1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
3.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Walter Brennan was the first winner of award for his role in Come. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 72 actors. Brennan has received the most awards in this category with three awards, Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and Claude Rains were nominated on four occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Mahershala Ali is the most recent winner in category for his role as Juan in Moonlight. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com Complete Downloadable List of Academy Award Nominees
4.
Bullets over Broadway
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Wiest won Best Supporting Actress for her performance, the second time Allen directed her to an Academy Award. In 1928, David Shayne is a young playwright newly arrived on Broadway. In order to gain financing for his play, God of Our Fathers, he agrees to hire Olive Neal and she is demanding and talentless, but her gangster escort Cheech turns out to be a genius, who constantly comes up with excellent ideas for revising the play. The film featured the last screen appearance of Benay Venuta, Allen cast her in a cameo role as a well-wishing wealthy theatre patron. She died of cancer months after the film opened. Bullets over Broadway received a response from critics. Now here is the side of the same coin. The movie is funny and, in the way it follows its logic wherever it leads. Allen adapted the film as a musical, titled Bullets Over Broadway the Musical. The new musical premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 10,2014, a staged reading was held in June 2013. The cast features Zach Braff as David Shayne, Brooks Ashmanskas, Betsy Wolfe, Lenny Wolpe, marin Mazzie stars as Helen Sinclair, and Karen Ziemba appears as Eden Brent. Musical supervisor Glen Kelly has adapted and written lyrics for songs including Taint Nobodys Busness, Running Wild, Lets Misbehave. The musical closed on August 24,2014, after 156 performances and 33 previews. in Boston Review, article discussing the Nietzschean influences in Bullets Over Broadway
5.
A Bronx Tale
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A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in the Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was written by Palminteri, based partially upon his childhood, the film grossed over $17 million at the North American domestic box office. One day Calogero witnesses a murder committed by Sonny in defense of a friend in his neighborhood. When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by NYPD detectives, Sonny takes a liking to him, Sonnys men offer Lorenzo a better paying job. Lorenzo, preferring a life as an MTA bus driver. Sonny befriends Calogero and introduces him to his crew, Calogero earns tips amounting to $600 working in the Mafia bar and throwing dice, and is admonished harshly by Lorenzo when he discovers it. Lorenzo speaks severely to Sonny, returns the money, and angrily warns him to keep away from Calogero, eight years later, Calogero has grown into a young man who has been visiting Sonny regularly without his fathers knowledge. Calogero is also part of a gang of local Italian-American boys, which concerns Sonny, later on, Calogero meets an African American girl named Jane Williams, and is smitten with her. Despite the high level of tension and dislike between Italian Americans and African Americans, Calogero arranges a date with Jane. He asks for advice from both his father and Sonny, with the latter lending Calogero his car, later, Calogeros friends beat up the black cyclists who ride through their neighborhood, despite Calogeros attempts to defend them. One of the cyclists is revealed to be Janes brother, Willie, Willie mistakes Calogero for one of the assailants. He then accuses C of beating him up when Calogero and Jane meet for their date, Calogero loses his temper over the accusation and Willies lack of gratitude, responding by accidentally addressing him with a racial slur. He instantly regrets it, but its too late, heartbroken, Jane walks back to the car with Willie and leaves Calogero. At home, Calogero is confronted by his father who just saw him driving Sonnys car, an argument ensues and Calogero storms out. Shortly thereafter, Calogero is confronted by Sonny and his crew, Calogero tearfully proclaims his love for and dedication to Sonny. Sonny recognizes Calogeros innocence and allows him to leave, Lorenzo emerges to defend his son, but is held back by Sonnys men. The African-American boys egg the Italian-American boys usual spot in retaliation for the previous beating and they try to force Calogero to participate, but Sonny stops the car and orders Calogero out. Calogero catches up with Jane, who tells him that Willie had since admitted that the boy who beat him up wasnt Calogero, Jane and Calogero make amends, but Calogero suddenly remembers his friends plans to attack Janes neighborhood, and the two rush to stop them
6.
