1.
Lucca Comics & Games
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Lucca Comics & Games is an annual comic book and gaming convention in Lucca, Tuscany, traditionally held at the end of October. It is the largest comics festival in Europe, and the second biggest in the world after the Comiket, the Salone Internazionale del Comics was launched by Rinaldo Traini and Romano Calisi in 1965 in Bordighera. In 1966 it moved to a piazza in the center of Lucca. Funding issues reduced the frequency of the festival to two years, beginning in 1977. In the 1980s, the festival was moved to a sports center outside the city walls, where it remained until 1992, after the Salone internazionale del Comics ended in Lucca, city leaders launched a new convention called simply Lucca Comics that was a reprise of the old one. In 1996 it changed its name to Lucca Comics & Games, the festival attracted 50,000 attendees in 2002. Meanwhile, the Salone internazionale del Comics was held in Rome from 1995 to 2005, in 2016, the festival attracted 270,000 attendees. Yellow Kid Awards were also presented to publishers, both domestic and foreign, the festival also presents a special award called the Gran Guinigi Award
2.
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
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Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, USA. The population was 7,651 at the 2010 census, a resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is popular with vacationers from Chicago and Milwaukee areas. Originally called Muck-Suck for a Potawatomi chief, the city was later named Geneva after the town of Geneva, New York, located on Seneca Lake, to which early settler John Brink saw a resemblance. Geneva, to avoid confusion with the town of Geneva, Illinois, was renamed Lake Geneva. The city was known as The Newport of the West. In 1954, Lake Geneva was one of the three finalists for the location of the new United States Air Force Academy, but ultimately lost to Colorado Springs, in 1968, Hugh Hefner built his first Playboy resort in Lake Geneva. The club closed in 1981 and in 1982 was converted into the Americana Resort, royal Records was a Lake Geneva music recording studio where artists such as Ministry, Cheap Trick, Queensrÿche, Crash Test Dummies, Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails and Skid Row have recorded albums. Lake Geneva is located at 42°35′33″N 88°26′4″W, the city is situated on the northeast bay of Geneva Lake on relatively flat ground, with some steep hills and bluffs. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 6.55 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 7,651 people,3,323 households, the population density was 1,169.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 4,225 housing units at a density of 646.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 87. 6% White,0. 6% African American,0. 2% Native American,1. 5% Asian,8. 5% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 17. 3% of the population. 36. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age in the city was 39.8 years. 22. 7% of residents were under the age of 18,8. 2% were between the ages of 18 and 24,25. 5% were from 25 to 44,26. 8% were from 45 to 64, and 16. 7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47. 5% male and 52. 5% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 7,148 people,3,053 households, and 1,801 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,425.1 people per square mile, there were 3,757 housing units at an average density of 749.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 90. 81% White,0. 90% African American,0. 11% Native American,1. 08% Asian,0. 06% Pacific Islander,5. 16% from other races, and 1. 89% from two or more races
3.
Role-playing game
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A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of RPG, the original form, sometimes called the tabletop RPG, is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing games players physically perform their characters actions. In both of these forms, an arranger called a game master usually decides on the rules and setting to be used, acting as referee, while each of the other players plays the role of a single character. Several varieties of RPG also exist in media, such as multi-player text-based MUDs and their graphics-based successors. These games often share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, despite this variety of forms, some game forms such as trading card games and wargames that are related to role-playing games may not be included. Role-playing activity may sometimes be present in games, but it is not the primary focus. The term is sometimes used to describe roleplay simulation games and exercises used in teaching, training. Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling, events, characters, and narrative structure give a sense of a narrative experience, and the game need not have a strongly-defined storyline. Interactivity is the difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a show is a passive observer. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a party of friends collaborate to create a story. Participants in a game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief, the level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes. There is also a variety of systems of rules and game settings. Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game and these types of games tend to minimize or altogether eliminate the use of dice or other randomizing elements. Some games are played with characters created before the game by the GM and this type of game is typically played at gaming conventions, or in standalone games that do not form part of a campaign. Tabletop and pen-and-paper RPGs are conducted through discussion in a social gathering
4.
