Half Past Dead is a 2002 American action film written and directed by Don Michael Paul in his directorial debut, produced by Steven Seagal, who starred in the lead role, alongside Andrew Stevens and Elie Samaha. The film co-stars Morris Chestnut, Ja Rule, Tony Plana and Nia Peeples; the film tells the story of a criminal who infiltrates a prison to interrogate a prisoner about the location of a fortune in gold while an undercover FBI agent has to stop him. Distribution and copyrights are held by Columbia Pictures. Half Past Dead was released on November 2002 by Screen Gems; the film grossed $19 million worldwide against its budget of $25 million. In San Francisco, FBI agent Sasha Petrosevitch goes undercover as a Russian car thief and is brought in by criminal Nick Frazier to work for crime boss Sonny Eckvall, who shot and killed Sasha's wife. After some time, FBI Special Agent Ellen "E. Z." Williams and her team show up to nail Nick, but things go bad, Sasha gets shot. After eight months of recovery following his brief bout of being clinically dead from the shooting, Sasha is incarcerated along with Nick in the newly reopened Alcatraz prison.

Run by the charismatic warden, Juan Ruiz "El Fuego" Escarzaga, the place is known for its new state of the art death chamber where the condemned can choose from five different ways to die: lethal injection, gas chamber, firing squad, or electric chair. Lester McKenna, is the first death row prisoner brought to the new Alcatraz and the first prisoner scheduled to be executed. An older man, he stole $200,000,000 worth of gold bricks in a heist that resulted in five deaths, hid the loot at an unknown location. Federal Bureau of Prisons head Frank Hubbard and Supreme Court Justice Jane McPherson have arrived to witness the execution, a result of June sentencing Lester, but she's not the only one interested in Lester. A small but well equipped team of terrorists who call themselves the "49ers" have parachuted onto the Alcatraz island, gained control of it. Led by 49er One, a.k.a. Hubbard's assistant Donny Johnson, 49er Six, the team finds Lester, they want him to give up the location of his hidden stash of gold.

When Lester will not tell them, Donny shoots a nearby priest, threatens to kill others if the information is not delivered. Donny's plan is disrupted, when Sascha decides to step in and fight back. At this point, Sasha's true true identity is revealed and he used Nick to get to Sonny Eckvall, whom he seeks revenge on for the death of his wife; when Sasha rescues Lester, the 49ers strap Jane to the electric chair and threaten to kill her, all while Ellen and her team prepare a rescue plan from the mainland. With the help of Nick and some of the other inmates such as Twitch and Little Joe, Sasha sets out to rescue Jane and bring Donny down, before Alcatraz becomes everyone's final resting place; the film was shot in Germany. Half Past Dead was released on November 15, 2002, in the United States, where it grossed $7.8 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $15.5 million in the US and another $3.7 million outside the US, for a total worldwide gross of $19.2 million. It was released on DVD in the US on March 4, 2003.

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 3% of 87 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review. The site's consensus reads: "Seagal is now too bulky to make a convincing action hero, Half Past Dead is too silly and incoherent to deliver any visceral kicks." Metacritic rated it 23/100 based on 23 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Half Past Dead is like an alarm, it does its job and nobody cares."Seagal was nominated for Worst Actor at the 2002 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards and the 2003 Golden Raspberry Awards. Half Past Dead 2 was released direct-to-video on May 15, 2007; the film does not feature actors Ja Rule. The starring characters were Burke. Half Past Dead on IMDb Half Past Dead at AllMovie Half Past Dead at Rotten Tomatoes

Nouka Baich is a traditional dragon boat-style rowing sport of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Rowing Federation, established in 1974, is the authority of all rowing activities in Bangladesh and has organised over 40 National Rowing Championships; the races are held during the wet and autumn seasons of the Bengali calendar which corresponds from June to October in the Gregorian calendar. The "Nowka Bais" which takes place annually in Birmingham is a leading cultural event in the West Midlands, United Kingdom attracting not only the Bangladeshi diaspora but a variety of cultures, it is the largest kind of boat race in the United Kingdom. Boats used for Nouka Baich are long with each team can consist from 7 to up to 100 members known as majhis. Boats with motor engines are not allowed. Boats are named with attractive and boastful names displaying quality and speed. During inter-riverine competitions, teams are named after their respective'home rivers', it is a social event, it is common for the competitors to sing Sari gan folk songs as they compete during the race.

