AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
A portion of the hut is partitioned off as a sleeping-place for goats, and the fowls sleep indoors in a large basket. Skins form the only bedsteads. In each hut are two fireplaces, about which a rigid etiquette prevails. Strangers or distant relatives are not allowed to pass beyond the first, which is near the door, and is used for cooking. At the second, which is nearly in the middle of the hut, sits the hut owner, his wives, children, brothers and sisters. Around this fireplace the family sleep.
Cooking pots, water pots and earthenware grain jars are the only other furniture. The food is served in small baskets. Every full-grown man has a hut to himself, and one for each wife. The huts of the Masaba Kavirondo of west Elgon have the apex of the roof surmounted by a carved pole which Sir H. H. Johnston says is obviously a phallus. Among the Bantu Kavirondo a father does not eat with his sons, nor do brothers eat together. Among the Nilotic tribes father and sons eat together, usually in a separate hut with open sides. Women eat apart and only after the men have finished.
Though a peaceful people the Kavirondo fight well. Their weapons are spears with rather long flat blades without blood-courses and broad-bladed swords. Some use slings, and most carry shields. Bows and arrows are also used; firearms are however displacing other weapons. Kavirondo warfare was mainly defensive and intertribal, this last a form of vendetta. When a man had killed his enemy in battle he shaved his head on his return and was rubbed with medicine (generally goats dung), to defend him from the spirit of the dead man. The Awa-Wanga abandoned this custom when they obtained firearms. The young warriors were made to stab the bodies of their slain enemies.
In the colonial era the Kavirondo are on the increase due to their fecundity and morality. Those who live in the low-lying lands suffer from a mild malaria, while abroad they are subject to dysentery and pneumonia. Epidemics of small-pox have occurred. Native medicine is of the simplest. They dress wounds with butter and leaves, and for inflammation of the lungs or pleurisy, pierce a hole in the chest. There are no medicine-men: the women are the doctors. Certain of the incisor teeth are pulled out. If a man retains these he will, it is thought, be killed in warfare. Among certain tribes the women also have incisor teeth extracted, otherwise misfortune would befall their husbands. For the same reason the wife scars the skin of her forehead or stomach. A Kavirondo husband, before starting on a perilous journey, cuts scars on his wife's body to ensure him good luck.
Of dances, the Kavirondo have the birth dance, the death dance, that at initiation and one of a propitiatory kind in seasons of drought. Their music is plaintive and sometimes pretty, produced by a large lyre-shaped instrument. They also use various drums.
The Ja-Luo women use small beads attached to pieces of brass for ear ornaments. Like the aggry beads of West Africa these beads are not of local manufacture nor of recent introduction. They are ancient, generally blue in color, occasionally yellow or green, and are picked up in certain districts after heavy rain. The natives believe they come down with the rain. They are identical in shape and color to ancient Egyptian beads and other beads obtained from ancient cities in Baluchistan.
They appears to practice a vague ancestor worship, but the northern tribes have two gods, Awafwa and Ishishemi, the spirits of good and evil. To the former, cattle and goats are sacrificed.
The Kavirondo have great faith in divination from the entrails of a sheep. Nearly everybody and everything are ominous of good or evil to the Kavirondo.
They have few myths or traditions; the antbear is the chief figure in their beast-legends.
They believe in witchcraft and practice trial by ordeal.
The Kavirondo are essentially an agricultural people: both men and women work in the fields with large iron hoes. In addition to sorghum, Eleusine and maize, tobacco and hemp are both cultivated and smoked. Both sexes smoke, but the use of hemp is restricted to men and unmarried women, as it is thought to injure child-bearing women. Hemp is smoked in a hubble-bubble. The Kavirondo cultivate sesamum and make an oil from its seeds which they burn in little clay lamps of the ancient saucer type, the pattern being, in Hobley's opinion, introduced into the country by the coast people.
The Kavirondo keep cattle, sheep, goats, fowls and a few dogs. Women do not eat sheep, fowls or eggs, and are not allowed to drink milk except when mixed with other things. The flesh of the wild cat and leopard is esteemed by most of the tribes. Among the Bantu Kavirondo goats and sheep are suffocated, the snout being held until the animal dies. From Eleusine a beer is made.
The Kavirondo are plucky hunters, capturing the hippopotamus with ropes and traps, and attacking with spears the largest elephants. Fish, of which they are very fond, are caught by line and rod or in traps. Bee-keeping is common, and where trees are scarce the hives are placed on the roof of the hut.
Traditional Kavirondo industries are salt-making, effected by burning reeds and water-plants and passing water through the ashes; the smelting of iron ore (confined to the Bantu tribes); pottery and basket-work.
Magellan goose
The Rocker (movie)
The Rocker is a comedy movie. It was released on August 20, 2008. The movie stars Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Will Arnett, Emma Stone, and Bradley Cooper. It was written by Maya Forbes & Wallace Wolodarsky. Wolodarsky is best known for his work on writing for "The Simpsons".