The Usual Suspects
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The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and Kevin Spacey. The film follows the interrogation of Roger Verbal Kint, a con man who is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. He tells an interrogator a convoluted story about events that led him and his partners in crime to the boat, using flashback and narration, Kints story becomes increasingly complex. The film, shot on a $6 million budget, began as a title taken from a column in Spy magazine called The Usual Suspects, after one of Claude Rains most memorable lines in the classic film Casablanca. Singer thought it would make a title for a film. The film was out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It received favorable reviews, and was given a wider release. McQuarrie won an Academy Award for Best Writing and Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance, the Writers Guild of America ranked the film as having the 35th greatest screenplay of all time. It is now remembered for having one of the most celebrated plot twists in cinematic history, the film opens with criminal Dean Keaton lying badly wounded on a ship docked in the San Pedro Bay. He is confronted by a figure whom he calls Keyser. The bloodbath on the leaves only two survivors, Arkosh Kovash, a Hungarian mobster hospitalized with severe burns, and Roger Verbal Kint. Verbal explains that, six earlier in New York, he and the other criminals were arrested on supposedly a trumped-up hijacking charge. Led by Keaton, a corrupt policeman, they robbed a group of corrupt cops who transported smugglers in a police convoy. They then went to California to fence the stolen jewels with a criminal named Redfoot, the quarry turned out to be heroin, and the five had to shoot their way out. When Kujan learns of Söze from FBI agent Jack Baer, he questions Verbal about him and he then went underground, never to be seen again, and did business only through underlings who did not know for whom they were working. He became an urban legend, a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night. Verbal goes on to explain that, after Fenster had bailed on the group and they tried to kill Kobayashi, but he strong-armed them into performing the heist by threatening their loved ones
7.
Analyze This
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Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as his psychiatrist, a sequel, Analyze That, was released in 2002. The meeting is raided by the FBI, and the Mafia does not call a summit again until the present day, Vitti and his consigliere Dominic are discussing the upcoming meeting and the Mafias present-day problems. However, just as Dominic warns Vitti to look out for Primo Sindone, gunmen drive past, Sobel unknowingly rear-ends a car belonging to Vitti and the trunk opens, revealing a man bound and gagged inside, which Sobel and his son do not notice because they are arguing. Jelly, one of Vittis made men, takes the blame, during a meeting with his crew, Vitti suffers a panic attack and tells Jelly that he needs to see a psychiatrist, but it has to be kept a secret and Jelly recommends Sobel. Vitti visits Sobel, claiming his friend needs therapy, Sobel impresses Vitti enough to want to see him whenever necessary. Sobel goes to Miami for his wedding, Vitti, Jelly and the crew follow. Vitti explains he has been having a time and Sobel suggests the source of the problem might be stress. The next day Vitti has another attack and requests to see Sobel. Vitti explains his history with his father to Sobel, who thinks this might have something to do with Vittis problems. The wedding is interrupted when an assassin is killed by one of Vittis thugs, Sobel confronts Vitti and argues with him until he becomes angry. Sobel suggests he resolves his anger issue by calling Primo Sindone, Vitti phones Primo and starts by telling him how he feels but ends up threatening to kill him. Sobel and his return to New York, where they find a fountain in their garden. The FBI arrive and request Sobel inform on Vitti, but he refuses and he changes his mind when the FBI play an altered tape in which Vitti apparently reveals his intention to kill Sobel. Sobel wears a wire to his meeting with Vitti. Sobel thinks he can help Vitti, but Vitti, informed that Sobel was working with the FBI, Sobel and Vitti get into an argument, and Vitti cries when reminded of his fathers murder. Just as this occurs, two hitmen sent by Sindone arrive to kill Vitti, but Jelly kills them both as Vitti is on the ground sobbing, Vitti apologizes for planning to kill Sobel, and the two reconcile. The day of the meeting arrives, but Vitti has another meltdown, Jelly interrupts Sobels wedding, requesting Sobel attend the meeting as Vittis consigliere
8.
