where does the clone wars fit in with the movies

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 American 3D animated science fiction-space opera film that takes place within the Star Wars saga, leading into a TV series of the same name produced by Lucasfilm Animation. The film is set during the three-year time period between the films Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which also holds the home media distribution rights to both this film and the first five seasons of the television series, the film premiered on August 10, 2008 at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, while screening in wide-release on August 14, 2008 across Australia, and August 15 in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Clone Wars served as an introduction to the television series of the same name, which debuted on October 3, 2008. Though critical reception was negative, the film was a box office success, and grossed $68.3 million worldwide against an $8.5 million budget.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

During the Clone Wars, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a small Republic clone army against the Separatist droid army on the planet Christophsis. Awaiting reinforcements, the two Jedi greet a shuttle carrying the young Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been assigned by Jedi Master Yoda to serve as Anakin's Padawan. Anakin begrudgingly accepts Ahsoka's apprenticeship, and the two succeed in deactivating the Separatists' energy field while Obi-Wan stalls the droid army commander, allowing a Republic victory. Ahsoka earns Anakin's respect.

Following the battle, Yoda arrives and informs the Jedi that crime lord Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta has been kidnapped. Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the Huttlet, while Obi-Wan is sent to Tatooine to negotiate with Jabba over a potential treaty between the Hutts and the Republic. Anakin and Ahsoka find Rotta on the planet Teth, where they are ambushed by Separatist forces led by Count Dooku's apprentice Asajj Ventress, discovering that Dooku hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's kidnapping. The Jedi manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport with which they travel to Tatooine. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives on Teth and defeats Ventress in a lightsaber duel, though she manages to escape.

Meanwhile, Senator Padmé Amidala, Anakin's secret wife, learns of Anakin's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle Ziro in Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. However, Padmé soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to have Rotta killed in order for Jabba to have Anakin and Ahsoka executed in return, which will force the Jedi Council, led by Yoda, to take Jabba into custody and allow Ziro to seize power over the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO enables her to summon a squadron of clone troopers, and Ziro is arrested.

Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are shot down by MagnaGuards. Anakin devises a ruse to confront Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights off Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by the MagnaGuards, whom she defeats. The two deliver Rotta safely to Jabba, who nonetheless orders the Jedi's execution for their supposed attempt to kidnap him. However, PadmÃ© contacts Jabba in time and reveals Ziro and the Separatists' responsibility for the kidnapping. Acknowledging the Jedi's heroism and allowing the Republic to have Ziro punished for his betrayal, Jabba agrees to the Republic treaty while Anakin and Ahsoka are retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda. In the meantime during his escape, Dooku reports to his master Darth Sidious about the failure of their plot against the Jedi and Jabba, but the Sith Lord assures to him that the tide of war is still in their favor.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars was made to serve as both a stand-alone story and a lead-in to the weekly animated TV series of the same name.[4] George Lucas had the idea for a film after viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on the big screen.[1] Those first few episodes, originally planned for release on television, were then woven together to form the theatrical release.[2] The story of the kidnapped Hutt was inspired by the Sonny Chiba samurai film titled Shogunâ€™s Shadow.[7] Warner Bros. had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and Lucas decided on a theatrical launch after viewing early footage[8] declaring "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?"[9] Lucas described the film was "almost an afterthought."[9] Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, said of the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways."[10] Producer Catherine Winder said the sudden decision added to an already large challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity,"[11] but she felt it was a good way to start the series, and thought budgetary constraints forced the production team to think outside the box in a positive way.[11]

Lucasfilm and Lucasfilm Animation used Autodesk software to animate both the film and the series using the Maya 3D modeling program to create highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures.[12] The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the stylized looks of both Japanese anime and manga, and the supermarionation of the British 1960s series Thunderbirds. At a Cartoon Network-hosted discussion, Lucas said he did not want the Clones Wars film or television series to look like such movies as Beowulf, because he wanted a stylized look rather than a realistic one. He also felt it should not look like the popular Pixar movies such as The Incredibles, because he wanted the film and characters to have its own unique style.[13] Lucas also decided to create the animated film and series from a live-action perspective, which Winder said set it apart from other CGI films. Essentially, it "meant using long camera shots, aggressive lighting techniques, and relying on editing instead of storyboards."[11] Animators also reviewed designs from the original 2003 Clone Wars series when creating the animation style for the film and the new series.[14] In charge was Steward Lee, working as the storyboard artist during filming.[8] Some actors from the live-action films, including Anthony Daniels, Matthew Wood, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson, returned to vocally reprise their roles of their respective characters,[15] although they didn't reprised their roles in the subsequent Clone Wars series.

The musical score for Star Wars: The Clone Wars was composed by Kevin Kiner.[16] The original motion picture soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc begins with the main theme by John Williams, followed by more than 30 separate music cues composed by Kiner.[16] Kiner is known for his work on such television series as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Superboy and CSI: Miami. The soundtrack uses some instruments never heard before in a Star Wars score, including erhus, duduks and ouds.[17]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise was first released on July 26, 2008. Hasbro released several 3 3⁄4-inch Clone Wars action figures, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE).[18] Toys "R" Us mounted digital clocks in all 585 of its stores that counted down to the release of the Clone Wars toys, and more than 225 of the stores opened at midnight for the debut of the Star Wars products. Two of the Toys "R" Us flagship outlets in Mission Bay, San Diego and Times Square in Manhattan, New York City held costume and trivia contests on July 26, and gave away limited-edition Star Wars toys with every purchase. A section of the Toys "R" Us website was also dedicated to The Clone Wars.[10] The toy line continues with The Clone Wars figures being well received by collectors for their detail to the characters and vehicles.

Due to Lucas's sudden decision to produce the film, Lucas Licensing did not have time to enter into agreements with previous Star Wars marketing partners like Pepsi, Burger King and Kellogg's, with which the Lucasfilm licensing company had a ten-year marketing plan for the other films. When questioned by The New York Times about Star Wars merchandising in July 2006, a Pepsi spokesperson was unaware a new Star Wars film was being released. Target and KB Toys also devoted shelf space for Clone Wars toys, but did not hold midnight releases or pursue the branding opportunities Toys "R" Us did. On August 15, McDonald's held its first ever Happy Meal promotion for a Star Wars film and for four weeks, 18 exclusive toys came in specially designed Happy Meal boxes.[10]

Dark Horse Comics published a six-issue digest-sized comic book miniseries. Randy Stradley, vice president of publishing for Dark Horse, said the sudden decision to release the Clone Wars film required the company to temporarily delay plans for two other Star Wars comic book series, Dark Times and Rebellion. The Clone Wars comics did not receive the promotional campaign it otherwise would have due to the abruptness of the theatrical and comic book releases.[19] Topps, the trading cards company, released a series of 90 Clone Wars cards on July 26, which also included foil cards, motion cards, animation cel cards and rare sketch cards by top Star Wars artists and Lucasfilm animators.[20] DK Publishing and the Penguin Group released books, activities and other merchandise that tied in with the film. Also released was the Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, published by DK, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the UK, published by Puffin and in the U.S. by Grosset & Dunlap. The publishers also released a storybook, picture books and an activity book.[21] At the American International Toy Fair, Lego announced a product line for the film and the TV series, to be released in July 2008 in the United States and on August 2008 in the United Kingdom.[22]

The LucasArts video game developer adapted the film into Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance for the Nintendo DS and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels for Wii.[23] A reviewer from PocketGamer.co.uk said his expectations for Jedi Alliance were low due to poor Clone Wars movie reviews, but he found the game "a varied and well-paced experience."[24]

A Star Wars: The Clone Wars MP3 player was released in August 2008. The player includes one gigabyte of memory, which holds 200 songs or 20 hours of music and comes with three interchangeable faceplates: a green one with Yoda and a lightsaber on it, a silver one with Captain Rex and a Galactic Empire logo on it, and one with two Clone troopers on Coruscant. One review claimed it improved upon a Darth Vader MP3 player released in July 2008, which featured only 512 megabytes of memory and a dated visual display.[25] A Star Wars iPod iSpeaker (a speaker/dock for iPods, iPhones and MP3 players) was also released. The speaker includes an image of Captain Rex and three other Clone Troopers.[26]

A Star Wars: The Clone Wars open wheel car for the IndyCar Series was unveiled at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International. The #26 car, which also included Blockbuster Inc. decals and was driven by Andretti Green Racing driver Marco Andretti, ran August 24 on the Infineon Raceway in the Sonoma Mountains in California. Andretti said, "I'm hoping that my upcoming battle at Infineon will be as exciting as anything in a Star Wars movie so I can win it for both Blockbuster and Lucasfilm."[27] The car finished 14th at Infineon, which Andretti attributed to a slow pit stop early in the race; he added, "I just don't think it was a very good performance for us today."[28] The Clone Wars car was the second collaboration between Lucasfilm, Blockbuster and Andretti Green Racing. It premiered as an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull car at the Indianapolis 500 in May 2008.[27]

The film's two-disc DVD and Blu-ray Disc was released on November 11, 2008 in the United States and on December 8, 2008 in the United Kingdom.[29][30] The film was released as a single-disc DVD, two-disc Special Edition DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The standard-definition versions include the film in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound, and with feature-length audio commentary.[31]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars received an 18% approval rating based on 157 reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads: "Mechanical animation and a less-than stellar script make The Clone Wars a pale shadow of George Lucas' once great franchise."[32] This constituted the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of any Star Wars film; the previous six theatrical films ranged from 55% to 94%, and the made-for-television Ewok films and the Star Wars Holiday Special garnered higher ratings, although their averages encompassed far fewer reviews.[32] At Metacritic, the film scored 35% based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[33]

