1.
San Diego Comic-Con
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San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International, San Diego and it is a four-day event held during the summer at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. On the Wednesday evening prior to the opening of the event, there is a preview for professionals, exhibitors. Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon, held in Los Angeles, and the Alternative Press Expo and it is also the home of the Will Eisner Awards. In 2010, it filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with more than 130,000 attendees, the convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear. Detroit, Michigan-born, comics fan Shel Dorf, had, in the mid-1960s, mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fairs, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego, California, in 1970, he organized a convention on March 21,1970. Dorf went on to be associated with the convention as president or manager, variously, Alf co-chaired the first convention with Krueger and became chairman in 1971. Following the initial gathering, Dorfs first three-day San Diego comics convention, other locations in the conventions early years included the El Cortez Hotel, the University of California, San Diego, and Golden Hall, before being moved to the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. I was quietly walking the floor stunned and in awe of just how much bigger it really was, the convention is organized by a panel of 13 board members,16 to 20 full-time and part-time workers, and 80 volunteers who assist via committees. Comic Con International is an organization, and proceeds of the event go to funding it, as well as the Alternative Press Expo. The convention logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Josh Beatman in 1995, in September 2010, the convention announced that it would stay in San Diego through 2015. In 2015, working with Lionsgate, a channel was created to host Comic-Con related content. According to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, the convention has a regional economic impact of $162.8 million. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming feature films, like most comic-book conventions, Comic-Con features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include media companies such as studios and TV networks, as well as comic-book dealers. And like most comics conventions, Comic-Con includes an area, as well as the Artists Alley where comics artists can sign autographs. Despite the name, artists alleys can include writers and even models, academics and comic industry professionals annually hold the Comics Arts Conference at Comic-Con, presenting scholarly studies on comics as a medium
2.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
3.
Harvard-Westlake School
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The school has its campuses in Holmby Hills and Studio City. The school is a member of the G20 Schools group, the Harvard School for Boys was established in 1900 by Grenville C. Emery as an academy, located at the corner of Western Avenue and Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. In 1911, it secured endorsement from the Episcopal Church becoming a non-profit organization, in 1937, the school moved to its present-day campus on Coldwater Canyon in Studio City after receiving a loan from Donald Douglas of the Douglas Aviation Company. It moved to its campus located in Holmby Hills, California in 1927. The school was purchased by Sydney Temple, whose daughter, Helen Temple Dickinson, was headmistress until 1966, the Temple family owned the school until 1977, with Mrs. Dickinson serving in an ex officio capacity. In 1968 Westlake became exclusively a secondary school, the two institutions had long been de facto sister schools and interacted socially. Complete integration and coeducation began in 1991, in 2008, more than eighteen students were expelled or suspended when a major cheating scandal rocked the school. The Middle School completed a modernization effort in September 2008, replacing the original administration building, the library. As of November 2006, a campaign has commenced for the modernization of the Upper School. Reynolds Hall, a building which is home to history, foreign language and visual arts classes. The building was then renamed Wang Hall in honor of two parents who donated approximately $5,000,000 to fund the project, in 2007, lights were added to Ted Slavin Field in order to reduce the amount of travel needed to allow teams to practice. The school also maintains an off-campus baseball facility, the OMalley Family Field, in Encino, the Upper School campus also features the three-story Seeley G. Mudd Library and Saint Saviours Chapel, a vestige from Harvard School for Boys Episcopal days. In the early 1980s, annual tuition at the schools that now make up Harvard-Westlake was around $4,000, by 1983 or 1984, this figure surpassed $5,000. For the 2013-2014 academic year, the tuition was $32,300, with typical costs for books. In 2014-15, tuition was $33,500, the new student fee was $2,000, optional bus service for school students was $2, 200-2,400. Harvard-Westlake allotted almost $7.8 million to aid for the 2011–2012 academic year. Nearly 20% of the student body received some form of assistance, with an aid package of just under $23,000
4.
Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)
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Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences is a private, K-12 independent, college preparatory school in Santa Monica, California, United States. The school is a member of the prestigious G20 Schools Group. The Crossroads School has a rivalry with the nearby Brentwood School, the school was founded in 1971 as a secular institution affiliated with St. Augustine By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Monica. Crossroads started with three rooms in a Baptist church offering grades seven and eight, and an enrollment of just over 30 students. Human Development is a part of the Crossroads curriculum, holding equal weight with conventional departments such as Math. It is meant to teach students maturity, tolerance, and confidence, students address teachers by their first names. Some question this approach, but many at Crossroads insist that this practice fosters friendship. Classrooms also have names, not numbers, and are dedicated to important figures in history, Einstein, Mead, Frost, Chavez, the school was also featured in a May 2005 issue of Vanity Fair, like Breitbarts book, it also focused on the schools celebrity clientele. Crossroads School Website Summer at Crossroads Website Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute
5.
Boston University
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Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university has more than 3,900 faculty members and nearly 33,000 students and it offers bachelors degrees, masters degrees, and doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on two urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Bostons Fenway-Kenmore and Allston neighborhoods, BU is categorized as an R1, Doctoral University in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education, the University was ranked 39th among undergraduate programs at national universities, and 32nd among global universities by U. S. News & World Report in its 2017 rankings. In 1876, BU professor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a BU lab, American Civil Rights Movement leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received his PhD in Theology from BU in 1955. The Boston University Terriers compete in the NCAAs Division I, BU athletic teams compete in the Patriot League, and Hockey East conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. Boston University is well known for hockey, in which it has won five national championships. The University organized formal Centennial observances both in 1939 and 1969, on April 24–25,1839 a group of Methodist ministers and laymen at the Old Bromfield Street Church in Boston elected to establish a Methodist theological school. Set up in Newbury, Vermont, the school was named the Newbury Biblical Institute, in 1847, the Congregational Society in Concord, New Hampshire, invited the Institute to relocate to Concord and offered a disused Congregational church building with a capacity of 1200 people. Other citizens of Concord covered the remodeling costs, one stipulation of the invitation was that the Institute remain in Concord for at least 20 years. The charter issued by New Hampshire designated the school the Methodist General Biblical Institute, with the agreed twenty years coming to a close, the Trustees of the Concord Biblical Institute purchased 30 acres on Aspinwall Hill in Brookline, Massachusetts, as a possible relocation site. The institute moved in 1867 to 23 Pinkney Street in Boston, in 1869, three Trustees of the Boston Theological Institute obtained from the Massachusetts Legislature a charter for a university by name of Boston University. These three were successful Boston businessmen and Methodist laymen, with a history of involvement in educational enterprises and they were Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin, and Jacob Sleeper, for whom Boston Universitys three West Campus dormitories are named. Lee Claflins son, William, was then Governor of Massachusetts, on account of the religious opinions he may entertain, provided, nonetheless, that this section shall not apply to the theological department of said University. Every department of the new university was open to all on an equal footing regardless of sex, race. The Boston Theological Institute was absorbed into Boston University in 1871 as the BU School of Theology, in January 1872 Isaac Rich died, leaving the vast bulk of his estate to a trust that would go to Boston University after ten years of growth while the University was organized. Most of this bequest consisted of real estate throughout the core of the city of Boston and was appraised at more than $1.5 million, Kilgore describes this as the largest single donation to an American college or university to that time
6.
David Hornsby
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David Hornsby is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is known for a role as defrocked priest Matthew Rickety Cricket Mara on the comedy series Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Hornsby was born in Newport News, Virginia and he grew up in Houston, Texas, and majored in acting at Carnegie Mellon University. Hornsby plays defrocked priest Matthew Rickety Cricket Mara on the FX sitcom Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and he appeared as Steve The Hutch Hutchinson on The Joe Schmo Show, and as Patrick on Six Feet Under. His first animated role was Fanboy in Fanboy & Chum Chum and he also starred in the independent film Pretty Bird. Hornsby appeared in Pearl Harbor, Minority Report, and Flags of Our Fathers and he created and performed in the podcast Yoda and Me along with Loren Tarquinio. He adapted and created the CBS sitcom How to Be a Gentleman, serving as its lead actor, writer, Hornsby co-wrote, designed characters, and lent his voice to FXs cartoon Unsupervised, which lasted for one season. Most recently, he created the NBC pilot for Mission Control, on September 25,2010, Hornsby married Bones star Emily Deschanel in a small private ceremony in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. On September 21,2011, Deschanel gave birth to their son Henry Lamar Hornsby, the couples second son Calvin was born on June 8,2015. He is the cousin of singer, songwriter, composer Bruce Hornsby, david Hornsby at the Internet Movie Database
7.
