Plot.

Lee Shin-ae (Jeon Do-yeon) and her only child move to the small town of Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. Her husband has recently died and she has decided to start life anew back in the hometown of her deceased husband. While entering Miryang, Shin-ae's car breaks down along a rural highway. She is able to get the local mechanic in Miryang named Kim Jong-chan (Song Kang-ho) to come out to her car and start it once again. Although they come from different social backgrounds, the pair hits it off and seems to find comfort in each other's presence.  Tragedy soon strikes Shin-ae once again when her only son is abducted. As Shin-ae must deal with another devastating tragedy in her life, she attempts to find answers and a light that can shine upon her dark life.

Critical response.

The film was widely acclaimed on the festival circuit, with particular and universal praise for Do-yeon's performance. It received multiple awards, including several Best Film wins and numerous Best Actress awards for Do-yeon. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, but did not win.  The film was similarly acclaimed in its American release in 2010. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.68/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Plumbing the depths of tragedy without succumbing to melodrama, Chang-dong Lee's "Secret Sunshine" is a grueling, albeit moving, piece of beautifully acted cinema." With 6 reviews, it scored 84 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim." A.O. Scott of the New York Times called the film "clear, elegant and lyrical. The experience of watching [Chang-dong's] films is not always pleasant... yet his quiet and exacting humaneness infuses even the most dreadful moments with an intimation of grace." Noel Murray, writing for the A.V. Club, called it "a frequently beautiful film with a cold, dark heart" and praised Do-yeon's "powerful performance." Michael Atkinson of the Village Voice wrote that "the red-eyed Jeon, landing a Best Actress at Cannes in 2007 and unforgettable as well in "The Housemaid", goes to hell and back." In 2019, director Hirokazu Kore-eda named it as the best film of the 21st century, praising Lee's "deep insight into human nature". In 2020, "The Guardian" ranked it number 7 among the classics of modern South Korean Cinema.

Home video release.

On August 23, 2011, The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD and Blu-ray, both of which includes a new video interview with Lee Chang-dong, a behind-the-scenes featurette, the US theatrical trailer, and a booklet featuring a new film essay by film critic Dennis Lim.

Secret Sunshine () is a 2007 South Korean drama film directed by acclaimed South Korean director, novelist and former Minister of Culture Lee Chang-dong. The screenplay based on the short fiction "The Story of a Bug" by Lee Cheong-jun that focuses on a woman as she wrestles with the questions of grief, madness and faith. The Korean title Miryang (or Milyang) is named after the city that served as the film's setting and filming location, of which "Secret Sunshine" is the literal translation. For her performance in the film, Jeon Do-yeon won the Prix d'interprétation féminine (Best Actress) at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The film also won the award for Best Film at the Asian Film Awards and at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film sold 1,710,364 tickets nationwide in South Korea alone.

Das südkoreanische Filmdrama Secret Sunshine wurde von Lee Chang-dong geschrieben und inszeniert. Uraufgeführt wurde es 2007 bei den Filmfestspielen in Cannes, wo Jeon Do-yeon, die die Hauptrolle spielte, von der Jury zur besten Darstellerin gekürt wurde. In einer Nebenrolle ist der in Südkorea als Star geltende Song Kang-ho zu sehen. Die Schauspieler waren bei der Interpretation ihrer Rollen weitgehend auf sich selbst gestellt, da Lee ihnen abschließende Erläuterungen zu ihren Figuren verweigerte. Die Erzählung weist überraschende Wendungen auf und wechselt in ihrem Verlauf mehrfach das Genre. Auf einen markanten visuellen Stil hat der Regisseur verzichtet. Der Film übt Kritik an der christlichen Missionierung und Kirchenpraxis in Südkorea und stellt die Frage nach der Beziehung des Menschen zu Gott.


Biography.

Originally a gospel singer, with the Heritage Singers and others, he was featured on the pop-classical album "Handel's Messiah – A Soulful Celebration" in 1993, singing a contemporary version of "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted". His first job after college in Alabama was touring with a group that sang hundreds of shows in churches over a two-year period. In the mid-1990s, he toured as backup vocalist for Twila Paris. In 1996, he released his debut self-titled album, for which he wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven songs, and earned a nomination for Best R&B Album at the 1996 Nashville Music Awards. That year, he opened on tour for Mark Lowry, and was one of several featured singers in the musical showcase "Emmanuel", a national tour put together by Nashville producer Norman Miller. The tour spawned an album, which won a GMA Dove Award in 1998 for Special Event Album of the Year. He did mostly gospel until 1998 when he signed with a small music label. The label was bought out by a large corporation and Willis took that as a cue to move on. During this time he also worked to resolve the "angst" from being closeted about his sexuality, "I always felt like God really understood—but that wasn't the message I was receiving in the church. So, when I moved out on my own I really internalized that message that God makes us who we are and that it's up to us to embrace that or not. I chose to embrace all those things as freedom, and that freedom begat the freedom I experience now." He cites his internalized struggle as important to his transitioning out of gospel music. "I think there's this unspoken denial that you go through in gospel—maybe so in other musical art forms too—but I just felt for me it just wasn't easy to keep perpetuating that." However, on June 2, 2014, Willis married Jacqueline Leiske.  In 2000 he was working with the French boys band 2Be3 and when doing some publicity for their album in Paris one of the bandmates introduced him to house musician and producer David Guetta. Guetta invited Willis to the studio and the next day they wrote 'Just a Little More Love.' Willis co-wrote and provided most of the vocals on Guetta's debut album "Just a Little More Love", including the hit title track.  His music genres have included gospel music, disco, pop rock, and R&B. Willis is active on social networks including MySpace, Facebook and recently Twitter. He often adds live photos and videos from his tours and answers questions from fans. Throughout 2009 he toured with David Guetta through Europe in support of "One Love". He has also been doing solo European dates. In November 2009 he performed at Danceclub C4 in Steyer, Austria for their 2nd Anniversary Party. A documentary about him, "Inside Out", directed by Robert Jason and Eric Miclette for Complete World Domination was released in early 2010 alongside the "Gettin' Over" single.  His solo single "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" was released on October 12, 2010. Willis co-wrote the song with Cutfather and Jonas Jeberg. The video premiered on DailyMotion October 26, 2010. Shot in Los Angeles, the video was directed by Billie Woodruff. The video now has nearly 2 million views on his YouTube page. The song reached number one on "Billboard"s Hot Dance Club Songs on the issue dated January 8, 2011.  His second single "Too Much In Love" was released digitally August 16, 2011. The song features a guitar sample of Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way". A video was shot in Los Angeles and released on January 10, 2012. Many remixes have been created and released on iTunes.  An eight-song EP entitled "Premium – Songs From The Love Ship, Vol. 1" was released on November 29, 2011 and features several of his solo singles

Christopher Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Although initially a gospel singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with house music artist David Guetta, including the songs "Just a Little More Love", "Love Don't Let Me Go, "Love Is Gone", "Tomorrow Can Wait", "Everytime We Touch" (with Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso), "Would I Lie to You" (with Cedric Gervais) and "Gettin' Over You."

Christopher Willis ist ein US-amerikanischer Sänger, Songwriter und Musikproduzent. Ursprünglich produzierte er hauptsächlich Gospelmusik, internationale Bekanntheit erlangte er jedoch durch House-Kollaborationen mit dem weltbekannten DJ David Guetta. Besonders erfolgreich waren die Singles "Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away)" (2006), "Love Is Gone" (2007) und "Gettin’ Over You" (2010). Im August 2011 veröffentlichte er mit "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" seine erste offizielle Single.


Summary.

The documentary opens showing how Ponijao comes into the world in a modest hut after her mother rubs some red pigment all over her pregnancy-swollen belly. Hattie, on the other hand, arrives in a Western birthing center surrounded by medical equipment and technicians. Another scene shows Bayar being born and tightly swaddled in a hospital, before heading off with his parents and a sibling on a motorcycle to the rural area where the family lives. Other highlights include Mari's tantrum when she is frustrated with a toy, Hattie getting bored during an organized play session, Bayar taking a bath while a goat comes to drink from the same water, and Ponijao fighting with a sibling when they are playing on the ground.  The documentary shows the contrasts of the four cultures without using any form of narration, leaving it to the viewers to interpret the film.

Reception.

