John Lachs

John Lachs is the Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, where he has taught since 1967. Lachs received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1961. His primary focus is on American philosophy (he has written a book and several articles on George Santayana) and German Idealism.
Biography.
John Lachs was born in Budapest, Hungary on July 17, 1934. He emigrated to Canada as a child, and he received his B.A. and M.A. from McGill University in 1956 and 1957. At Yale University, he wrote a dissertation on the philosophy of George Santayana, graduating in 1961. He has been a member of the Vanderbilt University faculty since 1967 and has written a number of books and many articles over this period and before. He served as President of the Metaphysical Society of America in 1997. He is recognized as an outstanding teacher at Vanderbilt faculty, receiving the Graduate Teaching Award in 2000, the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Freshmen Award in 1999 and the Madison Sarratt Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1972. His style is highly accessible as Lachs is committed to making philosophical questions and their discussion come within the grasp of all his audiences. Lachs is a pragmatist in the tradition of William James and Josiah Royce. He was President of the William James Society in 2007.
Lachs is the faculty adviser of Young Americans for Liberty at Vanderbilt University and is a libertarian. Among the prominent alumni whose Ph.D. dissertations he has advised are many of the leading figures in bioethics, pragmatism, and a number of public intellectuals, including Glenn McGee, Ph.D., Paul Menzel, Ph.D., Herman Saatkamp, Ph.D., On April 3, 2013, he became one of three professors in Vanderbilt's history to receive the prestigious Alumni Education Award twice.
He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for "Public Philosophy Journal".
Research area.
His philosophical interests center on human nature. This takes him into metaphysics, philosophy of mind, political philosophy, and ethics. He has continuing research interests in American philosophy and in German Idealism, along with research and teaching interests in medical and business ethics.
Lachs is general editor of the "Encyclopedia of American Philosophy". An issue of "The Journal of Speculative Philosophy" will be devoted to his essay "Both Better Off and Better: Moral Progress Amid Continuing Carnage," with responses from a half dozen philosophers.
He is also chair of the American Philosophical Association's Centennial Committee, charged with celebrating the private value and social usefulness of philosophy. Plans are being made for activities throughout the country, ranging from radio programs to book signings and coffee house conversations, designed to show the relevance of philosophy to life.
Publications.
A recipient of the Herbert Schneider Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Philosophy in 1997, Lachs is also the author of the following books, among others:


Jacques Dubois (literary theorist)

Jacques Dubois (born 1933, Liège), Professor emeritus of Literature at the Université de Liège invented the concept of the "Literary Institution" following the work of Pierre Bourdieu by analogy with other social institutions such as military, medical, and political. He is also a Member of the Groupe µ. In 1983, he was the main editor of the Manifesto for Walloon culture.
On 6 May 2003 the prestigious collection La Pléiade was enriched by 21 of Simenon's novels. Jacques Dubois, president of the Center for Georges Simenon Studies has chosen the Simenon's books, written the notes and surveys with another Walloon Simenon specialist Benoît Denis. Jacques Dubois:
"We were totally free to choose the 21 works which will be represented in the Pléiade. The choice was difficult and painful." And Benoît Denis: " We have of course included the inescapable masterpieces, The Snow Was Black, Act of Passion Mr. Hire's Engagement, "The Little Saint". We wanted the different periods of his life, French, American, Swiss, to be represented. As a result we have included works from his beginnings, less known, like "Tropic Moon" and "The House by the Canal", where, nonetheless, all of Simenon is already present. We have included relatively few Maigrets, as these novels have a rather pronounced standard and repetitive aspect.
The literary institution.
According to Michel Biron, "Jacques Dubois sought to establish the link between institution and text, while institution upon one of sociocriticism's and, his view, neglected goals, namely the conditions of the material conditions of a text.


Light rhyme

Light rhyme designates a weakened, or unaccented, rhyme that pairs a stressed final syllable with an unstressed one. A rhyme of this kind is also referred to as a wrenched rhyme since the pronunciation of the unstressed syllable is forced into conformity with the stressed syllable of its rhyme mate (eternity/free). Light rhymes are commonly found in music where words are sung with an unnatural emphasis on the final syllable.
Examples.
In the 1917 poem “Preludes” T.S. Eliot used the light rhyme to evoke the uneasiness felt by an individual isolated from society in a modern urban setting.


List of syntactic phenomena

A list of phenomena in syntax.


Ferdinand Geminian Wanker

Ferdinand Geminian Wanker (2 October 1758, Freiburg im Breisgau - 19 January 1824, Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German Roman Catholic moral theologian.


Petabyte


Shen Yinmo

Shen Yinmo (沈尹默, 1883 – June 1, 1971) was a Chinese poet and calligrapher.
Early Years.
He was born in Shaanxi, Hanyang 陕西省汉阴厅 province. He made his name in Kyoto, Japan. He was one of the first to write in the new style and he published his poems in periodicals such as "La Jeunesse" ("New Youth") and "Xīncháo" (, "The Renaissance"). Two works that made him famous were "Sānxián" () and "Qiūmíng Jí" (). "Sānxián" (1918) was one of the earliest poems written in the new vernacular style. He also wrote poems in the classical style. In his poems, he used rhyme and alliteration similar to the usage in classical poetry. He was a professor in several universities, and later became president of Beiping University.
"Photo: 1929 New Year party at Zhou Zuoren studio Shen Yinmo 2nd left, friend Zhang Fengju 1st left."
He resigned his post in 1932 due to dissatisfaction with government policies and moved to Shanghai. From that time Shen earned his livelihood from writings and calligraphy, accepting only occasional titular positions in government. When full-fledged Japanese invasion began, he went to Chongqing in 1939, and Chengdu in 1940 and returned again to Chongqing.
His first essay on calligraphy "Five Word Brush Technique"《执笔五字法》was published in 1943. It clarified the respective 5 word and 4-word brush techniques. Following the defeat of Japan, he returned to Shanghai and continued as a professional calligrapher and poet.
Shen Yinmo married his long-time companion Chǔbǎoquán 褚保权 in . They went to Hangzhou for their honeymoon. She was also an accomplished calligrapher.
Poetry Example - "Sānxián" (三弦).
This short poem evokes vivid imagery, sound and emotion. It has no meter and no rhyme, all in vernacular. Yet it is undoubtedly a poem. A perfect example of the new style.
Example of Literary Entertainment.
Old friends celebrating meeting again in Shanghai, 1937. Composed poems and brush painting with toasts to produce this impromptu handscroll. The scroll was jointedly composed, jointly signed in several places, and all written by Shen Yinmo. The fish painting was by Shen Wangsi. 郭沫若 沈尹默 沈迈士 张凤举 民国廿六年(1937)作 鱼酒唱和手卷.
They were friends about a dozen years ago in Beijing and Tokyo and collaborated closely on many literary journals. Guo Moruo 郭沫若 just came back from his 2nd trip in Japan. Guo, Shen with his constant companion Zhubaoquan, Zhang Fengju 张凤举  with his new bride and Shen Wangsi 沈迈士 enjoyed a fish and wine fest to produce this joint handscroll in the Jingjiang Hotel. Soon Guo departed to join Mao Tse-dong to fight the Japanese invasion on the outskirts of Shanghai.
See full text and translations here.
Another Example, a Calligraphy Fan
This is a fan with calligraphy by Shen Yinmo  沈尹默, Ma Heng 马衡 and Zhang Fengju 张凤举 :
Calligraphy fan by Shen Yinmo  沈尹默, Ma Heng and Zhang Fengju
It was likely done at a similar occasion and presented to one of the guests.
Post 1949.
Following the establishment of the People's Republic, he assumed a number of official and semi-official positions. These included Deputy Head of the Central Culture Bureau 中央文史馆副馆长 (appointed by Chou En Lai ), Shanghai Municipal People's Council Member上海市人委委员, member of the People's Congress (national) and member of the People's Consultative Committee 全国人大代表和政协委员. There were also numerous semi-official positions in cultural and calligraphy organizations. He personally established the Shangahi Chinese Calligraphy and Seal Research Institute上海市中国书法篆刻研究会.
Around 1950, his poems appeared prominently in the literature supplement of the newspapers "Guangming Daily", "Wen Hui Bao", and "Jiefang Daily". He published many articles, poems and calligraphy during the following dozen-plus years until the Cultural Revolution in 1966. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary for the People's Republic in 1959, he presented 115 poems.
He was elected by Shanghai to be a Representative of the National People's Congress in September 1964.
He is best known as a calligrapher. Shen Yinmo's calligraphy stylistic range and techniques span to the Song Dynasty masters.  Most artists can only emulate to the Qing and few can achieve the Ming period.  This is an assessment by Professor Lu 陆维钊 of the Zhejiang Academy of Arts. He was director of a research institute and published many historical studies on calligraphy drawing upon his personal mental and technical experiences when emulating famous earlier styles.
During the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) Shen, already in his 80s, was tortured by the Red Guards. They were against all non-communist forms of art and culture and declared Shen a "counter-revolutionary". He destroyed all his personal writings and his collection of old calligraphy and manuscripts. It was not enough. He was forced to write confessions and self-criticisms, posting them outside his house. These were eagerly taken by people who sought his calligraphy.
He eventually succumbed to the after effects of the repeated abuse at the age of 87.
Major Achievements. 书法大师.
Shen Yinmo was a unique and important figure in the 20th-century Chinese literary scene. His achievements were in 4 intersecting domains. 1) He was an accomplished poet both in classical and vernacular Chinese. 2) He was a great calligrapher who mastered a full range of styles going all the way back to the Song Dynasty artists. He was prolific and left a huge body of works. 3) Shen Yinmo studied and analyzed the techniques of calligraphy brushwork publishing numerous works about brushwork. 4) He expanded the popularity of calligraphy as an art form by his numerous exhibitions and other activities as well as by cultivating younger talent. For example, he would publish poems in popular newspapers such as Wen Hui Bao 文汇报 in calligraphy instead of literary journal.
Shen Yinmo was a unique contributor to a vibrant 20th-century Chinese cultural scene. where he left an indelible legacy.
Publications (partial list).
1918 - Poem "Sānxián" (), published in "La Jeunesse"
1929 - Qiu Ming collected poems 2 volumes. 《秋明集》,上下二册,由北京书局出版.
1943 - Five Word Brush Technique《执笔五字法》分清了五字执笔法. His first publication on calligraphy techniques.
1946 - Return Home 《归来集》, collection completed October following return to Shanghai.
1951 - additional Qiu Ming poems《秋明室杂诗》及《秋明长短句》
1951 - About Calligraphy《谈书法》
View of Calligraphy of 2 Wang's《二王法书管窥》;
1965 - Experiences of Famous Historical Calligraphers《历代名家学书经验谈辑妻释义》; published Da Gong Bao, Hong Kong
1978 - Shu fa lun cong 书法论丛, 上海敎育出版社, Shanghai : Shanghai jiao yu chu ban she, 1978.
Shen Yimo Scripture Calligraphy《沈尹默法书集》;
Four Styles of Shen Yinmo Calligraphy《沈尹默手书词稿四种》;
Shen Yinmo Shou Style Verse Calligraphy《沈尹默入蜀词墨迹》.


