1.
WonderCon
–
The convention will return to the Anaheim Convention Center in 2017. The convention was conceived by retailer John Barrett and originally held in the Oakland Convention Center, in 2003, it moved to San Franciscos Moscone Center. The shows original name was the Wonderful World of Comics Convention, the WonderCon logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Tim Zach. Retailer Joe Field and his partner Mike Friedrich owned and operated the convention for fifteen years, in 2001, they brokered a deal with the management team that runs the San Diego Comic-Con International to make it part of the Comic-Con International convention family. This gave the San Francisco show an audience and has made it a venue for previews and early screenings of major motion pictures. These have included Spider-Man 2 in 2004, Batman Begins and Fantastic Four in 2005, Superman Returns in 2006,300 in 2007, Watchmen in 2009, all of these events featured the stars of the films fielding questions from the audience. WonderCon had 34,000 attendees in 2009,39,000 in 2010, the show left the Bay Area after the 2011 con, because San Franciscos Moscone Center was being remodeled. The convention moved to Anaheim in 2012, and was rebranded WonderCon Anaheim, in 2016, a new convention started in the Bay Area, called the Silicon Valley Comic Con. WonderCon relocated from Anaheim to Los Angeles in 2016, and is now called WonderCon Los Angeles and was held March 25-27,2016 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the 2017 edition of the convention returned to Anaheim and was held March 31-April 2,2017. While the main attraction of WonderCon has always been various retailers selling back issues of comic books and action figures, there is also an Artists Alley featuring mainly comic book artists selling artwork, signing books, and doing sketches, and mainstream celebrities signing autographed pictures. WonderCon hosted the Harvey Award ceremonies from 1997–1999, since 2007, academicians and comic industry professionals have held the Comics Arts Conference in conjunction with WonderCon. In addition, WonderCon features an event called Trailer Park, where trailers for upcoming films are shown, the WonderCon masquerade competition usually takes place on Saturday after the convention closes. Awards are given to those with the most creative performances, though anyone can participate, official website WonderCon feature on Sidewalks Entertainment WonderCon founders website
WonderCon
WonderCon
–
WonderCon 2010 main exhibit hall
WonderCon
–
The
Nickelodeon booth at WonderCon.
2.
Coloane
–
Coloane, officially Freguesia de São Francisco Xavier, is one of the two main islands of the Macau. The island is located south of Macaus other main island, Taipa. Coloane was known in Cantonese as Gau Ou Saan and Yim Jou Waan, the Portuguese name Coloane is derived from the Cantonese pronunciation of Gwo Lou Waan. Coloane has an area of 8.07 km2, is 4 km long and is 5.6 km from the Macau Peninsula, the narrowest part of Coloane is 300 metres. The highest points in Macau are eastern and central Coloane, with the highest point being the 170.6 metres Coloane Alto. In the past, Coloane was separated from Taipa by the Seac Pai Bay, which was crossed by a 2.2 kilometres causeway, the northern shore of the island is 4.5 metres deep, and is the site of the Macau Deepwater Port. The eastern Hac Sa Beach and the southern Cheoc Van Bay are popular swimming beaches, from the Song dynasty onwards and until the Portuguese arrival in 1864, Coloane was a sea salt farm for China. After their arrival, the Portuguese made Macau an important trading port, but Coloane remained largely deserted, the island became more populated after the Estrada do Istmo was completed in 1969. Coloane Village, located on the southwestern coast of Coloane, is the main settlement. The village centers on Eduardo Marques Square, which is a rectangle paved in cobblestones that are black, white and yellow, the square faces a seaside promenade that traces the channel dividing Macau from the hills of China proper. At the eastern end of the stands the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier. A Tam Kung Temple is located at the end of Avenida de Cinco de Outubro. Temples Sam Seng Temple, also called Kam Fa Temple, located at 2 Rua dos Navegantes in Coloane Village, dedicated to Kam Fa, Kun Iam and Va Kuong, it was built in 1865. Kun Iam Temple, located at Travessa do Caetano, old Tin Hau Temple in Coloane Village Tam Kung Temple in Coloane Village. Dedicated to Lord Tam, a Taoist god of seafarers, it was built in 1862, churches Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, of the Freguesia de São Francisco Xavier. The chapel, built in 1928, is located on the southwestern coast of the island and they are now located in the Museum of Sacred Art, opened in 1996 next to the Ruins of St. Pauls. Another relic was a bone from the arm of St. Francis Xavier and this relic has been transferred to St. Josephs Church. Estrada de Lai Chi Vun begins at the intersection Estrada de Seac Pai Van and Estrada do Campo in the north, the shipyards that once lay beyond the village are nowadays left in disuse
Coloane
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Hac Sa Bay Park
Coloane
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Tam Kung Temple
Coloane
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Coloane rocks
Coloane
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Coloane Pier
3.
Portuguese Macau
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Portuguese Macau was the period of Macau as a Portuguese colony and later, an overseas province under Portuguese administration from 1557 to 1999. Macau was both the first and last European colony in China, Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century. In 1557 Macau was rented to Portugal by the Chinese empire as a trading port, the Portuguese administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony of the Portuguese Empire. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999, the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and the Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. China–Portugal relations Portuguese Empire Official website of the Portuguese Government of Macau Media related to History of Macau at Wikimedia Commons
Portuguese Macau
–
Panoramic photograph of Macau, taken by
Jules Itier in the 19th Century. The city of Macau on its peninsula with both the outer and inner harbours are visible. Also visible are the outlying islands of
Taipa,
Dom João, Lapa and of Montanha, the latter three then part of Macau, reverting to China after the Japanese Invasion in the Second World War.
Coloane and
Ilha Verde are the only islands of Macau not visible in this portrait.
Portuguese Macau
–
Flag of the Govt of
Portuguese Macau
(1976–99)
Portuguese Macau
–
Portuguese Macau around 1665
Portuguese Macau
–
A 1912 map of Macau.
4.
Carnegie Mellon University
–
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools, in 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University. The universitys 140-acre main campus is 3 miles from Downtown Pittsburgh, john Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy, and the School of Computer Science. The university also has campuses in Qatar and Silicon Valley, with degree-granting programs in six continents, Carnegie Mellon consistently ranks in the top 25 in the national U. S. News & World Report rankings. It is home to the world’s first degree-granting Robotics and Drama programs, the university spent $242 million on research in 2015. Carnegie Mellon counts 13,650 students from 114 countries, over 100,000 living alumni, Carnegies vision was to open a vocational training school for the sons and daughters of working-class Pittsburghers. Carnegie was inspired for the design of his school by the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, in 1912 the institution changed its name to Carnegie Institute of Technology and began offering four-year degrees. The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research was founded in 1913 by banker and industrialist brothers Andrew, Mellon in honor of their father, Thomas Mellon, the patriarch of the Mellon family. The Institute began as an organization which performed work for government. In 1927, the Mellon Institute incorporated as an independent nonprofit, in 1938, the Mellon Institutes iconic building was completed and it moved to its new, and current, location on Fifth Avenue. In 1967, with support from Paul Mellon, Carnegie Tech merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to become Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellons coordinate womens college, the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College closed in 1973 and merged its academic programs with the rest of the university. The industrial research mission of the Mellon Institute survived the merger as the Carnegie Mellon Research Institute and continued doing work on contract to industry, CMRI closed in 2001 and its programs were subsumed by other parts of the university or spun off into independent entities. Carnegie Mellons 140-acre main campus is three miles from downtown Pittsburgh, between Schenley Park and the Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and Oakland neighborhoods, Carnegie Mellon is bordered to the west by the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon owns 81 buildings in the Oakland and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, for decades the center of student life on campus was Skibo Hall, the Universitys student union. Built in the 1950s, Skibo Halls design was typical of Mid-Century Modern architecture, the original Skibo was razed in the summer of 1994 and replaced by a new student union that is fully wi-fi enabled. Known as University Center, the building was dedicated in 1996, in 2014, Carnegie Mellon re-dedicated the University Center as the Cohon University Center in recognition of the eighth president of the university, Jared Cohon. A large grassy area known as the Cut forms the backbone of the campus, the Cut was formed by filling in a ravine with soil from a nearby hill that was leveled to build the College of Fine Arts building. The northwestern part of the campus was acquired from the United States Bureau of Mines in the 1980s, the sculpture was controversial for its placement, the general lack of input that the campus community had, and its aesthetic appeal
Carnegie Mellon University
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Andrew Carnegie, founder of the Carnegie Technical Schools
Carnegie Mellon University
–
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
–
Andrew W. Mellon, co-founder of the Mellon Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
–
Hamerschlag and Roberts Halls are two of the teaching facilities of the
College of Engineering
5.
