1.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
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Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a British sketch comedy series created by the comedy group Monty Python and broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and it also featured animations by group member Terry Gilliam, often sequenced or merged with live action. The first episode was recorded on 7 September and premiered on 5 October 1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, the show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged. The members of Monty Python were highly educated and their comedy is often pointedly intellectual, with numerous erudite references to philosophers and literary figures. The series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his ground breaking series Q5, the team intended their humour to be impossible to categorise, and succeeded so completely that the adjective Pythonesque was invented to define it and, later, similar material. The Pythons play the majority of the characters themselves, including the majority of the female characters. Regular supporting cast members include Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth, series Producer Ian MacNaughton, Ian Davidson, Neil Innes, and Fred Tomlinson, the title Monty Pythons Flying Circus was partly the result of the groups reputation at the BBC. The group added flying to make it less like an actual circus. The group was coming up with their name at a time when the 1966 Royal Guardsmen song Snoopy vs. the Red Baron had been at a peak. Manfred von Richthofen, the World War I German flying ace known as The Red Baron and they later explained that the name Monty. made us laugh because Monty to us means Lord Montgomery, our great general of the Second World War. The BBC had rejected other names put forward by the group including Whither Canada. A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin, The Toad Elevating Moment, several of these titles were later used for individual episodes. In contrast to many other comedy shows, Flying Circus had only a handful of recurring characters, many of whom were involved only in titles. Continuity for many of these characters was frequently non-existent from sketch to sketch. The Its Man, a Robinson Crusoe-type castaway with torn clothes, before being abruptly cut off by the opening titles and Terry Gilliams animation sprouting the words Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Its was a candidate for the title of the series. A BBC continuity announcer in a jacket, seated at a desk, often in highly incongruous locations. His line, And now for something different, was used variously as a lead-in to the opening titles
2.
Parody
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A parody is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work—its subject, author, style, or some other target—by means of satiric or ironic imitation. As the literary theorist Linda Hutcheon puts it, parody … is imitation, another critic, Simon Dentith, defines parody as any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice. Parody may be found in art or culture, including literature, music, animation, gaming, the writer and critic John Gross observes in his Oxford Book of Parodies, that parody seems to flourish on territory somewhere between pastiche and burlesque. According to Aristotle, Hegemon of Thasos was the inventor of a kind of parody, in ancient Greek literature, a parodia was a narrative poem imitating the style and prosody of epics but treating light, satirical or mock-heroic subjects. Indeed, the components of the Greek word are παρά para beside, counter, against, Thus, the original Greek word παρῳδία parodia has sometimes been taken to mean counter-song, an imitation that is set against the original. The Oxford English Dictionary, for example, defines parody as imitation turned as to produce a ridiculous effect, because par- also has the non-antagonistic meaning of beside, there is nothing in parodia to necessitate the inclusion of a concept of ridicule. Old Comedy contained parody, even the gods could be made fun of, the Frogs portrays the hero-turned-god Heracles as a Glutton and the God of Drama Dionysus as cowardly and unintelligent. The traditional trip to the Underworld story is parodied as Dionysus dresses as Heracles to go to the Underworld, roman writers explained parody as an imitation of one poet by another for humorous effect. In French Neoclassical literature, parody was also a type of poem where one work imitates the style of another to produce a humorous effect, the Ancient Greeks created satyr plays which parodied tragic plays, often with performers dressed like satyrs. In classical music, as a term, parody refers to a reworking of one kind of composition into another. The term is sometimes applied to procedures common in the Baroque period. The musicological definition of the parody has now generally been supplanted by a more general meaning of the word. In its more contemporary usage, musical parody usually has humorous, even satirical intent, in which familiar musical ideas or lyrics are lifted into a different, often incongruous, context. Musical parodies may imitate or refer to the style of a composer or artist. For example, The Ritz Roll and Rock, a song and dance performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Silk Stockings, parodies the Rock. Conversely, while the work of Weird Al Yankovic is based on particular popular songs. The first usage of the parody in English cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Ben Jonson, in Every Man in His Humour in 1598, A Parodie. The next citation comes from John Dryden in 1693, who also appended an explanation, suggesting that the word was in common use, in the 20th century, parody has been heightened as the central and most representative artistic device, the catalysing agent of artistic creation and innovation
3.
Spanish Inquisition
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The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition, was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition and it became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism, the regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain. The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, the Spanish Inquisition is often stated in popular literature and history as an example of Catholic intolerance and repression. Modern historians have tended to question earlier accounts concerning the severity of the Inquisition, Henry Kamen asserts that the myth of the all-powerful, torture-mad inquisition is largely an invention of nineteenth century Protestant authors with an agenda to discredit the Papacy. Although records are incomplete, about 150,000 persons were charged with crimes by the Inquisition and about 3,000 were executed. The Inquisition was created through papal bull, Ad Abolendam, issued at the end of the century by Pope Lucius III as a way to combat the Albigensian heresy in southern France. There were a number of tribunals of the Papal Inquisition in various European kingdoms during the Middle Ages. In the Kingdom of Aragon, a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition was established by the statute of Excommunicamus of Pope Gregory IX, in 1232, during the era of the Albigensian heresy. With time, its importance was diluted, and, by the middle of the fifteenth century, there was never a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition in Castile. Members of the episcopate were charged with surveillance of the faithful, during the Middle Ages, in Castile, little attention was paid to heresy by the Catholic ruling class. Jews and Muslims were tolerated and generally allowed to follow their traditional laws, however, by law, they were considered inferior to Catholics and were subject to discriminatory legislation. The Spanish Inquisition can be seen as an answer to the nature of Spanish society following the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors. After invading in 711, large areas of the Iberian Peninsula were ruled by Muslims until 1250, when they were restricted to Granada, which fell in 1492. However, the Reconquista did not result in the expulsion of Muslims from Spain, since they. The Jews, who had previously thrived under Muslim rule, now suffered similar maltreatment, however, as Henry Kamen notes, so-called convivencia was always a relationship between unequals. Despite their legal inequality, there was a tradition of Jewish service to the crown of Aragon and Jews occupied many important posts. Castile itself had an unofficial rabbi, ferdinands father John II named the Jewish Abiathar Crescas to be Court Astronomer
4.
Catchphrase
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A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, some become the de facto or literal trademark or signature of the person or character with whom they originated, and can be instrumental in the typecasting of a particular actor. People are doing it to feel good about themselves, to make others laugh, to make themselves laugh and he found that all of the participants in his study had used film quotes in conversation at one point or another. They overwhelmingly cited comedies, followed distantly by dramas and action adventure flicks, horror films, musicals and childrens films were hardly ever cited. List of catchphrases List of political catchphrases List of exclamations by Robin Category, Catchphrases Barba, Catchy Phrases, over 2000 Catchy Slogans Ideas, Powerful Copy Connectors, Catchy Phrases for Business Tag lines, Magnetic Blog Triggers. Catchphrase, Slogan and Cliché, the origins and meanings of our favourite expressions, a Dictionary of Catch Phrases, American and British, from the sixteenth century to the present day Lanham, Maryland, Scarborough House,1992. Planet Simpson, How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
5.
Jarrow
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Jarrow is a town in north-east England, located on the River Tyne. Historically part of County Durham, in 1974 it became part of the county of Tyne. In the 8th century, the monastery of Saint Paul in Jarrow was the home of Bede, who is regarded as the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar and the father of English history. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, Jarrow had a population of 43,431 in 2011. Later spellings are Jaruum in 1158, and Jarwe in 1228, today Jarrow residents popular nickname for Jarrow is Jarra. Along with the abbey at Wearmouth, Jarrow became a center of learning and had the largest library north of the Alps, primarily due to the travels of Benedict Biscop. In 794 Jarrow became the target in England of the Vikings. The monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII. The ruins of the monastery are now associated with and partly built into the church of St. Paul. One wall of the church contains the oldest stained-glass window in the world, just beside the monastery is Bedes World, a working museum dedicated to the life and times of Bede. Bedes World also incorporates Jarrow Hall, a grade II listed building, originally three copies of the Bible were commissioned by Saint Ceolfrid in 692. This date has been established as the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow secured a grant of additional land to raise the 2000 head of cattle needed to produce the vellum for the Bibles pages. Saint Ceolfrid accompanied one copy on its journey to be presented to Gregory II, the book later appears in the 9th century in the Abbey of the Saviour, Monte Amiata in Tuscany, where it remained until 1786 when it passed to the Laurentian Library in Florence. Jarrow remained a town until the introduction of heavy industries like coal mining and shipbuilding. Charles Mark Palmer established a shipyard – Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company – in 1852, john Bowes, the first iron screw collier, revived the Tyne coal trade, and Palmers was also responsible for the first modern cargo ship, as well as a number of notable warships. Around 1,000 ships were built at the yard, they produced small fishing boats to catch eel within the River Tyne. Palmers employed as much as 80% of the working population until its closure in 1933 following purchase by National Shipbuilders Securities Ltd. This organisation had set up by Stanley Baldwins Conservative government in the 1920s
6.