David Del Valle

David Del Valle is a journalist, columnist, film historian, and radio and television commentator on the horror, science-fiction, cult and fantasy film genres.
Career.
Since leaving San Francisco State University in 1974, Del Valle has been a contributor to magazines internationally and has been interviewed by the BBC, A&E Network, Channel 4 (London) and The Sci-Fi Channel. He appeared in "It Conquered Hollywood!" (2001), an American Movie Classics compilation of clips and documentary about American International Pictures. He was also the host of an interview with Vincent Price in 1988.
In addition to the Vincent Price interview, Del Valle produced and hosted a series of TV interviews entitled "Sinister Image". His guests included actor Cameron Mitchell and director Russ Meyer. A compilation was released on home video as "Cult People".
Del Valle writes an internet column on film history, "Camp David", for FilmsInReview.com.
His print articles and interviews have appeared in such publications as Cinefantastique, Scarlet Street, Cult Movies, Fangoria, Films and Filming (Del Valle was American correspondent for this British magazine from 1983–1987), Video Watchdog, The Dark Side (UK), Fantastyka (France) and L’Ecran Fantastique (France) both of which he was the American correspondent.
David Del Valle also completed a year as a radio host in Palm Springs in an entertainment-oriented program working three hours of airtime on AM and the Internet. Del Valle also wrote a trilogy of books, beginning with "Lost Horizons Beneath The Hollywood Sign", "Six Reels Under", and "Del Valley of the Dolls", consisting of essays from his 25 years as a Hollywood agent and correspondent observing show business.


One Fifth Avenue

One Fifth Avenue is a 2008 novel by Candace Bushnell about the residents of the prestigious building. Its characters include a middle aged screenwriter, a novelist with a bad marriage, and a hedge fund manager's wife.
"With a breezy pace that brings to mind a Gilded Age comedy of manners, the novel might not have anything new to say about New York society, but there are enough twists to keep it fun," wrote an anonymous critic in "Kirkus Reviews". Reviewing the book in "The New York Times", Henry Alford wrote, "There are pleasures to be found here," highlighted by "sexual tension and the striving for success." But he concluded, "What's missing is the kind of stylistic flourish or flight of imagination that would make the proceedings memorable. Bushnell's prose here is rarely ever more than workmanlike, and I'm hard-pressed to recall any passage that bears repeating."


Hexlet (unit)


Hand-Over

A Hand-Over is a term used in the animation industry to refer to the process of adding finger and hand motion capture data to the pre-existing full-body motion capture data, using a hand motion capture device.
Techniques.
A Hand-Over is accomplished by playing back the full-body data while recording the finger and hand data. This is similar to a voice actor doing a voice-over for animated characters.
There are very few full-body motion capture systems that can capture full hand and finger motion data at the same time as the full body. An optical system gets accurate data using reflective markers and high resolution cameras. However, if the cameras cannot see the markers then they are unable to measure them. Mounting the many reflective markers on each individual joint of the hand so that they stay within the camera's views is difficult.
The traditional method of adding hand and finger motion is to key frame the fingers. This is a process similar to the old claymation process; move the finger, record the frame, move the finger again, record the frame. Key framing is easier using animation software where a beginning and an ending position can be set up, then the software fills in the motion in between. Even though software makes this easy it still takes a very talented artist to get realistic hands using the key frame method.
Another method of adding hand and finger motion is to have the animator or actor wear a data glove or wired glove. These devices very accurately measure and record the position and bend of each finger, thumb, and even the hand. Measurand's "ShapeHand" is made of flexible ribbons and includes 40 Fiber Optic bend/twist sensors.
Using a hand motion capture device an animator can play back the full-body data from any system and record the hand motion. This is typically done in a software package that can simultaneously play motion capture data while recording new motion capture data. This requires some practice to get the timing right just as it takes practice to get the timing right when a voice actor does an animation voice-over.
Hand-overs can save time and money while increasing the realism in hand and finger animation. This is not done without controversy. Traditional key framers do not agree this type of motion capture is better than their craft.


Stark Raving Mad (TV series)

Stark Raving Mad is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1999 to July 13, 2000. The series starred Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris.
Synopsis.
Shalhoub stars as odd horror novelist Ian Stark, who is obsessed with practical jokes, and whose first book "Below Ground" was a best seller. Neil Patrick Harris is Stark's reluctant editor Henry McNeeley, who has a variety of phobias and possibly obsessive–compulsive disorder.
On January 10, 2000, the sitcom won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy Series. The sitcom premiered on September 23, 1999 and was officially cancelled by NBC on April 15, 2000 despite being ranked 19th among all programs with an average of 15.5 million viewers, as it held poor retention rates from its lead-in, "Frasier", and was consistently beaten by "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in the same timeslot.
International airings.
In some countries the series was renamed: "Loco enloquecido" (Latin America), "Stark, loco de atar" (Spain), "Splitter Pine Gal" (Norway), "Kreisi kynäniekka" (Finland) and "En förläggares mardröm" (Sweden).


Tycho (lunar crater)

Tycho () is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). It is estimated to be 108 million years old.
To the south of Tycho is the crater Street, to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes, many overlapping still older craters. Some of the smaller craters are secondary craters formed from larger chunks of ejecta from Tycho.
It is one of the Moon's brightest craters, with a diameter of and a depth of .
Age and description.
Tycho is a relatively young crater, with an estimated age of 108 million years (Ma), based on analysis of samples of the crater ray recovered during the Apollo 17 mission. This age initially suggested that the impactor may have been a member of the Baptistina family of asteroids, but as the composition of the impactor is unknown this remained conjecture. However, this possibility was ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in 2011, as it was discovered that the Baptistina family was produced much later than expected, having formed approximately 80 million years ago.
The crater is sharply defined, unlike older craters that have been degraded by subsequent impacts. The interior has a high albedo that is prominent when the Sun is overhead, and the crater is surrounded by a distinctive ray system forming long spokes that reach as long as 1,500 kilometers. Sections of these rays can be observed even when Tycho is illuminated only by earthlight. Due to its prominent rays, Tycho is mapped as part of the Copernican System.
The ramparts beyond the rim have a lower albedo than the interior for a distance of over a hundred kilometers, and are free of the ray markings that lie beyond. This darker rim may have been formed from minerals excavated during the impact.
Its inner wall is slumped and terraced, sloping down to a rough but nearly flat floor exhibiting small, knobby domes. The floor displays signs of past volcanism, most likely from rock melt caused by the impact. Detailed photographs of the floor show that it is covered in a criss-crossing array of cracks and small hills. The central peaks rise above the floor, and a lesser peak stands just to the northeast of the primary massif.
Infrared observations of the lunar surface during an eclipse have demonstrated that Tycho cools at a slower rate than other parts of the surface, making the crater a "hot spot". This effect is caused by the difference in materials that cover the crater.
The rim of this crater was chosen as the target of the Surveyor 7 mission. The robotic spacecraft safely touched down north of the crater in January 1968. The craft performed chemical measurements of the surface, finding a composition different from the maria. From this, one of the main components of the highlands was theorized to be anorthosite, an aluminium-rich mineral. The crater was also imaged in great detail by Lunar Orbiter 5.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, NASA aerodynamicist Dean Chapman and others advanced the lunar origin theory of tektites. Chapman used complex orbital computer models and extensive wind tunnel tests to support the theory that the so-called Australasian tektites originated from the Rosse ejecta ray of Tycho. Until the Rosse ray is sampled, a lunar origin for these tektites cannot be ruled out.
This crater was drawn on lunar maps as early as 1645, when Antonius Maria Schyrleus de Rheita depicted the bright ray system.
Names.
Tycho is named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Like many of the craters on the Moon's near side, it was given its name by the Jesuit astronomer Giovanni Riccioli, whose 1651 nomenclature system has become standardized. Earlier lunar cartographers had given the feature different names. Pierre Gassendi named it Umbilicus Lunaris ('the navel of the Moon'). Michael van Langren's 1645 map calls it "Vladislai IV" after Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland. And Johannes Hevelius named it 'Mons Sinai' after Mount Sinai.
Satellite craters.
By convention, these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Tycho.
Fictional references.
There is a chapter entitled "Tycho" in Jules Verne's "Around the Moon" ("Autour de la Lune", 1870) which describes the crater and its ray system.
In Robert A. Heinlein's 1940 short story "Blowups Happen", a character hypothesizes that Tycho may have been the location of a sentient race's main atomic power plant, in a past time when the Moon was still habitable—and that the plant exploded, causing the craters, the rays spreading from Tycho, and the death of all life on the Moon.
Clifford Simak set his 1961 novelette "The Trouble with Tycho", at the lunar crater. He also postulated that the crater's rays were composed of volcanic glass (tektites) akin to a theory postulated by NASA researchers Dean Chapman and John O'Keefe in the 1970s.
In Robert Heinlein's 1966 book "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress", Tycho is the location of the lunar habitat "Tycho Under".
Tycho was the location of the Tycho Magnetic Anomaly (TMA-1), and subsequent excavation of an alien monolith, in , the seminal 1968 science-fiction film by Stanley Kubrick and book by Arthur C. Clarke.
In the 1987 film "Can't Buy Me Love", Cindy notices Tycho while looking through a telescope on her final "contractual" date with Ronny in the Airplane Graveyard.
It also serves as the location of "Tycho City" in the 1996 film ""; a lunar metropolis by the 24th century.
In Jack Williamson's 2001 novel "Terraforming Earth", the crater is utilized for "Tycho Base", a self-sustaining, robot-controlled installation aimed at restoring life to the (dead) planet Earth after an asteroid sterilizes the biosphere.
In the 2019 film "Ad Astra", the Moon base is situated in the Tycho crater. This is Roy's first stop on his journey to Mars.
Crater Tycho figures prominently in the Matthew Looney and Maria Looney series of children's books set on the Moon, authored by Jerome Beatty.
In Roger Macbride Allen's "Hunted Earth" series of novels, the Naked Purples own a former penal colony in or around Tycho crater known as "Tycho Purple Penal" (see The Ring of Charon).
In "The Expanse" (novel series) and "The Expanse" (TV series) "Tycho" is the name of a company known for its large-scale building projects all around the Solar System. The company has their own space station named "Tycho Station".


