X-Men Forever is the name of three comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring the mutant superhero group the X-Men. The first is a 2001 miniseries, unrelated to the others; the second and third are the work of writer Chris Claremont. The 2001 miniseries, written by Fabian Nicieza, starred Jean Grey, Mystique and Juggernaut. Time travel was used as a plot device to explore the themes and history of the X-Men, to resolve several dangling plotlines; the story takes place during several different points in the past, until they are brought back to the present. In February 2009, Marvel announced a second X-Men Forever, which began its run on June 10, 2009, it ran semimonthly as a regular title, set in an alternate continuity of the Marvel Universe. This second series is unrelated to the earlier series by the same name; the series, written by veteran X-Men author Chris Claremont, was advertised as a continuation of the storylines he intended for Uncanny X-Men and X-Men in 1991, but which never saw print because of his resignation from the title and Marvel Comics following X-Men #3.
Despite the original billing as what "would have been written" by Claremont had he never left, the series diverged from that idea into a more traditional "alternate universe" title. In interviews conducted with Newsarama and Wizard Universe, Claremont acknowledged that what he was doing in X-Men Forever would never have been possible in the primary X-Men books because of the corporate needs of Marvel Comics: The one significant difference and advantage that Forever has over Uncanny is that we don't have to worry about corporate needs; the one great disadvantage with Fantastic Four or with X-Men or with Spider-Man or with any book in the mainstream Marvel line is that the characters must be preserved for Marvel's sake. But since these characters are being preserved in Uncanny, they can be altogether frighteningly mortal in Forever, as we'll be demonstrating early on; the fact is, if a character is unlucky enough to die, it's a real thing and it isn't corrected a week later. They won't come back.
There are consequences and from that basis everything proceeds. X-Men Forever Alpha, released in May 2009, was a reprint of the first three issues of the 1991 X-Men; the last pages were devoted to a bridge story meant to segue into X-Men Forever, including a scene that hints at the death of Wolverine. X-Men Forever began its run proper the next month, in June 2009; the story starts by leading directly from X-Men 1–3, as the team is dispatched by Professor X—as well as by Nick Fury, who has become the team's liaison with S. H. I. E. L. D.—to apprehend Fabian Cortez, last seen escaping from a disintegrating Asteroid M. The first five issues take place on the same night, resolve some long-hanging plot threads left from Claremont's departure from the title in 1991. Among the events that occur in the first issue is the death of Wolverine at the hands of Storm, whose true nature is left undisclosed, outside of a stated allegiance to a group called The Consortium; the series revolves around the team of Cyclops, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast and Professor X as they learn about and deal with the anti mutant group the Consortium and a mutant killing condition known as Burnout.
The series never explains why Psylocke, Iceman, Forge and Colossus are not part of the team despite being X-Men at the same time in the mainstream continuity. Other major changes from the mainstream continuity included: Sabretooth admitting he was Wolverine's father, Professor X not being re-crippled by the Shadow King during the Muir Island Saga, Cyclops's son Nathan not being sent into the future or receiving the legacy virus. Sabertooth incorporates himself into the X-Men by claiming he is seeking revenge for his fallen son, Logan. Marvel released X-Men Forever Annual #1 in April 2010, which dealt with Wolverine and Jean Grey's relationship, elaborating on their relationship in more detail, including insight to the betrayed heart of Cyclops. X-Men Forever Giant Size #1 involved the Shi'ar Imperial Guard desiring something from Professor X and the X-Men, resulting in a battle between the two teams. In July 2010, X-Men Forever was cancelled and replaced by X-Men Forever 2 in August 2010; the story picked up on the growing threat of Consortium and the Burnout disease, with the X-Men going undercover from society, as well as the Consortium taking control of S.