Graham Chapman
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Graham Arthur Chapman was an English comedian, writer, actor, author and one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He played authority figures such as the Colonel and the role in two Python films, Holy Grail and Life of Brian. Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray and he enjoyed science, acting and comedy, and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomews Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman established a partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python during the 1970s. Chapman was openly homosexual and a supporter of gay rights. He was an alcoholic during his time at Cambridge and the early Python years, Graham Arthur Chapman was born on 8 January 1941 at the Stoneygate Nursing Home, Stoneygate, Leicester, the son of policeman Walter Chapman and Edith Towers. He had a brother, John, who was born in 1936. One of Chapmans earliest memories was seeing the remains of Polish airmen who had suffered an accident near Leicester, later saying the horrific sights of this remained in his memory. Chapman was educated at Melton Mowbray Grammar School and he showed a strong affinity for science, sports and amateur dramatics, and was singled out for attention when a local paper reviewed his performance of Mark Antony in Shakespeares Julius Caesar. Graham and John Chapman were both fans of radio comedy, being especially fond of The Goon Show and Robert Moretons skill of telling jokes the wrong way round. Biographer Jim Yoakum said the radio shows didnt necessarily make him laugh, in 1959, Chapman began to study medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge Footlights, where he first began writing with John Cleese, following graduation, Chapman joined the Footlights show Cambridge Circus and toured New Zealand, deferring his medical studies for a year. After the tour, he continued his studies at St Bartholomews Medical College and his brother John later said, He wasnt ever driven to go into medicine. Following their Footlights success, Chapman and Cleese began to write professionally for the BBC, initially for David Frost, Frost had recruited Cleese, and in turn Cleese decided he needed Chapman as a sounding board. Chapman also contributed sketches to the radio series Im Sorry, Ill Read That Again and wrote material on his own and he wrote for The Illustrated Weekly Hudd, Cilla Black, This is Petula Clark, and This Is Tom Jones. Chapman, Cleese, and Tim Brooke-Taylor later joined Feldman in the comedy series At Last the 1948 Show. It was Chapmans first significant role as a performer as well as a writer and he displayed a gift for deadpan comedy, the series was the first to feature Chapmans sketch of wrestling with himself. Despite the shows success, Chapman was still unsure about abandoning his medical career, in between the two series of At Last the 1948 Show he completed his studies at St Bartholomews, and became professionally registered as a doctor
7.
Carol Cleveland
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Carol Cleveland is a British actress and comedian, most notable for her appearances on Monty Pythons Flying Circus. Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United States with her mother and she was brought up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lubbock, Texas, and later Pasadena, California where she attended John Marshall Junior High School and Pasadena High School. She is a former Miss California Navy and appeared as Miss Teen Queen in MAD Magazine at age 15, carol was Miss Teen in the August 1958 issue of Dig magazine. Cleveland returned with her family to London in 1960, and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a stage actress and model who had appeared as an extra in The Persuaders. This brought her to the attention of the team of Monty Pythons Flying Circus. She appeared in 30 of the 45 episodes in the series, Cleveland has contributed on many post-Python projects including the Concert for George and Not the Messiah. Shes also appeared in documentaries about the groups history, including Monty Python. She most recently reunited with the Pythons in 2014 for their stage show Monty Python Live. Cleveland was voted number three in Splendor magazines 100 Most Beautiful Entertainers list in 1972, Cleveland was married to Peter Brett from 1971 to 1983
8.
Treadle
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A treadle is a part of a machine which is operated by the foot to produce reciprocating or rotary motion in a machine such as a weaving loom or grinder. Treadles can also be used to water pumps, or to turn wood lathes. In the past, treadles have been used to power a range of machines including sewing machines, looms, wood saws, cylinder phonographs, along with cranks, treadmills, and treadwheels, they allowed human and animal power of machinery in the absence of electric machinery. Many of the sewing machines were powered by a treadle mechanism. The treadle was operated by pressing down on it with a foot and this movement spins a large wheel on the treadle frame, connected by a thin leather belt to a smaller driving wheels on the sewing machine. Bicycle pedal Treadle bicycle Treadle pump
9.
Cardinal (Catholicism)
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A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical leader, considered a Prince of the Church, and usually an ordained bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. The cardinals of the Church are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, the duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available individually or in groups to the Pope as requested. Most have additional duties, such as leading a diocese or archdiocese or managing a department of the Roman Curia, a cardinals primary duty is electing the pope when the see becomes vacant. During the sede vacante, the governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to enter the conclave of cardinals where the pope is elected is limited to those who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs. In 1059, the right of electing the pope was reserved to the clergy of Rome. The term was applied in this sense as early as the century to the priests of the tituli of the diocese of Rome. The Church of England retains an instance of this origin of the title, which is held by the two senior members of the College of Minor Canons of St Pauls Cathedral. In Rome the first persons to be called cardinals were the deacons of the seven regions of the city at the beginning of the 6th century, when the word began to mean principal, eminent, or superior. The name was given to the senior priest in each of the title churches of Rome. By the 8th century the Roman cardinals constituted a class among the Roman clergy. They took part in the administration of the church of Rome, by decree of a synod of 769, only a cardinal was eligible to become pope. In 1059, during the pontificate of Nicholas II, cardinals were given the right to elect the pope under the Papal Bull In nomine Domini. For a time this power was assigned exclusively to the cardinal bishops, Cardinals were granted the privilege of wearing the red hat by Pope Innocent IV in 1244. In cities other than Rome, the name began to be applied to certain church men as a mark of honour. This meaning of the word spread rapidly, and from the 9th century various episcopal cities had a class among the clergy known as cardinals. The use of the title was reserved for the cardinals of Rome in 1567 by Pius V, in the year 1563 the influential Ecumenical Council of Trent, headed by Pope Pius IV, wrote about the importance of selecting good Cardinals. The earlier influence of temporal rulers, notably the French kings, in early modern times, cardinals often had important roles in secular affairs
10.
Michael Palin
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Michael Edward Palin CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python, Palin wrote most of his comedic material with fellow Python member Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on shows such as the Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including Argument Clinic, Dead Parrot sketch, The Lumberjack Song, The Spanish Inquisition, Bicycle Repair Man, Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedians Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians, after Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, in 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to television. From 2009 to 2012 Palin was the president of the Royal Geographical Society, on 12 May 2013, Palin was made a BAFTA fellow, the highest honour that is conferred by the organisation. Palin was born in Broomhill, Sheffield, the child and only son of Edward Moreton Palin. His father was a Shrewsbury School and Cambridge University-educated engineer working for a steel firm and his maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lockhart Ovey, DSO, was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1927. He started his education at Birkdale Preparatory School, Sheffield, and his sister Angela was nine years older than he was. Despite the age gap the two had a relationship until her suicide in 1987. He has ancestral roots in Letterkenny, County Donegal, when he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in a school performance of A Christmas Carol. At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a comedy monologue, after his school days in 1962 he went on to read modern history at Brasenose College, Oxford. With fellow student Robert Hewison he performed and wrote, for the first time, Terry Jones, also a student in Oxford, saw that performance and began writing together with Hewison and Palin. In the same year Palin joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Society Players and he also performed and wrote in the Oxford Revue with Jones. In 1966 he married Helen Gibbins, whom he first met in 1959 on holiday in Southwold in Suffolk and this meeting was later fictionalised in Palins play East of Ipswich. The couple have three children and two grandchildren, Rachel is a BBC TV director, whose work includes MasterChef, The Professionals, shown on BBC2 throughout October and November 2010. A photograph of William as a baby briefly appeared in Monty Python and his nephew is the theatre designer Jeremy Herbert
11.
Terry Jones
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Terence Graham Parry Terry Jones is a Welsh writer, actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director, presenter, poet, historian and author. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, Jones was born in the seaside town of Colwyn Bay, on the north coast of Wales. The family home was named Bodchwil and his father was stationed with the RAF in India. When Jones was 4½, the moved to Surrey in England. Jones attended primary school at Esher COE school and later attended the Royal Grammar School in Guildford and he read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, but strayed into history. While there, he performed comedy with future Monty Python castmate Michael Palin in The Oxford Revue, Jones appeared in Twice a Fortnight with Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, as well as the television series The Complete and Utter History of Britain. He appeared in Do Not Adjust Your Set with Palin, Eric Idle and he wrote for The Frost Report and several other David Frost programmes on British television. Along with Palin, he wrote lyrics for the 1968 Barry Booth album Diversions, Jones took a keen interest in the direction of the show. Of Jones contributions as a performer, his depictions of middle-aged women are among the most memorable and his humour, in collaboration with Palin, tends to be conceptual in nature. A typical Palin/Jones sketch draws its humour from the absurdity of the scenario, for example, in the Summarise Proust Competition, Jones plays a cheesy game show host who gives contestants 15 seconds to condense Marcel Prousts lengthy work À la recherche du temps perdu. Jones was also noted for his gifts as a Chaplinesque physical comedian and his performance in the Undressing in Public sketch, for instance, is done in total silence. Jones co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam, as a film director, Jones finally gained fuller control of the projects and devised a visual style that complemented the humour. His later films include Erik the Viking and The Wind in the Willows, in 2008, Jones wrote and directed an opera titled Evil Machines. In 2011, he was commissioned to direct and write the libretto for another opera, Jones directed the comedy film Absolutely Anything, about a disillusioned schoolteacher who is given the chance to do anything he wishes by a group of aliens watching from space. The film features Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and the voices of the five remaining members of Monty Python and it was shot in London during a 6-week shoot. Jones has written books and screenplays, including comic works. Jones co-wrote Ripping Yarns with Palin and he has also written numerous works for children, including Fantastic Stories, The Beast with a Thousand Teeth, and a collection of Comic Verse called The Curse of the Vampires Socks. Jones was also the co-creator of the animated TV series Blazing Dragons, reversing a common story convention, the series protagonists are anthropomorphic dragons beset by evil humans
12.