Based on 92 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, "The Rocker" had an overall approval rating of 36 percent, with a weighted average score of 5.1/10. "Entertainment Weekly" gave it a C-, saying "the movie ... shamelessly ... rips off "School of Rock", recycling its flaky-educator loser-of-the-gods premise, only this time in high school"
"The Rocker" was released on August 20, 2008 in the United States. It did not make as much money at the box office as it was expected to make. It opening at #12 with $2.64 million for its first weekend. The movie earned less than $7 million overall during its entire theatrical run. One of the stars of the movie, Emma Stone, had another movie ("The House Bunny") open the same weekend. It earned much more than "The Rocker", opening at #2.
Fierce Creatures is a 1997 British comedy movie. The movie was written by John Cleese and directed by Fred Schepisi and Robert Young.
The story is based around a British zoo. It has recently been bought by New Zealand businessman Rod McCain (played by Kevin Kline) and put under the management of Rollo Lee (Cleese). In order to gain more money, Lee decides to use a "fierce creatures" policy. This means that only animals which could kill people would be kept in the zoo.
The movie was a Spiritual sequel to "A Fish Called Wanda" and used the same main cast.
Shōjo
Shōjo (少女) is a Japanese word meaning "girl". The characters, or kanji, mean "little" and "woman". The word is mainly used to describe a demographic for anime and manga- girls 7-19.
Like many Japanese words, the characters of the word shōjo come from Chinese. The first known use of the word comes from a Chinese book called "The Book of the Later Han". In Chapter 86, young girls are mentioned:盤瓠種，昔帝嚳時患犬戎入寇, 乃訪募天下，有能得犬戎之將吳將軍頭者，購黃金千鎰，邑萬家，又妻以少女
Translation: The myth of Yao: the country is being invaded by barbarians, the king is looking for warriors who are able to take the head of the general of the invading army, and for this the king will award a thousand Yi of gold, many houses, and young girl(s) as their wife/wives.The word was brought to Japan in the 7th century, when they began using a Chinese-style legal system. During this time, shōjo meant girls from 17 to 20.
Nowadays, the word shōjo is legally used to mean any woman or girl under 20. This is like how shounen is used to mean men or boys under 20.
Outside of legal use, the word shōjo is used to refer to things for girls or about girls, like shōjo manga, shōjo anime, and shōjo fashion.
Five Families
The Five Families are the five major Italian-American Mafia crime families which have controlled organized crime in New York City since the 1930s. The Five Families, under the suggestion of Salvatore Maranzano and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, were responsible for the establishment of The Commission, a council that changed how things worked with Mafia activities in the United States.
The five families and their bosses are (currently):
The Colombo family was once known as the Profaci Crime Family, until a coup caused a name change in the early 1960s. Former Godfather Joe Massino had wanted to change the name of the Bonanno Family to the Massino Family but since his arrest and defection it is unlikely to happen. The DeCavalcante crime family, based in nearby Elizabeth, NJ, also has ties to the five New York families.
Carlo Gambino
Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino, (August 24,1902 - October 15,1976) was a Mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that is still takes the name today. No one expected Gambino to seize control over the Commission of La Cosa Nostra in the US, at 1957 Apalachin Convention. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive and unlike many modern mobsters, Gambino served no time in prison, but lived to the age of 74, when he died of a heart attack in bed.
John Joseph Gotti, Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002), commonly known by the media as "The Dapper Don" and "The Teflon Don" after the murder of his former boss Paul Castellano, was the boss of the well known Gambino crime family.
Galago
Galagos, also known as bushbabies or (meaning "little night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa. There are 21 species, and they form the family Galagidae.
Range varies with species but includes most of the forested and bush regions of Africa south of the Sahara including some of the nearby islands such as Zanzibar. Their range does not extend to Madagascar.
There are many kinds of bush babies. There are also many of the animals. Bush babies are the most successful prosimian primates in Africa.
Galagos are all arboreal and are able to jump very far between branches.
Galagos are omnivorous but mainly eat insects. Their favorite food is grasshoppers, but they also eat small birds, eggs, fruits, seeds and flowers. Euoticus has specialized front teeth for removing tree bark so it can eat tree gum.
Mongolic languages
The Mongolic languages are a group of languages that are spoken in Central Asia. Some linguists propose to put Mongolic languages in the same group as the Turkic and Tungusic languages. They call this group the Altaic languages, but not all linguists agreed upon this.
The best-known member of this language family is Mongolian. In Cyrillic orthography as it is used in Mongolia it is written Монгол Хэл, and in the vertical Uygur-derived script as used in it is Inner Mongolia in China it is written Mongγol Kele). It is the primary language of most of the residents of Mongolia, and is spoken by around 5.7 million people in Mongolia, Russia, and China.
Tungusic languages
The Tungusic languages (also known as Manchu-Tungus, Tungus) are spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria. Some linguists consider them to be part of the Altaic languages but many others do not think so.