Mulan (Disney character)
–
Fa Mulan is a character, inspired by an actual historic figure, who appears in Walt Disney Pictures 36th animated feature film Mulan, as well as its sequel Mulan II. Her speaking voice is provided by Chinese-American actress Ming-Na Wen, while Filipina singer Lea Salonga provides the singing voice. San Souci, Mulan is based on the legendary Chinese warrior Hua Mulan from the poem the Ballad of Mulan. The only child of a war veteran, Mulan disregards both tradition and the law by disguising herself as a man in order to enlist herself in the army in lieu of her feeble father. Disney had originally conceived Mulan as an oppressed young Indian woman who elopes to Europe to be with a British prince. Mulans supervising animator was Mark Henn, who designed the character so that she would appear less feminine than her predecessors. Reception towards Mulans personality has been positive, with critics praising her bravery. However, some commentators have accused Disney of Westernizing the character, chronologically, Mulan is not the eighth. Mulan was originally conceived as a short in 1994, in which the heroine is depicted as a miserable Chinese girl who elopes to the West to be with a British prince. While developing a series of treatments based on stories and folk tales. San Souci discovered the Ballad of Mulan, an ancient Chinese poem about Hua Mulan – a Chinese woman who replaces her ailing father in the army by disguising herself as a man. Fascinated by Hua Mulans story, San Souci suggested the poem to Disney, because the Ballad of Mulan is such a beloved and well-known story, San Souci longed to maintain the characters integrity. However, certain creative liberties were taken with the story in regards to Mulans role, additionally, Mulans surname was changed from Hua to Fa. Throughout the movie they are working towards helping each other change into better and truer versions of themselves in order to achieve their true potential. Mulans speaking voice is provided by Chinese-American actress Ming-Na Wen, because the character represented Chinese values and is depicted as being dramatic. Close to her father, very respectful, Bancroft believed that Wen possessed the voice for Mulan. Mulan served as Wens first voice-acting role, I felt like I was a little kid again, being silly with an imaginary sword and riding on an imaginary horse and talking to an imaginary dragon. So it was a lot of fun for me, upon being cast as Mulans speaking voice, Wen was immediately informed by Disney that she would not be providing the characters singing voice
Mulan (Disney character)
–
Mulan at
Disneyland theme park in California.
6.
Mulan (1998 film)
–
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical action-comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan. Disneys 36th animated feature, it was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, san Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. Ming-Na, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer and B. D. Wong star in the English version, released during the Disney Renaissance, Mulan was the first of three features produced primarily at the Disney animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Development for the film began in 1994, when a number of artistic supervisors were sent to China to receive artistic and cultural inspiration. Mulan was well received by critics and the public, grossing $304 million, earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, a 2004 direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, followed. After the Huns, led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade Han China, conscription notices require one man from each family to join the Chinese army. When Fa Mulan hears that her elderly father Fa Zhou, the man in their family. Taking her fathers old armor she disguises herself as a man so that she can enlist instead of her parent, the anxious family quickly learn of her departure and Grandmother Fa prays to the family ancestors for Mulans safety. The ancestors then order their Great Stone Dragon to protect Mulan, Mushu, a small dragon, is sent to awaken the Stone Dragon, but accidentally destroys it in the process. Mushu conceals this from the ancestors and resolves to protect Mulan himself, reporting to the training camp Mulan is able to pass as a man, although her military skills are initially poor. Mushu provides clumsy guidance in how to behave as a man, under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, gradually become trained warriors. Mushu, desiring to see Mulan succeed, creates an order from Shangs father, General Li. The reinforcements set out but arrive at an encampment and discover that General Li. As they solemnly leave the mountains, they are ambushed by the Huns, an enraged Shan Yu slashes her in the chest, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life, Mulan is left to follow alone as the recruits depart for the Imperial City to report the news of the Huns destruction. However it is revealed that several Hun warriors including Shan Yu have survived the avalanche, at the Imperial City, Mulan is unable to convince Shang about Shan Yus intentions. The Huns capture the Emperor, then seize the palace, with Mulans help, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po pose as concubines and are able to enter the palace. With the help of Shang, they defeat Shan Yus men, as Shang prevents Shan Yu from assassinating the Emperor, Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof where she engages him in solo combat
Mulan (1998 film)
–
Promotional poster by
John Alvin
Mulan (1998 film)
–
From left to right: Cri-Kee;
Mushu;
Fa Mulan; Kahn
7.
Mulan 2
–
Mulan II is a 2004 American direct-to-video Disney animated film directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland and is a sequel to the 1998 animated film Mulan. The entire cast from the first film returned, except for Eddie Murphy, Miriam Margolyes, Chris Sanders and Matthew Wilder. Murphy and Margolyes were replaced by Mark Moseley and April Winchell, respectively, Little Brother was voiced by Frank Welker, and Gedde Watanabe does his own singing for the sequel. Mulan II features Mulan and her new fiancé, General Li Shang on a special mission, the film deals with arranged marriages, loyalty, relationships, making choices, trust, and finding true love. Unlike its predecessor, which gained acclaim, Mulan II was poorly received by critics. A month after the events of the first film, General Shang asks Mulan for her hand in marriage, and she happily accepts. The ancestors are happy with this because Mulan would be getting married to Shang, and would become a part of his family, if the task is not completed within three days, the alliance will crumble, and the Mongols will destroy China. Mulan and Shang set out, along with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, Mushu attempts to cause problems for Mulan and Shang, but fails only to get stomped on by Mulans horse. In despair, he causes the carriage to roll away with the princesses and Yao, Ling, seeing that theyre heading towards a cliff, Mulan and Shang rush to the rescue, and try to get the princesses to safety. This fails, and the carriage is destroyed while everyone falls into the river, on the night of the carriages destruction, Chien-Po, Ling, and Yao take the princesses out to a village, and declare their love for them. Meanwhile, Mushu tricks Shang into thinking Mulan is taking advantage of him, while traveling through bandit country Mushu is pressured by Cri-Kee to confess to Mulan what he had done. Although Mulan is angered by what Mushu tried to do, at the time, she is enlightened about the news. While saving the princesses, the bridge Mulan and Shang are standing on breaks, realizing that the rope can only support the weight of one person, Shang sacrifices his life to save Mulan, and allows himself to fall into the river below. Devastated by Shangs apparent death, Mulan continues on the trip alone to Qui Gong, not wanting the princesses to be forced into a loveless marriage, she offers herself to marry one of the rulers sons. Shang, who survived the fall, soon hears about the news, and rushes to stop the marriage. Mushu decides to help by pretending to be the Great Golden Dragon of Unity, still under the guise of the Great Golden Dragon, Mushu marries Mulan and Shang, and releases the princesses from their vows. Some time later, Mulan and Shang officially get married back home, in his happiness, Mushu accidentally reveals himself to Shang, even though Mulan had already told Shang about him. It was released on January 25,2005 by Walt Disney Records, here Beside Me The movie was panned by film critics
Mulan 2
–
DVD cover
8.
