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= = = André Ducharme = = = |
André Ducharme (born 23 July 1961) is a Québécois author, comedian and humorist. He was part of the Rock et Belles Oreilles group (RBO) from 1981 to 1995. He was credited as André G. Ducharme in RBO; "G. Ducharme" has the same sound in French as "J'ai du charme," which means "I have charm" or "I am charming." |
= = = Pilsner Urquell Brewery = = = |
Plzeňský Prazdroj, a. s. (, known in English as the Pilsner Urquell Brewery, is a Czech brewery founded in 1842 and headquartered in Plzeň, Czech Republic. It was the first brewery to produce pale lager, branded as Pilsner Urquell; the popularity of Pilsner Urquell resulting in it being much copied so that more than two-thirds of the beer produced in the world today is pale lager, sometimes named "pils", "pilsner" and "pilsener" after Pilsner Urquell. The brewery name, "Pilsner Urquell", which can be roughly translated into English as "the original source at Pilsen", was adopted as a trademark in 1898. Pilsner Urquell is the largest beer producer in the Czech Republic and is also the largest exporter of beer abroad. |
The brewery has been part of the SABMiller group of companies (at the time South African Breweries) since 1999. As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller in October 2016, Pilsner Urquell (excluding certain geographical areas) was sold to Japan based Asahi Breweries in March 2017. |
The brewery was founded in 1839 by both local Czech-speaking and German-speaking citizens in Bohemian city of Plzeň as (citizens' brewery, later translated to "Měšťanský pivovar" in Czech). The first beer was brewed here in 1842 by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll. In 1859, “Pilsner Bier” was registered as a brand name at the local Chamber of Commerce and Trade. In 1869, a competitor was founded as a joint stock company, later known as Gambrinus. In 1898 the German trademark "Urquell" and Czech trademark "Prazdroj" were created, to underline the claim of being the older, original source of Pilsner beer. In 1932 "Měšťanský pivovar" merged with "Plzeňské aciové pivovary". In 1946, the brewery was nationalized under the name "Plzeňské pivovary" (Pilsen breweries). |
After the fall of communism in late 1989, the brewery was turned into a public share company, then renamed in 1994 after the Czech name of their famous beer, "Plzeňský Prazdroj". In 1999, they started to merge with " Pivovar Radegast a.s." and "Pivovar Velké Popovice a. s.". |
The brewery has been part of the SABMiller group of companies (at the time South African Breweries) since 1999. It has been the largest exporter of beer produced in the Czech Republic since 2000 when production surpassed that of Budějovický Budvar. In 2016, the company was sold to Asahi Group Holdings of Japan. |
A brewery museum ("Pivovarské muzeum") has been set up near the brewery in the authentic medieval brewing house with malt house, which has been declared a cultural monument. It includes the late Gothic malt house, kiln, original drying shed and two-level laying-down cellars with ice-cellar, which are hewn from the Pilsen substrata. The exhibition covers Pilsen's most ancient history, the development of crafts, the emergence and growth of the guilds, the beginnings and development of brewing, malting, the craft of cooper, haulage and catering. |
The tour includes a replica of a pub from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and a laboratory from the second half of the 19th century. The city walls have been opened with an example of the cultivation of barley and hops. |
The museum has become an anchor for the European Route of Industrial Heritage. |
Pilsner Fest is a two-day beer festival held each year by the brewery, with music by local bands on four stages in the town. |
= = = Yulia Barsukova = = = |
Yulia Vladimirovna Barsukova (, born 31 December 1978) is a Russian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2000 Olympic champion in the All-Around, the 2000 Grand Prix Final All-around champion, the 1999 World All-around bronze medalist, 2000 European All-around bronze medalist and 1999 Grand Prix Final All-around bronze medalist. |
Barsukova began figure skating at age five in the Izmaylovo District of Moscow where she lived. When she was eight years old, she passed a sports club and saw girls practicing rhythmic gymnastics through the window. Her father soon enrolled her in the sport. After three years, she moved to Tagansky District high school's rhythmic gymnastics department. |
