Several years before the "Angel" first showed on television, writer Joss Whedon created the idea behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to change the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie." Whedon was not happy with the way that the "Buffy" idea was first done in the 1992 movie, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". He was given the chance to do the story better with the television series of the same name. The early years of the series were about the life of Buffy Summers, a high-school aged vampire slayer, and her group of friends in Sunnydale (a fictional small town in California). The supernatural parts in the series took the place of the real problems that are a part of adolescence and young adulthood. The character Angel was first seen in the first episode. He became a regular cast member during the second/third seasons. In the fictional universe created by "Buffy" (the Buffyverse), Angel was born in 18th century Ireland. After being turned into a soulless immortal vampire, he became very well known for the evil things he did. Over 100 years later, Angel killed a gypsy girl. Her family punished him by returning his soul. He felt a very large amount of guilt for what he had done over all those years. Angel eventually began on a path of redemption. He hoped that he might make up for his past by doing good deeds. In the "Buffy" third season final episode, Angel leaves Sunnydale for Los Angeles to continue his path of redemption without Buffy. Whedon believed that "Angel was the one character who was bigger than life in the same way that Buffy was, a kind of superhero."
While the main idea behind "Buffy" was "High school as a horror movie" in small-town America, Greenwalt and Whedon wanted to make "Angel" into a different "gritty, urban show".
Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt created a short video, often called the "Unaired Angel pilot" for the WB Network. The idea for the series was a new version of the old detective genre.
On Valentine's Day, 2004, the WB Network said that "Angel" would not be brought back for a sixth season. Joss Whedon posted a message on a popular fan site, The Bronze: Beta, in which he showed his surprise. He said he was "heartbroken". Fans created letter-writing campaigns and online petitions. They tried to get other networks, UPN mainly (the network that picked up "Buffy"), to pick up the show.
"Angel"'s final episode, "Not Fade Away", aired on the WB May 19, 2004.
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a small village and ruined castle dating back to the 11th century. It is in a gap in the Purbeck Hills, five miles south of Wareham, in Dorset, England.
The oldest surviving structure on the castle site dates to the 11th century, although there are good reasons to suppose that there was a stronghold there before the Norman Conquest. Edward the Martyr was killed at the site on March 18, 978.
The castle was besieged in the English Civil War. After it was captured it was partly demolished (slighted).
Stirrup
The stirrup is a ring with a flat bottom fixed on a leather strap, usually hung from each side of a saddle to create a footrest for the rider on a riding animal (usually a horse or a mule), suspended by an adjustable strap from the saddle for use as a support for the foot of a rider of a horse when seated in the saddle and as an aid in getting up.
Château-d'Œx
Château-d'Œx is a commune in Vaud canton Switzerland. The other members of its canton have birds in their flags.
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He served as a member of the Cabinet under Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1987–1989), Foreign Secretary (1989) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989–1990).
Major was born at St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children in St Helier, London, in England and left school at the age of 16. He became a Conservative councillor in 1968. At the 1979 general election, Major was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdonshire (Huntingdon after 1983).
After holding several cabinet positions, Major was elected to replace Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister and party leader. On taking office, he saw British action in the Gulf War (1991) and his party's narrow re-election in the 1992 general election.
After this, the Conservatives under Major became unpopular because of the "Black Wednesday" stock market crash in late 1992 and how they became divided over the issue of European Union. Beaten at the 1997 general election, Major stood down as Prime Minister for Tony Blair of the Labour Party, and was replaced as Conservative leader by William Hague. He stood down as an MP at the 2001 general election.
Major has so far declined a life peerage on standing down from Parliament.
Major married Norma Johnson (now (Dame) Norma Major ) on 3 October 1970. She was a teacher, and a member of the Young Conservatives. They became engaged after only ten days. They have two children; a son, James, and a daughter, Elizabeth. They have a holiday home on the coast of north Norfolk, near Weybourne.
He is a keen follower of cricket, motor racing, and also a supporter of Chelsea Football Club.
Canon (music)
A canon is a piece of voices (or instrumental parts) that sing or play the same music starting at different times. A round is a type of canon, but in a round each voice, when it finishes, can start at the beginning again so that the piece can go “round and round”. Perhaps the most well-known canon is the Pachelbel Canon written by Johann Pachelbel.
There are different kinds of canon. Canons can be described according to distances between the entries of the voices. If the second voice starts one bar (one measure) after the first voice, this is called a “canon at the bar”. If it starts after only half a bar, it is called a “canon at the half-bar”. It is even possible to have very close canons, e.g. “canon at the quaver (eighth note)”. Olivier Messiaen wrote a 3 part canon at the quaver in his ""' for violin and piano. The pianist’s right hand (playing chords), his left hand and the violinist are the three parts.
Canons can also be described according to the intervals between two voices. If one voice starts on a C and the next voice starts the same tune on an F above this is a “canon at the fourth” (because the interval (distance) from C to F is called a “perfect fourth”). If the second voice has the tune upside down (inversion) this is called “canon in inversion”. If the second voice has the tune at half the speed (each note being twice as long) this is a “canon in augmentation” or an “augmented canon”. The opposite is a “canon in diminution”.
“Strict canon” means a canon where each voice imitates the first voice exactly all the way through the piece. If this does not happen (i.e. if it starts off as a canon but then becomes freer) it is “free canon”. A canon may start off sounding like a fugue, but fugues have their own form and rules.
Canons were already popular in the 14th century when composers enjoyed writing music for several voices in which each voice has a share of melody (this is called polyphonic music.) Composers like Guillaume de Machaut wrote canonic music. His "Sanz cuer m’en vois" is a three-part canon in which each part has different words.