"Babies" received generally positive reviews. 69% of ninety-one reviews on the site Rotten Tomatoes favored the film. The site's consensus is that ""Babies" is a joyous celebration of humankind that's loaded with adorable images, but it lacks insight and depth." The film received a score of sixty-three on Metacritic. Owen Gleiberman, a reviewer for "Entertainment Weekly", called "Babies" a crowd-pleaser and gave it a "B". Katey Rich of "Cinema Blend" called the film "brilliantly simple".

Box office.

The film had its widest US release in 543 theaters, grossing $7,320,323 at the box office. It grossed $2,175,039 at the foreign box office; a worldwide gross of $9,495,362.

Babies, also known as Baby(ies) and Bébé(s), is a 2010 French documentary film by Thomas Balmès that follows four newborns through their first year after birth. Two of the babies featured in the film are from rural areas: Ponijao from Opuwo, Namibia, and Bayar (jargal) from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia, and two are from urban areas: Mari from Tokyo, Japan, and Hattie from San Francisco, U.S. The film was released in the United States by Focus Features on 14 April 2010.

Babys ist ein französischer Dokumentarfilm aus dem Jahr 2010, der vier Säuglinge aus verschiedenen Regionen der Erde in ihrem ersten Lebensjahr zeigt. Es handelt sich dabei um Ponijao aus Opuwo (vom Volk der Himba) in Namibia, Bayar aus Bayanchandmani in der Mongolei, Mari aus Tokio in Japan und Hattie aus San Francisco in den USA.


Plot.

The story centers on Diana "Sugar" Hill (Bey), a photographer in Houston whose boyfriend, nightclub owner Langston (Larry D. Johnson), has been killed by mob boss Morgan (Robert Quarry) and his men when he refused to sell the club to Morgan. Sugar seeks the help of a former voodoo queen named Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully) to take revenge on Morgan and his thugs. Mama summons the voodoo lord of the dead, Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), who enlists his army of zombies to destroy the men who killed Langston and now want the club. Investigating the killings is Sugar's former boyfriend, police Lt. Valentine (Richard Lawson).

Production.

The film, budgeted at $350,000, was shot on location in Houston at such locations as the Heights branch of the Houston Public Library (a historical landmark), used in the film as a "Voodoo Institute". "Sugar Hill" was the last film Quarry did for AIP, after a run that included the "Count Yorga" movies. Also appearing in the film was Cully, who played Mama Jefferson on the TV show "The Jeffersons". Charles P. Robinson, known for his role as Mac Robinson on NBC's "Night Court", portrayed the character of Fabulous. Hank Edds created the makeup effects for the zombies in the film.

Release.

The film was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures in February 1974. It was cut to 83 minutes for television and retitled "The Zombies of Sugar Hill".  The film was released on VHS by Orion Home Video in 1996., and on DVD in October 2011 as part of MGM's Limited Edition series.  Shout! Factory announced Sugar Hill on Blu-ray.

Reception.

Writing in "The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia", academic Peter Dendle called it "a humorously dated blaxploitation feature" whose zombies "represent a throwback to the classic zombie conceptualization of the '30s and '40s". Adam Tyner of DVD Talk rated it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Creepy, sexy, sleazy, and a borderline-surreal amount of fun, Sugar Hill is a perfect movie for a Halloween marathon and probably my single favorite blaxploitation flick, period".

In popular culture.

Rapper MF Doom sampled several audio clips from the film under his alias King Geedorah on the album "Take Me to Your Leader" (2003).

Sugar Hill is a 1974 American horror blaxploitation zombie film, directed by Paul Maslansky and starring Marki Bey as the title character who uses voodoo to get revenge on the people responsible for her boyfriend's death. It was released by American International Pictures. According to the film, the zombies are the preserved bodies of slaves brought to the United States from Guinea. AIP had previously combined the horror and blaxploitation genres with "Blacula" (1972) and its sequel, "Scream Blacula Scream" (1973).

Die schwarzen Zombies von Sugar Hill (Original: "Sugar Hill") ist ein US-amerikanischer Blaxploitation-Horrorfilm von American International Pictures aus dem Jahr 1974. Regie führte Paul Maslansky.


Background.

"Baby, Please Don't Go" is likely an adaptation of "Long John", an old folk theme which dates back to the time of slavery in the United States. Blues researcher Paul Garon notes that the melody is based on "Alabamy Bound", composed by Tin Pan Alley writer Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva and Bud Green in 1925. The song, a vaudeville show tune, inspired several other songs between 1925 and 1935, such as "Elder Greene Blues", "Alabama Bound", and "Don't You Leave Me Here". These variants were recorded by Charlie Patton, Lead Belly, Monette Moore, Henry Thomas, and Tampa Red.  Author Linda Dahl suggests a connection to a song with the same title by Mary Williams Johnson in the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, Johnson, who was married to jazz-influenced blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, never recorded it and her song is not discussed as influencing later performers. Blues researcher Jim O'Neal notes that Williams "sometimes said that the song was written by his wife, singer Bessie Mae Smith (aka Blue Belle and St. Louis Bessie) [not the same as the popular Bessie Smith of the 1920s and 1930s]".

Original song.

Big Joe Williams used the imprisonment theme for his October 31, 1935, recording of "Baby, Please Don't Go". He recorded it during his first session for Lester Melrose and Bluebird Records in Chicago. It is an ensemble piece with Williams on vocal and guitar accompanied by Dad Tracy on one-string fiddle and Chasey "Kokomo" Collins on washboard, who are listed as "Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers" on the single. Musical notation for the song indicates a moderate-tempo fifteen-bar blues in or common time in the key of B flat. As with many Delta blues songs of the era, it remains on the tonic chord (I) throughout without the progression to the subdominant (IV) or dominant (V) chords. The lyrics express a prisoner's anxiety about his lover leaving before he returns home:  The song became a hit and established Williams' recording career. On December 12, 1941, he recorded a second version titled "Please Don't Go" in Chicago for Bluebird, with a more modern arrangement and lyrics. Blues historian Gerard Herzhaft calls it "the most exciting version", which Williams recorded using his trademark nine-string guitar. Accompanying him are Sonny Boy Williamson I on harmonica and Alfred Elkins on imitation bass (possibly a washtub bass). Since both songs appeared before recording industry publications began tracking such releases, it is unknown which version was more popular. In 1947, he recorded it for Columbia Records with Williamson and Ransom Knowling on bass and Judge Riley on drums. This version did not reach the "Billboard" Race Records chart, but represents a move toward a more urban blues treatment of the song.

Later blues and R&B recordings.

Big Joe Williams' various recordings inspired other blues musicians to record their interpretations of the song and it became a blues standard. Early examples include Papa Charlie McCoy as "Tampa Kid" (1936), Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (1939), Lightnin' Hopkins (1947), John Lee Hooker (1949), and Big Bill Broonzy (1952). By the early 1950s, the song was reworked in contemporary musical styles, with an early rhythm and blues/jump blues version by Billy Wright (1951), a harmonized doo-wop version by the Orioles (a number eight R&B hit in 1952), and an Afro-Cuban-influenced rendition by Rose Mitchell (1954). Mose Allison recorded the tune in his jazz-blues piano style for the album "Transfiguration of Hiram Brown" (1960).  In 1953, Muddy Waters recast the song as a Chicago-blues ensemble piece with Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers. Chess Records originally issued the single with the title "Turn the Lamp Down Low", although the song is also referred to as "Turn Your Lamp Down Low", "Turn Your Light Down Low", or "Baby Please Don't Go". He regularly performed the song, several of which were recorded. Live versions appear on "Muddy Waters at Newport 1960" and on "Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981" with members of the Rolling Stones. AllMusic critic Bill Janovitz cites the influence of Waters' adaptation:

Van Morrison and Them rendition.

