1.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
2.
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
3.
Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda, Maryland)
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The school is named in honor of the American poet. It is fed into by Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, the school opened in the fall of 1962 with 1,418 students. Designed by local architect, Anthony Ferrara, it was built on 17 levels, with a center courtyard, a Ford Foundation grant underwrote the design and construction of the dome. In 1981, a 1, 176-seat auditorium was added to the school, daryl Shaw served as the inaugural principal from 1962 until 1975. Jerome Marco was principal from 1975 until his retirement in 2004, today, the Principal is Alan Goodwin, who was assistant principal for several years before taking his current post. Five elementary schools feed Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, which in turn feeds Walt Whitman, the elementary schools are Wood Acres, Bannockburn, Burning Tree, Carderock Springs, and Bradley Hills. The Bethesda area is served by Whitman High School, Walter Johnson High School, the Black & White is the student-run newspaper. It was established in 1961 and produces nine issues each academic year, the newspaper was inducted into the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame in 1991. Walt Whitman is often noted as one of Marylands best high schools, in 2008, Newsweek ranked Whitman at #69 on its Best High Schools in America list. In 2015, Whitman remained ranked as the best high school in Maryland, in 2016, Whitman was once again ranked as the best high school in Maryland and #63 nationwide. Students can choose from 16 varsity sports and several club sports, such as ice hockey, rowing
4.
New York University
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New York University is a private nonprofit research university based in New York City. Founded in 1831, NYU is considered one of the worlds most influential research universities, University rankings compiled by Times Higher Education, U. S. News & World Report, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities all rank NYU amongst the top 32 universities in the world. NYU is a part of the creativity, energy and vibrancy that is Manhattan, located with its core in Greenwich Village. Among its faculty and alumni are 37 Nobel Laureates, over 30 Pulitzer Prize winners, over 30 Academy Award winners, alumni include heads of state, royalty, eminent mathematicians, inventors, media figures, Olympic medalists, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and astronauts. NYU alumni are among the wealthiest in the world, according to The Princeton Review, NYU is consistently considered by students and parents as a Top Dream College. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish in this immense, a system of rational and practical education fitting and graciously opened to all. A three-day-long literary and scientific convention held in City Hall in 1830 and these New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based upon merit rather than birthright or social class. On April 18,1831, an institution was established, with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the merchants, bankers. Albert Gallatin was elected as the institutions first president, the university has been popularly known as New York University since its inception and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, in 1835, the School of Law, NYUs first professional school, was established. American Chemical Society was founded in 1876 at NYU and it became one of the nations largest universities, with an enrollment of 9,300 in 1917. NYU had its Washington Square campus since its founding, the university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York Citys development further uptown, NYUs move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was, as a result, most of the universitys operations along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering were housed there. NYUs administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead and this extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University. In 1950, NYU was elected to the Association of American Universities, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, financial crisis gripped the New York City government and the troubles spread to the citys institutions, including NYU
5.
Clay Pigeons
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Clay Pigeons is a 1998 crime-comedy film written by Matt Healy and directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn, and Janeane Garofalo, Clay Bidwell is a young man in a small town who witnesses his friend, Earl, kill himself because of the ongoing affair that Clay was having with the mans wife, Amanda. Feeling guilty, Clay now resists the widow when she presses him to continue with their affair as if nothing has happened, clays problems worsen when he inadvertently befriends a serial killer named Lester Long, who murders the nagging widow in an attempt to help his fishing buddy. Clay is horrified, but does not go to the police for fear of his role in his friends coming to light. But that doesnt matter for the police, as well as for savvy female FBI agent Dale Shelby and her partner Reynard, yet Clay doesnt tell them of his friend, who has confessed his crimes to him. Reitman as Glen Clay Pigeons was developed under filmmakers Ridley and Tony Scotts company, Vaughn has described his character, Lester, as a guy who isn’t necessarily from the West — that’s just an image he’s created of himself. Whatever his reality is — being badly hurt by women or whatever — he’s made it over, taking bits and he sees his life as a strange Western movie, with himself as the hero. He thinks he’s a sane person in an insane world, the film received mixed to positive reviews, holding a 63% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 49/100 score on Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Clay Pigeons at the Internet Movie Database Clay Pigeons at AllMovie Clay Pigeons at Box Office Mojo Clay Pigeons at Rotten Tomatoes Clay Pigeons at Metacritic
6.