Entertainment Weekly listed Star Wars: The Clone Wars as one of the five worst films of 2008[34] with critic Owen Gleiberman saying,

It's hard to tell the droids from the Jedi drones in this robotic animated dud, in which the George Lucas Empire Strikes Backâ€”at the audience. What wears you out is Lucas' immersion in a Star Wars cosmology that has grown so obsessive-compulsively cluttered yet trivial that it's no longer escapism; Because this movie has bad lightsaber duels and the lack of the original cast, it's something you want to escape from.[34]

Ain't It Cool News posted two reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed on those attending the screening its writers attended. The same reviews were re-posted on the site, on the day of the film's release. The retraction prompted some readers to allege a conspiracy by Lucasfilm to keep negative press out of circulation until the release of the film, but although the review by site creator Harry Knowles was negative, Drew McWeeny said that his review was positive and that no such conspiracy existed.[35]

Several critics compared The Clone Wars to a Saturday morning cartoon[36][37][38] and described it as little more than a plug for the upcoming animated series.[39][40][41] Linda Barnard, of the Toronto Star, said the movie "pretty much drives a stake into the heart of every loyal fan of the movies. And now [George Lucas is] out to stick it to those too young to know about Jar Jar Binks." Variety magazine reviewer Todd McCarthy said, "This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved."[40] Joe Neumiar, of the New York Daily News, wrote, "If this were a true Star Wars film, right about now somebody would say, '...I've got a bad feeling about this.'"[42] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film an F grade and wrote, "George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun."[43] Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said, "The best that can be said about the movie is that it's harmless and mostly charmless. The Clone Wars is to Star Wars what karaoke is to pop music."[41]

The main criticism toward the film was the animation. Many criticized it as cheap, wooden, non-engaging, and out-of-date;[36][37][39][40][41][45][46] some reviewers drew negative comparisons to 1960s marionette-based shows Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5,[39][42][46][47] although George Lucas previously said the animation style was a deliberate homage to such shows.[13] Tom Long of The Detroit News said the animation "is downright weak compared to what's generally seen on screens these days"[48] and said the characters are so stiff they look like they were "carved by Pinocchio's father."[48] Roger Ebert said "the characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen facesâ€”all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work."[37] McCarthy said "the movements, both of the characters and the compositions, look mechanical, and the mostly familiar characters have all the facial expressiveness of Easter Island statues." But some of the same reviewers who criticized the animation acknowledged some positive elements about it; McCarthy said it allowed for "somewhat more dramatic compositions and color schemes,"[40] and Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said the scenery and backgrounds were "vivid and alive",[41] although she said the characters "move as you would imagine the statues at a waxworks might."[40]

Reviewers also criticized the dialogue, which Ebert said was limited to "simplistic declamations"[37] and Claudia Puig of USA Today described as "stilted and overblown, a problem also in some of the live-action incarnations."[36] Many critics also said that the battle scenes were repetitive and lacked tension;[36][37][40][43][49] McCarthy described the action sequences as "a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a lightsaber fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dogfight, and on and on."[40] Linda Stasi, of the New York Post, also described the lack of character development in the film, writing that whereas the original Star Wars films dedicated time to allowing viewers to get to know the characters, "Director Dave Filoni is so concentrated on the action that we're never given the chance to care who lives and who is blown into spare parts."[45] Jason Anderson, of the Globe and Mail, wrote that although The Clone Wars is intended for younger audiences, "parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence."[49] Ebert also found protagonist Ahsoka Tano "annoying,"[37] and Michael Rechtshaffen, of The Hollywood Reporter, said the attempts of humor amid the bickering between Tano and Anakin Skywalker are "strained".[46] Puig said she enjoyed the character, and that "her repartee with Anakin enlivens things."[36]

The Clone Wars earned $68,282,844 worldwide, including $35,161,554 in North American domestic box office grosses and $33,121,290 in international grosses.[3] The film earned $14,611,273 on 3,452 screens in its opening weekend,[50] including $6,228,973 on its opening day, August 15.[51] It was the third-highest earning film of the weekend, behind Tropic Thunder and The Dark Knight, which earned $25.8 million and $16.3 million, respectively.[50] Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said the box office performance met expectations because two-thirds of the audience were families and the budget for the film was $8.5 million, frugal considering it was a CGI film, and because the film was meant to introduce the animated series. Fellman said, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium."[2] When The Clone Wars dropped to $5.6 million in its second week of release, ContactMusic.com described it as "the first bona fide Star Wars flop."[52] The film also earned $23,428,376 from DVD sales in the US.[53]


where do the vocal cords attach to the arytenoids

The arytenoid[1] (/ærɪˈtiːnɔɪd/) cartilages are a pair of small three-sided pyramids which form part of the larynx, to which the vocal folds (vocal cords) are attached. These allow and aid in the vocal cords' movement.

Arytenoid cartilage

Each is pyramidal or ladle-shaped in form (arytenoid comes from Greek arytaina meaning ladle + eidos, meaning form),[2] and has three surfaces, a base, and an apex.

The posterior surface is a triangular, smooth, concave, and gives attachment to the arytenoid muscle and transversus.

The antero-lateral surface is somewhat convex and rough. On it, near the apex of the cartilage, is a rounded elevation (colliculus) from which a ridge (crista arcuata) curves at first backward and then downward and forward to the vocal process. The lower part of this crest intervenes between two depressions or foveæ, an upper, triangular, and a lower oblong in shape; the latter gives attachment to the vocalis muscle.

The medial surface is narrow, smooth, and flattened, covered by mucous membrane, and forms the lateral boundary of the intercartilaginous part of the rima glottidis.

The base of each cartilage is broad, and on it is a concave smooth surface, for articulation with the cricoid cartilage.

The apex of each cartilage is pointed, curved backward and medialward, and surmounted by a small conical, cartilaginous nodule, the corniculate cartilage.

They allow the vocal folds to be tensed, relaxed, or approximated.

The arytenoids articulate with the supero-lateral parts of the cricoid cartilage lamina, forming the cricoarytenoid joints at which they can come together, move apart, tilt anteriorly or posteriorly, and rotate.

Sagittal section of the larynx and upper part of the trachea.

The entrance to the larynx, viewed from behind.

Muscles of the larynx, seen from above.


cardiac cells have the ability to generate an electrical impulse which is called

The contraction of cardiac muscle (heart muscle) in all animals is initiated by electrical impulses known as action potentials. The rate at which these impulses fire controls the rate of cardiac contraction, that is, the heart rate. The cells that create these rhythmic impulses, setting the pace for blood pumping, are called pacemaker cells, and they directly control the heart rate. They make up the cardiac pacemaker, that is, the natural pacemaker of the heart. In most humans, the concentration of pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial (SA) node is the natural pacemaker, and the resultant rhythm is a sinus rhythm.

Cardiac pacemaker

Sometimes an ectopic pacemaker sets the pace, if the SA node is damaged or if the electrical conduction system of the heart has problems. Cardiac arrhythmias can cause heart block, in which the contractions lose any useful rhythm. In humans, and occasionally in animals, a mechanical device called an artificial pacemaker (or simply "pacemaker") may be used after damage to the body's intrinsic conduction system to produce these impulses synthetically.

One percent of the cardiomyocytes in the myocardium possess the ability to generate electrical impulses (or action potentials) spontaneously.
A specialized portion of the heart, called the sinoatrial node (SA node), is responsible for atrial propagation of this potential.

The sinoatrial node (SA node) is a group of cells positioned on the wall of the right atrium, near the entrance of the superior vena cava. These cells are modified cardiomyocytes. They possess rudimentary contractile filaments, but contract relatively weakly compared to the cardiac contractile cells.[1]

The pacemaker cells are connected to neighboring contractile cells via gap junctions, which enable them to locally depolarize adjacent cells. Gap junctions allow the passage of positive cations from the depolarization of the pacemaker cell to adjacent contractile cells. This starts the depolarization and eventual action potential in contractile cells. Having cardiomyocytes connected via gap junctions allow all contractile cells of the heart to act in a coordinated fashion and contract as a unit. All the while being in sync with the pacemaker cells; this is the property that allows the pacemaker cells to control contraction in all other cardiomyocytes.

Cells in the SA node spontaneously depolarize, ultimately resulting in contraction, approximately 100 times per minute. This native rate is constantly modified by the activity of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers via the autonomic nervous system, so that the average resting cardiac rate in adult humans is about 70 beats per minute. Because the sinoatrial node is responsible for the rest of the heart's electrical activity, it is sometimes called the primary pacemaker.

If the SA node does not function properly and is unable to control the heart rate, a group of cells further down the heart will become the ectopic pacemaker of the heart. These cells form the Atrioventricular node (or AV node), which is an area between the left atrium and the right ventricle within the atrial septum, will take over the pacemaker responsibility.

The cells of the AV node normally discharge at about 40-60 beats per minute, and are called the secondary pacemaker.

Further down the electrical conducting system of the heart is the Bundle of His. The left and right branches of this bundle, and the Purkinje fibres, will also produce a spontaneous action potential at a rate of 30-40 beats per minute, so if the SA and AV node both fail to function, these cells can become pacemakers. It is important to realize that these cells will be initiating action potentials and contraction at a much lower rate than the primary or secondary pacemaker cells.

The SA node controls the rate of contraction for the entire heart muscle because its cells have the quickest rate of spontaneous depolarization, thus they initiate action potentials the quickest. The action potential generated by the SA node passes down the electrical conduction system of the heart, and depolarizes the other potential pacemaker cells (AV node) to initiate action potentials before these other cells have had a chance to generate their own spontaneous action potential, thus they contract and propagate electrical impulses to the pace set by the cells of the SA node. This is the normal conduction of electrical activity in the heart.