Biggles
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James Bigglesworth, nicknamed Biggles, is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the Biggles series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns. Biggles first appears as a scout pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. He has joined the RFC in 1916 at the age of 17, Biggles represents a particularly British hero, combining professionalism with a gentlemanly air. Under the stress of combat he develops from a slightly hysterical youth prone to practical jokes to a calm and he is occasionally given special missions by the shadowy figure of Colonel Raymond, who is already involved with the intelligence side of operations. W. E. Johns was himself a First World War pilot, the authors initial war service was as an infantryman, fighting at Gallipoli and on the Macedonian front. On 16 September 1918 his De Havilland DH4 was shot down on a bombing raid and his observer, Lieutenant Amey, was killed but Johns survived to be taken prisoner of war. Johns remained with the RAF until 1927, latterly as an officer rather than a pilot. Johns stated that the character was a composite of many individuals in the RFC, the bulk of the Biggles books are set after the First World War and after Johns flying career was over. The books were popular and were translated into Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese. According to stories in The Boy Biggles and Biggles Goes to School, James Bigglesworth was born in India in May 1899, James was the younger of two sons, Charles being the elder by five years. The young James had little contact with European culture and commenced a lifelong affection for India, befriending the local Indian boys, exploring the countryside and learning to speak fluent Hindi. He retained a lifetime gift for languages and as an adult spoke French and German fluently and he spent holidays in England, under the custody of Dickpa, an eccentric uncle and inventor who lived in rural Norfolk. When Biggles, now an adult, visits Dickpa, his fathers brother, again, Biggles then attended Malton Hall School in Hertbury, England. His first encounter with an aircraft was with a Blériot that landed on the cricket ground. Biggles left school and initially joined the army as a subaltern in the Rifle Regiment in 1916. He transferred to the RFC and learned to fly in the summer of 1916, at No.17 Flying Training School and he then attended No.4 School of Fighting in Frensham, Lincolnshire. Posted to France with under 15 hours, dual and solo, he first flew in combat in September 1916 with 169 Squadron and his observer was another youth named Mark Way, a New Zealander. Biggles began flying the F. E. 2b pusher and later the Bristol F2B, in late summer 1917, he was transferred to 266 Squadron RFC, commanded by a Dubliner, Major Mullen
13.
Terry Gilliam
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Terrence Vance Terry Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor, comedian and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 12 feature films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Time Bandits, Brazil, The Fisher King,12 Monkeys, the only Python not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British citizen in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006. Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice and his father was a travelling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to nearby Medicine Lake, Minnesota, the family moved to the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Panorama City in 1952. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School, where he was the president of his class and he was voted Most Likely to Succeed and achieved straight As. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, then edited by Harvey Kurtzman, Gilliam graduated from Occidental College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. It was 66–67, it was the first police riot in Los Angeles, in college my major was political science, so my brain worked that way. And I drove around this little English Hillman Minx—top down—and every night Id be hauled over by the cops, up against the wall, and all this stuff. They had this monologue with me, it was never a dialogue and it was that I was a long-haired drug addict living off some rich guys foolish daughter. And I said, No, I work in advertising, I make twice as much as you do. Which is a thing to say to a cop. And it was like an epiphany, I suddenly felt what it was like to be a black or Mexican kid living in L. A. Before that, I thought I knew what the world was like, I thought I knew what people were. And I got more and more angry and I just felt, Thats why so much of the U. S. is still standing. Gilliam began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist, one of his early photographic strips for Help. Featured future Python cast member John Cleese, folded, Gilliam went to Europe, jokingly announcing in the very last issue that he was being transferred to the European branch of the magazine, which, of course, did not exist. Moving to England, he animated sequences for the childrens series Do Not Adjust Your Set, which also featured Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Gilliam was a part of Monty Pythons Flying Circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the shows together and defined the groups visual language in other media
14.
Double act
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If the audience identifies primarily with one character, the other will often be referred to as a comic foil. The term feed comes from the way a man is wont to set up jokes. Despite the names given to the roles, the straight man need not be humorless. Where the straight man serves no personal comic purpose but acts as a device to make the comic look good and this is sometimes considered a derogatory term. Most often, however, the humor in a double act comes from the way the two personalities play off other, rather than from the individuals themselves. In many successful acts the roles are interchangeable, the template for the modern double act began in the British music halls and the American vaudeville scene of the late nineteenth century. Here, the man was a necessity, as he would repeat the lines of the comic. This was done simply because the audience would be noisy, soon the dynamic developed so that the straight man became a more integral part of the act, setting up jokes to which the comic could then deliver the punchline. At various stages, acts such as George Burns and Gracie Allen, Abbott and Costello, Flanagan and Allen, Gallagher and Shean, the dynamic continued to develop, with Abbott and Costello using a modern and recognizable formula in routines such as Whos On First. In the 1930s and Flanagan and Allen using cross talking, by the 1920s, double acts were beginning to attract worldwide fame more readily through the silent era. However, because of the restrictions, the comedy was not derived from cross talk or clever verbal exchanges but through slapstick routines. The first double act to gain fame through film was Laurel. Before meeting, the pair had never worked together on stage, though both had worked in vaudeville—Stan Laurel with Charlie Chaplin as part of Fred Karnos Army and Oliver Hardy as a singer. Laurel could loosely be described as the comic, though the pair were one of the first not to fit the mold in the way that many double acts do, the pair first worked together as a double act in the 1927 film Duck Soup. The first Laurel and Hardy film was called Putting Pants on Philip though their characters had not yet been established. The first film both appeared in was Lucky Dog in 1917. Indeed, they were one of the few silent acts who made a successful transition to spoken word pictures in the 1930s. The year 1940 saw the release of Laurel and Hardys Saps at Sea, their film for long-term producer
15.
Heresy
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Heresy /hār ə sē/ is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. A heretic is a proponent of such claims or beliefs, the term is usually used to refer to violations of important religious teachings, but is used also of views strongly opposed to any generally accepted ideas. It is used in particular in reference to Christianity, Judaism, the word heresy is usually used within a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic context, and implies slightly different meanings in each. The founder or leader of a movement is called a heresiarch. Heresiology is the study of heresy, according to Titus 3,10 a divisive person should be warned two times before separating from him. The Greek for the phrase divisive person became a term in the early Church for a type of heretic who promoted dissension. In contrast correct teaching is called not only because it builds up the faith. The Church Fathers identified Jews and Judaism with heresy and they saw deviations from orthodox Christianity as heresies that were essentially Jewish in spirit. The use of the word heresy was given currency by Irenaeus in his 2nd century tract Contra Haereses to describe. He described the beliefs and doctrines as orthodox and the Gnostics teachings as heretical. He also pointed out the concept of succession to support his arguments. By Roman law the Emperor was Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs of all recognized religions in ancient Rome. To put an end to the doctrinal debate initiated by Arius, Constantine called the first of what would afterwards be called the ecumenical councils and then enforced orthodoxy by Imperial authority. The first known usage of the term in a context was in AD380 by the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as heresy, by this edict the states authority and that of the Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and state was the sharing of state powers of legal enforcement with church authorities and this reinforcement of the Churchs authority gave church leaders the power to, in effect, pronounce the death sentence upon those whom the church considered heretical. The edict of Theodosius II provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of Nestorius and those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death. For some years after the Reformation, Protestant churches were known to execute those they considered heretics
16.
Torture
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Torture is the act of deliberately inflicting physical or psychological pain on an organism in order to fulfill some desire of the torturer or compel some action from the victim. Torture, by definition, is a knowing and intentional act, in other cases, the torturer may be indifferent to the condition of the victim. Alternatively, some forms of torture are designed to inflict pain or leave as little physical injury or evidence as possible while achieving the same psychological devastation. The torturer may or may not kill or injure the victim, depending on the aim, even a form of torture that is intentionally fatal may be prolonged to allow the victim to suffer as long as possible. Although torture is sanctioned by some states, it is prohibited under international law, although widely illegal and reviled there is an ongoing debate as to what exactly is and is not legally defined to be torture. It is a violation of human rights, and is declared to be unacceptable by Article 5 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Torture is also prohibited for the signatories of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, despite these findings and international conventions, organizations that monitor abuses of human rights report widespread use condoned by states in many regions of the world. Amnesty International estimates that at least 81 world governments currently practice torture, the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which is currently in force since June 26,1987, provides a broad definition of torture. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to and this definition includes torture as part of domestic violence or ritualistic abuse, as well as in criminal activities. The Rome Statute is the treaty set up the International Criminal Court. The treaty was adopted at a conference in Rome on 17 July 1998. The Rome Statute provides a simplest definition of torture regarding the prosecution of war criminals by the International Criminal Court, since 1973, Amnesty International has adopted the simplest, broadest definition of torture. Title 18 of the United States Code contains the definition of torture in 18 U. S. C, §2340, which is only applicable to persons committing or attempting to commit torture outside of the United States. The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 provides remedies to individuals who are victims of torture by persons acting in a capacity of any foreign nation. The definition is similar to the U. S. Code §2340, Torture grew into an ornate discipline, where calibrated violence served two functions, to investigate and produce confessions and to attack the body as a form of punishment. Entire populaces of towns would show up to witness an execution by torture in the public square and those who had been spared torture were commonly locked barefooted into the stocks, where children took delight in rubbing feces into their hair and mouths. The Age of Enlightenment in the world further developed the idea of universal human rights. The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 marks the recognition at least nominally of a ban of torture by all UN member states
17.
