where does bridget go in the sisterhood of the traveling pants

The day after she and her friends discover the magic of the pants, Bridget leaves for soccer camp in Baja California, Mexico. Upon arriving there, a soccer coach, Eric Richman, immediately catches Bridget's attention and she relentlessly pursues him, despite the camp's anti-fraternizing policy. She shamelessly flirts with him even to the point of lying about her age and following Eric to a bar. She beat Eric in racing twice. Bridget becomes popular among her fellow campers for her great soccer skills and often shows off in the field, particularly in Eric's presence. These actions earn her the scorn of her soccer coach, Molly, who wants to transform Bridget from a show-off into a real player. Meanwhile, Eric continues to shun her advances until she passes by his cabin one night and the two are intimate on the beach. This encounter proves to be too much for Bridget and she ends up staying in bed and avoiding everyone. Eventually, Eric asks Bridget to walk with him and tells her that their encounter was his fault and that if they met under different circumstances, he would worship her the way she deserves. Despite this, she still feels hurt. Still feeling down, Lena arrives in Baja to take her home and try to make everything better.

Bridget Vreeland

Bridget "Bee" Vreeland is a main character in the 2001 novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She is portrayed by Blake Lively in the 2005 film adaptation of the first book, and the 2008 sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Bridget "Bee" Vreeland is the second-born among her best friends. (In the film, she is the first.) She and her friends grew up in Washington D.C. Her mother, Marlene, a debutante from Alabama committed suicide when Bridget was 11 years old. Her death creates a strain in the relationship between Bridget, her father, and her twin brother Perry. She is closer to her friends than her immediate family. Bridget excels in soccer and is known as the superstar of the group. She is also the most daring and courageous, often acting on impulse rather than reason. She usually does not think twice before doing something no matter how dangerous it is. Despite seeming to be the strongest of the four, she is actually the most vulnerable, often making self-destructive decisions when the consequences of her actions prove to be too much. Bridget's most notable physical characteristic is the long, pale blonde hair. Carmen, Lena and Tibby, Bridget's childhood best friends, often worry about Bridget because of her impulsive decisions. Bridget is also hardworking. In the Second Summer of the Sisterhood she arrives at her grandmother, Greta's home in Alabama and works tirelessly in the attic transforming it into a bedroom. Marly and Bridget have many things in common like their intensity and beauty but Marly is described by Greta as giving up too easily.

Bridget has greatly changed since the first novel, She becomes more responsible as a woman and later becomes a soccer coach.

Early in the summer, Bridget finds five letters in her father's desk, all addressed to her and her twin brother from their estranged maternal grandmother. Impulsively, Bridget packs her bags for Alabama to meet Greta. Upon arriving there, Bridget assumes the alias Gilda Tomko and offers to do odd jobs for her grandmother. Unaware of Gilda's real identity, Greta tells Bridget to clean out her attic so that it may be suitable for renting out. In doing so, Bridget is able to reconnect with her grandmother without disclosing who she really is and learn about Marly growing up.

Bridget learns that her mother was very popular in Alabama during her youth; from the cheerful pictures of her mother back then, she finds it hard to believe the story's real tragic end. During Marly's college days, she was sent to a mental institution for attempting suicide. Bridget learns that her father was her mother's college history professor and their relationship cost him his job and forced them to move to Washington D.C. after their marriage. Greta also tells her (still under the identity of Gilda) that during the last years of Marly's life, she tried to persuade Bridget's father to get help for Marly, but he shunned Greta and told her not to contact their family.

During her stay, Bridget also reconnects with her childhood friend, Billy Kline, and rediscovers the pleasure of playing soccer. When her job in the attic is done, Greta asks her to move in there and Bridget gladly accepts. During a rainstorm, the power goes out. Bridget sees Greta inject herself with insulin which reminds Bridget of the last years in Marly's life; she runs out of the house in the rain, remembering the moment she saw her mother dead. Shortly before dawn, Bridget returns home and Greta combs her hair, just like all the times she has done when Bridget was young. Bridget asks Greta if she knows who she is and Greta admits she has known all along.

Upon learning about Lena's problems, Bridget goes home instantly but promises her grandmother that she'll come back for a visit with Perry. Billy helps Bridget with her bags at the bus stop and they kiss. Bridget then returns home to comfort Lena, just as Lena had comforted her the previous summer.

Bridget goes to soccer camp in Pennsylvania, and is shocked to discover that one of her fellow coaches is none other than Eric. She finds her feelings for him reawakened but is stunned by the discovery that he has a girlfriend, Kaya. Bridget tries to avoid him, but her plan is shot down when she and Eric are made partners.

Not wanting to upset Eric, Bridget selflessly puts her feelings aside and respects the relationship between Eric and Kaya. The two develop a friendship despite Bridgetâ€™s uncertainties. It is also revealed that she and Eric did indeed sleep together the first summer they met.

Later, Bridget comes down with a fever, and Eric finds her in her cabin very ill. Eric carries her to his cabin and takes care of her. They fall asleep together, and Bridget wakes up to find him holding her. She feels confused and betrayed when he then leaves the camp for an unknown reason and decides that she won’t hope for his attention anymore. As much as she prides herself on making this summer with Eric different from the first one, it begins to feel the same because once again, she is left wondering why he left her. She trains her soccer team hard, and they go on to defeat Eric’s in the championship.

Bridget later questions Eric about his departure, and Eric reveals that he returned to New York to break up with his girlfriend because of his feelings for Bridget. He tells her he was ashamed of what he did the summer they met and felt he didn't deserve her. At first, she asks him if he got closer to her just to leave her, but he lets her know otherwise. He tells her that he thinks they were always meant to be, and they become a couple.

Bridget feels slightly at odds with the idea of being "taken." She decides to take a trip to Turkey to help with an archaeological dig, along with several classmates from Brown. Eric, her boyfriend, has decided to coach a soccer camp in Mexico. Bridget meets a handsome professor named Peter in Turkey with whom there is a mutual attraction. Despite the fact that both of them are in relationships, the two share a kiss. Peter's family then makes a surprise visit to celebrate his thirtieth birthday, and Bridget decides that she cannot carry on the fling. She also realizes that she is becoming the person she will be for the rest of her life and does not want to be like this. Upon returning home, she tries to piece her family's life together. She attempts to become closer to her twin brother, Perry, who has dropped out of college and became a social recluse. Eric calls her and surprises her with his arrival, and Bridget is pleasantly surprised when her father and brother help her clean the house. Eric stays the night at her house, and they end up having sex. After Eric leaves the next morning, she begins looking through old boxed up memories in her basement and finds mementos of her mother and her younger self. She realizes that her father does care because he has taken the time to save these things. She comes to terms with who her family is and buys Perry a rabbit, hoping it will help him venture into the outside world more.

In this book, we continue to see Bridget compared to her mother. In addition to sharing the same hair colour, they also both attempt to date a college professor. Bridget is notoriously reckless like her mother. Although Bridget never makes the connection it becomes apparently obvious to the reader that the two are eerily similar.

Ten years after the last novel, Bridget now lives in San Francisco with Eric. Although she wants to settle down with him, a part of her remains restless. When the "sisters" go to Greece and Tibby dies unexpectedly, Bridget leaves Eric, and soon after finds out she is pregnant with his child. She decides to go to Australia, where Tibby had been living together with Brian, only to find out that Tibby had a daughter before she died. Bridget and the girl, Bailey, form a very tight bond, and decides not to terminate her pregnancy as she had previously considered. Bridget reunites with Eric, and they, along with Carmen and Lena, move into the country home Tibby had bought for the sisters.

Bridget is mentioned in 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Jo, who remembers her as a counselor from soccer camp. Jo remembers that Bridget was dating Eric and that some girls at the camp saw them kissing.


how many episodes of the borgias are there

In total, 29 episodes of The Borgias were broadcast over three seasons.

List of The Borgias episodes

The Borgias is a historical drama created by Neil Jordan based upon the life of Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and his family. The series takes place in Rome at the end of the 15th century and depicts Borgia's ruthless efforts to win the papal election, his eventual rise to the position of Pope and his family's struggle to maintain and increase their political power. The series premiered on Showtime on April 3, 2011, with the Canadian premiere happening one hour later on Bravo!.[1] The two-hour premiere was the most-watched original Canadian series premiere on Bravo! and the fourth-most-watched-overall program in the channel's history with 575,000 viewers.[2] On June 5, 2013, after three seasons, Showtime officially cancelled The Borgias. The last episode aired on June 16, 2013.[3]


who did robinson crusoe meet on the island

Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe names the man, with whom he cannot at first communicate, Friday because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression "Man Friday", used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. Current usage also includes "Girl Friday".

Friday (Robinson Crusoe)

Robinson Crusoe spends twenty-eight years on an island off the coast of Venezuela with his talking parrot Poll, his pet dog, and a tame goat as his only companions. In his twenty-fourth year, he discovers that Carib cannibals occasionally use a desolate beach on the island to kill and eat their captives.

Crusoe observes one of the Caribs, kept captive and about to be eaten, escape his captors. Crusoe ambushes two pursuers, and the others leave in their canoes without knowing what happened to their companions. The escaped captive bows in gratitude to Crusoe, who decides to employ him as a servant. He names him Friday after the weekday upon which the rescue takes place.