There are 3 main stages in the generation of an action potential in a pacemaker cell. Since the stages are analogous to contraction of cardiac muscle cells, they have the same naming system. This can lead to some confusion. There is no phase 1 or 2, just phases 0, 3, and 4.

The key to the rhythmic firing of pacemaker cells is that, unlike other neurons in the body, these cells will slowly depolarize by themselves and do not need any outside innervation from the autonomic nervous system to fire action potentials.

As in all other cells, the resting potential of a pacemaker cell (-60mV to -70mV) is caused by a continuous outflow or "leak" of potassium ions through ion channel proteins in the membrane that surrounds the cells. However, in pacemaker cells, this potassium permeability (efflux) decreases as time goes on, causing a slow depolarization. In addition, there is a slow, continuous inward flow of sodium, called the funny current.These two relative ion concentration changes slowly depolarize (make more positive) the inside membrane potential (voltage) of the cell, giving these cells their pacemaker potential. When the membrane potential gets depolarized to about -40mV it has reached threshold (cells enter phase 0), allowing an action potential to be generated.

Though much faster than the depolarization of phase 4, the upstroke in a pacemaker cell is slow compared to that in an axon.

The SA and AV node do not have fast sodium channels like neurons, and the depolarization is mainly caused by a slow influx of calcium ions. (The funny current also increases). Calcium enters the cell via voltage-sensitive calcium channels that open when the threshold is reached. This calcium influx produces the rising phase of the action potential, which results in the reversal of membrane potential to a peak of about +10mV. It is important to note that intracellular calcium causes muscular contraction in contractile cells, and is the effector ion. In heart pacemaker cells, phase 0 depends on the activation of L-type calcium channels instead of the activation of voltage-gated fast sodium channels, which are responsible for initiating action potentials in contractile (non-pacemaker) cells. For this reason, the pacemaker action potential rising phase slope is more gradual than that of the contractile cell (image 2).[7]

The reversal of membrane potential triggers the opening of potassium leak channels, resulting in the rapid loss of potassium ions from the inside of the cell, causing repolarization (Vm gets more negative). The calcium channels are also inactivated soon after they open. In addition, as sodium channels become inactivated, sodium permeability into the cell is decreased. These ion concentration changes slowly repolarize the cell to resting membrane potential (-60mV). Another important note at this phase is that ionic pumps restore ion concentrations to pre-action potential status. The sodium-calcium exchanger ionic pump works to pump calcium out of the intracellular space, thus effectively relaxing the cell. The sodium/potassium pump restores ion concentrations of sodium and potassium ions by pumping sodium out of the cell and pumping (exchanging) potassium into the cell. Restoring these ion concentrations is vital because it enables the cell to reset itself and enables it to repeat the process of spontaneous depolarization leading to activation of an action potential.

If the SA node does not function, or the impulse generated in the SA node is blocked before it travels down the electrical conduction system, a group of cells further down the heart will become its pacemaker.[2] This center is typically represented by cells inside the atrioventricular node (AV node), which is an area between the atria and ventricles, within the atrial septum. If the AV node also fails, Purkinje fibers are occasionally capable of acting as the default or "escape" pacemaker. The reason Purkinje cells do not normally control the heart rate is that they generate action potentials at a lower frequency than the AV or SA nodes.


who wrote where ignorance is bliss it's folly to be wise

Grayâ€™s surviving letters also show his sharp observation and playful sense of humour. He is well known for his phrase, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." The phrase, from Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, is possibly one of the most misconstrued phrases in English literature. Gray is not promoting ignorance, but is reflecting with nostalgia on a time when he was allowed to be ignorant, his youth (1742). It has been asserted that the Ode also abounds with images which find "a mirror in every mind".[15] This was stated by Samuel Johnson who said of the poem, "I rejoice to concur with the common reader... The Church-yard abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo".[1] Indeed, Gray's poem follows the style of the mid-century literary endeavor to write of "universal feelings."[16] Samuel Johnson also said of Gray that he spoke in "two languages". He spoke in the language of "public" and "private" and according to Johnson, he should have spoken more in his private language as he did in his "Elegy" poem.[17]

Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 â€“ 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in 1751.

Gray was an extremely self-critical writer who published only 13 poems in his lifetime, despite being extremely popular. He was even offered the position of Poet Laureate in 1757, though he declined.

Thomas Gray was born in Cornhill, London. His father, Philip Gray, was a scrivener and his mother, Dorothy Antrobus, was a milliner.[1] He was the fifth of twelve children, and the only one to survive infancy.[2] He lived with his mother after she left his abusive and mentally unwell father. [3]

Gray's mother paid for him to go to Eton College, where his uncles Robert and William Antrobus worked. Robert became Gray's first teacher and helped inspire in Gray a love for botany and observational science. Gray's other uncle, William, became his tutor.[4] He recalled his schooldays as a time of great happiness, as is evident in his "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College". Gray was a delicate and scholarly boy who spent his time reading and avoiding athletics. He lived in his uncleâ€™s household rather than at college. He made three close friends at Eton: Horace Walpole, son of the Prime Minister Robert Walpole; Thomas Ashton; and Richard West, son of another Richard West who was briefly Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The four prided themselves on their sense of style, sense of humour, and appreciation of beauty. They were called the "quadruple alliance".[5]

In 1734, Gray went up to Peterhouse, Cambridge.[6] He found the curriculum dull. He wrote letters to friends listing all the things he disliked: the masters ("mad with Pride") and the Fellows ("sleepy, drunken, dull, illiterate Things"). Intended by his family for the law, he spent most of his time as an undergraduate reading classical and modern literature, and playing Vivaldi and Scarlatti on the harpsichord for relaxation.

In 1738, he accompanied his old school-friend Walpole on his Grand Tour of Europe, possibly at Walpole's expense. The two fell out and parted in Tuscany because Walpole wanted to attend fashionable parties and Gray wanted to visit all the antiquities. They were reconciled a few years later. It was Walpole who later helped publish Gray's poetry. When Gray sent his most famous poem, "Elegy," to Walpole, Walpole sent off the poem as a manuscript and it appeared in different magazines. Gray then published the poem himself and received the credit he was due.[1]

Gray began seriously writing poems in 1742, mainly after his close friend Richard West died. He moved to Cambridge and began a self-directed programme of literary study, becoming one of the most learned men of his time, though he claimed to be lazy by inclination. Gray was a brilliant bookworm, a quiet, abstracted, dreaming scholar, often afraid of the shadows of his own fame.[7] He became a Fellow first of Peterhouse, and later of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Gray moved to Pembroke after the students at Peterhouse played a prank on him.[8]

Gray spent most of his life as a scholar in Cambridge, and only later in his life did he begin traveling again. Although he was one of the least productive poets (his collected works published during his lifetime amount to fewer than 1,000 lines), he is regarded as the foremost English-language poet of the mid-18th century. In 1757, he was offered the post of Poet Laureate, which he refused. Gray was so self-critical and fearful of failure that he published only thirteen poems during his lifetime. He once wrote that he feared his collected works would be "mistaken for the works of a flea." Walpole said that "He never wrote anything easily but things of Humour."[9] Gray came to be known as one of the "Graveyard poets" of the late 18th century, along with Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, and Christopher Smart. Gray perhaps knew these men, sharing ideas about death, mortality, and the finality and sublimity of death.

In 1762, the Regius chair of Modern History at Cambridge, a sinecure which carried a salary of Â£400, fell vacant after the death of Shallet Turner, and Gray's friends lobbied the government unsuccessfully to secure the position for him. In the event, Gray lost out to Lawrence Brockett, but he secured the position in 1768 after Brockett's death.[10]

It is believed that Gray began writing his masterpiece, the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, in the graveyard of St. Giles parish church in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, in 1742. After several years of leaving it unfinished, he completed it in 1750[11] (see Elegy for the form). The poem was a literary sensation when published by Robert Dodsley in February 1751 (see 1751 in poetry). Its reflective, calm, and stoic tone was greatly admired, and it was pirated, imitated, quoted, and translated into Latin and Greek. It is still one of the most popular and frequently quoted poems in the English language.[12] In 1759, during the Seven Years War, before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, British General James Wolfe is said to have recited it to one of his officers, adding, "I would prefer being the author of that Poem to the glory of beating the French to-morrow."[13]

The Elegy was recognised immediately for its beauty and skill. It contains many phrases which have entered the common English lexicon, either on their own or as quoted in other works. These include:

"Elegy" contemplates such themes as death and afterlife. These themes foreshadowed the upcoming Gothic movement. It is suggested that perhaps Gray found inspiration for his poem by visiting the gravesite of his aunt, Mary Antrobus. The aunt was buried at the graveyard by the St. Giles' churchyard, which he and his mother would visit. This is the same gravesite where Gray himself was later buried.[14]

Gray also wrote light verse, including Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes, a mock elegy concerning Horace Walpole's cat. After setting the scene with the couplet "What female heart can gold despise? What cat's averse to fish?", the poem moves to its multiple proverbial conclusion: "a fav'rite has no friend", "[k]now one false step is ne'er retrieved" and "nor all that glisters, gold". (Walpole later displayed the fatal china vase (the tub) on a pedestal at his house in Strawberry Hill.)

Gray considered his two Pindaric odes, The Progress of Poesy and The Bard, as his best works. Pindaric odes are to be written with fire and passion, unlike the calmer and more reflective Horatian odes such as Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College. The Bard tells of a wild Welsh poet cursing the Norman king Edward I after his conquest of Wales and prophesying in detail the downfall of the House of Plantagenet. It is melodramatic, and ends with the bard hurling himself to his death from the top of a mountain.