Many Tungusic languages are in danger, and the long-term future of the family is uncertain.
Linguists working on Tungusic have proposed a number of different classifications based on different criteria, including morphological, lexical, and phonological characteristics.
Northern Tungusic
These languages can be considered dialects or related languages of Evenki:
Southern Tungusic
Jurchen-Manchu (Jurchen and Manchu are simply different stages of the same language).
Pioneer program
The Pioneer program is the name of a few unmanned space missions done by NASA between 1958 and 1978. Problably the best-known of these probes were Pioneer 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and 1973 respectively.
Both carried a plaque as shown.
The Musée d'Orsay is an art museum in Paris. The building was built in 1900, and first used as a railway station. In 1986, it became the museum, and it is still very famous today.
The museum exhibits artworks of the 19th century including Impressionist paintings. The Impressionist paintings include works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Manet, and Van Gogh. That's why the Orsay is called the 'Impressionism museum'.
The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. Its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces is the largest in the world. It features work by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, Van Gogh and many others.
The building had been founded in 1804 as the supreme court but because of fire, it was rebuilt in 1900 as the station. Around 40 years later, working as the station had to be stopped because the length of the platforms was shorter than newly made trains for mainline services. So the station changed its role for suburban services and a mailing center during the second World War.
In 1970, there was an argument related to the building. Some people insisted that removing the building would be better and got a permission from the Minister while the others asserted that it had to be maintained since they thought it was the Historic Monuments. The opponents of destroying the building suggested how about using it as the museum and it was accepted. After the construction for transforming it into the museum, in July 1986, it became the Musée d'Orsay which has had the 2000 or so paintings, 600 sculptures and other works.
Cystitis
The Royal Academy (RA), is an art institution based in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. It is a club for top painters and sculptors. They elect their own members, and give regular exhibitions of art works.
The Royal Academy was formed to rival the Society of Artists after an leadership dispute between two leading architects, Sir William Chambers and James Paine. Paine won, but Chambers used his strong connections with King George III to create the Royal Academy, in 1768. It was formally launched the following year.
Membership of the Royal Academy is up to 80 practising artists, each elected by ballot of the General Assembly of the Royal Academy. They are known as Royal Academicians (RA, or more traditionally as R.A.). The Royal Academy is governed by these Royal Academicians.
Sir Joshua Reynolds was its first president, and Benjamin West its second.
The Last Judgement (Michelangelo)
The Last Judgment is a fresco by Michelangelo painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Clement VII commissioned the painting in 1534, the last year of his papacy. After the election of Paul III Farnese, Michelangelo, aged 61, began work in 1536. He completed the Last Judgement in the autumn of 1541.
The Last Judgment shows the Second Coming of Christ, as described by John the Evangelist in the apocalypse. The painting depicts the moment when the living and dead are judged by Christ, and their souls consigned to heaven or hell.
The painting was not unanimously admired at the time. Due to his depiction of holy persons in the nude, with exposed genitals, Michelangelo was accused of immorality and obscenity. The cardinal said that this could not be tolerated inside the most important church of Christianity. A censorship campaign was lauched, known as the "Fig-leaf campaign". Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua's ambassador) launched the campaign to remove the frescoes. When the Pope's own Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, said "it was mostly disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully," and that it was no work for a papal chapel but rather "for the public baths and taverns," Michelangelo worked the Cesena's semblance into the scene as Minos, judge of the underworld (far bottom-right corner of the painting). It is said that when Cesena complained to the Pope, the pontiff responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to hell, so the portrait would have to remain.
The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname "Il Braghettone" ("the breeches-painter").
In the painting, Michelangelo does a self portrait depicting himself as St. Bartholomew after he had been flayed (skinned alive) This is reflective of the feelings of contempt Michelangelo had for being commissioned to paint "The Last Judgement".
Fancy rat
The fancy rat or pet rat is a type of the brown rat ("Rattus norvegicus") that is bred to be a pet. The name "fancy rat" has nothing to do with the "fanciness" of how they look. It comes from the phrase "animal fancy". A person who keeps pet rats is said to be involved in "rat fancy." Some people domesticate black rats ("Rattus rattus"), and Gambian pouched rats ("Cricetomys gambianus"). These types of rats are not usually called fancy rats because the hobby does not center around them.
Fancy rats have been bred as pets at least since the late 19th century. They can have many different colors and coat types. They are sociable, intelligent animals. They can learn to come when called, use a litter box, and do many different tricks. Pet rats act differently from rats found in nature. The number of generations since they have been removed from the wild and how they were bred has an effect on how much they act differently. They are not any more of a health risk than other common pets.
In the 19th century france, Fancy Rats were quite a popular attraction of entertainment, they could be taughtt a handfull of tricks.
Fancy rats do not have the diseases and illness as a wild rat would have.