"Baby Please Don't Go" was one of the earliest songs recorded by Them, fronted by a 19-year-old Van Morrison. Their rendition of the song was derived from a version recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1949 as "Don't Go Baby". Hooker's song later appeared on a 1959 album, "Highway of Blues", which Van Morrison heard and felt was "something really unique and different" with "more soul" than he had previously heard.  Them recorded "Baby, Please Don't Go" for Decca Records in October 1964. Besides Morrison, there is conflicting information about who participated in the session. In addition to the group's original members (guitarist Billy Harrison, bassist Alan Henderson, drummer Ronnie Millings, and keyboard player Eric Wrixon), others have been suggested: Pat McAuley on keyboards, Bobby Graham on a second drum kit, Jimmy Page on second guitar, and Peter Bardens on keyboards. As Page biographer George Case notes, "There is a dispute over whether it is Page's piercing blues line that defines the song, if he only played a run Harrison had already devised, or if Page only backed up Harrison himself". Morrison has acknowledged Page's participation in the early sessions: "He played rhythm guitar on one thing and doubled a bass riff on the other" and Morrison biographer Johnny Rogan notes that Page "doubled the distinctive riff already worked out by Billy Harrison".  Janovitz identifies the riff as "the backbone of the arrangement" and describes Henderson's contribution as an "amphetamine-rush, pulsing two-note bass line." Music critic Greil Marcus comments that during the song's quieter middle passage "the guitarist, session player Jimmy Page or not, seems to be feeling his way into another song, flipping half-riffs, high, random, distracted metal shavings". Them's blues rock arrangement is "now regarded justly as definitive", according to music writer Alan Clayson.  "Baby, Please Don't Go" was released as Them's second single on November 6, 1964. With the B-side, "Gloria", it became their first hit, reaching number ten on the UK Singles Chart in February 1965. The single was released in the US in 1965, but only "Gloria" became a hit the following year. The song was not included on Them's original British or American albums ("The Angry Young Them" and "Them Again"), however, it has appeared on several compilation albums, such as "The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison" and "The Best of Van Morrison". When it was reissued in 1991 as a single in the UK, it reached number 65 in the chart. Van Morrison also accompanied John Lee Hooker during a 1992 performance, where Hooker sings and plays "Baby, Please Don't Go" on guitar while sitting on a dock, with harmonica backing by Morrison; it was released on the 2004 "Come See About Me" Hooker DVD.

AC/DC version.

"Baby, Please Don't Go" was a feature of AC/DC's live shows since their beginning. Although they have expressed their interest and inspiration in early blues songs, music writer Mick Wall identifies Them's adaptation of the song as the likely source. In November 1974, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott recorded it for their 1975 Australian debut album, "High Voltage". Tony Currenti is sometimes identified as the drummer for the song, although he suggests that it had been already recorded by Peter Clack. Wall notes that producer George Young played bass for most of the album, although Rob Bailey claims that many of the album's tracks were recorded with him.  "High Voltage" and a single with "Baby, Please Don't Go" were released simultaneously in Australia in February 1975. AllMusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia called the song "positively explosive". Albert Productions issued it as the single's B-side. However, the A-side was largely ignored and "Baby, Please Don't Go" began receiving airplay. The single entered the chart at the end of March 1975 and peaked at number 10 in April. Also on 23 March 1975, one month after drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Mark Evans joined AC/DC, the group performed the song for the first time (this performance would also be repeated on 6 April and 27 April which is why there is often conflicting dates for this performance) on the Australian music program "Countdown". For their appearance, "Angus wore his trade mark schoolboy uniform while Scott took the stage wearing a wig of blonde braids, a dress, make-up, and earrings", according to author Heather Miller. Joe Bonomo describes Scott as "a demented Pippi Longstocking", and Perkins notes his "tattoos and a disturbingly short skirt." Evans describes the reaction:  Scott mugs for the camera and, during the guitar solo/vocal improvization section, he lights a cigarette as he duels with Angus with a green mallet. Rudd laughs throughout the performance. Although "Baby, Please Don't Go" was a popular part of AC/DC's performances (often as the closing number), the song was not released internationally until their 1984 compilation EP "'74 Jailbreak". The video from the "Countdown" show is included on 2005's "Family Jewels" DVD compilation.

Aerosmith version.

Aerosmith recorded "Baby, Please Don't Go" for their blues cover album, "Honkin' on Bobo", which was released on March 30, 2004. The album was produced by Jack Douglas, who had worked on the group's earlier albums, and reflects a return to their hard rock roots. "Billboard" magazine describes the song as "the kind of straight-ahead, hard-driving track that always typified the band's [1970s] records". Edna Gundersen of "USA Today" called their version a "terrific revival." It was the first single to be released from the album and reached number seven on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. A music video, directed by Mark Haefeli, was produced to promote the single. Subsequently, the song has become a staple of the band's concert repertoire.

Recognition and legacy.

Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 1992, it was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category. The Foundation noted that, in addition to various blues recordings, "the song was revived in revved-up fashion by rock bands in the '60s such as Them, the Amboy Dukes, and Ten Years After". AllMusic's Janovitz describes recordings in a variety of styles and notes "Sure, some guitarists like Angus Young and Ted Nugent have offered slick and fancy licks over breakneck tempos in their versions, but the song remains the same, to quote a phrase"

Notes.

Footnotes  Citations  References

"Baby, Please Don't Go" is a traditional blues song that was popularized by Delta blues musician Big Joe Williams in 1935. Many cover versions followed, and the song has been described by French music historian as "one of the most played, arranged, and rearranged pieces in blues history".

Baby, Please Don’t Go ist ein Blues-Song von Big Joe Williams aus dem Jahr 1935. Das Stück ist ein typischer Delta Blues, der in seiner ursprünglichen Fassung mit Gitarre, Mundharmonika, Perkussion und Gesang eingespielt wurde. Der Song handelt von einem Gefangenen, der zu seiner Geliebten spricht; der Liebhaber bittet sie, ihn jetzt nicht zu verlassen und nicht zurück nach New Orleans zu gehen.


Plot.

The U.S. government grows worried for the nation's avocado supply after some confrontations with the "Piranha" tribe of cannibal women, who live in the mysterious "Avocado Jungle" (westernmost outpost: San Bernardino) and ritually sacrifice and eat men. The government recruits Margo Hunt (Tweed), a professor of feminist studies at a local university ("Spritzer College"), to travel into the Avocado Jungle and make contact with the women to attempt to convince them to move to a reservation/condo in Malibu. Along the way, she and her travelling companions — male chauvinist guide Jim (Maher) and ditzy undergraduate Bunny (Karen Mistal) — meet a tribe of subservient men called the "Donnahew" (a reference to talk-show host Phil Donahue) and face dangers in their path.  Eventually, the trio (Margo, Bunny and Jim) meets the Piranha women, who have recently taken Dr. Kurtz (played by Adrienne Barbeau) as their "empress." Kurtz is Dr. Hunt's former colleague in feminist studies (the internationally famous author of "Smart Women, Stupid Insensitive Men") and now her nemesis; she has joined the tribe of Piranha women with her own exploitative agenda. The two argue about the morality of sacrificing men and the exploitation of the Piranha women, and Bunny decides to join the tribe, her first sacrifice being Jim. Bunny cannot go through with the kill, however, and Dr. Hunt escapes, aided by the handsome, intelligent, and sensitive Jean-Pierre (Brett Stimely), who also was to be sacrificed.  Dr. Margo Hunt finds in the jungle a rival tribe of cannibal women, the Barracuda Women, who are at war with the Piranha women due to differences over which condiment (guacamole or clam dip) most appropriately accompanies a meal of sacrificed man. Hunt returns to the Piranha stronghold with this other tribe and rescues Bunny and Jim as well as Jean-Pierre.  Margo Hunt challenges Kurtz to a duel for supremacy, and they argue while fighting with various weapons; eventually, Margo impales Kurtz with a fencing sword. Kurtz explains her motives to Hunt in her last words: After ruling the Piranha tribe, she cannot return to civilization and the talk-show circuit. She then kills herself by plunging into a pit filled with water and piranha fish.  Having discovered the government plot to domesticate the Piranha women by providing aerobics classes and frequent exposure to "Cosmopolitan" magazine, Hunt refuses to bring the Piranha women with her, and instead persuades the warring cannibal tribes to reunite, maintaining the peace by means of consciousness raising groups.  The film ends happily for the trio of main characters: Bunny and Jim are to be married, and Jean-Pierre has enrolled at Dr. Hunt's university as a feminist studies major, becoming in the process the ideal companion for Hunt.

Allusions.

