A collectible card game called a trading card game, among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with Magic: The Gathering in 1993. A player may begin playing a CCG with a pre-made starter deck, customize their deck with a random assortment of cards acquired through booster packs, or from trading with other players; as a player obtains more cards, they may create new decks from scratch. Players are challenged to construct a deck within limits set by the CCG's rules that will allow them to outlast decks constructed by other players. Games are played between two players, though multiplayer formats are common. Gameplay in CCG is turn-based, with each player starting with a shuffled deck and on their turn and playing cards to attack the other player and reduce their health points to zero before their opponent can do the same to them. Dice, card sleeves, or play mats are used to complement gameplay. CCG tournaments exist for expert players to compete for prizes.

CCGs are themed around fantasy or science fiction genres, have included horror themes and sports, may include licensed intellectual properties. Cards in CCGs are specially designed sets of playing cards; each card within the CCG represent an element of that theme geared towards the gameplay of the CCG, can fall in categories such as creatures, events and locations. All cards within the CCG share the same common backside art, while the front has a combination of proprietary artwork or images to embellish the card along with instructions and flavor text for the card. Expansion sets are used to extend CCGs, bringing new cards through starter decks and booster packs that introduce new gameplay strategies and narrative lore. Magic: The Gathering launched with nearly 300 unique cards, but as of September 2019, has accumulated more than 20,000 unique cards through such expansions. Successful CCGs have thousands of unique cards, expanded through ancillary sets that add new mechanics. Magic: The Gathering was developed by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993 and its initial runs sold out that year.

By the end of 1994, Magic: The Gathering had sold over 1 billion cards, during its most popular period, between 2008 and 2016, it had sold over 20 billion cards. Magic: The Gathering's early success led other game publishers to follow suit with their own CCGs in the following years. Other successful CCGs include Yu-Gi-Oh! which sold over 25 billion cards as of March 2011, Pokémon which has sold over 28.8 billion cards as of September 2019. Other notable CCGs have come and gone, including Legend of the Five Rings, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, World of Warcraft. Many other CCGs had little or no commercial success. Digital collectible card games have gained popularity, spurred by the success of Hearthstone. DCCGs do not use physical cards but instead are played on PCs or mobile phones, with newer DCCGs foregoing card images altogether by using basic icons. A collectible card game is defined as a game where players acquire cards into a personal collection from which they create customized decks of cards and challenge other players in matches.

Players start by purchasing a starter deck, ready to play, but additional cards are obtained from randomized booster packs or by trading with other players. The goal of most CCGs is to beat your opponent by crafting customized decks that play to synergies of card combinations. Refined decks will try to account for randomness as well as opponent's actions, by using complementary and preferably efficient cards; the exact definition of what makes a CCG is varied, as many games are marketed under the "collectible card game" moniker. The basic definition requires the game to resemble trading cards in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading and/or collectibility, have rules for strategic gameplay; the definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards sold in random assortments. If every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG it is not a CCG. CCGs can further be designated as dead games.

Dead games are those CCGs which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and have ceased releasing expansions. Living games are those CCGs; this means that new expansions are being created for the game and official game tournaments are occurring in some fashion. Customized Card games that should not be mistaken for CCGs: Deck-Building Games - Games like Dominion where construction of the player's deck in the midst of the game is the main focus. Deck-building games ship with all the cards required to play, may offer expansions with fixed contents to add more variety to play. Dominion, the first such deck-building game, was directly inspired by Magic: The Gathering and thus have similar concepts. Collectible Common-Deck Card Games - Games like Munchkin where players share a common deck to draw from, expandable through fixed-content expansions and boosters, rather than their own personal deck. No customization of decks, trading, or Metagaming occurs, there is little interest in individual collection of the cards.

Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games - Games like Android: Netrunner where each player selects one of multiple pre-made decks packaged with the game, eliminating any randomness occurs when acquiring the cards. Each deck represents a different character and thei

James Harry McShane was an Irish singer, best known as the front-man of Italian band Baltimora. McShane was born in Northern Ireland, he learned at a young age to play guitar. As a teenager, he was shunned by his family after they learned of his homosexuality; as a young man in the late 1970s, McShane left Northern Ireland to study at a stage school in London, where he learned to dance and recite. Hired as a stage dancer and backing singer, McShane soon went around Europe with Dee D. Jackson and her band. During a visit to Italy with the band, McShane was attracted to the country's underground dance scene, which led to him settling in Milan in 1984, he told Dick Clark on American Bandstand in 1986. He learned the Italian language, he made his debut playing in small clubs in his hometown and was presented to various audiences, without success. In view of his low artistic success, McShane decided to work as an Emergency Medical Technician for the Red Cross until he met Italian record producer & keyboardist Maurizio Bassi, with whom he created Baltimora.

The act found success with its most popular single, "Tarzan Boy", released in 1985. In America, he was overwhelmed with the success of "Tarzan Boy"; some sources state lead vocals were performed by Maurizio Bassi, the group's keyboardist, with McShane providing the backing vocals. This still remains uncertain, McShane lip synched while appearing in the "Tarzan Boy" music video, not Bassi. Both the music and the lyrics of Baltimora were written by Bassi and Naimy Hackett, though McShane wrote the lyrics to some of their songs, such as the single "Survivor in Love". After the release of "Survivor in Love", with no label support of a follow up album and due to its poor success, Bassi decided it was time to move on to other projects and Baltimora disbanded; the single "Tarzan Boy" bounced back into the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993 as a remix, climbing to No. 51, at the time of its appearance in a Listerine commercial. The song was featured in the films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Beverly Hills Ninja and was referenced in A Million Ways to Die in the West.

McShane was diagnosed with AIDS in Milan during 1994. A few months he returned to Northern Ireland to spend his final year, died in his native Derry on 29 March 1995 at the age of 37. A family spokesman issued the following statement after his death: "He faced his illness with courage and died with great dignity." In the centre of Derry, a commemorative plaque was bestowed upon the grave of McShane and his father, who had died three years prior. Jimmy McShane at Find a Grave

The Cardó Massif known as Cardó-Boix Massif, is a mountain massif in the Baix Ebre comarca, in Catalonia, Spain. This massif is composed of a number of mountain ranges located on the left side of the Ebro river near Tortosa; the massive calcareous cliffs of the Serra de Cardó form the eastern side of the spectacular gorges through which the Ebro River winds its way in the final stage of its course, separating the Ebro Valley from the Mediterranean coastal area. The ranges cover an area of over 340 km2, extending from Rasquera in the north, to Benifallet in the south and eastwards through El Perelló until reaching the Mediterranean Sea between L'Ampolla and L'Ametlla de Mar. Highway N-340 crosses the eastern side of the massif and Autopista AP-7 skirts the easternmost foothills by the seashore. All the ranges are part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range; the main peak is Xàquera known as La Creu de Santos in the Serra de Cardó, another important summit is Buinaca, located in the Serra del Boix.

Balma de Cabrafeixet is a prehistoric site below the Morral de Cabrafeixet escarpment with cave paintings. The entrance to the cave has been closed with an iron bar door to prevent vandalism. Another cave, Cova de la Mallada, is located nearbyThere are many wind turbines located on different ridges of the massif, the Parc Eòlic de les Colladetes and the Parc Eòlic de les Calobres; the main ranges of the massif are: Serra de Cardó, the westernmost range and the highest. It is covered with snow in the winter; the vegetation of eastern slopes is low Mediterranean shrub, while its western side, below the jagged peaks, is forested. Autovia C-12 cuts above the Ebro Gorges; the mineral water coming from springs near the ancient monastery located at the heart of the range was one of the first waters to be bottled in Spain. Serra del Boix, highest point Buinaca 764 m; the slopes are covered among which Buxus predominates. This range occupies a central position in the massif and in some geographical works gives its name to the whole massif.

The particular high rocky area with original rock formations where the highest peaks are located is known as "Les Moles". There are wind turbines atop the main eastern ridge. Serra de Gaviots, highest point 603 m; this deforested range occupies a central position, but has smoother and less rocky crests than the ones above. There is a large wind farm along the ridge. Like the Serra del Boix, the higher altitudes have snow in the winter. Montaspre, highest point 527 m, the southwestern foothills of the Serra de Cardó range, rising near Bítem. Serra de Collredó, highest point Creu de Collredó 380 m, rounded hills covered by olive trees and Mediterranean forest where many small country cottages have been developed. Serra de les Veles, highest point Coll de l'Àliga 94 m, is formed by the low southernmost foothills of the massif; this small range is crossed by highways and has been gutted by sand and gravel extraction, where the pits are used as landfills. These lower ranges rarely have snow in cold winters.