Rack (torture)
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The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victims ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other, as the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top roller are used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain. By means of pulleys and levers this roller could be rotated on its own axis, thus straining the ropes until the joints were dislocated. Additionally, if muscle fibres are stretched excessively, they lose their ability to contract, one gruesome aspect of being stretched too far on the rack is the loud popping noises made by snapping cartilage, ligaments or bones. One powerful method for putting pressure upon prisoners was to them to watch someone else being subjected to the rack. Usually, the shoulders and hips would be separated and their elbows, knees, wrists. The rack was first used in antiquity and it is unclear exactly which civilization it originated from, though some of the earliest examples are from Greece. Arrians Anabasis of Alexander states that Alexander the Great had the pages who conspired in his assassination, according to Tacitus, the rack was used to extract the names of the conspirators to assassinate Emperor Nero in the Pisonian conspiracy from the freedwoman Epicharis in 65 A. D. The next day, after refusing to talk, she was being dragged back to the rack on a chair, the rack was also used on early Christians, such as St. Vincent, and mentioned by the Church Fathers Tertullian and St. Jerome. Its first appearance in England is said to have due to John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter. In 1628 the question of its legality was raised by a proposal in the Privy Council to rack John Felton, the judges resisted this, unanimously declaring its use to be contrary to the laws of England. The previous year Charles I had authorised the Irish Courts to rack a Catholic priest, guy Fawkes is also thought to have been put to the rack, since a royal warrant authorising his torture survives. The warrant states that the lesser tortures should be applied to him first, the French introduced an improvement to the rack in the form of spiked rollers that were inserted under the spine of the victim, thus causing even more severe pain and damage. The Inquisition adopted another method of torture, the sufferer was bound and suspended, lifted slowly and dropped one or more times. This technique provoked fractures of arms and shoulders and it had to last less than half an hour, since keeping victims in such a position for longer periods could lead to death. In Russia up to the 18th century the rack was a device for suspending the victims. The suspended victims were whipped with knout and sometimes burned with torches, a similar device was the intestinal crank. This method of torture involved making an incision in the area, separating the duodenum from the pylorus
18.
Old Bailey
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The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street on which it stands, is a court in London and one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The Old Bailey has been housed in several structures near this location since the 16th century, the Crown Court sitting at the Central Criminal Court deals with major criminal cases from within Greater London and in exceptional cases, from other parts of England and Wales. Trials at the Old Bailey, as at other courts, are open to the public, however, the court originated as the sessions house of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City of London and of Middlesex. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt in 1674, with the court open to the weather to prevent the spread of disease. In 1734 it was refronted, enclosing the court and reducing the influence of spectators and it was rebuilt again in 1774 and a second courtroom was added in 1824. Over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out at the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1834, in 1834, it was renamed as the Central Criminal Court and its jurisdiction extended beyond that of London and Middlesex to the whole of the English jurisdiction for trials of major cases. The court was intended as the site where only criminals accused of crimes committed in the City. However, in 1856, there was public revulsion at the accusations against the doctor William Palmer that he was a poisoner and murderer and this led to fears that he could not receive a fair trial in his native Staffordshire. The Central Criminal Court Act 1856 was passed to enable his trial to be held at the Old Bailey, in the 19th century, the Old Bailey was a small court adjacent to Newgate gaol. Hangings were a spectacle in the street outside until May 1868. The condemned would be led along Dead Mans Walk between the prison and the court, and many were buried in the walk itself, large, riotous crowds would gather and pelt the condemned with rotten fruit and vegetables and stones. In 1807,28 people were crushed to death after a pie-sellers stall overturned, the present Old Bailey building dates from 1902 but it was officially opened on 27 February 1907. It was designed by E. W. Mountford and built on the site of the infamous Newgate gaol, above the main entrance is inscribed the admonition, Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer. King Edward VII opened the courthouse, on the dome above the court stands a bronze statue of Lady Justice, executed by the British sculptor F. W. Pomeroy. She holds a sword in her hand and the scales of justice in her left. During the Blitz of World War II, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, in 1952, the restored interior of the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Court was once again open. The interior of the Great Hall is decorated with paintings commemorating the Blitz, running around the entire hall are a series of axioms, some of biblical reference. This part of the building houses the shorthand-writers offices
19.
Death by burning
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Deliberately causing death through the effects of combustion, or effects of exposure to extreme heat, has a long history as a form of painful capital punishment. The best known type of executions of death by burning is when the condemned is bound to a wooden stake. For example, pouring substances such as molten metal onto a person, as well as enclosing persons within, or attaching them to, immersion in a heated liquid as a form of execution is considered distinct from death by burning, and classified as death by boiling. For burnings at the stake, if the fire was large, if the fire was small, however, the condemned would burn for some time until death from hypovolemia, heatstroke and/or simply the thermal decomposition of vital body parts. The 18th century BC law code promulgated by Babylonian king Hammurabi specifies several crimes in which death by burning was thought appropriate. Looters of houses on fire could be cast into the flames, furthermore, a man who began committing incest with his mother after the death of his father could be ordered by courts to be burned alive. In Ancient Egypt, several incidents of burning alive perceived rebels are attested, for example, Senusret I is said to have rounded up the rebels in campaign, and burnt them as human torches. Under the civil war flaring under Takelot II more than a years later, the Crown Prince Osorkon showed no mercy. On the statute books, at least, women committing adultery might be burned to death, jon Manchip White, however, did not think capital judicial punishments were often carried out, pointing to the fact that the pharaoh had to personally ratify each verdict. Then he was placed on a bed of thorns and burnt alive, whoever sees a veiled prostitute shall seize her. And bring her to the palace entrance and they shall pour hot pitch over her head. For the Neo-Assyrians, mass executions seem to have not only designed to instill terror and to enforce obedience. In Genesis 38, Judah orders Tamar—the widow of his son, tamar saves herself by proving that Judah is himself the father of her child. In the Book of Jubilees, the story is basically told, with some intriguing differences. In Genesis, Judah is exercising his power at a distance, whereas he. One pulled it one way, one the other until he opened his mouth, thereupon one ignites the wick and throws it in his mouth, and it descends to his bowels and sears his bowels. That is, the dies from being fed molten lead. The Mishnah is, however, a fairly late collections of laws, from about the 3rd century AD, and scholars believe it replaced the actual punishment of burning in the old biblical texts
20.
Double-decker bus
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A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-decker buses are used for transport in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and many former European possessions. Early double-deckers put the driver in a separate cab, passenger access was via an open platform at the rear, and a bus conductor would collect fares. Modern double-deckers have an entrance door at the front, and the driver takes fares, thus halving the number of bus workers aboard. The rear open platform, popular with passengers, was abandoned for safety reasons, double-deckers are primarily for commuter transport but open-top models are used as sight-seeing buses for tourists. William Gladstone, speaking of Londons double-deck horse drawn omnibuses, once observed. the best way to see London is from the top of a bus, cities listed here have double-decker buses as part of their regular mass transit fleet. Cities with only tourist and sightseeing buses are excluded. Double-decker coaches in the UK have traditionally been 12.0 metres in length, articulated double-deckers are also allowed at a maximum length of 18.75 metres. In 1941, Miss Phyllis Thompson became the first woman licensed to drive a vehicle in the United Kingdom. She drove for the bus company Messrs, felix Motors Ltd, then at Hatfield near Doncaster. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. The majority of buses in London are double-deckers, a particularly iconic example was the AEC Routemaster bus, which had been a staple of the public transport network in London for nearly half a century following its introduction in 1956. Because of cited difficulties accommodating disabled passengers, the last remaining Routemasters in use finally retired from service in 2005. In 2007, a hybrid-powered double-decker entered service on London Buses route 141, by late 2008, more hybrid double-deckers from three manufacturers entered service in London. A New Routemaster was developed that year, and entered service on 20 February 2012, in October 2015, London added five all-electric double-decker buses - the worlds first - made by Chinese firm BYD. Bus Vannin operate several double-deckers on routes all across the island, in the Republic of Ireland, nearly all of buses operated in and around Greater Dublin by Dublin Bus are double-deckers. There are 936 double-decker buses in the fleet of 942. The Bus Éireann company also utilises double-decker buses on some of its short-haul routes, double-deckers are also common on some of the companys suburban routes in Cork city
21.
Monty Python Live (Mostly)
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Monty Python Live was a stage show by the Monty Python comedy group in the The O₂ in London in July 2014. In 2013, the Pythons lost a case to Mark Forstater. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater, to pay these, a reunion show was proposed. It soon became apparent to the group owing to his theatrical experience with the creation of Spamalot. He envisaged an extensive assembly of the best-known Python sketches, to facilitate costume changes, they would be linked by short video clips, the latter would be performed by a full chorus line, choreographed by Arlene Phillips. The music was to be arranged and conducted by Idles long-time collaborator, the ten stage shows were held on 1–5 and 15–20 July 2014. The first night of the sold out in 45 seconds of being available to purchase. All five surviving Pythons performed on stage together for the first time in 34 years, the three-hour show had a 30-minute intermission. The show was billed as The show that leaves you wanting less, some of the sketches were updated to include contemporary references. Eddie Izzard made a small guest appearance as a Bruce on the final night, there were also surprise cameos by Stephen Fry, Mike Myers, and Professors Brian Cox and Stephen Hawking. Cox and Hawking were shown in a pre-recorded video towards the end of the Galaxy Song, while Cox was criticising the scientific flaws of the song lyrics, he was run down by Hawking in his wheelchair, who continued to sing the song. When the show was released on DVD, it was dedicated to Williams, the last of the ten performances was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link on Sunday 20 July 2014. The filming of the performance was directed by Aubrey Powell, the film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming on 11 November 2014. Critical reviews of the show were generally positive, the negatively tinged review from the Daily Mail was incorporated into the last show with John Cleese and Michael Palin criticising the newspaper and its editor, Paul Dacre
22.