Caleb Deschanel
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Joseph Caleb Deschanel, A. S. C. is an American film cinematographer and film/television director. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography five times and he is a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, representing the American Society of Cinematographers. Deschanel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ann Ward and his father was French, from Oullins, Rhône, and his mother was American. Deschanel was raised in his mothers Quaker religion and he went to Severn School for high school. Murch graduated a year ahead of him and encouraged Deschanel to follow him to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated in 1968. During this time, he was a member of a band of students called The Dirty Dozen. Following his graduation, he attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1969 as a member of its first class and he directed his first film The Escape Artist in 1982, and a second, Crusoe, in 1989. In 1990, Deschanel directed three episodes of the David Lynch series Twin Peaks, in 2007, he directed an episode of Bones, which stars his daughter Emily. He was the cinematographer in the 2009 film My Sisters Keeper and he was also the cinematographer for the 2011 thriller Dream House. He was an member of the American Zoetrope production team, along with George Lucas. He was awarded the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 by the American Society of Cinematographers and he has been nominated for five Academy Awards, each time in the field of cinematography. The first nomination came in 1983 for the film The Right Stuff and his second was in 1984 for The Natural. A third came in 1996 for Fly Away Home, then a fourth in 2000 for The Patriot and he also won the American Society of Cinematographers award for his work in The Patriot
8.
Zooey Deschanel
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Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She made her debut in Mumford, followed by her supporting role in Cameron Crowes semi-autobiographical picture Almost Famous. Deschanel soon became known for her comedy roles in films such as The Good Girl, The New Guy, Elf, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Failure to Launch, Yes Man. She also did dramatic turns in the films Manic, All the Real Girls, Winter Passing, since 2011, she has played Jessica Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which she has received an Emmy Award nomination and three Golden Globe Award nominations. For a few years starting in 2001, Deschanel performed in the cabaret act If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. Besides singing, she plays keyboards, percussion, banjo, in 2006, Deschanel teamed up with M. Ward to release a debut album, Volume One, under the name She & Him in March 2008. They released an album, Volume Two, in March 2010, with their Christmas album A Very She & Him Christmas being released in 2011, Volume 3 in 2013. She also received Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media nomination for her song So Long, Deschanel is also a co-founder of the female-focused website HelloGiggles, which was acquired by Time, Inc. in 2015. Deschanel was born January 17,1980, in Los Angeles and she is the younger daughter of cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel. Her paternal grandfather was French, from Oullins, Rhône, her roots also include Swiss, Dutch, English, Irish and she was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salingers 1961 novella Franny and Zooey. Her older sister is actress Emily Deschanel, who stars in the Fox crime comedy-drama series Bones, Deschanel lived in Los Angeles, but spent much of her childhood traveling because her father shot films on location, she later said that she hated all the traveling. She attended Crossroads, a preparatory school in Santa Monica. She sang throughout high school, planning to pursue a career in musical theatre and she attended Northwestern University for nine months before dropping out to pursue acting. Also in 1999, she appeared in the video for The Offsprings single Shes Got Issues. Deschanel co-starred in Cameron Crowes semi-autobiographical Almost Famous, where she played Anita Miller, despite a modest box office response, the film received critical praise, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Film – Musical or Comedy. Deschanel appeared in the independent drama Manic, as the love interest of a troubled teen, the film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and received a limited theatrical release. The New York Times found Deschanel to be spontaneous, unaffected. In 2002, Deschanel appeared in four feature films, in the comedy Big Trouble, with Tim Allen and Rene Russo, she played the daughter of Russos character, and she starred in the teen comedy The New Guy as a guitar player in a band
9.