Fancy rats can have ears on the top of their head (standard) or at the side (dumbo)
Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
In Ancient Greece the Gymnasion (or Gymnasium, romanized name) was a place where athletes could train for the competitions in public games, such as the Olympic Games. "Gymnos" means naked. Only men were allowed to enter, and train; they did so fully naked (as the name implies). Athletes also competed in the nude. This was said to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body. It was believed to be a tribute to the Gods. Gymnasia and palestrae were under the protection and patronage of Heracles, Hermes and, in Athens, Theseus.
The picture above shows the Pompeii gymnasium from the top of the stadium wall. The depression in the center-left of the picture was filled with water and used for swimming practice as well. Mock sea battles (naumachiae) took place in the flooded arena floor or a specially dug pool in the arena. According to Oscar Brockett in his History of the Theatre, 5th Ed. (1987), p. 70, "Perhaps the most spectacular of all entertainments were the naumachiae, or sea battles. The first was given in 46 B.C. by Julius Caesar on a lake dug for the occasion; it featured a battle involving 2,000 marines and 6,000 oarsmen. Later the amphitheatres were sometimes flooded for such events. By far the most ambitious of all the naumachiae was given in 52 A.D. on the Fucine Lake east of Rome to celebrate the completion of a water conduit. On that occasion, 19,000 participants fought and many died. To the right of the picture (partially behind a tree trunk) is a line of carbonized tree stumps. These are the remains of trees (each hundreds of years old) that were part of the palaistra. They were burned in the volcanic eruption of 79. Between these and the colonnade is a line of saplings recently planted as a replacement.
Arnold Rikli
Eastern White Pine
The eastern white pine ("Pinus strobus"), also known as the white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the extreme south of Georgia.
It's the state tree of Maine and Michigan.
Myosotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that are commonly called Forget-me-nots. Similar names and variations are found in many different languages.
Willow Grouse
The willow grouse (Europe) or willow ptarmigan (North America) ("Lagopus lagopus") is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding in birch and other forests and tundra across northern Eurasia, and in Alaska and northern Canada. It is the state bird of Alaska. During the last ice age, the species occurred in continental Europe (Tomek & Bocheński 2005).
Watershed (television)
Today, television can show a number of programmes. Usually the content of these programmes is rated, by a number of people (usually called "advisory board"). Some of the programmes may be suitable for children (of different ages), other content may not be suitable for children. The watershed is the time of the day where content not suitable for children may be shown. This is usually during the night (starting in the later evening, and ending in the early morning)
The content that is not suitable for children to see usually includes sex or nudity outside a functional context. People bathing naked in a lake may be ok, people doing a striptease in a night club or cabaret may not be. Other content generally not suitable includes various levels of violence or the use of illegal drugs. Sometimes "strong language" (full of expletives) is also seen as unfit for children.
Spot-billed pelican
Lake Manasarovar
Bathing is putting the body into a fluid, most often water, or a solution with water. Usually it is done for hygiene or for religious purposes, or for fun. Sometimes bathing is also done as a form of therapy.
When people talk about bathing, they most often mean being immersed in water. But people have also "bathed" in other substances. Some therapies involve bathing in mud. People have also bathed in other substances, like Champagne, beans, or chocolate. A form of bathing quite common is bathing in sunlight.
Bathing serves several purposes:
1857 War of Independence in Murree
The 1857 War of Independence in Murree, part of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (better known as the Indian Mutiny), was a minor conflict between the tribes surrounding the hill station of Murree (now Pakistan) and the colonial government of British India The local tribes had become angry with the British ever since the British had started their colonial rule in the area.
Today Murree is part of Pakistan but in 1857 it was part of British India, ever since the British rule began in India there had been rebellions and wars against the British. However, in 1857 rebellions broke out in many different places, Murree being one of these places. People thought the rule of the British was about to be overthrown. In the Murree hills it was the Dhund Abbasi and Karlal tribes who rose up against the British.
Although the tribes of Murree had risen against the British, not everyone had been against British rule. Before British rule had been established in the area, the tribes had fought against the Sikhs. Under the command of Mohammed Ali Shah (also known as the Pir of Plasi), they had fought against the Sikh Army in Balakot - the troops here were commanded by Syed Shah Ismail Shahid and Syed Ahmad Shaheed (known as "The Martyrs")
The British, after battling in Rawalpindi in 1845 had captured Rani Jind Kaur, the widow of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (the former Ruler of Punjab) - this caused the collapse of Sikh rule and, when the British marched into the Murree area, the local tribes at first welcomed them. However, many of the tribes soon considered that they had exchanged one form of occupation for another and events elsewhere in India also encouraged an uprising.
The British had recruited many of the tribes in the area into their army, for example many members of the Satti tribe were recruited as Sepoys and the British commanders (like elsewhere across Colonial India) won this war largely by the use of Indian soldiers.