When his duties allowed, Gray travelled widely throughout Britain to places such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Scotland and most notably the Lake District (see his Journal of a Visit to the Lake District in 1769) in search of picturesque landscapes and ancient monuments. These elements were not generally valued in the early 18th century, when the popular taste ran to classical styles in architecture and literature, and most people liked their scenery tame and well-tended. Some[who?] have seen Grayâ€™s writings on this topic, and the Gothic details that appear in his Elegy and The Bard as the first foreshadowing of the Romantic movement that dominated the early 19th century, when William Wordsworth and the other Lake poets taught people to value the picturesque, the sublime, and the Gothic.[citation needed] Gray combined traditional forms and poetic diction with new topics and modes of expression, and may be considered as a classically focused precursor of the romantic revival.[citation needed]

Gray's connection to the Romantic poets is vexed. In the prefaces to the 1800 and 1802 editions of Wordsworth's and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth singled out Gray's "Sonnet on the Death of Richard West" to exemplify what he found most objectionable in poetry, declaring it was

"Gray, who was at the head of those who, by their reasonings, have attempted to widen the space of separation betwixt prose and metrical composition, and was more than any other man curiously elaborate in the structure of his own poetic diction."[18]

Gray wrote in a letter to West, that "the language of the age is never the language of poetry."[18]

Gray died on 30 July 1771 in Cambridge, and was buried beside his mother in the churchyard of St. Giles' church in Stoke Poges, the setting for his famous Elegy.[19] His grave can still be seen there.


who played pippa on the facts of life

Austin got her start in music opening for Johnny Cash in Australia at the age of 14. She later moved to the United States where she took up acting. She is most known in the United States for playing the role of Pippa McKenna on The Facts of Life in 1987â€“88.[citation needed]

Sherrié Austin

Sherrie Veronica Krenn (born 28 August 1970), known professionally as SherriÃ© Austin, is an Australian actress and singer. Active as a singer since her teenage years, Austin initially recorded as one half of the duo Colourhaus, which also featured Phil Radford. After leaving Colourhaus, she recorded one album in her native Australia, before moving to the United States in pursuit of a singing career.

There, she recorded four studio albums, and charted several singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Her highest charting single was the No.Â 18 "Streets of Heaven" in 2003. Her fifth album was released on 15 November 2011.

In 1991, she appeared as "Lady Penelope" on episode No.Â 20 of the first season of the television comedy series Fresh Prince of Bel Air starring Will Smith.[1] In the 1990s, she started a singing career, teaming up with Phil Radford in 1992, to form a duo called Colourhaus, which released one album, Water to the Soul.[2]

The Colorhaus song "Color Me You" was on the soundtrack of the "Rookie of the Year" episode of the television series Baywatch on October 5, 1992.

Afterwards, Austin moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in country music. Her first solo contract was with Arista Nashville, with the album Words being released in 1997. It produced singles in "Lucky in Love", "One Solitary Tear", "Put Your Heart into It", and "Innocent Man". "Lucky in Love" and "Put Your Heart into It" both reached Top 40 on the country charts with a peak of No. 34 each.

Her second and final album for Arista was 1999's Love in the Real World, led off by the No.Â 29 "Never Been Kissed", which was followed by "Little Bird". After RCA acquired Arista Records, Austin's publishing company, Reynsong Publishing, formed Wrensong Entertainment and signed to Madacy Entertainment for her next album, Followin' a Feelin', which produced another single in its lead-off single, a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene".

Later, she switched to the independent Broken Bow Records label. Her fourth album of country music, titled Streets of Heaven, produced her biggest country hit in its title track. Following this single was "Son of a Preacher Man", a cover of the Dusty Springfield song, which was never included on an album.

Austin moved to New York City in 2005 and appeared in the New York Musical Theater Festival's production of Bonnie & Clyde. The New York Times commented that she was "a sultry young country music singer who plays the notorious criminal Bonnie Parker and does for this musical what Reba McEntire did for the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun. That twang in her voice provides some much-needed authenticity in excellent pop-country numbers like "Ain't Goin' Back." And it's easy to tell by her hip-swiveling poses that this is a woman who knows how to hold a stage."[3]

The following year, Austin performed in Ring Of Fire â€“ The Johnny Cash Musical Show[4] at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. She also performed in the production of Warrior, a musical about the American-Indian athlete Jim Thorpe, where CurtainUp.com described her as "outstanding".[5] She returned to Nashville in 2006.

Austin co-wrote Danielle Peck's 2007 single "Bad for Me", the title track to Blake Shelton's 2008 album Startin' Fires, George Strait's "Where Have I Been All My Life" off his 2009 album Twang, and Tim McGraw's duet, with wife Faith Hill, "Shotgun Rider" off his Let It Go album in 2007.[6] Austin left Broken Bow in 2008.[7]

She was named one of 2011's "25 Most Beautiful People" by Nashville Lifestyles Magazine.[8]

In summer 2011, The Sundance Channel announced that Austin and her friend Shane Stevens would be on the second season of Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, which was filmed in Nashville and features women and their gay best friends.[9] The season started 18 November 2011.

Austin's most recent album, Circus Girl, her first in eight years, is described as a series of stories interpreted by a strong woman, about women, and for women, and Austin feels itâ€™s something her female fans have been clamouring for, for quite some time.[10]

"The last few years I had been complaining about that fact that there weren’t any females speaking to women above the age of 30, so I started thinking about how I was writing my songs and came up with the idea for “Friday Night Girls"...I wanted to write a three minute song with every Sex and the City episode that had ever existed, so I did.

Circus Girl was released independently on 15 November 2011.


when was the last time a magician won agt

Mat Franco (born May 10, 1988) is an American magician and the winner of the ninth season of America's Got Talent. Franco rose above hundreds of thousands of acts to become the first magician in history to win, including the $1 million prize. Best known for his personality-driven, sleight-of-hand style of magic, Mat Franco's TV specials marked the first time NBC produced a spin-off show around their AGT winner. Franco is currently headlining in at The LINQ Hotel and Casino at the Mat Franco Theater in Las Vegas.[1][2]

Mat Franco

Franco was born in Johnston, Rhode Island. After he saw magic on TV when he was four, he begged his parents to get him a magic set. He then began performing tricks in his kindergarten class. One of his greatest influences and the first assistant was his grandmother, who used to read magic instructions to Mat when he was too young to read for himself. One of Mat's favorite memories is when he and his grandmother tried to figure out a way to make cards appear out of thin air, like a magician they had seen on television.  They hung a black curtain in the living room and cut a hole in it. Mat's grandmother hid on the other side and passed cards through the curtain to Mat while his grandfather watched, playing along with that "grandma must have stepped outside for a minute" and that he had no idea how the cards were appearing.

Franco continued studying magic as a child and performed any chance he could. When he was 12, he had saved enough money from local shows to fly to Las Vegas to study performance art with some of his idols, including Jeff McBride.[3]

Franco graduated from Johnston High School in 2006 and was captain of the wrestling team his senior year. He would go on to study at the University of Rhode Island, receiving a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Communication Studies.[4]

In 2003, at age 15, Franco was invited to perform onstage at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as part of a show hosted by the Society of American Magicians called "Stars of Tomorrow".

After graduating from college in 2010, Franco performed his one-man show on college campuses throughout the U.S., touring six months out of the year, for four years. He was nominated for "Fastest Rising Star" in 2012, and in 2013 was awarded "Best College Performer" by Campus Activities Magazine (based in Prosperity, South Carolina) in their Reader's Choice Awards.

Franco was always encouraged by his grandmother, Eleanor Campellone, who told an interviewer, "His mother was always working and he couldn't show her everything -- look mom, look mom. So the grandma was there and I had all the time in the world. I'd spend hours watching his tricks."[5]

In 2014/2015, Franco achieved mainstream success as the winner of America's Got Talent.

At the conclusion of the finale, Franco was announced as the winner.

He continues to return In specials of following seasons of Americas Got Talent such a s a Christmas special in 2016.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote of Franco's stint on America's Got Talent: "Franco did a crafty job of customizing his prediction-based, sleight-of-hand magic to make maximum use of Talent judges Howard Stern and Mel B. And he displayed a personality and sense of humor that other magicians were not able to convey in their limited camera time."[10]

It's been said that Franco "specializes in creating customized, interactive presentations for his audiences that allow for spontaneity and improvisation. For Mat, magic isn't about 'tricking' or 'fooling' the audience; it's about connecting with people and bringing smiles to their faces."[11]

Franco began headlining in Las Vegas at LINQ Hotel & Casino on August 5, 2015. The show is titled "Mat Franco: Magic Reinvented Nightly". By 2016 the show was named "Best Magic Show in Las Vegas" by the Las Vegas Review Journal. [12]

Franco returned to Radio City Music Hall as the featured guest performer on America's Got Talent for the first live broadcast of the show's tenth season (August 12, 2015). He later returned for the season finale.

Franco starred in his own two-hour magic TV special titled Mat Franco's Got Magic that aired on NBC on September 17, and December 9, 2015.[12]

Franco started to actively post his tricks on his YouTube channel in April 2015. He currently has over 200,000 subscribers to his channel.

In 2016, his Vegas show was awarded "Best Show" on the Las Vegas Strip in the "Las Vegas Weekly Readers' Choice Awards".