A popular song is Ronge Ronge Bao. With riverine Bangladesh's geography being dominated by the world's largest delta, the country has over 230 rivers in its terrain; the rivers have played an important role in the livelihoods of the native Bengali people. Common in rural areas, Nouka Baich is a old tradition of the folk Bengali culture going back centuries, its popularity in urban areas increased in the 18th century. The various Nawab families throughout Mughal Bengal were known for organising races and the use of Sari gan started to become more popular. Nouka Baich was common during the British rule in the Sylhet region after the rainy season when much of the land goes under water; the long canoes were referred to as khel naos and the use of cymbals to accompany the singing was common. Different types of boats may be used in different parts of Bangladesh. Straight-back narrow timber boats known as koshas are used in Mymensingh and Dhaka; the latter uses goyna boats in its races. The use of sarangi boats is a tradition of Sylhet and Brahmanbaria.

Racing with Sampans is common in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Noakhali. The Rakhine Buddhists of Myanmar and some parts of Bangladesh have a similar tradition called Pailong Poye. In 2007, the British Bangladeshi community in Oxford initiated the first'Nowka Bais' event in the United Kingdom as part of Oxfordshire County's 1000th birthday by getting two 40 ft canoes made in Sylhet and bringing them to England. Nowka Bais in England has now become an annual cultural event attracting thousands such as the likes of the High Commissioner of Bangladesh. In 2012, the event was dedicated to the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II issued a statement on the event and expressed her interest about the Bengali tradition to the founder of Nowka Bais UK and Oxford Bangladeshi Boat Club, Azizur Rahman. In 2015, the event founder selected Birmingham to be its host city, which hosts a larger Bangladeshi diaspora population than Oxford, it has become a mela with performances and funfair rides.. In 2018, The Nowka Bais short film documentary was released based on the events in Birmingham.

Dragon boat War canoe Waka Swan boat Chundan vallam

The gliding tree frog is a species of frog in family Phyllomedusidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. Other common names are the gliding leaf frog, Spurrell's leaf frog, pink-sided tree frog; the specific name, spurrelli, is in honour of British zoologist Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and intermittent freshwater marshes, it is threatened by habitat loss. The gliding tree frog grows to a snout to vent length of 48 to 56 mm for males and 60 to 72 mm for females; the head is broad and the eyes are large, with reticulated lower eyelids. The body is slim with granular skin on the belly; the limbs are slim and the fingers and toes have adhesive discs. The fingers are about three-quarter webbed and the toes webbed; the colour of the dorsal surface of this frog changes at nightfall from pale green to dark green. The underparts are orange; the gliding tree frog is native to the humid forests of south-eastern and south-western Costa Rica, the Pacific lowlands of Colombia, north-western Ecuador.

The gliding tree frog is a nocturnal species. It moves about by climbing using a hand-over-hand form of locomotion, it glides while leaping which it does by spreading out its hands and feet when the extensive webbing acts as a parachute. It can maintain an angle of descent of up to 45° for some distance. Explosive breeding takes place in the rainy season; the eggs are laid in small clusters on the upperside of leaves overhanging temporary pools and water-filled cavities in logs. The eggs hatch in about six days and the tadpoles fall into the water below

Simon Vestdijk was a Dutch writer. He was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature fifteen times. Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned to literature after a few years as a doctor, he became one of the most important 20th-century writers in the Netherlands. His prolificness as a novelist was legendary, but he was at least as important as an essayist on e.g. literature, religion and music in particular. He wrote much poetry and short stories, his work has been translated into most Western European languages. Simon Vestdijk: On the poet Emily Dickinson. Transl. by Peter Twydell. Doorn, Mycenta Vitilis, 2002. ISBN 90-75663-37-4 Simon Vestdijk: Back to Ina Damman = Retour à Ina Damman / radio-play adaptation of the novel by Simon Vestdijk. (Transl. of an adaptation of Terug tot Ina Damman. Hilversum, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, 1988. No ISBN S. Vestdijk: The garden where the brass band played. Transl. by A. Brotherton, with an introd. by Hella S. Haasse.