Chinese language
–
Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
Chinese language
–
The
Tripitaka Koreana, a Korean collection of the
Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese language
–
Hànyǔ (Chinese) written in
traditional (left) and
simplified (right) characters
Chinese language
–
"
Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion " by
Wang Xizhi, written in
semi-cursive style
9.
Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
10.
Melinda May
–
Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S. H. I. E. L. D. A fictional peacekeeping and spy agency in a world of superheroes and it is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the feature and short films of the franchise. The series stars Clark Gregg, reprising his role of Phil Coulson from the films, as well as Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, John Hannah, who recurred in the third season, joined the main cast in the fourth. Several characters from the series appear in the supplemental digital series Marvels Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. This list includes the main cast, all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series. Phillip Phil Coulson was the S. H. I. E. L. D, Agent in charge of Project T. A. H. I. T. I. Meant to bring a potential dead Avenger back to using a drug derived from an ancient alien corpse. Following his death in The Avengers, Fury resurrected Coulson using T. A. H. I. T. I. and had his memories of the project replaced, Coulson puts together a team of agents, and they travel the world dealing with strange new cases. During this time, Hydra is revealed to have infiltrated S. H. I. E. L. D, Fury makes Coulson the new Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. and tasks him with rebuilding the agency the right way. Coulson becomes romantically involved with Rosalind Price, the leader of a government taskforce, until her death at the hands of Grant Ward. He gets revenge by crushing Wards chest with his prosthetic hand, following the signing of the Sokovia Accords, S. H. I. E. L. D. is re-legitimized, with the still officially dead Coulson replaced as director. In the Framework virtual reality, Coulson teaches about the dangers of Inhumans, Phil Coulson was created for Iron Man, he was the first S. H. I. E. L. D. Agent introduced in the MCU, and was portrayed by Gregg, at the 2012 New York Comic Con, Gregg was announced to be starring as Coulson in Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. Despite the character dying in The Avengers, in April 2013, Gregg said that he had found creator Joss Whedons explanation for Coulsons resurrection fascinating and true to the world of the comics and mythology in general. On whether the resurrected Coulson would be the same as before he died, Gregg said I think if he hadn’t gone through some kind of change, after Coulson was promoted to Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. Gregg said He kind of got his job that I don’t even think he would have ever dreamed he would be given. It’s going to him to move a little bit in the direction of a more pragmatic figure like Nick Fury. Melinda Qiaolian May is a S. H. I. E. L. D
Melinda May
–
Main cast members (L-R) Gregg, Wen, Dalton, Bennet, De Caestecker, and Henstridge, at PaleyFest 2014.
11.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
–
Or simply Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S. H. I. E. L. D. A fictional peacekeeping and spy agency in a world of superheroes and it is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon, Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners. The series revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising his role from the film series, Agents, who must deal with various unusual cases and enemies, including Hydra and the Inhumans. Joss Whedon began developing a S. H. I. E. L. D, Pilot following the success of his film Marvels The Avengers, and Gregg was confirmed to reprise his role in October 2012. Prosthetic makeup is created with Glenn Hetricks Optic Nerve Studios, while Legacy Effects contributes other practical effects, the visual effects for the series are created by FuseFX, and have been nominated for multiple awards. Several episodes directly crossover with films or other series set in the MCU, while other characters from MCU films. The first season aired from September 24,2013, to May 13,2014, while the second season aired from September 23,2014. A third season premiered on September 29,2015, concluding on May 17,2016. In March 2016, Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. was renewed for a season, which premiered on September 20,2016. After starting the first season with high ratings but mixed reviews and this led to much lower but more consistent ratings, as well as more consistently positive reviews in the subsequent seasons. A web series, Marvels Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D, slingshot, centered on Elena Yo-Yo Rodriguez, was launched in December 2016 on ABC. com. Agent Phil Coulson putting together a team of S. H. I. E. L. D. Agents to handle strange new cases and they investigate Project Centipede and its leader, The Clairvoyant, eventually uncovering that the organization is backed by Hydra, which has infiltrated S. H. I. E. L. D. In the second season, following the destruction of S. H. I. E. L. D. Now-Director Coulson and his look to restore trust from the government and public while dealing with Hydra. Agents, and the newly revealed Inhumans, during the third season, Coulson begins a secret mission to assemble the Secret Warriors, a team of Inhumans, as Hydra restores its ancient Inhuman leader Hive to power. After the defeat of Hive and with Hydra destroyed, S. H. I. E. L. D. is made an organization once again for the fourth season
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
–
Title card for the first two seasons.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
–
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast members at PaleyFest 2014. (L-R: Gregg, Wen, Dalton, Bennet, De Caestecker, and Henstridge)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
–
The new title graphic introduced in the third season.
12.
Disney Princess
–
Disney Princess, also called the Princess Line, is a media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney in the early 2000s, the franchise does not include all princess characters from the whole of Disney-owned media, but rather refers to specific characters from the companys animated films. As of 2017, the characters considered part of the franchise are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel. The franchise has released dolls, sing-along videos, apparel, home decor, toys, licensees for the franchise include Glidden, Stride Rite, Hasbro, and plastic Fisher-Price figurines. Former Nike, Inc. executive Andy Mooney was appointed chairman of The Walt Disney Companys Disney Consumer Products division in the late 1990s. While attending his first Disney on Ice show, Mooney noticed that young girls attending the show were dressed in princess attire that were not authentic Disney products. They were generic princess products they’d appended to a Halloween costume, concerned by this, Mooney addressed the company the following morning and encouraged them to commence work on a legitimate Disney Princess franchise in January 2000. Walts nephew, Roy E. Disney, objected to the creation of the line, the original line-up consisted of princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan and Tinker Bell. Five of them were royal by blood, two married into royalty, and two fit the princess mythology, Tinker was soon removed from the latter category and the overall line-up. This was the first time the characters would be marketed in a separate franchise than their original films, Mooney decided that, when featured on marketing advertisements such as posters, the princesses should never make eye contact with each other in an attempt to keep their individual mythologies intact. Stares off in a different direction as if unaware of the others presence. In an unconventional manner, Mooney and his team launched the Disney Princess line without utilizing any focus groups and with minimal marketing. DCP issued princess product licenses to Hasbro for games, Mattel dolls, Tiana became the first additional character to the Princess franchise officially on March 14,2010, taking Tinker Bells short-lived place as the ninth member. Her coronation took place at the New York Palace, Tinker Bell was already heading up another franchise started in 2005, Disney Fairies. Rapunzel was crowned and inducted into the Disney Princess franchise as the member on October 2,2011, at Kensington Palace in London. On May 11,2013, Disney added the first Pixar character Merida as the 11th Princess to the franchise in a ceremony in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom. Mattel adding a Barbie princess-themed line in late-2010 then the fair, Mattel was only putting out Princesses Cinderella, Ariel and Belle plus the two Frozen princesses during the last year or so of its license. DCP was also attempting to evolve the brand by making them less as damsels, in September 2014, Disney announced that Hasbro would be the licensed doll maker for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1,2016
Disney Princess
–
The 2013 line-up of the Disney Princess franchise. From left to right:
Mulan,
Snow White,
Tiana,
Cinderella,
Belle,
Merida,
Rapunzel,
Ariel,
Aurora,
Jasmine and
Pocahontas
Disney Princess
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Snow White, The Prince; Ariel, Prince Eric; Tiana, Prince Naveen; Rapunzel, Flynn Rider; Cinderella, Prince Charming; Prince Phillip, Aurora; Aladdin, Jasmine; Belle, the Beast (before returning to his human form).