Barsukova was coached by Vera Silaeva until she was sixteen, when Silaeva took her student to Russia's head coach, Irina Viner. Viner was unimpressed initially but accepted her at the urging of Russia's national team choreographer, Veronica Shatkova. |
Barsukova began competing at international competitions following the coaching change. For six years she competed under the shadow of other Russian gymnasts, Yanina Batyrchina, Amina Zaripova, Natalia Lipkovskaya and then Alina Kabaeva. Barsukova considered quitting rhythmic gymnastics until Viner persuaded her to stay and be patient. She had her breakthrough in 1998. During an event dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Ballet Magazine, Barsukova performed along with the stars of the theater. She performed her "Dying Swan" ball routine and received the unofficial title of "Miss Bolshoi Theater". |
Barsukova won many rhythmic gymnastics titles after her emergence in major competitions as a second member of the Russian team. She won gold in hoop at the 2000 World Cup Final in Glasgow and then gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics after a hoop fumble by then-World champion, Alina Kabaeva. She was the 2000 European All-around bronze medalist and won the rope final at the 2000 European Championships (9.983). She was the oldest Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics—21 years, 8 months and 27 days—until fellow Russian Evgenia Kanaeva won her second gold medal at London 2012 being aged 22 years, 4 months and 7 days. |
After the Olympics, Barsukova won the all-around title at the Grand Prix Final in Deventer where she also won gold in ball, rope and ribbon final. She retired from competition following the 2000 Aeon Cup. She has participated in Russia's Channel One project "Stars on Ice". |
On February 15, 2015, a star-studded gala was held in Russia for the 80th founding anniversary of Rhythmic Gymnastics. The venue was held in the historical Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Among those who performed at the gala were Russian former Olympic champions, Olympic medalists and World champions including: Barsukova, Evgenia Kanaeva, Irina Tchachina, Daria Dmitrieva, and Yana Batyrshina. |
Barsukova is married to Denis Samokhin, a Russian former ice dancer and currently working as an Ice dancing coach and international tech specialist for the International Skating Union. |
= = = Nova Scotia Highway 105 = = = |
Highway 105 in Nova Scotia represents the Cape Breton Island leg of the Trans-Canada Highway. It runs from the Port Hastings Rotary just east of the Canso Causeway in Port Hastings to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney, representing a distance of . |
In 2010, the provincial government named the entire highway Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell Way in honour of Mabel Gardiner Hubbard and her husband Alexander Graham Bell, who resided and are buried at Beinn Bhreagh near Baddeck. |
The highway travels northeast from Port Hastings along the base of a group of mountains known as "The Big Ridge" to Whycocomagh. It then follows the north shore of Bras d'Or Lake, bypassing Baddeck on a short Super two controlled access segment. Still running in a general northeast direction, at St. Anns the highway begins ascending the west slope of Kelly's Mountain on the Cape Dauphin Peninsula. Highway 105 descends the east slope of Kelly's Mountain using a series of sharp turns including a 180° hairpin turn at New Harris Forks before crossing the Great Bras d'Or Channel of Bras d'Or Lake on the Seal Island Bridge. The road crosses Boularderie Island using another short Super two controlled access segment and then runs southeast as an uncontrolled access road through the villages of Bras d'Or and Florence. Highway 105 regains controlled access for the final to its eastern terminus at the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney where travellers can continue to Newfoundland. |
With some minor exceptions noted above, the highway is two lanes and uncontrolled access. In addition, there are two intersections controlled by traffic lights in Florence. |
The Cabot Trail, which is usually used to describe a different road, is signed along a portion of Highway 105 between Nyanza and St. Anns so that the signed route forms a loop. |
Highway 105 is descended from the former Trunk 5, which no longer exists; Highway 105 follows the old Trunk 5 alignment, using present Routes 205, 305 and roads named after it to serve areas bypassed by Highway 105. The 105 name was applied in 1964<br> |
