The American Musical and Dramatic Academy is a private college conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and two-year Certificates in Professional Performance. Programs are offered in Acting, Musical Theatre and Performing Arts, it is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre. AMDA was founded in 1964 by Philip Burton along with other people from the New York theatre community; the school established itself as a part of the New York performing arts community and garnered early support from members of the Broadway theatre such as Sammy Davis Jr. Dina Merrill and Carol Channing. By 1970, the school had outgrown its original location on East 23rd Street and moved into a new building on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. A few years further growth prompted a move to the Ansonia Building. In the 1990s a second location, now the principal location of AMDA New York, was opened near Lincoln Center.

In 2003 the school expanded west by opening AMDA Los Angeles in the Vine Tower Building. AMDA is the only BFA-granting performing arts college with campuses in both New York and Los Angeles; the New York City campus is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The principal facility is located at 211 West 61st Street, directly behind Lincoln Center; the other half of the campus is located on West 73rd Street. AMDA's New York campus features a theatre for skill development and performance; the Ansonia Building features a 100-seat, black box–style theatre equipped with two dressing rooms, a costume shop, a workshop, backstage space and prop storage. AMDA's New York performing arts library holds a collection of scripts, scores, DVDs and other research material. Additional facilities include rehearsal space, film, TV and editing facilities, computer labs and the AMDA Student Store; the Los Angeles campus is located in the Hollywood Entertainment District, with its principal facility in the Vine Tower Building.

AMDA's Los Angeles campus features four main theatres for learning, skill development and performance including a black box theatre, two laboratory theatres, an outdoor amphitheater. Other facilities include rehearsal space, film, TV and editing facilities, the AMDA Café, the campus piazza. Becca Tobin Anthony Ramos Tyne Daly Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jason Derulo Lee Tergesen Janelle Monae Caissie Levy Natalie Zea Gretchen Mol Paul Sorvino Christopher Jackson Rizwan Manji Michelle Visage Asia Kate Dillon Nina Arianda Nicole Byer Carolyne Mas Hailey Kilgore Marissa Jaret Winokur Bailey De Young Official website

Ed Barnes is an Ex English rugby union footballer, who plays fly-half for Bristol Rugby. Barnes started his playing career at Bath before moving to Bedford, he was traded from Plymouth Albion to Bristol Rugby for the 2007-8 season. Barnes' first game in the Guinness Premiership was made as a replacement against London Wasps where he cleared a penalty to result in a draw, he made the starting team when playing Wasps for the second time. In January, 2009 Barnes was selected for the England Saxons team to face Portugal. In early October 2009, Paul Hull announced that Barnes would be out of action for the next six months. Barnes had ruptured his Achilles in Bristol's final game of the 2008/9 season against Leicester, he worked hard over the summer of 2009 to get fit again, only to re-rupture it in the final few weeks of rehabilitation. Bristol profile

The Battle of Ma'aleh Levona was the first hand-to-hand combat battle fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Empire in 167 BCE. The Jewish forces were led by Judah Maccabee and the Seleucid army force was under the command of Apollonius. After the Maccabean Revolt started, Judah relocated his guerrilla combat units at the northern part of Samaria. Apollonius, governor of Samaria, was sent with the local Samarian armies to link up with Seleucid forces from Jerusalem. Maccabaee gained the element of surprise by ambushing the enemy army at Wadi Haramia and destroyed the much larger Syrian Greek army killing its commander. Another force was soon sent against Maccabaee, which led to the Battle of Beth Horon

Robert John Rauch is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the New York Mets in 1972. Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1967, he began his professional career with the Ogden Dodgers that year, his performance was lackluster, as he went 1-1 with a 9.45 ERA in 20 innings, allowing 25 hits and 26 walks. On a positive note, he did strike out 24 batters; the following year, again with the Ogden Dodgers, Rauch went 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in 29 innings. In 1969, playing for the Rogue Valley Dodgers and Bakersfield Dodgers, Rauch went a combined 6-4 with a 4.55 ERA. With Rogue Valley, he struck out 72 batters in 62 innings, although with Bakersfield, he struck out only 19 batters in 31 innings. Pitching for Bakersfield again in 1970, he went 4-4 with a 2.82 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 83 innings of work. On November 30, 1970, he was drafted by the Mets in the minor-league draft. In his first year in their minor league system - 1971 - he had the best season of his career when he went a combined 9-5 with a 2.10 ERA while splitting time between the Memphis Blues and Tidewater Tides.

His numbers would have been better if he had not pitched for the Tides that year - while with the Blues, he went 9-4 with a 1.48 ERA. With the Tides, his record was 1-0 and his ERA was 4.76. In 1972, Rauch had another impressive year, pitching for the Tides and earning a call up to the Mets. In 21 games with the Tides, he went 1-2 with a 2.72 ERA. He made his big league debut on June 29 of that year, at the age of 22. Facing the Philadelphia Phillies, he pitched one inning, allowing 2 walks and a run; the Mets overall did poorly that game, losing 9-4. The opposing pitcher - Steve Carlton - pitched a complete game. In his one and only big league season, Rauch went 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA in 19 relief appearances. He played in his final big league game on October 2. On November 27, 1972, he was traded with Brent Strom to the Cleveland Indians for Phil Hennigan, he never appeared in an Indians uniform. Baseball-Reference.com The Baseball Cube.com

Frank Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures. The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera – Barney Rubble, Dinosaur Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast – Goddard, Poultra Transformers: The Ride – Megatron, Ravage Hong Kong Disneyland Mystic Manor – Albert Kitchen Kabaret – Mr. Eggz Country Bear Vacation Hoedown – Melvin the Moose, Randy the Skunk The American Adventure – Soldier Honey Smacks – Dig'em Frog McDonald's – Grimace, CosMc Rice Krispies – Crackle State Farm – Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo Frank Welker on IMDb

Soledad Pass, elevation 3,209 ft, is a mountain pass in northern Los Angeles County, California. It is located at the highest point along Soledad Canyon, which winds between the Sierra Pelona Mountains to the northwest and the San Gabriel Mountains to the southeast; the pass provides a direct route between the Santa Clara River watershed and the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert. The pass is notable as the highest saddle between two major mountain ranges, the San Bernardino Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Soledad Pass is the lowest crossing of the Great Basin Divide between the Sierra Nevada and the San Bernardino Mountains, so it is traversed by one railroad line and three highways; the railroad route is a former main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, now part of Union Pacific Railroad. The importance of the railroad line for freight traffic diminished with the completion of the Palmdale Cutoff over Cajon Pass in the 1960s; the route is now used for the Antelope Valley Line of the Metrolink commuter rail system, most Union Pacific intermodal trains and the Saugus local as well as the Vulcan rock train.

The Vincent Grade/Acton station lies near the summit of Soledad Pass. A proposed alignment of the California High Speed Rail system utilizes this mountain pass; the Antelope Valley Freeway, the Sierra Highway, the Angeles Forest Highway all use Soledad Pass. Landforms of Los Angeles County, California Soledad Canyon Escondido Summit List of mountain passes in California