Early life.

Metastasio was born in Rome, where his father, Felice Trapassi, a native of Assisi, had taken service in the Corsican regiment of the papal forces. Felice married a Bolognese woman, Francesca Galasti, and became a grocer in the "Via dei Cappellari". The couple had two sons and two daughters; Pietro was the younger son.  Pietro, while still a child, is said to have attracted crowds by reciting impromptu verses on a given subject. On one such occasion in 1709, two men of distinction stopped to listen: Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, famous for legal and literary erudition as well as his directorship of the Arcadian Academy, and Lorenzini, a critic of some note. Gravina was attracted by the boy's poetic talent and personal charm, and made Pietro his "protégé"; in the course of a few weeks he adopted him. Felice Trapassi was glad to give his son the chance of a good education and introduction into society.  Gravina hellenized the boy's name Trapassi into Metastasio, and intended his adopted son to be a jurist like himself. He therefore made the boy learn Latin and law. At the same time he cultivated his literary gifts, and displayed the youthful prodigy both at his own house and in the Roman coteries. Metastasio soon found himself competing with the most celebrated "improvvisatori" of his time in Italy. However, his days full of study and evenings devoted to improvising poetry took a toll on Pietro's health.  Gravina, making a business trip to Calabria, exhibited Metastasio in the literary circles of Naples, then placed him in the care of his kinsman Gregorio Caroprese at Scaléa. In country air and the quiet of the southern seashore Metastasio's health revived. Gravina decided that he should never improvise again, but should be reserved for nobler efforts, when, having completed his education, he might enter into competition with the greatest poets.  Metastasio responded to his patron's wishes. At the age of twelve he translated the "Iliad" into octave stanzas; and two years later he composed a Senecan tragedy on a subject from Gian Giorgio Trissino's "Italia liberata" – Gravina's favourite epic. It was called "Giustino", and was printed in 1713; forty-two years later, Metastasio told his publisher that he would willingly suppress this juvenilia.  Caroprese died in 1714, leaving Gravina his heir; and in 1718 Gravina also died. Metastasio inherited a fortune of 15,000 scudi. At a meeting of the Arcadian Academy, he recited an elegy to his patron, and then settled down to enjoy his wealth.

Roman fame.

Metastasio was now twenty. During the last four years he had worn the costume of abbé, having taken the minor orders without which it was then useless to expect advancement in Rome. His romantic history, personal beauty, charming manners and distinguished talents made him fashionable. Within two years he had spent his money and increased his reputation. He decided to apply himself seriously to the work of his profession. He migrated to Naples, and entered the office of an eminent lawyer named Castagnola, who exercised severe control over his time and energies.  While slaving at the law, Metastasio in 1721 composed an epithalamium, and probably also his first musical serenade, "Endimione" (Endymion), on the occasion of the marriage of his patroness Donna Anna Francesca Ravaschieri Pinelli di Sangro (later 6th Principessa di Belmonte) to the Marchese Don Antonio Pignatelli (later His Serene Highness Prince of Belmonte). In 1722, while Naples was under Austrian rule, the birthday of Empress Elisabeth Christine had to be celebrated with more than ordinary honours, and the viceroy asked Metastasio to compose a serenata for the occasion. Metastasio accepted, but kept his authorship secret. He wrote "Gli orti esperidi", which was set to music by Nicola Porpora, and sung by Porpora's pupil, the castrato Farinelli, making a spectacular début, it won the most enthusiastic applause. The Roman prima donna, Marianna Bulgarelli, who played Venus in this opera, spared no pains until she had discovered its author.  Bulgarelli persuaded the poet to give up the law, and promised to secure for him fame and independence if he would devote his talents to the musical drama. In her house Metastasio became acquainted with the greatest composers of the day: Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Leonardo Vinci, Leonardo Leo, Francesco Durante, and Benedetto Marcello, all of whom would later set his plays to melody. Here too he studied the art of singing, and learned to appreciate the style of such men as Farinelli. Metastasio wrote quickly and his plays were enhanced by being set to music and sung by the greatest singers of the day. On paper, his plots may seem conventional, his situations absurd; he takes liberties with historical fact and is obsessed with the topic of love. Yet the music helps negate these criticisms. Metastasio lived with Bulgarelli and her husband in Rome. Moved by an affection half maternal, half romantic, and by admiration for his talent, she adopted him more passionately even than Gravina had done. She took the whole Trapassi family – father, mother, brother, sisters – into her own house. She fostered the poet's genius and pampered his caprices. Under her influence he wrote in rapid succession "Didone abbandonata", "Catone in Utica", "Ezio", "Alessandro nell' Indie", "Semiramide riconosciuta", "Siroe" and "Artaserse". These dramas were set to music by the chief composers of the day, and performed in the chief towns of Italy.  But meanwhile Bulgarelli was growing older; she had ceased to sing in public; and the poet increasingly felt his dependence upon her kindness irksome. He gained 300 scudi for each opera; this pay, though good, was precarious and he longed for some fixed engagement. In September 1729 he received the offer of the post of court poet to the theatre at Vienna, succeeding Pietro Pariati, with a stipend of 3000 florins. This he at once accepted. Bulgarelli unselfishly sped him on his way to glory. She took charge of his family in Rome and he set off for Austria.

Vienna.

In the early summer of 1730, Metastasio settled at Vienna in an apartment in the so-called 'Michaelerhaus'. This date marks a new period in his artistic activity. Between the years 1730 and 1740 his finest dramas, "Adriano in Siria", "Demetrio", "Issipile", "Demofoonte", "Olimpiade", "Clemenza di Tito", "Achille in Sciro", "Temistocle" and "Attilio Regolo", were produced for the imperial theatre. Some of them had to be composed for special occasions, with almost incredible rapidity: "Achille" in eighteen days, "Ipermestra" in nine. Poet, composer, musical copyist and singer did their work together in frantic haste. Metastasio understood the technique of his peculiar art in its minutest details. The experience gained at Naples and Rome, quickened by the excitement of his new career at Vienna, enabled him almost instinctively, and as it were by inspiration, to hit the exact mark aimed at in the opera.  The libretto "Adriano in Siria" was used by more than 60 other composers in the 18th and early 19th century: Antonio Caldara (1732), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1734), Francesco Maria Veracini (1735), Baldassare Galuppi (1740), Carl Heinrich Graun (1746), Johann Adolph Hasse (1752), Johann Christian Bach (1765), Luigi Cherubini (1782) and in Adriano in Siria (Mysliveček) from (1776).  In Vienna Metastasio met with no marked social success. His plebeian birth excluded him from aristocratic circles. To make up in some measure for this comparative failure, he enjoyed the intimacy of the, sister-in-law of his old patroness the Princess Belmonte Pignatelli. She had lost her husband, and had some while occupied the post of chief favourite to the emperor. Metastasio's liaison with her became so close that it was believed they had been privately married.  Bulgarelli tired of his absence, and asked Metastasio to get her an engagement at the court theatre. He was ashamed of her and tired of her, and wrote dissuading her from the projected visit. The tone of his letters alarmed and irritated her. She seems to have set out from Rome, but died suddenly upon the road. All we know is that she left him her fortune after her husband's life interest in it had expired, and that Metastasio, overwhelmed with grief and remorse, immediately renounced the legacy. This disinterested act plunged the Bulgarelli-Metastasio household at Rome into confusion. Bulgarelli's widower married again. Metastasio's brother, Leopoldo Trapassi, and his father and sister, were thrown upon their own resources.  As time advanced, the life which Metastasio led at Vienna, together with the climate, told on his health and spirits. From about the year 1745 onward he wrote little, though the cantatas which belong to this period, and the canzonetta "Ecco quel fiero istante", which he sent to his friend Farinelli, rank among the most popular of his productions. It was clear, as Vernon Lee has phrased it, that "what ailed him was mental and moral ennui". In 1755 the Countess Althann died, and Metastasio's social contacts were reduced to the gatherings round him in the bourgeois house of his friend Nicolo Martinez, the secretary to the papal Nuncio in Vienna. He sank rapidly into the habits of old age; and, though he lived till the year 1782, he was very inactive. He bequeathed his whole fortune of some 130,000 florins to the six children of Nicolo Martinez. He had survived all his Italian relatives.  Throughout the forty years of his career in Vienna, in the course of which Metastasio eventually outlived his own originality and creative powers, his fame went on increasing. In his library he counted as many as forty editions of his own works. They had been translated into French, English, German, Spanish, and modern Greek. They had been set to music over and over again by every composer of distinction. They had been sung by the best virtuosi in every capital, and there was not a literary academy of note which had not conferred on him the honour of membership. Strangers of distinction passing through Vienna made a point of paying their respects to the old poet at his lodgings in the Kohlmarkt Gasse.  But his poetry was intended for a certain style of music – for the music of omnipotent vocalists, of exceedingly skilled sopranos and castrati. When the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—focusing more on psychology and less on virtuoso singing—came into vogue, a new style of libretto was needed. (Mozart did use an old Metastasio libretto for his renowned opera "La clemenza di Tito", but, it was substantially re-written for the purpose.) The demise of castrato singing meant that Metastasio's operas dropped out of the repertory.  Metastasio's poetry is emotional, lyrical, and romantic. His chief dramatic situations are expressed by lyrics for two or three voices, embodying the several contending passions of the agents brought into conflict by the circumstances of the plot. The total result is not pure literature, but literature fit for musical effect. Language in Metastasio's hands is musical, lucid, and songlike, perhaps due to his experience as an improvisatory poet. He was an admirer of Torquato Tasso, Giambattista Marino, Giovanni Battista Guarini, and Ovid.

Works.

Operas.

The names of the first composers to set the respective texts to music is indicated next to the title

References.

Notes  Sources

Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (; 3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of "opera seria" libretti.

Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (* 3. Januar 1698 in Rom; † 12. April 1782 in Wien) war ein italienischer Dichter und Librettist, besser bekannt unter seinem Pseudonym Pietro Metastasio.


Biography.