The film's plot loosely parallels that of novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, as well as "Apocalypse Now", which was also partly based on "Heart of Darkness". Both "Heart of Darkness" and "Apocalypse Now" feature a character named Kurtz who has gone deep into the jungle to become the deranged leader of a group of "savages"; these peoples engage in barbaric rites as an alternative to the rigid and restrictive values of the outside world. The name of the character Ford Maddox, one of the men who recruits Margo to enter the jungle, refers to author Ford Madox Ford, who collaborated on three novels with Conrad (though not on "Heart of Darkness"). When Kurtz and Hunt battle with fencing swords, Kurtz is stabbed, and her dying words are: "You don't know what it's like, trying to face David Letterman with a book on male insensitivity... All right, I was exploiting the Piranha women. You don't know what it was like. David Letterman, God, the horror... the horror of that show... the horror." In "Heart of Darkness", Kurtz's dying words are: "The horror! The horror!"

Reception.

Reviews for the film run the gamut.  One reviewer described it as "a brilliantly absurd story" and "a hilariously tongue-in-cheek premise, wonderfully layered humor that runs from broad slapstick to clever satire, and a cast that's filled to the brim with beautiful women wearing very, very little."  The Digital Fix's reviewer wrote:  "TV Guide" granted the movie 2 out of 4 stars: "This film is not nearly as bad as it might have been, thanks largely to the leads. Moreover, CANNIBAL WOMEN does manage to be on target with its humor from time to time. But there are far more misses than hits as the movie also goes for the corny, the obvious, and the ancient."  Julian White of "Starburst" (a British science fiction magazine), rated the movie 6 out of 10 stars, calling it "a light-hearted romp" and saying, "It's all unashamedly joky and facetious, but also very likeable. The look of the film is rough and ready... Even the biggest fans of this film would have to admit that director J. F. Lawton is unlikely to go down in history as one of cinema's great visual stylists. That said, he's a very capable screenwriter (as he subsequently demonstrated by penning such perennial favourites as "Pretty Woman" and "Under Siege"), and there are some surprisingly sophisticated one-liners lurking among the slapstick. True, the constant ribbing at feminists now seems very dated, but it's never mean-spirited, and anyway the girls give as good as they get."

Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death is a 1989 American comedy film directed by J. F. Lawton and starring Shannon Tweed and Bill Maher. The film sends up many pop culture motifs and societal trends, including feminism (and feminist movements' fragmentation around various issues), B movies (particularly "Cannibal Holocaust"), celebrities, major writers and political figures, centred around a spoof of "Heart of Darkness". It was the first feature directed (under the pseudonym J. D. Athens) by screenwriter J. F. Lawton, who also authored "Pretty Woman", "Under Siege" and, and television show "V.I.P."

Kannibalinnen im Avocado-Dschungel des Todes (Original: "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death") ist eine niedrig budgetierte Abenteuer-Trash-Komödie des Regisseurs J. F. Lawton. Die Produktion erschien unter diversen Alternativtiteln ab August 1989 im deutschsprachigen Raum, so als "Im Dschungel der Avocados", "Kannibalinnen im Avocado-Dschungel" und als "Kannibalinnen im Dschungel des Todes".


History.

Background.

In the latter half of the 19th century, transit systems were generally rail, first horse-drawn streetcars, and later electric powered streetcars and cable cars. Rail was more comfortable and had less rolling resistance than street traffic on granite block or macadam and horse-drawn streetcars were generally a step up from the horsebus. Electric traction was faster, more sanitary, and cheaper to run; with the cost, excreta, epizootic risk, and carcass disposal of horses eliminated entirely. Streetcars were later seen as obstructions to traffic, but for nearly 20 years they had the highest power-to-weight ratio of anything commonly found on the road, and the lowest rolling resistance.  Streetcars paid ordinary business and property taxes, but also generally paid franchise fees, maintained at least the shared right-of-way, and provided street sweeping and snow clearance. They were also required to maintain minimal service levels. Many franchise fees were fixed or based on gross (v. net); such arrangements, when combined with fixed fares, created gradual impossible financial pressures. Early electric cars generally had a two-man crew, a holdover from horsecar days, which created financial problems in later years as salaries outpaced revenues.  Many electric lines—especially in the West—were tied into other real estate or transportation enterprises. The Pacific Electric and the Los Angeles Railway were especially so, in essence loss leaders for property development and long haul shipping.  By 1918, half of US streetcar mileage was in bankruptcy.

Early years.

John D. Hertz, better remembered for his car rental business, was also an early motorbus manufacturer and operator. In 1917 he founded the Chicago Motor Coach Company, which operated buses in Chicago, and in 1923, he founded the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of buses. He then formed The Omnibus Corporation in 1926 with "plans embracing the extension of motor coach operation to urban and rural communities in every part of the United States" that then purchased the Fifth Avenue Coach Company in New York. The same year, the Fifth Avenue Coach Company acquired a majority of the stock in the struggling New York Railways Corporation (which had been bankrupted and reorganized at least twice). In 1927, General Motors acquired a controlling share of the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company and appointed Hertz as a main board director. Hertz's bus lines, however, were not in direct competition with any streetcars, and his core business was the higher-priced "motor coach".  By 1930, most streetcar systems were aging and losing money. Service to the public was suffering; the Great Depression compounded this. Yellow Coach tried to persuade transit companies to replace streetcars with buses, but could not persuade the power companies that owned the streetcar operations to motorize. GM decided to form a new subsidiary—United Cities Motor Transport (UCMT)—to finance the conversion of streetcar systems to buses in small cities. The new subsidiary made investments in small transit systems in Kalamazoo and Saginaw, Michigan, and in Springfield, Ohio, where they were successful in conversion to buses. UCMT then approached the Portland, Oregon, system with a similar proposal. It was censured by the American Transit Association and dissolved in 1935.  The New York Railways Corporation began conversion to buses in 1935, with the new bus services being operated by the New York City Omnibus Corporation, which shared management with The Omnibus Corporation. During this period GM worked with Public Service Transportation in New Jersey to develop the "All-Service Vehicle", a bus also capable of working as a trackless trolley, allowing off-wire passenger collection in areas too lightly populated to pay for wire infrastructure.  Opposition to traction interests and their influence on politicians was growing. For example, in 1922, New York Supreme Court Justice John Ford came out in favor of William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper magnate, for mayor of New York, complaining that Al Smith was too close to the 'traction interests'. In 1925, Hearst complained about Smith in a similar way. In the 1941 film "Citizen Kane", the lead character, who was loosely based on Hearst and Samuel Insull, complains about the influence of the 'traction interests'.  The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which made it illegal for a single private business to both provide public transport and supply electricity to other parties, caused great difficulties for the streetcar operators which were frequently also generators of electricity.

National City Lines, Pacific City Lines, American City Lines.

In 1936 National City Lines, which had been started in 1920 as a minor bus operation by E. Roy Fitzgerald and his brother, was reorganized "for the purpose of taking over the controlling interest in certain operating companies engaged in city bus transportation and overland bus transportation" with loans from the suppliers and manufacturers. In 1939, Roy Fitzgerald, president of NCL, approached Yellow Coach Manufacturing, requesting additional financing for expansion. In the 1940s, NCL raised funds for expansion from Firestone Tire, Federal Engineering, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California (now Chevron Corporation), Phillips Petroleum (now part of ConocoPhillips), GM, and Mack Trucks (now a subsidiary of Volvo). Pacific City Lines (PCL), formed as a subsidiary of NCL in 1938, was to purchase streetcar systems in the western United States. PCL merged with NCL in 1948. American City Lines (ACL), which had been organized to acquire local transportation systems in the larger metropolitan areas in various parts of the country in 1943, was merged with NCL in 1946. The federal government investigated some aspects of NCL's financial arrangements in 1941 (which calls into question the conspiracy myths' centrality of Quinby's 1946 letter.) By 1947, NCL owned or controlled 46 systems in 45 cities in 16 states.  From 1939 through 1940, NCL or PCL attempted a hostile takeover of the Key System, which operated electric trains and streetcars in Oakland, California. The attempt was temporarily blocked by a syndicate of Key System insiders, with controlling interest secured on Jan 8, 1941. By 1946, PCL had acquired 64% of the stock in the Key System.  In 1945, NCL acquired the Los Angeles Railway (also known as the "Yellow Cars"), which had been in financial trouble for some time. The new owner slowed the closure of streetcar lines and converted others to trackless trolleys, some of which used equipment initially intended for Oakland, others being purchased specifically in 1948. The LATL also bought new PCCs in one of the last major purchases of new streetcars.