The War against the British then reached Murree and the Southern Areas of Hazara Division, the part of which is now known as Circle Bakote in July 1857 when the Dhund Abbasi leader Sardar Sherbaz Khan planned to attack the British.
By the end of August many of the British troops who had been in Murree had left to join the campaign in Delhi. Rebels had taken Delhi from British control and the British had sent as many soldiers as they could. The decision to send troops to Delhi meant that the defence of Murree was weakened However the British were unable to take Delhi quickly, and as Delhi still held out against the British the Dhund tribesmen decided to take Murree. The Dhund attacked Murree by rising on every side at the same time and crowding up the nearer hill-sides threatening destruction of the station. Several of the table-servants supported the hill-men, and for some hours the danger to Murree became imminent.
According to the 1857 Punjab Mutiny Report the attack failed because the British were told of the plan to attack them. One of Lady Lawrence's servants, named Hakim Khan, told the British of the attack to come. The loyalty of Hakim was described in the report as "the means, under God, of saving Murree" The British quickly organised defences, and quickly got volunteers. A cordon of sentries surrounded the station and the three weakest points were held in some force. When the Dhunds arrived in the middle of the night they found the whole station waiting for them.
After a few hours of skirmishing the Dhunds retreated with the loss of two or three of their men who had come within musket range of the British. After that, the British quickly arrested, convicted and executed two Hindustani doctors for being involved in the plot. They had been educated in government institutions, were practising in Murree and employed by the government. The British suspected that the Dhunds were expecting support from their Hindustani allies, so as well as the doctors several domestic servants were seized and punished.
An urgent request was sent to troops in Hazara to reinforce Murree and Major Beecher sent every available man from Abbottabad to Murree - however the British troops in Murree had managed to secure the station and beat off the attack before the arrival of reinforcements.
The revolt did not succeed, the rebels' leaders were arrested and punished. All of Sardar Sherbaz Khan's eight sons were blasted by cannon fire in Murree whilst Sardar Khan himself was hanged.
Pygmy marmoset
Pygmy marmosets are the smallest marmosets and one of the smallest of all primates. They inhabit Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. Most pygmy marmosets lives in troops of two to nine individuals, with a dominant male, a breeding female, and up to four successive litters of offspring. The modal size of a standard stable troop would be 6 individuals.
Pygmy marmosets have tawny agouti fur (the tip of the hair is a different color to the base) with an indistinctly dark-ringed tail.
They live in flooded forest near rivers, bamboo thickets and the edges of agricultural fields.
Pygmy marmosets mainly feed on gum (tree exudates, sap), but they also eat fruit, nectar and insects. They gouge holes in the bark of trees, and revisit these holes daily to collect the sap. The marmosets hang on with specially adapted claws.
Patra () is the third biggest Greek city. Patra is in southwest Greece on the west coast of the Peloponnese. It is the capital of the prefecture of Achaia and also the capital of the Greek perifereia (district) of Western Peloponnese. 171,616 lived there in 2001. The total population of Patra, including all its suburbs, is over 200,000 people. Patra is a coastal city, so it has a big port. Patra's port connects Greece with east-facing Italian ports such as Bari, Brindisi and Ancona.
Patra developed in the third century BC. During the Roman period, Patra became an important city. In Patra Christianity arrived quite early, approximately in the first century AD, by St Andrew, who was martyred there. During the Middle Ages Patra was not very significant. Patra developed again after the Greek liberation from the Turks, in 1830 following the Greek revolution of 1821.
The most important site in Patra is the contemporary Bridge Rion-Antirion which links Peloponnese and Sterea Ellada. This bridge is located a short distance from Patra's center, in the district of Rio. Opposite Rio is Antirio and it ends at the bridge. Other significant sites in Patra are the church of Agios Andreas and the Apollon theater. The cathedral of Agios Andreas is the third biggest churches in Greece. Patra is known for its wines, with the famous and oldest Winery in Greece, Achaia Clauss founded in 1861.
Santiago de Compostela (also Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. The city is in the northwest of Spain in the Province of A Coruña.
The city's Cathedral is the destination of an important pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James (Galician: "Camiño de Santiago", Spanish: "Camino de Santiago"). Pilgrims have been following this route since the ninth century.
The cathedral is believed to be where James, son of Zebedee is buried. Saint James was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ.
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American director, producer and screenwriter. He often works with his brother, author Jonathan Nolan. Nolan rose to prominence for directing the psychological thriller "Memento", and for reviving the "Batman" movie franchise as the director of "The Dark Knight Trilogy". Each of them are "Batman Begins" (2005), "The Dark Knight" (2008), and "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). He is also the founder of the production company, Syncopy Films through which his movies "Inception" (2010), "Interstellar" (2014) and "Dunkirk" (2017) were released.