Trunk 5 was a provincial trunk road in Victoria County and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality between Boularderie East and Millville Boularderie on Boularderie Island in Nova Scotia. The route, known as Millville Highway, was the main highway before Nova Scotia Highway 105 opened. It originally extended from Sydney River to Port Hawkesbury. It is now commonly known as Old Route 5. |
= = = Paul Ben-Victor = = = |
Paul Ben-Victor (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Greek mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos on the HBO drama series "The Wire". |
Ben-Victor was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Leah Kornfeld, a playwright, and Victor Friedman. He attended Midwood High School, graduating in 1976. |
Ben-Victor debuted on the small screen in 1987 in the television film "Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife" and on an episode of "Cagney & Lacey". He was cast in important roles on HBO dramas "The Wire" (as mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos) and "Entourage", as well as making a 2006 appearance as Coach Lou on "My Name Is Earl". He portrayed Moe Howard in the 2000 television film "The Three Stooges". |
Ben-Victor has been featured on many television cop dramas like "FBI", Monk" and "", and also had a recurring role as two-bit con man Steve Richards on three episodes of "NYPD Blue" from 1994 to 1997. He also appeared as Steve Richards on a 1998 episode of the short-lived police drama "Brooklyn South". |
Ben-Victor had a starring role in the Sci-Fi channel television show "The Invisible Man", alongside Vincent Ventresca. The two later guest starred together on the hit TV show "Las Vegas". They were reunited again on an episode of the new USA Network series "In Plain Sight" ("Hoosier Daddy"), on which Ben-Victor has a supporting role. |
Paul has roles in the movie "The Irishman", and the upcoming movies "The Banker" and "Waldo". |
He has co-written stage plays with his mother, including "Club Soda" and "The Good Steno". |
= = = Bruno Landry = = = |
Bruno Landry is a Québécois comedian and humorist. He was part of the humor group Rock et Belles Oreilles from 1981 to 1995. |
= = = Mortal Kombat: Conquest = = = |
Mortal Kombat: Conquest (stylized on-screen as Mortal Kombat: Konquest) is an American martial arts television series based on the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game series, which aired for one season, from 1998 to 1999. Set prior to the events of the first game, the series follows the original Kung Lao (Paolo Montalbán) as he protects Earthrealm with the help of warriors Siro (Daniel Bernhardt) and Taja (Kristanna Loken). |
Many centuries ago, Earth was an enchanting and desirable planet. Powerful and rich with natural resources, the vicious megalomaniac Shao Kahn wanted Earth as part of his growing collection of conquered realms known as Outworld. To protect Earth, Mortal Kombat was created: a tournament in which the fate of the planet is decided in battles between competitors from Earthrealm and Outworld. Five hundred years in the past, the monk warrior Kung Lao defeated Shao Kahn's sorcerer, Shang Tsung. When Kung Lao spared his life, Kahn imprisoned Tsung in the cobalt mines. |
Kung Lao now had to train the next generation of warriors, who would give their lives to save Earth. Kung Lao created a partnership and friendship between two warriors: Siro, a former bodyguard, and Taja, an ex-thief. In the mysterious city of Zhuzin, Kung Lao and his new friends are guided and watched over by the thunder god Rayden. The three now battle various evils of both Outworld and Earthrealm, including an imprisoned Tsung, who swore eternal revenge on Kung Lao for his humiliating defeat, and the sultry and seductive Vorpax, who is also imprisoned in the mines and has an agenda of her own. |
With "Conquest" immediately following TNT's top-rated program, "WCW Monday Nitro", WCW wrestlers Meng and Wrath filmed separate appearances. Former QVC model Dorian John played the barmaid Magda in the episodes "Twisted Truth" and "Quan Chi." |