Sorby was born at Woodbourne, near Sheffield in Yorkshire, and attended Sheffield Collegiate School. He early on developed an interest in natural science. One of his first papers related to the excavation of valleys in Yorkshire. In 1847, when he was 21, his father died, leaving him a comfortable private income. He immediately established a scientific laboratory and workshop at his home. He subsequently dealt with the physical geography of former geological periods, with the wave-structure in certain stratified rocks, and the origin of slaty cleavage.  He took up the study of rocks and minerals under the microscope, and published an important memoir, "On the Microscopical Structure of Crystals", in 1858 ("Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc."). In England, he was one of the pioneers in petrography; he was awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London in 1869, and became its president. In his presidential addresses, Sorby gave the results of original research on the structure and origin of limestones and of non-calcareous stratified rocks (1879–1880). In 1863, he used etching with acid to study the microscopical structure of iron and steel. Using this technique, he was the first in England to understand that a small but precise quantity of carbon gave steel its strength. This paved the way for Henry Bessemer and Robert Forester Mushet to develop the method for mass-producing steel. Due to this accomplishment, Sorby is known to modern metallurgists as the "father of metallography", with an award bearing his name being offered by the International Metallographic Society for lifetime achievement.  His interests were broad. He published essays on the construction and use of the micro-spectroscope in the study of animal and vegetable colouring matter and on the temperature of the water in estuaries. He also applied his skill in making preparations of invertebrate animals for lantern slides.  He was president of the Royal Microscopical Society. In 1882, he was elected president of Firth College, Sheffield after the death of founder Mark Firth. Sorby also worked hard for the establishment of the University of Sheffield, which was eventually founded in 1905. A university hall of residence, Sorby Hall, built in the 1960s and demolished in August 2006, was named after him.  He died in Sheffield and was buried in Ecclesall churchyard.

Honours and awards.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1857 as one who was "Author of various papers on Slaty Cleavage; on the peculiarities of stratification due to the action of currents & their application to the investigation of the Physical Geography of ancient periods; on the microscopical structure of limestones and other peculiarities of the physical & chemical constitution of rocks. Distinguished for his acquaintance with the science of Geology.". He delivered their Bakerian Lecture in 1863 for his work "on the Direct Correlation of mechanical and Chemical Forces" and was awarded their Royal Medal in 1874. In 1892, Sorby was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Both the International Association of Sedimentologists and the Yorkshire Geological Society have Sorby Medals named in honour of his achievements in geology. The Henry Clifton Sorby Award is offered by the International Metallographic Society in recognition of lifetime achievement in metallurgy. The University of Sheffield has a chair of geology/physical geology named after him and the Sorby Natural History Society is named after him. The area in which the society operates (north East Derbyshire, the Sheffield and Chesterfield areas) are known to members as 'Sorbyshire'.  Dorsa Sorby on the Moon is named after him. There is also a wing at the Northern General Hospital named after him.

Henry Clifton Sorby (10 May 1826 – 9 March 1908), was an English microscopist and geologist. His major contribution was the development of techniques for studying iron and steel with microscopes. This paved the way for the mass production of steel.

Henry Clifton Sorby (* 10. Mai 1826 in Woodbourne bei Sheffield; † 10. März 1908 in Sheffield) war ein englischer Naturforscher.


Early years.

Désiré-François Laugée was born in Maromme, a village near to Rouen, on 25 January 1823. His parents were Georges François Toussaint Laugée, a clerk, and Eulalie Léger. In 1825 the family moved to Saint-Quentin, Aisne. He attended the "Collège des Bons-Enfants", where he showed a talent for drawing at an early age. Laugée enrolled in the "Ecole des Beaux-Arts" of Saint-Quentin, founded by the pastel artist Maurice Quentin de La Tour. He worked in the studio of Louis Nicolas Lemasle, a pupil of Jacques-Louis David.  Laugée's father wanted him to become a mechanic, but his teacher insisted that would waste a great talent. Eventually his father relented and let Laugée go to the "École des Beaux-Arts"' in Paris. There he joined the studio of François-Édouard Picot, also a pupil of Jacques Louis David. His family ran into financial difficulty and he considered leaving the school, but Picot gave him the support needed to complete his studies. He submitted his first work to the Salon in 1845. It was a portrait of a father and son, M.G.L. and M.D.L., which some writers have taken to represent his father and himself.

Career.

On 14 May 1850 Laugée married Célestine Marie Malézieux (1825–1909). They would have five children. After his marriage he moved to Nauroy, ten kilometers from Saint-Quentin, where his wife's family lived. When he became famous he was called the "Master of Nauroy". Laugée won commissions for portraits, and regularly submitted portraits to the Salon until 1859. At the same time, he worked on a variety of subjects including historical and religious paintings. As his artistic career evolved, Laugée became increasingly interested in landscapes and peasant genre subjects. However, most of the works he submitted to the Salons were religious, and were often bought by the state. His "Saint Louis Washing the Feet of the Poor" for the salon of 1863 was an example. Other Salon entries were based on works that had been commissioned by churches, including murals. At the Salon Laugée won the 3rd class medal in 1851, 2nd class medal in 1855, rappel in 1859, 1st class medal in 1861 and rappel in 1863.  Laugée's historical and religious paintings became much sought after. Édouard Manet's "Incident in a Bullfight" has been compared to Laugée's "incident in the Polish Wars of 1863", since lost. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1865. At the " Société des Artistes Français" he was made "hors concours", meaning that his work did not have to be reviewed by a jury. Laugée was one of the artists commissioned to decorate the interior of the dome of the Bourse de commerce in 1888–89 with paintings that represented the four compass points and the five continents. He died in his studio home at 15 bis boulevard Lannes in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on 24 January 1896. He is buried in the family vault in the Passy cemetery.  Laugée's's son, Georges Laugée, also became a painter. The Barbizon artist Julien Dupré spent time in rural Picardy in the 1870s as Laugée's pupil, and in 1876 married Laugée's daughter Marie Eléanore Françoise.

Work.

Throughout his life Laugée was pulled between the academic tradition of his early years and the growing influence of the romantic Barbizon school and Impressionism, although he did not join the newer schools. He undertook many commissioned portraits, several great religious paintings, and realistic paintings of the countryside and peasant life. In his last years almost all his work represented nature and country life. Eugene Montrosier wrote of Laugée in 1884 that he was,  Salon submissions include: Decorative works in churches include Like most second-generation French realists, Laugée was highly successful and esteemed during his lifetime but the cognoscenti of the first half of the 20th century rejected his work.

Désiré François Laugée (25 January 1823 – 24 January 1896) was a French painter. His work included portraits and classical religious or historical scenes. His large murals still decorate several churches in Paris. He also made naturalist landscapes and genre paintings of peasants, particularly in his later life. With this work he may be seen as a precursor of the Barbizon school. He achieved great success during his lifetime, although his work has since been largely ignored.

Désiré François Laugée (* 25. Januar 1823 in Maromme, Département Seine-Maritime; † 24. Januar 1896 in Paris) war ein französischer Genre- und Historienmaler.


History.

The earliest text of this hymn was found in a Coptic Orthodox Christmas liturgy. The papyrus records the hymn in Greek, dated to the 3rd century by papyrologist E. Lobel and by scholar C.H. Roberts to the 4th century. According to scholar Serafim Seppälä ""there are no determinate theological or philological reasons to reject the 3rd century dating.""  The hymn is used in the Coptic liturgy to this day, as well as in the Armenian, Byzantine, Ambrosian, and Roman Rite liturgies. It was part of Sulpician custom that all classes ended with a recitation of this prayer. Besides the Greek text, ancient versions can be found in Coptic, Syriac, Armenian and Latin.  Henri de Villiers finds in the term "blessed" a reference to the salutation by Elizabeth in Luke. "Praesidium" is translated as "an assistance given in time of war by fresh troops in a strong manner."  The former medieval and post-medieval practice in several dioceses, especially in France, was to use the Sub tuum as the final antiphon at Compline instead of the "Salve Regina" and in the Rite of Braga where it is sung at the end of Mass.

Modern use.

In the Byzantine Rite used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the hymn occurs as the last dismissal hymn of daily Vespers in Great Lent. In Greek practice it is usually sung in Neo-Byzantine chant.  In the Armenian Rite, the hymn is sung on the Eve of Theophany and is also used as an acclamation (մաղթանք) in the daily compline service known as the Rest Hour (Հանգստեան Ժամ). A slightly different version of the hymn is appended to the Trisagion when the latter is chanted in the daily Morning (Առաւօտեան) and Evening (Երեկոյեան) Hours of the Daily Office.  The Slavonic version of the hymn is also often used outside of Great Lent, with the triple invocation «Пресвѧтаѧ Богородице спаси насъ» ("Most Holy Theotokos, save us") appended. Other than the traditional and modern chant settings, which are the most commonly used, the most well-known musical setting is perhaps that of Dmytro Bortniansky.  In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church it is used as the antiphon for the Nunc Dimittis at Compline in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in the Liturgy of the Hours may be used as the Marian antiphon after Compline outside of Eastertide.  The Latin version has also been set to music in the West many times, notably by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, H 20, H 28, H 352, Antionio Salieri, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  The prayer has a special significance for Marists, and it is often heard in Marist schools and groups around the world. It is also commonly used by the Salesians in honor of Mary Help of Christians.  Pope Francis asked to pray this Hymn along with the Rosary and the Prayer to Saint Michael asking for the unity of the Church during October (2018) in the face of diverse scandals and accusations. In the official comuniqué he added that "Russian mystics and the great saints of all the traditions advised, in moments of spiritual turbulence, to shelter beneath the mantle of the Holy Mother of God pronouncing the invocation 'Sub Tuum Praesidium'”.

Recensions.

Church Slavonic.

The earliest Church Slavonic manuscripts have the prayer in the following form: This version continues to be used by the Old Believers today. In the 17th century, under the liturgical reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a new translation (but parishes continue to use the form given above): This second version continues in use today.

Latin.