13.
Mulan II
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Mulan II is a 2004 American direct-to-video Disney animated film directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland and is a sequel to the 1998 animated film Mulan. The entire cast from the first film returned, except for Eddie Murphy, Miriam Margolyes, Chris Sanders and Matthew Wilder. Murphy and Margolyes were replaced by Mark Moseley and April Winchell, respectively, Little Brother was voiced by Frank Welker, and Gedde Watanabe does his own singing for the sequel. Mulan II features Mulan and her new fiancé, General Li Shang on a special mission, the film deals with arranged marriages, loyalty, relationships, making choices, trust, and finding true love. Unlike its predecessor, which gained acclaim, Mulan II was poorly received by critics. A month after the events of the first film, General Shang asks Mulan for her hand in marriage, and she happily accepts. The ancestors are happy with this because Mulan would be getting married to Shang, and would become a part of his family, if the task is not completed within three days, the alliance will crumble, and the Mongols will destroy China. Mulan and Shang set out, along with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, Mushu attempts to cause problems for Mulan and Shang, but fails only to get stomped on by Mulans horse. In despair, he causes the carriage to roll away with the princesses and Yao, Ling, seeing that theyre heading towards a cliff, Mulan and Shang rush to the rescue, and try to get the princesses to safety. This fails, and the carriage is destroyed while everyone falls into the river, on the night of the carriages destruction, Chien-Po, Ling, and Yao take the princesses out to a village, and declare their love for them. Meanwhile, Mushu tricks Shang into thinking Mulan is taking advantage of him, while traveling through bandit country Mushu is pressured by Cri-Kee to confess to Mulan what he had done. Although Mulan is angered by what Mushu tried to do, at the time, she is enlightened about the news. While saving the princesses, the bridge Mulan and Shang are standing on breaks, realizing that the rope can only support the weight of one person, Shang sacrifices his life to save Mulan, and allows himself to fall into the river below. Devastated by Shangs apparent death, Mulan continues on the trip alone to Qui Gong, not wanting the princesses to be forced into a loveless marriage, she offers herself to marry one of the rulers sons. Shang, who survived the fall, soon hears about the news, and rushes to stop the marriage. Mushu decides to help by pretending to be the Great Golden Dragon of Unity, still under the guise of the Great Golden Dragon, Mushu marries Mulan and Shang, and releases the princesses from their vows. Some time later, Mulan and Shang officially get married back home, in his happiness, Mushu accidentally reveals himself to Shang, even though Mulan had already told Shang about him. It was released on January 25,2005 by Walt Disney Records, here Beside Me The movie was panned by film critics
Mulan II
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DVD cover
14.
Kingdom Hearts II
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Kingdom Hearts II is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to Kingdom Hearts, which combined Disney and Square elements into an action role-playing game, the games popularity has resulted in a novel and manga series based upon it and an international version called Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, released in March 2007. Kingdom Hearts II is the game in the Kingdom Hearts series. It picks up one year after the events of Kingdom Hearts, Sora, the protagonist of the first two games, returns to search for his lost friends. Like the previous games, Kingdom Hearts II features a large cast of characters from Disney films, Organization XIII, a group introduced in Chain of Memories, also reappears to impede Soras progress. The game was well-received and earned awards from numerous video gaming websites. In Japan, it shipped more than one million copies within a week of its release, one month after its North American release, it had sold over one million copies and was the second best-selling game of 2006. By April 2007, the game had shipped over four million copies worldwide, the game was actor Pat Moritas final voice role before his death in November 2005. The gameplay of Kingdom Hearts II is similar to that of Kingdom Hearts, the player directly controls Sora from a third-person camera angle, though first-person perspective is available via Select button. Most of the gameplay occurs on interconnected field maps where battles take place, the game is driven by a linear progression from one story event to the next, usually told via cutscenes, though there are numerous side-quests available that provide bonuses to characters. Like many traditional role-playing video games, Kingdom Hearts II features a point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player and allies culminate experience to level up, in which the characters grow stronger. Combat in Kingdom Hearts II is in real-time and involves button presses which initiate attacks by the on-screen character, a new feature is the Reaction Command, special enemy-specific attacks that are triggered when the player presses the triangle button at the correct time during battle. Reaction Commands can be used to defeat enemies or avoid damage. In addition to the character, two party members are usually present who also participate in combat. Although these characters are computer-controlled, the player is allowed to customize their behavior to an extent through the menu screen. In response to criticism, the Gummi Ship feature of the first game was re-imagined to be more enjoyable, although retaining its basic purpose of travel, the system was completely redone to resemble a combination of rail shooter and Disney theme park ride. In the world map, the player must now control the Gummi Ship from a top-down view and fly to the world the player wishes to enter
Kingdom Hearts II
–
North American cover art, featuring the characters
Sora,
Donald Duck,
Goofy,
King Mickey,
Riku,
Kairi,
Roxas and
DiZ
15.
Sofia the First
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Sofia the First is an American computer-animated television series that features a commoner joining the royal family as a princess. Ariel Winter voices Sofia, a girl who becomes a princess when her mother, Miranda. It features songs written by John Kavanaugh and Erica Rothschild and a score by Kevin Kliesch. The series pilot episode Once Upon a Princess, premiered on November 18,2012 on Disney Channel, the 3 good fairies from Sleeping Beauty also get introduced as teachers. The series itself premiered on January 11,2013 on Disney Channel during its Disney Junior block, Disney Junior renewed Sofia the First for a second season on March 5,2013, and then the series was renewed on January 8,2014. The shows second episode, The Floating Palace, aired on November 24,2013. The third double-length episode, The Curse of Princess Ivy, aired on November 23,2014, on April 14,2015, the series was renewed for a fourth season by Disney Junior. Gerber clarified in December that it will begin in Spring and have 24 22-minute episodes plus 2 60-minute specials, on January 29,2015, a spin-off series was announced titled Elena of Avalor. The series premiered July 22,2016 on Disney Channel, in addition, a television movie premiered November 20,2016 titled Elena and the Secret of Avalor, which featured characters from Sofia the First. A young girl named Sofia and her mother Miranda lived a peasant life in the kingdom of Enchancia, one day, Sofias mother marries King Roland II, which leads to her becoming a princess. As she adjusts to her new role, Sofia works to live amongst the family while having different adventures along the way. King Roland presents Sofia with an amulet, which, Sofia discovers, gives her the power to talk to animals. A Disney Junior general manager later clarified that. Sofia is a girl who lives in a fairytale world. All our characters come from fantasy lands that may reflect elements of cultures and ethnicities. Sofia has a mixed heritage, as a Disney spokeswoman elaborated. Sofias mother, Queen Miranda, was born in a fictitious land, Galdiz. Miranda met Sofias father, Birk Balthazar, who hailed from the kingdom of Freezenberg, and together moved to Enchancia. Galdiz is based on Spain and Freezenberg is based on Scandinavia, the National Hispanic Media Coalition president/CEO interpreted Kanters half-Spanish description of Sofia as her not qualifying as Latina. Sofia the First, Once Upon a Princess premiered on Disney Channel on November 18,2012, garnering 8.17 million viewers and it also set a record for the #1 preschool cable TV telecast ever in total viewers and for adults 18-49
Sofia the First
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Sofia the First
16.