Edwin J. Quinby.

In 1946, Edwin Jenyss Quinby, an activated reserve commander, founder of the Electric Railroaders' Association in 1934 (which lobbied on behalf of rail users and services), and former employee of North Jersey Rapid Transit (which operated in New York), published a 24-page "expose" on the ownership of National City Lines addressed to "The Mayors; The City Manager; The City Transit Engineer; The members of The Committee on Mass-Transportation and The Tax-Payers and The Riding Citizens of Your Community". It began, "This is an urgent warning to each and every one of you that there is a careful, deliberately planned campaign to swindle you out of your most important and valuable public utilities–your Electric Railway System". His activism may have led Federal authorities to prosecute GM and the other companies.  He also questioned who was behind the creation of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which had caused such difficulty for streetcar operations, He was later to write a history of North Jersey Rapid Transit.

Court cases, conviction, and fines.

On April 9, 1947, nine corporations and seven individuals (officers and directors of certain of the corporate defendants) were indicted in the Federal District Court of Southern California on counts of "conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation monopoly" and "conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines" In 1948, the venue was changed from the Federal District Court of Southern California to the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois following an appeal to the United States Supreme Court (in "United States v. National City Lines Inc.") which felt that there was evidence of conspiracy to monopolize the supply of buses and supplies.  In 1949, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, GM, and Mack Trucks were convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by NCL; they were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The verdicts were upheld on appeal in 1951. GM was fined $5,000 and GM treasurer H.C. Grossman was fined $1. The trial judge said "I am very frank to admit to counsel that after a very exhaustive review of the entire transcript in this case, and of the exhibits that were offered and received in evidence, that I might not have come to the same conclusion as the jury came to were I trying this case without a jury," explicitly noting that he might not himself have convicted in a bench trial.  The San Diego Electric Railway was sold to Western Transit Company, which was in turn owned by J. L. Haugh in 1948 for $5.5 million. Haugh was also president of the Key System, and later was involved in Metropolitan Coach Line's purchase of the passenger operations of the Pacific Electric Railway. The last San Diego streetcars were converted to buses by 1949. Haugh sold the bus-based San Diego system to the city in 1966.  The Baltimore Streetcar system operated by the Baltimore Transit Company was purchased by NCL in 1948 and started converting the system to buses. Overall Baltimore Transit ridership then plummeted by double digits in each of the following three years. The Pacific Electric Railway's struggling passenger operations were purchased by Metropolitan Coach Lines in 1953 and were taken into public ownership in 1958 after which the last routes were converted to bus operation.

Urban Mass Transportation Act and 1974 Antitrust hearings.

The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (UMTA) created the Urban Mass Transit Administration with a remit to "conserve and enhance values in existing urban areas" noting that "our national welfare therefore requires the provision of good urban transportation, with the properly balanced use of private vehicles and modern mass transport to help shape as well as serve urban growth". Funding for transit was increased with the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 and further extended by the National Mass Transportation Assistance Act (1974) which allowed funds to support transit operating costs as well as capital construction costs.  In 1970, Harvard Law student Robert Eldridge Hicks began working on the Ralph Nader Study Group Report on Land Use in California, alleging a wider conspiracy to dismantle U.S. streetcar systems, first published in "Politics of Land: Ralph Nader's Study Group Report on Land Use in California".  In 1972, Senator Philip Hart introduced into congress the 'Industrial Reorganization Act', with an intention to restructure the U.S. economy to restore competition and address antitrust concern.  During 1973, Bradford Snell, an attorney with Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro and formerly, for a brief time, a scholar with the Brookings Institution, prepared a controversial and disputed paper titled "American ground transport: a proposal for restructuring the automobile, truck, bus, and rail industries." The paper, which was funded by the Stern Fund, was later described as the centerpiece of the hearings. In it, Snell said that General Motors was "a sovereign economic state" and said that the company played a major role in the displacement of rail and bus transportation by buses and trucks.  This paper was distributed in Senate binding together with an accompanying statement in February 1974, implying that this contents were the considered views of the Senate. The chair of the committee later apologized for this error. Adding to the confusion, Snell had already joined the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly as a staff member.  At the hearings in April 1974, San Francisco mayor and antitrust attorney Joseph Alioto testified that "General Motors and the automobile industry generally exhibit a kind of "monopoly evil"", adding that GM "has carried on a deliberate concerted action with the oil companies and tire companies...for the purpose of destroying a vital form of competition; namely, electric rapid transit". Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley also testified, saying that GM, through its subsidiaries (namely PCL), "scrapped the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles streetcar systems leaving the electric train system totally destroyed". Neither mayor, nor Snell himself, pointed out that the two cities were major parties to a lawsuit against GM which Snell himself had been "instrumental in bringing"; all had a direct or indirect financial interest. (The lawsuit was eventually dropped, the plaintiffs conceding they had no chance of winning.)  However, George Hilton, a professor of economics at UCLA and noted transit scholar rejected Snell's view, stating, "I would argue that these [Snell's] interpretations are not correct, and, further, that they couldn't possibly be correct, because major conversions in society of this character—from rail to free wheel urban transportation, and from steam to diesel railroad propulsion—are the sort of conversions which could come about only as a result of public preferences, technological change, the relative abundance of natural resources, and other impersonal phenomena or influence, rather than the machinations of a monopolist."  GM published a rebuttal the same year titled "The Truth About American Ground Transport". The Senate subcommittee printed GM's work in tandem with Snell's as an appendix to the hearings transcript. GM explicitly did not address the specific allegations that were "sub judice".

Role in decline of the streetcars.

Quinby and Snell held that the destruction of streetcar systems was integral to a larger strategy to push the United States into automobile dependency. Most transit scholars disagree, suggesting that transit system changes were brought about by other factors; economic, social, and political factors such as unrealistic capitalization, fixed fares during inflation, changes in paving and automotive technology, the Great Depression, antitrust action, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, labor unrest, market forces including declining industries' difficulty in attracting capital, rapidly increasing traffic congestion, the Good Roads Movement, urban sprawl, tax policies favoring private vehicle ownership, taxation of fixed infrastructure, franchise repair costs for co-located property, wide diffusion of driving skills, automatic transmission buses, and general enthusiasm for the automobile.  The accuracy of significant elements of Snell's 1974 testimony was challenged in an article published in "Transportation Quarterly" in 1997 by Cliff Slater.  Recent journalistic revisitings question the idea that GM had a significant impact on the decline of streetcars, suggesting rather that they were setting themselves up to take advantage of the decline as it occurred. Guy Span suggested that Snell and others fell into simplistic conspiracy theory thinking, bordering on paranoid delusions stating,  In 2010, CBS's Mark Henricks reported:

Other factors.

Other factors have been cited as reasons for the decline of streetcars and public transport generally in the United States. Robert Post notes that the ultimate reach of GM's alleged conspiracy extended to only about 10% of American transit systems. Guy Span says that actions and inaction by government was one of many contributing factors in the elimination of electric traction. Cliff Slater suggested that the regulatory framework in the US actually protected the electric streetcars for longer than would have been the case if there was less regulation.  Some regulations and regulatory changes have been linked directly to the decline of the streetcars:  Different funding models have also been highlighted:  Other issues which made it harder to operate viable streetcar services include:

Counterarguments.

Some of the specific allegations which have been argued over the years include:

The notion of a General Motors streetcar conspiracy emerged after General Motors (GM) and other companies were convicted of monopolizing the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines (NCL) and its subsidiaries. In the same case, the defendants were accused of conspiring to own or control transit systems, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust act. The suit created lingering suspicions that the defendants had in fact plotted to dismantle streetcar systems in many cities in the United States as an attempt to monopolize surface transportation.

Als Großer Amerikanischer Straßenbahnskandal () wird die systematische Zerstörung des auf der Straßenbahn basierenden öffentlichen Personennahverkehrs in 45 Städten der Vereinigten Staaten unter Führung des größten Automobilherstellers der USA, General Motors (GM), ab den 1930er bis in die 1960er Jahre bezeichnet. Die Verkehrsunternehmen wurden aufgekauft, um anschließend eine Stilllegung der Straßenbahnstrecken zu Gunsten des Automobilverkehrs zu erreichen, damit Fahrzeuge und Betriebsstoffe aus eigener Produktion abgesetzt werden konnten.