Bones (TV series)
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Bones is an American crime procedural drama television series that aired on Fox in the United States from September 13,2005, until March 28,2017, for 246 episodes over twelve seasons. Temperance Bones Brennan and the lives of the characters. The rest of the main cast includes Michaela Conlin, T. J. Thyne, Eric Millegan, Jonathan Adams, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley, and John Boyd. Created by Hart Hanson, the series is loosely based on the life and writings of novelist and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. Its title character, Temperance Brennan, is named after the protagonist of Reichs crime novel series, similarly, Dr. Brennan in the Bones universe writes successful mystery novels featuring a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs. Bones is a joint production by Josephson Entertainment, Far Field Productions, the series is the longest-running one-hour drama series produced by 20th Century Fox Television. On February 25,2016, the series was renewed for a twelfth and final season, the series finale aired on March 28,2017. The premise of the show is an alliance between forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Bones Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, set in Washington, D. C. the show revolves around solving Federal legal cases by examining the human remains of possible murder victims. Dr. Brennan and her team provide scientific expertise and Special Agent Booth provides FBI criminal investigation technique, in addition to the prospective murder cases featured in each episode, the series explores the backgrounds and relationships of its characters. An important ongoing dynamic between Brennan and Booth is their disagreement about science and faith, Brennan argues for science, evidence, and atheism. Booth argues for intuition, faith, and God, the series is also known for its dark comedic undertones, featuring human bodies in advanced state of decay, which serve to lighten the gravity of the shows intense subject matter. Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Bones Brennan, A brilliant forensic anthropologist working at the renowned Jeffersonian Institute located in Washington and she is an empiricist and author of crime fiction based on her experiences. She is an atheist and a believer in facts and evidence, to the exclusion of feelings, consequently, she comes off as distant. Nevertheless, she has shown empathy and compassion and she is noted to have a high IQ and impressive reasoning skills. She and her FBI partner, Seeley Booth, begin a relationship near the end of six and have a daughter they name Christine, in honor of her late mother. A son, Hank, named for Booths paternal grandfather is born in season 11, Brennans original name was Joy Keenan, which was changed after her parents decided to turn away from a life of crime. The character is used as an audience surrogate to provide a laymans translation of the scientific jargon-filled dialog. He gives Brennan her nickname, Bones, which she starts out hating and he is a skilled investigator and interrogator who often relies on his gut and cop instincts
10.
French people
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The French are an ethnic group and nation who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. To be French, according to the first article of the French Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of origin, race. The debate concerning the integration of this view with the underlying the European Community remains open. A large number of foreigners have traditionally been permitted to live in France, indeed, the country has long valued its openness, tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries, the European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in the state sector. Seeing itself as a nation with universal values, France has always valued. However, the success of such assimilation has recently called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves, the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration, the name France etymologically derives from the word Francia, the territory of the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire, in the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58-51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar, the area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture, the Gaulish vernacular language disappeared step by step to be replaced everywhere by Vulgar Latin, which would later develop under Frankish influence into the French language in the North of France. With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture, the Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti, already during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands, at the beginning, they served in the Roman army and reached high commands. Their language is spoken as a kind of Dutch in northern France. Another Germanic people immigrated massively to Alsace, the Alamans, which explains the Alemannic German spoken there and they were competitors of the Franks, thats why it became at the Renaissance time the word for German in French, Allemand. By the early 6th century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process
11.
Swiss people
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The Swiss are citizens of Switzerland. The demonym derives from the toponym of Schwyz and has been in use to refer to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 16th century. The number of Swiss nationals has grown from 1.7 million in 1815 to 6.76 million in 2009 with 90% of them living in Switzerland, about 60% of those living abroad reside in the European Union. The largest groups of Swiss descendants and nationals outside of Europe are found in the United States, closely related German-speaking peoples are the Alsatians, the Swabians and the Vorarlbergians. The French-speaking Swiss, traditionally speaking Franco-Provençal dialects, today largely assimilated to the standard French language, amalgamated from the Gallo-Roman population and they are closely related to the French. The Italian-speaking Swiss, traditionally speakers of Lombard language today partly assimilated to the standard Italian language, amalgamated from Raetians and they are closely related to the Italians. The Romansh, speakers of the Romansh language, settling in parts of the Grisons, with worldwide human migration, there are an increasing number of Swiss not descended or only partially descended from the core ethnic groups listed above. Most naturalized Swiss citizens will be linguistically oriented according to their canton of residence, the Swiss populace historically derives from an amalgamation of Gaulish or Gallo-Roman, Alamannic and Rhaetic stock. Their cultural history is dominated by the Alps, and the environment is often cited as an important factor in the formation of the Swiss national character. Political allegiance and patriotism was directed towards the cantons, not the federal level, from the 19th century there were conscious attempts to foster a federal Pan-Swiss national identity that would replace or alleviate the cantonal patriotisms. An additional symbol of national identity at the federal level was introduced with the Swiss national holiday in 1889. The bonfires associated with the holiday have become so customary since then that they have displaced the Funken traditions of greater antiquity. These specifically include Grisons, Valais, Ticino, Vaud and Geneva, according to Hartley-Moore, Localized equivalents of nationalist symbols were also essential to the creation of Swiss civil society. In the Swiss model, pride in local identity is to some degree synonymous with loyalty to the larger state, as Gottfried Keller argued in the nineteenth century, Without cantons and without their differences and competition, no Swiss federation could exist. Facilitated naturalization for foreign spouses and children of Swiss citizens requires a total minimum residence of five years, with more than 20% of the population resident aliens, Switzerland has one of the highest ratios of non-naturalized inhabitants in Europe. In 2003,35,424 residents were naturalized, a number exceeding net population growth. Over the 25-year period of 1983 to 2007,479,264 resident foreigners were naturalized, compare the figure of 0. 2% in the United Kingdom. The genetic composition of the Swiss population is similar to that of Central Europe in general, Switzerland is on one hand at the crossroads of several prehistoric migrations, while on the other hand the Alps acted as a refuge in some cases
12.