Jing-Mei Chen
–
Dr. Jing-Mei Debra Deb Chen is a fictional medical doctor on the long-running television show ER. The character is played by Ming-Na, originally, Deb Chen entered the series midway through Season 1 as a medical student. Toward the end of season, Chen decided she was ill suited to a career in medical practice. The character was absent for more than four years, returning in mid-Season 6 as Dr. Jing-Mei Chen. After five years, Dr. Chen departed once again in the 11th season, ming-Nas addition into the main cast opening credits was in the 10th episode of season 6 and her removal was in the 10th episode of season 11. She experiences several difficult transitions in her years at County General Hospital, as mentioned, she suffers a crisis of career early in her medical studies. She leaves County and does not continue her medical training and she was also revealed to have been very wealthy early in her appearances, since both of her parents were doctors, her mother was chief of surgery at another hospital. With the encouragement of Nurse Haleh Adams, she ends up playing a prank on John, Nurse Adams does this after seeing his initial treatment of Deb. She returns to County General in the Season 6 episode Family Matters as a third year resident, upon her return she expresses preference at using her Chinese name Jing-Mei, although John Carter continues to affectionately call her Deb. She and Carter resume their friendship despite not having seen or spoken with other in 5 years. In this episode, it is revealed that four months after she quit and she then realized that she had a talent for medicine, and her erstwhile rival John Carter was happy to see her back. They continue their rivalry for a while before finally learning how to work each other. During this season she showed signs of being attracted to Dr. Dave Malucci and he reciprocated, and the possibility of a romance was briefly explored. However, this changed with the introduction of a male ICU Nurse introduced later in the season as possible romantic interest. In Season 7, Jing-Mei reveals to Dr. Kerry Weaver that she is pregnant with Nurse Frank Bacons child and she gives birth to a baby boy on Christmas Eve, accompanied by her longtime friend John Carter, and she subsequently gives the child up for adoption. At the end of the season, both she and Carter apply for Chief Resident, but her application is declined due to her time off for maternity leave and she appeals the decision and is promoted to Chief Resident in Season 8. During this season it was shown that her attraction to Dave Malucci had disappeared and in fact, during the early part of Season 8, Jing-Mei is having a hard time as an authority figure in the ER. Weaver is pressuring her about being indecisive. Because of this mistake, and her history as a medical student, the board determines that because of her maternity leave, she was not at Attending status at the time of the incident and was not authorized to make the decision for the procedure
Jing-Mei Chen
–
Ming-Na as Jing-Mei Chen
17.
ER (TV series)
–
It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. ER follows the life of the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history and it won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award, and received 124 Emmy nominations, which makes it the most nominated drama program in history. ER won 116 awards in total, including the Peabody Award, in 1974, author Michael Crichton wrote a screenplay based on his own experiences as a resident physician in a busy hospital emergency room. The screenplay went nowhere and Crichton focused on other topics, in 1990, he published the novel Jurassic Park, and in 1993 began a collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the film adaptation of the book. Crichton and Spielberg then turned to ER, but decided to film the story as a pilot for a television series rather than as a feature film. Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment provided John Wells as the executive producer. The script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what Crichton had written in 1974. Because of a lack of time and money necessary to build a set, the episode of ER was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles. After Spielberg had joined as a producer, NBC ordered six episodes, ER premiered opposite a Monday Night Football game on ABC and did surprisingly well. Then we moved it to Thursday and it just took off, ERs success surprised the networks and critics alike, as David E. Kelleys new medical drama Chicago Hope was expected to crush the new series. Crichton remained executive producer until his death in November 2008, although he was credited as one throughout that entire final season. Wells, the other initial executive producer, served as showrunner for the first three seasons. He was one of the shows most prolific writers and became a director in later years. Lydia Woodward was a part of the first season production team and she took over as showrunner for the fourth season while Wells focused on the development of other series, including Trinity, Third Watch, and The West Wing. She left her executive position at the end of the sixth season. Joe Sachs, who was a writer and producer of the series, believed keeping a commitment to medical accuracy was important, Wed bend the rules. A medication that would take 10 minutes to work might take 30 seconds instead, a 12- to 24-hour shift gets pushed into 48 minutes
ER (TV series)
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ER
ER (TV series)
–
Michael Crichton, the show's creator.
ER (TV series)
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Original cast of the show (1994–1995)
ER (TV series)
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Final season cast (2008–2009)
18.
Inconceivable
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Inconceivable is an American primetime television medical drama, which was broadcast on NBC. The program premiered on September 23,2005, the show revolved around the professional and personal lives of those who work at the Family Options Fertility Clinic. The clinic is run by its co-founders along with their new partner, the staff includes an attorney, a nurse, office manager and a medical technician. The series was created by Oliver Goldstick and Marco Pennette, Goldstick and Pennette also serve as executive producers as do Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The show was a Touchstone Television and Tollin/Robbins production and it was one of the few shows produced by the former not to air on ABC in recent years. Only two episodes aired before the series was canceled, rachel is caught in the middle of the madness as she tries to sort things out, but is afraid that the clinic may be sued, or shut down, by the couple. The clinics psychologist, Lydia, finds that her job may be in jeopardy because she not have done the proper background check on the surrogate mother. As the mother refuses to tell the truth about the father and as the time gets closer for Child Services to step in and take the child. However, the father is finally contacted and takes the baby home. Meanwhile, Dr. Bowers is helping fulfill a dead soldiers dream of being a mother by using her sister as the surrogate for her frozen embryos, just before the process is started, however, the widower finds himself questioning the whole thing and backs out. Dr. Bowers also is having to deal with a couple who is having problems conceiving a child, patrice seeks revenge on Dr. Bowers over their breakup by replacing one of the specimen cups in the laboratory with Bowers sperm. At the same time, Scott and his partner welcome their baby to the world, also, Rachels son asks questions about his father and she reluctantly gives him answers. As Scott tries to battle the case in the courtroom, Nora overhears the problem, there is one catch, though—Nora wants to become a partner in the clinic. Lydia has dealings with a couple that, come to find out, due to her having extensive plastic surgery, she is afraid her genes will give the child some of her bad physical attributes. She wants to have a child by having an attractive donor. Her husband, however, knows none of this, Scott and his partner are running low on breast milk which was provided by their surrogate and are looking for options. Scotts partner, at first, refuses to accept formula and asks Marissa for help, patrice become increasingly paranoid as she receives anonymous emails from someone who saw her swap specimens in the laboratory. A close couple friend of Rachels finally decide to not have a family after multiple surrogates bail out on them at the last minute, rachel then makes a huge decision by offering to carry their baby for them at which they accept
Inconceivable
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The cast
19.