"Mortal Kombat: Conquest" was produced by Threshold Entertainment (who produced the "Mortal Kombat" film series) in association with New Line Television (television arm of the films' distributor). Warner Bros. Television Distribution distributed the series. The program was filmed at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. The Warner Bros. unit (eventual holder of the "Mortal Kombat" property), as New Line's corporate sibling-turned-parent, syndicated the series until it was later picked up by TNT, which aired the remaining new episodes in addition to broadcasting repeats of the first-run syndication run. With a lucrative timeslot following "WCW Monday Nitro", "Conquest" was very popular, but according to the show's developer, Joshua Wexler, this resulted in higher budget costs for the show than anticipated. The cancellation was not announced at first, and rumors of a second season circulated. However, TNT pulled the plug on the show, leaving it with a cliffhanger ending. The ending was planned to have been resolved in the second season, which would have summed up the series and corresponded with the "MK" timeline. |
"Mortal Kombat: Conquest" has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom and Australia, where it enjoyed a more successful run on television. Unofficial collections produced in the UK consist of unrelated and edited episodes merged so that each disc contains a theme, and some of the DVDs contain spelling errors on the covers. Several episodes of the series, consisting of one show per disc, were released in Germany; two of the discs feature episodes centered around Kreeya and Sub-Zero. DVDs were also recently released in Portugal, with many spelling errors on the covers. In 2015, Warner Home Video released "Mortal Kombat: Conquest - Season One" on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. |
In 2010, 4thletter! ranked "Conquest" as sixth on the list of "The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Things to Come Out of Mortal Kombat". In 2011, 1UP.com featured the series in the article "The Top Ten Times Mortal Kombat Went Wrong", calling it a "wire-fu disaster". |
= = = Just'a Lotta Animals = = = |
Just'a Lotta Animals is a fictional superhero team that appeared in stories published by DC Comics. The team is an anthropomorphic funny animal parody of the Justice League of America. |
Just'a Lotta Animals originally appeared in the series "Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!" as the name of a superhero comic book written and drawn by Captain Carrot's alter ego, Roger Rodney Rabbit. Various panels of the Just'a Lotta Animals' comic that were shown in the "Captain Carrot" series were often parodies of classic Justice League storylines. The team was in fact the original proposal by Zoo Crew creators Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw for a funny animal superhero series for DC, but DC's editor Dick Giordano asked them to create original characters instead. They agreed and created the Zoo Crew, but still ended up introducing the Just'a Lotta Animals team in the series. |
In "Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew" #14 and #15, in a storyline titled "Crisis On Earth-C!," the Just'a Lotta Animals were finally revealed to actually exist, on a parallel Earth named "Earth-C-Minus" (as opposed to the world of the Zoo Crew, which was named "Earth-C"). The two teams united to defeat the villains of the story, Dr. Hoot (an owl mad scientist) and Feline Faust (a cat sorcerer; an analog of Justice League villain Felix Faust). |
The team's imagery was brought to life by a confused paranormal teenager in the second part of the "Young Justice: World Without Grownups" storyline. |
Just'a Lotta Animals lived on the parallel world of Earth-C-Minus, and made its headquarters in an orbiting satellite space station. |
Events and characters on Earth-C-Minus were considered to be fictional to natives of Earth-C, similar to how events and characters of Earth-Two were considered as fictional on Earth-One. Additionally, events and characters on Earth-C-Minus paralleled those of the then-mainstream DC Universe of Earth-One. Like Earth-C, the names of characters and locations tended to make heavy use of various animal-based puns. |
After the events of the 1985 miniseries "Crisis on Infinite Earths", it was revealed that Earth-C-Minus (and Earth-C) survived intact, as they were actually "alternate dimensions" instead of parallel Earths, although the most recent mini-series "Captain Carrot and the Final Ark" has suggested that Earth-C is now also considered Earth-26, one of the new 52 parallel Earths in the new DC Multiverse. |
The main members of Just'a Lotta Animals are: |
Other members of Just'a Lotta Animals include: |
Enemies of Just'a Lotta Animals or its individual members include: |