In February 2017, Mat Franco returned to his alma mater University of Rhode Island for a show celebrating the university's 125th anniversary.[13]

On July 10th 2017, the LINQ officially renamed the theater the "Mat Franco Theater" and the city of Las Vegas presented Franco with a key to the Las Vegas Strip and declared July 10th officially "Mat Franco Day."


what is the difference between a dutch and german shepherd

The Dutch Shepherd was discovered as a naturally occurring shepherd's dog type living in the rural areas of the larger region that today includes the Netherlands.[1] When the first breed standard was written in 1898, the coat could be any colour. But, in 1914, it was decided to allow only brindle to distinguish the breed from the then similar German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd.[1] The breeds eventually diverged into the three distinct breeds as known today. However, the Dutch Shepherd remains nearly the same dog it was more than 100 years ago. Today, the Dutch Shepherd is distinguished from the Belgian and German Shepherds by the details specified in the breed standard, primarily of the head.[1]

Dutch Shepherd

The Dutch Shepherd is a herding dog of Dutch origin. They were used by shepherds and farmers who needed a versatile dog, with few demands, and a dog that was able to adapt to a harsh and meager existence.

Originally the main function of the Dutch Shepherd was that of a shepherdâ€™s dog in the countryside. From early times, the Dutch had an arable culture that was maintained by flocks of sheep. The dogs had to keep the flock away from the crops, which they did by patrolling the borders of the road and the fields. They also accompanied the flocks on their way to the common meadows, markets and ports.[2]

At the farm, they kept the hens away from the kitchen garden, they herded the cows together for milking and pulled the milk carts. They also alerted the farmers when strangers entered the farmyard. Around 1900, sheep flocks had for the greater part disappeared in the Netherlands. The versatile skills of the Dutch Shepherd made him suitable for dog training, which was then starting to become popular. They were then trained and used as police dogs, as search and tracking dogs, and as guide dogs for the blind. They are, however, still capable of herding sheep.[2]

The population of the Dutch Shepherd was greatly reduced due to modern farming techniques nearly eliminating the need for the breed as a sheep tender,[1] and in the 1940s and 1950s the breed was almost exterminated. The Second World War put a stop to breeding of most dog breeds in the Netherlands. Dogs died from lack of food, or were taken to Germany by the German military. Many bloodlines became extinct.[1]

After the war, breeding began anew and new blood was needed to diversify the gene pool. Sometimes dogs of unknown origin were used. The Malinois was used for a time, but the practice was stopped because the buyers of those puppies did not have the same goals as the Dutch Breed Club.[1] In 1959, with permission from the breed club, a Laekenois dog was used to expand the rough-hair population.[1] With time, the popularity of the breed grew and expanded into other countries.[1]

Today the Dutch Shepherd is still a rare breed. The Dutch Breed Club encourages all owners of dogs meeting the minimum conformation standards to breed them, and guidelines are laid out so as to increase their number and diversify the gene pool while preserving the health of the breed.[3]

The Dutch Shepherd on average weigh between 50–70 pounds (23–32 kg) and the height varies between 55–63 cm (approximately 22 to 25 inches tall at the withers). Depending on the coat the breed can be distinguished as short-hair, long-hair, or rough-hair.[2]

Short-hair: All over the body, quite hard, close-fitting, with woolly undercoat. Ruff, breeches and tail plume are clearly visible.

Long-hair: All over the body, long, straight, well fitting, harsh to the touch, without curls or waves and with a woolly undercoat. Distinct ruff and breeches. Tail abundantly coated. Head, ears and feet and also the hind legs below the hocks are short and densely coated. The backsides of the forelegs show a strongly developed coat, shortening in length towards the feet, the so-called feathering. No fringes at the ears.

Rough-hair: Dense, harsh tousled coat and a woolly, dense undercoat all over the body except for the head. Upper- and lower lip should be well-covered with hair, the whiskers and beard, and two well defined, coarse rough eyebrows that are distinct but not exaggerated. Furnishings are not soft. The hair on the skull and on the cheeks is less strongly developed. In profile it seems as if the head has a more square appearance. Strongly developed breeches are desirable. Tail is covered all round with hair. The brindle colour may be less pronounced because of the tousled coat.[2]

Brindle. The basic colour is golden or silver, and can vary from a near white light sand-coloured to chestnut red. A "true silver brindle" is very rare, because having too much white is considered a fault. The brindle is clearly present all over the body, in the ruff, breeches and tail. Too much black is undesirable. A black mask is preferable. Heavy white markings on chest or feet is not desirable.[2]

Dutch Shepherds are loyal, reliable, alert, watchful, active, independent, intelligent, and intuitive.

Obedience and discipline can be achieved with remarkable results. Gifted with a true shepherding temperament, they can supposedly work willingly together with their owners and can deal independently with any task they are assigned, being neither aggressive nor shy. They have a strong character and independence passed down from their herding ancestry.[1][2]

The Dutch Breed Club initiated a hotline in 2008 for reporting health and behavioral problems. Most genetic health problems occur at a low rate in this breed. Confirmed genetic diseases diagnosed in Dutch Shepherd Dogs include allergies (atopy), masticatory myositis, pannus, cryptorchidism, and inflammatory bowel disease. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals reports hip dysplasia is present at an overall rate of 8.1 percent on 335 dogs evaluated from Jan 1972 through Dec 2016 (while also reflecting a lower 5.1 percent on dogs born between 2011-2015) [4] and elbow dysplasia is present at a rate of 3.7 percent on 246 dogs evaluated from Jan 1972 through Dec 2016.[5]

Within the rough-hair population care should be taken to screen for goniodysplasia before breeding. This is a condition where the outflow of fluid from the eye is restricted and under certain circumstances can cause blindness. The link between genetics and goniodysplasia is uncertain. Two dogs who have a risk of goniodysplasia can still have puppies who are not at risk. The Dutch Breed Club regulations requires the testing for GD for rough-hairs.[3]

The short-haired variety needs occasional combing, with the exception during the shedding period in the spring and fall when a daily thorough brushing is needed. The long-haired variety needs to be groomed about once a week, or more frequently depending on work and environment. The rough-hair variety needs to be thoroughly brushed once a week, and twice a year the dead hair will need to be hand stripped.[citation needed]

The Dutch Shepherd is an active and versatile breed. They compete in dog agility, obedience, Rally obedience, flyball, dock jumping, disc dog, tracking, search and rescue, nosework, weight pulling, along with protection sports such as Schutzhund, French Ring, Belgian Ring, mondioring, PSA and others. In the Netherlands it is still employed as a herder and the instinct is still strong in the breed.

Internationally, the Dutch Shepherd is best known for use in law enforcement under the KNPV program. The Koninklijke Nederlandse Politiehond Vereniging (KNPV), or Royal Dutch Policedog Association, was founded 27 October 1907, as an organization to oversee and test dogs for their suitability for police work. Dutch Shepherds with KNPV titles are sought after candidates throughout the world for police and military use, as well as sport competitors and personal protection dogs. The KNPV began a dog registration program in 2014 for KNPV member dogs, making registration mandatory for all dogs born after 1 April 2013.[6]

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is an overseeing entity for many international purebred dog breed registries, including the Dutch Kennel Club (Raad van Beheer). The FCI itself is not a registry and does not issue pedigrees, instead the FCI has 90 members and contract partners (one member per country) that each issue their own pedigrees and train their own judges. The 'owner' countries of the breeds write the breed standards that are used as reference for judges at shows held in FCI member countries. Some member countries have an open studbook by which dogs can be registered based on appearances and other FCI member countries have closed studbooks. The Dutch studbooks were closed on 1 February 1971. The goal of the FCI is, in part, ‘to protect the use, the keeping and the breeding of purebred dogs in the countries where the FCI has a member or a contract partner’.[7] The United States of America is not an FCI Member or Contract Partner.[8]

The kennel club of registry for the Dutch Shepherd in the United States is the United Kennel Club, having first published their breed standard on 1 January 1995. Established in 1898, the United Kennel Club is the largest all-breed performance-dog registry in the world, registering dogs from all 50 US states and 25 foreign countries. More than 60 percent of its nearly 16,000 annually licensed events are tests of hunting ability, training and instinct.[9] UKC registered Dutch Shepherds successfully compete in conformation, obedience, agility, rally, weight pull, nosework, dock jumping, lure coursing and previously in protection/police dog events through the now defunct Dog Sport program.[10] The UKC reflects more than 1,349 permanently registered Dutch Shepherds in their archives, but indicates the number of active (under the age of 12) Dutch Shepherds total 1,020 dogs (as of 31 December 2016).[10]

As of 2012, the Dutch Shepherd is being recorded by the American Kennel Club in their Foundation Stock Service, accepting pedigrees from some FCI members as eligibility but declining membership to dogs with pedigrees from certain other FCI member countries. FSS breeds are not eligible for AKC registration, however once individually registered under the FSS program, a Dutch Shepherd is able to compete in the AKC companion events of obedience, tracking, agility and rally.[11] The American Dutch Shepherd Association states they maintain a listing of the dogs registered in the American Kennel Clubâ€™s FSS database and in 2017 reflected a total of 230 Dutch Shepherds registered in the USA and Canada.[12] The American Kennel Club board of directors voted their approval on 16 January 2016 of moving the Dutch Shepherd to the Miscellaneous Class effective 1 January 2017 and has designated the American Dutch Shepherd Association as the AKC Parent Club for the breed.[13]


who is known as the father of indian nuclear programme

Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30 October 1909 â€“ 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).[2] Colloquially known as "father of the Indian nuclear programme",[3] Bhabha was also the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which is now named the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honor. TIFR and AEET were the cornerstone of Indian development of nuclear weapons which Bhabha also supervised as director.[3]

Homi J. Bhabha

He then attended the Royal Institute of Science until 1927 before joining Caius College of Cambridge University. This was due to the insistence of his father and his uncle Dorab Tata, who planned for Bhabha to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering from Cambridge and then return to India, where he would join the Tata Steel or Tata Steel Mills in Jamshedpur as a metallurgist.