The Batman (TV series)
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The Batman is an animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based on the DC Comics superhero Batman and it ran from September 11,2004 to March 8,2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids WB. The first five seasons are available on DVD, a direct-to-DVD movie titled The Batman vs. Dracula, based on the series, was released in on October 18,2005 and made its television debut on Cartoon Networks Toonami block on October 22,2005. There is also a comic book series, The Batman Strikes. Published by DC Comics which is set in the same continuity, the series won six Daytime Emmy Awards. Along with a secret Batcave, high-tech Batmobile and supercomputer, called the Bat-Wave, he has his trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth, who guides him when needed. During this first season, Bruce Wayne finds himself torn between his responsibilities as the Batman and his own life, though the latter is further support by Gotham’s Mayor. In the season finale, Rojas finally uncovers Yins involvement with Batman and this season introduced more villains, including Rag Doll, Spellbinder and Solomon Grundy. Although a villain, Hugo Strange, is portrayed as a character in this season, while Yin. Another element in the season was Batmans original Batmobile being lost in this season during the episode, RPM and the creation of a brand new one. Several new interpretation of villains from the Batman mythos were introduced in season, including Poison Ivy. The fourth season saw the introduction of Dick Grayson into the show, more villains with new interpretations were introduced, including Tony Zucco, Killer Moth, Black Mask, Rumor, Everywhere Man, Harley Quinn, and Francis Grey. The season brought an end to Ethan Bennetts version of Clayface with a storyline that redeemed and cured him of his condition and this season was the last to be done by Jeff Matsuda and Michael Jelenic, both of whom departed from the show after the season finale. The fifth and final season focused primarily on Batman and Robin, with the pair teaming up with some of the DC Universes characters and tackling villains that they fought. These team-ups included Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, producer Alan Burnett described the season as the shows The Brave and the Bold season. Both Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon were relegated to either guest or cameo appearances during this series, with Barbara having graduated high school. All the DVD releases are in 4,3 aspect ratio, however, the entire series is available in 16,9 on Amazon Video and the Xbox Video Store. The first two seasons and The Batman vs. Dracula movie are available on iTunes in 16,9, part of the DCs younger reader line, the series survived for 50 issues in total, with the last issue shipping in October 2008
The Batman (TV series)
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Robin, The Batman and Batgirl in the Season 4 intro of the series.
The Batman (TV series)
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The Batman
20.
Stargate Universe
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Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGMs Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny several billion light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They evacuated there and are now trying to out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C, Cooper, premiered in the United States on Syfy on October 2,2009. The series featured an ensemble cast and was filmed in and around Vancouver, BC. A second season of 20 episodes was announced by Syfy in December 2009, the first 10 episodes of the second season were aired in the United States beginning on September 28,2010, and the final 10 were shown beginning on March 7,2011. Syfy announced on December 16,2010 that it would not be picking up Stargate Universe for a third season, the second season of SGU ended as a semi-cliffhanger. The SGC created Icarus base on a planet whose Stargate is powered by large naquadria deposits throughout the core. The team, led by Dr. Dr. Rush designs a game used across Earth to find brilliant minds to interpret the puzzle, which Eli Wallace. They are introduced to the military staff, led by Colonel Everett Young, Colonel David Telford, First Lieutenants Matthew Scott and Tamara Johansen. Dr. Rush and Eli work together to discover the means to dial the ninth chevron, Colonel Telford aids in an aerial assault of the ships with the Hammond, while the base starts dialing Earth into the Stargate, finding that the planets power core is about to explode. Dr. Rush realizes that the explosion would follow them through the back to Earth. The surviving Icarus Base members flee through the wormhole before the planet explodes and they find themselves aboard an old abandoned spacecraft made by the Ancients, which Dr. Rush finds was named Destiny. The eighty-some survivors begin to assure the safety of their team, Senator Armstrong injured and realizing he might not have long, as the rest of the team works to make the ship hospitable, Dr. The teams mission adapts in season 2, when the Ancients mission for Destiny is discovered in The Greater Good. This discovery suggested the possibility of life before or immediately after the Big Bang, Robert Carlyle as Nicholas Rush – The ships brilliant Machiavellian scientist whom producer Joseph Mallozzi had first mentioned in his blog in mid-November 2008 as Dr. David Rush. The ships crew believe Rush to be losing his mind, Carlyle explained in an interview that after Rush lost his wife to cancer, he became driven by the opportunity to explore the galaxy. Mallozzi rectified casting reports in mid-December 2008 that Rush is not the leader of the unplanned expedition and that honor falls to Colonel Everett Young
Stargate Universe
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Title card
Stargate Universe
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The Stargate Universe cast at Comic Con 2009
Stargate Universe
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Stargate Universe was filmed at
The Bridge Studios in
Burnaby,
Canada.
21.
The Joy Luck Club (film)
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The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It was directed by Wayne Wang and stars Ming-Na Wen, Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, France Nguyen, Kieu Chinh, Lisa Lu, the film is based on the eponymous 1989 novel by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Bass, Tan, Wang and Patrick Markey while Oliver Stone served as an executive producer, four older women, all Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco, meet regularly to play mahjong, eat, and tell stories. Each of these women has an adult Chinese-American daughter, development of the project began when Wang approached Tan in 1989 at the time of the novels release. In 1990, Carolco Pictures initially supported the project until the filmmakers turned down the contract for not receiving the creative control that they demanded, after the first draft was written between August and November 1991, the filmmakers shifted to Hollywood Pictures in spring 1992. The filming took place in San Francisco, the novel and the main setting, in October 1992. The filming was completed in March 1993, the film was privately screened in sneak previews in spring 1993 and film festivals in August and September 1993. It premiered in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco on September 8,1993, with the films $10.5 million budget, it was moderately successful in the box office. It received positive critical reactions but also criticism of its perceived stereotypical presentation of Asian American male characters, the Joy Luck Club was formed by four women in San Francisco, Lindo Jong, Ying-Ying St. Clair, An-Mei Hsu, and Suyuan Woo. The members have mainly played mahjong and told each others stories over the years and they emigrated from their native country, China, remarried, and gave birth to children in America. Suyuans daughter June replaced her when Suyuan died four months before the time the film is set, the mothers have high hopes for their daughters success, but the daughters struggle through anxieties, feelings of inadequacy, and failures. Throughout the film, the mothers and daughters bond by learning to understand each other, the film begins with Junes prologue tale. In the prologue, a woman bought a swan in China from a vendor who was selling it as a duck that stretched its neck a goose. She kept it as her pet and brought it to the United States, when the immigration officials took it away from her, she plucked out only a swan feather instead while she struggled to grab the swan away. For a long time, the woman had kept the feather, then the film transits to Junes farewell surprise party in San Francisco for her upcoming reunion with her long-lost twin sisters in China. Among the guests are members of The Joy Luck Club, their daughters, other relatives, the following characters below narrate their journeys to the audience while they reflect upon their pasts. In China, four-year-old Lindo is arranged, by her mother, when Lindo turns fifteen, her mother sends her to Mrs. Huang, so Lindo marries Huangs son, Tyan Hu, a pre-pubescent boy who has no interest in her. During four years of childless and loveless marriage, she is abused by her frustrated mother-in-law
The Joy Luck Club (film)
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Theatrical release poster
The Joy Luck Club (film)
–
from left: Suyuan (
Kieu Chinh), June (
Ming-Na Wen), Waverly (
Tamlyn Tomita), Lindo (
Tsai Chin), Ying-Ying (
France Nuyen), Lena (
Lauren Tom), An-Mei (
Lisa Lu), and Rose (
Rosalind Chao)
The Joy Luck Club (film)
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Lauren Tom
The Joy Luck Club (film)
–
Ming-Na Wen
22.