The Latin translation, likely derived from the Greek, dates from the 11th century: Some of the Latin versions have also incorporated the following verses often attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux to the above translation:  "Domina nostra, Mediatrix nostra, Advocata nostra" (Our Lady, our Mediatrix, Our Advocate)  "tuo Filio nos reconcilia" (Reconcile us to your Son)  "tuo Filio nos recommenda" (Recommend us to your Son)  "tuo Filio nos representa" (Represent us to your Son)

"Beneath Thy Protection" (Greek: ; ) is a Christian hymn. It is the oldest preserved extant hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as "Theotokos". The hymn is well known in many Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox countries, and is often a favourite song used along with "Salve Regina".

Unter deinen Schutz und Schirm (lat. Sub tuum praesidium) ist eines der ältesten Mariengebete und eine marianische Antiphon. Es finden sich Belege schon aus dem dritten Jahrhundert in einem griechischen Papyrusfragment in der John Rylands Library Nr. 470. Daher sei es, Papst Paul VI. zufolge,. Auffallend ist insbesondere die Verwendung des seit Origenes nachweisbaren Begriffs der Gottesgebärerin (gr. "theotókos"). Es zeigt, dass dieser Glaubensinhalt bereits der frühen Kirche vertraut war (vgl. Gregor von Nazianz, Oratio 24,10 Migne PG 35, 1180). Zum ersten mariologischen Dogma wurde die Aussage erst auf dem Konzil von Ephesus (431 n. Chr.) erhoben.


Asia.

Great Post Road (), from Anyer to Panarukan, Indonesia, was a notable post road in Asia, built during the governancy of Herman Willem Daendels of Dutch East Indies from 1808 to 1811.

Europe.

Notable post roads in Europe include:

North America.

The following are notable posts roads in Canada and the U.S.

Canada.

Chemin du Roy was built between Montreal (Repentigny) and Quebec City from 1731 to 1737, for mail and as a means of travel for the key settlements in New France/Lower Canada. It was later incorporated as Quebec Route 2 and is now part of Quebec Route 138.  Two notable post roads built in the late 1700s and early 1800s were Dundas Road (The Governor's Road) and Kingston Road (Lakeshore Road or York Road) to provide a route for mail and stagecoaches between key settlements in Upper Canada.  The latter route, which became The Provincial Highway in 1917 (Ontario Highway 2 c. 1923), and the former which became a Dundas Highway in 1920 (Ontario Highway 5 in 1925), were the beginning of the provincial highway system in Ontario.

United States.

In what was to later become the United States, post roads developed as the primary method of communicating information across and between the colonies.  The Articles of Confederation authorized the national government to create post offices but not post roads. Adoption of the U.S. Constitution changed this, as Article I, Section Eight, known as the Postal Clause, specifically authorizes Congress the enumerated power "to establish post offices and post roads." This was generally interpreted liberally, to include all public highways. U.S. Supreme Court justice Joseph Story defended the broad interpretation that had become dominant in his influential "Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States" (1833).  Notable American post roads built for the purpose include:

A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries, only major towns had a post house and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due to the special attention given them, became so. In various centuries and countries, post road became more or less equivalent to main road, royal road, or highway. The 20th century spread of postal service blurred the distinction.

Der Postkurs (auch: "Poststraße", "Postlinie", "Postroute") bezeichnet eine Altstraße, die hauptsächlich von Postreitern und später von Postkutschen zur Beförderung von Postsendungen genutzt wurde.


Description.

Skiliftkarussell Winterberg is located in a forested low mountain range called Rothaargebirge, approx. 120 km N of Frankfurt, 70 km W of Kassel and 110 km E of Cologne. The highest points are Kahler Asten ( ), Bremberg (809 m), Kappe (776 m), Poppenberg (746 m) and Herrloh (733 m).  The ski resort offers 25 ski lifts: The network of ski slopes adds up to a length of 23 km and consists mainly of easy and intermediate ski runs. The steepest ski run is the FIS slalom run at Kappe, featuring the greatest vertical drop of 190 metres. Snowmaking was increasingly set up since the 1990s, to ensure snow safety, today it covers 95% of the slopes. The ski resort also offers night skiing on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. the resort usually opens up in December and closes by the end of March.

Summer.

In summer, the ski resort offers a terrain park for downhill biking. The chair lift at Kappe operates to carry cyclists uphill. At Poppenberg, there are also several mountainboarding cross-country runs.

Additional facilities.

In addition to the skiing slopes, there are numerous trails for Cross-country skiing in the vicinity of Winterberg. The Winterberg bobsled track at Kappe is a regular venue for international competitions in bobsleigh, sledding and Skeleton. In Germany, it is also known for hosting the wok racing event, invented by the German TV entertainer Stefan Raab. The St. George ski jump is a landmark of Winterberg, and used to be the venue for German Championships in the Nordic combined sport. Today it is used as a training facility by the local ski club.

Skiliftkarussell Winterberg is one of the major ski resorts in central Germany. It is located near the town of Winterberg in the Hochsauerland region in North Rhine-Westphalia. As an international destination, popular especially with skiers from the Netherlands, it attracts nearly 900,000 visitors annually. Nearby ski resorts are Altastenberg, Postwiese and Willingen.

Das Skiliftkarussell Winterberg bei Winterberg im nordrhein-westfälischen Hochsauerlandkreis ist ein Wintersportgebiet im Rothaargebirge. Es hat sich mit benachbarten Skigebieten, unter anderem jenem bei Altastenberg, dem Postwiesen-Skigebiet bei Neuastenberg und dem Skigebiet Willingen zum Ticketverbund Wintersport-ArenaCARD der Wintersport-Arena Sauerland zusammengeschlossen.


Early years.

Around 1947, Sonny Til sang regularly in amateur shows at the Avenue Cafe in Baltimore, where he met Nelson, Sharp and Gaither. They decided to form a group, calling themselves The Vibra-Naires, and aspiring songwriter Deborah Chessler became their manager. In April 1948 the group appeared on the Arthur Godfrey radio talent show in New York City, with Richard Williams as bass singer, but he was then replaced by Johnny Reed.  The group won a recording deal with the "It's A Natural" record label, a subsidiary of Jubilee Records, and changed their name to The Orioles in honor of the state bird of Maryland and in emulation of another popular group, The Ravens. In July 1948, they recorded Chessler's song "It's Too Soon To Know", with Sonny Til taking lead vocals. The record reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first week, rising to #1 on the national R&B charts in November 1948, and leading to cover versions by artists such as the Ravens, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. It was also one of the first "race" songs to cross over into mainstream markets, reaching # 13 on the pop charts.  The Orioles then began touring widely, and started recording for the Jubilee label. Their next smash hit was "Tell Me So" in 1949, which again reached # 1 in the R&B chart but this time failed to cross to the pop charts. Other hits included "Forgive And Forget" and "Lonely Christmas".  In performance, The Orioles were a phenomenon, with girls in the audiences screaming, fainting, and attempting to reach their idol Sonny Til in particular. They differed from groups like the Mills Brothers and the Delta Rhythm Boys in that they made vocal music with limited orchestration and accompanied only with the guitar of Tommy Gaither and the bass Johnny Reed. From 1948 to 1954, they cut over 120 sides for the Natural and Jubilee labels. By late 1950 they were major stars, although their supply of hit records had dried up.  Tragedy struck in November 1950. The group was traveling in two cars near Baltimore. Gaither drove one, with Reed and Nelson as passengers. He took a corner too fast and lost control of the car, which rolled down an embankment and crashed into a drive-in restaurant. Gaither was killed and Nelson and Reed were severely injured. Til and Sharp, in the other car, were not near enough to witness the accident and only heard about it when they arrived home.  For a short time, only Til and Sharp performed as the Orioles, but soon added two new members, guitarist/second tenor Ralph Williams and pianist Charlie Harris. Nelson returned in a few days, and Reed a few weeks later. Just a year after their tragic accident, the group were involved in another accident in Akron, Ohio, but there were no injuries. In 1952, they had another R&B hit with blues song "Baby Please Don't Go", which was an early 45rpm issue available only on red vinyl.  Early in 1953, George Nelson, who had a drinking problem, left the Orioles, and was replaced by John "Gregory" Carroll, formerly of another Baltimore group, the Four Buddies. In June 1953, they recorded a version of Darrell Glenn's country song "Crying in the Chapel". This was to become The Orioles' biggest hit, staying at # 1 in the R&B charts for five weeks in August and September, and reaching # 11 on the pop charts. it sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It was also to be their last big hit, with only a version of "In The Mission Of St. Augustine" later in the year reaching the R&B charts.  Williams left the group briefly in late 1953, and in 1954 the group's manager Deborah Chessler quit. In February 1955, Reed left and eventually joined a version of The Ink Spots. He was replaced by Maurice Hicks. Williams and Harris left soon after. The group continued a short time, but then disbanded.

Later years.