In July 2012, Nolan became the youngest director to be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
In the months following the release of "The Prestige" (another of Nolan's movies, released in 2006), Nolan made many comments suggesting that he would return to direct the sequel to "Batman Begins". In late July 2006, the sequel was officially confirmed as "The Dark Knight" with Nolan at the helm and Heath Ledger joining the cast as The Joker, Batman's nemesis. Nolan and his brother Jonathan wrote a script, based on a treatment written by himself and David S. Goyer. The movie began production in early 2007. It was released on July 18 2008 in the United States, to overwhelming critical acclaim. It has also made a lot of money, setting the record for the highest-grossing weekend opening in the U.S. with over $158 million.
Nolan has frequently cast the following;
The Foucault pendulum, or Foucault's pendulum (named after the French physicist Léon Foucault) was created as an experiment to show the rotation of the Earth.
Mickie James
Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) is an American professional wrestler.
She worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its SmackDown and Raw brands. She also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2010 to 2013.
James started wrestling in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit using the name Alexis Laree. She trained in several places to get better at wrestling before working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in June 2002. She first became well known while she was while working at TNA. Soon after she started working for TNA, she joined a stable called The Gathering. She is also the only woman to be a part of Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches.
James started working with WWE in October 2005. She was a part of a storyline with Trish Stratus. James' gimmick was that she was Stratus' biggest fan and later became Stratus' stalker. This storyline lasted almost a year. The person at WWE believed she was doing good work. Because of this, she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22. She has held the championship a total of four times.
Outside of wrestling, James has an associate of arts degree in business administration. She is studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in operations management. James grew up on a farm and has an interest in horses. She owns three Morgan horses. James has been riding since she was 11 years old.
She released her debut album "Strangers & Angels" on May 18, 2010 on iTunes. Her second album "Somebody's Gonna Pay" was released on May 18, 2010 and reached #15 on the Billboards Heatseekers charts. The album contains the song "Hardcore Country" which James uses as her current theme song in TNA.
Mickie James was raised on a farm with her sister Latoya in Montpelier, Virginia. She is of Native American heritage. As a child, she watched weekend horse shows. James started riding horses when she was eleven years old after her grandmother bought her a horse. James was a fan of professional wrestling as a child. She used to watch wrestling with her father. Her favorite wrestlers were Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair.
James started her training at a professional wrestling school in the Washington, D.C. area. She started her wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1999. Her first work was as a valet for KYDA Pro Wrestling using the ring name Alexis Laree. The name is a combination of her stage name from when she was a dancer and her middle name. As Laree, she managed several male wrestlers. This included managing Tommy Dreamer to win the KYDA Pro Heavyweight Championship. In March, she wrestled in her first match. It was an intergender tag team match with Jake Damian against American Mike Brown and Candie. James trained to get better at wrestling at many places. These places include the Funking Conservatory run by Dory Funk, Jr. and an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) dojo. She also started wrestling for Maryland Championship Wrestling. While there, she was trained by Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton. Because the independent circuit did not pay enough, James worked as a waitress at an Olive Garden restaurant. Trish Stratus, a former WWE wrestler, was and still is Mickie James' role model
James worked in Ring of Honor for a year. During this time, she also started wrestling in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. As Alexis Laree, she was a part of a lingerie battle royal. On March 26, 2003, she teamed with Amazing Red against Kid Kash—the X Division Champion—and Trinity. Weeks later, she became the first member of the Gathering, a stable led by Raven. On April 16, Laree became the first (and currently, only) woman to wrestle in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. This match involve the Gathering and Jeff Jarrett. She continued to wrestle with the Gathering when they feuded with the Disciples of The New Church. During this feud, James was kayfabe burned with a fireball by Father James Mitchell. She also wrestled in another Clockwork Orange House of Fun match.
James tried for two years to work for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In August 2003, she was began to work for the WWE. They sent her to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). James still used the name Alexis Laree at this time. She began making wresting on television for OVW on January 29, 2004. She wrestled in several tag team matches during the year. She won a Halloween Costume Contest on October 30 and defeated Jillian Hall in a $1,000 match on November 12.
Laree began a feud with Beth Phoenix on July 20. This feud started after Phoenix interrupted Laree during an interview. A match took place on July 29. Laree lost to Phoenix. The feud continued into September. Shelly Martinez was added to the storyline to side with Phoenix against Laree. On October 12, she appeared in OVW under her real name. She finished the year losing matches against Martinez and Jillian Hall.
James was first used on television in WWE on the October 10 2005 episode of "Raw". She used her real name. James used the gimmick of WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus' biggest fan. The storyline had the two WWE Divas wrestling together in tag team matches. James' character became more obsessed with Stratus as time went on. A Halloween Costume Contest was part of the story line. James was dressed like Stratus. She even started using Stratus' personal finishing moves as her own during matches. On December 12, James wrestled and defeated Victoria. The match was to decide who would wrestle Stratus at New Year's Revolution for the championship. Lesbian themes were added to the story line with James kissing Stratus under mistletoe and saying nice things to her about her breasts. In the championship match, James lost to Stratus but still showed romantic fellings towards her the next night on "Raw". She told Stratus that she loved her at the Royal Rumble.