Street Fighter (1994 film)
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Street Fighter is a 1994 Japanese-American action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. The film altered the plot of the game and motives of the Street Fighter characters. It also significantly lightened the tone of the adaptation, inserting several comical interludes, the film was a commercial success, making approximately three times its production costs, but was panned by critics and by fans of the games. However, Raúl Juliás performance as General M. Bison was widely praised and garnered him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Saturn Awards, Julia, who at the time was suffering from stomach cancer, took the role at the request of his two children. This was Julias final posthumous theatrical performance, and he died two months before the films release, the film is dedicated to his memory. Two video game based on the film were released which used digitized footage of the actors performing fight moves. Guile refuses and vows to track Bison down, but his assistant, Sergeant Cammy is only able to pinpoint Bisons location to the river-delta region outside the city. One of the hostages is Guiles close friend, Carlos Charlie Blanka, though Charlie is severely disfigured by the procedure, Dhalsim secretly alters his cerebral programming to maintain Charlies humanity. Meanwhile, travelling con artists Ryu Hoshi and Ken Masters attempt to swindle arms dealer Viktor Sagat by providing him with fake weaponry. Sagat sees through the ruse and has Ryu fight his cage champion, Vega, in the prison grounds, Guile witnesses Ryu and Ken fighting against Sagats men, and recruits them to help him find Bison in exchange for their freedom, since Sagat is Bisons arms supplier. They are entrusted with a device and win Sagats trust by staging a prison escape. In order to maintain Bisons trust, Ryu and Ken stop the assassination and reveal Chun Li, Honda, upon returning to his base, Bison inducts Ryu, Ken and Vega into his organization and orders Honda and Balrog imprisoned and Chun-Li taken to his quarters. Ryu and Ken break Balrog and Honda out of confinement and rush to confront Bison, who is fighting Chun-Li, meanwhile, Guile plans his assault on Bisons base. He is briefly impeded by the Deputy Secretary of the A. N. who informs Guile that the decision has made to pay Bison the ransom. At the base, Dhalsim is found by a security guard, Guile arrives shortly thereafter and sneaks into the lab, where Charlie begins strangling him. Charlie stops when he recognizes Guile, horrified at what his friend has become, Guile prepares to kill Charlie, to end his suffering, but Dhalsim stops him. N. forces arrive. After ordering Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Honda and Balrog to find and rescue the hostages, as Guile and Bison fight, Ryu and Ken are confronted by Sagat and Vega, and only barely manage to defeat them. Bisons computer expert, Dee Jay steals Bisons trunk of money and escapes, Bisons bodyguard, Zangief, engages Honda in a vicious fight until learning from Dee Jay that Bison was the true enemy, and decides to join sides with Ryu and Ken
Street Fighter (1994 film)
–
Theatrical release poster
23.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within is a 2001 American computer-animated science fiction film directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. It was the first photorealistic computer-animated feature film and remains the most expensive video game-inspired film of all time and it features the voices of Ming-Na Wen, Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, James Woods, Ving Rhames, Peri Gilpin and Steve Buscemi. Aki and Sid must fight against General Hein, who wishes to use violent means to end the conflict. Square Pictures rendered the film using some of the most advanced processing capabilities available for film animation at the time, a render farm consisting of 960 workstations was tasked with rendering each of the films 141,964 frames. It took a staff of 200 about four years to complete The Spirits Within, Square intended to make the character of Aki Ross into the worlds first photorealistic computer-animated actress, with plans for appearances in multiple films in different roles. The Spirits Within debuted to mixed reception, but was widely praised for the realism of the computer-animated characters. Due to rising costs, the film exceeded its original budget towards the end of production, reaching a final cost of $137 million. The film has been called a box office bomb and is blamed for the demise of Square Pictures, in 2065, Earth is infested by alien life forms known as Phantoms. By physical contact Phantoms consume the Gaia spirit of living beings, killing them instantly, the surviving humans live in barrier cities, areas protected by an energy shield that prevents Phantoms from entering, and are engaged in an ongoing struggle to free the planet. It is revealed that Gray was once involved with Aki. Upon returning to her city, Aki joins Sid and appears before the leadership council along with General Hein. However, this revelation leads Hein to incorrectly conclude that she is being controlled by the Phantoms, Aki and the Deep Eyes squad succeed in finding the seventh spirit as Akis infection begins to worsen and she slips into unconsciousness. Her dream reveals to her that the Phantoms are the spirits of dead aliens brought to Earth on a fragment of their destroyed planet, Sid uses the seventh spirit to bring Akis infection back under control, reviving her. To scare the council into giving him clearance to fire the Zeus cannon, though Hein intended that only a few Phantoms enter, his plan goes awry and legions of Phantoms invade the entire city. Aki, Sid and the Deep Eyes attempt to reach Akis spaceship, their means of escape, Hein escapes and boards the Zeus space-station where he finally receives authorisation to fire the cannon. Sid finds the spirit at the crater site of the alien asteroids impact on Earth. He lowers a shielded vehicle, with Aki and Gray aboard, just before they can reach it, Hein fires the Zeus cannon into the crater, not only destroying the eighth spirit but also revealing the Phantom Gaia. Aki has a vision of the Phantom home planet, where she is able to receive the spirit from the alien particles in herself
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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Theatrical release poster
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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Aki Ross was designed to be as realistic as possible; Square Pictures intended for the CGI character to be the world's first artificial actress to appear in multiple films in multiple roles.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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Maxim 's featuring of Aki in their "Hot 100" list resulted in increased media attention towards the character.
24.
Suzhou
–
Suzhou, formerly romanized as Soochow, is a major city located in southeastern Jiangsu Province of East China, about 100 km northwest of Shanghai. It is an economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. The city is situated on the reaches of the Yangtze River. Administratively, Suzhou is a city with a population of 4.33 million in its city proper. Its urban population grew at a rate of 6. 5% between 2000 and 2014, which is the highest among cities with more than 5 million people. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history, with an abundant display of relics, around AD100, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became one of the ten largest cities in the world mostly due to emigration from Northern China. Since the 10th-century Song Dynasty, it has been an important commercial center of China, during the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Suzhou was a national economic, cultural, and commercial center, as well as the largest non-capital city in the world, until the 1860 Taiping Rebellion. When Li Hongzhang and Charles George Gordon recaptured the city three years later, Shanghai had already taken its predominant place in the nation. Since major economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The citys canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions in China, the Classical Gardens of Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou is often dubbed the Venice of the East or Venice of China, during the Zhou, a settlement known as Gusu after nearby Mount Gusu became the capital of the state of Wu. From this role, it came to be called Wu as well. In 514 BC, King Helü of Wu established a new capital nearby at Helü City, during the Warring States period, Helü City continued to serve as the local seat of government. From the areas it administered, it known as Wuxian. Under the Qin, it was known as Kuaiji after its greatly enlarged commandery, the name Suzhou was first officially used for the city in AD589 during the Sui dynasty. The character 蘇 or 苏 is a contraction of the mountain, the sū in its name refers to the mint perilla. The character 州 originally meant something like a province or county, Suzhou is the Hanyu Pinyin spelling of the Mandarin pronunciation of the name. Prior to the adoption of pinyin, it was romanized as Soo-chow, Suchow, Su-chow
Suzhou
–
Landmarks of Suzhou — top left:
Humble Administrator's Garden; top right:
Yunyan Pagoda in Tiger Hill; middle: Skyline of
Jinji Lake; bottom left: Changmen Gate in night; bottom right:
Shantang Canal
Suzhou
–
Prosperous Suzhou by
Xu Yang
Suzhou
–
An old area on Pingjiang Road.
Suzhou
–
Changmen at night.
25.
Hong Kong
–
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour —between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
Hong Kong
–
The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in WWI and WWII.
Hong Kong
–
Flag
Hong Kong
–
Stamp with portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II, 1953
Hong Kong
–
Development of
Hong Kong Island in 1986
26.