H. I. E. L. D, it added the Starjammers to the reoccurring cast. The series was cancelled at issue #16, leaving several dangling plot threads regarding the condition of Kurt Wagner and the kidnapping of Nathan Summers. A cure for Burnout is never developed and the Wolverine clone that tormented Shadowcat in her nightmares is never brought to justice. Mr. Sinister was implied as the main behind-the-scenes antagonist, but never appeared; the series ended by revealing the true nature of the "Perfect Storm" character and her counterpart, little'Ro. This final arc showed how certain events from the "X-Tinction Agenda" arc happened quite differently. Interview: Chris Claremont on'X-Men Forever', part 1, ComicMix.com marvel.com X-MEN FOREVER 2
Work: A Story of Experience, first published in 1873, is a semi-autobiographical novel by Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, set in the times before and after the American Civil War. It is one of "several nineteenth-century novels uncovers the changes in women's work in the new industrial era, as well as the dilemmas and the meaning of that work"; the story depicts the struggles of a young woman trying to support herself. The main character, Christie Devon, works outside the home in a variety of different jobs, but the end of her story marks "the beginning of a new career as a voice and activist for other working women"; the character David Sterling is loosely based on Henry David Thoreau. Work: A Story of Experience at Project Gutenberg Work: A Story of Experience public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Starstrider was a children's quiz show, produced by Granada Television and aired on ITV in 1984 and 1985 and ran for 2 series. The host, Starstrider, a space being from the planet Ulphrates III on the search for intelligence, was played in Series 1 by Roger Sloman and in Series 2 by Jim Carter. Future Doctor Who actor Sylvester McCoy co-hosted both series, playing Starstrider's hapless assistant Wart. Both the host and co-host would greet the teams each week with the words, "Hello and welcome" and they would end the show saying, "Goodbye and farewell"; each week 3 teams of 4 youngsters from schools around the country played over 5 rounds. The teams were asked difficult questions and 3 members of each team had a series of reference books to look up the answers; the captain was wearing headphones playing loud music. The team would give the answer through the headphones. Once they had the answer the captain would give the answer. If they were correct they scored some points, whereas if they were wrong the other 2 teams continued to search for the correct answer.
This was a'finger on the buzzer' round were the team captains were asked questions and whoever buzzed in and gave a correct answer scored the points. An incorrect answer meant; this was replaced in series 2 by a round where a team member was blindfolded and guided through an intergalactic assault course by the other team members. This round had 1 member of each team riding on a rodeo style item as used on the fairground while answering questions to score points for their teams. In series 2 this was relegated to Round 4, as in that series a new round was introduced where the teams had to identify a famous person or landmark in a distorted image which revealed a small piece every 5 seconds. After 15 seconds, the host would read a clue to the teams; the scoring was if a team guessed in 5 seconds they would score 20 points, 15 points after 10 seconds, 10 points after 15 seconds and 5 points if the whole image was revealed. This was a round called the'Light Maze' in which a team member was blindfolded and was guided through the maze by the other team members, the maze had red squares and white squares on the floor and if they stepped on a white square they scored 10 points for their team but if they stepped on a red square they lost 10 points.
This was replaced in series 2 by what was Round 3 in series 1. The final round was another fingers on the buzzer round where the team captains were yet again asked General Knowledge questions but this time the round lasted 2 minutes and the team with the most points at the end of the round were declared the winners. In Series 2 the presenters entered the studio through a laserlight tunnel which you see in nightclubs, new at the time and in that series the scores were shown using a laserlight. There were not any prizes as such on the show but the teams did take home a Starstrider goody bag, including a pin badge, a sweatshirt and a mug. Both series of Starstrider were repeated on Granada Plus in 1997. Louise Ings and Terri Horner completed the three legged moon rock race faster than any other contestants and remained undefeated champions until the end of the series, they retain the title to this day. A brief clip of the programme was featured on the 30 Years of CITV documentary, which aired on 29 December 2012 on ITV
"Past Is Prologue" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction series Defiance, the series' eleventh episode overall. It was aired on July 1, 2013; the episode was written by Michael Taylor and it was directed by Michael Nankin During a debate between Datak and Amanda in the town square, Nolan shoots a young Castithan aiming a rifle at the stage. The apparent assassination attempt is turns out to be a prank set up by Alak, the dead'shooter' one of his friends; the killing causes Nolan to lose the public's support, Datak seizes the opportunity to oust him as Lawkeeper. Secretly contacting Earth Republic he digs up dirt on Nolan's past as a marine in the Pale Wars. Broadcasting his finding to the town as Nolan tries to make amends with the dead youth's family. Seeing that his past is coming to light, Nolan resigns, he confronts and beats Datak but is stopped from killing him by Irisa, the two decide to leave Defiance. Alak ponders his role in his friend's death, asking his father why he suggested the prank knowing what might happen, but is stopped from asking further questions.