London, Quartet Books, 1992. ISBN 0-7043-0173-3. Other editions: New York, New Amsterdam, 1989. ISBN 0-941533-59-X. No ISBN Emily Dickinson: Gedichten. Transl. by S. Vestdijk. Den Haag, Bert Bakker, 1969. Emily Dickinson: Selected poems.. Amsterdam, Balkema, 1940 Simon Vestdijk: Rum Island, Transl. by B. K. Bowes. London, John Calder, 1963 Simon Vestdijk: My brown friend & Miodrag Bulatović: Lovers & Keith Johnstone: The return & Robert Pinget: La manivelle; the old tune. London, Calder, 1962 http://www.svestdijk.nl/al/wpengels.html http://www.vestdijk.com Works by or about Simon Vestdijk in libraries

Izabela Monika Bełcik is a Polish female volleyball player, a member of Poland women's national volleyball team in 1999-2014, double European Champion, bronze medalist of the European Championship 2009, four-time Polish Champion. She went to PGE Atom Trefl Sopot in 2010. On 15 March 2015 she achieved with team from Sopot Polish Cup 2015. On 28 September 2003 Poland women's national volleyball team, including Bełcik, beat Turkey in final and won title of European Champion 2003. Two years Polish team with Bełcik in squad defended title and achieved second title of European Champion. In October 2009 she won with teammates bronze medal of European Championship 2009 after winning match against Germany, she took part in 1st edition of European Games. In semi final her national team qualified to final match. On 27 June 2015 Poland was beaten by Bełcik with her teammates achieved silver medal. 2014/2015 - with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 2004/2005 Polish Championship, with Nafta-Gaz Piła 2005/2006 Polish Championship, with Nafta-Gaz Piła 2007/2008 Polish Championship, with MKS Muszynianka-Fakro Muszyna 2008/2009 Polish Championship, with MKS Muszynianka-Fakro Muszyna 2009/2010 Polish SuperCup 2009, with Bank BPS Muszynianka Fakro Muszyna 2009/2010 Polish Championship, with Bank BPS Muszynianka Fakro Muszyna 2010/2011 Polish Championship, with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 2011/2012 Polish Championship, with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 2012/2013 Polish Championship, with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 2013/2014 Polish Championship, with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 2014/2015 Polish Cup, with PGE Atom Trefl Sopot 1997 CEV U18 European Championship 2003 CEV European Championship 2005 CEV European Championship 2009 CEV European Championship 2015 European Games 2013 Polish Cup - Best Server 2015 Polish Cup - Best Setter 2005 Gold Cross of Merit ORLEN Liga player profile

Taryn Fiebig is an Australian opera and musical theatre soprano. Born in Perth, Fiebig graduated as a cellist from the School of Music, University of Western Australia, before commencing vocal training marrying the two on stage, with her cello accompanying her own singing, she joined Opera Australia in 2005 as a principal soprano. Her roles for that company include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Galatea in Acis and Galatea, Musetta in La bohème, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, The Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas and Pamina in The Magic Flute, Rose in Lakmé, Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, Karolka in Jenůfa, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Aphrodite in The Love of the Nightingale, Lisa in La sonnambula. In 2006/07, she was Mabel in Opera Australia's production of The Pirates of Penzance, alongside Anthony Warlow, David Hobson. In 2008 and 2009, she performed as Eliza Doolittle in a national tour of My Fair Lady opposite UK actor Richard E. Grant.

Fiebig sang the role of Sicle in Pinchgut Opera's 2009 production of Francesco Cavalli's 1644 opera Ormindo. In 2010, Fiebig was nominated for the Helpmann Awards' Best Female Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera for Bliss and La sonnambula. In 2011, she sang Yum-Yum in Opera Australia's production of The Mikado, televised on ABC Television. In 2012, Fiebig added the role of Pamina in Julie Taymor's English-language production of The Magic Flute for Opera Australia to her repertoire. In 2013, she sang Oscar in Opera Australia's production of Un ballo in maschera directed by La Fura dels Baus. More roles for Opera Australia include Nannetta in Falstaff, Despina in Così fan tutte, Gutrune in Götterdämmerung and Mother in Metamorphosis, she is the cousin of actress Melissa George. Official Taryn Fiebig website Profile at Opera Australia website Performance schedule, Operabase Taryn Fiebig on IMDb