Modern Family
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Pritchetts family includes his second wife, his son and his stepson, as well as his two adult children and their spouses and children. Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan conceived the series while sharing stories of their own modern families, Modern Family employs an ensemble cast. The series is presented in mockumentary style, with the characters frequently talking directly into the camera. The series premiered on September 23,2009, and the season premiered on September 21,2016. Modern Family was acclaimed by critics throughout its first season, although reception has become more mixed as the series has progressed and it has so far won a total of 22 Emmy awards from 75 nominations. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2011, the broadcast syndication rights to the series were sold to USA Network and 10 Fox affiliates and CW affiliate WLVI for a fall 2013 premiere. The success of the led to it being the tenth-highest revenue-generating show for 2012. Modern Family revolves around three different types of living in the Los Angeles area who are interrelated through Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire Dunphy. Jays daughter Claire was a homemaker, but has returned to the world, she is married to Phil Dunphy. They have three children, Haley Dunphy, a stereotypical teenage girl, Alex Dunphy, a nerdy, smart middle child, and Luke Dunphy. Jays lawyer son Mitchell and his husband Cameron Tucker have an adopted Vietnamese daughter, as the name suggests, this family represents a modern-day family and episodes are comically based on situations which many families encounter in real life. Dotted lines indicate a relationship through adoption or marriage. Note, The series has also had recurring characters. Reid Ewing appeared in episodes as Haleys boyfriend Dylan. Shelley Long appeared in the first two seasons and occasionally thereafter as DeDe Pritchett, Jays ex-wife and Claire and Mitchells mother, nathan Lane appeared during the second and fifth season as Cameron and Mitchells flamboyant friend Pepper Saltzman. Adam DeVine appeared as Andy Bailey, Jay and Glorias Manny, Phils assistant, stella, Jay and Glorias dog, has appeared in most episodes, played first by Brigitte and then by Beatrice. Larry, Mitchell and Camerons cat, is played by Frosty, as creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan retold stories about their families, they realized that the stories could be the basis for a show. They started working on the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary-style show and they later decided that it could be a show about three families and their experiences
9.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
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Call of Duty, Black Ops II is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released on November 13,2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 and on November 18,2012 in North America, November 30,2012 in Europe and Australia for the Wii U. Black Ops II is the game in the Call of Duty franchise of video games, a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty, Black Ops. The game was launched at 16,000 stores worldwide at midnight on November 13,2012 and it also offers a 3D display option. A corresponding game, Call of Duty, Black Ops, Declassified, was released simultaneously on the PlayStation Vita, within 24 hours of going on sale, the game grossed over $500 million. It had remained the largest entertainment launch of all time until September 2013 and it went on to sell 7.5 million copies in the U. S. in November 2012, making it the highest grossing game of the month. The game is the first in the series to feature significant elements of nonlinear gameplay, a sequel, Call of Duty, Black Ops III, was released in 2015. The single-player campaign features two connected storylines, with the first set from 1986 to 1989 during the years of the First Cold War. The protagonist of Black Ops, Alex Mason returns as the protagonist in the first Cold War section, in this era, wars are defined by robotics, cyberwarfare, unmanned vehicles, and other futuristic technology. In 1986, Alex Mason, now retired from duty, pursues an obscure existence in Alaska with his son. Their shaky relationship is strained when Mason is approached by Jason Hudson for an assignment in Cuando Cubango during the height of the Angolan civil. Mason and Hudson recover Woods from the Kavango River, subsequently locating Raul Menendez among a contingent of Cuban military advisers, a lengthy firefight breaks out, and the trio are rescued by Savimbi. It is revealed that Menendez is responsible for holding Woods captive after murdering his team, in light of this, Mason, Woods, and Hudson begin tracking Menendez, an established primary arms dealer for bush conflicts in Southern Africa and Latin America. The CIA later authorize a strike against the unscrupulous Nicaraguan, now making a healthy profit running arms across Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, the trio and Chinese operative Tian Zhao ally with the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviets. They locate Lev Kravchenko, who survived the incident with Woods in Vietnam. The Mujahideen then betray the Americans and Zhao, leaving them to die in the Afghan wilderness until their rescue by two unidentified civilians, David learns the origins of Menendezs anti-American sentiment. His sister Josefina was disfigured in a fire as part of a fraud scheme masterminded by an American businessman. The CIA sanctions the assassination of Menendezs father after uncovering his ties to South American drug trade, Mason, Woods, Hudson, and Panamanian security forces led by President Manuel Noriega raid Menendezs compound in Nicaragua, during the chaos, Woods inadvertently kills Josefina with a grenade
10.