Left without the Orioles, Til picked up another group, the Regals, whose members were Tex Cornelius, Diz Russell, Jerry Holeman, Billy Adams, and pianist Paul Griffin. This group became the New Orioles. Til liked the Regals' modern harmony style, and the existing tunes were rearranged to match the Regals' style (in many cases, sounding rather different than they formerly had). During this time, they were often billed as "Sonny Til and his New Orioles". They left Jubilee and signed with Vee-Jay Records.  They continued with this arrangement until 1957 when Cornelius left the group. He was replaced for a short time by Frank Todd, who was replaced by Jimmy Brown. This line-up went until the last day of 1959. Holeman left the group, and Russel the next day, after finding Sonny's car (their means of transportation) repossessed. This was the end of the second Orioles.  Til recorded briefly as a solo artist before putting together the third Orioles group, with members Delton McCall, Billy Taylor, and Gerald Gregory, former bass of The Spaniels. They continued recording, this time for Charlie Parker Records. Gregory left after a couple of years and was replaced by Lawrence Joyner. This group split up in the mid 1960s.  In 1966, Til met Bobby Thomas, a long time Orioles fan. Bobby was singing in a group known as the Vibrannaires — coincidentally the same as the Orioles' original name. This group consisted of Thomas, Clarence Young, Harry Accoo, and Mike Robinson. Thomas, Young, and Robinson joined Til to become the fourth Orioles group. Gregory Carroll was occasionally a member of this group. They recorded until 1975.  Following the breakup of that Orioles group, Til joined George Holmes' Ink Spots, who were Til, Holmes, Ann Lawson, and Larry Reed. With the addition of George "Pepi" Grant in 1977, they began touring as both The Ink Spots and The Orioles (as the Orioles, Lawson was billed as a special guest). Til and Grant alternated leads, and Holmes sang bass. They recorded briefly in 1977.  In 1977, Til formed the sixth Orioles group with former members: Diz Russell and Jerry Holeman from the second group, and Billy Taylor from the third group. The group also sometimes featured Eddie Palmer. This group was together in 1981, when Til died from a heart attack. He was 53.  The group continued, and by the late 1990s featured Russell, Reese Palmer, Skip Mahoney, Larry Jordan and musical director Eddie Jones, who also works with The Cadillacs. Jones and Mahoney were later replaced by George Spann and Royal Height. Bobby Thomas started his own Orioles group following Til's death. Johnny Reed played with this group until his death in June 2005.  Bobby Thomas died on May 3, 2012, from complications of diabetes at the age of 77. John Gregory Carroll died on January 25, 2013, in Creston.  Lead singer Albert “Diz” Russell died November 16, 2016 from congestive heart failure at the age of 83.

Recognition.

The original five members of The Orioles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as early influences.  Both groups were featured in the PBS special "Doo Wop 51" in 2000, with the groups alternating verses on "Crying in the Chapel" (with Bobby Thomas and Larry Jordan on lead).  In 2015 the musical theater production, "Soul Harmony", telling the story of Deborah Chessler, Sonny Til, and the Orioles, premiered in Portland, Oregon.  They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.

The Orioles were an American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound.

The Orioles war eine Rhythm 'n' Blues bzw. Doo-Wop-Band der späten 1940er und frühen 1950er Jahre, die als erste schwarze R&B-Gesangsgruppe überhaupt gilt.


History of discovery.

The first description of an approximately 6.4 kb long LINE-derived sequence was published by J. Adams "et al." in 1980.

Types.

Based on structural features and the phylogeny of its key enzyme, the reverse transcriptase (RT), LINEs are grouped into five main groups, called L1, RTE, R2, I and Jockey, which can be subdivided into at least 28 clades.  In plant genomes, so far only LINEs of the L1 and RTE clade have been reported. Whereas L1 elements diversify into several subclades, RTE-type LINEs are highly conserved, often constituting a single family.  In fungi, Tad, L1, CRE, Deceiver and Inkcap-like elements have been identified, with Tad-like elements appearing exclusively in fungal genomes.  All LINEs encode a least one protein, ORF2, which contains an RT and an endonuclease (EN) domain, either an N-terminal APE or a C-terminal RLE or rarely both. A ribonuclease H domain is occasionally present. Except for the evolutionary ancient R2 and RTE superfamilies, LINEs usually encode for another protein named ORF1, which may contain an Gag-knuckle, a L1-like RRM (), and/or an esterase. LINE elements are relatively rare compared to LTR-retrotransposons in plants, fungi or insects, but are dominant in vertebrates and especially in mammals, where they represent around 20% of the genome.

L1 element.

The LINE-1/L1-element is one of the elements that are still active in the human genome today. It is found in all mammals except megabats.

Other elements.

Remnants of L2 and L3 elements are found in the human genome. It is estimated that L2 and L3 elements were active ~200-300 million years ago. Unlike L1 elements, L2 elements lack flanking target site duplications. The L2 (and L3) elements are in the same group as the CR1 clade, Jockey.

Incidence.

In human.

In the first human genome draft the fraction of LINE elements of the human genome was given as 21% and their copy number as 850,000. Of these, L1, L2 and L3 elements made up 516,000, 315,000 and 37,000 copies, respectively. The non-autonomous SINE elements which depend on L1 elements for their proliferation make up 13% of the human genome and have a copy number of around 1.5 million. They probably originated from the RTE family of LINEs. Recent estimates show the typical human genome contains on average 100 L1 elements with potential for mobilization, however there is a fair amount of variation and some individuals may contain a larger number of active L1 elements, making these individuals more prone to L1-induced mutagenesis.  Increased L1 copy numbers have also been found in the brains of people with schizophrenia, indicating that LINE elements may play a role in some neuronal diseases.

Propagation.

LINE elements propagate by a so-called target primed reverse transcription mechanism (TPRT), which was first described for the R2 element from the silkworm "Bombyx mori."  ORF2 (and ORF1 when present) proteins primarily associate in cis with their encoding mRNA, forming a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex, likely composed of two ORF2s and an unknown number of ORF1 trimers. The complex is transported back into the nucleus, where the ORF2 endonuclease domain opens the DNA (at TTAAAA hexanucleotide motifs in mammals). Thus, a 3'OH group is freed for the reverse transcriptase to prime reverse transcription of the LINE RNA transcript. Following the reverse transcription the target strand is cleaved and the newly created cDNA is integrated  New insertions create short TSDs, and the majority of new inserts are severely 5’-truncated (average insert size of 900pb in humans) and often inverted (Szak et al., 2002). Because they lack their 5’UTR, most of new inserts are non functional.

Regulation of LINE activity.

It has been shown that host cells regulate L1 retrotransposition activity, for example through epigenetic silencing. For example, the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism of small interfering RNAs derived from L1 sequences can cause suppression of L1 retrotransposition.  In plant genomes, epigenetic modification of LINEs can lead to expression changes of nearby genes and even to phenotypic changes: In the oil palm genome, methylation of a Karma-type LINE underlies the somaclonal,'mantled' variant of this plant, responsible for drastic yield loss.  Human APOBEC3C mediated restriction of LINE-1 elements were reported and it is due to the interaction between A3C with the ORF1p that affects the reverse transcriptase activity.

Association with disease.

A historic example of L1-conferred disease is Haemophilia A, which is caused by insertional mutagenesis. There are nearly 100 examples of known diseases caused by retroelement insertions, including some types of cancer and neurological disorders. Correlation between L1 mobilization and oncogenesis has been reported for epithelial cell cancer (carcinoma). Hypomethylation of LINES is associated with chromosomal instability and altered gene expression and is found in various cancer cell types in various tissues types. Hypomethylation of a specific L1 located in the MET onco gene is associated with bladder cancer tumorogenesis, Shift work sleep disorder is associated with increased cancer risk because light exposure at night reduces melatonin, a hormone that has been shown to reduce L1-induced genome instability.

Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) (also known as long interspersed nucleotide elements or long interspersed elements) are a group of non-LTR (long terminal repeat) retrotransposons that are widespread in the genome of many eukaryotes. They make up around 21.1% of the human genome. LINEs make up a family of transposons, where each LINE is about 7,000 base pairs long. LINEs are transcribed into mRNA and translated into protein that acts as a reverse transcriptase. The reverse transcriptase makes a DNA copy of the LINE RNA that can be integrated into the genome at a new site.

Unter LINEs (Abk. für engl. long interspersed nuclear elements) versteht man typischerweise 6 bis 8 kbp lange, häufig wiederholte und relativ frei verteilte DNA-Sequenzen im Genom. LINEs gehören zu den transponiblen Elementen, die eine Ribonukleinsäure (RNA) als Zwischenstufe benutzen (Retroelement) und keinen "long terminal repeat" besitzen, sondern sich durch Retrotransposition (siehe Retroposon, wobei diese nicht zu den Non-LTR-Retrotransposons zählen) vermehren. Sie besitzen Gene für zwei Proteine: eines zur Bindung und zum Transport von RNA und eines mit Aktivität für eine Reverse Transkriptase und für eine Endonuklease.


Organizzazione di Vigilanza e Repressione dell’Antifascismo

Origin.

In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Mussolini by the young Anteo Zamboni, in Bologna on 31 October 1926, a swath of repressive legislation was swiftly enacted by the Italian government. All political parties, association and organizations opposed to the Fascist regime were dissolved, and everybody who was proven to have ""committed or expressed intention to commit actions directed to violently subvert the social, economic or national order or undermine national security or to oppose or obstruct the actions of the Government"" could be sent into internal exile in remote locations by the police..  On November 25, 1926, the new "Legge di Difesa dello Stato" (State Defense Law) instituted a "Tribunale Speciale" (Special Court) to try those who were accused of being "enemies of the State", and sentence them to harsh prison terms or even to death, as the death penalty had also been restored under the new law.  Priority was given to the reorganization of the National Police Force, known as "Pubblica Sicurezza" (PS), under career police officer Arturo Bocchini. The new Code of Laws concerning Public Security ("Testo Unico delle Leggi di Pubblica Sicurezza", TULPS) enacted in 1926 and revised in 1931, specified a "Department of Political Police" as a special division of the force with the aim of controlling and preventing political dissent. Later, this division came to be known as OVRA, although its existence remained secret until December 1930 when the official press agency Agenzia Stefani released a statement quoting the OVRA as a "special section" of the police force.

Keeping the Fascist Regime in power.

Bocchini appointed inspector Francesco Nudi as head of the OVRA. Nudi was later replaced by Guido Leto.  The OVRA compiled files on around 130,000 potential subversives with the aid of a network of approximately 100,000 informants, and by 1930 they had organised around 20,000 raids each week. It is believed that about 6,000 people were arrested by the OVRA, mainly communists and members of the Giustizia e Libertà, and were either tried by the Tribunale Speciale or sent into exile on remote Mediterranean islands. The conditions in these places were extremely poor, so many anti-fascists simply left Italy for their own safety.  It is known that Heinrich Himmler met with Bocchini repeatedly and modeled the organization of the Gestapo on that of the OVRA. A secret protocol was signed on April 2, 1936, by the heads of the two police organisations to further cooperation and collaboration.  One of the chief duties of the OVRA was to operate and maintain the CPC (""Casellario Politico Centrale""), a special archive where all personal information about known "subversives" was dutifully compiled to create a "personal profile" containing all data concerning the subject's education, culture and habits, down to the minute details about his personal character and his sexual orientation.