Eric Idle
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Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, voice actor, author, singer-songwriter, musician, writer and comedic composer. Idle is a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python, a member of The Rutles, Idle was born in Harton, near South Shields in County Durham, to which his mother had been evacuated from the north west of England. His mother, Norah Barron, was a visitor and his father, Ernest Idle, served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. His mother had difficulty coping with a job and bringing up a child, so when Idle was seven. At this time, the school was a foundation dedicated to the education. Idle is quoted as saying, It was an abusive, bullying. I got used to dealing with groups of boys and getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny, Idle stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and watching the local football team, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this, he disliked other sports and would sneak out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema, Idle was eventually caught watching the X-rated film BUtterfield 8 and stripped of his prefecture, though by that time he was head boy. Idle had already refused to be senior boy in the cadet force. Idle maintains that there was little to do at the school, Idle attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied English. At Pembroke, he was invited to join the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club by the president of the Footlights Club, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Idle started at Cambridge only a year after future fellow-Pythons Graham Chapman and John Cleese. He became Footlights President in 1965 and was the first to allow women to join the club, Idle starred in the childrens television comedy series Do Not Adjust Your Set co-starring his future Python fellows Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam provided animations for the show, the shows cast also included comic actors David Jason and Denise Coffey. Idle also appeared as guest in episodes of the television series At Last the 1948 Show. The other Pythons usually worked in teams and Cleese admitted that this was slightly unfair – when the Pythons voted on which sketches should appear in a show, however, he also says that Idle was an independent person and worked best on his own. Idle himself admitted this was difficult, You had to convince five others. And they were not the most un-egotistical of writers, either, a number of his sketches involve extended monologues, and he would frequently spoof the unnatural language and speech patterns of television presenters. The second-youngest member of the Pythons, Idle was closest in spirit to the students, Idle originally wrote Nudge, Nudge for Ronnie Barker, but it was rejected because there was no joke in the words
23.
Galaxy Song
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Galaxy Song is a Monty Python song written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez. The song first appeared in the 1983 film Monty Pythons The Meaning of Life and was released on the album Monty Python Sings. The song was released as a single in the UK on 27 June 1983, in 2014 the song was featured in the live stage show Monty Python Live which was followed by another single release on 13 April 2015, this time in collaboration with Stephen Hawking. The song originally debuted during the comedy sketch Live Organ Transplants, the paramedic, upon failing to persuade Mrs. Brown to donate her liver, opens the refrigerator doors to reveal a man wearing a pink morning suit. The man accompanies Mrs. Brown through outer space singing various statistics about the galaxy, the singer returns to the refrigerator, at which point Mrs. Brown admits that the singer convinced her to hand over her liver. The lyrics include a number of facts and figures, which may have accurately reflected the known values at the time the song was written. Some of these have changed as improved technology has allowed scientists to more accurate measurements. Idle sings that the Earth is “revolving at nine hundred miles an hour. ”He is using the term, since the Earth revolves around the Sun. The current estimate for the speed at the equator is 1040 miles/hr. 900 miles is correct if this is given in nautical miles and he gives the Earth’s orbital speed as 19 miles per second, compared with the real figure of 18 to 18.5. Idle states that the Sun is “the source of all our power, the second source is the Moon’s effects on tides and the associated methods of power generation. The third is nuclear power derived from uranium and other fissile elements, ultimately, however, the overwhelming proportion of human-generated power derived from fossil fuels and thence from photosynthetic plants makes this line a very good approximation to the truth. The three other sources are available because of the Sun’s influence on our early solar system, so Idle’s statement is correct in a literal sense. Idle’s figures for the size of the Milky Way galaxy are roughly correct and he understates the speed at which the Sun orbits the “galactic central point”, but he gives a good estimate for the total time per orbit. This is “two hundred million years” according to the song, compared with accepted figures of 220 to 250 million years, the song says that we are “thirty thousand light years from galactic central point”. In fact, the Sun is more like 25,000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way, the song also states that the galaxy is “a hundred thousand light years side to side”. This would make the galactic radius 50,000 light years, however, the song’s position on this was later confused by Idle’s performance of the song in his Not the Messiah show where the figure he sings is only 6,000 light years. The reason for the confusion has since been explained in a message from Idle on the official Monty Python website, “There was some smug website pulling apart all my original figures for the song so for the 2003 Tour I ‘updated’ them
24.
Buzz Aldrin
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Buzz Aldrin is an American engineer and former astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, he was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the person to walk on it. He set foot on the Moon at 03,15,16 on July 21,1969 and he is a former U. S. Air Force officer with the Command Pilot rating. Aldrin was born January 20,1930, in Mountainside Hospital, in Glen Ridge and his parents were Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr. a career military man, and Marion Aldrin, who lived in neighboring Montclair. He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry, Aldrin was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Tenderfoot Scout. The nickname Buzz originated in childhood, the younger of his two elder sisters mispronounced brother as buzzer, and this was shortened to Buzz, Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988. Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft, the June 8,1953, issue of Life magazine featured gun camera photos taken by Aldrin of one of the Soviet pilots ejecting from his damaged aircraft. That same year, he graduated from the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and he flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In January 1963, Aldrin earned a Sc. D. degree in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, if only I could join them in their exciting endeavors. On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut, Aldrin was selected as a member of the third group of NASA astronauts in October 1963. Because test pilot experience was no longer a requirement, this was the first selection for which he was eligible, after the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to backup crew for the mission. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission and he set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft. Aldrin was chosen for the crew of Apollo 11 and made the first lunar landing with commander Neil Armstrong on July 20,1969. The next day, Aldrin became the person to walk on the Moon. Aldrins first words on the Moon were Beautiful view, then, in response to Armstrong asking, Isnt it magnificent. He was also the first person to urinate while on the Moon, there has been speculation about the extent of Aldrins desire at the time to be the first astronaut to walk on the Moon and its impact on his pre-flight, in-mission and post-flight actions. Also, Armstrong was the Mission Commander, and other astronauts who would command later Apollo missions were not sympathetic to Aldrins views
25.
Vox populi
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In broadcasting, vox populi is an interview with members of the public. Vox populi is a Latin phrase that means voice of the people. Usually the interviewees are shown in public places, and supposed to be giving spontaneous opinions in a chance encounter – unrehearsed persons, as such, broadcast journalists almost always refer to them as the abbreviated vox pop. In U. S. broadcast journalism it is referred to as a man on the street interview or MOTS. Because the results of such an interview are unpredictable at best and this presents difficulties of balance, in that the selection used ought to be, from the point of view of journalistic standards, a fair cross-section of opinions. Although the two can be often confused, a vox pop is not a form of a survey. Each person is asked the question, the aim is to get a variety of answers. Journalists are usually instructed to approach a wide range of people to get varied answers from different points of view, the interviewees should be of various ages, sexes, classes and communities so that the diverse views and reactions of the general people will be known. Generally, the vox pop question will be asked of different persons in different parts of streets or public places. g, a question can be asked to a group of students about the quality of their education. With increasing public familiarity with the term, several radio and television programs have been named vox pop in allusion to this practice. English translation, And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness. The usage indicates that the phrase had long become a aphorism of common political wisdom by Alcuin and Charlemagnes time. Vox Populi is a book that was written by Timothy E. Gregory, Vox Populi is on the seal of the Alabama House of Representatives. Vox Populi is a song from the group Thirty Seconds to Mars on their album This Is War, Vox Populi is the name of a resistance movement, led by Daisy Fitzroy, in the game BioShock Infinite. Vox Populi is mentioned in a speech by the character V in the film V for Vendetta, Vox Populi is the name of the 11th episode of the first season of the CBS television series Jericho. The quote Vox populi, vox Dei is used by Sherlock Holmes in releasing Captain Crocker from his custody in the story The Adventure of the Abbey Grange. The quote Vox populi, vox Dei is mentioned by Joey Lucas in a conversation with Josh Lyman in the 16th episode of the first season of The West Wing, Vox Populi is the name of a song by Greek electronica band Stereo Nova. Vox pops were included in episodes of Monty Pythons Flying Circus
26.