Mebibit

The mebibit is a multiple of the bit, a unit of information, prefixed by the standards-based multiplier "mebi" (symbol "Mi"), a binary prefix meaning 220. The unit symbol of the mebibit is Mibit.
This unit is most useful for measuring RAM and ROM chip capacity.
The mebibit is closely related to the megabit which equals 106 bits = 1,000,000 bits.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, video game manufacturers sometimes reported the amount of internal cartridge read-only memory (ROM) on packaging in megabits, where 1 megabit equaled 128 kibibyte and 8 megabits were 1 mebibyte of ROM, containing game instructions and data.


The Big Give

The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. Its main activity is online match funding campaigns, where public donations are matched by donations from notable philanthropists; these donors are referred to as "Champions" and include The Reed Foundation, The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust and The Waterloo Foundation. The Big Give's campaigns have been promoted by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emilia Fox and David Walliams among others.
Since fundraising began in 2008, The Big Give has raised over £156 million for thousands of charity projects, including £5.5 million for Covid-19 relief efforts and over £2 million for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. It is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.
The Big Give was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. The charity is now chaired by James Reed.
History.
Alec Reed established The Big Give after growing frustrated at the process of finding and assessing charities of interest to him. He used his experience of compiling searchable websites to create an online database of charities, browsable by sector and including detailed information about their structure and accounts.
The organisation's initial aim was to connect charities with wealthy individuals seeking to donate £100,000 or more, but charities found that donors were deterred by the high minimum donation, so Reed experimented with time-limited match funding, saying: "There is nothing like a deadline to bring out people's competitive nature."
In 2008, The Big Give launched its flagship online match funding campaign, the "Christmas Challenge". Reed put up £1 million of his own money in match funding. It was matched by other donors within 45 minutes. Since then the Christmas Challenge format has been refined and, along with an increase in the number of philanthropist 'Champions' and the amount of match funds available, the Challenge has become the UK's largest online match funding campaign.
Fundraising activities.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge runs annually for seven days from #GivingTuesday, during which time donations to participating charities are doubled. The match funding used to double donations comes from both philanthropic partners of The Big Give ('Champions') and a charity's own major supporters ('Pledgers'). Champions include The Reed Foundation, The Childhood Trust, Candis, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The People's Postcode Lottery and The Waterloo Foundation.
Each charity has a ring-fenced matching pot used to double public donations until the pot is empty or until the Christmas Challenge ends, whichever is sooner.
The Christmas Challenge has run every year since 2008. It provides special awards for the best performing charities; in 2017 the overall winner was Aurora Orchestra.
Covid-19 response.
The Big Give has raised over £5.5m through various Covid-19 relief campaigns, including £1.36m for the National Emergencies Trust COVID-19 Emergency Appeal, with donations from 1,900 individuals. The appeal funded food and sanitation supplies to support the elderly and vulnerable across the UK. Co-funders included the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, the Reed family, Reed Foundation and Cazenove Capital (Schroders). In July 2020 The Big Give raised £3.2m for "Champions for Children", a joint campaign with The Childhood Trust to match fund 94 charities working in support of vulnerable children in London affected by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2021 Management Today gave its Special Recognition Award to Reed for the firm's Covid-19 relief efforts.
Grenfell Tower fire.
The charity raised over £2.6m in an online match funding campaign for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. The appeal raised £1 million in the first 48 hours and £2m a week later. In total the appeal raised £2,612,646. The Charity reported funding from the Reed Foundation, The Cadogan Estate, Julia and Hans Rausing and The Bjorgolfsson Family among others.
Emergency Appeals.
The Big Give has adapted its match funding model to emergency appeals, which are launched quickly and in co-ordination with the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money. Emergency Challenge Funds have been launched in response to the Syria Crisis, typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, and other international emergencies. In October 2017 £232,446 was raised for Rohingya refugees escaping violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The funds were distributed to seven charities working directly with Rohingya refugees, including the British Red Cross and UNICEF UK.
The Summer Give.
Since 2015, The Big Give has used its match funding model to run an annual Summer Give campaign in partnership with The Childhood Trust. The Summer Give offers match funding to charities alleviating child poverty in London, specifically aiming to keep children well-fed, safe and productively engaged during the summer holidays. It has helped over 87,658 children through partnerships with over 150 projects throughout London. In 2017, the Summer Give raised £778,680 for 36 participating charities.
The Green Match Fund.
In April 2021, The Big Give and partner organisation Environmental Funders Network raised £1.76m for The Green Match Fund, supporting charities working on environmental issues as part of their core mission.
Other activities.
Philanthropy in Schools.
The Big Give's 'Philanthropy in Schools' programme seeks to encourage the next generation of philanthropists by promoting research into charities and charitable donations. Participating schools partner with a sponsor who funds Big Give vouchers which students donate to their chosen charities. Students compete to make the best presentation on their preferred charities; the winning team receives an additional donation to its chosen charity.
The Big Give Trustee Finder.
The Big Give Trustee Finder advertises vacancies for charitable trusts, organised by skill, interest and location. In 2013 the service was extended to feature vacancies on the Reed website for six weeks.
The Big Advice Column.
In 2012 The Big Give introduced an online advice column, The Big Advice Column, where a team of experts answer questions posed by charities.


Francesco Casetti

Francesco Casetti (born April 2, 1947 in Trento, Italy) is an Italian naturalized US citizen film and television theorist. He is Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He has been described as "the best analyst of cinematographic enunciation."
Biography.
In 1970 he earned an MA at the Catholic University of Milan, where in 1974 he also received an “advanced degree” in Film and Communication Studies. His positions include Assistant Professor at the University of Genova (1974–1980), Associate Professor at Catholic University of Milan (1984–1994), Full Professor at the University of Trieste (1994–1998) and then at Catholic University of Milan, where he served also as the Chair of the Department in Communication and Performing Arts.
He taught as “professeur associé” at (1977) and as visiting professor at the University of Iowa (1988, 1991 and 1998). In 2000 he was awarded with the Chair of Italian Culture for a distinguished scholar at the University of California – Berkeley (2000). He was William P. Evans Fellow at the University of Otago (New Zealand) in 2012, and Fellow at the IKKM, Bauhaus University at Weimar in 2013.
He has largely written on semiotics of film and television, about genres, intertextuality, and enunciation. After an expansive study on the implied spectator in film ("Inside the Gaze", Indiana, 1999, or. 1986) and in television ("Tra me e te", 1988), he combined in an original way close analyses of media texts and ethnographic researches of actual audiences ("L’ospite fisso", 1995), defining the notion of “communicative negotiations” ("Communicative Negotiation in Cinema and Television", 2002). He has also written extensively on film theories ("Theories of Cinema. 1945-1995", Texas, 1999, or. 1993). More recently he explored the role of cinema in the context of modernity ("Eye of the Century. Film, Experience, Modernity", Columbia, 2008, or. 2005), and the reconfiguration of cinema in a post-medium epoch, comparing this shift with the rise of cinema at the beginning of the 20th century ("The Lumière Galaxy: Seven Key words for the Cinema to Come", Columbia, 2015). His next project is a wide-ranging analysis of the anxieties that cinema raised in the first decades of the 20th Century, compared with the iconophobic tradition in the western culture and with the fears triggered by the contemporary media.
With Jane Gaines (Columbia University, Film and Media Studies Graduate Chair), Casetti is the co-founder of the Permanent Seminar on Histories of Film Theories, an international network of film scholars aimed at a systematic exploration of the field of film and media theories.