Crusoe describes Friday as being a Native American, though very unlike the Indians of Brazil and Virginia. His religion involves the worship of a mountain god named Benamuckee, officiated over by high priests called Oowokakee. Crusoe learned a few of his native words that have been found in a Spanish-TÃ©rraba (or Teribe) dictionary, so Friday may have belonged to that tribe, also called the Naso people. Friday tolerates cannibalism, and even suggests eating the men Crusoe has killed.

Crusoe teaches Friday the English language and converts him to Christianity. He tells him that cannibalism is wrong. Friday accompanies him in an ambush in which they save Friday's father.

Crusoe returns to England twenty-eight years after being shipwrecked on the island, and four years after rescuing Friday. Friday's father goes with a Spanish castaway to the mainland to retrieve fourteen other Spanish castaways, but Crusoe and Friday depart the island before they return.

Friday accompanies Crusoe home to England, and is his companion in the sequel The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, in which Friday is killed in a sea battle. In Jules Verne's L'Ã‰cole des Robinsons (1882), the castaways rescue an African Negro on their island who says his name is Carefinotu. T. Artelett proposes to call him Mercredi ("Wednesday"), "as it is always done in the islands with Robinsons,"[1] but his master Godfrey prefers to keep the original name.


how far is medford ma from boston ma

Medford is a city 3.2 miles northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173. It is home to Tufts University.

Medford, Massachusetts

Medford was settled in 1630 as part of Charlestown.[2] The area was originally called "Mistick" by Thomas Dudley (a name which persisted for many decades), which his party renamed "Meadford".[3] The name may have come from a description of the "meadow by the ford" in the Mystic River, or from two locations in England that Cradock may have known: the hamlet of Mayford or Metford in Staffordshire near Caverswall, or from the parish of Maidford or Medford (now Towcester, Northamptonshire).[4] In 1634, the land north of the Mystic River became the private plantation of former Governor Matthew Cradock; across the river was Ten Hills Farm, which belonged to John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony.[5]

In 1637, the first bridge (a toll bridge) across the Mystic River was built at the site of the present-day Cradock Bridge, which carries Main Street into Medford Square.[6] It would be the only bridge across the Mystic until 1787, and as such became a major route for traffic coming into Boston from the north (though ferries and fords were also used).[7] The bridge would be rebuilt in 1880 and 1909.[6]

Until 1656, all of northern Medford was owned by Cradock, his heirs, or Edward Collins. Medford was governed as a "peculiar" or private plantation. As the land began to be divided among several people from different families, the new owners began to meet and make decisions locally and increasingly independently from the Charlestown town meeting. In 1674, a Board of Selectmen was elected, in 1684, the colonial legislature granted the ability to raise money independently, and in 1689, a representative to the legislature was chosen. The town got its own religious meeting room in 1690, and a secular meeting house in 1696.[7]

In 1692, the town engaged its first ordained preacher, Rev. John Hancock Sr., grandfather to John Hancock, first and third Governor of Massachusetts and famous revolutionary figure; during his time of service Rev. Hancock lived in Medford, serving until November 1693.[8][7]

The land south of the Mystic River, present-day South Medford, was originally known as "Mistick Field". It was transferred from Charlestown to Medford in 1754.[9] This grant also included the "Charlestown woodlots" (the Medford part of the Middlesex Fells), and part of what was at the time Woburn (now Winchester).[10] Other parts of Medford were transferred to Charlestown in 1811, Winchester in 1850 ("Upper Medford"), and Malden in 1879. Additional land was transferred to Medford from Malden (1817), Everett (1875), and Malden (1877) again.[4][11]

The population of Medford went from 230 in 1700 to 1,114 in 1800. After 1880, the population rapidly expanded, reaching 18,244 by 1900.[12] Farmland was divided into lots and sold to build residential and commercial buildings, starting in the 1840s and 1850s; government services expanded with the population (schools, police, post office) and technological advancement (gas lighting, electricity, telephones, railways).[11] Tufts University was chartered in 1852 and the Crane Theological School at Tufts opened in 1869.

Medford was incorporated as a city in 1892, and was a center of industry, including the manufacture of tiles and crackers,[13] bricks,[14] rum,[15] and clipper ships,[16] such as the White Swallow and the Kingfisher, both built by Hayden & Cudworth.[17]

During the 17th century, a handful of major public roads (High Street, Main Street, Salem Street, "the road to Stoneham", and South Street) served the population, but the road network started a long-term expansion in the 18th century.[18] The Medford Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1803, but turned what is now Mystic Avenue over to the city in 1866. The Andover Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1805, but turned what is now Forest Street and Fellsway West over to Medford in 1830.[11]

Other major commercial transportation projects included the Middlesex Canal by 1803,[19] the Boston and Lowell Railroad in West Medford in the 1830s, and the Boston and Maine Railroad to Medford Center in 1847.

A horse-powered street railway began running to Somerville and Charlestown in 1860. The street railway network expanded in the hands of various private companies, and went electric in the late 1890s, when trolleys to Everett and downtown Boston were available.[11] Streetcars were converted to buses in the 20th century. Interstate 93 was constructed between 1956 and 1963.[20]

In 1868, a French astronomer and naturalist, Leopold Trouvelot, was attempting to breed a better silkworm using Gypsy moths. Several of the moths escaped from his home, at 27 Myrtle Street. Within ten years, the insect had denuded the vegetation in the neighborhood. It spread over North America.[21][22]

In a tavern and boarding house on High Street (Simpson's Tavern) in the late 19th century, local resident James Pierpont wrote "Jingle Bells" after watching a sleigh race from Medford to Malden. Another local resident, Lydia Maria Child (1802â€“1880), made a poem out of the trip across town to her grandparents' house, now the classic song "Over the River and Through the Wood".

Paul Revere's famous midnight ride traveled along Main Street, continuing onto High Street in Medford Square. An annual re-enactment takes place honoring the historic event.

The Peter Tufts House (350 Riverside Ave.) is thought to be the oldest all-brick building in New England. Another important site is the "Slave Wall" on Grove Street, built by "Pomp," a slave owned by the prominent Brooks family. The Isaac Royall House, which once belonged to one of Harvard Law School's founders, Isaac Royall, Jr., is a National Historic Landmark and a local history museum. The house was used by Continental Army troops, including George Washington and John Stark, during the American Revolutionary War.

George Luther Stearns, an American industrialist and one of John Brown's Secret Six. His passion for the abolitionist cause shaped his life, bringing him into contact with the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson and starting The Nation magazine. He was given the rank of major by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew and spent most of the Civil War recruiting for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments and the 5th cavalry.

Medford was home to Fannie Farmer, author of one of the world's most famous cookbooksâ€”as well as James Plimpton, the man credited with the 1863 invention of the first practical four-wheeled roller skate, which set off a roller craze that quickly spread across the United States and Europe.[23]

Amelia Earhart lived in Medford while working as a social worker in 1925.

Elizabeth Short, the victim of an infamous Hollywood murder and who became known as The Black Dahlia, was born in Hyde Park (the southernmost neighborhood of the city of Boston, Massachusetts) but raised in Medford before going to the West Coast looking for fame.

Medford has sent more than its share of athletes to the National Hockey League; Shawn Bates, though born in Melrose, MA grew up in Medford, as did Keith Tkachuk, Mike Morrison, David Sacco, and Joe Sacco. Former Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette grew up in Medford.

Medford was home to Michael Bloomberg, American businessman, philanthropist, and the founder of Bloomberg L.P.. He was the Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. Mayor Bloomberg attended Medford High School and resided in Medford until after he graduated from college at Johns Hopkins University.[24] His mother remained a resident of Medford until her death in 2011.

The only cryobank of amniotic stem cells in the United States is located in Medford, built by Biocell Center, a biotechnology company led by Giuseppe Simoni.

Medford was the location of some famous crimes:

Medford is located at 42°25′12″N 71°6′29″W / 42.42000°N 71.10806°W / 42.42000; -71.10806 (42.419996, −71.107942).[26]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22 km2), of which, 8.1 square miles (21 km2) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) of it (5.79%) is water.

A park called the Middlesex Fells Reservation, to the north, is partly within the city. This 2,060-acre (8Â km2) preserve is shared by Medford with the municipalities of Winchester, Stoneham, Melrose, and Malden. The Mystic River flows roughly west to southeast through the middle of the city.

People from Medford often identify themselves with a particular neighborhood.

Irish-Americans are a strong presence in the city and live in all areas. South Medford is a traditionally Italian neighborhood. West Medford, the most affluent of Medford's many neighborhoods, was once the bastion of some of Boston's elite families— including Peter Chardon Brooks, one of the wealthiest men in post-colonial America, and father-in-law to Charles Francis Adams — and is also home to an historic African-American neighborhood that dates to the Civil War.[40]

As of the census[41] of 2010, there were 56,173 people, 22,810 households, and 13,207 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,859.9 people per square mile (2,633.4/km²). There were 24,046 housing units at an average density of 2,796.0 per square mile (1,073.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.6% White, 8.80% African American, 0.2% Native American, 6.9% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.8% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.4% of the population.

