The Major Oak is a large English oak near the village of Edwinstowe in the midst of Sherwood Forest, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where his merry men slept, it weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a girth of 33 feet, a canopy of 92 feet, is about 800–1000 years old. In a 2002 survey, it was voted "Britain's favourite tree". In 2014, it was voted'England's Tree of the Year' by a public poll by the Woodland Trust, receiving 18% of the votes, its name originates from Major Hayman Rooke's description of it in 1790. There are several theories as to how it became oddly shaped; the Major Oak may be several trees that fused together as saplings, or the tree could have been pollarded. However, there is only limited evidence for this theory as none of the other trees in the surrounding area were pollarded. Since the Victorian era, its massive limbs have been supported by an elaborate system of scaffolding. In 2002, someone illegally attempted to sell acorns from the Major Oak on an internet-based auction website.
In 2003, in Dorset a plantation was started of 260 saplings grown from acorns of the Major Oak. The purpose was to provide publicity for an internet-based study of the Major Oak, its history, photographic record, variation in size and leafing of the saplings, comparison of their DNA, an eventual public amenity; the Major Oak was featured on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the Midlands. The formation sign of the 46th Infantry Division of the British Army in the Second World War was the Major Oak. Among the units of the division were battalions of the Sherwood Foresters regiment; the plight of Major Oak is the subject of a song by English musician Beans on Toast on his 2017 album Cushty. List of famous trees List of Great British Trees Major Oak and Sherwood Forest fan site Recorded information about the Major Oak on the Ancient Tree Hunt Major Oak history page Tree Radar Survey of Major Oak, by Sharon Hosegood Associates Ltd Spring 2018
Matt Thomas is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones. Thomas was born in Illinois to Martha and Greg Thomas, he grew up in Onalaska, attending Onalaska High School. His mother had been a standout high school athlete herself, she was a swimmer, softball player, tennis player, basketball star. She holds the school record for single game scoring at Wahlert High School in Dubuque, with 48 points. Thomas suffered tragedy at a young age; when he was 11 years old, his father Greg, who suffered from alcoholism, committed suicide. Because of this Thomas developed a strong relationship with his mother. Despite early struggles in his personal life, Thomas was an outstanding high school basketball player, he was named first-team all-state by the Associated Press as a junior in 2012. He averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.1 steals in 2012 to lead his team to the Division 2 state championship.
Onalaska ended the year with a 27–1 record. Thomas scored 30 points in a 55 -- 38 victory over Kaukauna, his senior year Thomas averaged 28.3 points and 9.7 rebounds, leading his team to the state semifinals and a 24–3 mark, shooting 50.4% percent from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc. Thomas scored more than 40 points three times, including 41 points in the sectional final and a career-high 50 points in just 2 1/2 quarters vs. Tomah, he participated in the 2013 American Family Insurance High School 3-Point Championship, finishing third. Thomas ended his four-year career as a two-time first-team all-state pick with a 95–12 overall mark and over 2,000 points. An outstanding scorer, Thomas was considered one of the best shooters in the class of 2013 and one of the best players from Wisconsin. A consensus top-100 national recruit, Thomas was ranked No. 51 by ESPN, No. 54 by Rivals.com and No. 58 by Scout.com in the final national rankings. Being sought after Thomas chose Iowa State over Virginia, Boston College and Marquette.
Thomas began his true freshman campaign as a starter for Iowa State. He is only the 20th ISU freshman to start a season opener, he started in the first 15 games before being replaced in the starting line-up by Monte Morris. Despite becoming the 6th man, Thomas still appeared in all 36 games that season. Over the season Thomas averaged 5.5 points, scored in double figures eight times, shot 33.6% from behind the arc. He made four three-pointers in games twice during the season, he made a three in 25 games with 44 three-pointers total, good enough for second-most by a Cyclone freshman. Thomas spent two days in jail following his arrest for an OWI on July 14, 2014. Thomas began his sophomore season serving a three-game suspension.< Due to increased bench depth his sophomore season, Thomas saw a diminished role. He saw action in scoring in double figures nine times, he was third on the team with 32 three-pointers made. Thomas grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and hit 5–6 shots to score 13 points against Alabama in the season opener.