Jean E. Rubin

Jean Estelle Hirsh Rubin (October 29, 1926 – October 25, 2002) was an American mathematician known for her research on the axiom of choice. She worked for many years as a professor of mathematics at Purdue University. Rubin wrote five books: three on the axiom of choice, and two more on more general topics in set theory and mathematical logic.
Education and career.
Jean Hirsch was born in New York City, graduated from Queens College, City University of New York in 1948, and completed a master's degree at Columbia University in 1949. She did her doctoral studies at Stanford University,
during which time she married and changed her name to Jean Rubin. She completed her Ph.D. at Stanford in 1955. Her dissertation, jointly supervised by J.C.C. McKinsey and Patrick Suppes, was "Bi-Modal Logic, Double Closure Algebras and Hilbert Space".
She became a lecturer at the University of Oregon and, in 1960, an assistant professor at Michigan State University. In 1967, she moved again, to Purdue University, where she remained for the rest of her career.
Personal life.
Rubin was married to statistician Herman Rubin, with whom she wrote two of her books. Their son is mathematician and aerospace engineer Arthur Rubin.
Books.
Rubin was the author or co-author of:


Lenn E. Goodman

Lenn Evan Goodman (born 1944) is an American philosopher. His philosophy, particularly his constructive work, draws from classical and medieval sources as well as religious texts. Goodman is also an academic, scholar, and a historian with research interest in metaphysics, ethics, and Jewish philosophy.
Biography.
Goodman was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of Calvin and Florence Goodman. His father was a World War II veteran while his mother was a poet and professor of English. His family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and later to Putney, Vermont before finally settling in Los Angeles, California.
In 1965, Goodman completed a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. He later obtained his doctorate in 1968 as a Marshall Scholar. Goodman started teaching at the University of California Los Angeles, (UCLA) in 1969. He transferred to the University of Hawaii and was part of its Department of Philosophy until 1994. He is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Humanities at Vanderbilt University.
Goodman was a recipient of several awards such as the Baumgardt Memorial Award, the Gratz Centennial Prize, and the Earl Sutherland Prize, which is Vanderbilt University's highest research award.
Goodman is married to Roberta Goodman and is the father of the novelist and short story writer Allegra Goodman and Paula Fraenkel.
Works.
One of Goodman's philosophical projects is realist messianism, which evaluates the means to the messianic end. Particularly, Goodman holds that the "Torah" and the way its principles are operationalized can be used to refine and perfect human nature. According to him, such refinement process leads towards a messianic age. It is associated with the Jewish concept of "olam ha-ba" or the world to come, which is used instead of the after life. It constitutes an internalist position wherein the arrival of the Messiah is not enough if there is no moral transformation among the faithful. The messiahnic age is said to be the teleological consummation of human intellectual, moral, and spiritual potential. Goodman distinguished this concept from the personal Messiah, which he said is not particularly successful among the Jewish people.
Goodman also used Baruch Spinoza's views in his discourse on Jewish philosophy. Particularly, he maintained that the Dutch thinker's philosophy addresses the problems that the Jewish philosophical tradition share with other school through creative and constructive solutions. Goodman also found several Jewish themes in the Spinoza's philosophy. There is, for instance, the strong emphasis on philosophical monotheism, driving what Goodman believes as the most coherent metaphysical approach to philosophical speculation. Goodman also supported Spinoza's reconciliations of classical oppositions. This is demonstrated in the way perfection and imperfection have been reconciled. In reconstructing Spinoza, Goodman, said that God becomes the image of imperfect humanity not because perfection "becomes an active principle at work in the mind".
Goodman translated Ibn Tufayl's 12th-century Arabic novel called "Hayy ibn Yaqzan." This work also included philosophical commentary.


Quatrain

A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China, and continues into the 21st century, where it is seen in works published in many languages.
This form of poetry has been continually popular in Iran since the medieval period, as Ruba'is form an important faction of the vast repertoire of Persian poetry, with famous poets such as Omar Khayyam and Mahsati Ganjavi of Seljuk Persia only writing poetry in this format.
Michel de Nostredame (Nostradamus) used the quatrain form to deliver his famous prophecies in the 16th century.
There are fifteen possible rhyme schemes, but the most traditional and common are: ABAA, AAAA, ABAB, and ABBA
Forms.
An example can be found in the following of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
</poem>
An example can be found in Robert Burns, "A Red, Red Rose".
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
O, my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.
</poem>
An example can be found in Alfred Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam A.H.H.".
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
So word by word, and line by line,
The dead man touch’d me from the past,
And all at once it seem’d at last
The living soul was flash’d on mine.
</poem>
An example can be found in William Blake's "The Tyger". (these are the first and last stanzas of the poem)
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry
</poem>
An example can be found in “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by John Keats.
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
</poem>
<poem style="margin-left:3em">
Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter—and the Bird is on the Wing.
</poem>


Aaron Schoenke

Aaron Schoenke is an American film and television actor, screenwriter, film director, film editor, film producer, and cinematographer. He is known for the films "Super Power Beat Down", "Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe" and "".
Early life.
Schoenke left high school early to enroll at The Art Institute of California in Los Angeles, majoring in film production. It was during this period that he began making films.
Career.
Schoenke is co-founder along with his father Sean, of 'Bat in the Sun Productions'. His work as a screenwriter and director of comic and sci-fi genre films has received a positive response from fans, as well as comic book and film studios. In 2018, Schoenke directed a mini-series for Valiant Digital Studios, as well as a short film for Lionsgate and Hasbro.
Schoenke has also worked as the director of the web show "Super Power Beat Down", which pits fictional characters against each other and has the fans vote on who wins.
Recognition.
Schoenke's YouTube channel for Bat in the Sun Productions has over 2.2 million subscribers, 365 million views, and a large, passionate fan community across social media platforms.
Super Power Beat Down won Best Reality Web Series at the 2015 and 2019 Geekie Awards. It has been nominated for several Streamy Awards including Stunt Choreography, Action or Sci-Fi Show, and Visual Special Effects.


Sense and Sensibility (film)