Spying on the Vatican.

A major duty for the OVRA was spying on Pope Pius XI, as the Roman Catholic Church was an extremely powerful institution in Italian life that the Fascist regime never controlled, instead having a partnership with. It was a common practice of the OVRA to catch Roman Catholic priests "in flagrante delicto" and blackmail them into spying for the OVRA, which was therefore always very well informed about the affairs of the Holy See. The American historian David Kertzer described the OVRA's spy network within the Vatican as "robust", comprising four highly placed clerics and a number of lay Vatican employees. Mussolini was fascinated by reports of homosexual activity among senior Catholic clerics and always had them sent to his office for him to read.  The OVRA had a very long file on the Pope's Master of Ceremonials, his close friend Monsignor Camillo Caccia Dominioni. He was known to lure young boys to his Rome apartment for sex, despite the Pope being aware of this, at least from 1926 on. Another homosexual cleric was Monsignor Ricardo Sanz de Samper, the Prefect of the Pope's Household and papal majordomo, whose fondness for sex with young boys became so open that even Pius was forced to dismiss him in 1928. Another long OVRA file was on the Jesuit Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi, the Pope's emissary to Mussolini, who often had "illicit" relations with young men and had been wounded in a lover's quarrel, which he tried to pass off as an anti-fascist assassination attempt. The Pope retained Venturi as his preferred liaison with Mussolini, despite this obvious fabrication. Another senior cleric blackmailed by the OVRA was Monsignor Enrico Pucci, the chief of the Vatican press department, who worked as an informer for the OVRA from October 1927 onward. Pucci as a rule did not see the Pope very often. Bu he met on a daily basis with the Pope's advisers, to get directions for the editorial stance of the Vatican media. This provided the OVRA with much information. One of the most important informers in the Vatican remains anonymous. His OVRA file simply describes him as the "noted Vatican informer". Kertzer wrote that judging from the high-quality intelligence he provided, the "noted Vatican informer" must have been someone very senior, so that his name was never written down.

During the Second World War.

During World War II, the OVRA was used by Mussolini to control resistance groups in the Balkans (Tito's National Liberation Army especially) prior to the 1943 armistice and withdrawal. In 1943, with the Allied invasion of Italy, the OVRA began to recruit double agents to infiltrate the British SOE, but these efforts failed to stop Mussolini's ouster. With the establishment of the Italian Social Republic in northern Italy, many OVRA agents flocked to this state led by Mussolini, fighting until Mussolini was executed by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945. OVRA agents were favourite targets of communist partisans, as they were a symbol of the fascist government.

Legacy.

After the war ended the OVRA was officially disbanded, but a decree issued on April 26, 1945, stated that the CPC should be maintained and "updated with all the information pertaining to anybody whose political activity is aimed at breaking the laws and regulations enacted by the democratic Government against neo-Fascism, anarchists who are by definition against any law and government, and political activists whose moral depravity and contempt of law could prompt them to instigate unrest or commit acts of terrorism". Later, a division of the PS named "Servizio Informazioni Speciali" ("Special Informations Service", better known as SIS) was set up by the new Minister of Interior, the Socialist Giuseppe Romita, as a result of a new reorganization of the Police offices, with the task of taking over the management of the CPC and investigating politically motivated crimes and other felonies related to that particular time (such as black marketeering, etc.), and that many of the former officers of the OVRA were being reinstated as members of the new SIS. Even the person appointed as head of SIS was Inspector General Santoro, one of Leto's former deputies.  Most of the laws and regulations of the old TULPS of 1931 were kept in force by the Italian Republic, and Leto (the former boss of OVRA aforementioned) was later reinstated as a fully fledged national Police officer, and entrusted with the supervision and coordination of Police academies in postwar Italy.

The Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA; Italian for "Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism") was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the regime of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and during the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III. The OVRA was the Italian precursor of the German Gestapo. Mussolini's secret police were assigned to stop any anti-fascist activity or sentiment. Approximately 50,000 OVRA agents infiltrated most aspects of domestic life in Italy. The OVRA was headed by Arturo Bocchini.

Die Organizzazione di Vigilanza e Repressione dell'Antifascismo (dt.: „Organisation zur Überwachung und Bekämpfung des Antifaschismus“, kurz OVRA) war eine italienische Geheimpolizei. Sie entstand 1927 aus der politischen Polizeiabteilung der Staatspolizei. Sie war für Benito Mussolinis faschistisches Regime ein entscheidendes Instrument zur Sicherung des Machterhalts. Sie verfolgte vor allem Kommunisten und Antifaschisten, horchte aber auch einfache Bürger aus, um die „Stimmung im Volk“ zu sondieren. Die Organisation ging mit dem Sturz Mussolinis im September 1943 unter, entstand aber unter anderer Bezeichnung in der Repubblica Sociale Italiana teilweise wieder. Nach der Befreiung Italiens wurde 1946 eine Untersuchungskommission eingerichtet, die sowohl die Tätigkeit der politischen Polizei als auch die der OVRA aufarbeiten sollte. Die Ergebnisse dieser Kommission blieben unbefriedigend.


Plot summary.

The film is narrated by Max Carlyle (Wesley Snipes). Max lives in Los Angeles, where he has a successful career directing television commercials and is happily married to Mimi (Ming-Na), with whom he has two children. While visiting New York City, Max meets Karen (Nastassja Kinski) by chance after missing a flight; circumstances keep bringing them together over the course of the evening, and they end up spending the night together. When he returns home, Max seems distant and unhappy, though Mimi can't tell why and Max won't say. A year later, Max and Mimi fly to New York to visit his close friend Charlie (Robert Downey Jr.), who is near death from AIDS. Max meets Charlie's brother Vernon (Kyle MacLachlan) and is introduced to his new wife—Karen. Facing Karen sends Max into an emotional tailspin, and he realizes that he must tell Mimi the truth about his indiscretion.

Production.

Joe Eszterhas.

The film was based on a script by Joe Eszterhas then at a career peak due to the success of "Basic Instinct" (1992). In 1994, Eszterhas sold a four-page outline for "One Night Stand" to New Line Pictures for $2.5 million, with an additional $1.5 million to be paid once filming had started.  "No one has ever paid this for a movie idea," said Eszterhas' agent Guy McElwaine. The previous record was $1.6 million (against $3.4 million) paid to Eszterhas by producer Jon Peters to adapt a book about John Gotti for Columbia Pictures. Part of the appeal of the deal was Adrian Lyne was attached to direct. Lyne would be paid $250,000 to help develop the script and have a final fee of $7 million.  Robert Shaye of New Line said, "With Joe Eszterhas and Adrian Lyne, you're more than investing in an idea, you're investing in a film with a world- class screenwriter and director who can attract world-class talent." Shaye said he regarded the pitch as "a completed package [rather] than notes on a piece of paper."  Eszterhaus says the film was based on the break up of his marriage. When the couple in the film have a one-night stand, "They talk, they have sex, they make love, and I distinguish between the two things. It's not just the sex, it's to do with the heart, not the glands. Now I am 50, I am sure of the difference." Eszerthas handed in his script in early 1995. According to the "Los Angeles Times", his "first draft certainly wasn't the sort of script you'd want to give Bob Dole for bedtime reading. Its first 65 pages are given over to an Olympic decathlon-style sexual encounter between the couple, with almost as much trash talk about sex as sex itself."

Mike Figgis.

Lyne decided to drop out to helm the remake of "Lolita" (1997). New Line then approached Mike Figgis who was coming off "Leaving Las Vegas". Figgis agreed to direct the film for a fee of around $2.5 million if he could rewrite the script and shoot the film in an informal style, using multiple cameras and allowing improvisation.  "I expect people will look at me like I've defected to the Fascist Party," said Figgis of working on an erotic thriller. "But I'm not going to be swayed by popular opinion. Joe's script had something that was a lot less formulaic than the other scripts I was seeing."  Figgis said he was attracted to the idea of making a big budget film because he could "have a reasonable budget for the music and control of the music" for the first time in his career, and final cut of the film.  New Line's President Mike De Luca said Figgis' reworking of material "fine with us, because he [Mike] has a vision of how to bring the most to the material. We wanted an American 'Last Tango in Paris,' a film that explores sexual politics and hypocrisy. Joe's script was about the couple's relationship. Mike's version focuses more on the consequences."  Figgis changed the scripts significantly. The "Times" said "reading the scripts is like hearing two different versions of the same song, one by Eddie Van Halen, the other by Wynton Marsalis."  Figgis changed key characters and added a subplot about a friend who is dying of AIDS. "A good friend of mine died of AIDS and it had a powerful effect on me," says Figgis. "To me, the character was a catalyst, someone who'd influence the other people in the film."  Eszterhas felt the script had changed so much he asked for his name to be taken off the credits. During filming he said "I have a lot of respect for Mike, so I'm very curious to see how the film will turn out."

Casting.

Wesley Snipes was cast in the male lead. "It's a real British white male part--I almost used an English accent," he said. "But that's what makes it a challenge. There are things in the script that are completely implausible to me. But it's Mike's movie and I respect him, so I don't interject my own perspective."  Natassa Kinski was Figgis' first choice for the role. "We asked ourselves how middle America would respond to the casting," said New Line executive vice president Richard Saperstein. "But we felt this wasn't a black and white issue. It's not a film like 'Jungle Fever' that was about interracial love. It's a story about the impact of extramarital love on a relationship."  The making of the film coincided with the peak of "One Night Stand" actor Robert Downey Jr.'s drug addictions. Mike Figgis recalled Downey Jr. showed up to an introductory meeting "barefoot, high and brandishing a handgun." When principal photography was still occurring, Downey was arrested for cocaine/heroin possession and breaking into a neighbor's house. It has been reported that just days after this, Downey startled the crew by showing up to the film's set, and delivered what Figgis described as a "completely mind-blowing" performance. He stated "He was on time and did amazing work. He was quite incredible, not only on the basis of considering that he was going through these problems, just on a very pure level." Critics noted "creepy" similarities between the pale and underweight AIDS afflicted character Charlie and Downey's real life state. At one point Downey's performance in the film was being considered for an Oscar nomination, despite the fact that Downey would have been in prison again when the awards were to take place in early 1998.