Bhabha's father understood his son's predicament, and he agreed to finance his studies in mathematics provided that he obtain first class on his Mechanical Sciences Tripos exam. Bhabha took the Tripos exam in June 1930 and passed with first class. Afterwards, he excelled in his mathematical studies under Paul Dirac to complete the Mathematics Tripos. Meanwhile, he worked at the Cavendish Laboratory while working towards his doctorate in theoretical physics. At the time, the laboratory was the center of a number of scientific breakthroughs. James Chadwick had discovered the neutron, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton transmuted lithium with high-energy protons, and Patrick Blackett and Giuseppe Occhialini used cloud chambers to demonstrate the production of electron pairs and showers by gamma radiation.

During the 1931â€“1932 academic year, Bhabha was awarded the Salomons Studentship in Engineering. In 1932, he obtained first class on his Mathematical Tripos and was awarded the Rouse Ball traveling studentship in mathematics. During this time, nuclear physics was attracting the greatest minds and it was one of the most significantly emerging fields as compared to theoretical physics, the opposition towards theoretical physics attacked the field because it was lenient towards theories rather than proving natural phenomenon through experiments. Conducting experiments on particles which also released enormous amounts of radiation, was a lifelong passion of Bhabha, and his leading edge research and experiments brought great laurels to Indian physicists who particularly switched their fields to nuclear physics, one of the most notable being Piara Singh Gill.

In January 1933, Bhabha received his doctorate in nuclear physics after publishing his first scientific paper, "The Absorption of Cosmic radiation". In the publication, Bhabha offered an explanation of the absorption features and electron shower production in cosmic rays. The paper helped him win the Isaac Newton Studentship in 1934, which he held for the next three years. The following year, he completed his doctoral studies in theoretical physics under Ralph H. Fowler. During his studentship, he split his time working at Cambridge and with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen. In 1935, Bhabha published a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series A, in which he performed the first calculation to determine the cross section of electron-positron scattering. Electron-positron scattering was later named Bhabha scattering, in honor of his contributions in the field.

In 1936, with Walter Heitler, he co-authored a paper, "The Passage of Fast Electrons and the Theory of Cosmic Showers"[5] in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series A, in which they used their theory to describe how primary cosmic rays from outer space interact with the upper atmosphere to produce particles observed at the ground level. Bhabha and Heitler then made numerical estimates of the number of electrons in the cascade process at different altitudes for different electron initiation energies. The calculations agreed with the experimental observations of cosmic ray showers made by Bruno Rossi and Pierre Victor Auger a few years before. Bhabha later concluded that observations of the properties of such particles would lead to the straightforward experimental verification of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. In 1937, Bhabha was awarded the Senior Studentship of the 1851 exhibition, which helped him continue his work at Cambridge until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

In September 1939, Bhabha was in India for a brief holiday when World War II started, and he decided not to return to England for the time being. He accepted an offer to serve as the Reader in the Physics Department of the Indian Institute of Science, then headed by renowned physicist C. V. Raman. He received a special research grant from the Sir Dorab Tata Trust, which he used to establish the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Institute. Bhabha selected a few students, including Harish-Chandra, to work with him. Later, on 20 March 1941, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. With the help of J. R. D. Tata, he played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.

Starting his nuclear physics career in Britain, Bhabha had returned to India for his annual vacation before the start of World War II in September 1939. War prompted him to remain in India and accepted a post of reader in physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, headed by Nobel laureate C.V. Raman.[6] During this time, Bhabha played a key role in convincing the Congress Party's senior leaders, most notably Jawaharlal Nehru who later served as India's first Prime Minister, to start the ambitious nuclear programme. As part of this vision, Bhabha established the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Institute, began to work on the theory of point particles movement, while independently conducting research on nuclear weapons in 1944.[3] In 1945, he established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay, and the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948, serving as its first chairman.[3] In 1948, Nehru led the appointment of Bhabha as the director of the nuclear program and tasked Bhabha to develop the nuclear weapons soon after.[3] In the 1950s, Bhabha represented India in IAEA conferences, and served as President of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland in 1955. During this time, he intensified his lobbying for the development of nuclear weapons. Soon after the Sino-Indo war, Bhabha aggressively and publicly began to call for the nuclear weapons.[6]

Bhabha gained international prominence after deriving a correct expression for the probability of scattering positrons by electrons, a process now known as Bhabha scattering. His major contribution included his work on Compton scattering, R-process, and furthermore the advancement of nuclear physics. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India in 1954.[7] He later served as the member of the Indian Cabinet's Scientific Advisory Committee and provided the pivotal role to Vikram Sarabhai to set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research. In January 1966, Bhabha died in a plane crash near Mont Blanc, while heading to Vienna, Austria to attend a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Scientific Advisory Committee.[6]

When Homi Jehangir Bhabha was working at the India Institute of Science, there was no institute in India which had the necessary facilities for original work in nuclear physics, cosmic rays, high energy physics, and other frontiers of knowledge in physics. This prompted him to send a proposal in March 1944 to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust for establishing 'a vigorous school of research in fundamental physics'. In his proposal he wroteÂ :

of decades from now, India will not have to look abroad for its experts but will find them ready at hand. I do not think that anyone acquainted with scientific development in other countries would deny the need in India for such a school as I propose. The subjects on which research and advanced teaching would be done would be theoretical physics, especially on fundamental problems and with special reference to cosmic rays and nuclear physics, and experimental research on cosmic rays. It is neither possible nor desirable to separate nuclear physics from cosmic rays since the two are closely connected theoretically.[8]

The trustees of Sir Dorabji Jamsetji. Tata Trust decided to accept Bhabha's proposal and financial responsibility for starting the Institute in April 1944. Bombay was chosen as the location for the prosed Institute as the Government of Bombay showed interest in becoming a joint founder of the proposed institute. The institute, named Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, was inaugurated in 1945 in 540 square meters of hired space in an existing building. In 1948 the Institute was moved into the old buildings of the Royal Yacht club. When Bhabha realized that technology development for the atomic energy programme could no longer be carried out within TIFR he proposed to the government to build a new laboratory entirely devoted to this purpose. For this purpose, 1200Â acres of land was acquired at Trombay from the Bombay Government. Thus the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay (AEET) started functioning in 1954. The same year the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was also established.[9] He represented India in International Atomic Energy Forums, and as President of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, in Geneva, Switzerland in 1955. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958.[10]

Bhabha is generally acknowledged as the father of Indian nuclear power. Moreover, he is credited with formulating a strategy of focussing on extracting power from the country's vast thorium reserves rather than its meagre uranium reserves.[11][12] This thorium focused strategy was in marked contrast to all other countries in the world. The approach proposed by Bhabha to achieve this strategic objective became India's three stage nuclear power programme.

Bhabha paraphrased the three-stage approach as follows:

Homi J. Bhabha died when Air India Flight 101 crashed near Mont Blanc on 24 January 1969.[14] Misunderstanding between Geneva Airport and the pilot about the aircraft position near the mountain is the official reason of the crash.

Many possible theories have been advanced for the air crash, including a conspiracy theory in which the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is involved in order to paralyze India's nuclear program.[15] When an Indian diplomatic bag containing calendars and a personal letter was recovered near the crash site in 2012, it was a "Type C" diplomatic bag containing no important documents.[16][17]

After his death, the Atomic Energy Establishment at Bombay was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honour.

In addition to being an able scientist and administrator, Bhabha was also a painter and a classical music and opera enthusiast, besides being an amateur botanist.[citation needed]He is one of the most prominent scientists that India has ever had. Bhabha also encouraged research in electronics, space science, radio astronomy and microbiology.[citation needed] The famed radio telescope at Ooty, India was his initiative, and it became a reality in 1970. The Homi Bhabha Fellowship Council has been giving the Homi Bhabha Fellowships since 1967 Other noted institutions in his name are the Homi Bhabha National Institute, an Indian deemed university and the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai, India.

At Bhabha's death his estate including Mehrangir, the sprawling colonial bungalow at Malabar Hill where he spent most of his life, was inherited by his brother Jamshed Bhabha. Jamshed, an avid patron of arts and culture, bequeathed the bungalow and its contents to the National Centre for the Performing Arts, which auctioned the property for Rs 372 crores in 2014 to raise funds for upkeep and development of the centre. The bungalow was demolished in June 2016 by the owner, Smita-Crishna Godrej of the Godrej family, despite some efforts to have it preserved as a memorial to Homi Bhabha.[18][19]


what is the movie i saw the devil about

I Saw the Devil (Hangul: 악마를 보았다; Hanja: 惡魔를 보았다; RR: Akmareul boatda) is a 2010 South Korean action[3] horror thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon,[4] and written by Jee-woon and Park Hoon-jung. Starring Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, the film follows NIS agent Kim Soo-hyun (Byung-hun), who embarks on a quest of revenge when his fiancée is brutally murdered by a psychopathic murderer, Jang Kyung-chul (Min-sik). I Saw the Devil made its premiere in the United States at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had a limited U.S theatrical release.[5]

I Saw the Devil

I Saw the Devil was Choi Min-sik's first major role since the changes to the Korean screen quota system.[6]

Academy-bus driver Jang Kyung-chul happens upon Jang Joo-yun one snowy night and offers to help fix her flat tire. Kyung-chul kills her and scatters her body parts. When a boy discovers one of Joo-yun's ears, the police are called in under the command of Section Chief Oh and Squad Chief Jang, the latter of whom is the father of Joo-yun. Kim Soo-hyun, a secret service agent of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Joo-yun's fiancÃ©, vows to track down and take vengeance on Joo-yun's murderer.