Dutch people
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The Dutch, occasionally referred to as Netherlanders—a term that is cognate to the Dutch word for Dutch people, Nederlanders—are a Germanic ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a culture and speak the Dutch language. The high degree of urbanization characteristic of Dutch society was attained at an early date. During the Republic the first series of large scale Dutch migrations outside of Europe took place, despite the small size of the Netherlands, the Dutch left behind a legacy in excess of their mere numbers. The traditional art and culture of the Dutch encompasses various forms of music, dances, architectural styles and clothing. Internationally, Dutch painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh are held in high regard, the dominant religion of the Dutch is Christianity, although in modern times the majority is no longer religious. Significant percentages of the Dutch are adherents of humanism, agnosticism, atheism or individual spirituality, as with all ethnic groups the ethnogenesis of the Dutch has been a lengthy and complex process. The text below hence focuses on the history of the Dutch ethnic group, for Dutch national history, for Dutch colonial history, see the article on the Dutch Empire. Following the end of the period in the West around 500, with large federations settling the decaying Roman Empire. In the Low Countries, this began when the Franks, themselves a union of multiple smaller tribes. Eventually, in 358, the Salian Franks, one of the three main subdivisions among the Frankish alliance settled the areas Southern lands as foederati, Roman allies in charge of border defense. On a political level, the Frankish warlords abandoned tribalism and founded a number of kingdoms, however, the population make-up of the Frankish Empire, or even early Frankish kingdoms such as Neustria and Austrasia, was not dominated by Franks. Though the Frankish leaders controlled most of Western Europe, the Franks themselves were confined to the Northwestern part of the Empire, the current Dutch-French language border has remained virtually identical ever since, and could be seen as marking the furthest pale of gallicization among the Franks. The medieval cities of the Low Countries, which experienced major growth during the 11th and 12th century, were instrumental in breaking down the already relatively loose local form of feudalism, as they became increasingly powerful, they used their economical strength to influence the politics of their nobility. While the cities were of political importance, they also formed catalysts for medieval Dutch culture. The various city guilds as well as the necessity of water boards in the Dutch delta and it is also around this time, that ethnonyms such as Diets and Nederlands emerge. This process marked a new episode in the development of the Dutch ethnic group, as now political unity started to emerge, consolidating the strengthened cultural, despite their linguistic and cultural unity, and economic similarities, there was still little sense of political unity among the Dutch people. However, the centralist policies of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th centuries, at first violently opposed by the cities of the Low Countries, had a profound impact and changed this
13.