Pan American World Airways
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It was also a founding member of the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry association. Identified by its blue logo, the use of the word Clipper in aircraft names and call signs, and the white pilot uniform caps. In an era dominated by flag carriers that were wholly or majority government-owned, during most of the jet era, Pan Ams flagship terminal was the Worldport located at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus for Pan American when SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from the U. S. government. Pan American was able to obtain the U. S. mail delivery contract to Cuba and their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana, having acquired American International Airways, a small airline established in 1926 by John K. Bevier as a service from Key West, Florida, to Havana. ACA met its deadline of having an air service operating by October 19,1927 by chartering a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier. The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways company was established on October 11,1927 by New York City investment banker Richard Hoyt and this company merged with PAA and ACA on June 23,1928. Richard Hoyt was named as president of the new Aviation Corporation of the Americas, Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new companys principal operating subsidiary. The government further helped Pan Am by insulating it from its U. S. competitors, the airline expanded internationally, benefiting from a virtual monopoly on foreign routes. Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Ams network through all of Central, by the end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America to Peru. Its Brazilian subsidiary NYRBA do Brasil was later renamed as Panair do Brasil, Pan Am also partnered with Grace Shipping Company in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, to gain a foothold to destinations in South America. The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to Pan American Airways Corporation in 1931, during the day, use of the compass while judging drift from sea currents was normal procedure, at night, all flight crews were trained to use celestial navigation. In bad weather, pilots used dead reckoning and timed turns, making landings at fogged-in harbors by landing out to sea. Many pilots had merchant marine certifications and radio licenses as well as pilot certificates, before World War II it was not unusual for a captain to make engine repairs at remote locations. Pan Ams mechanics and support staff were similarly trained, newly hired applicants were frequently paired with experienced flight mechanics in several areas of the company until they had achieved proficiency in all aircraft types. Many crews supported repair operations by flying in spare parts to planes stranded overseas, Pan Am started its South American routes with Consolidated Commodore and Sikorsky S-38 flying boats. The S-40, larger than the eight-passenger S-38, began flying for Pan Am in 1931, carrying the nicknames American Clipper, Southern Clipper, and Caribbean Clipper, they were the first of the series of 28 Clippers that symbolized Pan Am between 1931 and 1946
27.
Batman Family
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Batman Family was an American comic book series published by DC Comics comic book which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters to the superhero Batman. The term Batman Family is most commonly used as the name for Batmans closest allies. The Batman Family title proper ran twenty issues from September–October 1975 to October–November 1978 and featured solo and team-up stories starring Batgirl, the lead story in the first issue teaming Batgirl and Robin was originally intended for publication in an issue of 1st Issue Special. The series additionally featured reprints of Golden Age and Silver Age stories, many issues of Batman Family featured Batman supporting characters such as Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, the Elongated Man, the Huntress, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Writer Bob Rozakis introduced the Duela Dent character in issue #6, the series began featuring only new material as of issue #11 and Man-Bat began appearing as a regular feature. Batman Family converted to the Dollar Comics format with issue #17, Family titles concurrent with Batman Family. These included The Superman Family, Super-Team Family and Tarzan Family, Family titles contained mostly reprints, and featured a higher page count than DCs normal books. Its final issue, #20, ran with no advertisements, in 1978, after the DC Implosion, it was decided that DC Comics long-running flagship title Detective Comics was to be terminated with #480. The decision was overturned following strenuous arguments on behalf of saving the title within the DC office, despite being the better selling title, Batman Family was instead merged with Detective, converting that series into a $1.00 68-page giant as of Detective Comics #481. With issue #496 Detective Comics reverted to its size and price — thus effectively canceling Batman Family for good. Batman, Family was a miniseries published from December 2002 to February 2003. The first six issues were illustrated by Stefano Gaudiano and Rick Hoberg, steve Lieber replaced Hoberg on issues seven and eight
28.
Barbara Gordon
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Barbara Gordon is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by William Dozier, Julius Schwartz, the character subsequently made her first comic book appearance as Batgirl in Detective Comics #359, titled The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl. by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino. In addition to appearing in other DC publications, she receives her first starring role in Batman Family which debuted in 1975, partnered with the original Robin, Dick Grayson. In subsequent stories, editor Kim Yale and writer John Ostrander establish the character as a computer expert, providing intelligence and computer hacking services to assist other superheroes, she makes her first appearance as Oracle in Suicide Squad #23. She is featured in the one-shot comic Black Canary/Oracle, Birds of Prey written by Chuck Dixon, the series depicts her as a great intellect uninhibited by her paralysis, skilled in the martial art of eskrima. Employing Black Canary as her partner and field agent, Oracle later operates as the leader of a team of female crimefighters who engage in global espionage missions. She has achieved popularity in the Modern Age of Comic Books under the Birds of Prey publication. The character has been the subject of academic analysis concerning the roles of women, librarians, as both Batgirl and Oracle, Barbara Gordon has been adapted into various media relating to the Batman franchise, including television, film, animation, video games, and other merchandise. The character has been portrayed by Yvonne Craig and Dina Meyer and has been voiced by Melissa Gilbert, Tara Strong, Alyson Stoner, Mae Whitman and Kimberly Brooks, among others. In 2011, she was ranked 17th in both Comics Buyers Guides 100 Sexiest Women in Comics and IGNs Top 100 Comic Books Heroes. Schwartz stated that he had asked to develop a new female character in order to attract a female viewership to the Batman television series of the 1960s. Executive producer William Dozier suggested that the new character would be the daughter of Gotham Citys Police Commissioner James Gordon, and that she would adopt the identity of Batgirl. Infantino reflected on the creation of Batgirl, stating Bob Kane had had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the ’50s but she had nothing to do with a bat and she was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the shows third season. Barbara Gordon and her alter ego Batgirl debuted in Detective Comics #359, The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl, although Batman insists she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregards his objections. In her civilian identity, Barbara Gordon, Ph. D and she was given a regular backup slot in Detective Comics starting with issue #384, alternating issues with Robin until issue #404, after which she had the backup slot to herself. Frank Robbins wrote nearly all of these backups, which were penciled first by Gil Kane, Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl exceeded the earlier Bat-Girl and Batwoman characters in popularity, and readers requested for her to appear in other titles. These are readers who remember Batwoman and the other Bat-girls from years back and they were there because romance seemed to be needed in Batmans life
29.
Dick Grayson
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Richard John Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 the character retires his role as Robin and assumes the superhero persona of Nightwing, created by Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez. The youngest in a family of known as the Flying Graysons. Batman takes him in as a ward and the crime-fighting partner Robin. He is written by authors as the first son of Batman. As well as being Batmans crime-fighting partner, Dick establishes himself as the leader of the Teen Titans, as a young man, he retires as Robin and takes on his own superhero identity to assert his independence, becoming Nightwing. As Nightwing, he continues to lead the Teen Titans and later the Outsiders, in the first volume of his eponymous series, he becomes the protector of Blüdhaven, Gothams economically troubled neighboring city, the locale the character is most closely associated with. He has also served stints protecting the streets of New York, Chicago, Dick Grayson has taken on the identity of Batman on a few occasions. Dick again assumes the following the events of Batman R. I. P. As Batman, Dick moves to Gotham City following his mentors apparent death and partners with the fifth Robin, on Bruces return, both men maintained the Batman identity until 2011, when Dick returned to the Nightwing identity with DCs The New 52 continuity reboot. Following the conclusion of the Grayson series, and the restoration of his identity in the series final issue. Loren Lester voiced the character as Robin in Batman, The Animated Series, in May 2011, IGN ranked Dick Grayson #11 on their list of the Top 100 Super Heroes of All Time. In 2013, ComicsAlliance ranked Grayson as Nightwing as #1 on their list of the 50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics, the character was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Robins debut was an effort to get readers to enjoy Batman. He was born on the first day of spring, son of John Grayson and Mary Grayson, in his first appearance, Dick Grayson is a circus acrobat, and, with his parents, one of the Flying Graysons. While preparing for a performance, Dick overhears two gangsters attempting to extort money from the circus owner. The owner refuses, so the gangsters sabotage the trapeze wires with acid, during the next performance, the trapeze from which Dicks parents are swinging snaps, sending them to their deaths. Before he can go to the police, Batman appears to him, when Batman recounts the murder of his own parents, Dick asks to become his aide
30.
Civilization V
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Sid Meiers Civilization V is a 4X video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows in September 2010, on OS X on November 23,2010, the game is based on an entirely new game engine with hexagonal tiles instead of the square tiles of earlier games in the series. Many elements from Civilization IV and its expansion packs have been removed or changed, such as religion, the combat system has been overhauled, removing stacking of military units and enabling cities to defend themselves by firing directly on nearby enemies. In addition, the maps contain computer-controlled city-states as non-player characters that are available for trade, diplomacy, a civilizations borders also expand one tile at a time, favoring more productive tiles, and roads now have a maintenance cost, making them much less common. The game features community, modding, and multiplayer elements and it is available for download on Steam. Its first expansion pack, Civilization V, Gods & Kings, was released on June 19,2012, in North America and it includes features such as religion, espionage, enhanced naval combat and combat AI, as well as nine new civilizations. A second expansion pack, Civilization V, Brave New World, was announced on March 15,2013. It includes features such as trade routes, a world congress, tourism, great works, as well as nine new civilizations, eight additional wonders. It was released on July 9,2013, in North America, Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game, where each player represents the leader of a certain nation or ethnic group and must guide its growth over the course of thousands of years. The four levels of AI complement each other to allow for complex and fluid AI behaviours, each of the AI-controlled leaders has a unique personality, determined by a combination of flavors on a ten-point scale, however, the values may differ slightly in each game. There are 26 flavors, grouped into categories including growth, expansion, wide strategy, military preferences, recon, naval recon, naval growth, as in previous versions, cities remain the central pillar of Civilization gameplay. The city will also expand its borders one or more tiles at a time, the expansion process is automated and directed towards the citys needs, but tiles can be bought with gold. Cities have hit points that, if taken down to zero, will signal the citys defeat to invading forces, in addition, any melee unit loses hit points upon attacking a city, dependent upon the strength of the city and unit. Hit points can be increased by garrisoning a unit in the city or building defensive structures. I, in this iteration of the series, tactical gameplay in combat is encouraged in place of overwhelming numerical force, with the introduction of new gameplay mechanisms. Most significantly, the grid of the world map has been replaced with a hexagonal grid. Increased movement points, simpler transportation over water, ranged attacks, there is also a balance between ranged and melee units. Ranged units can attack melee units without retribution, but melee units will normally destroy ranged units, in an effort to make individual units more valuable to the player, they take longer to produce, and gain experience from defeating enemy units. At set levels this experience can be redeemed for promotions, which provide bonuses for increasing their effectiveness
31.