Alak tries to give his respects to his friend's parents but is rejected. While out he is assaulted by men on Rafe's order. Rafe tells him that he is disappointed in him, is beginning to question letting him marry Christie. Warning him that the time he disappoints him he will have him killed. Meanwhile, Kenya goes to the Tarr residence to see Stahma. Accusing her of knowing that Datak set up Nolan, asking how she can love such a ruthless man. Stahma explains that she loves Datak because not for being kind. Kenya berates her and threatens to expose their relationship to the town, doing it to hurt Stahma rather than to affect their respective family's political standings. Stahma pretends to be unfazed to dissuade Kenya, knowing how damaging the truth would be, turning her back on her. Datak meets an Earth Republic official, planning to grant ER the town's mines once he becomes mayor in exchange for their support. In her lab, Yewll experiments on the gold artifact she took from Nicky, she discovers that it is connected to Irisa and is causing her great pain every time it is activated.
As Nolan and Irisa prepare to leave, Yewll activates it. Nolan brings her to Yewll's office, after telling Nolan to stay outside, she operates on Irisa's back and finds strand like appendages coming out of her and connecting with ones coming from the gold artifact. During the "operation", Irisa has a vision of her past, showing a silver object, identical to the gold one, melding with her body. Awaking she knocks out Yewll and escapes. Nolan enters the lab to find it ruined with Irisa gone. Irisa chases the girl. Falling unconscious, she is found by Rynn who debates whether to kill her or not after what Nolan did to Sukar; the girl from Irisa's vision watches in the distance. In the "Past is Prologue" we can hear the songs: "Flirting With Disaster" by Young Beautiful In A Hurry "Time After Time" by Raya Yarbrough In its original American broadcast, "Past is Prologue" was watched by 1.94 million. "Past is Prologue" received positive reviews. Rowan Kaiser from The A. V. Club gave an A- grade to the episode saying: "The most effective way to build a setting that will support good storytelling is to give the world a solid history.
Defiance has a solid history, which makes it a good example of why the historical approach to world-building works."Jim Garner from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.3/5 saying that next week's finale episode had a lot to cover. Lisa Macklem from Spoiler TV said. "Next week we have the election. Datak has allied himself with the Earth-Republic, Amanda may regret not doing so herself – though I think, unlikely. I suspect that Datak will come to regret the alliance himself. In fact, it may be the thing that brings them all together next season – everyone of Defiance against the Earth Republic’s takeover." Afterbuzz's discussion about "Past is Prologue" on YouTube
The Revival is a 2017 American romantic drama film directed by Jennifer Gerber, written by Samuel Brett Williams and starring Zachary Booth, David Carl, Stephen Ellis, Lucy Faust. The plot follows a secret love affair between a southern Baptist preacher and a young drifter that challenges the equilibrium of a growing church. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 8 reviews, on Metacritic, the film has three positive reviews from three critics. In a positive review Gary Goldstein of Los Angeles Times wrote, "The difficult squaring of religious fervor and sexual longing receives poignant, powerful treatment in the film." Writing for The Hollywood Reporter Jon Frosch said, "With an attention-grabbing hook and two riveting central performances, Jennifer Gerber's feature directorial debut The Revival holds you in its grip when it stumbles." Craig Mathieson of The Sydney Morning Herald said, " doesn't just capture the community dynamics of a southern church and the contradictory pressures, he allows Eli to be seen not as a hypocrite but someone who has genuinely tried to serve their faith and not their heart."
Dan Mecca of The Film Stage stated, "It's a true character piece about a character worth exploring." The Revival on IMDb
The Guanyin Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge in Nanxun, Zhejiang, China. It is the largest bridge in the town of Nanxun; the original bridge dates back to the Song dynasty. The current bridge was reconstructed in 1798, during the reign of Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty, it underwent three renovations in the 5th year of Xianfeng period and in the 7th year of Xianfeng period and in the ruling of Tongzhi Emperor. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, a bustling silk fair was held near the bridge. In March 1989, it was designated as municipal level cultural heritage by the Huzhou Municipal Government; the bridge is 28 metres long, 4 metres wide, 7.6 metres high. Kang Guojian, ed.. 《古镇》. Hefei, Anhui: Huangshan Shushe. ISBN 978-7-5461-2712-5