On March 6 2006 the storyline had Stratus telling James that they needed time apart from each other. They wrestled as a team at the March 18, 2006 Saturday Night's Main Event. James and Stratus defeated Candice Michelle and Victoria in the match. After the match, James tried to kiss Stratus. Stratus pushed her away and James' character made a complete heel turn. She attacked Stratus in the ring. James' character later said she would destroy Stratus. The two women wrestled each other at WrestleMania 22. James won the match to become the Women's Champion for her first time. During the match, even though James was playing the heel character, the fans liked her more than Stratus. The storyline ended at Backlash with a rematch after Stratus legitimately dislocated her shoulder when James threw her out of the ring. James lost the Women's Title on August 14 to Lita. During the match, Lita hit James with the title belt when Edge distracted the referee. This causes a face turn for James' on-screen character. When Stratus retired as champion, there was no longer a Women's Championship. WWE held a tournament to name a new champion. James was a part of that tournament. She defeated Victoria and Melina in the early parts of the tournament. She made it to the finals at Cyber Sunday. In the final match, she lost to Lita. At the 2006 Survivor Series James defeated Lita to win her second Women's Championship.
A new feud began between James and Melina on January 29 2007. Melina was the number one contender for the Women's Title at the time. James defeated Melina on February 5 to keep the championship. After this, she teamed with Super Crazy in a mixed tag team match against Melina and Johnny Nitro. Melina defeated James and challenged her to a rematch for the title. James lost the Women's Championship to Melina on February 19. The two wrestled in the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history. James lost to Melina. Near the end of the match, James fell from the turnbuckle. She landed on her neck but was not badly injured.
At a house show in Paris, France on April 24, James won her third Women's Championship. In a Triple Threat Match with Malina and Victoria, James pinned Victoria. However, she did not pin Melina, Jonathan Coachman said that a rematch would take place immediately. James lost the title back to Melina. This gave her the shortest Women’s Championship reign in WWE history.
On the November 26 edition of "Raw", James defeated Melina in a number one contenders match for Beth Phoenix's Women's Championship. This led to a title match between James and Phoenix at Armageddon 2007. James lost the match to Phoenix. On the April 14, 2008 edition of "Raw", held in London, James defeated Phoenix to win her fourth Women's Championship. At Judgment Day James successfully defended the Women's Championship against Phoenix and Melina in a Triple Threat match. James lost the championship back to Phoenix at SummerSlam 2008. She lost it in an intergender tag team match at SummerSlam. In that match, Her partner Kofi Kingston also lost the Intercontinental Title to Phoenix's partner Santino Marella. Mickie James was released from her WWE contract on April 22, 2010.
James owns three Morgan horses called Rhapsody, Bunny and Casanova. After she has finished her wrestling career, James plans to own a farm and train horses. James also owns a dog named Butch.
She was at one time engaged to WWE wrestler Ken Doane, better known by his ring name "Kenny Dykstra". She has also been in a relationship with Adam Birch, better known by his ring name "Joey Mercury". James has two tattoos. She has an Asian symbol meaning 'love' on her ankle and a dragon that wraps around it.
James posed nude in the May 2000 issue of "Leg Show" magazine. On April 13, 2008, James, along with Layla, Melina and Kelly Kelly, appeared in an episode of "Celebrity Fit Club Boot Camp". On September 5 of that same year, James appeared on the USA Network series "Psych". She played a roller derby girl called Rita "Lethal Weapon" Westwood.
The WWE sent James, Mr. Kennedy and Josh Matthews to the 2008 Republican National Convention to try and get fans to register to vote in the 2008 Presidential election.
James made an appearance on "Redemption Song". The program is hosted by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho. James appeared on the program along with Candice Michelle, Maryse, and Eve Torres. The episode was first aired on November 12, 2008.
Guineafowl
Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") is a common name of birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched off from the core Galliformes after the Cracidae (chachalacas, guans, and curassows) and before the Odontophoridae (New World quail). An Eocene fossil lineage "Telecrex" has been associated with guineafowl; "Telecrex" inhabited Mongolia, and may have given rise to the oldest of the true phasianids, such as blood pheasants and eared pheasants, which evolved into high-altitude, montane-adapted species with the rise of the Tibetan Plateau. While modern guineafowl species are endemic to Africa, the helmeted guineafowl has been introduced as a domesticated bird widely elsewhere.
Living Galliformes based on the work by John Boyd:
The insect- and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds of this family resemble partridges, but with featherless heads, though both members of the genus "Guttera" have a distinctive black crest, and the vulturine guineafowl has a downy brown patch on the nape. Most species of guineafowl have a dark grey or blackish plumage with dense white spots, but both members of the genus "Agelastes" lack the spots. While several species are relatively well known, the plumed guineafowl and the two members of the genus "Agelastes" remain relatively poorly known. These large birds measure from 40–71 cm (16–28 in) in length, and weigh 700–1600 g or 1.5-3.5 lb. Guinea hens weigh more than guinea cocks, possibly because of the larger reproductive organs in the female compared to the male guinea fowl. Also, the presence of relatively larger egg clusters in the dual-purpose guinea hens may be a factor that contributes to the higher body weight of the guinea hens.