There were 22,810 households out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city, the population was spread out with 13.8% under the age of 15, 14.3% from 15 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.[42]

The median income for a household in the city was $52,476, and the median income for a family was $62,409. Males had a median income of $41,704 versus $34,948 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,707. About 4.1% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Medford has three Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels. The Public-access television channel is TV3, The Educational-access television is channel 15 and 16 is the Government-access television (GATV) municipal channel.

Medford is home to many schools, public and private.

Private (non-sectarian)

Private (sectarian)

The City of Medford has several local news and media outlets:

Numerous Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus lines go through Medfordâ€”specifically, the 80, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100, 101, 108, and 134 bus routes provide local service and direct connections to nearby areas in Arlington, Somerville, Cambridge, Malden, Charlestown, Winchester, and Woburn, while the 325 and 326 routes provide express service to downtown Boston and the 710 route is contracted to Joseph's Transportation, a Medford family-owned company. The 90, 97, 106, 110, and 112 bus routes additionally terminate at Wellington station with at most one other stop in Medford, providing a direct connection between Medford and nearby areas in Somerville, Everett, Malden, Revere, Chelsea, East Boston, and Melrose. On Medford's east side, Wellington station on the Orange Line provides a connection to Boston and the entire rapid transit system. On the west side, the Lowell Commuter Rail Line stops in West Medford Square.

Discussion of bringing the Green Line into Medford, as is mandated by environmental mitigation provisions of the Big Dig project,[59] is ongoing. On February 2, 2009, the state formally endorsed extending the Green Line through Medford, terminating near the intersection of Boston Avenue and Mystic Valley Parkway (Massachusetts Route 16). As proposed, the terminus would not have parking facilities. The extension would serve an additional 10,000 potential Green Line riders.

Joseph's Limousine and Transportation of Medford runs a bus line through the city and also picks up passengers going to other parts of Greater Boston or out of state.

Interstate 93 travels roughly northâ€“south through the city. State routes passing through Medford include 16, 28, 38, and 60.


who plays the kid in pursuit of happiness

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film based on entrepreneur Chris Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, the film features Will Smith as Gardner, a homeless salesman. Smith's son Jaden Smith co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr.

The Pursuit of Happyness

The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the best-selling eponymous memoir written by Gardner with Quincy Troupe. The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures. For his performance, Smith was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

The unusual spelling of the film's title comes from a mural that Gardner sees on the wall outside the daycare facility his son attends. He complains to the owner of the daycare that "happiness" is incorrectly spelt as "happyness" and needs to be changed.

In 1981, San Francisco salesman Chris Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone density scanners, which he demonstrates to doctors and pitches as a handy quantum leap over standard X-rays. The scanners play a vital role in his life. While he is able to sell most of them, the time lag between the sales and his growing financial demands enrage his already bitter and alienated wife Linda, who works as a hotel maid. The financial instability increasingly erodes their marriage, in spite of them caring for Christopher Jr., their soon-to-be five-year-old son.

While Chris is trying to sell one of the scanners, he meets Jay Twistle, a manager for Dean Witter Reynolds, and impresses him by solving a Rubik's Cube during a taxi ride. After Jay leaves, Gardner lacks money to pay the fare and chooses to run instead, causing the driver to angrily chase him into a BART station. Gardner boards a train but loses one of his scanners in the process. His new relationship with Jay earns him the chance to become an intern stockbroker. The day before the interview, Gardner grudgingly agrees to paint his apartment so as to postpone being evicted due to his difficulty in paying the rent. While painting, Gardner is greeted by two policemen at his doorstep, who take him to the station, stating he has to pay for the numerous parking tickets he has accumulated. As part of the sanction, Gardner is ordered to spend the night in jail instead, complicating his schedule for the interview the next morning. He manages to arrive at Dean Witter's office on time, albeit still in his shabby clothes. Despite his appearance, he impresses the interviewers and lands an unpaid internship. He would be amongst 20 interns competing for a paid position as a stockbroker.

Gardner's unpaid internship does not please Linda, who eventually leaves for New York City because she might get a job at her sister's boyfriend's new restaurant. After Gardner bluntly says she is incapable of being a single mom, she agrees that Christopher Jr. will remain with his dad. Gardner is further set back when his bank account is garnished by the IRS for unpaid income taxes, and he and Christopher are evicted. He ends up with less than $22, resulting in them being homeless, and they are forced at one point to stay in a restroom at a BART station. Other days, he and Christopher spend nights at a homeless shelter, in BART, or, if he manages to procure sufficient cash, at a hotel. Later, Gardner finds the bone scanner that he lost in the BART station earlier and, after repairing it, sells it to a physician, thus completing all his sales of his scanners.

Disadvantaged by his limited work hours, and knowing that maximizing his client contacts and profits is the only way to earn the broker position, Gardner develops a number of ways to make phone sales calls more efficiently, including reaching out to potential high-value customers, defying protocol. One sympathetic prospect who is a top-level pension fund manager even takes Chris and Christopher to a San Francisco 49ers game. Regardless of his challenges, he never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, even going so far as to lend one of his bosses $5 for cab fare, a sum that he cannot afford. Concluding his internship, Gardner is called into a meeting with his managers. One of them notes he is wearing a shirt. Gardner explains it is his last day and thought to dress for the occasion. The manager smiles and says he should wear another one tomorrow, letting him know that he has won the coveted full-time position and giving him back his $5 as he promised. Fighting back tears, Gardner shakes hands with them, then rushes to his son's daycare to embrace Christopher. They walk down the street, joking with each other (and are passed by the real Chris Gardner, in a business suit). The epilogue reveals that Gardner went on to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm.

Chris Gardner realized his story had Hollywood potential after an overwhelming national response to an interview he did with 20/20 in January 2002.[2] He published his autobiography on May 23, 2006, and later became an associate producer for the film. The movie took some liberties with Gardner's true life story. Certain details and events that actually took place over the span of several years were compressed into a relatively short time and although eight-year-old Jaden portrayed Chris as a five-year-old, Gardner's son was just a toddler at the time. Towards the end Chris Gardner has a brief uncredited cameo appearance before the credits.

Chris Gardner initially thought Smith, an actor best known for his performances in blockbuster films, was miscast to play him. However, he claimed his daughter Jacintha said, "If [Smith] can play Muhammad Ali, he can play you!", referring to Smith's role in the biopic Ali (2001).[3]

Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album with the score composed by Andrea Guerra on January 9, 2007.

Also in the film are brief portions of "Higher Ground" and "Jesus Children of America", both sung by Stevie Wonder, and "Lord, Don't Move the Mountain" by Mahalia Jackson and Doris Akers, sung by the Glide Ensemble.

The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web. It was Smith's sixth consecutive #1 opening and one of Smith's consecutive $100 million blockbusters. The film grossed $162,586,036 domestically in the US and Canada. In the hope Gardner's story would inspire the down-trodden citizens of Chattanooga, Tennessee to achieve financial independence and to take greater responsibility for the welfare of their families, the mayor of Chattanooga organized a viewing of the film for the city's homeless.[4] Gardner himself felt that it was imperative to share his story for the sake of its widespread social issues. "When I talk about alcoholism in the household, domestic violence, child abuse, illiteracy, and all of those issuesâ€”those are universal issues; those are not just confined to ZIP codes," he said.[5]

The film was released on DVD on March 27, 2007, and as of November 2007, US Region 1 DVD sales accounted for an additional $89,923,088 in revenue, slightly less than half of what was earned in its first week of release.[6] About 5,570,577 units have been sold, bringing in $90,582,602 in revenue.[7]

The film was received generally positively by critics, with Will Smith receiving widespread acclaim for his performance. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 67% overall approval based on 171 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Will Smith's heartfelt performance elevates The Pursuit of Happyness above mere melodrama."[8]

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle observed, "The great surprise of the picture is that it's not corny... The beauty of the film is its honesty. In its outlines, it's nothing like the usual success story depicted on-screen, in which, after a reasonable interval of disappointment, success arrives wrapped in a ribbon and a bow. Instead, this success story follows the pattern most common in lifeâ€”it chronicles a series of soul-sickening failures and defeats, missed opportunities, sure things that didn't quite happen, all of which are accompanied by a concomitant accretion of barely perceptible victories that gradually amount to something. In other words, it all feels real."[9]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film "a fairy tale in realist drag... the kind of entertainment that goes down smoothly until it gets stuck in your craw... It's the same old bootstraps story, an American dream artfully told, skillfully sold. To that calculated end, the film making is seamless, unadorned, transparent, the better to serve Mr. Smith's warm expressiveness... How you respond to this man's moving story may depend on whether you find Mr. Smith's and his son's performances so overwhelmingly winning that you buy the idea that poverty is a function of bad luck and bad choices, and success the result of heroic toil and dreams."[10]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film three out of a possible four stars and commented, "Smith is on the march toward Oscar... [His] role needs gravity, smarts, charm, humor and a soul that's not synthetic. Smith brings it. He's the real deal."[11]