Birth.

After Balthasar Charles's early demise, Philip was left with his daughter Maria Theresa as heir presumptive. In early 1657, astrologers assured Philip that another child was to be born to him and it would be a boy who would live. A strict and devout Roman Catholic, Philip ate nothing but eggs on the first day of the Vigil of the Presentation of the Virgin, in hopes of his wife really delivering a male child. Indeed, at 11:30 in the morning on November 28 of the same year, Mariana of Austria delivered a son. She soon fell sick of the birthing fever, but nobody seemed to mind; they were all rejoicing upon the birth of a male heir. Barrionuevo, a chronicler of the time, wrote of this rejoicing:

Baptism.

Following Roman Catholic custom, the infant was called only "the prince" until his baptism. Astrologers predicted nothing but greatness for his future, while Philip was still unsure that he had not thanked God enough for this immense joy. In a letter to his friend Sor María de Ágreda, he wrote that "the newborn babe is doing well," but also made a reference to the bitter memory of his eldest son's demise. On December 6, 1657, Philip rode into the decorated streets of Madrid, where the preparations for the prince's baptism were almost ready: dances, masques and music greeted the King.  The baptism took place exactly one week later on December 13, performed by the Archbishop of Toledo. The Holy Water was brought from the Jordan River by some friars who had recently returned from Jordan. The same Barrionuevo wrote that "the Prince screamed lustily when he was baptized, and, attracted by the loud, resonant voice, the King, who was looking through the jalousies, exclaimed, 'Ah! that does sound well; the house smells of a man now'". The christening cost Philip 600,000 ducats.

Heir apparent to the throne.

Philip Prospero's birth was greeted with much joy not only because of the child's gender, but also because it put to an end to various dynastic quarrels that would come to be after his daughters' marriages (as Philip had no son, his daughters' husbands would most probably fight over which one would succeed to the Spanish throne). Thus in 1658, Philip Prospero was sworn in as heir of his father and Prince of Asturias. Nevertheless, he did not enjoy good health and constantly had to carry an amulet with him, an amulet which is present in Velázquez's painting of him.  By 1659 the prime ministers of France and Spain had been negotiating an end to their countries' hostilities for two years; now that Spain had a male heir she could agree to consolidate the peace by marrying the king's eldest child Maria Theresa to the French king Louis XIV. The outcome of the negotiations was the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which established France as Europe's new dominant power.

Portrait.

The first portrait of Philip Prospero to come down to us was painted by Velazquez in 1659, the year Philip felt he could safely agree to the terms of the treaty with France. This portrait and were made that year for the Emperor Leopold I, their mother's brother and Margarita's future husband. In the painting the prince appears to be around three years old. He stands before a rich black background, the blackness of which is repeated in his eyes. His wrist limply rests over the back of a child-size chair in which lies an equally limp, contented spaniel. (These are a traditional pose and prop, though Velazquez painted his sister and, years before, his half-brother Balthasar Charles with their commanding little hands placed flat and firm, not dangling.)  In Velazquez's honest depiction the baby's eyes have a faint gray-blue-brown hollowness around them. His luminous face and hands and his white muslin smock are accented by the warm red of his gown and are a brightness against the subdued, somber background colors. But the painting directly admits the little boy's precarious health: from strings criss-crossing his chest and waist hang metal bells and at least two protective lucky amulets, a cornicello and on the string across his left shoulder a black object, likely a fig-hand carved of jet. By contrast, nearly thirty years earlier, Velazquez painted a robust Balthasar Charles at age two or three with staff, sword, exuberant sash and plumed hat. This is not a political picture, other than that it shows that the impossible hopes of a nation are depending on a wavering little spirit, which itself is depending on luck and fate.

Death.

Philip Prospero had been ill for quite some time before his November 1661 death. He suffered from epilepsy and became ill frequently, probably due to having a very defective immune system from generations of inbreeding. The King even brought the relics of Saint Diego of Alcalá to the palace in hopes of curing his heir. On November 1, 1661, he died following a severe epileptic attack. Five days later, Philip's youngest son and final child, Infante Charles was born. He would ascend the throne in 1665, following Philip's death. Philip held himself indirectly responsible for his son's death, which is clear in a letter that he wrote to Sor María about Philip Prospero's death:

Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias (Felipe Próspero José Francisco Domingo Ignacio Antonio Buenaventura Diego Miguel Luis Alfonso Isidro Ramón Víctor; 28 November 1657 1 November 1661) was the first son of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria to survive infancy. Philip IV had no male heir since the death of Balthasar Charles, his son by his first wife, Elisabeth of France, eleven years before, and as Spain's strength continued to ebb the issue of succession had become a matter of fervent and anxious prayer.

Philipp Prosper von Spanien (spanisch: Felipe Próspero de Austria) (* 28. November 1657 in Madrid; † 1. November 1661 in Madrid) war Infant von Spanien und Portugal aus dem Haus Habsburg ("Casa de Austria"). Als spanischer Kronprinz führte er den Titel eines Fürst von Asturien.


Life.

His father, also named John (1812 – 1894) was a butcher and his mother, Mary, was a milliner. The eldest of four children, Farmer was recognised as child prodigy, playing violin, piano and harp. His uncle Henry Farmer (1819–1891) was also a conductor, composer, violinist and organist in Nottingham. He owned a successful music-warehouse and nurtured his nephew's musical talent.  Between 1849 and 1852, Farmer studied piano at the Leipzig Conservatory with Ignaz Moscheles, after which he studied for a year in Coburg under Andreas Spaeth, a composer, organist and clarinetist. Farmer returned to England to briefly work in his parents' millinery business, then travelled to Switzerland in 1853, marrying Mary Elizabeth Stahel (1840–1914) in 1859, the daughter of a Zurich schoolteacher, with whom he eventually had 7 children.  His daughter Mary was married to the Scottish classicist John Burnet.  Farmer suffered a stroke at Oxford in 1900 and died in July, 1901. He was buried at St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford.

Teacher at Harrow School, 1862-1885..

After teaching in Zurich for some years, John became music master and violin teacher at Harrow in 1862, reportedly appointed as a result of being noticed while giving piano demonstrations at the London International Exhibition. During his time at Harrow, he introduced 'house-singing' (still part of a new boy's 'initiation' into the school community) and composed many school songs and other larger vocal works for the education and enjoyment of students and staff. He encouraged the participation of the boys in massed singing for school events and the serious study of instrumental music. This was during a period when the inclusion of music within public school education in England was in its infancy and its acceptance was often resisted by school boards and principals. Affectionately known as "Sweaty John", Farmer also introduced the smoking concert, or "Tobacco Parliament", that was held on Founder's Day, where school songs and musical contributions were welcomed from staff, boys and friends, with Farmer's items particularly memorable - he was remembered as a "capital entertainer" according to John Ivimey. His songs continue to be published in modern editions of the "Harrow School Songs" book. The school song, “Forty Years On”, was written in 1872 with fellow teacher Edward Ernest Bowen as lyricist. He also composed cricketing ditties like "Willow the King," one of the most famous of all cricketing songs. His opera, "Cinderella" was performed at Harrow in 1883.  His pupils included Elsie Hall.

Organist at Balliol College, Oxford.

Farmer left Harrow in 1885 to take up the post of Organist at Balliol College, Oxford. During his tenure, he founded the Balliol College Musical Society. His proposed Sunday evening concerts in the College Hall were initially controversial when the performances on the Sabbath were strongly disapproved of by strict Sabbatarians. However, the Sunday evening concerts are still presented by the College Music Society today. While at Balliol he composed Warwick School's first school song, "Here's a Song For All", in 1892.  He championed the music of Bach, editing two volumes for school students, and his own oratorio "Christ and His Soldiers" was popular with smaller choirs. Most of Farmer's stage works were intended for amateurs, often youngsters.

Compositions.

Also some instrumental music, including a piano quintet and two septets for piano, flute and strings.

John Farmer (16 August 1835 – 17 July 1901) was an English composer, music teacher and organist born in Nottingham.

John Farmer (* 16. August 1835 in Nottingham; † 17. Juli 1901 in Oxford) war ein englischer Musiker, Komponist und Musiklehrer. Er studierte Musik in Leipzig und Coburg.


Plot summary.