Reception.

"One Night Stand" earned mostly negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 32%, based on 31 reviews, and an average rating of 4.94/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore give the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.  The film was also a commercial failure.  In 1999 Figgis said "[I] still don't quite know what happened with "One Night Stand"."

One Night Stand is a 1997 American drama film by British director Mike Figgis. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Kyle MacLachlan, Ming-Na and Robert Downey Jr.. The first draft of the screenplay was written by Joe Eszterhas, who had his name removed from the project following Figgis's rewrite.

One Night Stand ist ein US-amerikanischer Film aus dem Jahr 1997 von Mike Figgis, der auch das Drehbuch schrieb, den Film mitproduzierte und die Filmmusik komponierte. Die Hauptrollen spielten Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski und Kyle MacLachlan.


Growth.

The use of tools and machinery makes labor more effective, so rising capital intensity (or "capital deepening") pushes up the productivity of labor. Capital intensive societies tend to have a higher standard of living over the long run.  Calculations made by Robert Solow claimed that economic growth was mainly driven by technological progress (productivity growth) rather than inputs of capital and labor. However recent economic research has invalidated that theory, since Solow did not properly consider changes in both investment and labor inputs.  Dale Jorgenson, of Harvard University, President of the American Economic Association in 2000, concludes that: 'Griliches and I showed that changes in the quality of capital and labor inputs and the quality of investment goods explained most of the Solow residual. We estimated that capital and labor inputs accounted for 85 percent of growth during the period 1945–1965, while only 15 percent could be attributed to productivity growth... This has precipitated the sudden obsolescence of earlier productivity research employing the conventions of Kuznets and Solow.'  John Ross has analysed the long term correlation between the level of investment in the economy, rising from 5-7% of GDP at the time of the Industrial Revolution in England, to 25% of GDP in the post-war German 'economic miracle', to over 35% of GDP in the world's most rapidly growing contemporary economies of India and China.  Taking the G7 and other largest economies, Jorgenson and Vu conclude: 'the growth of world output between input growth and productivity... input growth greatly predominated... Productivity growth accounted for only one-fifth of the total during 1989-1995, while input growth accounted for almost four-fifths. Similarly, input growth accounted for more than 70 percent of growth after 1995, while productivity accounted for less than 30 percent.'  Regarding differences in output per capita Jorgenson and Vu conclude: 'differences in per capita output levels are primarily explained by differences in per capital input, rather than variations in productivity'.  Some economists claimed that the Soviet Union missed the lessons of the Solow growth model, because starting in the 1930s, the Stalin government attempted to force capital accumulation through state direction of the economy. However, Solow's calculations have been proven invalid, so this is a poor explanation. Modern research shows the main factor for economic growth is the growth of labor and capital inputs, not increases in productivity. Therefore, other factors besides capital accumulation must have been big contributors to the Soviet economic crisis.  Free market economists tend to believe that capital accumulation should be not be managed by government, but instead be determined by market forces. Monetary stability (which increases confidence), low taxation, and greater freedom for the entrepreneur would then promote capital accumulation.  The Austrian School maintains that the capital intensity of any industry is due to the roundaboutness of the particular industry and consumer demand.

Capital-intensive industry.

Capital-intensive industries use a large portion of capital to buy expensive machines, compared to their labor costs. The term came about in the mid- to late-nineteenth century as factories such as steel or iron sprung up around the newly industrialized world. With the added expense of machinery, there was greater financial risk. This makes new capital-intensive factories with high tech machinery a small share of the marketplace, even though they raise productivity and output. etc.

Measurement.

The degree of capital intensity is easy to measure in nominal terms. It is simply the ratio of the total money value of capital equipment to the total potential output. However, this measure need not be related to real economic activity because it can rise due to inflation. Then the question arises, how do we measure the "real" amount of capital goods? Do we use book value (historical price)? or replacement cost? or the price justified by the present discounted value of future profits? Or do we simply "deflate" the total current money value of capital equipment by the average price of capital goods?  This capital controversy points out that measure of capital intensity is not independent of the distribution of income, so that changes in the ratio of profits to wages lead to changes in measured capital intensity.

Capital intensity is the amount of fixed or real capital present in relation to other factors of production, especially labor. At the level of either a production process or the aggregate economy, it may be estimated by the capital to labor ratio, such as from the points along a capital/labor isoquant.

Unter Kapitalintensität versteht man in der Volkswirtschaftslehre (insbesondere in der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung) eine volkswirtschaftliche Kennzahl, die das Verhältnis des für die gesamte Güterproduktion notwendigen Kapitalstocks (Anlagevermögen) zur Anzahl der dafür benötigten Erwerbstätigen, also den Kapitaleinsatz je Erwerbstätigen, wiedergibt:


History.

The 1940s: early years.

After the liberation of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie I asked the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to help him to establish an airline as part of his modernization effort. According to the "BBC News" it is possible that the Emperor intended the creation of a quality national airline to help dispel impressions of Ethiopian poverty. In 1945, the Ethiopian government began negotiations with both Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express (later merged into TWA). On 8 September 1945, TWA signed an agreement with the American historian and foreign affairs advisor to Ethiopia John H. Spencer to establish a commercial

The 1950s: start of long-haul routes.

Services to Bombay were withdrawn in. Also this year, a loan granted from the Ex-Im Bank enabled the carrier to incorporate Convair CV-240s, aimed at operating international routes. Two CV-240s, named "Eagle of Ethiopia" and "Haile Selassie I", entered the fleet in ; starting, these aircraft were subsequently deployed on the Addis Ababa–Cairo, Addis Ababa–Nairobi, and Addis Ababa–Jeddah–Dhahran–Karachi routes, with Dhahran and Sharjah being incorporated to the route network on 20 February. In, the airline was appointed general sales agent for TWA in Kenya, Tanganyka, Uganda and Zanzibar, and by May

The 1960s and 1970s: the jet age.

Port Sudan was removed from the list of destinations on. The airline had its first fatal accident on 15 July when a DC-3 crashed en route from Bulchi to Jimma, killing the pilot. A Convair 240 was sold to Allied Stores of Israel on 18 July. On 12 August, an order with Boeing for two Boeing 720B aircraft was placed. EAL general manager had already brought the idea of acquiring two jet aircraft for long-haul operations up already in, suggesting the Boeing 720B. The Sud SE-210 Caravelle, the de Havilland D.H.106 Comet 4 and the Boeing 720B were all taken into account. Hot and high condition of some EAL operations made the Caravelle inappropriate, whereas the Comet was considered

The 1980s and 1990s.

The DHC-5 Buffalo entered Ethiopian's fleet in the early 1980s. In 1982, Ethiopian became the first African carrier in ordering the Boeing 767, as well as the first airline to order the Boeing 767-200ER. On 1984-6-1, the first of these aircraft set a new distance record for a twinjet, flying non-stop from Washington, D.C. to Addis Ababa, on delivery to the company. The came to replace the remaining Boeing 720s. ATR 42s and Twin Otters were incorporated into the fleet in the mid-1980s, with the first of six Twin Otters entering the fleet in early 1985. The Boeing 737-200 joined

2000onwards.

A fleet renewal started in the early 2000s, with the incorporation of the Boeing 737-700 and the Boeing 767-300ER; The airline discontinued its service to Newark in favour of serving Washington in 2004. In the late 2000s the airline announced it would be the

Corporate affairs.

Management and ownership.

, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines is Tewolde Gebremariam; he replaced Girma Wake in 2011. The airline, which is wholly owned by the Government of Ethiopia, has traditionally been unfettered by government intervention, even during times of significant turmoil and domestic hardship. Whereas many African state-owned airlines were and remain often poorly run, with staffings often serving nepotistic purposes, and business decisions being made on political grounds, Ethiopian Airlines remained professionally run and managed, leading the "Christian Science Monitor" to term it in 1988 a "capitalist success in Marxist Ethiopia".  The Derg, after expanding the airline's workforce, which had resulted in a decline in service quality and revenues, allowed the airline to be run on a "strictly commercial basis". Captain Mohammed Ahmed

Organization.

The Ethiopian government reorganized the airline as a fully owned aviation holding group in July 2017. The aim was to maximize efficiency, enhance customer service to a global standard, and ease of longterm planning. The initial group consisted of: The Ethiopian Airports

Head office.

Ethiopian Airlines currently has its head office at Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, but intends to build a new head office facility. A contest for the design was held in 2009, but none of those plans were proceeded with. On 16 February 2011, it

Business trends.

Performance figures for the government-owned Ethiopian Airlines are available in their

Strategic ambitions and landmarks.

The airline was featured by "The Economist" as an example of excellence in late 1987, and economist Paul B. Henze recognised it in 2000 as being "one of the most reliable and profitable airlines in the Third World". In, Ethiopian was named Africa's most profitable airline for the year 2010 by "Air Transport World", and it has also been praised by AFRAA for its sustained profitability over recent years.  As a longterm company policy, in addition to the carrier's main activities, revenues are also generated by providing aircraft maintenance to foreign airlines, and specialist training for both Ethiopian and foreign trainees. Every year, pilots and technicians graduate

Destinations.