Sense and Sensibility is a 1995 period drama film directed by Ang Lee and based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel of the same name. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and stars as Elinor Dashwood, while Kate Winslet plays Elinor's younger sister Marianne. The story follows the Dashwood sisters, members of a wealthy English family of landed gentry, as they must deal with circumstances of sudden destitution. They are forced to seek financial security through marriage. Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman play their respective suitors. The film was released on December 13, 1995, in the United States.
Producer Lindsay Doran, a longtime admirer of Austen's novel, hired Thompson to write the screenplay. She spent five years drafting numerous revisions, continually working on the script between other films as well as into production of the film itself. Studios were nervous that Thompson – a first-time screenwriter – was the credited writer, but Columbia Pictures agreed to distribute the film. Though initially intending to have another actress portray Elinor, Thompson was persuaded to take the role.
Thompson's screenplay exaggerated the Dashwood family's wealth to make their later scenes of poverty more apparent to modern audiences. It also altered the traits of the male leads to make them more appealing to contemporary viewers. Elinor and Marianne's different characteristics were emphasised through imagery and invented scenes. Lee was selected as director, both for his work in the 1993 film "The Wedding Banquet" and because Doran believed he would help the film appeal to a wider audience. Lee was given a budget of $16 million.
A commercial success, earning $135 million worldwide, the film garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews upon release and received many accolades, including three awards and eleven nominations at the 1995 British Academy Film Awards. It earned seven Academy Awards nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Actress. Thompson received the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, becoming the only person to have won Academy Awards for both acting and screenwriting. "Sense and Sensibility" contributed to a resurgence in popularity for Austen's works, and has led to many more productions in similar genres. It persists in being recognised as one of the best Austen adaptations of all time.
Plot.
On his deathbed, Mr. Dashwood tells his son from his first marriage, John, to take care of his second wife and three daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, since under English law they will inherit nothing. John promises to do so. John's stingy, greedy, and snobbish wife Fanny convinces him to give his half-sisters nothing financially; John and Fanny immediately install themselves in the large house, forcing the Dashwood ladies to look for a new home. Fanny invites her brother Edward Ferrars to stay with them. Elinor and Edward soon form a close friendship. Fanny tells Mrs. Dashwood that Edward would be disinherited if he married someone of no importance or with no money.
Sir John Middleton, Mrs. Dashwood's cousin, offers her a small cottage house on his estate, Barton Park in Devonshire. She and her daughters move in and are frequent guests at Barton Park. The Dashwoods meet the older Colonel Brandon, who falls in love with Marianne at first sight. However, Marianne considers him incapable of feeling love or inspiring it in another. One afternoon, Marianne takes a walk with Margaret and slips and falls in the rain. She is carried home by the dashing John Willoughby, with whom Marianne falls in love. They spend a great deal of time together, but on the morning she expects him to propose marriage to her, he instead leaves hurriedly for London.
Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, invites her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, to visit. They bring with them Lucy Steele. Lucy confides in Elinor that she and Edward have been engaged secretly for five years. The friendship between Edward and Elinor has become mutual love, but they cannot marry because Edward has been secretly engaged to Lucy and will not break his promise to her. Elinor sacrifices her own happiness to preserve Edward's integrity.
Mrs. Jennings takes Lucy, Elinor, and Marianne to London, where they meet Willoughby at a ball. He greets Marianne uncomfortably and barely acknowledges their acquaintance, and they soon learn he is engaged to the extremely wealthy Miss Grey. Marianne becomes inconsolable. Colonel Brandon later explains to Elinor that Willoughby seduced and abandoned his ward Beth, the illegitimate daughter of Brandon's former love, Eliza. When Willoughby's aunt and benefactress, Lady Allen, learned of his behavior, she disinherited him, so he chose to marry for money. The honest Brandon tells Elinor that Willoughby, though he had been a libertine with Beth, did love Marianne but had no other way of avoiding financial ruin than to marry Miss Grey.
Lucy Steele is invited to stay with John and Fanny Dashwood. Lucy, believing she has a friend in Fanny, confides her clandestine engagement to Edward and is thrown out of the house. Edward's mother demands that he break off the engagement. When he refuses, she arranges to have his fortune transferred to his younger brother, Robert. On hearing this, Colonel Brandon offers Edward the parish on his estate, feeling sympathy for the unfortunate but honorable Edward.
On their way home to Devonshire, Elinor and Marianne stop for the night at the country estate of the Palmers, who live near Willoughby's estate. Marianne becomes gravely ill with a fever after walking in torrential rain to look down on the Willoughby's estate in tears. Colonel Brandon finds her and carries her home. The Palmers leave for fear their newborn child will catch the disease. Elinor stays at Marianne's side until she recovers, and the sisters return home. Colonel Brandon and Marianne begin spending time together as Marianne has a new appreciation for him. She admits to Elinor that even if Willoughby had chosen her, she is no longer convinced that love would have been enough to make him happy.
The Dashwoods soon learn that Miss Steele has become Mrs. Ferrars and assume she married Edward. Later, Edward visits their house and tells them that Miss Steele married his brother Robert. Hearing this, Elinor finally breaks down, unable to repress her feelings any longer. Edward tells Elinor, “My heart is, and always will be, yours,” and they marry. Soon afterward, Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, finally returning his love. Willoughby watches their wedding from a distance with a look of regret on his face and rides away.
Production.
Conception and adaptation.
In 1989, Lindsay Doran, the new president of production company Mirage Enterprises, was on a company retreat brainstorming potential film ideas when she suggested the Jane Austen novel "Sense and Sensibility" to her colleagues. It had been adapted three times, most recently in a 1981 television serial. Doran was a longtime fan of the novel, and had vowed in her youth to adapt it if she ever entered the film industry. She chose to adapt this particular Austen work because there were two female leads. Doran stated that "all of [Austen's] books are funny and emotional, but "Sense and Sensibility" is the best movie story because it's full of twists and turns. Just when you think you know what's going on, everything is different. It's got real suspense, but it's not a thriller. Irresistible." She also praised the novel for possessing "wonderful characters ... "three" strong love stories, surprising plot twists, good jokes, relevant themes, and a heart-stopping ending."
Prior to being hired at Mirage, the producer had spent years looking for a suitable screenwriter – someone who was "equally strong in the areas of satire and romance" and could think in Austen's language "almost as naturally as he or she could think in the language of the twentieth century." Doran read screenplays by English and American writers until she came across a series of comedic skits, often in period settings, that actress Emma Thompson had written. Doran believed the humour and style of writing was "exactly what [she'd] been searching for." Thompson and Doran were already working together on Mirage's 1991 film "Dead Again." A week after its completion, the producer selected Thompson to adapt "Sense and Sensibility", although she knew that Thompson had never written a screenplay. Also a fan of Austen, Thompson first suggested they adapt "Persuasion" or "Emma" before agreeing to Doran's proposal. The actress found that "Sense and Sensibility" contained more action than she had remembered, and decided it would translate well to drama.
Thompson spent five years writing and revising the screenplay, both during and between shooting other films. Believing the novel's language to be "far more arcane than in [Austen's] later books," Thompson sought to simplify the dialogue while retaining the "elegance and wit of the original." She observed that in a screenwriting process, a first draft often had "a lot of good stuff in it" but needed to be edited, and second drafts would "almost certainly be rubbish ... because you get into a panic." Thompson credits Doran for "help[ing] me, nourish[ing] me and mentor[ing] me through that process ... I learned about screenwriting at her feet."
Thompson's first draft was more than three hundred handwritten pages, which required her to reduce it to a more manageable length. She found the romances to be the most difficult to "juggle", and her draft received some criticism for the way it presented Willoughby and Edward. Doran later recalled the work was criticized for not getting underway until Willoughby's arrival, with Edward sidelined as backstory. Thompson and Doran quickly realised that "if we didn't meet Edward and do the work and take that twenty minutes to set up those people ... then it wasn't going to work." At the same time, Thompson wished to avoid depicting "a couple of women waiting around for men"; gradually her screenplay focused as much on the Dashwood sisters' relationship with each other as it did with their romantic interests.
With the draft screenplay, Doran pitched the idea to various studios in order to finance the film, but found that many were wary of the beginner Thompson as the screenwriter. She was considered a risk, as her experience was as an actress who had never written a film script. Columbia Pictures executive Amy Pascal supported Thompson's work, and agreed to sign as the producer and distributor.
As Thompson mentioned on the BBC program "QI" in 2009, at one point in the writing process a computer failure almost lost the entire work. In panic Thompson called fellow actor and close friend Stephen Fry, the host of "QI" and a self-professed "geek". After seven hours, Fry was able to recover the documents from the device while Thompson had tea with Hugh Laurie who was at Fry's house at the time.
Lee's hire.
Taiwanese director Ang Lee was hired as a result of his work in the 1993 family comedy film "The Wedding Banquet", which he co-wrote, produced, and directed. He was not familiar with Jane Austen. Doran felt that Lee's films, which depicted complex family relationships amidst a social comedy context, were a good fit with Austen's storylines. She recalled, "The idea of a foreign director was intellectually appealing even though it was very scary to have someone who didn't have English as his first language." The producer sent Lee a copy of Thompson's script, to which he replied that he was "cautiously interested". Fifteen directors were interviewed, but according to Doran, Lee was one of the few who recognised Austen's humour; he told them he wanted the film to "break people's hearts so badly that they'll still be recovering from it two months later."
From the beginning, Doran wanted "Sense and Sensibility" to appeal to both a core audience of Austen aficionados as well as younger viewers attracted to romantic comedy films. She felt that Lee's involvement prevented the film from becoming "just some little English movie" that appealed only to local audiences instead of to the wider world. Lee said,
"I thought they were crazy: I was brought up in Taiwan, what do I know about 19th-century England? About halfway through the script it started to make sense why they chose me. In my films I've been trying to mix social satire and family drama. I realised that all along I had been trying to do Jane Austen without knowing it. Jane Austen was my destiny. I just had to overcome the cultural barrier."Because Thompson and Doran had worked on the screenplay for so long, Lee described himself at the time as a "director for hire", as he was unsure of his role and position. He spent six months in England "learn[ing] how to make this movie, how to do a period film, culturally ... and how to adapt to the major league film industry."
In January 1995, Thompson presented a draft to Lee, Doran, co-producer Laurie Borg, and others working on the production, and spent the next two months editing the screenplay based upon their feedback. Thompson would continue making revisions throughout production of the film, including altering scenes to meet budgetary concerns, adding dialogue changes, and changing certain aspects to better fit the actors. Brandon's confession scene, for instance, initially included flashbacks and stylised imagery before Thompson decided it was "emotionally more interesting to let Brandon tell the story himself and find it difficult."
Casting.
Thompson initially hoped that Doran would cast sisters Natasha and Joely Richardson as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Lee and Columbia wanted Thompson herself, now a "big-deal movie star" after her critically successful role in the 1992 film "Howards End", to play Elinor. The actress replied that at the age of thirty-five, she was too old for the nineteen-year-old character. Lee suggested Elinor's age be changed to twenty-seven, which would also have made the difficult reality of spinsterhood easier for modern audiences to understand. Thompson agreed, later stating that she was "desperate to get into a corset and act it and stop thinking about it as a script."
The formal casting process began in February 1995, though some of the actors met with Thompson the previous year to help her conceptualise the script. Lee eventually cast all but one of them: Hugh Grant (as Edward Ferrars), Robert Hardy (as Sir John Middleton), Harriet Walter (as Fanny Ferrars Dashwood), Imelda Staunton (as Charlotte Jennings Palmer), and Hugh Laurie (as Mr. Palmer). Amanda Root had also worked with Thompson on the screenplay, but had already committed to star in the 1995 film "Persuasion". Commenting on the casting of Laurie, whom she had known for years, Thompson has said, "There is no one [else] on the planet who could capture Mr. Palmer's disenchantment and redemption so perfectly, and make it funny."
Thompson wrote the part of Edward Ferrars with Grant in mind, and he agreed to receive a lower salary in line with the film's budget. Grant called her screenplay "genius", explaining "I've always been a philistine about Jane Austen herself, and I think Emma's script is miles better than the book and much more amusing." Grant's casting was criticised by the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), whose representatives said that he was too handsome for the part. Actress Kate Winslet initially intended to audition for the role of Marianne but Lee disliked her work in the 1994 drama film "Heavenly Creatures;" she auditioned for the lesser part of Lucy Steele. Winslet pretended she had heard that the audition was still for Marianne, and won the part based on a single reading. Thompson later said that Winslet, only nineteen years old, approached the part "energised and open, realistic, intelligent, and tremendous fun." The role helped Winslet become recognised as a significant actress.
Also appearing in the film was Alan Rickman, who portrayed Colonel Brandon. Thompson was pleased that Rickman could express the "extraordinary sweetness [of] his nature," as he had played "Machiavellian types so effectively" in other films. Greg Wise was cast as Marianne's other romantic interest, John Willoughby, his most noted role thus far. Twelve-year-old Emilie François, appearing as Margaret Dashwood, was one of the last people cast in the production; she had no professional acting experience. Thompson praised the young actress in her production diaries, "Emilie has a natural quick intelligence that informs every movement – she creates spontaneity in all of us just by being there." Other cast members included Gemma Jones as Mrs. Dashwood, James Fleet as John Dashwood, Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs. Jennings, Imogen Stubbs as Lucy Steele, Richard Lumsden as Robert Ferrars, Tom Wilkinson as Mr. Dashwood, and Lone Vidahl as Miss Grey.
Costume design.
According to Austen scholar Linda Troost, the costumes used in "Sense and Sensibility" helped emphasise the class and status of the various characters, particularly among the Dashwoods. They were created by Jenny Beavan and John Bright, a team of designers best known for Merchant Ivory films who began working together in 1984. The two attempted to create accurate period dress, and featured the "fuller, classical look and colours of the late 18th century." They found inspiration in the works of the English artists Thomas Rowlandson, John Hopper, and George Romney, and also reviewed fashion plates stored in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The main costumes and hats were manufactured at Cosprop, a London-based costumer company.
To achieve the tightly wound curls fashionably inspired by Greek art, some of the actresses wore wigs while others employed heated hair twists and slept in pin curls. Fanny, the snobbiest of the characters, possesses the tightest of curls but has less of a Greek silhouette, a reflection of her wealth and silliness. Beavan stated that Fanny and Mrs. Jennings "couldn't quite give up the frills," and instead draped themselves in lace, fur, feathers, jewellery, and rich fabrics. Conversely, sensible Elinor opts for simpler accessories, such as a long gold chain and a straw hat. Fanny's shallow personality is also reflected in "flashy, colourful" dresses, while Edward's buttoned-up appearance represents his "repressed" personality, with little visible skin. Each of the 100 extras used in the London ballroom scene, depicting "soldiers and lawyers to fops and dowagers," don visually distinct costumes.
For Brandon's costumes, Beavan and Bright consulted with Thompson and Lee and decided to have him project an image of "experienced and dependable masculinity." Brandon is first seen in black, but later he wears sporting gear in the form of corduroy jackets and shirtsleeves. His rescue of Marianne has him transforming into the "romantic Byronic hero", sporting an unbuttoned shirt and loose cravat. In conjunction with his tragic backstory, Brandon's "flattering" costumes help his appeal to the audience. Beavan and Bright's work on the film earned them a nomination for Best Costume Design at the 68th Academy Awards.
Filming.
The film was budgeted at $16 million, the largest Ang Lee had yet received as well as the largest awarded to an Austen film that decade. In the wake of the success of Columbia's 1994 film "Little Women", the American studio authorised Lee's "relatively high budget" out of an expectation that it would be another cross-over hit and appeal to multiple audiences, thus yielding high box office returns. Nevertheless, Doran considered it a "low budget film", and many of the ideas Thompson and Lee came up with – such as an early dramatic scene depicting Mr. Dashwood's bloody fall from a horse – were deemed unfilmable from a cost perspective.
According to Thompson, Lee "arrived on set with the whole movie in his head". Rather than focus on period details, he wanted the film to concentrate on telling a good story. He showed the cast a selection of films adapted from classic novels, including "Barry Lyndon" and "The Age of Innocence", which he believed to be "great movies; everybody worships the art work, [but] it's not what we want to do". Lee criticised the latter film for lacking energy, in contrast to the "passionate tale" of "Sense and Sensibility".
The cast and crew experienced "slight culture shock" with Lee on a number of occasions. He expected the assistant directors to be the "tough ones" and keep production on schedule, while they expected the same of him; this led to a slower schedule in the early stages of production. Additionally, according to Thompson, the director became "deeply hurt and confused" when she and Grant made suggestions for certain scenes, which was something that was not done in his native country. Lee thought his authority was being undermined and lost sleep, though this was gradually resolved as he became used to their methods. The cast "grew to trust his instincts so completely", making fewer and fewer suggestions. Co-producer James Schamus stated that Lee also adapted by becoming more verbal and willing to express his opinion.
Lee became known for his "frightening" tendency not to "mince words". He often had the cast do numerous takes for a scene to get the perfect shot, and was not afraid to call something "boring" if he disliked it. Thompson later recalled that Lee would "always come up to you and say something unexpectedly crushing", such as asking her not to "look so old". She also commented, however, that "he doesn't indulge us but is always kind when we fail". Due to Thompson's extensive acting experience, Lee encouraged her to practice t'ai chi to "help her relax [and] make her do things simpler". Other actors soon joined them in meditating – according to Doran, it "was pretty interesting. There were all these pillows on the floor and these pale-looking actors were saying, 'What have we got ourselves into?' [Lee] was more focused on body language than any director I've ever seen or heard of." He suggested Winslet read books of poetry and report back to him to best understand her character. He also had Thompson and Winslet live together to develop their characters' sisterly bond. Many of the cast took lessons in etiquette and riding side-saddle.
Lee found that in contrast to Chinese cinema, he had to dissuade many of the actors from using a "very stagy, very English tradition. Instead of just being observed like a human being and getting sympathy, they feel they have to do things, they have to carry the movie." Grant in particular often had to be restrained from giving an "over-the-top" performance; Lee later recalled that the actor is "a show stealer. You can't stop that. I let him do, I have to say, less 'star' stuff, the Hugh Grant thing ... and not [let] the movie serve him, which is probably what he's used to now." For the scene in which Elinor learns Edward is unmarried, Thompson found inspiration from her reaction to her father's death. Grant was unaware that Thompson would cry through most of his speech, and the actress attempted to reassure him, "'There's no other way, and I promise you it'll work, and it will be funny as well as being touching.' And he said, 'Oh, all right,' and he was very good about it." Lee had one demand for the scene, that Thompson avoid the temptation to turn her head towards the camera.
Locations.
Production of "Sense and Sensibility" was scheduled for fifty-eight days, though this was eventually extended to sixty-five. Filming commenced in mid-April 1995 at a number of locations in Devon, beginning with Saltram House (standing in for Norland Park), where Winslet and Jones shot the first scene of the production: when their characters read about Barton Cottage. As Saltram was a National Trust property, Schamus had to sign a contract before production began, and staff with the organisation remained on set to carefully monitor the filming. Production later returned to shoot several more scenes, finishing there on 29 April. The second location of filming, Flete House, stood in for part of Mrs. Jennings' London estate, where Edward first sees Elinor with Lucy. Representing Barton Cottage was a Flete Estate stone cottage, which Thompson called "one of the most beautiful spots we've ever seen."