Fantasy
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Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Most fantasy uses magic or other elements as a main plot element, theme. Magic and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds, in popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy works by many writers, artists, filmmakers. Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history. The identifying trait of fantasy is the reliance on imagination to create narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent. This differs from realistic fiction in that whereas realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, an author applies his or her imagination to come up with characters, plots, and settings that are impossible in reality. Fantasy has often compared with science fiction and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements, a science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seeming possible through logical scientific and/or technological extrapolation, whereas fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. The imagined elements of fantasy do not need an explanation to be narratively functional. Authors have to rely on the suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment. Despite both genres heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable, horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. Beginning perhaps with the earliest written documents, mythic and other elements that would come to define fantasy. MacDonald was an influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, lord Dunsany established the genres popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, nathaniel Hawthorne wrote fantasy in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, though works for adults only verged on fantasy. Political and social trends can affect a societys reception towards fantasy, in the early 20th century, the New Culture Movements enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical shenmo genre of traditional Chinese literature
5.
Science fiction
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Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
6.
Idaho Springs, Colorado
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The City of Idaho Springs is a Statutory City which is the most populous municipality in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,717, Idaho Springs is located in Clear Creek Canyon, in the mountains upstream from Golden, some 30 miles west of Denver. Founded in 1859 by prospectors during the days of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. The Argo Tunnel drained and provided access to many lodes of ore between Idaho Springs and Central City. During the late century, the town evolved into a tourist center along U. S. Highway 6 and U. S. Highway 40. It also serves as a community for workers at the Loveland Ski Area farther up the canyon. The town today is the largest community in Clear Creek County, but, for historical reasons, the county seat has remained at Georgetown. On January 5,1859, during the Colorado gold rush, prospector George A. Jackson discovered placer gold at the present site of Idaho Springs and it was the first substantial gold discovery in Colorado. Jackson, a Missouri native with experience in the California gold fields, was drawn to the area by clouds of steam rising from some nearby hot springs. Jackson kept his secret for several months, but after he paid for some supplies with gold dust. The location was known as Jacksons Diggings. Once the location became a permanent settlement, it was variously called Sacramento City, Idahoe, Idaho City, the first placer discoveries were soon followed by discoveries of gold veins in the rocks of the canyon walls on both sides of Clear Creek. Hard rock mining became the mainstay of the town long after the gold-bearing gravels were exhausted, a strike by Idaho Springs miners demanding the eight-hour day in May 1903 erupted into violence. This was a struggle in a much broader fight called the Colorado Labor Wars. The 1969 film Downhill Racer portrayed an alpine ski racer from Idaho Springs, played by Robert Redford, several scenes from the comedy film The Overbrook Brothers were filmed here in the spring of 2008. Idaho Springs is located in northeastern Clear Creek County at 39°44′33″N 105°30′52″W, along Clear Creek near the confluence of its tributary, Chicago Creek. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 2.2 square miles, of which 0.03 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 1,717 people and 934 housing units, as of the census of 2000, there were 485 families residing in the city
7.
Ben Bova
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Benjamin William Ben Bova is an American writer. Ben Bova was born on November 8,1932 in Philadelphia and he graduated from South Philadelphia High School in 1949 and has been inducted into the SPHS Cultural Hall of Fame in recognition of his achievements. In 1953, while attending Temple University in Philadelphia, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son, in that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose. Barbara Bova died on September 23,2009, Bova dedicated his 2011 novel, Power Play to Barbara. In March 2013, he announced on his website that he had remarried, Bova was an avid fencer in his younger days and organized Avco Everetts fencing club. Bova is an atheist and is critical of what he sees as the nature of religion. He wrote a piece in 2012, in which he argued that atheists can be just as moral as religious believers. Bova worked as a writer for Project Vanguard in the 1950s. When they conducted research in lasers and fluid dynamics, at Avco Everett he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz. In 1972, Bova became editor of Analog Science Fact & Fiction, at Analog, Bova won six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor. Bova served as the advisor for the failed television series The Starlost. His novel The Starcrossed, loosely based on his experiences, featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend, Bova dedicated the novel to Cordwainer Bird, the pen name Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project. In 1974, he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the childrens television series Land of the Lost. After leaving Analog in 1978, Bova went on to edit Omni, Bova holds the position of President Emeritus of the National Space Society and served as President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1990 to 1992. He appeared as the Guest of Honor at the Florida convention Necronomicon in 1995 and 2011, in 2000, he attended the 58th World Science Fiction Convention as the Author Guest of Honor. In 2007, Stuber/Parent Productions hired him as a consultant to provide insight into what the world may look like in the future, for their film Repo Men starring Jude Law. Also in 2007 he provided consulting services to Silver Pictures on the adaptation of Richard K. Morgans hardboiled cyberpunk science-fiction novel Altered Carbon. He was awarded the Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2008 for his work in science fiction
8.