In Variety, Brian Lowry said the film "is more inspirational than creatively inspiredâ€”imbued with the kind of uplifting, afterschool-special qualities that can trigger a major toothache... Smith's heartfelt performance is easy to admire. But the movie's painfully earnest tone should skew its appeal to the portion of the audience that, admittedly, has catapulted many cloying TV movies into hits... In the final accounting, [it] winds up being a little like the determined salesman Mr. Gardner himself: easy to root for, certainly, but not that much fun to spend time with."[12]

Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Dramatically it lacks the layering of a Kramer vs. Kramer, which it superficially resembles... Though the subject matter is serious, the film itself is rather slight, and it relies on the actor to give it any energy. Even in a more modest register, Smith is a very appealing leading man, and he makes Gardner's plight compelling... The Pursuit of Happyness is an unexceptional film with exceptional performances... There are worse ways to spend the holidays, and, at the least, it will likely make you appreciate your own circumstances."[13]

In the St. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall graded the film B- and added, "[It] is the obligatory feel-good drama of the holiday season and takes that responsibility a bit too seriously... the film lays so many obstacles and solutions before its resilient hero that the volume of sentimentality and coincidence makes it feel suspect... Neither Conrad's script nor Muccino's redundant direction shows [what] lifted the real-life Chris above better educated and more experienced candidates, but it comes through in the earnest performances of the two Smiths. Father Will seldom comes across this mature on screen; at the finale, he achieves a measure of Oscar-worthy emotion. Little Jaden is a chip off the old block, uncommonly at ease before the cameras. Their real-life bond is an inestimable asset to the on-screen characters' relationship, although Conrad never really tests it with any conflict."[14]

National Review Online has named the film #7 in its list of 'The Best Conservative Movies'. Linda Chavez of the Center for Equal Opportunity wrote, "this film provides the perfect antidote to Wall Street and other Hollywood diatribes depicting the world of finance as filled with nothing but greed."[15]


who is the father of amba ambika ambalika

Amba was the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi. She had two younger sisters Ambika and Ambalika.[1] Amba is a commonly used word in Sanskrit meaning mother, also with Vedic linkage as the mother of the Vedas.[2][3]

Amba (Mahabharata)

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Amba is the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi, who considers the Kuru prince Bhishma responsible for her misfortune and her sole goal in life becomes his destruction, to fulfill which she is reborn as Shikhandi  (the son of Drupada, the father of Draupadi).

The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata narrates about Amba's swayamvara at the Kingdom of Kashi. Amba and Salva, the king of Saubala, were secretly in love and Amba had promised to place the varmala on his neck. Bhishma came to know of the ceremony of the three beautiful princesses, and went to the Swayamvara to win the princesses for his step-brother Vichitravirya. Once arrived, Bhishma announced his intention to abduct the brides, challenging the assembled suitors to stop him. Bhishma forced the princesses into his chariot and rode away. The kings followed and showered Bhishma with arrows; however, Bhishma returned the attack and defeated them. Salva challenged Bhishma for a duel; Bhishma overpowered and wounded Salva, but spared his life. Unaware of Amba's feelings, Bhishma proceeded to Hastinapur and presented them to Satyavati, who made arrangements for their marriage to Vichitravirya. Amba approached Bhishma and the council of Brahmins and revealed that she and Salva were in love with each other and that she was going to choose him as her husband in the Swayamvara. Bhishma conceded that her reasoning was sound and sent her to Salva with honors, while Ambika and Ambalika were married to Vichitravirya.[4][5]

In the Ambopakhyanaparvan chapter of the book Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, the rest of Amba's tale is narrated by Bhishma when Duryodhana questioned him as to why he did not kill Shikhandi, an ally of the Pandavas, cousins and foes of the Kauravas.[3]

Bhishma ensured that Amba was escorted safely to Salwa Kingdom. Amba informed Salva that she had come for him. Salva retorted that he no longer desired her, as she was to be wed to another man. He declared that she was rightfully won by Bhishma, who defeated and insulted him and other kings and accused her of happily leaving with him. Amba pleaded with Salva, whom she considered her true love, to accept her. But Salva reiterated Kshatriya dharma and refused to accept her. Rejected, the heart broken  Amba left Saubala and went to the forest.[6]

Amba peeved by this rejection then went to Bhishma and accosted him saying that he was responsible for all her problems. Bhishma refused to marry her to  Vichitravirya, on the plea that she was in love with someone else. She then approached Bhishma to marry her. He also refused due to his vow of celibacy. This further infuriated Amba, as she had now been spurned by three people. She appealed to various kings to defeat Bhishma and do her justice, but all of them refused knowing bhisma's capabilities. Finally, she went to the forest to please the gods so that she can have her revenge on Bhishma.[7]

Amba reflected on her condition and considered all the people responsible for it, including herself (as she did not escape Bhishma's chariot when Bhishma was fighting Salva), Bhishma (who abducted her), Salva (who rejected her) and her father (who arranged her swayamvara). She finally arrived at the conclusion that Bhishma was the main culprit and swore to destroy him by austerities or battle. She sought shelter with a group of ascetics that night and narrated her tale to them. There the learned sage Shaikhavatya consoled Amba and promised to guide her in her austerities.[1][8]

Other sages discussed amongst themselves Amba's situation and contemplated her alternatives and advised her to return to her father as there are only two true protectors of a woman: a father and a husband. However, Amba declined, deciding to practice austerities. On the next day, the sage Hotravahana (of the Srinjaya race), a former king and Amba's maternal grandfather, passed by the place. Upon listening to the tale of Amba's ordeal, the sage advised her not to return to her father and instead approach the sage Parashurama. Akritavrana, one of Parashurama's disciples, also arrived at the place. Hotravahana introduced Amba to Akritavrana and both of them explain Amba's case to him.[9] Akritavrana gave Amba two options: either Parashurama should approach Salva to marry her or Bhishma should be defeated by Parashurama. Amba asked Akritavrana to decide who was her culprit. Akritavrana agreed with Amba that Bhishma was the root cause of her plight and should be the target of her revenge. Akritavrana and Hotravahana explained Amba's predicament to Parashurama, whom Amba herself prayed to for help. Parashurama â€“ an eternal foe of the Kshatriyas gave his word to Amba that he would slay Bhishma, who was his disciple in the past, and destroy his pride.[10][11]

When Parashurama arrived with his retinue at Kurukshetra and sent a message to Bhishma of his arrival, Bhishma came to see his guru, offering him the traditional respects. A pleased Parashurama commanded Bhishma to accept Amba. Bhishma refused, restating that he had taken a vow of celibacy. An infuriated Parashurama threatened Bhishma with death. Bhishma tried to calm the sage, but in vain, and he finally agreed to battle his guru to safeguard his Kshatriya duty. Ganga tried stopping the battle by beseeching her son as well as the great sage, but failed.[12] The great battle lasted for 23 days, without any result. On the 24th day when Bhishma chose to use a deadly weapon, at the behest of the divine sage Narada and the gods, Parashurama ended the conflict and the battle was declared a draw.[1][13] Parashurama narrated the events to Amba and told her to seek Bhishma's protection. However, Amba refused to listen to Parashurama's advice and left angrily declaring that she would achieve her objective by asceticism.[14]

Amba gave up food and sleep, and practised asceticism standing still for six months in the Yamuna river valley, surviving only on air. She became emaciated and developed matted locks. After that, she stood in the waters of the Yamuna, without food and practised austerities. After that, she spent time standing on her tip toes, having eaten only one fallen leaf of a tree. Her penance for twelve years started  burning the heavens and the earth. She then went to Vatsa kingdom, in which many renowned sages lived. She roamed the kingdom, bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges (Ganga) and the Yamuna. Then, she visited the ashrams of many sages like Narada, Uluka, Chyavana, Vishwamitra, Mandavya, Dwilipa, Ramhrada and Garga as well as sacred sites like Prayag, Bhogavati and holy groves. During her journey, she observed difficult vows and performed ablutions in the holy waters.[14]

The goddess Ganga appeared before Amba and listened to Amba's tale that her austerities were aimed to destroy Bhishma, Ganga's son. The angry goddess Ganga replied that since Amba's mind was crooked, she would be become a crooked and tortuous river, which will remain dry for eight months and flow in the four months of the rainy season. Ganga declared that the bathing places along the river's course would be in difficult terrain, and it will be infested with crocodiles and other fierce creatures.However due to the merits of her severe tapasya, only half her body would flow as a river,the other half would still be a maiden.Amba wandered practising severe vows and forgoing food and water for months. She visited many tirthas in this time and finally returned to Vatsa, where Ganga's curse materialized.[1][14]

The ascetics of Vatsa dissuaded her to refrain from the austerities, but Amba maintained her resolve and told them her desire was to be born a man and slay Bhishma to avenge her misery. The god Shiva appeared to her and blessed her that she would become a man in her next birth and destroy Bhishma. Amba would be born to the king Drupada of Panchala and become a great warrior. Amba would remember her previous birth and hatred of Bhishma. Pleased with the boon, Amba created a funeral pyre of wood on the banks of the Yamuna and jumped in the fire saying "for Bhishma's destruction!".[1][15][16]