Steam (software)
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Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management, multiplayer gaming, video streaming and social networking services. Though initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows operating systems, versions for OS X, mobile apps with connected functionality with the main software were later released for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices in the 2010s. The Steam platform is considered to be the largest digital platform for PC gaming. By the end of 2015, the service had over 125 million registered accounts, the success of the Steam platform has led to the development of a line of Steam Machine micro-console, as well as SteamOS, a Valve developed fork of the Debian operating system. Valve decided to create a platform that would update automatically and implement stronger anti-piracy. Valve approached several companies, including Microsoft, Yahoo. and RealNetworks to build a client with these features, Steams development began in 2002, with working titles for the platform being Grid and Gazelle. It was first revealed to the public on March 22,2002, at the Game Developers Conference, to demonstrate the ease of integrating Steam with a game, Relic Entertainment created a special version of Impossible Creatures. However, the game was not released on Steam until 2015, Valve partnered with several companies, including AT&T, Acer, and GameSpy Industries. The first mod released on the system was Day of Defeat, the Steam client was first made available for public beta testing in January 2003 during the beta period for Counter-Strike 1.6, for which it was mandatory to install and use. At the time, Steams primary function was streamlining the patch process common in computer games. Steam was a component for all other games. 80, 000–300,000 gamers tested the system when it was in its beta period, the system and website choked under the strain of thousands of users simultaneously attempting to play the latest version of Counter-Strike. In 2004, the World Opponent Network was shut down and replaced by Steam, the online features of games which required World Opponent Network ceased to work unless they were converted to Steam. Around that time, Valve began negotiating contracts with publishers and independent developers to release their products, including Rag Doll Kung Fu and Darwinia. Canadian publisher Strategy First announced in December 2005 that it would partner with Valve for digital distribution of current, in 2002, the managing director of Valve, Gabe Newell, said he was offering mod teams a game engine license and distribution over Steam for US$995. Valves Half-Life 2 was the first game to require installation of the Steam client to play and this decision was met with concerns about software ownership, software requirements, and issues with overloaded servers demonstrated previously by the Counter-Strike rollout. During this time users faced multiple issues attempting to play the game, although digital distribution could not yet match retail volume, profit margins for Valve and developers were far larger on Steam. Large developer-publishers, including id Software, Eidos Interactive, and Capcom, by May that year,13 million accounts had been created on the service, and 150 games were for sale on the platform
32.
Top Gear (2002 TV series)
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Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It is a version of the original 1977 show of the same name, airing since 2002. Following negative feedback for the series, Evans resigned, with the BBC choosing to retain the other five presenters and assigning LeBlanc, Harris, first-run episodes are broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two and BBC Two HD. From series 14–19, before the launch of the dedicated BBC Two HD channel, the series is also carried on cable television systems in the United States via BBC America, in Latin America via BBC Entertainment and in Europe and South-East Asia via BBC Knowledge. Following the decision by the BBC to cancel Top Gear in 2001, Jeremy Clarkson, Lotus assisted in the design of a race circuit at the site for use by the programme. While the celebrity segment was referred to as Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, addition segments were added in – The Cool Wall, in most of the early series, the presenters regularly destroyed a caravan. As a direct result, the ordered that filming continued at Dunsfold during May of that year, despite having no permit to do so. Both the BBC and the Health and Safety Executive carried out inquiries into the accident, later that summer, on 25 July, the BBC aired a special edition episode entitled Top Gear, Polar Special. Popularity the show rose to levels, that the waiting list to get a ticket for a recording was extensive. Featuring breath-taking stunts, amazing special effects and blockbusting driving sequences featuring some of the worlds best precision drivers, the Live tour began on 30 October 2008 in Earls Court, London, moving on to Birmingham in November before being performed in at least 15 other countries worldwide. But ironically, that does mean trying new things to the last, even if they screw up, because, well, it means you never stopped trying. On 1 April 2015, it was announced that the Top Gear Live stage shows were to continue under the banner of Clarkson, Hammond and May Live, shortly afterwards, Richard Hammond also confirmed he would not be returning to the show. On 16 June, later that year, the BBC confirmed that the final films would air as a compilation on 28 June, anchored by Hammond. Production delays and scheduling conflicts led to the series being aired on 29 May 2016. Newspaper articles also highlighted that the show struggled with viewing figures, on 4 July, following the series finale, Evans announced that he would be leaving Top Gear after having hosted only six episodes. The most common used in the show are Car Reviews, Power Laps, Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, Cool Wall. One of the segments of Top Gear, Car Reviews focuses on the presenters conducting a road-test of a car, looking at such factors as ride quality, speed, handling, practicality. Their reviews are conducted on and around Top Gears test track, or on the roads of Britain
33.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
34.
Internet meme
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An Internet meme is an activity, concept, catchphrase or piece of media which spreads, often as mimicry, from person to person via the Internet. Some examples include posting a photo of people lying down in public places, a meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. An Internet meme may take the form of an image, hyperlink, video, website and it may be just a word or phrase, including an intentional misspelling. These small movements tend to spread person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email. They may relate to various existing Internet cultures or subcultures, often created or spread on various websites, or by Usenet boards, fads and sensations tend to grow rapidly on the Internet, because the instant communication facilitates word-of-mouth transmission. The concept of the Internet meme was first proposed by Mike Godwin in the June 1993 issue of Wired, dawkins explained that Internet memes are thus a hijacking of the original idea, the very idea of a meme having mutated and evolved in this new direction. Further, Internet memes carry an additional property that ordinary memes do not—Internet memes leave a footprint in the media through which they propagate that renders them traceable and analyzable, Internet memes are a subset that Susan Blackmore called temes—memes which live in technological artifacts instead of the human mind. Image macros are often confused with internet memes and are often miscited as such, however, there is a key distinction between the two. Primarily this distinction lies within the subjects recognizability in internet pop-culture, in the early days of the Internet, such content was primarily spread via email or Usenet discussion communities. Messageboards and newsgroups were also popular because they allowed a simple method for people to information or memes with a diverse population of internet users in a short period. They encourage communication between people, and thus between meme sets, that do not normally come in contact, furthermore, they actively promote meme-sharing within the messageboard or newsgroup population by asking for feedback, comments, opinions, etc. This format is what gave rise to internet memes, like the Hampster Dance. Another factor in the increased meme transmission observed over the internet is its interactive nature, many phenomena are also spread via web search engines, internet forums, social networking services, social news sites, and video hosting services. Much of the Internets ability to spread information is assisted from results found through search engines, an Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, parody, or by incorporating news accounts about itself. Internet memes can evolve and spread rapidly, sometimes reaching worldwide popularity within a few days. Internet memes usually are formed from some social interaction, pop culture reference and their rapid growth and impact has caught the attention of both researchers and industry. Academically, researchers model how they evolve and predict which memes will survive, commercially, they are used in viral marketing where they are an inexpensive form of mass advertising. One empirical approach studied meme characteristics and behavior independently from the networks in which they propagated, theoretical studies on media psychology and communication have aimed to characterise and analyse the concept and representations in order to make it accessible for the academic research
35.
Monty Python
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Monty Python were a British surreal comedy group who created their sketch comedy show Monty Pythons Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series, the Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The Pythons influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles influence on music, the Orlando Sentinel referred to their sketch show as not only one of the more enduring icons of 1970s British popular culture, but also an important moment in the evolution of television comedy. Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Flying Circus was conceived, written, and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style. Following their television work, they began making films, which include Holy Grail, Life of Brian, pythonesque has entered the English lexicon as a result. Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue, Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman, Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus. Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that also included the future Goodies. During Idles presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members, following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, a tea-time childrens programme, ITV offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapmans supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How To Irritate People, much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleeses desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. The Pythons had a idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe, and had worked on Frost and they enjoyed Cook and Moores sketch show Not Only. They decided that they would not bother to cap their sketches in the traditional manner. However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their heroes, Spike Milligan. Not only was the programme more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy and it was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called Beware of the Elephants, Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series, allowing sketches to blend into one another
36.