He led the Cyclones in scoring with 14 points. He scored a career-high 17 points at Texas, included 4–6 from the three-point range. Due to the season-ending injury of Naz Long, Thomas moved back into the starting lineup. Thomas played for the Los Angeles Lakers 2017 summer league team, he scored 23 points on 8–9 shooting in the summer league title game to help the Lakers to a 110–98 victory. On August 29, 2017, Thomas signed with Monbus Obradoiro of Spain's Liga ACB. On July 11, 2018, Thomas signed a two-year deal with Valencia of Spain's Liga ACB, he had an effective field goal percentage of 99 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts when unguarded, picking up the nickname Mr. 99%. On July 19, 2019, Thomas signed with the Toronto Raptors. On October 26, 2019, Thomas made his NBA debut, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds, in the Raptors 108–84 win over the Chicago Bulls. On November 25, Thomas suffered a fractured finger on his left hand, he returned to action on January 6, 2020, suiting up on a rehab assignment for the Raptors 905, the Raptors' NBA G League affiliate.
On January 7, Thomas returned to the Raptors lineup recording eight points and a career-high six rebounds in the Raptors' 101–99 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. On February 8, Thomas scored a career-high 15 points in a 119–118 win over the Brooklyn Nets. On February 23, Thomas bested his career high with 17 points and five 3-pointers in a 127–81 victory against the Indiana Pacers. Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com Iowa State Cyclones bio Matt Thomas at ESPN.com Matt Thomas at CBSSports.com
"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive – in this case, by immurement; as in "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", Poe conveys the story from the murderer's perspective. The story's narrator, tells an unspecified person, who knows him well, of the day he took his revenge on Fortunato, a fellow nobleman. Angry over numerous injuries and some unspecified insult, Montresor plots to murder his "friend" during Carnival, while the man is drunk and wearing a jester's motley. Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe of what he believes to be a rare vintage of Amontillado.
He proposes obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry". Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine to Fortunato. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the dampness, suggests they go back, but Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that he "shall not die of a cough". During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto Nemo me impune lacessit. At one point, Fortunato makes an grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle; when Montresor appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?"
Montresor says he is, when Fortunato, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding. When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim. Fortunato enters drunk and unsuspecting and therefore, does not resist as Montresor chains him to the wall. Montresor declares that, since Fortunato won't go back, Montresor must "positively leave" him there. Montresor reveals brick and mortar hidden among the bones nearby, proceeds to wall up the niche using his trowel, entombing his friend alive. At first, who sobers up faster than Montresor anticipated, shakes the chains, trying to escape. Fortunato screams for help, but Montresor mocks his cries, knowing nobody can hear them. Fortunato laughs weakly and tries to pretend that he is the subject of a joke and that people will be waiting for him; as Montresor finishes the topmost row of stones, Fortunato wails, "For the love of God, Montresor!" to which Montresor replies, "Yes, for the love of God!" He hears only the jester's bells ringing.
Before placing the last stone, he drops a burning torch through the gap. He claims that he feels sick at heart, but dismisses this reaction as an effect of the dampness of the catacombs. In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that 50 years Fortunato's body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it; the murderer concludes: In pace requiescat!. "The Cask of Amontillado" was first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book, which was, at the time, the most popular periodical in America. The story was only published one additional time during Poe's life, in the November 14, 1846 New England Weekly Review. Although the subject matter of Poe's story is a murder, "The Cask of Amontillado" is not a tale of detection like "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" or "The Purloined Letter"; the mystery in "The Cask of Amontillado" is in Montresor's motive for murder. Without a detective in the story, it is up to the reader to solve the mystery. From the beginning of the story, it is made clear that Montresor has exaggerated his grievances towards Fortunato.
The reader is led to assume that much like his exaggerated grievances, the punishment his chooses will represent what he believes is equal justice, in turn, going to the extreme. Montresor never specifies his motive beyond the vague "thousand injuries" and "when he ventured upon insult" to which he refers; some context is provided, including Montresor's observation that his family once was great, Fortunato's belittling remarks about Montresor's exclusion from Freemasonry. Many commentators conclude that, lacking significant reason, Montresor must be insane, though this is questionable because of the intricate details of the plot. There is evidence that Montresor is as clueless about his motive for revenge as his victim. In his recounting of the murder, Montresor notes, "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser, it is unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong". After Fortunato is chained to the wall and nearly entombed alive, Montresor mocks and mimics him, rather than disclosing to Fortunato the reasons behind his exacting revenge.