Shanghai Knights
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Shanghai Knights is a 2003 American-Hong Kong action comedy film. It is the sequel to Shanghai Noon and it was directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. In 1887, Chon Lin is drinking tea with her father and she tells him her brother, Chon Wang, is doing well as a sheriff in Carson City, Nevada, but her father replies that her brother is dead to him. At that moment, Lord Nelson Rathbone, leads a band of Boxers into the city, despite Lins efforts, her father is killed and the seal is stolen. With his last breath, he gives Lin a box and tells her to give it to her brother, meanwhile, Chon Wang is doing well as sheriff, having captured an impressive array of fugitives. His deputy is relaxing with a book called Roy OBannon Vs, the Mummy, a highly fictionalized account of the events of the first film that now portrays Wangs Shanghai Kid as a cowardly sidekick, which Wang is dismayed. Wang receives a parcel, which contains the puzzle box and Lins letter, telling him their father is dead and that she has tracked the murderer to London. Chon Wang travels to New York City to find his old partner Roy OBannon, needing his share of the gold left over from the first film to buy his ticket. Roy has left his brief stint in law enforcement, broken off his romance with Falling Leaves, spent most of the gold investing in the Zeppelin, and is now a hotel waiter and part-time gigolo. After they attempt prostitution to pay for a trip to the United Kingdom, Chon Wang fights off a number of New York police officers, and he and Roy ship themselves to London in a crate. On the way, Wang tells Roy about his father, in London, Wang and OBannon have their duster and watch stolen, respectively, by a number of street thugs including a young boy named Charlie. After an extensive battle to reclaim these items, they are arrested by the police, in Scotland Yard, Inspector Artie Doyle thanks the two for defeating the Fleet Street gang and gives Roy his watch that Charlie had stolen. He tells Wang that Lin is also in Scotland Yard, having attempted to kill Lord Rathbone, Doyle is a reader of the Roy OBannon novels, and is enthralled to meet the actual Roy OBannon. Roy tries to use this to get Lin released, but it not work. Sometime later, Roy and Wang wander through London, seeing Buckingham Palace and they encounter Charlie, who lets them into the empty house of a nobleman. Charlie brings it to their attention that the nobleman has an invitation to a gala at the castle, Roy and Wang arrive that night at the gala, wearing disguises, Roy masquerades as Major General Sherlock Holmes, and Wang is the Maharaja of Nevada. After turning down the offer to try some spotted dick, Wang, once they enter, they cannot find him, he has slipped through a secret passage, which Wang discovers in a fireplace. As Roy occupies himself with a copy of the Kama Sutra, Wang enters the secret room, rathbones guards attack Roy, but he is rescued by Lin, who has escaped from Scotland Yard
7.
Wedding Crashers
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Wedding Crashers is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by David Dobkin and written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher. John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey are divorce mediators in Washington D. C. who crash wedding parties to meet and bed women. At the end of a season of successful crashes, Jeremy takes John to a wedding for the daughter of the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury, once inside, the pair set their sights on Clearys other daughters, Gloria and Claire. Jeremy ends up having sex with Gloria on a beach during the reception. Gloria is possessive and quickly becomes obsessed with Jeremy, and Jeremy urges John to escape the reception with him. Meanwhile, John attempts to court Claire, the maid of honor, but is interrupted by her boyfriend, Sack Lodge. When Gloria invites Jeremy and John to a weekend party at their family compound, John overrules Jeremy to accept. At dinner, John spikes Sacks wine with eye-drops to make him sick, John and Claire continue to bond the next day on a sailing trip. The suspicious Sack takes the men on a trip, where Jeremy is shot in the buttocks. While he recovers, John and Claire go on a ride to a secluded beach. Claire finally admits she isnt sure how she feels about Sack, meanwhile, Gloria tends to Jeremys wounds and reveals to him that she is not as innocent or inexperienced as she initially let on. Jeremy realizes that he himself has been played and that he may be in love with Gloria, betrayed, Claire turns away from John and the Secretary tells them to leave. Over the following months, John attempts to reach Claire but she refuses to see him and he attempts to crash Claire and Sacks engagement party but is caught and beaten by Sack. Confronting Jeremy about abandoning him, he learns that Jeremy has secretly continued his relationship with Gloria, betrayed, John spirals into depression, crashing weddings alone and becoming nihilistic and suicidal. Meanwhile, as Claire and Sack plan their wedding, Claires doubts grow, Jeremy proposes to Gloria and tries to ask John to be his best man, but a depressed John refuses. John visits Jeremys former wedding crashing mentor, Chazz Reinhold, who convinces him to crash a funeral, while there, he reconsiders his belief in love and marriage and rushes to Jeremys wedding. Sack interrupts, but Claire finally tells him that she cant marry him, Sack tries to attack John, but Jeremy intervenes to knock him out, and John and Claire kiss. After the wedding, the two drive away from the ceremony together, discussing crashing another wedding together, apparently skipping Jeremys own wedding reception
8.