Bronx
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The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, within the U. S. state of New York. Since 1914, the Bronx has had the boundaries as Bronx County, a county of New York. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a section in the west, closer to Manhattan. East and west street addresses are divided by Jerome Avenue—the continuation of Manhattans Fifth Avenue, the West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County in 1914, about a quarter of the Bronxs area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the boroughs north and center. These open spaces are situated primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north. The name Bronx originated with Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639, the native Lenape were displaced after 1643 by settlers. This cultural mix has made the Bronx a wellspring of both Latin music and hip hop. The Bronx, particularly the South Bronx, saw a decline in population, livable housing, and the quality of life in the late 1960s. Since then the communities have shown significant redevelopment starting in the late 1980s before picking up pace from the 1990s until today, the Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape, while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River, the origin of Jonas Bronck is contested. Some sources claim he was a Swedish born emigrant from Komstad, Norra Ljunga parish in Småland, Sweden, who arrived in New Netherland during the spring of 1639. Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the now known as the Bronx and built a farm named Emmanus close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem. He eventually accumulated 500 acres between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which known as Broncks River or the Bronx. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Broncks Land, the American poet William Bronk was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Broncks son or his younger brother. More recent research indicates that Pieter was probably Jonas nephew or cousin, the Bronx is referred to with the definite article as The Bronx, both legally and colloquially. The region was named after the Bronx River and first appeared in the Annexed District of The Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County
11.
Belmont, Bronx
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Belmont is a primarily residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwestern corner of the southern Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are Fordham Road to the north, Bronx Park to the east, East 183rd Street to the south and these boundaries give the neighborhood a crescent-like shape. Arthur Avenue, a noted for its prominent local restaurants and markets, is the primary thoroughfare through Belmont. Zip codes include 10457,10458 and 10460, the area is patrolled by the New York City Police Department 48th Precinct located at 450 Cross-Bronx Expressway in East Tremont. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6, the Belmont section of the Bronx, during colonial times, was covered in farmland much like the rest of the western Bronx, and was the province of the Lorillard family, for whom a street is named. But after the Lorillards decamped for New Jersey in 1870, the city acquired part of their land for Bronx Park, in the mid-1880s, a large influx Irish and German immigrants began moving into the neighborhood. The neighborhood became very dense after the construction of the Third Avenue El, after the construction of the Bronx Zoo and the Jerome Park Reservoir at the turn of the 20th century, a large wave of Italian immigrants moved into the area. With a strong pattern of Italian immigration, it was regarded as the Little Italy of the Bronx. The neighborhood still holds an annual Ferragosto celebration on Arthur Avenue each September, like many other neighborhoods in New York City, Belmont became disenfranchised starting in the mid-20th century. The Third Ave Elevated was dismantled by the city in 1973, housing stock was lost to arson, some of it razed by the city in the late 1970s and 80s. Starting in the mid-1990s into today, the neighborhood has experienced a construction boom, the neighborhood has also maintained its reputation as a thriving business area due to its abundant shops, restaurants, and markets. Albanians and Puerto Ricans have added to the mixture of businesses on Arthur Ave, still, the Italian presence is felt with a number of long Italian-owned small businesses including restaurants, bakeries, delis and other merchants. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Belmont was 27,378, covering an area of 313.34 acres, the neighborhood had a population density of 87.4 inhabitants per acre. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 19. 7% White,18. 5% African American,0. 1% Native American,2. 3% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,0. 3% from other races, and 0. 9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 58. 2% of the population, the neighborhood consists of a diverse mix of races, ethnic groups, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and national origins. Many Mexican families have moved into the Belmont neighborhood which hosts the annual Bronx Cinco de Mayo Celebration, gradually, there have been more Hispanics and Latinos moving into the neighborhood. Hispanics and Latinos make up the largest ethnic group in the neighborhood, the census reports that 19. 7% of the population is white, and 18. 5% is black or African American. There is an Asian population of 2. 3%, with 1. 4% of the population identifying as other races, like most neighborhoods in New York City the vast majority of households are renter occupied
12.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
13.