Harlem, New York
–
Harlem is a large neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s, Harlem has been known as a major African-American residential, cultural, originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlems history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, African-American residents began to arrive by a lot in 1905, with numbers fed by the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem were the focus of the Harlem Renaissance, however, with job losses in the time of the Great Depression and the deindustrialization of New York City after World War II, rates of crime and poverty increased significantly. Harlems African-American population peaked in the 1950s, in the second half of the 20th century, Harlem became a major hub of African-American businesses. In 2008, the United States Census found that for the first time since the 1930s, less than half of residents were black, since New York Citys revival in the late 20th century, long-time residents of Harlem have been experiencing the effects of gentrification and new wealth. Harlem is located in Upper Manhattan, often referred to as Uptown by locals. Central Harlem is bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east, Central Park on the south, Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Avenue and Edgecombe Avenue on the west, and the Harlem River on the north. A chain of three large linear parks—Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park and Jackie Robinson Park—are situated on steeply rising banks, on the east, Fifth Avenue and Marcus Garvey Park, also known as Mount Morris Park, separate this area from East Harlem. The bulk of the falls under Manhattan Community Board No.10. In the late 2000s, South Harlem, emerged from area redevelopment, the West Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights comprise part of Manhattan Community Board No.9. The two neighborhoods area is bounded by Cathedral Parkway on the South, 155th Street on the North, nicholas/Bradhurst/Edgecome Avenues on the East, and Riverside Park/the Hudson River on the west. Morningside Heights is located in the southern most section of West Harlem, Manhattanville begins at roughly 123rd Street and extends northward to 135th Street. The northern most section of West Harlem is Hamilton Heights, the New York City Police Department patrols six precincts located within Harlem. The New York City Fire Department operates 9 firehouses in Harlem, as many as several hundred farmed the Harlem flatlands. Between 1637 and 1639, a few settlements were established, during the American Revolution, the British burned Harlem to the ground. It took a time to rebuild, as Harlem grew more slowly than the rest of Manhattan during the late 18th century. After the American Civil War, Harlem experienced an economic boom starting in 1868, the neighborhood continued to serve as a refuge for New Yorkers, but increasingly those coming north were poor and Jewish or Italian
Harlem, New York
–
Stately Harlem apartment buildings adjacent to
Morningside Park
Harlem, New York
–
Rowhouse built for the African-American population of Harlem in the 1930s
Harlem, New York
–
A condemned building in Harlem after the 1970s
Harlem, New York
–
The
Apollo Theater on
125th Street, in November 2006.
27.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
–
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
–
Clockwise:
Cathedral of Learning at the
University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh skyline;
Carnegie Mellon University;
PNC Park;
Duquesne Incline
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
–
This article is about the Pennsylvania city. For other uses, see
Pittsburgh (disambiguation).
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
–
Monongahela River scene, 1857
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
–
Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh's
industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker
Joe Magarac
28.
Pittsburgh
–
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
Pittsburgh
–
Clockwise:
Cathedral of Learning at the
University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh skyline;
Carnegie Mellon University;
PNC Park;
Duquesne Incline
Pittsburgh
–
This article is about the Pennsylvania city. For other uses, see
Pittsburgh (disambiguation).
Pittsburgh
–
Monongahela River scene, 1857
Pittsburgh
–
Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh's
industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker
Joe Magarac
29.
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
–
Mt. Lebanon Township is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 33,137 at the 2010 census and it is a suburb of Pittsburgh. Established in 1912 as Mount Lebanon, the official name was changed to Mt. Lebanon when its home rule charter took effect in 1975. The first settlers arrived in 1773-1774, having purchased the land from the descendants of William Penn, in 1912, Mount Lebanon Township was incorporated as a First Class Township under Pennsylvania state law. It had formerly been a part of Scott Township, which in turn traces its origins to the long-defunct St. Clair Township, prior to the incorporation of the township, the Mount Lebanon name was used for the area of Upper St. Clair Township near the cedar trees. In the 1880s, a post office located near the cedar trees was named Mount Lebanon. Incorporators of neighboring Dormont Borough initially tried to use the Mount Lebanon name in 1909, Mount Lebanon was a farming community until the arrival of streetcar lines, the first line to Pittsburgh opening on July 1,1901 followed by a second in 1924. Further, the opening of the Liberty Tubes in 1924 allowed easy access to Pittsburgh. Between the 1920 and 1930 censuses, the population skyrocketed from 2,258 to 13,403. Mt. Lebanons only platform station, Mt. Lebanon Station, is in Uptown Mt. Lebanon, and as of the census of 2000, there were 33,017 people living in Mt. Lebanon. In 1971, Muhammad Ali attempted to purchase a home in Virginia Manor, Mount Lebanon became one of the first municipalities in Pennsylvania to adopt a home rule charter. The subdivision of Carelton Hills won a national liveability award in 1974, Mt. Lebanon is located at 40°22′30″N 80°3′0″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has an area of 6.06 square miles. Mt. Lebanon is a suburb of Pittsburgh 7 miles south of the citys downtown, there are two small borders with Pittsburgh neighborhoods to the northeast and north. The remainder of the northeast border is with the borough of Dormont, the entire western border is with Scott Township. To the south are the two towns which, due to their size and affluence, are most often compared with Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair to the southwest. To the east is Castle Shannon, and finally, to the east-northeast is Baldwin Township, Uptown Mt. Lebanon is the central business district and has Washington Rd. as its main thoroughfare. Uptown Mt. Lebanon is one of the built up central business districts outside of Pittsburgh, featuring numerous coffee shops, small galleries, pizzerias
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
–
Uptown Mt. Lebanon along Washington Road (
Rt. 19 Truck)
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
–
St. Clair Hospital on Bower Hill Road
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
–
Mt Lebanon United Methodist Church
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
–
Southminster Presbyterian Church
30.
Downtown Pittsburgh
–
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle or Dahntahn in eye dialect, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River, the triangle is bounded by the two rivers. The area features offices for major corporations such as PNC Bank, U. S. Steel, PPG, Bank of New York Mellon, Heinz, Federated Investors and Alcoa. It is where the fortunes of industrial barons as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Henry J. Heinz, Andrew Mellon. It contains the site where the French fort, Fort Duquesne, in 2013, Pittsburgh had the second-lowest vacancy rate for Class A space among downtowns in the United States. The Central Business District is bounded by the Monongahela River to the south, the Allegheny River to the north, an expanded definition of Downtown may include the adjacent neighborhoods of Uptown/The Bluff, the Strip District, the North Shore, and the South Shore. Downtown is served by the Port Authoritys light rail system, an extensive bus network. Greyhounds Pittsburgh bus terminal is located across Liberty Avenue from the Amtrak Station, other important roadways are Pennsylvania Route 28, Pennsylvania Route 51, Pennsylvania Route 65, and U. S. Route 19. Three major entrances to the city are via tunnels, the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Squirrel Hill Tunnel on I-376 and the Liberty Tunnels. The New York Times once called Pittsburgh the only city with an entrance, also traveling I-279 south and I-376, the city explodes into view when coming around a turn in the highway. Downtown surface streets are based on two distinct grid systems that parallel the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and these two grids intersect along Liberty Avenue, creating many unusual street intersections. Furthermore, the Allegheny grid contains numbered streets, while the Monongahela grid contains numbered avenues, and, in fact, there are cases where these numbered roadways intersect, creating some confusion. This unusual grid pattern leads to Pittsburghers giving directions in the terms of landmarks, Pittsburgh is nicknamed The City of Bridges. In Downtown, there are 10 bridges connecting to points north and south, the expanded definition of Downtown includes 18 bridges. In Allegheny County the number exceeds 2,200, while most people still consider the entire Downtown as one neighborhood, there are several significant subdistricts within the Golden Triangle. The Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District is a district in the central business district. It is bounded by Wood Street, Forbes Avenue, Grant Street and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 17,1985. Point State Park area, At the triangles tip is Point State Park with its giant fountain and this park was the original site of both Fort Duquesne by the French and the subsequent Fort Pitt by the British
Downtown Pittsburgh
–
From
Mt. Washington
Downtown Pittsburgh
–
The Smithfield Street Bridge
Downtown Pittsburgh
–
Famous mural on the 300 Sixth Street building
Downtown Pittsburgh
–
Wood Street.