Montresor may not have been certain of the exact n
The ruddy-tailed flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the family Tityridae. It breeds in lowlands from southeastern Mexico to northern Bolivia, north-central Brazil and the Guianas; this flycatcher ranges east of the Andes cordillera into the entire Amazon Basin of northern Brazil and the Guianas. It is the only member of the genus Terenotriccus. However, it differs in voice and structure from members of that group; this tiny flycatcher breeds from sea level to 1,000 m altitude, locally to 1,200 m, in wet mountain forests and in adjacent tall second growth. The nest is a pear-shaped pouch of plant fibres and leaves with a visored side entrance, built by the female 2–6 m high in the undergrowth and suspended from a twig or vine; the two chocolate-blotched white eggs are incubated by the female for 15–16 days to hatching, the male playing no part in the care of the eggs or young. The ruddy-tailed flycatcher weighs 7 g; the upperparts are grey-olive, with a rufous rump, tail and eye ring. The throat is buff and the breast is cinnamon, becoming pale buff on the belly.
Sexes are similar. The ruddy-tailed flycatcher is solitary, only joins mixed-species feeding flocks, it feeds on insects leafhoppers, picked from foliage or taken in acrobatic aerial pursuit. This species has a see-oo see call, a repetitive eek eek eek eek eek song, it sometimes flicks both wings up to make a faint whirring sound. Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5 Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica, ISBN 0-8014-9600-4 Ruddy-tailed flycatcher photo gallery VIREO
Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead is a 2009 American horror film directed by Declan O'Brien and starring Tom Frederic, Janet Montgomery, Tamer Hassan. It is a sequel to Wrong Turn 2: the third installment in the Wrong Turn franchise; the film was released on DVD on October 20, 2009. Alex Miles and her friends Trey and Brent go into the woods of West Virginia on a rafting trip; as they are camping and Brent begin to have sex, Alex leaves to find Trey. Three Fingers kills Sophie with an arrow; the arrow wounds Brent, who flees. As Three Finger begins to eat Sophie, Alex watches in horror from behind a bush. Meanwhile, Trey tries to flee, but is chased down and killed by Three Finger. Brent is killed by a wire trap. Sheriff Carver and Deputy Lane receive a report about the missing group. Two days prison guard Nate is assigned with Walter and Preslow to transfer a group of prisoners to a distant prison; the prisoners are a car thief. They rest at Sheriff's office, they leave and while driving, their bus is rammed by Three Finger's truck and crashes in the woods of West Virginia, forcing them to continue on foot.
Preslow was killed by Three Finger when he throws a knife at him and Walter is badly injured, but Nate rescues him from the bus before it explodes. They follow Alex, on the way, find an abandoned armored truck. Chavez tells Nate to check the cab of the truck. Nate finds a set of a gun, he secretly gives the gun after handing the keys over to Chavez. Chavez uses the keys to open the back of the truck, finds several bags of money, he intends to steal the money and demands that everyone carry two bags, but Walter refuses because of his injury. In a last-ditch effort to regain control of the situation, Walter pulls out the gun and tries to shoot Chavez; the gun is not loaded and Chavez shoots and kills Walter. Chavez forces those left alive to carry the money and they continue on foot. Along the trail, they stumble upon a trap, set by Three Finger's nephew, they escape catch the nephew and behead him, leaving a trophy on the spent booby trap for Three Finger to find as a deterrent. This enrages Three Finger, who sets traps for the group,Willy and Nate tries to attack Chavez but Willy was killed by one of the Three Finger's traps,later Crawford was killed in an another trap set by Three Finger when he tries to steal his tow truck.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Carver looks for Nate, Deputy Lane sets out look for the missing group of rafters. Sheriff Carver is killed by Three Finger. Floyd tries to rape Alex but Alex manages to beat him down Chavez picks up Floyd's gun disarming him. Floyd get into a fist fight while Brandon watches, allowing Nate and Alex to escape. After the fight and Brandon leave the knocked out Floyd behind. Chavez gives a gun to Brandon and they hear Alex and Nate talking, they lay the money down before taking them hostage again, they find the location where the watch tower once stood, only to discover it was burned down years ago. Floyd finds the money and attempts to run away with it. Chavez hears him and finds Floyd, only to see Three Finger lobbing a molotov cocktail at Floyd, killing him and burning all the money. Chavez tries to lure Three Finger by using Alex as a bait but his plan backfires when Three Finger throws a Motlov cocktail. Three Finger drives off, he goes back out to hunt the rest of the survivors.