Menfi
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Menfi is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 70 kilometres southwest of Palermo and about 60 kilometres northwest of Agrigento. The town lies some 3 kilometres from the south coast of Sicily, in 1910, a full third of the population of the town of Menfi had emigrated to the United States. There was a large community of Menfi emigrants in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. On Starr Street in this neighborhood in Brooklyn, the emigrants established The Flower of Menfi, the club was located at 28 Starr St. in Brooklyn, NY. A tower, remain of a castle built by Frederick II of Hohenstafen in 1238. Chiesa Madre, built in the 18th century but destroyed by an earthquake in 1968, remains of an Iron Age prehistoric settlement have been found in the 1980s outside the town. Canelli, Italy, since 1997 Chivilcoy, Argentina, since 1999 Ettlingen, Germany, since 2004 ScopriMenfi, Menfis Tourism web site Official website Menfi
14.
Agrigento
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Agrigento listen is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BC and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, at this point the city could have been as large as 100,000 to 200,000 people. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Akragas never fully recovered its status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century. The city was disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War, the Romans laid siege to the city in 262 BC and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BC and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians recaptured the city in 255 BC the final settlement gave Punic Sicily. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it, the Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis, the reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the remnant of the city. Following the Norman conquest of Sicily, the city changed its name to the Norman version Girgenti, in 1087, Norman Count Roger I established a Latin bishopric in the city. Normans built the Castello di Agrigento to control the area, the population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. In 1860, as in the rest of Sicily, the supported the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Expedition of the Thousand which marked the end of Bourbon rule. In 1927, Benito Mussolini through the Decree Law n,159, July 12,1927 introduced the current Italianized version of the Latin name. The city suffered a number of bombing raids during World War II
15.
Bouncer (doorman)
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A bouncer is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, stripclubs or concerts. A bouncers duties are to provide security, check legal age, to entry for intoxicated persons. Bouncers are often required where crowd size, clientele or alcohol consumption may make arguments or fights a possibility, in many countries, federal or state governments have taken steps to professionalise the industry by requiring bouncers to have training, licensing, and a criminal records background check. However, the history of the occupation suggests that the stereotype of bouncers as rough, tough. Historical references also suggest that the function of guarding a place and selecting who can have entry to it could at times be an honorific. The significance of the doorman as the person allowing entry is found in a number of Mesopotamian myths, doormen or bouncers are usually larger persons who display great strength and size. The Romans had a known as the Ostiarius, initially a slave, who guarded the door. The term later become a low-ranking clergy title, plautus, in his play Bacchides, mentions a large and powerful doorman / bouncer as a threat to get an unwelcome visitor to leave. The word bouncer was first popularized in a novel by Horatio Alger, Jr. called The Young Outlaw, Alger was an immensely popular author in the 19th century, especially with young people and his books were widely quoted. When liberty verges on license and gaiety on wanton delirium, the Bouncer selects the gayest of the gay, 19th century In US Western towns in the 1870s, high-class brothels known as good houses or parlour houses hired bouncers for security and to prevent patrons from evading payment. Considered themselves the cream of the crop, and scorned those who worked in saloons, dance halls, the best bordellos looked like respectable mansions, with attractively decorated parlours, a game room and a dance hall. The protective presence of bouncers in high-class brothels was, one of the reasons the girls considered themselves superior to free-lancers, who lacked any such shepherds. In Wisconsins lumberjack days, bouncers