Another variant narrates that Amba performed austerities and pleased Kartikeya, the god of war and Shiva's son. He granted her a garland of ever-fresh lotuses and declared that whoever wore it will destroy Bhishma. With this garland, Amba made one more attempt to seek help of many kings and princes to support her in her just cause. However, there was no response from anyone of them to help her as they did not want to be on the wrong side of Bhishma. In a final effort she approached Drupada but even he declined; in frustration she cast the garland off on a pillar outside Drupada's palace and went for austerities in the forest again. While Amba kills herself, no one dares to touch the garland.[7][17][18]

Drupada had no children so he did austerities in the forest seeking the blessings of Shiva for begetting a son. Shiva granted him the boon that a girl would be born to him, but will transform into a boy later. As prophesied, Amba was reborn as Shikhandini, whose true gender was not disclosed and she was brought up as a boy. When Drupada got his daughter in the garb of a son married to the daughter of Hiranyavarna, the king of Dasharna, his true identity was revealed not only to the chagrin of the girl, her father but also to Shikandini himself. The agitated Hiranyavarna declared war on Panchala. Distressed by the turn of events, Shikhandini went into the forest to fast unto death but was saved by a yaksha (a forest deity), Sthunakarna, who helped him by offering his own gender in exchange to Shikandini's female gender. Thus Shikhandini became the male Shikhandi. After Hiranyavarna's death, Shikhandi returned to swap sexes with the yaksha, however the yaksha was cursed by his master the god Kubera to remain female until Shikhandi's death.[1]

In the variant where the garland of ever-fresh lotuses is mentioned, Shikhandini wears the garland once and Drupada realizes that she will slay Bhishma.[7]

Meanwhile, over the course of time, Ambika and Ambalika had grandchildren Kauravas and Pandavas, who became arch enemies. Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada, was married to the Pandavas. When a great Kurukshetra war between Pandavas and Kauravas ensued, Shikhandi sided with his brothers-in-law, while Bhishma was with the Kauravas. Bhishma had vowed to "not to shoot at a woman, anyone who used to be a woman or has a woman’s name or appears to be a woman",[19] so he narrated to the Kaurava leader Duryodhana Amba's tale and refused to fight to Shikhandi. When Bhishma led the Kaurava army, Shikhandi rode as the charioteer of Arjuna, the third of the Pandava brothers. On seeing Shikhandi, Bhishma lowered his weapons. Shikhandi and Arjuna pierced Bhishma's body, though all Shikhandi's arrows were not so effective in wounding Bhishma. At this stage, it was also the desire of Bhishma to die. Before collapsing, he cried out that it was Arjuna’s arrow that killed him and not of Shikhandi. Bhishma lay on a bed of arrows for days and died on the holy day of Uttarayana. Amba's vengeance was fulfilled when Shikhandi became the cause of Bhishma's death.[1][20]

Shikhandi is killed in a sword fight with Ashwatthama when Ashwatthama, Kripacharya, and Kritaverma attacked the Pandava camp on the night of the final day of battle.[21]

Feminist writer Githa Hariharan tells the story of Amba in The Thousand Faces of Night. Her undaunted courage and dedicated approach to do penance seeking revenge against Bhishma got Amba the epithet "incarnation of penance".[22]

The spiritual guru Ganapathi Sachchidananda says Amba was a "great person" and praises her love, fearlessness and resolve, but cautions against emulating the princess, who was never happy driven by revenge. He considers her tale giving the moral to avoid haste in love and life.[23]


who sang diamond girl in the 80's

Nice N' Wild, also known as Nice & Wild, was a U.S. Freestyle music group that rose to fame in 1986 after their release of "Diamond Girl".[1]

Nice & Wild

Former band members included David Torres, Reggie Pierre and Remy Palacios. The group has since broken up. The original vocals were never performed by the performance group but rather lip synced. David Torres did sing the Spanish parts after completing vocal training. The final record track was recorded by John Minnis and the origination demo vocal was performed by David L Cook.[2] Many believed that Stevie B was the original vocalist of the song, but that proved to be false. The song was written and produced by Joe Granda in 1986.[3]


what happened to vin in the miniver story

No mention is made of the eldest Miniver son, Vincent, who appeared in the earlier film, possibly because Greer Garson and Richard Ney (the actor who portrayed Vincent) had married and been divorced (1943â€“1947) by the time The Miniver Story was produced in 1950.

The Miniver Story

The Miniver Story is a 1950 film sequel to the successful 1942 film Mrs. Miniver.

Like its predecessor, it was made by MGM and starred Greer Garson in the title role, but it was filmed on location in England. The film was directed by H.C. Potter and produced by Sidney Franklin, from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar based on characters created by Jan Struther. The music score was by Mikl贸s R贸zsa and Herbert Stothart, with additional music by Daniele Amfitheatrof (from Mrs. Miniver) (uncredited) and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.

Greer Garson (Kay), Walter Pidgeon (Clem), Reginald Owen (Mr. Foley) and Henry Wilcoxon (Vicar) played their original roles. Also in the cast were Peter Finch (Polish officer) and James Fox in his first film appearance (Toby Miniver).

The story, told partly in flashback and narrated by Clem Miniver, commences on VE Day as Clem and Judy return home from war service and Toby returns from a foster family in America.

Judy, a corporal driver, is loved by Tom Foley, a captain in the Royal Engineers, but she is besotted with a general (Leo Genn) married but separated and twice her age. Kay Miniver has also conducted a brief but platonic affair with an American colonel.

Clem is now restless and dissatisfied; he successfully applies for a design contract in Brazil. But Kay, unknown to him, has developed a major cardiac condition and has one year at most to live. Despite this, she persuades the general to return to his wife, leaving Judy free to marry Tom.

The wedding goes ahead. Clem decides to stay in London and brings Tom into his architectural practice, and soon after he's made aware of her wife's illness. Satisfied that her family are safe and happy, Kay dies.

According to MGM records the film earned only $990,000 in the US and Canada but performed better elsewhere, making $1,234,000. However this was not enough to recoup the large budget and the movie recorded a loss of $2,311,000, making it MGM's most costly flop of 1950.[1][2][3]


when did sunday shopping start in nova scotia

Despite the result of the referendum, the Nova Scotia government began allowing year-round Sunday shopping from October 2006 after grocery chains won a court case against the government over the Sunday shopping regulations.[3]

Nova Scotia Sunday shopping referendum, 2004

A referendum on Sunday shopping was held on October 16, 2004 (to coincide with municipal elections) in Nova Scotia. The vote was 54.90% for the "no" side, meaning that a Sunday shopping ban remained in place.

The issue pitted the municipality of Halifax against smaller towns and rural municipalities where many older residents favoured the ban.[1]

Opponents of the ban said that Sunday shopping should be allowed in order for consumers to have a choice and to keep up with the times. They also argued it would provide a $19 million annual boost to the economy. Supporters of the ban campaigned under the slogan "Dare to be Different" and stated that the province's laid-back character was at stake. They argued the province should take a stand against the tide of materialism they see as sweeping North America.[1]

The first question was as follows:

The second question was as follows:


who plays hanna marin in pretty little liars

Ashley Victoria Benson (born December 18, 1989) is an American actress and model, known for her role as Hanna Marin in the teen mystery-drama television series Pretty Little Liars (2010â€“2017). She starred in the films Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007), Christmas Cupid (2010), Spring Breakers (2013), Ratter (2015) and Chronically Metropolitan (2016).

Ashley Benson

Benson was born December 18, 1989 and raised in Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, California. She has two sisters: Ayiana, born August 8, 1983, and Ada, born June 15, 1992. [1][2]

Ashley Benson began dancing competitively at age 3, studying ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop. She began singing in choirs and musicals at a young age, performing a solo at her church at age 4. When she was eight years old she signed with Ford Models, and appeared in a number of print ads.[3]

Benson spent three years as a series regular on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives.[3]

Benson made her big screen debut with a bit part in the 2004 comedy 13 Going on 30. Benson starred as Carson in Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007), the fourth installment of the Bring It On franchise. The role required her to both overcome her fear of heights to perform the cheerleading stunts,[3] and to end her contract with Days of our Lives:

I got off it, I mean I had talked with the producers about doing this film, and they weren't going to let me do it... I had just passed up so many opportunities where I could have done a film. So this big thing just came up, and I ended up getting to do this. I'm happier that I got off the soap though. I mean I give all my credit to them, because I have learned so much from being on soap operas and working with amazing actors who've been on there for like thirty, forty years. It was an honor to work with them. It's definitely given me all my background. But getting off the soap opera helped me a lot too, because I can move on to bigger and better things. So I am definitely thankful I got to be on a soap opera though.[4]

She recalled working on a film set instead of a soap opera set "definitely weird", because she would spend days working on one or two scenes, whereas on the Days of Our Lives set, she filmed two or three episodes a day. For Bring It On: In It to Win It, she had to attend cheerleading practice, which was "hard for [her], because [she is] afraid of heights."[5] Nonetheless, she was "glad" to do her own stunts, even though she "wasn't expecting it to be so hard."[4]

In 2008, she appeared in the Lifetime original film Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal, where she played head cheerleader Brooke of the Fab Five, which is based on a true story which took place at McKinney North High School in Texas. She became good friends with her onscreen mother Tatum O'Neal, from whom she learned about acting.[6] Furthermore, she was excited to land a supporting role in Bart Got a Room, which aired mainly on film festivals in 2008 before having a limited release in 2009, because it allowed her to work with William H. Macy.[5] She also played a witch disguised as a cheerleader in a 2008 episode of the CW series Supernatural.[7]

In 2009, Benson starred in ABC's short-lived supernatural comedy television series Eastwick.[3][8][9] The show was based on John Updike's novel, The Witches of Eastwick, and the 1987 film adaption of the same name. The series only lasted 13 episodes before ABC cancelled the series due to low ratings but has since gained a cult following.