English people
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The English are a nation and an ethnic group native to England, who speak the English language. The English identity is of medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD, England is one of the countries of the United Kingdom. Collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons, they founded what was to become England along with the later Danes, Normans, in the Acts of Union 1707, the Kingdom of England was succeeded by the Kingdom of Great Britain. Over the years, English customs and identity have become closely aligned with British customs. The English people are the source of the English language, the Westminster system and these and other English cultural characteristics have spread worldwide, in part as a result of the former British Empire. The concept of an English nation is far older than that of the British nation, many recent immigrants to England have assumed a solely British identity, while others have developed dual or mixed identities. Use of the word English to describe Britons from ethnic minorities in England is complicated by most non-white people in England identifying as British rather than English. In their 2004 Annual Population Survey, the Office for National Statistics compared the ethnic identities of British people with their national identity. They found that while 58% of white people in England described their nationality as English and it is unclear how many British people consider themselves English. Following complaints about this, the 2011 census was changed to allow respondents to record their English, Welsh, Scottish, another complication in defining the English is a common tendency for the words English and British to be used interchangeably, especially overseas. In his study of English identity, Krishan Kumar describes a common slip of the tongue in which people say English, I mean British. He notes that this slip is made only by the English themselves and by foreigners. Kumar suggests that although this blurring is a sign of Englands dominant position with the UK and it tells of the difficulty that most English people have of distinguishing themselves, in a collective way, from the other inhabitants of the British Isles. In 1965, the historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, When the Oxford History of England was launched a generation ago and it meant indiscriminately England and Wales, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and even the British Empire. Foreigners used it as the name of a Great Power and indeed continue to do so, bonar Law, by origin a Scotch Canadian, was not ashamed to describe himself as Prime Minister of England Now terms have become more rigorous. The use of England except for a geographic area brings protests and this version of history is now regarded by many historians as incorrect, on the basis of more recent genetic and archaeological research. The 2016 study authored by Stephan Schiffels et al, the remaining portion of English DNA is primarily French, introduced in a migration after the end of the Ice Age
14.
Irish people
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The Irish people are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9,000 years according to archaeological studies, for most of Irelands recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities, including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof. The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, although Irish was their main language in the past, today the huge majority of Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, there have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Irelands conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, the 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the fathers of Europe, followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the father of chemistry, famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce, notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides, many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears, historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico and New Zealand, the United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears, in its summary of their article Who were the Celts. The National Museum Wales notes It is possible that genetic studies of ancient. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics, nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail. During the past 10,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed some different peoples arrive on its shores, the ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived, as late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Iouerne and Hiverne to the Greeks, other Latin names for people from Ireland in Classic and Mediaeval sources include Attacotti and Gael
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Feature film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides
16.
It Could Happen to You (1994 film)
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It Could Happen to You is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It is the story of New York City police officer who wins the lottery and this basic premise was inspired by a real-life incident. Isaac Hayes has a role as reporter and photographer Angel Dupree. The film was remade in Hindi as Bade Dilwala, which was released in 1999, NYPD officer Charlie Lang is a kind and generous man who loves his job in Queens, New York, where he lives. His wife, Muriel, works at a salon and, unlike him, is greedy, materialistic. Charlie meets her when she waits on him at the diner where she works, since he doesnt have enough money to pay the tip, he promises to give her either double the tip or half of his prospective lottery winnings the next day. He wins $4 million in the lottery the day and keeps his promise. He and Yvonne become stars almost immediately and she buys the diner and sets up a table with his name at which people who cant afford a meal can eat for free. In another development, he becomes a hero for foiling a robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the process. Meanwhile, Muriel goes on a spree, and also contracts for disruptive renovations to their apartment without consulting him. At a gathering on a boat for the lottery winners and other members of high society. She flirts with him, listens to his advice on financial investments, and develops a liking for him. Muriel gets fed up with his constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him out of their apartment and that same evening, Yvonne leaves her apartment after Eddie shows up and threatens to stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, she and Charlie run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, during divorce proceedings between Muriel and Charlie, she demands all the money that he won for herself. He doesnt mind giving his share of it but she wants the amount he gave Yvonne. The jury decides in her favor, Yvonne, feeling guilty at costing him all his money, runs out in tears and tries to keep away from him. But he, by now hopelessly in love with her, finds her at the diner and tells her that the money means nothing to him, and they declare their love for each other. While ruminating about their future at the diner and considering a move to Buffalo, they graciously provide a hungry and poor customer with some soup
17.