Lady Tressilian is now confined to her bed, and still invites guests to her seaside home at Gull's Point during the summer. Tennis star Nevile Strange, former ward of Lady Tressilian's deceased husband, incurs her displeasure. He proposes to bring both his new wife, Kay, and his former wife, Audrey, to visit at the same time – a change from past years. Lady Tressilian grudgingly agrees to this set of incompatible guests. Staying in hotels nearby are Kay’s friend, Ted; a long time family friend, Thomas Royde, home after a long stretch working overseas and still faithfully waiting on the sidelines for Audrey; and Mr Treves, an old solicitor and long time friend of the Tressilians.  The dinner party is uncomfortable, as Lady Tressilian had predicted. That night, Mr Treves told a story of an old case, where a child killed another child with an arrow, which was ruled an accident. The child was given a new name and a fresh start, despite a local man having seen the child practising assiduously with a bow and arrow. Mr Treves remembers the case and the child as a result of a distinctive physical feature which he does not reveal. The next morning, Treves is found dead in his hotel room and his death is attributed to heart failure from climbing up the stairs to his room the previous night, greatly upsetting Lady Tressilian. Thomas and Ted are mystified, as they saw a note stating that the lift was out of order when they walked Treves back. They learn from hotel staff that the lift was in working order that night. His death is ruled to be from natural causes.  Lady Tressilian is brutally murdered in her bed, and her maid drugged. Her heirs are Nevile and Audrey. Evidence suggests Nevile Strange as the murderer. One of his golf clubs that was found at the scene with his fingerprints on it. Nevile's quarrel with Lady Tressilian was overheard as well. However when the maid wakes up, she tells Superintendent Battle that she saw Lady Tressilian alive after Nevile's visit to her room, before he left for Easterhead Bay to find Ted. The evidence then points to Audrey: a bloodied glove belonging to her is found in the ivy next to her window together with the real murder weapon. It was fashioned from the handle of a tennis racket and the metal ball from the fireplace fender in Audrey’s room. Mary Aldin relates the story narrated by Mr Treves, and his claim that he could recognize that child with certainty; Battle is certain that the lift sign was placed in order to silence Mr Treves.  Angus MacWhirter is standing at the cliff where, a year earlier, he had attempted suicide, when Audrey attempts to run off the same cliff. He grabs her before she can jump. She confesses her fear, and he promises that she will be safe. The local cleaners inadvertently give MacWhirter an uncleaned jacket belonging to someone else. Though he is not one of the party at Gull’s House, he is aware of the progress of the investigation, well reported in the local newspapers. He realizes why the jacket has stains in a certain odd pattern. He visits Gull’s Point, and requests for Mary Aldin's help to find a rope in the house. They find a large damp rope in an otherwise dusty attic, and she locks the door until the police come.  Battle arrests Audrey on the evidence and her ready admission of guilt. However, Battle's daughter had previously confessed to a theft she did not commit due to overwhelming pressure, and so he suspects that Audrey is in a similar situation. MacWhirter meets Battle and tells him what he has learned about this case, including his observation of a man swimming across the creek on the night of the brutal murder, and climbing into the house on a rope. Then, Thomas reveals that Audrey had ended their marriage, not Nevile, as she had grown afraid of him. She was about to marry Adrian Royde, Thomas' brother, when Adrian was killed in a road accident. With the parties on a motor launch, Battle uses this information to force a confession from Nevile Strange. He was the mastermind behind all the events and circumstances that should have converged into "zero" – the hanging of his first wife for the murder of Lady Tressilian.  Nevile may have been behind two other deaths (Mr Treves and Adrian Royde) but there is insufficient evidence to prosecute. With his confession, the rope, and the ruse with the bell pull explained, Battle charges him with the murder of Lady Tressilian. Audrey seeks out MacWhirter to thank him, and they decide to marry. They will travel to Chile where he begins his new job. Audrey expects that Thomas will come to realize that he really wants to marry Mary Aldin instead.

Reception.

The review by Maurice Willson Disher in "The Times Literary Supplement" of 22 July 1944 was overwhelmingly positive: "Undiscriminating admirers of Miss Christie must surely miss the thrill of realizing when she is at her best. If this argument is sound then "Towards Zero" is for the critical. By virtue of masterly story-telling it makes the welfare of certain persons at a seaside town seem of more importance at the moment than anything else in the world. Mechanized brains may object that the murderer "perfects" his mystery by methods imposed upon fiction's police, but even when the maze is vaguely recognised the tale still grips. The characters become so much a part of the reader's existence that he must know what their ultimate fate may be before he will rest satisfied. How alive they are is apparent when two men, both dogged, laconic, poker-faced, never seem alike. The wife and the ex-wife, who neither like nor dislike one another, also reveal creative power. As an exhibition of the modern brand of human nature, "Towards Zero" deserves higher praises than any that can be awarded to it as an excellent detective story."  Maurice Richardson in the 6 August 1944 issue of "The Observer" wrote, "The new Agatha Christie has a deliciously prolonged and elaborate build-up, urbane and cosy like a good cigar and red leather slippers. Poirot is absent physically, but his influence guides the sensitive inspector past the wiles of the carefully planted house party, and with its tortuous double bluff this might well have been a Poirot case. How gratifying to see Agatha Christie keeping the flag of the old classic who-dun-it so triumphantly flying!"  Robert Barnard: "Superb: intricately plotted and unusual. The murder comes later, and the real climax of the murderer's plot only at the end. The ingenuity excuses a degree of far-fetchedness. Highly effective story of the child and the bow-and-arrow (part II, chapter 6) and good characterization of the playboy-sportsman central character – very much of that era when one was expected to behave like a gentleman at Wimbledon."

Publication history.

In 2010, two Kindle editions were issued: one from HarperCollins, ISBN B0046A9MV8, and one from William Morrow Paperbacks, ISBN B005CL8DA6. Numerous editions of audio books have been issued from May 2004 to February 2010.  The novel was first serialised in "Collier's Weekly" in three instalments from 6 May (Volume 113, Number 19) to 20 May 1944 (Volume 113, Number 21) under the title "Come and Be Hanged!" with illustrations by Charles La Salle.  In October and November 1944, it was serialized with illustrations under that same title as a supplement to "The Mail (Adelaide)", in Australia. Portions are missing from the newspapers scanned by Trove, so the exact dates are not certain, save for the start on 7 October 1944.

Adaptations.

Stage.

In 1956, Christie adapted the book into a play with Gerald Verner. It was first published by Samuel French Ltd. in 1957. The play was first staged in September 1956 at the St James Theatre in the West End of London. Christie first wrote a stage play under this title in 1945, with one week of performances in Martha's Vineyard. The script was uncovered in 2015 by Julius Green.  "Toward Zero" was included in the 1978 Christie play collection, "The Mousetrap and Other Plays".  It was performed in 2019 at The Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich, England, using the play as written by Agatha Christie in 1945 and recently "unearthed by author Julius Green." As the only prior staging using this script was in Martha's Vineyard in the US, the theatre claims this as the first performance of this version of the 1945 stage play in Europe.

Film.

In 1995, a film adaptation lost its support from Agatha Christie's estate. When Rosalind Hicks, Christie's daughter and controller of her estate, reviewed the script, with such issues as incest in the script, she ordered that the name of the film be changed as well as the names of the characters. The film became "Innocent Lies" and was met with mediocre success.  In 2007, French filmmakers adapted the novel to "Towards Zero", titled in French as "L'Heure Zéro".

Television.

In 2007, the novel was adapted as part of the third season of the "Agatha Christie's Marple" television series produced by ITV. Geraldine McEwan plays Miss Marple. The novel did not include Miss Marple; other characters are changed as well for this adaptation to fit the series approach. Superintendent Battle is replaced by Superintendent Mallard played by Alan Davies.

Radio.

In 2010, Joy Wilkinson adapted "Towards Zero" as a radio play, first transmitted in January 2010, in four parts, each 30 minutes by BBC Radio 4. The cast includes:

Towards Zero is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in June 1944, and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in July of the same year. The first US edition of the novel retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).