The Cardó Monastery known as Sant Hilari de Cardó or Desert de Cardó, was a large monastery located in the Cardó Valley, a deep valley in these mountains. It was closed down due to the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal in 1835 during Isabella II of Spain's rule; the Desamortización or secularization of the place brought monastic life in the monastery, the many hermitages surrounding it, to an end. The monastery can be reached by a paved road from Rasquera. In the late 19th century the monastery was transformed into a spa, which became a successful place among the Catalan elite until the Spanish Civil War. By mid 20th century, only a water bottling plant was functional in the area. There was a project to transform the ruined former monastery and spa premises into a luxury resort, but the current financial crisis in Spain thwarted the plans. Access is not allowed to the grounds of the former spa, but abandoned construction equipment can be seen from a distance among the half-ruined buildings.

The small abandoned hermitages scattered about the area close to the former monastery, some of them perching atop karstic rock needles, are popular with hikers. Catalan Pre-Coastal Range Mountains of Catalonia Camino Natural del Ebro Balneario de Cardó El Cabrafeixet Top Kayak - De Miravet a Benifallet - Kayaking in the Ebro Gorges

Elizabeth Martinez is a librarian whose career has focused on bringing diversity and equality to public libraries and information policy. In 1966 she was the first Mexican American librarian. Martinez has served as a library administrator, Executive Director of the American Library Association, other roles throughout her career. Martinez began her studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles where she obtained a B. A. in Latin American studies in 1965. While there, she took a children's literature course for the English requirement, but finding a lack of representation for indigenous people and cultures from around the world in the course she began contemplating how literature from non-European nations can be better disseminated to the masses. In 1966 Martinez received her Master of Arts in Library Science degree from the University of California, she continued her education by receiving a certificate of management from USC in 1978 and an executive management program certificate from the University of California, Irvine in 1986.

Upon graduating with her Library Science degree in 1966, Martinez became the California's first Mexican American Librarian when she took a position in the Los Angeles Public Library. She worked in various library administrative roles. In 1971 Martinez co-founded REFORMA, The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, an affiliate organization of the American Library Association. Along with Binnie Tate Wilkin, she co-chaired the first ALA policy on diversity “Equity at Issue” in 1986, she was County Librarian of Orange County in 1979-1990 during which time she oversaw the construction of 8 new community libraries among other achievements. As the city librarian of Los Angeles Martinez developed the Asian, Pacific Islander, Black and Native American resources center in the Los Angeles and Orange County library systems. Martinez served as the Executive Director of the ALA from 1994 - 1997. During her tenure at the ALA, she developed the Spectrum Scholarship program and the Office for Information Technology Policy was established.

She proposed a program to Bill Gates that resulted in a $200 million grant dedicated to bridging the information gap by connecting more than 4,000 public libraries in poor communities across the US to the Internet. Martinez has been credited with reviving the Salinas Public Library system while she served as the Library Director there due to the remodeling of the Cesar Chavez Library and implementation of new programming and multicultural initiatives, she was adjunct faculty at her Alma mater of UCLA until 2003. She is a lecturer at San Jose State University; some of the courses she has taught at SJSU include: Library Services for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities, Seminar on Contemporary Issues, Professional Experience Internships. Martinez has served on various committees and boards throughout her career and is a member of the New Mexico State Library Commission. In 2013, REFORMA established the Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize librarians who have served over 20 years and whose leadership has made significant and lasting contributions to Spanish speaking communities.