In December 2009, Benson was cast as Hanna Marin in the ABC Family mystery-thriller teen drama series Pretty Little Liars, based on the novel series by Sara Shepard. Hanna is the "diva" and "It girl" of the group, having taken Alison DiLaurentis' place as the most popular girl at Rosewood High in Alison's absence. The series premiered to 2.47 million viewers with Benson's performance being praised by critics. She also received a number of awards and nominations. Benson reprised the role in the spin-off series Ravenswood and made a directorial debut of an upcoming episode in the sequel series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.[10]

In 2010, Benson starred in the television film Christmas Cupid alongside Christina Milian and Chad Michael Murray, which also aired on ABC Family.[11] In January 2012, Benson was cast in the film Spring Breakers, after Emma Roberts dropped out due to creative reasons.[12] The film centers on four college students who are arrested and bailed out by a drug and arms dealer, who sends them out to do some dirty work on spring break.[13] The film co-starred Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, and James Franco. Filming took place in March and April 2012, and the film was released in March 2013.[14]

She has appeared in the music videos for NLT's "That Girl", One Call's "Black Light", and Hot Chelle Rae's "Honestly". In the January 21, 2013, episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Benson appeared as Carly Whittaker, Barney Stinson's half-sister who dated Ted Mosby. That same month, Benson became the face of eveningwear designer Faviana.[15]

She starred in the 2015 independent horror thriller film Ratter, playing Emma Taylor, a girl who is stalked through her technological devices. That same year, she also appeared in Pixels as Lady Lisa, a fictional game character brought to life. In 2016, Benson appeared in the biographical comedy-drama film Elvis & Nixon as Margaret.


is movie bernie based on a true story

Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede II (/ˈtiːd/; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician and convicted murderer. Tiede confessed to the shooting of a wealthy 81-year-old widow, Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas on November 19, 1996.[1][2] The murder is the subject of the 2011 film Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Jack Black as Tiede.

Bernie Tiede

Bernhardt Tiede II is the son of Bernhardt Tiede (1912–1973), a native of Olgenow, Russia (previously Ukraine)[3] of German descent who had immigrated with his family to the United States in 1926.[4] Bernhardt Tiede (Sr.) had served as a professor of music and choral director at Our Lady of the Lake College (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas (1946–1948), at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas (1948–1957), at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas (1957–1968), and then at McMurry College (now McMurry University) in Abilene, Texas, where he served as director of the McMurry Chanters, the position he held until his death in 1973.[5] In addition to his work as a university professor, the elder Tiede also served as church music director and as a vocal performer. Bernie Tiede's mother was Bernhardt Tiede Sr.'s first wife, Lela Mae Jester (1933–1960).[6] They were married in 1957, and Bernie was born in the next year. But Bernie's mother died in an automobile accident when he was two years old.[7] In 1963 his father married Clara Kathryn Wiley (b. 1938),[8] who became Bernie's stepmother. His father died in Abilene, Texas when Bernie was fifteen.[6] Bernie Tiede graduated from Cooper High School (Abilene, Texas) in 1976.[9]

Tiede met Nugent in March 1990 at her husband's funeral, with which Tiede helped while assistant director at Hawthorn Funeral Home. The two eventually became inseparable. In 1991, Nugent altered her will and disinherited her son, leaving her entire $10 million estate to Tiede.[10] By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for her full time as her business manager and travel companion.[11]

In November 1996 Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a.22 rifle. He then placed Nugent's body in a freezer used to store food at her Carthage home. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, Nugent's estranged son, Amarillo pathologist Rod Nugent, traveled from Amarillo to Panola County nine months after her death, where he declared Nugent a missing person. After entering Marjorie's residence, Rod and his daughter found his mother's body in the freezer, wrapped in a white sheet.[12]

Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. Tiede stated that after the murder, he cleaned the body and placed Nugent in a freezer. After this, Tiede admits, he had given gifts to several friends in Carthage using Nugent's money, which she had previously given him power of attorney to use.

A jury sentenced Tiede to 50 years in prison for Nugent's murder. Tiede appealed his sentence and the appellate courts ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have found premeditation. Tiede filed a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus, in which Tiede alleged that his constitutional rights were violated in the first trial because of newly discovered evidence. He alleged in the writ that the 81-year-old Nugent was controlling and emotionally and verbally abusive toward him, driving him to murder her in a dissociative state brought on by years of sexual abuse from his uncle.[13] The Texas Criminal Courts of Appeal approved the writ.

According to the deceased's estranged son, Rod Nugent, Tiede alienated Nugent from her family, friends and the business associates of her late husband. Nugent told the Globe-News: "It appears this Bernie Tiede kind of systematically estranged my mother from all these people one at a time... At some point they became angry with my mother."[10]

When interviewed, Panola County, Texas District Attorney Danny "Buck" Davidson said that the town of Carthage was "split up" in regards to their opinion of Tiede. Davidson told the Longview News-Journal, "People remember him (Tiede) as being real nice and doing nice things, and they'd like my office to go real easy on him. And then, there's a group that wants no mercy."[10]

Tiede was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. Rod Nugent filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tiede, claiming Tiede had embezzled more than $3 million from Marjorie Nugent.[14]

Shortly after entering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 1999 Tiede was attacked by fellow inmates.[15] During his imprisonment, Bernie was described by a prison official as "a model prisoner," [16] teaching health classes and participating in the prison's choir. He had been, until May 2014, serving a life sentence. However, District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson and a visiting Judge Diane DeVasto of Tyler, Texas, allowed him to be released from his life sentence that month on $10,000 bail, after the appeals attorney for the case, Jodi Cole, discovered that Tiede had been sexually abused as a child for multiple years.[17] Cole alleged that Tiede shot Nugent while in a brief dissociative episode brought on by his abusive relationship with her,[18] a theory backed by forensic psychiatrist Richard Pesikoff.[19]

It's also been suggested that Tiede's handwritten confession (a major factor in the murder being considered first-degree) was heavily influenced by threats of leaking private video tapes of Tiede. When presented with the new evidence, Davidson agreed that had he known this information in the original trial he would have sought a lighter sentence.[21] Nugent's family heard about the release through media reports. Her granddaughter expressed shock that the release was granted and claimed that Richard Linklater's 2011 film Bernie had influenced the legal system.[22] The Nugent family created a website to honor Nugent's memory, posting photos of her and articles relating to her murder.[23]

Between the time of his release in 2014 and his resentencing in April 2016 Tiede resided in Austin, Texas, in filmmaker Richard Linklater's garage apartment, which was a condition of his release.[24]

The resentencing trial began on April 6, 2016. During the resentencing trial, Marjorie's granddaughter Shanna Nugent spoke directly to Bernie saying "You are nothing to me."[25] Shanna and Rod Nugent both asserted that Marjorie was in fact a kind woman on good terms with her family (unlike the film's portrayal) whom Tiede conned to spend her fortune without her knowledge.[26]

This differs greatly from other witnesses' testimonies as Gregg County Commissioner Darryl Primo testified that in a conversation he had with Marjorie between 1991 and 1996 that she spoke well of Bernie's spending, stating, "Iâ€™ll spend every dime [of my money] before I leave it to my family." Additionally Merrell Rhodes, the victim's sister, spoke of her feelings toward Marjorie saying "I was always afraid of her...I never forgot that she was my sister... I always loved her as a sister, actually, even when she did ugly things, and she did."[27] Merrel's son, Joe Rhodes, attested to the movie's accurate portrayal and mentioned several acts of his aunt's abuse toward him in the New York Times article "How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze".[28]

Despite this, On April 22, 2016, a jury of 10 women and two men deliberated and issued a new sentence of 99 years or life for Tiede. After three weeks of testimony, the jurors deliberated for just over four hours.[29]

As of 2016[update] Tiede resides in the Telford Unit of the TDCJ.[30] A week after his resentencing, his lawyers filed an appeal to the court's decision.[31] In June 2016, the 1997 theft charge against Tiede was dropped.[32] In August 2017, a Texas appeals court upheld the 99-year prison sentence.