The Green Lambkin appeared as a member of the Green Lantern Corps in the Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern." The rest of the Just'a Lotta Animals did not appear. |
The DC Nation block of programming on Cartoon Network features a variation on the Just'a Lotta Animals in Farm League (identified earlier as the Justice League of Animals). In the initial image released, some variations included Superman as a duck, Batman as a mosquito, Wonder Woman as a mouse, Green Lantern as a cat, Martian Manhunter as a vulture, Cyborg as a flea, B'wana Beast as a bear, Lex Luthor as a hairless monkey, Brainiac as a bull, etc. However, a subsequent preview from San Diego Comic-Con International instead revealed Superman as a manatee named Supermanatee, Batman as a mongoose named Batmongoose (voiced by Diedrich Bader), Wonder Woman as a wombat named Wonder Wombat, The Flash as a fish named The Flish, Green Lantern as a warthog named Green Lamprey, Aquaman as a mandrill named Aquamandrill, Captain Marvel/Billy Batson as a pig named Shazham!/Billy Bacon, Robin as Robin's Egg, Cyborg as a bug named Cybug, Darkseid as a duck named Duckseid, the Joker as a frog named the Croaker, Catwoman as a cat named Cat Cat, Mister Mxyzptlk as a chicken, Solomon Grundy as a rabbit named Solomon Grunny, Two-Face as a bull named Moo-Face, Bizarro as a dog named Bizarfo, Captain Cold as a cod fish named Captain Cod, Sinestro as a hippopotamus named Sinestropotamus, Lex Luthor as a bald-headed liger named Lex Liger, and Ambush Bug as a slug named Ambush Slug. |
= = = Ipatiev House = = = |
Ipatiev House () was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg (later renamed Sverdlovsk) where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918, reigned 1894–1917), his family, and members of his household were executed in July 1918 following the Bolshevik Revolution. Its name is identical to that of the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma, from where the Romanovs came to the throne. As an act for the 60th anniversary of the Russian Revolutions, it was demolished in 1977 by orders of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the local communist soviet government, almost 59 years after the Romanov family execution and 14 years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1990–1991. |
In the 1880s, Ivan Redikortsev, an official involved in the mining industry, commissioned a two-story house to be built on the slope of a prominent hill. The length of the facade was 31 metres. In 1898, the mansion passed to Sharaviev, a gold dealer of tainted reputation. Ten years later, the house was acquired by Nikolai Nikolayevich Ipatiev, a military engineer, who turned the ground floor into his office. |
It seems to have been on the basis of information supplied by Pyotr Voykov that Ipatiev was summoned to the office of the Ural Soviet at the end of April 1918 and ordered to vacate what was soon to be called "The House of Special Purpose." |
The Imperial Romanov family moved in on 30 April 1918 and spent 78 days at the house. This household included Tsar Nicholas Romanov, his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse, their four daughters, their son and heir Alexei, the Tsarevich (crown prince); their court physician Dr. Yevgeny Botkin, chambermaid Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Kharitonov, and valet Alexei Trupp. They occupied four rooms on the upper story of the Ipatiev House, while their guards were housed on the ground floor. From early July, command of this guard was taken over by Yakov Yurovsky, a senior member of the Ural Soviet. |
The prisoners were permitted brief daily exercise in an enclosed garden. However, the windows to their rooms were painted over and they were kept in isolation from the outside. A high wooden fence was built around the outer perimeter of the house, closing it off from the street. |
About midnight on 16–17 July 1918, Commander Yurovsky entered the second-floor room of Dr. Botkin, who was awake and writing a letter. Botkin was told to awaken the Imperial family and their three remaining servants, so that the whole party could be evacuated from Yekaterinburg. The reason given was that the anti-Bolshevik White Army forces of Tsarist and moderate democratic socialists in the ensuing Russian Civil War of 1918–1921, were nearing the city and that there had been firing in the streets. |
