shirley protests, the other students accuse her of being a Pharisee, and she runs off.
Troy alerts the rest of the study group to Pierce's late-night shenanigans with the Hipsters. Pierce and Leonard are drinking out of paper bags when Dean Pelton emerges from his Prius with Shirley—leaving his keys behind. Pierce is talked into a drunken joyride in the dean's car with the other Hipsters. The Hipsters crash at extremely low speed into a light pole due to one of their members' sudden genuine confusion. Pierce stays with his fellow, as the other Hipsters run off. In the cafeteria, the dean explains that Shirley has filed an official complaint on the grounds of separation of church and state but is convinced by Abed that his film is not about Jesus, as it is allegorical.
Abed realizes in post-production that his film is a "self-indulgent, adolescent mess" which will ensure that he never has a real career. He prays to God to save him from himself which Shirley overhears. She destroys the equipment with a baseball bat, ensuring that Abed's film will never be seen.
Jeff, after being called by the administration, reluctantly comes to collect Pierce and learns that Leonard only acts this way because his kids abandoned him. In anthropology class again, Abed convinces the professor to show the film Shirley had imagined, which he had unbeknownst to her completed - a video of Troy rapping about Jesus.
Cultural references.
Director and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is mentioned more than once in the episode. The dialogue between Abed and Shirley about film within a film resembles Kaufman's film "Synecdoche, New York".
Troy's rap video at the end of the episode is a clear nod towards the song "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West as well as perhaps to Donald Glover's burgeoning career as his rap persona Childish Gambino.
Reception.
Around 4.46 million Americans watched "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples".
Emily VanDerWerff of "The A.V. Club" rated the episode A, citing the fact that the show's structure creates believable opportunities for people with different beliefs to interact and engage with one another. She also focuses approvingly on the fact that Shirley and Pierce, unlikely comedic heroes, are given the reins in this particular episode.


Katarzyna Kozielska

Katarzyna Kozielska is a Polish ballet choreographer.
Biography.
Katarzyna Kozielska was born in Zabrze, Poland. She received her first ballet training at the State Ballet School in Beuthen. In 1999, she attended the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart from which she graduated one year later.
In 2000/01, Kozielska joined the Stuttgart Ballet as an apprentice. She was taken into the Corps de ballet in 2001/02 and promoted to Demi-Soloist in 2006/07. In Stuttgart she has danced a wide variety of classical, neo-classical and contemporary works.
She made her first steps as a choreographer at the Stuttgart-based Noverre Society's Young Choreographers Evening in July 2011 with "Der richtige Ort" which was celebrated by the audience and critics. One year later her second choreography "Blender" followed. In celebration of John Cage’s 100th birthday, Stuttgart Ballet Artistic Director Reid Anderson commissioned Katarzyna Kozielska to create choreography for "Child of Tree", a co-production with the Young Opera of the Stuttgart State Theatre.
In 2012, she was also named as “Young Choreographer to watch” in the dance magazine "Tanz".
In January 2013, she choreographed "Symph" for the Noverre Society. In the season 2013/14 the work was taken into the Stuttgart Ballet repertory. Her as yet, not named, commissioned work for BalletNext, premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2013, followed by "Anima" for a gala in Riga, Latvia. The pas de deux "Bite" and the ensemble piece "A.Memory" were commissioned by Reid Anderson for the Stuttgart Ballet. For "A.Memory" she collaborated with celebrated American artist Janet Echelman, one of whose sculptures formed the breathtaking set.
For the gala of the German Dance Prize in March 2015, Kozielska created the solo "Limelight" for prize winner Elisa Badenes, principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet.
For principal dancer Anna Osadcenko she choreographed the solo "Crunched" for the 20th Anniversary Gala of the Birgit Keil Foundation. Also in 2015, she created "Firebreather" for principal dancer Daniel Camargo; the solo had its world premiere in Prague at a gala organized by Filip Barankiewicz, designated Director (as of 2017) of the Czech National Ballet.
For March 2016, Artistic Director Reid Anderson has commissioned a new work from Kozielska for the Stuttgart Ballet.
On April 29, 2016 "Firebreather" has been performed at the YAGP Stars Gala.


United Colours of Benetton


ITYM


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