John Cleese
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John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, voice actor, screenwriter, producer, and comedian. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the mid-1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, with Cleese receiving the 1980 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and he also starred in Clockwise and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films as R and Q, two Harry Potter films, and the last three Shrek films. With Yes Minister writer Antony Jay, he co-founded Video Arts, in 1976, Cleese co-founded The Secret Policemans Ball benefit shows to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, the child of Reginald Francis Cleese, an insurance salesman. His familys surname was originally Cheese, but his father had thought it was embarrassing, as a child, Cleese supported Bristol City FC and Somerset County Cricket Club. Cleese was educated at St Peters Preparatory School, where he received a prize for English and did well at cricket, when he was 13, he was awarded an exhibition at Clifton College, an English public school in Bristol. He was already more than 6 feet tall by then, Cleese allegedly defaced the school grounds, as a prank, by painting footprints to suggest that the statue of Field Marshal Earl Haig had got down from his plinth and gone to the toilet. Cleese played cricket in the First XI and did well academically, passing 8 O-Levels and 3 A-Levels in mathematics, physics, I believe that this moment changed my perspective on the world. He then took up a place he had won at Downing College, Cambridge and he also joined the Cambridge Footlights. He recalled that he went to the Cambridge Guildhall, where each university society had a stall and he replied no as he was not allowed to sing at his school because he was so bad, and if there was anything worse than his singing, it was his dancing. He was then asked Well, what do you do, to which he replied, I make people laugh. At the Footlights theatrical club, he spent a lot of time with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, Cleese wrote extra material for the 1961 Footlights Revue I Thought I Saw It Move, and was Registrar for the Footlights Club during 1962. He was also in the cast of the 1962 Footlights Revue Double Take, Cleese graduated from Cambridge in 1963 with a 2,1. Despite his successes on The Frost Report, his father would send him cuttings from The Daily Telegraph offering management jobs in places like Marks, Cleese was a scriptwriter, as well as a cast member, for the 1963 Footlights Revue A Clump of Plinths. After Cambridge Circus, Cleese briefly stayed in America, performing on, while performing in the musical Half a Sixpence, Cleese met future Python Terry Gilliam, as well as American actress Connie Booth, whom he married on 20 February 1968. At their wedding at a Unitarian Church in Manhattan, the couple attempted to ensure an absence of any theistic language
37.
Neil Innes
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Neil James Innes is an English writer, comedian and musician, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles. Innes was born in Danbury, Essex and he spent much of his childhood with his parents and older brother Iain in post-war Germany during his Scottish fathers military assignment as a warrant officer. He took piano lessons from age 7 to 14 and taught himself to play guitar and his parents were supportive of their sons interests. His father showed some ability as well, he frequently drew. Innes later attended Thorpe Grammar School and the Norwich School of Art, because Norwich lacked a particular art curriculum in which he was interested, he transferred to Goldsmiths, where he studied drama. At Goldsmiths he met Yvonne Catherine Hilton, whom he married on 3 March 1966 and they have three sons, Miles, Luke, and Barney. Innes graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Goldsmiths in 1966, Innes met Vivian Stanshall at the Central School of Art, where both studied drawing. Together they wrote most of the songs, including Im the Urban Spaceman, their sole hit, and Death Cab for Cutie. Innes won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Novel Song in 1968 for Im the Urban Spaceman, unfortunately for them, by the time their sole album Lucky Planet was released in 1970, the members had already disbanded and were moving on to other projects. In the mid-1970s, Innes became closely associated with the TV series Monty Pythons Flying Circus and he played a major role in performing and writing songs and sketches for the final series in 1974. He wrote a squib of a song called George III for the episode The Golden Age of Ballooning, which was sung by The Flirtations and he also wrote the song When Does a Dream Begin. Used in Anything Goes, The Light Entertainment War and he is one of only two non-Pythons to ever be credited writers for the TV series, the other being Douglas Adams. He appeared on stage with the Pythons in New York City in 1976 and he was introduced as Raymond Scum. After his introduction he told the audience, Ive suffered for my music, in 1980 he travelled to the States with the Pythons again, subsequently appearing in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He performed the songs How Sweet to Be an Idiot and Im the Urban Spaceman and he also appeared as one of the singing Bruces in the Philosopher Sketch and as a Church Policeman in that sketch. Innes wrote original songs for the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, such as Knights of the Round Table and he appeared in the film as a head-bashing monk, the serf crushed by the giant wooden rabbit, and the leader of Sir Robins minstrels. He also had a role in Terry Gilliams Jabberwocky. His collaborations with Monty Python and other artists were documented in the musical film The Seventh Python, after Python finished its original run on UK television, Innes joined with Pythons Eric Idle on the series Rutland Weekend Television
38.
And Now for Something Completely Different
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And Now for Something Completely Different is a 1971 British sketch comedy film based on the television comedy series Monty Pythons Flying Circus featuring sketches from the first two series. The title was taken from a used in the television show. The film, released in 1971, consists of 90 minutes of sketches seen in the first two series of the television show, the sketches were remade on film without an audience, and were intended for an American audience which had not yet seen the series. It was re-shot for cinema release with a low budget. Financed by Playboy′s UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended to help Monty Python break into the United States, although the cinematic release was ultimately unsuccessful at achieving an American breakthrough, it did well in the United Kingdom. The group did not consider this film a success, but it enjoys a cult following today. The film was the idea of entrepreneur Victor Lownes, head of Playboy UK, production of the film did not go entirely smoothly. Lownes tried to exert more control over the group than they had been used to at the BBC. Another argument with Lownes occurred when Terry Gilliam designed the opening credits for the film, because the names of the Pythons were shown in blocks of stone, Lownes insisted that his own name be displayed in a similar manner. Initially, Gilliam refused but eventually he was forced to give in, Gilliam then created a different style of credit for the Pythons so that in the final version of the film, Lowness credit is the only one that appears in that way. The budget of the film was low for the time at only £80,000. Youll notice my mouth isnt moving, either, the film was shot both on location in England and inside an abandoned dairy, rather than on a more costly soundstage. The budget was so low that some effects that were performed in the series could not be repeated in the film. The origin of the phrase is credited to Christopher Trace, founding presenter of the television programme Blue Peter. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce and now for something completely different, the phrase was also used as a transition within the show. Often it would be added to explain the transition, for instance, And now for something completely different. In later episodes, particularly the third season, the credits-launching was reduced to a stock footage of the announcer saying And now. In a similar fashion as was done with its predecessor, the Its man, both were preceded by a naked organist, usually Terry Jones
39.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British slapstick comedy film concerning the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the comedy group of Monty Python, and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC television series Monty Pythons Flying Circus. In contrast to the groups first film, And Now for Something Completely Different and it parodies the legend of King Arthurs quest to find the Holy Grail. Idle used the film as the basis for the musical Spamalot 30 years later, Monty Python and the Holy Grail grossed more than any British film exhibited in the US in 1975. The film received a 97% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus, in 932 A. D. King Arthur and his squire, Patsy, travel throughout England searching for men to join the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur stops at a castle, where the guards ask how Arthur found the coconut halves Patsy uses to simulate the sound of horses galloping, Arthur leaves after his encounter becomes a discussion about African and European swallows. Arthur encounters the Black Knight, who will not let them pass, a sword fight ensues with Arthur gaining the upper hand, but the Black Knight continues fighting despite having his arms and legs severed. The battle is declared a draw, the villagers of a small town come to Sir Bedevere the Wise claiming they have captured a witch. Bedevere puts the woman through a test, and she is revealed to be a witch because she weighs the same as a duck. Arthur knights Bedevere as a member of his Round Table, and is joined by Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, the knights reach Camelot, but following a song-and-dance cutaway, Arthur decides not to enter, because tis a silly place. The group encounters God, who instructs them to seek the Holy Grail and their first stop is a French-controlled castle. One of the tells the knights that they have a grail. After a failed invasion of the castle with the French soldiers throwing animals at them, the knights try sneaking into the castle in a Trojan Rabbit, the rabbit is catapulted at them and crushes one of the knights servants. Arthur decides the group should split up to seek the grail, a modern-day historian, describing the Arthurian legends, is abruptly killed by a knight on horseback, triggering a police investigation. Arthur and Bedevere attempt to satisfy the strange requests of the dreaded Knights who say Ni, Sir Robin avoids a fight with the Three-Headed Giant by running away while the heads are arguing. Sir Galahad is led by a beacon to Castle Anthrax, populated by women who wish to perform sexual favours for him. Sir Lancelot finds a note tied to an arrow, and after reading it assaults a party at Swamp Castle. He discovers that an effeminate prince sent the note, the knights regroup and are joined by Sirs Gawain, Ector, and Bors, and a group of monks led by Brother Maynard
40.
Monty Python's Life of Brian
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Monty Pythons Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British religious satire comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python. It was also directed by Jones, the film tells the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. The film contains themes of satire that were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy. Some countries, including Ireland and Norway, banned its showing, the filmmakers used such notoriety to benefit their marketing campaign, with posters in Sweden reading, So funny, it was banned in Norway. The film was a box office success, the film in the United Kingdom in 1979. It has remained popular, receiving positive reviews, Brian Cohen is born in a stable next door to the one in which Jesus is born, which initially confuses the three wise men who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian grows up a young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea. While attending Jesus Sermon on the Mount, Brian becomes infatuated with a young rebel. After several misadventures, and escaping from Pontius Pilate, Brian winds up in a line-up of would-be mystics, once the guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but he has unintentionally inspired a movement. He grows frantic when he finds that people have started to follow him around. Judith is the one that doesnt leave, Brian and Judith then spend the night together. In the morning, Brian, completely naked, opens the curtains to discover a crowd outside his mothers house which proclaims him to be the Messiah. Brians mother protests, telling the crowd that Hes not the Messiah, hes a very naughty boy and, Theres a mess, all right, but no Messiah. All of her attempts at dispersing the crowd are rebuffed, furthermore, once Brian addresses them, he also finds that he is unable to change their minds. His followers are completely committed to their beliefs in and of Brians divinity and they immediately seize upon everything he says and does as points of doctrine. The hapless Brian is unable to escape his unwanted disciples, even his mothers house is surrounded by an enormous and they fling their afflicted bodies at him, demanding miracle cures and divine secrets. After sneaking out the back, Brian is then captured and scheduled to be crucified. Meanwhile, yet another huge crowd has assembled outside the palace, Pontius Pilate tries to quell the feeling of revolution by granting them the choice of one person to be pardoned