Jang supplies Soo-hyun with a list of four suspects, including Kyung-chul. Searching Kyung-chul's home, Soo-hyun finds jewelry and underwear taken from (apparently) numerous victims. The discovery of Joo-yun's engagement ring proves that Kyung-chul is the killer. Soo-hyun puts a tracking device on the academy bus, following then attacking Kyung-chul while he is sexually assaulting his latest victimâ€”one of the schoolgirls he was transporting home. Beating him unconscious, Soo-hyun places an NIS transmitter inside Kyung-chul, allowing him to track him on radar and listen to his conversations. Waking up, Kyung-chul flags down a taxi. During the ride, Kyung-chul realizes that the two men in the cab are thugs looking to rob and possibly kill him; he stabs both men to death. After finding the real taxi driver in the trunk, Kyung-chul disposes of all three bodies before going to a medical center, where he attempts to sexually assault a nurse Han Song-yi. Soo-hyun intervenes and slashes Kyung-chul's Achilles tendon before letting him go again.

Kyung-chul goes to the home of his friend Tae-joo, a cannibalistic murderer. After explaining his situation, Tae-joo remarks that whoever is after him must have some relation to one of his victims. Soo-hyun arrives while Kyung-chul is having anal sex with Se-jung, proceeding to incapacitate both murderers along with Tae-joo's girlfriend Se-jung after a prolonged fight. The next day, both Tae-joo and Se-jung are found by the police and sent to a hospital. A trusted subordinate of Soo-hyun's ensures he and Kyung-chul are sent to a private medical area away from the police. The barely conscious Kyung-chul hears them talk about the transmitter inside him.

Soo-hyun dumps Kyung-chul, intending to continue stalking him. Kyung-chul taunts him over the transmitter, now knowing who he is. Kyung-chul brutally assaults a pharmacist while searching for laxatives, forcing Soo-hyun to rush to the aid of the victim. Kyung-chul uses this time to defecate out the transmitter and place it inside a taxi driver he viciously assaults in a public restroom. Soo-hyun interrogates Tae-joo and learns that Kyung-chul is going after Joo-yun's father Jang and sister Jang Se-yun.

Soo-hyun arrives too late to stop Kyung-chul, who blinds Jang with a dumbbell and mutilates Se-yun. He abducts Kyung-chul before the latter can turn himself over to the police. Soo-hyun tortures him physically and mentally before setting up a guillotine above Kyung-chul's head that is soon activated when his parents and son arrive to visit and open the door to the room he is in. Placing a transmitter nearby, Soo-hyun hears the death of Kyung-chul and his family's reaction to his decapitated corpse. Alternating between sobbing and fits of laughter, Soo-hyun suffers a mental breakdown while walking away from the house.

The Korea Media Rating Board forced Kim to recut the film for its theatrical release, objecting to its violent content. The film received a "Restricted" rating twice, preventing any sort of release in theatres or on home video and promotions as well.[8] Seven cuts were made with the total runtime of removed material between eighty and ninety seconds.[9]

I Saw the Devil was released in South Korea on August 12, 2010. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2011.[5] It also received screenings at several other international film festivals, including the Fantasporto Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival and the London Korean Film Festival.[10]

American distribution rights were acquired by Magnet Releasing which released it in theatres on a limited basis on March 4, 2011.[11]

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 80% approval rating from critics based on 80 reviews and an average score of 7.1/10.[12] Metacritic assigned the film a score of 67%, based on a weighted average of 19 reviews from mainstream critics.[13]

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote, "From an unexpectedly moving first act to a hilariously disgusting sojourn with Kyung-chul’s cannibal pal, Mr. Kim and his cinematographer, Lee Mogae, retain complete control of the film’s fluctuating tones and impressive set pieces."[14] Mark Olson of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "There is all the violent mayhem, for certain, but the thing that sets I Saw the Devil apart is its undercurrent of real emotion and how unrelentingly sad it can be."[15] Rob Nelson from Variety magazine stated, "Repugnant content, grislier than the ugliest torture porn, ought to have made the film unwatchable, but it doesn't, simply because Kim's picture is so beautifully filmed, carefully structured and viscerally engaging."[16] Horror website Bloody Disgusting gave it a 4.5/5 rating and stated, "I could talk for hours about I Saw the Devil, but nothing I can say will ever do it justice. The film is an experience; it’s something that will have you emotionally invested in the characters, while also covering your eyes at the extreme violence",[17] whereas Empire awarded the film with a 4/5 score, stating, "This gleefully black horror-thriller is a very classy follow-up to The Good, the Bad, the Weird for Kim Jee-Woon".[18] Phelim O'Neil from The Guardian wrote, "There's no shortage of Korean revenge-thrillers, but this, along with the recent The Man from Nowhere, proves there is plenty of life left in the genre" and gave it a four star rating out five.[19]

Not all critics were favorable towards the film's brutality; Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post wrote, "Director Kim Jee-woon is a born filmmaker, even if this script (written by Park Hoon Jung and adapted by Kim) is unworthy of his efforts" and rated it 2 out of 5 stars.[20] The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "On any number of levels, Devil is troublesome at best, offensive at worst".[21]

Rolling Stone magazine put I Saw the Devil in the top 20 of "the scariest movies you've never seen".[22]

The film was released on DVD in South Korea on 29 March 2011 as a 3 disc set, which contains both the Korean theatrical version and international version.[23]

Special features include:

It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the US on May 10, 2011. Special features include deleted scenes and "HDNet: A Look at I Saw the Devil".


where does the king county water taxi go

The King County Water Taxi is a passenger-only fast ferry service operated by the King County Department of Transportation Marine Division. It operates two routes between Downtown Seattle and West Seattle or Vashon Island.

King County Water Taxi

Vashon Island: 752 (Dec. 2016)

West Seattle is the oldest neighborhood[2] and the birthplace of the city of Seattle. It is surrounded on three sides by water and has both enjoyed and suffered its isolation from the "mainland" of downtown Seattle.

Between 1850 and 1930, hundreds of small, steam-powered ferries called the Mosquito Fleet[3] of steam powered boats carried travelers to and from numerous islands and peninsulas in the Puget Sound area, including West Seattle and Vashon Island.

The first licensed ferry in the Seattle area[4] launched on December 24, 1888, traveled from Seacrest Park in West Seattle to downtown Seattle, as well as other water-bound location throughout the Puget Sound. It was a steam-powered sidewheel ship named the City of Seattle and made two trips a day, carrying West Seattle homesteaders east to the city, and weekend vacationers west to the beachfront.[5] The service was discontinued when the first bridge across the Duwamish River was built.

Over on Vashon Island, the passenger-only ferries were discontinued as the Mosquito Fleet faced increasing competition from the diesel-powered auto ferries. Vashon Island residents could now drive their vehicles onto a ferry to the Fauntleroy terminal in West Seattle.

Over time, a succession of bridges was installed to connect the West Seattle peninsula to downtown proper, beginning with the old wood-and-rail Spokane Street bridge in 1920. In 1970, calls for a modern solution brought attention to the growing problem of commuting to downtown; in 1978, the freighter ship Chavez crashed into the lower bridge[6] spurring the city to build the high-level West Seattle Bridge and the low-level Spokane Street Bridge that are still the primary paths into and out of peninsula today. As West Seattle has grown in popularity, travel in and out of the peninsula has become more congested.

The Elliott Bay Water Taxi started service in 1997 as a pilot project to give commuters an alternative to the congested West Seattle Bridge and Highway 99. The Water Taxi was operated by King County Metro and only ran between April and October. King County leased the M/V Admiral Pete from Kitsap Harbor Tours (via Argosy Cruises) and later the M/V Sightseer from Argosy Cruises to operate the service. The vessel was only capable of traveling 8 knots, but the slow speeds proved popular with both commuters and tourists. The ferry quickly became a popular tourist attraction due to beautiful view as the vessel crosses Elliott Bay, the short walk to Alki Beach and the restaurants in West Seattle.[7]

The passenger-only ferry service between Vashon Island and Downtown Seattle started as a service of the Washington State Ferries in the early 1990s. The ferries proved popular with commuters as they offered a much faster connection to downtown Seattle than the alternative of taking the auto ferry to Fauntleroy and driving or taking transit to downtown.[8] In 2006, the state legislature ordered Washington State Ferries to discontinue all passenger only ferry services, but simultaneously enabled local authorities to form Ferry Districts with tax-collecting authority. The last run operated by the Washington State Ferries vessels came in September 2009.

In April 2007 the county formed the special-purpose King County Ferry District to take over operations of both the West Seattle and Vashon Island passenger-only ferries. The district is funded through a property tax levied on all property in the county.[9] The ferry district took over operation of the West Seattle/Downtown Seattle route from King County Metro on April 27, 2008.[10]

In April 2009, the West Seattle route was renamed from the Elliott Bay Water Taxi to the King County Water Taxi.[11] Later that year, on September 28, 2009, the Vashon Island/Downtown Seattle route was transferred from Washington State Ferries and became the second King County Water Taxi Route.[12] King County Ferry District leased the catamaran MVÂ Melissa Ann from Four Seasons Marine Services to operate the Vashon Island route. In addition to being more stable, the catamaran was also faster than the ships operated by the Washington State Ferries reducing travel time from 30 to 22 minutes.[12]

In April 2010, the West Seattle route began operating year-round service from a newly rebuilt dock at Seacrest Park that allowed for wheelchair access.[13] At the same time the West Seattle route started operating with the catamaran MVÂ Rachel Marie (a sister ship of the Melissa Ann), also leased from Four Seasons Marine Services. The leased Sightseer was returned to Argosy Cruises.[14]

In March 2013, the District added a third vessel to its fleet by acquiring the MVÂ Spirit of Kingston that had been previously used on the failed SoundRunner ferry between Kingston and Downtown Seattle. The Spirit of Kingston is the first vessel to be owned by the ferry district. It was assigned to the West Seattle route[15] where it's smaller size, and more efficient engines proved a better fit than the Rachel Marie. The new vessel allowed the Rachel Marie to serve as a backup, saving the district on rental and lease expenses.