Stephen King
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Stephen Edwin King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His books have more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows. King has published 54 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman and he has written nearly 200 short stories, most of which have been collected in book collections. Many of his stories are set in his state of Maine. His novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was the basis for the movie The Shawshank Redemption which is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and his novella The Way Station was a Nebula Award novelette nominee. In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and his short story The Man in the Black Suit received the O. Henry Award. In 2015, King was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the United States National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature, King was born September 21,1947, in Portland, Maine. His father, Donald Edwin King, was born circa 1913 in Peru, Indiana, when Donald was born, his surname was Pollock, but as an adult, he used the surname King. Kings mother, Nellie Ruth, was born in Scarborough, Maine, Donald and Nellie were married July 23,1939, in Cumberland County, Maine. The family moved to De Pere, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne, Indiana, when King was 11, the family returned to Durham, Maine, where his mother cared for her parents until their deaths. She then became a caregiver in a residential facility for the mentally challenged. King was raised Methodist and remains religious as an adult, as a child, King apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train, though he has no memory of the event. His family told him that leaving home to play with the boy, King returned, speechless. Only later did the family learn of the friends death, some commentators have suggested that this event may have psychologically inspired some of Kings darker works, but King makes no mention of it in his memoir On Writing. King related in detail his primary inspiration for writing fiction in his non-fiction Danse Macabre. King compares his uncles successfully dowsing for water using the bough of a branch with the sudden realization of what he wanted to do for a living. King told Barnes & Noble Studios during a 2009 interview, I knew that Id found home when I read that book, King attended Durham Elementary School and graduated from Lisbon Falls High School, in Lisbon Falls, Maine
18.
Rose Red (miniseries)
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Rose Red is a television miniseries scripted by horror novelist Stephen King. The series was premiered in the United States on ABC on January 27,2002, the story centers on a mysteriously haunted Seattle mansion named Rose Red. Due to its history of supernatural events and unexplained tragedies, the house is investigated by parapsychologist Dr. Joyce Reardon. Dr. Reardons team awakens the spirit possessing the house, leading to several deaths. According to information revealed at various points in the miniseries, and Ellens diary, Rose Red was built in 1906 by wealthy oilman John Rimbauer as a gift for his young wife. Rimbauer used much of his wealth to build the mansion, which was in the Tudor-Gothic style, the house was rumored to be cursed even as it was being constructed, three construction workers were killed on the site, and a construction foreman was murdered by a co-worker. While honeymooning in Africa, Ellen Rimbauer fell ill and made the acquaintance of Sukeena, the two women became very close while Sukeena nursed Ellen back to health, and Sukeena accompanied the Rimbauers back to the newly completed Rose Red to work there full-time as a servant. The Rimbauers soon had two children, Adam and April, but Ellen quickly became unhappy with her marriage to her philandering and neglectful, after a spiritualist seance, Ellen came to believe that if she continued to build and expand the house, she would never die. Bizarre deaths and unresolved disappearances became more commonplace at the house throughout the years, six-year-old April also vanished while playing in the kitchen, never to be seen or heard from again. Sukeena, who was babysitting April, was the last person to see her alive and was tortured mercilessly by the police after being suspected of Aprils murder. During Aprils disappearance eight-year-old Adam was sent off to boarding school. John Rimbauer committed suicide without warning by throwing himself from an upper stained-glass window, Ellen used nearly all of her dead husbands fortune to continually add to the home over the next several decades, enlarging it significantly. The mysterious disappearances continued to occur, an actress and dear friend of Ellen. By the 1950s, both Ellen Rimbauer and Sukeena eventually disappeared in Rose Red, for several years after Ellens disappearance, only servants occupied Rose Red but eventually all left one by one out of fear. Adam Rimbauer, who inherited the house, lived there for a time with his wife. These tours ceased in 1972, after a participant disappeared while on a tour of the mansion. Investigations for paranormal phenomena were conducted on the property in the 1960s and 1970s, but these also ended, and the house fell into disrepair. The miniseries begins in the year 2001, Steven Rimbauer, the great grandson of John and Ellen Rimbauer, has inherited Rose Red
19.