, the carrier served 105 international and 20 domestic passenger destinations and 44 cargo destinations. Ethiopian serves more destinations in Africa than any other airline., the carrier's five densest routes were Addis Ababa–Dubai, Addis Ababa–Johannesburg, Addis Ababa–Guangzhou, Addis Ababa–Nairobi and Addis Ababa–Beijing.  In late, the airline said it planned to start serving the Latin American market but no firm dates were disclosed. In that year, Abuja, Accra, Douala, Dubai, Entebbe, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Harare, Kilimanjaro, Lagos, Lomé, London, Luanda, Lusaka, Malabo, Maputo, Mombasa, Mumbai, Nairobi and Rome would be served on an rotational basis with the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and that upon delivery of the second aircraft of the type these would be assigned on fixed scheduled routes.  In, unofficial reports disclosed the carrier plans to launch new services to Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Seoul starting in the same year, as well as the company's intention to start flying the -long São Paulo–Lomé–Addis Ababa–Guangzhou run in. In, unofficial sources reported that the launch of flights to both Ho Chi Minh City and Manila were cancelled, and that they will be replaced with a flight to Singapore starting in ; as announced, flights to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo commenced in the same year. Flights to Singapore were launched in. A new link to Shanghai was launched in, while new services to Vienna started in and to Doha in December the same year.  Tokyo-Narita was added on 20 April 2015. Other new destinations are Los Angeles (the carrier point to be served in the Americas) and Dublin. A new service to Manila was launched in. The Addis Ababa–Lomé–Newark run commenced on.  Buenos Aires became the second stop for the airline in the continent starting on 8 March 2018 as an addition to the existing Addis Ababa-São Paulo run. The list of cargo destinations has grown with the recent addition of: Los Angeles, Mexico City, and three additional cities in Africa. The daily uplift now stands at 650 tons. The plan, by 2025, is to grow the service points to 57 with a fleet of 18 aircraft, having the capacity to uplift 1.5 million tons annually.  Nosy-Be became the second stop, after Antananarivo, in Madagascar starting on 27 March 2018. The thrice-weekly service will be an outbound extension of the existing connection to the Comoros with a direct return to Addis Ababa. On the same day Kisangani and Mbuji Mayi, in the DRC, joined the Ethiopian network; bringing the total points served in Africa to 58.  As part of normalising relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the carrier restored service to the latter's capital Asmara on 18 July 2018.

Fleet.

Recent developments.

In, Ethiopian Airlines signed a preliminary agreement to buy up to ten Boeing 787 Dreamliners (five firm orders plus five options), becoming the first African carrier to order 787s. On, Boeing announced that Ethiopian had exercised its purchase rights and confirmed a firm order for ten aircraft. The carrier was the first African airline to order and to operate the Boeing 777-200LR. and took possession of its first (the 900th delivered 777 model) in. The company ordered eight Bombardier Q400s for million in and took options on four more. During the 2009 Dubai Air Show, Ethiopian placed an order for 12 Airbus A350-900s, initially scheduled for delivery between 2016 and 2019. At November 2011, this order was the largest placed by the airline, and it evidenced the company's dissatisfaction with Boeing for the delays in

Current fleet.

, the Ethiopian Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:  Aside from the equipment

Historical fleet.

Following is a list of equipment previously operated by Ethiopian. Helicopters and

Services.

"Cloud Nine" and Economy Class are the two classes available on most of Ethiopian Airlines' flights, but not on all-economy-layout Dash 8s.

Food and drinks.

On all flights, passengers are provided with food and complimentary beverages on board, in both classes. The food service consists of hot meals, hot or cold snacks,

In-flight entertainment.

Cloud Nine.

Ethiopian Airlines' Business Class is named "Cloud Nine". Passengers travelling in this class are provided with onboard amenities and a wide

Economy Class.

A variety of meals —ranging from light snacks to hot dishes— and amenities are provided to passengers flying on this class, both depending upon the length of the flight. Reclining seats and on-demand audio and video, with 80 channels and 8.9-inched screens, are available on Boeing 777-200LR services.

Lounges.

Ethiopian Airlines passengers are offered two lounges at Bole International Airport. Cloud Nine passengers can wait for the departure of flights at the "Cloud Nine Lounge", where they are provided with a

Accidents and incidents.

According to the "Aviation Safety Network" records for "Ethiopian Airlines", the airline has had 61 accidents and incidents since 1965, plus six more for "Ethiopian Air Lines", the airline's former name., these occurrences resulted in 494 deaths. On 10 March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a 4-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board from more than 30 different nations. Prior to the 2019 accident, a hijacking was the carrier's deadliest accident, when an aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean due to fuel starvation in 1996. The third-deadliest accident occurred in 2010, when an aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after it departed Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on board. The crash of a Boeing 737-200 in 1988 led to 35 fatalities and is the fourth deadliest accident experienced by the company. Despite these, Ethiopian Airlines obtains a great safety record, operating from 74 years ago.

Ethiopian Airlines ( for short), formerly "Ethiopian Air Lines" (EAL) and often referred to as simply "Ethiopian", is Ethiopia's flag carrier and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to international flights in 1951. The firm became a share company in 1965 and changed its name from "Ethiopian Air Lines" to "Ethiopian Airlines". The airline has been a member of the International Air Transport Association since 1959 and of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) since 1968. Ethiopian is a Star Alliance member, having joined in.

Ethiopian Airlines (), bis 1965 "Ethiopian Air Lines", ist die nationale Fluggesellschaft Äthiopiens mit Sitz in Addis Abeba und Basis auf dem Flughafen Addis Abeba sowie Mitglied der Luftfahrtallianz Star Alliance. Sie ist mit 11 Millionen Passagieren pro Jahr (Stand 2017) die größte Fluggesellschaft Afrikas.


Gameplay.

At the time, its stand-out features included in-game music and sound effects, high replay value, and colourful graphics, which were well designed for the graphical limitations of the ZX Spectrum. The Spectrum's video display allowed the background and foreground colours to be exchanged automatically without software attention and the "animated" load screen appears to swap the words "Manic" and "Miner" through manipulation of this feature.  On the Spectrum this was the first game with in-game music, the playing of which required constant CPU attention and was thought impossible. It was achieved by constantly alternating CPU time between the music and the game. This results in the music's stuttery rhythm. The in-game music is "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Edvard Grieg's music to Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt". The music that plays during the title screen is an arrangement of "The Blue Danube".

Objective.

In each of the twenty caverns, each one screen in size, are several flashing objects, which the player must collect before Willy's oxygen supply runs out. Once the player has collected the objects in one cavern, they must then go to the now-flashing portal, which will take them to the next cavern. The player must avoid enemies, listed in the cassette inlay as ""...Poisonous Pansies, Spiders, Slime, and worst of all, Manic Mining Robots..."", which move along predefined paths at constant speeds. Willy can also be killed by falling too far, so players must time the precision of jumps and other movements to prevent such falls or collisions with the enemies.  Extra lives are gained every 10,000 points, and the game ends when the player either has no lives left, or completes all twenty caverns and escapes to the open air. Above the final portal is a garden. To the right is a house with a white picket fence and red car parked in front. To the left is a slope leading to backyard with a pond and tree; a white animal, resembling a cat or mouse, watches the sun set behind the pond. Upon gaining his freedom, Miner Willy simply walks off the right of the screen, never looking back.

Version differences.

There are some differences between the Bug-Byte and Software Projects versions. The scroll-text during the attract mode is different, to reflect the new copyright, and there are also several other cosmetic changes, although gameplay remains the same:

Reception.

"Manic Miner" was placed at number 25 in the "Your Sinclair official top 100" Spectrum games of all time, and was voted number 6 in the "Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time" in the same issue.  It was the winner of a Golden Joystick Award for best arcade style game by "Computer and Video Games" magazine in the March 1983 edition. Placed third in "Game of the Year 1983" of the same competition.  The game was included at #97 on Polygon's 500 best games of all time list.

Ports.

Official ports exist for the Commodore 64, Commodore 16, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Dragon 32/64, Commodore Amiga, Oric 1, Game Boy Advance, MSX, SAM Coupé and mobile phones.  Unofficial ports exist for the IBM PC compatibles (Windows, DOS and Linux), Apple Macintosh, Atari ST, ZX81, TRS-80 Color Computer, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Acorn Archimedes, Orao, Z88, PMD 85, HP48, Microsoft Zune, Acorn Atom, Commodore 128 and Commodore VIC-20.

SAM Coupé.

The SAM Coupé version, programmed by Matthew Holt, like the ZX original requires pixel-perfect timing, and both graphics and audio, the latter by František Fuka, were greatly updated. In addition to the original twenty caverns, forty additional caverns were included in this release. Levels were designed by David Ledbury, and winners of a competition run by SAM Computers Ltd.  Although the SAM Coupé was broadly a Spectrum clone, it avoided the Spectrum's original limitations on colour graphics. Spectrum pixels could be of many colours, but all pixels within the span of a character block had to be from one of only two colours. The Manic Miner port made use of the removal of this restriction, with more detailed use of colour, most visibly in the character sprites.  This version scored 84% in "Your Sinclair", and 88% in "Crash".

PMD 85.

The game was ported for Czechoslovak Computers PMD 85 in 1985. The authors of the PMD 85 version are Vít Libovický and Daniel Jenne. They made it as accurate as they could.

BBC Micro.

The BBC Micro version does not have the Solar Power Generator, instead containing a completely different room called "The Meteor Shower". This has the "reflecting machines" from the Solar Power Generator, but there is no beam of light. Instead, it has meteors which descend from the top of the screen and disintegrate when they hit platforms, like the Skylabs in Skylab Landing Bay. It also has forcefields which turn on and off, and the layout is completely different.  Also, the very last screen (which is still called The Final Barrier) is complex and difficult (unlike the Spectrum version, which is considered to be fairly easy) and has a completely different layout. It also features the blinking forcefields.

Amstrad CPC.

The Amstrad version was effectively the same as the Spectrum version by Software Projects, except that Eugene's Lair was renamed "Eugene Was Here," and the layout of The Final Barrier was again completely different (but is more similar to the Spectrum version than the BBC version).

Dragon 32/64.

The Dragon 32 version, programmed by Roy Coates, had two extra rooms (i.e. 22 altogether) and a cheat mode accessed by typing "P P PENGUIN". To retain the resolution of the original, the Dragon version used PMODE 4 in black/white mode.

Z88.