Tiede was the subject of the 48 Hours episode "The Mortician, the Murder, the Movie" outlining his crime as well as his brief re-entry to society and resentencing.[33]


when did laverne and shirley move to california

For the sixth season in 1980, Laverne and Shirley and their friends all moved from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. The girls took jobs at a department store, Frank and Edna managed a Texas BBQ restaurant called Cowboy Bill's, Carmine delivered singing telegrams and sought work as an actor, and Lenny and Squiggy started a talent agency called Squignowski Talent Agency. From this point until the end of the series' run, Laverne & Shirley was set in the mid-1960s. In one of the shots in the show's new opening sequence, the girls are seen kissing a 1964 poster of The Beatles. With each season, a new year passed in the timeline of the show, starting with 1965 in the 1980â€“81 season, and ending in 1967 with Carmine heading off for Broadway, to star in the musical Hair.

Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley (originally Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney[1]) is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. It starred Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, single roommates in Milwaukee who work as bottlecappers in the fictitious Shotz Brewery. Among others, the series was known for Marshall and Williams' physical comedy.[2][3]

The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of Fonzie (Henry Winkler). Set in roughly the same time period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As with Happy Days, it was made by Paramount Television, created by Garry Marshall (along with Lowell Ganz and Mark Rothman) and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller from Miller-Boyett Productions.

Cindy Williams had refused to do the tv series, so it was recast with Liberty Williams (no relation). A seven minute test scene was shot. According to Michael Eisner, "it was ok, but it wasn't magic." Between that afternoon shoot and the evening, Cindy Williams was eventually talked into doing the role and the scene was reshot that night with what would become the iconic lead actors. Executives wanted to see both versions, but Eisner hid the first reel of film in a closet of the building and said at the screening that the film from the first shoot had gotten lost, so they only watched the performance of Cindy Williams with Penny Marshall.[4]

At the start of each episode, Laverne and Shirley are skipping down a Milwaukee street, arm in arm, reciting a Yiddish-American hopscotch chant: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated," which then leads into the series' theme song titled "Making Our Dreams Come True," performed by Cyndi Grecco. The hopscotch chant is from Penny Marshall's childhood.[5] In seasons six and seven (set in 1960s Southern California), the intro features Laverne and Shirley exiting their apartment building, but still reciting their original chant, and then a re-recorded version of the theme song is played. During the final season (after Cindy Williams left the show), it opens with a group of schoolchildren performing the chant and marching toward an amused Laverne before the theme song begins.

For the first five seasons, from 1976 to 1980, the show was set in Milwaukee (executive producer Thomas L. Miller's home town), taking place from roughly 1958â€“59 through the early 1960s. Shotz Brewery bottle cappers and best friends, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, live in a basement apartment, where they communicate with upstairs neighbors Lenny and Squiggy by screaming up the dumbwaiter shaft connecting their apartments. Also included in the show are Laverne's father, Frank DeFazio, proprietor of the Pizza Bowl, and Edna Babish, the apartment building's landlady, who would later marry Frank. Shirley maintained an off-again on-again romance with dancer/singer/boxer Carmine Ragusa. During this period, characters from Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley would make occasional guest appearances on each other's shows. During the fifth season, the girls went into the Army, and they contended with a tough-as-nails drill sergeant named Alvinia T. Plout (Vicki Lawrence).

Michael McKean and David Lander created the characters of Lenny and Squiggy while both were theater students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[6] Lander told an interviewer in 2006 that they created the characters while high on marijuana.[6] After graduating, they continued to perform the characters in live comedy routines before joining the show's cast.

When the show moved to California, two new characters are added: Sonny St. Jacques, a stunt man, landlord of the Burbank apartment building and love interest for Laverne; as well as Rhonda Lee, the girls' neighbor and an aspiring actress.

In March 1982, Cindy Williams became pregnant with her first child. In May, Williams and her manager-husband Bill Hudson presented a list of demands to accommodate her pregnancy and pending child birth, which Paramount refused. In August, two episodes into production of the series' eighth season, Williams left the show and filed a $20 million lawsuit against Paramount. The case was later settled out of court and Williams was released from her contract.[7]

As for Shirley, she quickly falls in love in the two episodes produced before Williams' departure, and marries Army medic Walter Meany (making her Shirley Feeney Meany). In Williams' final scenes, Shirley discovers that she is pregnant. Shirley's absence is explained with a note left for Laverne saying that she had left town quickly to join her husband overseas.

Despite the departure of Williams, ratings held steady and Laverne & Shirley ranked at #25 for the 1982â€“83 season. ABC asked Penny Marshall to return for a ninth year, but she insisted that the show move its production base from Los Angeles to New York. Eyeing the cost of such an endeavor, and given the age of the show, ABC quietly canceled Laverne & Shirley in May 1983 after 178 episodes.

The final episode was produced like a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series for Carmine, which showed him moving to New York City to star in the Broadway show Hair. Laverne was seen only at the beginning and end of the episode. The spin-off show never materialized.

Laverne Marie DeFazio (Penny Marshall) is known for being a tough-talking tomboy. She grew up in Brooklyn, with her Italian immigrant parents. Laverne's parents moved to Milwaukee, where her mother died. Laverne works alongside best friend and roommate Shirley. Milk and Pepsi is Laverne's favorite drink. Her trademark is the script letter "L" monogrammed on her shirts and sweaters, an idea Marshall got from seeing a vintage sweater in the wardrobe department with an initial sewn in the upper left corner, something that would help the audience remember that she is Laverne.[8]

Shirley Wilhelmina Feeney (Cindy Williams, Seasons 1-7) is the perky, positive one. She also tends to be meek, while Laverne is more outspoken. She later becomes a huge fan of teen-idol Fabian. Her overbearing mother Lily (Pat Carroll) expects more from Shirley than what she can give. Shirley is sensitive and tends to overreact. When she tries to hold back a laugh, she bites her knuckle on her index finger. Shirley works at Shotz brewery with Laverne. She has a special relationship with her stuffed cat Boo Boo Kitty, a name Williams gave the toy after forgetting a line in rehearsal, and was the name of her mother's cat.[9]

Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski (Michael McKean) is a lovable goof who pesters Laverne and Shirley, along with his best friend and roommate Squiggy, both of whom live upstairs from Laverne and Shirley's lower-level apartment. Lenny works as a truck driver at the Shotz brewery. Lenny says that, while he is not completely sure, he thinks his last name (Kosnowski) is Polish for "Help, there's a hog in my kitchen".

Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman (David Lander) works and lives with childhood friend Lenny. Squiggy makes nearly every entrance with his trademark "Hello" said in a comically dopey voice. In the final season, Squiggy's lookalike sister Squendoline is introduced.

Frank DeFazio (Phil Foster) is Laverne's father who runs the Pizza Bowl, a local hang out. He later opens up Cowboy Bills in Burbank, California. Although he could be harsh and lose his temper, he did have a heart of gold. He loves Laverne very much, having been her only parent for years. His pet name for his daughter was "Muffin". Frank is also protective of Shirley, becoming somewhat of a surrogate father to her since her family was far away.

Carmine Ragusa (Eddie Mekka) is Shirley's high-school sweetheart and on-again, off-again romance. "The Big Ragoo" is a part-time boxer and former Golden Gloves champion who owns a dance studio and is constantly working to make it big as a dancer and singer. In the final episode of the series, he auditions for the musical Hair, at last landing a major role on Broadway.

Edna Babish DeFazio (Betty Garrett, Seasons 2-7) is the five-time-divorced landlady who eventually marries Laverne's father. Edna also occasionally sings and dances in the local brewery talent shows. When the series was extended beyond the intended final season, actress Betty Garrett committed to another project and was written out as having left Frank.

Rhonda Lee (Leslie Easterbrook, Seasons 6-8) is a tall, voluptuous, somewhat ditzy blonde actress/singer/dancer/model trying to get discovered and make it big in Hollywood. She is Laverne and Shirley's neighbor and a regular character after they move to Burbank. Rhonda, who also comes off as rather narcissistic about her good looks and self-obsessed, usually (always?) refers to herself in the third person, by her first name. Rhonda often bursts into Laverne and Shirley's apartment (occasionally at inopportune times, much like Lenny and Squiggy often do) to borrow things without really asking and to brag about her social engagements or romantic dates with desirable men with the intention of making the girls envious.

Sonny St. Jacques (Ed Marinaro, Season 6) is a stuntman and Laverne and Shirley's landlord in Burbank. A tall, handsome, muscular man, Sonny is often seen with his shirt off or open. He was intended as a love interest for Laverne. After several episodes in Burbank, Sonny was written out of the show and rarely if ever mentioned again. (In reality, Marinaro left the series to star in Hill Street Blues.)

(Big) Rosie Greenbaum (Carole Ita White) is the girls' childhood nemesis. She married a rich doctor and rubs this in the girls' faces, though they make fun of the fact that he is a proctologist. She is Laverne's rival and upsets her by calling her a "bimbo". Big Rosie and fellow Milwaukee classmate Terri Buttefuco both return in the season-seven episode "Class of '56".

Sgt. Alvinia T. Plout (Vicki Lawrence) is a tough-as-nails drill sergeant the girls meet when they go into the Army.

Officer Norman Hughes (Bo Kaprall) is a police officer and love interest for Laverne.

Mr. Hildebrand (Norman Bartold) is the girl's boss at Bardwell's Department Store.