would physically remove drinkers who were too drunk to keep buying drinks, in the late 19th century, until Prohibition, bouncers also had the unusual role of protecting the saloons buffet. To attract business. many saloons lured customers with offers of a free lunch—usually well salted to inspire drinking, in the late 19th century, bouncers at small town dances and bars physically resolved disputes and removed troublemakers, without worrying about lawsuits. In the main bar in one Iowa town. there were many quarrels, many fights, there were no court costs, only some aches and pains. Huge bouncers patrolled these venues of vice and roughly ejected anyone who violated the rules of decorum by engaging in pick-pocketing, jewellry thieving. During the 1890s, San Diego had a similarly rough waterfront area and redlight district called the Stingaree, prostitutes worked at the areas 120 bawdy houses in small rooms, paying a fee to the procurer who usually was the bouncer or protector of the brothel. The more expensive, higher-class brothels were called parlour houses, and they were run most decorously, to maintain the high-class atmosphere at these establishments, male patrons were expected to act like gentlemen
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Dolph Lundgren
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Hans Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist. He holds the rank of 3rd dan black belt in Kyokushin karate and was European champion in 1980-81, while in Sydney, he became a bodyguard for Jamaican singer Grace Jones and began a relationship with her. He received a Fulbright scholarship to MIT and moved to Boston, Lundgrens breakthrough came when he starred in Rocky IV in 1985 as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, he has starred in more than 40 films and he portrayed He-Man in the 1987 science fantasy film Masters of the Universe and Frank Castle in the 1989 film The Punisher. In the early 1990s, he appeared in films such as Dark Angel, Universal Soldier, Joshua Tree, Johnny Mnemonic. In 2004, he directed his first film, The Defender, and subsequently directed The Mechanik, Missionary Man, Command Performance and he reprised his role in The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3. Also in 2014, he co-starred in Skin Trade, a thriller about human trafficking. The film marks his collaboration with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the previous two being Showdown in Little Tokyo and Bridge of Dragons. He is due to reprise his role as Gunner Jensen in The Expendables 4, Hans Lundgren was born on 3 November 1957 in Spånga, the son of Sigrid Birgitta, a language teacher, and Karl Johan Hugo Lundgren, an engineer and economist for the Swedish government. He lived in Spånga until the age of 13, when he moved to his grandparents home in Nyland, Ångermanland, some sources wrongly state 1959 as his year of birth, but Lundgren himself has confirmed it to be 1957. He has two sisters and a brother, he was raised in the Lutheran church. Lundgren claims his father was abusive and vented his frustration on his wife. He has stated that, during his tirades, his father would call him a loser, but he also said, I still love my father, no matter what happened. There are many things about him I still admire, as a child, I was probably too much like him, very stubborn—perhaps thats what he couldnt deal with. He has cited his relationship with his father as the reason he developed a desire to participate in heavy contact sports such as boxing. Lundgren has said that, as a child, he was insecure and suffered from allergies and he showed a keen interest in drumming and had aspirations to become a rock star. At age seven, he tried judo and Gōjū-ryū and he took up Kyokushin karate at the age of 10, and began lifting weights as a teenager. Lundgren stated that My dad always told me that if I wanted to something special with my life
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One-person show
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A one-person show is a solo performance, featuring a comedian or actor who stands on stage and entertains an audience. While a one-person show may be the musings of a comedian on a theme, in the preface of the book Extreme Exposure, editor Jo Bonney uses the term solo performance to encompass those performers who do not necessarily have a comedic history. She suggests that at the most basic level, despite their limitless backgrounds and performance styles and this assumption is based on her assertion that a number of solo shows have a storyline or a plot. When creating a show, a performer is not limited to creating and performing the show themselves. They can use directors, writers, designers, and composers, an example of