Nate wants to go after Alex. Fed up, Brandon lets Nate go. After waking up, Chavez attacks Brandon and knocks him unconscious he finds Three Finger and fights him and when he was about to kill him with his own axe Three Finger slash Chavez's hand with his Hook and Three Finger kills him by cutting open his skull open and Three Finger eat his brain. Alex sees a naked Deputy Lane die in a razor wire net. Nate finds Three Finger's house and frees Alex. Alex saves him by stabbing Three Finger. Nate and Alex drive away in his tow truck, but Three Finger follows them, leaps on top of the truck, causes them to crash into a tree; as the truck catches fire, Brandon pulls Alex out. While Brandon helps Nate, Three Finger attacks them. Nate throws Three Finger on top of the car to burning Three Finger's body. Nate let Brandon run away in return for his help. Afterwards, a U. S. Marshal team arrives and rescues Nate and Alex. Sometime Nate greedily returns to take the remaining money from the armored truck. Karma takes its toll and Brandon appears from nowhere and betrays him, shooting him in the back with an arrow.
While Brandon takes the money, an unknown cannibal appears and bludgeons him to death with a crude club. Shooting took place in Sofia, Bulgaria; the only returning character was Three Finger. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 20, 2009; the film earned $1,800,000 in its first week, has earned over $5,600,000 to date. All four of the reviews reported by Rotten Tomatoes are counted as negative. Bloody Disgusting said, "If WT2 raised the bar WT3 lowers it right back down to where it was, a notch or two lower." Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead on IMDb Wrong Turn 3: Le
Jacob Fackman was an English buccaneer and pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for attacking the Spanish alongside Henry Morgan, John Morris, David Marteen. Fackman may have arrived in Jamaica with Cromwell's 1655 invasion force alongside fellow future buccaneer Thomas Freeman. Before moving to Jamaica, Fackman was a resident of Barbados, he is recorded as employing several indentured English and Welsh servants there as early as 1655. Fackman first took out a privateering commission against the Spanish from the Governor of Jamaica in late 1662. In his frigate Cagway he joined Christopher Myngs and other buccaneers in sacking Santiago de Cuba, was still with Myngs when he attacked Campeche in early 1663. With a renewed commission in late 1663 he sailed again for Spanish territory; the next year he joined with John Morris, Henry Morgan, David Marteen, Thomas Freeman to raid Tabasco and sack Villahermosa. While they looted the town the Spanish seized their anchored ships. After repulsing a Spanish attack they proceeded through Central America.
Moving through Honduras and Nicaragua, they enlisted the aid of local tribes to capture Granada, looted by Edward Mansvelt only a year earlier. Approaching the garrison undetected thanks to the help of native guides, the buccaneers “fired a volley, overturned 18 great guns in the Parada Place, took the sergeant-major's house, wherein were all their arms and ammunition, secured in the Great Church 300 of the best men prisoners, abundance of which were churchmen, plundered for 16 hours, discharged the prisoners, sunk all the boats, so came away.”The group returned to Port Royal in summer 1665, minus Marteen, Dutch and wary of staying in an English port after learning that the Second Anglo-Dutch War had broken out. New Jamaican Governor Thomas Modyford was leery of the buccaneers – the English were trying to keep peace with Spain at the time – but they protested that “having been out 22 months and hearing nothing of the cessation betwixt the King and the Spaniard” they had not known that Spanish targets were now off-limits and had been operating under Windsor’s now two-year-old commissions.
Fackman’s further activities are not recorded. Modyford’s eventual successor William Beeston wrote of them the following summer, “Captain Fackman and others arrived from the taking of the towns of Tabasco and Villahermosa, in the Bay of Mexico, although there had been peace with the Spaniards not long since proclaimed, yet the privateers went out and in, as if there had been an actual war, without commission.” Laurens de Graaf, Nicholas van Hoorn, Michiel Andrieszoon – three other Dutch buccaneers active in the same area shortly after Fackman