Although generally viewed as a slapstick comedy, a number of episodes included more dramatic storylines:

Laverne & Shirley premiered in the 1975â€“76 TV season, with its first episode airing in January 1976. By its third season, it had become the most-watched American television program. In August, 1979, before the start of its fifth season, Laverne & Shirley was moved to Thursday nights at 8:00 pm opposite The Waltons on CBS and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century on NBC. Viewership fell sharply. In an effort to improve the show's ratings, ABC moved Laverne & Shirley to Monday nights at 8:00 in December, 1979. The ratings fared no better, so in February, 1980, the network moved the series back to its familiar Tuesday night berth right after Happy Days, where it remained for the next three years. By the end of the fifth season, however, the sitcom failed to make the list of the top-30 programs. Between 1980 and 1982, the ratings improved considerably, but despite having regained its Tuesday-night time slot and changing its format, Laverne & Shirley never regained the popularity it had attained during its first four years on the air. By the time of its cancellation in 1983, it had ranked at number 25 for the season.

During the run of the main show, an animated spin-off called Laverne & Shirley in the Army began airing on Saturday mornings. The first program was aired on October 10, 1981, and featured the voices of Marshall and Williams playing Laverne and Shirley in the Army with a talking piglet drill sergeant named "Squealy" (voiced by Welcome Back Kotter alum Ron Palillo). The show was renamed Laverne and Shirley with the Fonz when the Fonz began working in the motorpool as the chief mechanic, and then again renamed The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour when new segments involving a teenaged Mork & Mindy were added to the mix. The series ran until September 3, 1983.

The program was so successful at the time that it spawned a merchandise franchise. Mego released two models of Laverne and Shirley dolls, and one model of Lenny and Squiggy dolls. Hot Wheels created a Shotz Brewery delivery van, and several novelty toys were sold such as Halloween costumes, a board game, jigsaw puzzles, coloring books, video slot machine[11] and other toys.[citation needed]

Paramount Home Entertainment and (starting with season 2) CBS DVD have released the entire series of Laverne and Shirley on DVD in Region 1, albeit with music substitutions and scene deletions.[12]

On June 16, 2015, CBS DVD will release Laverne & Shirley â€“ The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[13]

Season 1 has also been released on DVD in Region 2.

The first three seasons have been released on DVD in Region 4 by Paramount.

The theme song from the series ("Making Our Dreams Come True" as performed by Cyndi Grecco) was released as a single from Cyndi's LP by the same name and became a radio favorite, becoming a top-30 American hit in 1976.[14]

In 1976, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams released an album, performed in character, titled Laverne & Shirley Sing, which contained some original songs along with some 1950s and 1960s standards. The album was originally released on Atlantic Records. On November 11, 2003, Collector's Choice released it on CD.

In 1979, Michael McKean and David Lander followed suit with the album Lenny and the Squigtones, also performed in character, featuring mainly original songs penned by McKean. The album was released on Casablanca Records.[15][16]

McKean and Lander also appeared together (in character) on American Bandstand performing the song "King of the Cars", the single released from their Lenny and the Squigtones album.

In 1980, Romina Power (of Al Bano and Romina Power fame) recorded a separate theme tune for the show when it was introduced to the Italian market. The track, simply titled "Laverne & Shirley" featured verses in English and Italian. Released as a single in the same year, the track failed to chart.[17]


who sings tuesday's gone with the wind

"Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album, (Pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd'skin-'nérd). It also appears on the band's first live LP, One More From the Road.

Tuesday's Gone

One of the band's most popular songs, "Tuesday's Gone"'s relaxing pace and serenading guitars have made it a fan staple. Once in a 1975 radio interview, a caller asked Allen Collins, the song's co-writer, what his favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd song was and Collins answered "Tuesday's Gone". Al Kooper adds upfront Mellotron string sounds to the chorus of the song. It is one of a few Lynyrd Skynyrd songs on which Bob Burns, the original founding member and drummer, did not play. Atlanta Rhythm Section's drummer Robert Nix played on the studio version. Bob Burns, however, can be heard playing on the demo version from the same session.

Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, a Tuesday, the song was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel.[citation needed]

Metallica covered "Tuesday's Gone" on the album Garage Inc., which features special appearances from Gary Rossington, on guitar Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity, John Popper from Blues Traveler, Les Claypool from Primus, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Jim Martin formerly of Faith No More, credited as Fatso.

In 1994, a cover version was recorded by country music artist Hank Williams, Jr., as part of a compilation titled Skynyrd Frynds, which featured several country acts performing covers of Skynyrd songs.

Ian Stuart Donaldson of Skrewdriver covered the song with Stigger on the Patriotic Ballads 2 album.

On July 13, 1999, Phish covered the song for an encore at the then-called Tweeter Center (now the Xfinity Center) outside of Boston, in Mansfield, Massachusetts[1]

In 2001, a previously unreleased demo version of the song was featured as a bonus track on the reissued and expanded CD. The demo version is also available on the 2005 Chronicles CD box set.[citation needed]

Bluegrass versions of the song were recorded by Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time on their 2004 tribute CD Lonesome Skynyrd Time.

Atlanta Rhythm Section covered the song on the 2011 album With All Due Respect on the Fuel 2000 Records label.


under 19 world cup 2018 captain of india

The Indian Under-19 cricket team represents the nation of India in cricket at Under-19 level. The team is currently captained by Prithvi Shaw and coached by former India cricketer Rahul Dravid.[1] The Indian team has won four Under-19 World Cups. In 2000, they won it under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif, in 2008, they won it under Virat Kohli's leadership, in 2012 under Unmukt Chand and in 2018 under Prithvi Shaw. The team also has the best win percentage in ODIs (77%) among all Under-19 national teams.[2] In June 2016, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided that Indian players could only play in one under-19 World Cup tournament, regardless if they still meet the age criteria for another edition.[3]

India national under-19 cricket team

The following 15 players were selected for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup


who wrote the angel of history (in theses on the philosophy of history )

One key to Benjamin’s critique of historicism is his rejection of the past as a continuum of progress. This is most apparent in thesis XI. His alternate vision of the past and “progress” is best represented by thesis IX, which employs Paul Klee’s painting Angelus Novus (1920) as the "angel of history," with his back turned to the future: "Where we see the appearance of a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe, which unceasingly piles rubble on top of rubble and hurls it before his feet [...] That which we call progress, is this storm." Benjamin thus inverts Marxist historical materialism, which was concerned with predicting a revolutionary future, to assert that historical materialism's true task ought to be, in Beiner's words, "to save the past."[3]

Theses on the Philosophy of History

Theses on the Philosophy of History (also On the Concept of History, from German: Ãœber den Begriff der Geschichte) is an essay written in early 1940 by German philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin. It is one of Benjamin's best-known, and most controversial works.[1]

Composed of twenty numbered paragraphs, Benjamin wrote the brief essay shortly before attempting to escape from Vichy France, where French collaborationist government officials were handing over Jewish refugees like Benjamin to the Nazi Gestapo. Theses is the last major work Benjamin completed before fleeing to Spain where he committed suicide in September 1940.

In the essay, Benjamin uses poetic and scientific analogies to present a critique of historicism.

One interpretation of Benjamin in Thesis I is that Benjamin is suggesting that despite Karl Marx's claims to scientific objectivity, historical materialism is actually a quasi-religious fraud. Benjamin uses The Turk, a famous chess-playing device of the 18th century, as an analogy for historical materialism. Presented as an automaton that could defeat skilled chess players, The Turk actually concealed a human (allegedly a dwarf) who controlled the machine. He wrote:

However, the Marxist author Michael Löwy points out that Benjamin puts quotation marks around 'historical materialism' in this paragraph:

According to Benjamin, "Historicism depicts the 'eternal' picture of the past; the historical materialist, an experience with it, which stands alone" (Thesis XVI). Benjamin argues against the idea of an "eternal picture" of history and prefers the idea of history as a self-standing experience. Thus, Benjamin states “To articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it ‘the way it really was.' It means to seize hold of a memory as it flashes up at a moment of danger" (Thesis VI).

In Thesis XVIII, he highlights a scientific perspective of time only to follow it up with some provocative metaphors:

Benjamin's colleague Gershom Scholem, who is quoted in Theses, believed that Benjamin's critique of historical materialism was so final that, as Mark Lilla would write, "nothing remains of historical materialism [...] but the term itself.[1] [4]

Scholem,[3] who is quoted in Theses, suggested that the cryptic essay's seemingly definitive rejection of Marxist historical materialism in favor of a return to the theology and metaphysics of Benjamin's earlier writings came after Benjamin recovered from the deep shock he felt following the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact when the Marxist-Leninist Soviet Union and Fascist, anti-Semitic Germany, previously bitter rivals, announced a non-aggression pact.

Benjamin mailed a copy of the essay to the philosopher Hannah Arendt, who passed it on to Theodor Adorno. Benjamin asked that the essay not be published,[1] but it was first printed in a mimeographed booklet entitled Walter Benjamin zum GedÃ¤chtnis (In memory of Walter Benjamin). In 1947, a French translation by Pierre Missac appeared in the journal, Les Temps Modernes. An English translation by Harry Zohn is included in the collection of essays by Benjamin, Illuminations, edited by Arendt (1968).[5]