The species for which information is known are normally monogamous, mating for life, or are serially monogamous; however, occasional exceptions have been recorded for helmeted and Kenya crested guineafowl, which have been reported to be polygamous in captivity. All guineafowl are social, and typically live in small groups or large flocks. Though they are monogamous, species of the least-derived genera "Guttera", "Agelastes", and "Acryllium" tend toward social polyandry, a trait shared with other primitive galliforms such as the crested partridge and Congo peafowl.
Guineafowl travel behind herd animals and beneath monkey troups, where they forage within manure and on items that have fallen to the understory from the canopy. They play a pivotal role in the control of ticks, flies, locusts, scorpions, and other invertebrates. They pluck maggots from carcasses and manure.
Wild guineafowl are strong flyers. Their breast muscles are dark (aerobic metabolism), enabling them to sustain themselves in flight for considerable distances if hard-pressed. Grass and bush fires are a constant threat to them and flight is the most effective means of escape.
Some species of guineafowl, like the vulturine guineafowl, may go without drinking water for extended periods, instead sourcing their moisture from their food. Young guineafowl (called keets) are very sensitive to weather, in particular cold temperatures.
Guinea hens are not known to be good mothers, but in the wild, the guinea hen's mate (a guinea cock) may help tend the young keets during the day by keeping them warm and finding food. Sometimes, more than one cock helps raise the young. Guineafowl (hens and cocks together) make good parents. During warm weather, the cock is unlikely to set on the keets during the night (leaving that duty to the hen), but may help the hen keep them warm at night when temperatures drop below freezing.
Guineafowl may be trained to go into a coop (instead of roosting in trees) when very young. Once hatched and ready to leave the brooder (around 3 weeks), they may be enclosed in a coop for at least three days so they learn where "home" is. When guinea parents (that already roost in a coop) raise their own keets, the hen sets on them outdoors at night, but then the parents teach the keets to also go into the coop in the evenings around 3 weeks of age.
Each sex has a different call, which can be used to differentiate between female and male. Unlike chickens (which generally do best with one rooster for a flock of hens), guinea fowl do well with one cock for each hen.
Guineafowl species are found across sub-Saharan Africa, some almost in the entire range, others more localized, such as the plumed guineafowl in west-central Africa and the vulturine guineafowl in north-east Africa. They live in semiopen habitats such as savanna or semideserts, while some, such as the black guineafowl, mainly inhabit forests. Some perch high on treetops.
The helmeted guineafowl has been introduced in East Africa, the West Indies, the United States, Britain, and India, where it is raised as food or pets.
Guineafowl meat is drier and leaner than chicken meat and has a gamey flavour. It has marginally more protein than chicken or turkey, roughly half the fat of chicken and slightly fewer calories per gram. Their eggs are substantially richer than those of chickens.
Jaguar S-Type
Jaguar S-Type was a car produced by Jaguar from 1998 till 2008. It was first shown at the 1998 Birmingham Motor Show, and shared 'retro' styling with the Rover 75, which was shown at that same show.
The S-Type was replaced by the Jaguar XF in the spring of 2008.
Muskrats are rodents that live in freshwater and saltwater marshes, lakes, ponds, and streams. Muskrats often build dome-shaped houses in marshes. These houses, made of plants, protect the muskrat from predators, since the only entrance is underwater. Some muskrats live in burrows on the water banks. Muskrats are excellent swimmers but are slow on land.
Muskrats are native to North America, but have been brought to Europe and Asia, where they now live in the wild. Muskrats got their name because they have musk glands that produce a strong scent.
Griffith's experiment
Griffith's Experiment was an experiment done in 1928 by Frederick Griffith. It was one of the first experiments showing that bacteria can get DNA through a process called transformation.
Griffith used two strains of "Streptococcus pneumoniae". He then uses the bacteria to infect the mice, which have many similar characteristics to humans. He used a type III-S (smooth) and type II-R (rough) strain. The III-S strain covers itself with a polysaccharide capsule that protects it from the host's immune system. This means that the host will die. The II-R strain does not have that protective shield around it and is killed by the host's immune system.
In this experiment, bacteria from the III-S strain were killed by heat, and their remains were added to II-R strain bacteria. While neither harmed the mice on their own, the blend of the two was able to kill mice.
Griffith was also able to get both live II-R and live III-S strains of "S. pneumoniae" from the blood of these dead mice. He concluded that the type II-R had been "transformed" into the lethal III-S strain by a "transforming principle" that was somehow part of the dead III-S strain bacteria.