ALA Equality Award 2013 Women's Institute for Entrepreneurship Adela Award 2013 Pen West Award MANA Award Hispanic Librarian of the Year 1990 Orange County Women's Alert Award 1990 Orange County Women of Achievement Award 1988 Hispanic Women Recognition Award 1982 Edmund D. Edleman Certificate of Commendation 1977 George I. Sanchez Award from the National Association of Spanish Speaking Librarians 1976

The 2001 FIA GT Championship was the fifth season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation. The races featured grand touring cars divided into two categories and awarded drivers and teams championships and cups for each category; the season began on 31 March 2001 and ended on 21 October 2001 after eleven races held in Europe, included for the first time the Spa 24 Hours as a premiere endurance event for the series. Christophe Bouchut and Jean-Philippe Belloc of France won the FIA GT Drivers' Championship, while their team Larbre Compétition-Chereau were the teams champions, both earning five race victories including at Spa. David Terrien and Christian Pescatori of JMB Competition won the N-GT Cups after six race wins; the SRO Group reached an agreement with Eurosport, the promoter and broadcaster of the European Touring Car Championship, in which both series would share identical calendars.

The events were promoted by Eurosport as the Super Racing Weekend, giving both series equal promotion and television coverage. The Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup was included as a support series for all events; the only exception to this format would be the Spa 24 Hours, added to the FIA GT calendar as a stand-alone event, separate from the ETCC, after holding touring car races for several decades. The addition of Spa marked the return of endurance racing to the championship for the first time since 1998 and expanded the calendar from ten to eleven events. Much of the rest of the schedule remained the same, although some races were moved to different times of the year. Monza returned to the opening of the season, as it had been in 1999, Brno and Magny-Cours moved from the end of the season to the second and third rounds respectively; this moved the Spanish and Portuguese events to the end of the year, with Jarama replacing Valencia for the Spanish event. The Nürburgring returned to the series for the first time since 1997 as the sole German event, replacing EuroSpeedway Lausitz.

All events, with the exception of Spa, retained their 500 km distance format. Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each category. Entries were required to complete 75 % of the race distance. Drivers were required to complete 20% of the total race distance for their car to earn points. Teams scored points for all cars. For the Spa 24 Hours, points were doubled; the title was awarded jointly to Christophe Bouchut and Jean-Philippe Belloc who shared the wheel of the No. 7 Larbre Compétition–Chereau Chrysler Viper GTS-R. The title was awarded jointly to Christian Pescatori and David Terrien who drove the No. 62 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena N-GT. Official FIA GT homepage Motorsport Almanac Racing Sports Cars Sporting Regulations Retrieved from web.archive.org on 26 February 2009 Points Tables Retrieved from www.fiagt.com on 26 February 2009

The Philadelphia Wings was one of six teams from the original National Lacrosse League. This team mimicked Philadelphia's NHL counterpart, the Flyers with its "Broad Street Bullies" style of play; the Wings played at the home of the Flyers, the Spectrum, played their first game in that arena on May 19, 1974, mere hours after the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. The Wings were one of three teams; the league only lasted two seasons. The regular season was played during the off-season of the NHL and consisted of 40 games in 1974 and 48 in 1975. Both seasons consisted of a two-round playoff with four of the six teams making the playoffs; each round was a best-of-seven series. The Wings were regular season champions in the first season. After defeating the Maryland Arrows in the first round, they were eliminated in the final round by the Rochester Griffins four games to two in the first season, they failed to make the playoffs with a disappointing fifth-place finish. The 1974–75 NLL is unrelated to the modern-day National Lacrosse League, which has included two unrelated teams called the Philadelphia Wings.

This was the only original league logo resurrected in the rebirth of pro indoor lacrosse. The current NLL league and franchise makes no references to the original incarnation although in 2004 there was a "retro" night in Philadelphia where the Wings wore the original orange jersey and the Rochester Knighthawks donned the Rochester Griffins jersey. Members of the original Wings were honored at a ceremony at half-time; the players included Doug Favell, John Grant Sr. the only player to play for the first two versions of the NLL Wings and father of current NLL player John Grant Jr. Jimmy Wasson, goalkeeper Wayne Platt and Zeny Lipinski. Longtime Flyer television announcer Gene Hart called the games for the Wings. KEY: GP = Games Played G = Goals Scored A = Assists Pts = Points PIM = Penalties In Minutes Lacrosse in Pennsylvania 1974-1975 National Lacrosse League film page on Lax-TV.com