Early May saw production at the "exquisite" St Mary's Church in Berry Pomeroy for the final wedding scene. From the tenth to the twelfth of May, Marianne's first rescue sequence, depicting her encounter with Willoughby, was shot. Logistics were difficult, as the scene was set upon a hill during a rainy day. Lee shot around fifty takes, with the actors becoming soaked under rain machines; this led to Winslet eventually collapsing from hypothermia. Further problems occurred midway through filming, when Winslet contracted phlebitis in her leg, developed a limp, and sprained her wrist after falling down a staircase.
From May to July, production took place at a number of other National Trust estates and stately homes across England. Trafalgar House and Wilton House in Wiltshire stood in for the grounds of Barton Park and the London Ballroom respectively. Mompesson House, an eighteenth-century townhouse located in Salisbury, represented Mrs. Jennings' sumptuous townhouse. Sixteenth-century Montacute House in Somerset was the setting for the Palmer estate of Cleveland House. Further scenes were shot at Compton Castle in Devon (Mr Willoughby's estate) and at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Music.
Composer Patrick Doyle, who had previously worked with his friend Emma Thompson in the films "Henry V", "Much Ado About Nothing", and "Dead Again", was hired to produce the music for "Sense and Sensibility". Asked by the director to select existing music or compose new "gentle" melodies, Doyle wrote a score that reflected the film's events. He explained, "You had this middle-class English motif, and with the music you would have occasional outbursts of emotion." Doyle explains that the score "becomes a little more grown-up" as the story progresses to one of "maturity and an emotional catharsis." The score contains romantic elements and has been described by National Public Radio as a "restricted compass ... of emotion" with "instruments [that] blend together in a gentle sort of way". They also noted that as a reflection of the story, the score is a "little wistful ... and sentimental."
Two songs are sung by Marianne in the film, with lyrics adapted from seventeenth-century poems. Lee believed that the two songs conveyed the "vision of duality" visible both in the novel and script. In his opinion, the second song expressed Marianne's "mature acceptance," intertwined with a "sense of melancholy". The melody of "Weep You No More Sad Fountains", Marianne's first song, appears in the opening credits, while her second song's melody features again during the ending credits, this time sung by dramatic soprano Jane Eaglen. The songs were written by Doyle before filming began. The composer received his first Academy Award nomination for his score.
Editing.
Thompson and Doran discussed how much of the love stories to depict, as the male characters spend much of the novel away from the Dashwood sisters. The screenwriter had to carefully balance the amount of screentime she gave to the male leads, noting in her film production diary that such a decision would "very much lie in the editing." Thompson wrote "hundreds of different versions" of romantic storylines. She considered having Edward re-appear midway through the film before deciding that it would not work as "there was nothing for him to do." Thompson also opted to exclude the duel scene between Brandon and Willoughby, which is described in the novel, because it "only seemed to subtract from the mystery." She and Doran agonised about when and how to reveal Brandon's backstory, as they wanted to prevent viewers from becoming bored. Thompson described the process of reminding audiences of Edward and Brandon as "keeping plates spinning".
A scene was shot of Brandon finding his ward in a poverty-stricken area in London, but this was excluded from the film. Thompson's script included a scene of Elinor and Edward kissing, as the studio "couldn't stand the idea of these two people who we've been watching all the way through not kissing." It was one of the first scenes cut during editing: the original version was over three hours, Lee was less interested in the story's romance, and Thompson found a kissing scene to be inappropriate. The scene was included in marketing materials and the film trailer. Thompson and Doran also cut out a scene depicting Willoughby as remorseful when Marianne is sick. Doran said that despite it "being one of the great scenes in book history," they could not get it to fit into the film.
Tim Squyres edited the film, his fourth collaboration with Ang Lee. He reflected in 2013 about the editing process:
It was the first film that I had done with Ang that was all in English, and it's Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant — these great, great actors. When you get footage like that, you realise that your job is really not technical. It was my job to look at something that Emma Thompson had done and say, "Eh, that's not good, I'll use this other one instead." And not only was I allowed to pass judgment on these tremendous actors, I was required to.
Themes and analysis.
Changes from source material.
Scholar Louise Flavin has noted that Thompson's screenplay contains significant alterations to the characters of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood: in the novel, the former embodies "sense", i.e. "sensible" in our terms, and the latter, "sensibility", i.e. "sensitivity" in our terms. Audience members are meant to view self-restrained Elinor as the person in need of reform, rather than her impassioned sister. To heighten the contrast between them, Marianne and Willoughby's relationship includes an "erotic" invented scene in which the latter requests a lock of her hair – a direct contrast to Elinor's "reserved relationship" with Edward. Lee also distinguishes them through imagery – Marianne is often seen with musical instruments, near open windows, and outside, while Elinor is pictured in door frames. Another character altered for modern viewers is Margaret Dashwood, who conveys "the frustrations that a girl of our times might feel at the limitations facing her as a woman in the early nineteenth century." Thompson uses Margaret for exposition in order to detail contemporary attitudes and customs. For instance, Elinor explains to a curious Margaret – and by extension, the audience – why their half-brother inherits the Dashwood estate. Margaret's altered storyline, giving her an interest in fencing and geography, also allows audience members to see the "feminine" side of Edward and Brandon, as they become father or brother figures to her. The film omits the characters of Lady Middleton and her children, as well as that of Ann Steele, Lucy's sister.
When adapting the characters for film, Thompson found that in the novel, "Edward and Brandon are quite shadowy and absent for long periods," and that "making the male characters effective was one of the biggest problems. Willoughby is really the only male who springs out in three dimensions." Several major male characters in "Sense and Sensibility" were consequently altered significantly from the novel in an effort to appeal to contemporary audiences. Grant's Edward and Rickman's Brandon are "ideal" modern males who display an obvious love of children as well as "pleasing manners", especially when contrasted with Palmer. Thompson's script both expanded and omitted scenes from Edward's storyline, including the deletion of an early scene in which Elinor assumes that a lock of hair found in Edward's possession is hers, when it belongs to Lucy. He was made more fully realised and honourable than in the novel to increase his appeal to viewers. To gradually show viewers why Brandon is worthy of Marianne's love, Thompson's screenplay has his storyline mirroring Willoughby's; they are similar in appearance, share a love of music and poetry, and rescue Marianne in the rain while on horseback.
Class.
Thompson viewed the novel as a story of "love and money," noting that some people needed one more than the other. During the writing process, executive producer Sydney Pollack stressed that the film be understandable to modern audiences, and that it be made clear why the Dashwood sisters could not just obtain a job. "I'm from Indiana; if I get it, everyone gets it," he said. Thompson believed that Austen was just as comprehensible in a different century, "You don't think people are still concerned with marriage, money, romance, finding a partner?" She was keen to emphasise the realism of the Dashwoods' predicament in her screenplay, and inserted scenes to make the differences in wealth more apparent to modern audiences. Thompson made the Dashwood family richer than in the book and added elements to help contrast their early wealth with their later financial predicament; for instance, because it might have been confusing to viewers that one could be poor and still have servants, Elinor is made to address a large group of servants at Norland Park early in the film for viewers to remember when they see their few staff at Barton Cottage. Lee also sought to emphasise social class and the limitations it placed on the protagonists. Lee conveys this in part when Willoughby publicly rejects Marianne; he returns to a more lavishly furnished room, a symbol of the wealth she has lost. "Family dramas," he stated, "are all about conflict, about family obligations versus free will."
The film's theme of class has attracted much scholarly attention. Carole Dole noted that class constitutes an important element in Austen's stories and is "impossible" to avoid when adapting her novels. According to Dole, Lee's film contains an "ambiguous treatment of class values" that stresses social differences but "underplays the consequences of the class distinctions so important in the novel"; for instance, Edward's story ends upon his proposal to Elinor, with no attention paid to how they will live on his small annual income from the vicarage. Louise Flavin believed that Lee used the houses to represent their occupants' class and character: the Dashwood sisters' decline in eligibility is represented through the contrast between the spacious rooms of Norland Park and those of the isolated, cramped Barton Cottage. James Thompson criticised what he described as the anaesthetised "mélange of disconnected picture postcard-gift-calendar-perfect scenes," in which little connection is made between "individual subjects and the land that supports them." Andrew Higson argued that while "Sense and Sensibility" includes commentary on sex and gender, it fails to pursue issues of class. Thompson's script, he wrote, displays a "sense of impoverishment [but is] confined to the still privileged lifestyle of the disinherited Dashwoods. The broader class system is pretty much taken for granted." The ending visual image of flying gold coins, depicted during Marianne's wedding, has also drawn attention; Marsha McCreadie noted that it serves as a "visual wrap-up and emblem of the merger between money and marriage."
Gender.
Gender has been seen as another major theme of the film, often intersecting with class. Penny Gay observed that Elinor's early dialogue with Edward about "feel[ing] idle and useless ... [with] no hope whatsoever of any occupation" reflected Thompson's background as a "middle class, Cambridge-educated feminist." Conversely, Dole wrote that Thompson's version of Elinor "has a surprising anti-feminist element to it," as she appears more dependent on men than the original character; the film presents her as repressed, resulting in her emotional breakdown with Edward. Linda Troost opined that Lee's production prominently features "radical feminist and economic issues" while "paradoxically endorsing the conservative concept of marriage as a woman's goal in life." Despite this "mixed political agenda," Troost believed that the film's faithfulness to the traditional heritage film genre is evident through its use of locations, costumes, and attention to details, all of which also emphasize class and status. Gay and Julianne Pidduck stated that gender differences are expressed by showing the female characters indoors, while their male counterparts are depicted outside confidently moving throughout the countryside. Nora Stovel observed that Thompson "emphasises Austen's feminist satire on Regency gender economics," drawing attention not only to the financial plight of the Dashwoods but also to eighteenth-century women in general.
Marketing and release.
In the United States, Sony and Columbia Pictures released "Sense and Sensibility" on a slow schedule compared to mainstream films, first premiering it on 13 December 1995. Believing that a limited release would position the film both as an "exclusive quality picture" and increase its chances of winning Academy Awards, Columbia dictated that its first weekend involve only seventy cinemas in the US; it opened in eleventh place in terms of box office takings and earned $721,341. To benefit from the publicity surrounding potential Academy Award candidates and increase its chance of earning nominations, the film was released within "Oscar season". The number of theatres showing "Sense and Sensibility" was slowly expanded, with particular surges when its seven Oscar nominations were announced and at the time of the ceremony in late March, until it was present in over one thousand cinemas across the US. By the end of its American release, "Sense and Sensibility" had been watched by more than eight million people, garnering an "impressive" total domestic gross of $43,182,776.
On the basis of Austen's reputation as a serious author, the producers were able to rely on high-brow publications to help market their film. Near the time of its US release, large spreads in "The New York Review of Books", "Vanity Fair", "Film Comment", and other media outlets featured columns on Lee's production. In late December, "Time" magazine declared it and "Persuasion" to be the best films of 1995. Andrew Higson referred to all this media exposure as a "marketing coup" because it meant the film "was reaching one of its target audiences." Meanwhile, most promotional images featured the film as a "sort of chick flick in period garb." New Market Press published Thompson's screenplay and film diary; in its first printing, the hard cover edition sold 28,500 copies in the US. British publisher Bloomsbury released a paperback edition of the novel containing film pictures, same title design, and the cast's names on the cover, whilst Signet Publishing in the US printed 250,000 copies instead of the typical 10,000 a year; actress Julie Christie read the novel in an audiobook released by Penguin Audiobooks. "Sense and Sensibility" increased dramatically in terms of its book sales, ultimately hitting tenth place on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for paperbacks in February 1996.
In the United Kingdom, "Sense and Sensibility" was released on 23 February 1996 in order to "take advantage of the hype from "Pride and Prejudice"", another popular Austen adaptation recently broadcast. Columbia Tristar's head of UK marketing noted that "if there was any territory this film was going to work, it was in the UK." After receiving positive responses at previews, marketing strategies focused on selling it as both a costume drama and as a film attractive to mainstream audiences. Attention was also paid to marketing "Sense and Sensibility" internationally. Because the entire production cycle had consistently emphasised it as being "bigger" than a normal British period drama literary film, distributors avoided labelling it as "just another English period film." Instead, marketing materials featured quotations from populist newspapers such as the "Daily Mail", which compared the film to "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994). It was watched by more than ten million viewers in Europe. Worldwide, the film ultimately grossed $134,582,776, a sum that reflected its commercial success. It had the largest box office gross out of the Austen adaptations of the 1990s.
Reception.
Critical response.
"Sense and Sensibility" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from film critics, and was included on more than a hundred top-ten of the year lists. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 97% approval rating based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 8.03/10. The website's consensus reads, ""Sense and Sensibility" is an uncommonly deft, very funny Jane Austen adaptation, marked by Emma Thompson's finely tuned performance." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 84 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.
Writing for "Variety" magazine, Todd McCarthy observed that the film's success was assisted by its "highly skilled cast of actors," as well as its choice of Lee as director. McCarthy clarified, "Although [Lee's] previously revealed talents for dramatizing conflicting social and generational traditions will no doubt be noted, Lee's achievement here with such foreign material is simply well beyond what anyone could have expected and may well be posited as the cinematic equivalent of Kazuo Ishiguro writing "The Remains of the Day"."
Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" lauded the film for containing a sense of urgency "that keeps the pedestrian problems of an unremarkable 18th century family immediate and personal." LaSalle concluded that the adaptation has a "right balance of irony and warmth. The result is a film of great understanding and emotional clarity, filmed with an elegance that never calls attention to itself." Film critic John Simon praised most of the film, particularly focusing on Thompson's performance, though he criticised Grant for being "much too adorably bumbling ... he urgently needs to chasten his onscreen persona, and stop hunching his shoulders like a dromedary." Other major critics such as LaSalle, Roger Ebert, James Berardinelli and Janet Maslin praised Grant's performance. Maslin wrote, Grant "rises touchingly to the film's most straightforward and meaningful encounters."
Jarr Carr of "The Boston Globe" thought that Lee "nail[ed] Austen's acute social observation and tangy satire," and viewed Thompson and Winslet's age discrepancy as a positive element that helped feed the dichotomy of sense and sensibility. The "Radio Times" David Parkinson was equally appreciative of Lee's direction, writing that he "avoid[s] the chocolate-box visuals that cheapen so many British costume dramas" and "brings a refreshing period realism to the tale of two sisters that allows Emma Thompson's respectful Oscar-winning script to flourish."
Although as others have pointed out the adaption is not faithful to Austen's novel: "Thompson plays fast and loose with Austen, cutting huge chunks out of the novel, adding whole scenes; a mere six or seven lines from the book actually make it into the film".
Accolades.
Out of the 1990s Austen adaptations, "Sense and Sensibility" received the most recognition from Hollywood. It garnered seven nominations at the 68th Academy Awards ceremony, where Thompson received the Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, making her the only person to have won an Oscar for both her writing and acting (Thompson won the Best Actress award for "Howards End", in 1993). The film also was the recipient of twelve nominations at the 49th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Thompson), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for Winslet). In addition, the film won the Golden Bear at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival, making Lee the first director to win this twice.
Despite the recognition given to the film, Lee was not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director (though he was nominated for the Golden Globe). The scholar Shu-mei Shih and the journalist Clarence Page have attributed this snub to Hollywood's racism against Lee, and Chinese cinema in general. Lee sought to avoid turning his omission into a scandal and specifically asked the Taiwan state media not to make it a "national issue," explaining that he endured more pressure when forced to act as his country's representative.
Legacy and influence.
Following the theatrical release of "Persuasion" by a few months, "Sense and Sensibility" was one of the first English-language period adaptations of an Austen novel to be released in cinemas in over fifty years, the previous being the 1940 film "Pride and Prejudice". The year 1995 saw a resurgence of popularity for Austen's works, as "Sense and Sensibility" and the serial "Pride and Prejudice" both rocketed to critical and financial success. The two adaptations helped draw more attention to the previously little-known 1995 television film "Persuasion", and led to additional Austen adaptations in the following years. In 1995 and 1996, six Austen adaptations were released onto film or television. The filming of these productions led to a surge in popularity of many of the landmarks and locations depicted; according to the scholar Sue Parrill, they became "instant meccas for viewers."
When "Sense and Sensibility" was released in cinemas in the US, "Town & Country" published a six-page article entitled "Jane Austen's England", which focused on the landscape and sites shown in the film. A press book released by the studio, as well as Thompson's published screenplay and diaries, listed all the filming locations and helped to boost tourism. Saltram House for instance was carefully promoted during the film's release, and saw a 57 percent increase in attendance. In 1996, JASNA's membership increased by fifty percent. The popularity of both "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" led to the BBC and ITV releasing their Austen adaptations from the 1970s and 1980s onto DVD.
As the mid-1990s included adaptations of four Austen novels, there were few of her works to adapt. Andrew Higson argues that this resulted in a "variety of successors" in the genres of romantic comedy and costume drama, as well as with films featuring strong female characters. Cited examples include "Mrs Dalloway" (1997), "Mrs. Brown" (1997), "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), and "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001). In 2008, Andrew Davies, the screenwriter of "Pride and Prejudice", adapted "Sense and Sensibility" for television. As a reaction to what he said was Lee's overly "sentimental" film, this production features events found in the novel but excluded from Thompson's screenplay, such as Willoughby's seduction of Eliza and his duel with Brandon. It also features actors closer to the ages in the source material.
"Sense and Sensibility" has maintained its popularity into the twenty-first century. In 2004, Louise Flavin referred to the 1995 film as "the most popular of the Austen film adaptations," and in 2008, "The Independent" ranked it as the third-best Austen adaptation of all time, opining that Lee "offered an acute outsider's insight into Austen in this compelling 1995 interpretation of the book [and] Emma Thompson delivered a charming turn as the older, wiser, Dashwood sister, Elinor." Journalist Zoe Williams credits Thompson as the person most responsible for Austen's popularity, explaining in 2007 that "Sense and Sensibility" "is the definitive Austen film and that's largely down to her." In 2011, "The Guardian" film critic Paul Laity named it his favourite film of all time, partly because of its "exceptional screenplay, crisply and skilfully done.". Devoney Looser reflected on the film in "The Atlantic" on the 20th anniversary of its release, arguing that the film served as "a turning point" for "pro-feminist masculinity" in Austen adaptations.