Cold Mountain (film)
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Cold Mountain is a 2003 American epic war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Charles Frazier. The film tells the story of a deserter from the Confederate army close to the end of the American Civil War. Cold Mountain opened to reviews from critics and won several major awards. Renée Zellweger won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and it was also a success at the box office and became a sleeper hit grossing more than double its budget worldwide. The film makes numerous allusions to Homers The Odyssey, when North Carolina secedes from the Union on May 20,1861, the young men of a rural North Carolina town on Cold Mountain hurry to enlist in the Confederate States Army. Inman, a carpenter who has fallen in love with Ada, a preachers daughter, three years later, Inman finds himself at the Battle of the Crater. Union soldiers tunnel beneath Confederate fortifications and detonate kegs of gunpowder prior to an attack against the rebels. Oakley, Inmans acquaintance from Cold Mountain, is seriously wounded, Inman gets him to a field hospital, where Oakley dies with Inman beside him and friend Stobrod Thewes playing him a song on his fiddle. Inman and his Cherokee friend Swimmer are sent, with other Cold Mountain men, during the raid, friendly fire kills Swimmer and seriously wounds Inman. As Inman lies in the hospital near death, he reads a letter from Ada in which she pleads him to stop fighting, stop marching. Inman recovers, and–with the war drawing closer to an inevitable Confederate defeat–deserts to return to Cold Mountain. Inman meets the corrupt preacher Reverend A. Veasey, who is about to drown his pregnant slave lover, Inman stops Veasey and leaves him tied up to face the towns justice. Exiled from his parish, Veasey later joins Inman on his journey and they help a young man named Junior butcher his cow, and join him and his family for dinner. When Junior goes out to his trapline, the women in his family seduce Veasey and it is a ploy, as Junior soon returns with the Confederate Home Guard, and both Inman and Veasey are led away with other deserters. During a skirmish with Union cavalry, Veasey is killed and Inman left for dead, an elderly hermit living in the woods finds him and nurses him back to health. Inman meets a young widow named Sara, who is raising her infant child Ethan alone. The next morning, a party of Union foragers arrive demanding food, Sara orders Inman away for his protection, but he hides close by
20.
The Alamo (2004 film)
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The Alamo is a 2004 American war film about the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. The screenplay is credited to Hancock, John Sayles, Stephen Gaghan, in contrast to the earlier 1960 film of the same name, the 2004 film attempts to depict the political points of view of both the Mexican and Texan sides, Santa Anna is a more prominent character. The film received mixed reviews by critics and was a massive box-office flop, the film then flashes back to a year earlier. Sam Houston attends a party where he tries to persuade people to migrate to Texas and he meets with David Crockett, recently defeated for reelection to Congress. Houston explains to Crockett that as an immigrant to Texas, Crockett will receive 640 acres of his own choosing, Crockett, with a grin, pointedly asks Houston whether this new republic is going to need a president. The Opposition Party seeks to rebuild the Texan army and establish a permanent government to be recognized by other nations of the world, the provisional government votes out Sam Houston as commander of the Texas army. While having drinks with Jim Bowie later, the disgusted Houston tells Bowie to go to San Antonio, William Barret Travis is also in San Felipe, reporting for duty. His character is established as a man who seeks respect as a uniformed military officer. Interlaced scenes show him granting his wife a divorce, and seeking to begin a new life in Texas, the Texas provisional government orders him to take command of the Alamo. There he meets Col. James Neill, who informs him that Travis will be in command of the Texas Army regulars while Neil is away on leave. Travis is alarmed that the Alamos small force cannot withstand the Mexican Army which is rumored to have thousands of foot soldiers, again he sends a rider to deliver his plea for reinforcements. As small groups of Texans arrive, Travis oversees defence preparations, Crockett arrives in San Antonio, where he tells a crowd, I told them folks youall can go to hell, Im going to Texas. Santa Anna soon arrives in San Antonio, much to the surprise of the Texan fighters, the Texans retire to the Alamo compound despite its vulnerability, and begin fortifying it as best they can. Amid the chaos Travis writes letters asking for reinforcements, only a couple dozen men arrive to join them. Santa Annas army surrounds the Alamo compound and the siege begins and this virtually ends the chance to forestall the Mexican attack and Bowie returns to tell Travis that Santa Anna has offered surrender at discretion. Travis offers all within the Alamo an opportunity to leave, almost to a man the defenders decide to stay and fight to the end. At least one remains, Mrs. Susanna Dickinson, whose husband. Bowie becomes debilitatingly ill and is bedridden in one of the buildings, for the next several nights the Mexican Army band serenades the Texans with the Degüello, followed by an artillery bombardment of the surrounded compound