The Z88 port has all the functionality (and cheats) of the Bug-Byte and Software Projects versions. The levels are the same and there is even some background music.

HP 48.

The HP 48 series version is somewhat limited by the low resolution screen size, scrolling the area rather than displaying the level as a whole. This makes it a very difficult port for those who have not previously mastered another version. Otherwise it is fairly loyal to the ZX Spectrum version. Sound is somewhat different sounding and colour omitted for obvious hardware reasons, but game play remains similar despite the awkward platform.

Commodore 16.

The Commodore 16 version was limited in a number of respects - this was mainly due to the initial lack of developer material for the C16 machine, and a two-week deadline to produce and test the game, then generate a master tape for the duplication house. Other issues related to the lack of a fast loader system for the C16 cassette deck, as a result it took about seven minutes for the game to load, and a bug resulted in the game entering the first screen as soon as the tape had finished loading instead of waiting for the user to start the game. Further issues related to the lack of music and in game sound, and the way that video memory was mapped in the C16, this resulted in a number of the screens having to be removed so that load time and video mapping could be correctly handled.

Orao.

The Orao version was made in 1987 by Nenad Mihailovic. It was made without using any original game resources or files, by watching and replicating original Spectrum version. Therefore Orao version does not contain any secrets that were not obvious in original game, but it does have most of original levels replicated accurately. Orao computer had 256x256 black and white video, so game was adjusted accordingly.  This Manic Miner version is also contained in Android Orao emulator app, made by same author, under 'Load Game' menu.

Xbox 360.

A version of the game was released for the Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Indie Game under the name Manic Miner 360 on the 21st of June 2012.

Sequels.

The sequel to "Manic Miner" is "Jet Set Willy", and it was followed by "Jet Set Willy II". Software Projects also released a game in the style of "Manic Miner" for the Commodore VIC-20 called "The Perils of Willy".  In addition quite a few unofficial sequels, remakes, homages and updates have been released, even up to this day, including a ZX81 version.

Influence.

A homage to the loading screen appeared in one episode of the 2005 British sitcom "Nathan Barley".

Manic Miner is a platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the early titles in the platform game genre. The game itself was inspired by the Atari 8-bit family game "Miner 2049er". It has since been ported to numerous home computers, video game consoles and mobile phones.

Manic Miner ist ein klassisches Plattform- oder Jump-’n’-Run-Spiel, das erstmals für den Heimcomputer ZX Spectrum von Matthew Smith geschrieben und vom Softwareunternehmen Bug-Byte im Jahre 1983 veröffentlicht wurde. Der Nachfolger war "Jet Set Willy".


Taxonomy.

Short-tailed albatrosses are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae, order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. They also have a salt gland which is situated above the nasal passage helping desalinate their bodies, as an adaptation to the high amount of ocean water they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose. Going back in time, fossils of albatrosses from the mid-Pleistocene in Bermuda and North Carolina are considered to be closest to the short-tailed albatross.

Description.

The short-tailed albatross is a medium-sized albatross, with a wingspan of, a length of and a body weight that can be. Among standard measurements, the bill is long, the tail is long, the tarsus around and the wing chord. Its plumage as an adult is overall white with black flight feathers, some coverts, as well as a black terminal bar on its tail. It has a yellow-stained nape and crown. Its bill is large and pink; however, older birds will gain a blue tip. The juveniles are an all-over brown colour, and they will whiten as they mature, in about 10 to 20 years. It can be distinguished from the other two species of albatross in its range, the Laysan albatross and the black-footed albatross by its larger size and its pink bill (with a bluish tip), as well as details of its plumage. Contrary to its name its tail is no shorter than that of the Laysan or black-footed, and is actually longer than that of the other member of the genus "Phoebastria", the waved albatross.

Range and habitat.

Short-tailed albatrosses now nest on four islands, with the majority of birds nesting on Torishima, and almost all of the rest on Minami-kojima in the Senkaku Islands. A female-female pair began nesting on Kure in the late 2000s, but to date they have not produced a viable egg. A chick hatched on 14 January 2011 on Midway. Both Midway and Kure are in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2012 a pair began incubating an egg on Muko-jima, in the Bonin Islands, Japan. During non-breeding season they range across the North Pacific, with the males and juveniles gathering in the Bering Sea, and the females feeding off the coast of Japan and eastern Russia. They can also be found as far east as California. In fact, the short-tailed albatross is seen on a number of the United States' state endangered species lists including Washington.  The species has been extirpated as a breeder from Kita-no-shima, Enewetak Atoll, Kobishi, and the Bonin Islands (Nishino Shima, Yomejima, and (until recently) Mukojima). It also formerly bred on Bermuda during the Pleistocene.

Behaviour.

Feeding.

The short-tailed albatross feeds mainly on squid, but will follow ships for their discarded offal.

Reproduction.

This albatross historically preferred to nest on large open areas near stands of the grass, "Miscanthus sinensis".  The short-tailed albatross usually first breeds at 10 years of age.  The short-tailed albatross lays a clutch of one egg that is dirty white, with red spots, mainly at the blunt end of the egg. It usually measures. The egg is incubated for around 65 days. Both sexes incubate the eggs.

Conservation.

The IUCN classifies this species as vulnerable, with an occurrence range of and a breeding range of.  The short-tailed albatross came perilously close to extinction. They were hunted on an almost industrial scale for their feathers in the later half of the 19th century, with some estimates claiming upward of 10 million birds hunted. By the 1930s the only population left was on Torishima, between 1927 and until 1933 hunting continued when the Japanese government declared the ban of hunting to save the species, after which the albatrosses stopped breeding on the island. At this point the species was assumed to be extinct and research became impossible with the outbreak of World War II. On 1949 an American researcher arriving on this island declared the species to be extinct, but an estimated 50 individuals, most likely juveniles, survived at sea (all albatross species take a long time to reach sexual maturity and will not return to their natal colony for many years). After the return of the birds they were more carefully protected, and the first egg was laid by the returning birds in 1954. Varieties of albatross decoys were placed around on the island after it was discovered that like other albatross species, this species also were enticed to breed if placed in a group.  Today, longline fisheries, and volcanic eruptions on Tori-shima are the largest threats; however, introduced predators, environmental contaminants, soil instability, and extreme weather are also threats.  There are many measures underway to protect this species. Japan, Canada, and the United States list this bird as a protected species. Tori-shima is a National Wildlife Protection Area, and native plant species are being transplanted to assist in nesting. Also, most commercial longline fisheries use bycatch mitigation devices.

Culture.

In Japanese tradition the Short-tailed albatross is known as "aho-dori", "idiot bird", due to its insular breeding habits making it trusting towards terrestrial predators such as humans.

The short-tailed albatross or Steller's albatross ("Phoebastria albatrus") is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific. Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean. It was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas from skins collected by the Georg Wilhelm Steller (after whom its other common name is derived). Once common, it was brought to the edge of extinction by the trade in feathers, but with protection has recently made a recovery.

Der Kurzschwanzalbatros ("Phoebastria albatrus", Syn.: Diomedea albatrus), auch Steller's Albatros genannt, ist eine seltene Art aus der Familie der Albatrosse (Diomedeidae). Früher ordnete man die Art der Gattung "Diomedea" zu.


Life.

Ma Dai was a younger cousin of Ma Chao. He does not have a biography in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ("Sanguozhi"), the authoritative source for the history of the Three Kingdoms period; he is mentioned occasionally in the biographies of other people such as Ma Chao and Wei Yan. He is first mentioned in Ma Chao's biography in a letter written by Ma Chao to Liu Bei before his death. Ma Chao wrote: "Over 200 members of my family were killed by Cao Cao. I only have my cousin Ma Dai left with me. He will be the one to continue my family line. I entrust him to Your Majesty's care. That is all I have to say." Ma Dai served in the state of Shu Han as a military general. The highest position he attained was "General Who Pacifies the North" (平北將軍). He was also enfeoffed as the "Marquis of Chencang" (陳倉侯).  Ma Dai is mentioned in Wei Yan's biography. In 234, when conflict broke out between Yang Yi and Wei Yan after Zhuge Liang's death, Yang Yi ordered Ma Dai to attack Wei Yan. Ma Dai caught up with Wei Yan while the latter was fleeing towards Hanzhong, decapitated him, brought his head back, and threw it in front of Yang Yi.  Ma Dai is also briefly mentioned in Sima Yi's biography in the "Book of Jin". In 235, he led Shu forces to attack Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, but was defeated and driven back by the Wei general Niu Jin. He lost about 1,000 troops in battle.

In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Ma Dai is a character in the 14th-century historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which romanticises the historical events and figures of the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, he follows Ma Teng to the capital on a summon from Cao Cao, and survives when Ma Teng and his sons are killed by Cao Cao's men in a trap. He joins his cousin Ma Chao in the Battle of Tong Pass against Cao Cao, and accompanies Ma Chao when the latter is defeated and has to seek refuge under Zhang Lu of Hanzhong. He follows Ma Chao and comes to serve Liu Bei when his cousin defects to Liu Bei's side during the takeover of Yi Province. Ma Dai participates actively in southern campaign against the Nanman and the Northern Expeditions against the rival state of Cao Wei. After Zhuge Liang's death, the Shu general Wei Yan rebels, and Ma Dai pretends to support him but kills him later.

In popular culture.

Ma is sometimes venerated as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples in Hebei, usually in partnership with Ma Chao.  Ma Dai is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh instalment of Koei's "Dynasty Warriors" video game series.

Ma Dai () ( 222–235) was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under his uncle Ma Teng, a warlord in northwestern China, during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Ma Teng's death, he followed his cousin Ma Chao (Ma Teng's eldest son) and they joined the warlord Zhang Lu in Hanzhong for a short period of time. Ma Chao later defected to another warlord Liu Bei, and Ma Dai accompanied him. Ma Dai served under Liu Bei and later in the state of Shu Han (founded by Liu Bei).

Ma Dai (馬岱) war ein General unter Ma Teng, Ma Chao und später unter den Shu Han zur Zeit der Drei Reiche im alten China.