Dharma (Jainism)

Jain texts assign a wide range of meaning to the Sanskrit dharma or Prakrit dhamma. It is often translated as “religion” and as such, Jainism is called "Jain Dharma" by its adherents.
In Jainism, the word "Dharma" is used to refer the following:
Religion.
Usage of the word "dharma" in reference to the religion.
Ahimsa as Dharma.
According to Jain texts, Ahimsa is the greatest Dharma (अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मः [ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ]: "non-violence is the highest religion") and there is no religion equal to the religion of non-violence.
Dharma bhāvanā.
Jain texts prescribe meditation on twelve forms of reflection ("bhāvanā") for those who wish to stop the influx of "karmas" that extend transmigration. One such reflection is "Dharma bhāvanā"-
Conduct.
In Jainism, the "dharma" (conduct or path) of the householder (Śrāvaka) is distinguished from the conduct of an ascetic. Sravaka-dharma is the religious path for the virtuous householders, where charity and worship are the primary duties. The dharma of a householders consists of observance of twelve vows i.e. five minor vows and seven disciplinary vows.
Sramana-dharma is the religious path of the virtuous ascetics, where meditation and study of scriptures is their primary duty. The religion of monks consists of five "Mahavratas" or great vows. They are endowed with right faith, right knowledge and right conduct and engaged in complete self-restraint and penances.
As svabhaav (nature) of a substance.
According to Jainism, the universe and its constituents are uncreated and everlasting. These constituents behave according to the natural laws and their nature (svabhaav) without interference from external entities. Dharma or true religion according to Jainism is "vatthu sahāvo dhammo" translated as "the intrinsic nature of a substance is its true dharma."
Dharmastikaay Dravya (the substance).
Dharmastikaay is one of the six substances constituting the universe. These substances are – Dharmastikaay (medium of motion), Adharmastikaay (medium of rest), Akasa (space), kala (time), Pudgala (matter) and Jiva (soul). Since Dharmastikaay as a substance extends and pervades entire universe, it is known as Dharm-astikaya. It helps the matter and souls in movement. It itself is not motion, but is a medium of motion. Adharmastikaay is opposite of Dharmastikaay i.e. it assists the substances like soul and matter to rest.
Samyaktva - Rationality of perception, knowledge and conduct.
According to Jainism, "Samyak darsana" (Rational Perception), "Samyak jnana" (Rational Knowledge) and "Samyak caritra" (Rational Conduct) collectively also known as "Ratnatraya" or the "Three Jewels of Jainism" constitute the path to liberation.
Samyak Darsana or rational perception is the rational faith in the true nature of every substances of the universe. Samyak Jnana or rational knowledge is the right knowledge of true and relevant knowledge of the reality, the tattvas. It incorporates the two principles of Anekantvada or non-absolutism and Syadvada or relativity of truth. Right knowledge must be free from three main defects: doubt, delusion, and indefiniteness. Samyak Caritra or rational conduct is the natural conduct of a (soul) living being. It consists in following austerities, engaging in right activities and observance of vows, carefulness and controls.
Ten Virtues as Dharma.
According to the Jain text, Tattvarthsutra, following are the ten virtues ("das-dharma").-