Beloit College
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Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin and it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. It releases an annual Mindset List describing the generational touchstones for graduating high school seniors, the group raised funds for a college in their new town and convinced the territorial legislature to enact the charter for Beloit College on February 2,1846. The first building was built in 1847, and it remains in operation today, classes began in the fall of 1847, with the first degrees awarded in 1851. The first president of Beloit was a Yale University graduate, Aaron Lucius Chapin, the college become coeducational in fall,1895, when it opened its doors to women. Although independent today, Beloit College was historically, though unofficially, the college remained very small for almost its entire first century with enrollment topping 1,000 students only with the influx of World War II veterans in 1945–1946. The Beloit Plan was a year-round curriculum introduced in 1964 that comprises three full terms and a term of off-campus study. The trustees decided to return to the two semester program in 1978, Beloits campus is located within the Near East Side Historic District. The campus is host to 20 conical, linear, and animal effigy mounds built between about AD400 and 1200, created by Native Americans identified by archaeologists as Late Woodland people. One of the mounds, in the shape of a turtle, inspired Beloits symbol, the mounds on Beloits campus are catalogued burial sites, and therefore may not be disturbed without an official permit from the Wisconsin Historical Society. Beloit College completed a 120,000 sq ft Center for the Sciences in the fall of 2008, the building was awarded LEED green building certification. It also won a Design Excellence Honor Award in Interior Architecture from the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects on October 30,2009. In the fall of 2010, Beloit College opened the Hendricks Center for the Arts, the building previously held the Beloit Post Office and later the Beloit Public Library. The renovation and expansion of the facility is the largest single gift in the colleges history, the building is named after Diane Hendricks, chair of ABC Supply of Beloit, and her late husband and former college trustee Ken Hendricks. Two Beloit campus museums open to the public are run by college staff, the Logan Museum of Anthropology and the Wright Museum of Art were both founded in the late 19th century. The Logan Museum, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, curates over 300,000 ethnographic and archaeological objects from 125 countries, the Wright Museums holdings of over 8,000 objects include a large collection of original prints and Asian art. Both museums feature temporary special exhibitions year round, the Beloit College campus also houses two sculptures by artist Siah Armajani, his Gazebo for One Anarchist, Emma Goldman 1991 and The Beloit College Poetry Garden. Academic strengths include field-oriented disciplines such as anthropology and geology, more Beloit graduates have earned Ph. D. D. in general
9.
NCAA Division III
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Sports Division III is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the United States. The division consists of colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletically related financial aid to their student-athletes, as explained in more detail in the article about NCAA Division II, the NCAAs first split was into two divisions. The former College Division formed because many NCAA member schools wanted an alternative to the nature of what is now Division I. Division III formed in 1973, in a split of the College Division, the former College Division members that chose to offer athletic scholarships or to remain in a division with those who did became Division II, while members that did not became Division III. Division III is the NCAA’s largest division with 438 active member institutions, of the member institutions, 81% are private, while only 19% are public. Division III schools range in size from an undergraduate enrollment of 348 to a maximum of 21,247. Division III institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, there are minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport. Division III athletic programs are non-revenue-generating, extracurricular programs that are staffed and funded like any other university department, hence, they feature student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability. Student athletes also cannot redshirt as freshmen, and schools may not use endowments or funds whose primary purpose is to benefit athletic programs, Division III schools shall not award financial aid to any student on the basis of athletics leadership, ability, participation or performance. The ban on scholarships is strictly enforced. S, an all-sports conference is defined here as one that sponsors both mens and womens basketball. A conference name followed by * denotes a conference also sponsors football. Six of them are grandfathered schools that have competed at the highest level of a particular mens sport prior to the institution of the Division classifications in 1971. Presumably due to Title IX considerations, grandfathered schools are allowed to field one womens sport in Division I. These schools are allowed to offer scholarships in their Division I mens and womens sports to remain competitive with their opponents. The State University of New York at Oneonta, which had been grandfathered in mens soccer, rutgers University–Newark, which had been grandfathered in mens volleyball, did the same in 2014. Academic-based and need-based financial aid is available, as is the case for Division III. Franklin and Marshall College Hobart College Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT also fields mens rowing, lawrence continues to field a fencing team, but that team is now considered Division III. Football and basketball may not be grandfathered Division I programs because their potential would give them an unfair advantage over other Division III schools