The Judge (2014 film)
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The Judge is a 2014 American drama film directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent DOnofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, the film was released in the United States on October 10,2014. Thomas Newman also received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Original Score, Hank Palmer is a successful defense attorney in Chicago who has been estranged from his family in a small town in Indiana for some time. While in court, he receives a call telling him his mother has died, as he leaves to fly to his hometown of Carlinville, it is revealed that Hank is going through a divorce and custody battle for his young daughter. In Carlinville, Hank reunites with his older brother Glen, owner of a shop, and his younger brother Dale. Hank then stops by the county courthouse, softly enters a courtroom. The judge is Joseph Palmer, Hanks father, when Joseph sees Hank for the first time in many years, at the funeral, he is treating guests with kindness but acknowledges his son coldly. The next morning, Hank notices damage to his fathers Cadillac Coupe DeVille as he is preparing to leave, upon seeing the damage, Joseph denies knowing how it happened, but Hank believes his father was drinking and driving and damaged his own car. After a heated exchange, Hank leaves, promising never to return, but after boarding his plane, Hank learns that Joseph is being questioned by police with regard to a fatal hit and run. The victim is identified as Mark Blackwell, a recently released convicted murderer whose crimes, before the killing, after Blackwells blood is found on the car, Joseph is soon indicted, with prosecutor Dwight Dickham seeking a conviction for first-degree murder. Hank agrees to defend Joseph and learns that his father was undergoing chemotherapy, Joseph saw to it that Hank was sent to a youth detention center, and Hank left Carlinville after never receiving acknowledgement from Joseph for turning his life around. Hank also reconnects with his old girlfriend Sam, whom he abandoned after going to a Metallica concert more than 20 years ago and he discovers that Sam has a daughter, Carla, born nine months after he left, and deals with his concern that he is Carlas father. At trial, Hank believes he has established enough reasonable doubt in the case to result in an acquittal, but Joseph sabotages the case by testifying that although he still cannot remember the accident, he has come to believe that he probably did kill Blackwell intentionally. Joseph confesses on the stand that he was haunted by Blackwells case, having seen Hank in Blackwell. Having misread Blackwell, Joseph afterward saw him in Hank, after acknowledging Hank as the best lawyer he knows, Joseph dies peacefully in the boat. Hank, having peace with his father, returns to the courtroom Joseph once reigned over, and spins the judges chair. The script was written by Nick Schenk. In March 2011, the script was to be rewritten by David Seidler, in April 2013, Bill Dubuque was enlisted to rewrite it
9.
Ridley Scott
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Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. Scott is known for his atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style and his films are also known for their strong female characters. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing, in 1995, both Ridley and his brother Tony received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2003, Scott was knighted for his services to the British film industry, in a 2004 BBC poll Scott was named the tenth most influential person in British culture. In 2015 he received a doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London. Scott was born in South Shields, County Durham, North East England, to Elizabeth and he was brought up in an army family, so for most of his early life, his father – an officer in the Royal Engineers – was absent. His elder brother, Frank, joined the British Merchant Navy when he was still young, during this time the family moved around, living in Cumberland in North West England, Wales and Germany. He had a brother, Tony, who also became a film director. He studied at Grangefield Grammar School and West Hartlepool College of Art from 1954 to 1958, Scott went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London, contributing to college magazine ARK and helping to establish the college film department. For his final show, he made a black and white film, Boy and Bicycle. In February 1963 Scott was named in title credits as Designer for the BBC television programme Tonight, about the severe winter of 1963. After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series Z-Cars. He was originally assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, however, shortly before Scott was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant he was replaced by Raymond Cusick. In 1965, he began directing episodes of series for the BBC, only one of which. In 1968, Ridley and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates, a nostalgia themed television advertisement that captured the public imagination, it was voted the UKs all-time favourite commercial in a 2006 poll. In the 1970s the Chanel No.5 brand needed revitalisation having run the risk of being labelled as mass market, five members of the Scott family are directors, and all have worked for RSA. His brother Tony was a film director whose career spanned more than two decades, his sons Jake and Luke are both acclaimed directors of commercials, as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles, Luke is based in London, in 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds
10.
Tony Scott
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Anthony David Leighton Tony Scott was an English film director and producer. Scott was the brother of film director Sir Ridley Scott. They both graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, in 1995 both Tony and Ridley received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2010, they received the BAFTA Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment and he committed suicide on 19 August 2012, by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, California. Scott was born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, North East England and he followed in his elder brothers footsteps, studying at Grangefield School, West Hartlepool College of Art and graduating from Sunderland Art School with a fine arts degree. At the age of 16 he appeared in Boy and Bicycle, Scott studied art in Leeds after failing to gain admission to the Royal College of Art in London at his first attempt. He made a film in 1969 based on the Ambrose Bierce story One of the Missing. As Ridley had previously cast him in a film, he reciprocated by giving his brother a role too, the film cost £1,000, he recalled in April 2012. He graduated from the Royal College of Art, following in the footsteps of his elder brother Ridley and his eldest brother Frank had earlier joined the British Merchant Navy. It was the success of his elder brothers fledgling television commercial production outfit, Ridley Scott Associates and his brother Ridley said, Tony had wanted to do documentaries at first. I told him, Dont go to the BBC, come to me first, I knew that he had a fondness for cars, so I told him, Come work with me and within a year youll have a Ferrari. He directed many commercials for RSA while also overseeing the companys operation while his brother was developing his feature film career. My goal was to make films but I got sidetracked into commercials, I had 15 years, and it was a blast. We were very prolific, and that was our training ground, youd shoot 100 days in a year, then we gravitated from that to film, he said. Scott took time out in 1975 to direct an adaptation of the Henry James story The Author of Beltraffio. His eldest brother Frank died, aged 45, of cancer during the same year. Scott reflected on his career in 2009, Scott persisted in trying to embark on a film career. Among the ideas interesting to him was an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire then in development, MGM was already developing the vampire film The Hunger, for which they brought Scott on in 1982