In 2014, the district received federal grants that allowed it to purchase two ships specifically designed for the needs of the King County Water Taxi.

In late 2014 the King County Council (made up of the same members as the King County Ferry District) voted to assume governance of the King County Ferry District. The consolidation of the district into county government saves money by eliminating redundant functions.[16]

As of January 1, 2015, the King County Ferry District ceased to exist, and the King County Water Taxi became a service of the Marine Division of the King County Department of Transportation.

December 2014 saw the arrival of the first new vessel for the King County Water Taxi, the MVÂ Sally Fox. After undergoing tests, the new ferry was placed into service on the Vashon Island/Downtown Seattle route on April 8, 2015.[17] The addition of the Sally Fox to the fleet allowed the leased Rachel Marie to be returned to Four Seasons Marine Services in December 2014.

The second new vessel, the MVÂ Doc Maynard was delivered in October 2015 and after modifications were made to the dock at Seacrest Park, the new ship began service on the West Seattle/Downtown Seattle route on January 7, 2016.[18] The arrival of the Doc Maynard allowed the Spirit of Kingston to become the backup ship for King County and allowed the leased Melissa Ann to be returned to Four Seasons Marine Services in November 2015.

The West Seattle–Seattle route crosses Elliott Bay between Pier 52 on the downtown Seattle waterfront and Seacrest Park in West Seattle. The ferry's crossing time is approximately ten minutes during weekday commute hours and approximately 15 minutes at all other times.[13] As of January 2016[update], the primary ferry for the route is the MV Doc Maynard.

Year round the ferry operates weekdays during the peak commuting hours,[13] carrying an average of 1,742 passengers during the commute hours in December 2014.[19] During the peak season, from early April to late October the water taxi schedule expands to operate all day, seven days a week with extended hours on Friday, Saturday and when the Mariners, Sounders, or Seahawks play night games.[20] Service operates on holidays during the peak season (Aprilâ€“October) but not during the winter season.

King County Metro operates two shuttle bus routes that take passengers to and from the dock at Seacrest Park. Route 773 connects to the West Seattle Junction and route 775 connects to the Admiral District and Alki Beach.

The Vashon Island–Seattle route operates commuter service between Pier 52 on the downtown Seattle waterfront and Vashon Island. There are six sailings in either direction every weekday, three for the morning commute and three for the evening commute. Each crossing takes approximately 22 minutes.[21] As of mid 2015[update], the primary ferry for the route is MV Sally Fox, which carries an average of 400 passengers per day in each direction.

At the Vashon Island Ferry Terminal, connecting services include King County Metro bus routes 118 and 119 and Washington State Ferries with routes to both the city of Southworth in Kitsap County and the Fauntleroy terminal in West Seattle.

As of March 1, 2016 the one-way fares for the King County Water Taxi are:[22][23]

Crew members accept ORCA with a hand-held card reader, or passengers can pay with cash (no change given) or a pre-purchased tickets at the farebox on the vessel.[13] Tickets can be purchased with credit or debit cards at vending machines located at each water taxi terminal.

As of August 2017, the King County Water Taxi is operating from a temporary terminal at Pier 52, on the north side of the Colman Dock, while a new integrated facility is being constructed at Pier 50 on the south side of Colman Dock.[24]


where did the last name thompson come from

Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin, with a variety of spellings meaning "son of Thom".[2] An alternative origin may be geographical, arising from the placename Thompson.[3] Thom(p)son is the English translation of MacTavish, which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais.[4][5] During the Plantation period, settlers carried the name to Ireland. It is the 14th most common surname in the United Kingdom and 17th most common in the United States.[6] According to the 1990 United States Census, Thompson was the seventeenth most frequently reported surname, accounting for 0.27% of the population.[7]

Thompson (surname)


which episode of top gear is the polar special

Top Gear: Polar Special is a special edition episode of BBC motoring programme Top Gear that was first broadcast on 25 July 2007 on BBC Two. The episode follows presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May in their successful attempt to be the first people to reach the Magnetic North Pole in a motor vehicle. For added drama and competition they race against presenter Richard Hammond who travels by dog sled, the traditional means of transport around the Arctic.

Top Gear: Polar Special

At Resolute, Nunavut, Clarkson and Hammond announce their intention to travel from the small hamlet to the 1996 location of the magnetic north pole. Hammond will travel via dog sled, aided by American explorer Matty McNair, while Clarkson co-presenter James May attempt to beat them, travelling by motor vehicle, a feat that had not before been achieved. Clarkson chooses to use a Toyota Hilux, modified for arctic conditions by Arctic Trucks, to prove that Arctic exploration can be quicker and more luxurious than via traditional methods.

The modification of Clarkson and May's Hilux, a second Hilux and a Toyota Land Cruiser for the film crew started in December 2006.[1] During the vehicle testing phase, the presenters were sent to Austria for cold-weather training by an SAS veteran,[2] who taught them basic survival skills. Before departure they spent a further two nights of survival training out on the sea ice in Canada, but due to their constant tomfoolery were shown sobering images of the dangers of freezing weather, and received a stark warning of the dangers they faced from polar explorer Ranulph Fiennes.

At 13:00 on 25 April 2007, both expeditions set out from Resolute towards Bathurst Island, an uninhabited island where they would be making camp for the first day. Hammond and McNair moved at a steady pace during the initial days of their expedition, being stopped only by the presence of a polar bear following them, while Clarkson and May drew ahead by taking advantage of satellite navigation to ensure that their route took them over smooth ice. Problems soon developed for the Hilux, though, when it nearly fell through thin ice and had to be rescued by the support team, resulting in the need to plot a longer but safer route.

Three days after starting out and having reached firmer ice, the motorised expedition's speed reduced drastically as they began encountering difficult terrain. From this point on, the expedition had to rely on their guides to scout ahead for a safe routes, with some routes proving impassible, forcing the team to backtrack. Extensive delays over the next two days saw the sled team catch up, although Hammond admitted that the physical and mental strain was already starting to take its toll on his health.

Clarkson's anger at being delayed led to poor decision making and damage to the vehicle, causing further delays and straining the relationship between Clarkson and May. However, they eventually passed through the boulder field, and regained the lead on the sled team. Meanwhile Hammond and McNair's relationship became more strained as Hammond began to realise that they were unlikely to win. This was confirmed on the morning of 2 May 2007 when the GPS system in Clarkson and May's Hilux confirmed that the team was finally within 1 mile of the 1996 location of the North Pole. Following their victory, Clarkson and May contacted Hammond and revealed that they had reached the finish line. Hammond never made it to the pole, as it was felt cruel to make him go on "just so Clarkson could gloat",[3] so instead he was collected along with the other presenters to be evacuated by plane.

For the end credits, in homage to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, each person who had been involved with the filming of the episode had their first name replaced with the words "Sir Ranulph" (e.g. "Sir Ranulph Clarkson, Sir Ranulph Hammond, Sir Ranulph May").

The vehicles used in the special challenge to reach the Pole were two 2006 Toyota Hilux double cab 3.0l diesel pickup trucks, one Toyota Land Cruiser 120 and a trailer, all of which were heavily modified by a Finnish company Arctic Trucks. The Hilux was chosen for its exceptional durability, as demonstrated in an earlier episode of Top Gear.[4] One Hilux was rigged with cameras for the presenters, and the others were used by the film crew, two driver/repair experts, and one polar expert.

All vehicles underwent the same extensive modifications to make them suitable for the Arctic conditions, including:

While the Hilux used by Jeremy Clarkson and James May became an exhibit because of its achievement, the one used by the film crew was put into storage, until it was later re-used by James May in 2010 in his attempt to get close to the still-erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

The episode was largely scored with compositions by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet, particularly the pieces "Lux Aeterna" and "Death is the Road to Awe", from the soundtracks of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, respectively. The episode also contained a segment from the soundtrack of John Carpenter's The Fog, a segment by John Barry from the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service and also features the songs "The Killing Moon" and "Never Stop" by English alternative rock band Echo and The Bunnymen.[citation needed]

In 2008 the BBC released a twin DVD box set entitled Top Gear - The Great Adventures (also known as The Great Adventures: Polar and U.S. Special), which contained both an extended version of the Polar Special and a cut-down version of the US Special.[5] The "Director's Cut" of the extended version included an extra ten minutes of previously unseen footage, which included scenes of frostbitten extremities during the training in Austria, Clarkson and May discovering the abandoned Isachsen weather station (left vacant since 1978), and various other changes including new voice-overs and an alternative soundtrack to the original BBC broadcast release.

During the Polar Special, both Jeremy Clarkson and James May were shown to be drinking gin and tonic while driving through an ice field in the Arctic. The producers claimed that they were beyond the jurisdiction of drink driving laws as they were in international waters at the time, while Clarkson claimed that he was not driving but sailing ('piloting' a vehicle on (frozen) water as opposed to actual land). However, the BBC Trust found that the scene could "glamorise the misuse of alcohol" and that the scene "was not editorially justified in the context of a family show pre-watershed".[6]

In an article for the Daily Express Emily Armistead, a speaker for Greenpeace, condemned the show as highly irresponsible given the impact that CO2 has on the Arctic.