Polyamorous


An Expert in Murder

An Expert in Murder is a historical crime novel by Nicola Upson, published on March 6, 2008.
Plot.
The novel is set in the London theatres of the 1930s. The book revolves around Josephine Tey, a version of the famous novelist. The story begins with Tey taking the train from Scotland to London in order to attend the final week of performances of her renowned play, "Richard of Bordeaux", written under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot. On board, she meets a young woman, Elspeth Simmons, the adopted daughter of hatmakers from Berwick-upon-Tweed. The two strike up a friendship on the journey, as the girl is a fan of Tey's work, and is on her way to see the play again.
Upon arriving in London, the pair separate, as Elspeth has left her bag on the train. Soon after, the girl is found dead, apparently having been stabbed with a hat pin, a crime which seems to have been carefully planned. Here enters Detective Inspector Archie Penrose, an old acquaintance of Tey's, the best friend of her lover, whom Penrose saw die at the Somme.
Clues and circumstance suggest that Tey may have been the intended target, so the narrative follows her and her time at the theatre. There, we are introduced to a world of excitement and intrigue, and more death follows. We meet the leads in the play, Johnny and Lydia; the two are presumably based on the real life leads in the best-selling run, John Gielgud, whose career it, arguably, made, and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. The back-stabbing world of casting and performance combines with the classic murder mystery plot.
Critical reception.
There has been a mixed reception for the book. It has been lauded for its frank portrayal of homosexuality, but many say it has failed to cast any light on Tey herself.
Radio Adaptation.
The book was dramatised in ten parts by Robin Brooks for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Drama, starring Meg Fraser. It was broadcast between April 21, 2008 and May 2, 2008, barely a month after the novel's publication.


OmniPeace

OmniPeace was founded in 2007 by Mary Fanaro, a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur.
History.
In the past ten years, OmniPeace has built nine schools within Dr. Jeff Sachs' (Economist, Global Anti-Poverty Crusader & Head of Earth Institute/Columbia University) Millennium Villages Project; raised funds and awareness for The City of Joy, a rehabilitation center and safe haven for women and children victims of violence of war in Congo; and sent two convoys into Somalia with Super Bowl Champions, The New York Giants, feeding over 10,000 families during one of the worst humanitarian crises in the last 60 years.
OmniPeace has previously partnered with organizations including Millennium Promise, UNICEF, the Lalela Project, and buildOn.
Current work.
In 2016, OmniPeace Foundation launched its eighth school and first music school in Kigali, Rwanda, a.k.a. the Rwanda Rocks Music School. They launched their ninth school and second music school in the Kiziba Refugee Camp, Rwanda, the first music school inside any camp.
OmniPeace foundation exists to improve the lives of children by building schools to provide basic education. They are now branching out to include music schools in order to give children the opportunity to explore music as a tool of self- expression while nurturing and amplifying the spirit of healing through the power of music.