how Eric Bogosian builds a character can be found in the published version of his show Wake Up And Smell the Coffee, by Theatre Communications Group, New York City. The backgrounds of solo performers over the range from vaudeville, stand-up comedy, poetry, music, the visual arts, magic, cabaret. We may assume that individuals have told stories in front of members of their tribe or society for thousands of years. They would have passed down many of todays myths and legends in this manner. Edgar Allan Poe both lectured and recited poetry as a performer between 1843 and 1849, his performances stand as a paradigm of the one-person show hybrid simply called the lecture-recital. The reading tours of Charles Dickens in Britain and America between 1858 and 1870 created a sensation and his American tour of 1867-68 was unparalleled until the arrival of the Beatles in the early 1960s. One person shows enjoyed an artistic and commercial vogue in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Literary historians often associate the Victorian period with the highest development of the monologue as a poetic form. By the time the United States entered the 20th century, the number, by the 1960s, the term performance art became popular and involved any number of performance acts or happenings, as they were known. Many performers, like Laurie Anderson, developed through these happenings and are still performing today, since solo shows have long been the domain of comic performers, it should be no surprise that many American comedians, past and present, have come to prominence through this genre. Several performers have presented shows in tribute to famous personalities. The blueprint for this type of show may have been drafted by Hal Holbrook, jack Aranson starred in a one-man, 13-character production of Moby Dick. One-person shows may be personal, autobiographical creations, sometimes, solo shows are simply traditional plays written by playwrights for a cast of one. Examples, Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, The Blonde, the Brunette, a performer of shows of this type is Chris Harris, whose performances in the genre include Kemps Jig, Thats The Way To Do It
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Irving Paul Lazar
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Irving Paul Swifty Lazar was an American talent agent and dealmaker, representing both movie stars and authors. Born Samuel Lazar in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1931, while practicing bankruptcy law during the early 1930s, he negotiated a business deal for a vaudeville performer Ted Lewis, and realized the income potential for acting as an agent. Lazar moved to Hollywood in 1936 but maintained a presence in New York until after World War II when he moved to Los Angeles permanently. After putting together three major deals for Humphrey Bogart in a day, he was dubbed Swifty by Bogart. Lazars power became such that he could negotiate a deal for someone who was not even his client and then collect a fee from that persons agent. During World War II, Lazar, with Benjamin Landis, suggested to the U. S. Army Air Forces that it produce a play to encourage enlistment and to raise funds for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The Air Forces commanding general, Henry H. Arnold, agreed and it was a huge success, playing on Broadway and on tour around the U. S. for over a million people. A film version was produced during the same period, during the 1950s Lazar expanded from Hollywood deal-making to doing book publishing deals. Simon & Scuster editor-in-chief Michael Korda wrote a 1993 New Yorker profile of Lazar, later incorporated into Kordas book, Another Life and he was shouting into a telephone. Lazar was renowned for his annual post-Academy Award parties that started at the famous Romanoffs, then moved to the Bistro Garden and finally to Wolfgang Pucks first restaurant, Spago. His event was regarded as the most important Oscar celebration. Doctors wanted to amputate, but Lazar, who was being treated at home via peritoneal dialysis and he was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles next to his wife, Mary, who had died in January that same year from liver cancer. At the time of his death, Lazar was working on his autobiography, Swifty, My Life and Good Times, which was completed by Annette Tapert and published by Simon & Schuster in 1995. Swifty Lazar appears as a character in Peter Morgans stage play, Frost/Nixon, first staged at the Donmar Warehouse, London on August 10,2006, in the play, Lazar negotiates a deal with David Frost on behalf of President Richard Nixon for Frost to interview Nixon. The play is based on real-life events. He was also portrayed by Toby Jones in the 2008 film version of Frost/Nixon, Another Life, A Memoir of Other People. The New Yorker, Michael Kordas The King of the Deal Irving Paul Lazar at the Internet Movie Database