After taking about half an hour to dress and pack, the Romanovs, Botkin and the three servants were led down a flight of stairs into the courtyard of the house, and from there through a ground-floor entrance to a small semi-basement room at the back of the building. Chairs were brought for Tsarevich Alexei and Tsarina Alexandra at the Tsar's request. The remainder of the party stood behind and to one side of the seated pair. |
After a while, Yurovsky and a party of armed men entered the basement room through the double doors. Ivan Plotnikov, history professor at the Maksim Gorky Ural State University, has established that the executioners were Yakov Yurovsky, G. P. Nikulin, M. A. Medvedev (Kudrin), Peter Ermakov, S. P. Vaganov, A. G. Kabanov, P. S. Medvedev, V. N. Netrebin, and Y. M. Tselms. Three Latvians refused at the last minute to take part in the execution. |
Yurovsky spoke briefly to the effect that their Romanov relatives had attempted to save the Imperial family, that this attempt had failed and that the Soviets were now obliged to shoot them all. He and his squad then opened fire with pistols on the prisoners. |
The number of people crowded into a comparatively small area led to an inefficient and messy slaughter. The women among the prisoners had diamonds and jewelry concealed in their clothing, deflecting many of the bullets. It took between twenty and thirty minutes before all were killed. |
As early as 1923, the photographs of the fenced house were disseminated in the Soviet press under the label of "the last palace of the last Tsar". In 1927, the house was designated a branch of the Ural Revolution Museum. It then became an agricultural school before taking on new life in 1938 as an anti-religious museum. During this period it was customary for party apparatchiks to arrive in large tour groups, posing before the bullet-damaged wall of the cellar in which the former Tsar and his family had been murdered. In 1946, it was taken over by the local Communist Party. In 1974, it was formally listed as a Historical-Revolutionary Monument. However, to the embarrassment of the government, it was steadily becoming a place of pilgrimage for those who wished to honour the memory of the imperial family. |
In 1977, as the sixtieth anniversary of the Russian Revolution approached, the Politburo decided to take action, declaring that the house was not of "sufficient historical significance", and ordering its demolition. The task was passed to Boris Yeltsin, chair of the local party, who had the house demolished in September 1977. He later wrote in his memoirs, published in 1990, that "sooner or later we will be ashamed of this piece of barbarism." However, despite this action, the pilgrims kept coming, often in secret and at night, leaving tokens of remembrance on the vacant site. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union that was complete by 1991, the Church on the Blood was built on the part of the site and is now a major place of pilgrimage. |
On one side of the church, there's an orthodox cross which marks the location of the Romanov family’s death. Even during the Soviet Era, there were crosses in that area, but it changed over time. Different crosses would be replaced by a new one as the years went by. A small wooden structure was eventually built behind the cross and still stands near the church today; it can be seen in the picture on the right. |
The house features as the setting for two plays: "Ekaterinburg" (the title being an alternate romanization of Yekaterinburg) and "The House of Special Purpose" (Heidi Thomas, 2009). Both plays deal with the time in captivity spent inside the Ipatiev House by the Romanovs and their retainers. |
= = = DIN sync = = = |
The DIN sync standard, also called Sync24, defines a synchronization interface for electronic musical instruments. |
DIN sync was introduced in the early 1980s by Roland Corporation for the synchronization of music sequencers, drum machines, arpeggiators and similar devices. It has since been superseded by MIDI, in the mid to late 1980s. The DIN sync standard consists of two signals, clock (tempo) and run/stop. Both signals are TTL compatible, meaning the low state is 0 V and the high state is about +5 V. |
The clock signal is a low-frequency pulse wave suggesting the tempo. Instead of measuring the waveform's frequency, the machine receiving the signal merely has to count the number of pulses to work out when to increment its position in the music. Roland equipment uses 24 pulses per quarter note, known as Sync24. Therefore, a Roland compatible device playing sixteenth notes would have to advance to the next note every time it receives 6 pulses. Korg equipment uses 48 pulses per quarter note. |