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Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
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The Perez Family
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The Perez Family is an American comedy film released in 1995 about a group of Cuban refugees in America who pretend to be a family. It stars Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston, Chazz Palminteri and it was based on the 1991 novel The Perez Family by Christine Bell. The film was directed by Mira Nair, the premise was that a group of unrelated people, who happened to share the last name Pérez, realized they could more easily stay in America if they pretended to be family. Set in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift, the movie shows Juan Raúl Pérez, dottie Pérez is a former prostitute, who Juan meets. U. S. Immigration officials assume the two are married, because of the common last name, the potential for a real romantic relationship between the couple sets the basis for much of the rest of the film. Selective cast listing, Marisa Tomei - Dorita Evita Pérez Alfred Molina - Juan Raúl Pérez Anjelica Huston - Carmela Pérez Chazz Palminteri - Lt, the Perez Family received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews. The CD soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri is available on Music Box Records, the Perez Family at AllMovie The Perez Family at the Internet Movie Database The Perez Family at Box Office Mojo The Perez Family at Rotten Tomatoes CD soundtrack on Music Box Records
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Jade (film)
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The original music score was composed by James Horner based on a song composed by Loreena McKennitt. The film was marketed with the tagline Some fantasies go too far, san Francisco Assistant District Attorney David Corelli is called to the murder scene of prominent businessman Kyle Medford, found bludgeoned to death in his home by an antique hatchet. Police detectives Bob Hargrove and Petey Vesko find photographs in Medfords safe of Governor Lew Edwards having sex with a prostitute, during questioning, Patrice reveals that she and other women were paid by Medford to have sex with wealthy men at his beach house in Pacifica. She also informs them that the most desired prostitute among the clients was a woman only as Jade. In a private meeting with Governor Edwards and aide Bill Barrett, Corelli is then almost killed when his brake line is deliberately cut and his vehicle goes out of control while driving down a steep hill. The detectives find fingerprints on the hatchet belonging to Katrina Gavin, when interviewed, Katrina explains that Medford gave her a tour of his antique collection on the day in question, but claims to have nothing to do with his death. At Medfords beach house, Corelli and the detectives find various drugs, alcohol and they conclude Medford was recording the sex sessions in order to blackmail the men. Corelli is shocked to discover Katrina on one of the tapes, Patrice arranges to meet Corelli at a restaurant to discuss Jades identity, but she is killed in a hit-and-run accident by an unknown assailant driving a black 1993 Ford Thunderbird. Corelli, witnessing the murder first-hand, chases the assailants vehicle in vain, Katrina is again brought in for questioning and this time is shown the sex tape. Matt, in his capacity as her attorney, ends the interrogation before she fully explains her involvement. When confronted at their home, Katrina admits to her husband that she did have sex with the man on the tape, Katrina visits Corelli at his apartment and tries unsuccessfully to seduce him. She admits having felt sexually liberated by sleeping with men at the beach house. Meanwhile, the witness to identify Katrina at the Pacifica beach house. Corelli informs the detectives at the scene that Katrina couldnt have killed him because she. Back at his apartment, Corelli is met by Matt, who holds him at gunpoint and he denies it and persuades Matt that his wifes life is in danger. They hurry to the Gavin home, where Det, Hargrove and Governors aide Barrett have come to search for the incriminating photos of the Governor. Katrina interrupts their search and Hargrove tries to kill her, but Corelli, Corelli goes to the Governor for a guarantee of Katrinas safety by leveraging his possession of the photographs. The Governor denies any knowledge of Hargroves or Barretts actions, as she gets ready for bed at home, Katrina finds photographs laid out in her bathroom of her having sex at the beach house