Kurz vor Mitternacht (Originaltitel Towards Zero) ist der 34. Kriminalroman von Agatha Christie. Er erschien zuerst im Juni 1944 in den USA bei "Dodd, Mead and Company" und im Juli desselben Jahres im Vereinigten Königreich im "Collins Crime Club". Die deutsche Erstausgabe erschien 1946 im Scherz Verlag (Bern) in der Übersetzung von Ursula von Wiese. 2002 gab der gleiche Verlag eine Neuübersetzung von Rebecca Gablé heraus.


Language.

Pursuant to requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), ATC operations are conducted either in the English language or

History.

In 1920, Croydon Airport, London was the first airport in the world to introduce air traffic control. The "aerodrome control tower" was actually a wooden hut high with windows on all four sides. It was commissioned on 25 February 1920 and provided basic traffic, weather and location information to pilots.  In the United States, air traffic control developed three divisions. The first of air mail radio stations (AMRS) was created in 1922 after World War I when the U.S. Post Office began using techniques developed by the Army to direct and track the movements of reconnaissance aircraft. Over time, the AMRS morphed into flight service stations. Today's flight service stations do not issue control instructions, but provide pilots with many other flight related informational services. They do relay

Airport traffic control tower.

The primary method of controlling the immediate airport environment is visual observation from the airport control tower. The tower is a tall, windowed structure located on the airport grounds. Air traffic controllers are responsible for the separation and efficient movement of aircraft and vehicles operating on the taxiways and runways of the airport itself, and aircraft in the air near the airport, generally 5 to 10 nautical miles (9 to 18 km) depending on the airport procedures.  Surveillance displays are also available to controllers at larger airports to assist with controlling air traffic. Controllers may use a radar system called secondary surveillance radar for airborne traffic approaching and departing. These displays include a map of the area, the position of various aircraft, and data tags that include aircraft identification, speed, altitude, and other information described in local procedures. In adverse weather conditions the tower controllers may also use surface movement radar (SMR), surface movement guidance and control systems (SMGCS) or advanced SMGCS to control traffic on the manoeuvring area (taxiways and runway).  The areas of responsibility for tower controllers fall into three general operational disciplines: local control or air control, ground control, and flight data / clearance delivery—other categories, such as Apron control or ground movement planner, may exist at extremely busy airports. While each tower may have unique airport-specific procedures, such as multiple teams of controllers ('crews') at major or complex airports with multiple runways, the following provides a general concept of the delegation of responsibilities within the tower environment.  Remote and virtual tower (RVT) is a system based on air traffic controllers being located somewhere other than at the local airport tower and still able to provide air traffic control services. Displays for the air traffic controllers may be live video, synthetic images based on surveillance sensor data, or both.

Ground control.

Ground control (sometimes known as "ground movement control") is responsible for the airport "movement" areas, as well as areas not released to the airlines or other users. This generally includes all taxiways, inactive runways, holding areas, and some transitional aprons or intersections where aircraft arrive, having vacated the runway or departure gate. Exact areas and control responsibilities are clearly defined in local documents and agreements at each airport. Any aircraft, vehicle, or person walking or working in these areas is required to have clearance from ground control. This is normally done via VHF/UHF radio, but there may be special cases where other procedures are used. Aircraft or vehicles without radios must respond to

Air control or local control.

Air control (known to pilots as "tower" or "tower control") is responsible for the active runway surfaces. Air control clears aircraft for takeoff or landing, ensuring that prescribed runway separation will exist at all times. If the air controller detects any unsafe conditions, a landing aircraft may be instructed to "go-around" and be re-sequenced into the landing pattern. This re-sequencing will depend on the type of flight and may be handled by the air controller, approach or terminal area controller.  Within the tower,

Flight data and clearance delivery.

Clearance delivery is the position that issues route clearances to aircraft, typically before they commence taxiing. These clearances contain details of the route that the aircraft is expected to fly after departure. Clearance delivery or, at busy airports, Ground Movement Planner (GMP) or Traffic Management Coordinator (TMC) will, if necessary, coordinate with the relevant radar center or flow control unit to obtain releases for aircraft. At busy airports, these releases are often automatic and are controlled by local agreements allowing "free-flow" departures. When weather or extremely high demand for a certain airport or airspace becomes a factor, there may be ground "stops" (or "slot delays") or re-routes may be necessary to ensure the system does not get

Approach and terminal control.

Many airports have a radar control facility that is associated with the airport. In most countries, this is referred to as "terminal control" and abbreviated to TMC; in the U.S., it is referred to as a TRACON (terminal radar approach control). While every airport varies, terminal controllers usually handle traffic in a radius from the airport. Where there are many busy airports close together, one consolidated terminal control center may service all the airports. The airspace boundaries and altitudes assigned to a terminal control center, which vary widely from airport to airport, are based on factors such as traffic flows, neighboring airports and terrain. A large and complex example was the London Terminal Control Centre, which controlled traffic for five main London airports up to and out to.  Terminal controllers are responsible for providing

En route, center, or area control.

ATC provides services to aircraft in flight between airports as well. Pilots fly under one of two sets of rules for separation: visual flight rules (VFR) or instrument flight rules (IFR). Air traffic controllers have different responsibilities to aircraft operating under the different sets of rules. While IFR flights are under positive control, in the US and Canada VFR pilots can request flight following, which provides traffic advisory services on a time permitting basis and may also provide assistance in avoiding areas of weather and flight restrictions, as well as allowing pilots into the ATC system prior to the need to a clearance into certain airspace. Across Europe, pilots may request for a "Flight Information Service", which is similar to flight following. In the UK it is known as a "basic service".  En-route air traffic controllers issue clearances and instructions for airborne aircraft, and pilots are required to comply with these instructions. En-route controllers also provide air traffic control services to many smaller airports around the country, including clearance off of the ground and clearance for approach to an airport. Controllers adhere to a set of separation standards that define the minimum distance allowed between aircraft. These distances vary depending on the equipment and procedures used in providing ATC services.

General characteristics.

En-route air traffic controllers work in facilities called air traffic control centers, each of which is commonly referred to as a "center". The United States uses the equivalent term air route traffic control center (ARTCC). Each center is responsible for many thousands of square miles of airspace (known as a flight information region) and for the airports within that airspace. Centers control IFR aircraft from the time they depart from an airport or terminal area's airspace to the time they arrive at another airport or terminal area's airspace. Centers may also "pick up" VFR aircraft that are already airborne and integrate them into the IFR system. These aircraft must, however, remain VFR until the center provides a clearance.  Center controllers are responsible for issuing instructions to pilots to climb their aircraft to their assigned altitude while, at the same time, ensuring that the aircraft is properly separated from all other aircraft

Radar coverage.

Since centers control a large airspace area, they will typically use long range radar that has the capability, at higher altitudes, to see aircraft within of the radar antenna. They may also use TRACON radar data to control when it provides a better "picture" of the traffic or when it can fill in a portion of the area not covered by the long range radar.  In the U.S. system, at higher altitudes, over 90% of the U.S. airspace is covered by radar and often by multiple radar systems; however, coverage may be inconsistent at lower altitudes used by unpressurized

Flight traffic mapping.

The mapping of flights in real-time is based on the air traffic control system. In 1991, data on the location of aircraft was made available by the Federal Aviation Administration to the airline industry. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Helicopter Association International, and the National Air Transportation Association petitioned the FAA to make ASDI information available on a "need-to-know" basis. Subsequently, NBAA advocated the broad-scale

Problems.

Traffic.

The day-to-day problems faced by the air traffic control system are primarily related to the volume of air traffic demand placed on the system and weather. Several factors dictate the amount of traffic that can land at an airport in a given amount of time. Each landing aircraft must touch down, slow, and exit the runway before the next crosses the approach end of the runway. This process requires at least one and up to four minutes for each aircraft. Allowing for departures between arrivals, each runway can thus handle about 30 arrivals per hour. A large airport with two arrival runways can handle about 60 arrivals per hour in good weather. Problems begin when airlines schedule more arrivals into an airport than can

Weather.

Beyond runway capacity issues, the weather is a major factor in traffic capacity. Rain, ice, snow or hail on the runway cause landing aircraft to take longer to slow and exit, thus reducing the safe arrival rate and requiring more space between landing aircraft. Fog also requires a decrease in the landing rate. These, in turn, increase airborne delay for holding aircraft. If more aircraft are scheduled than can be safely and efficiently held in the air, a ground delay program may be established, delaying aircraft on the ground before departure due to conditions at the

Congestion.

Constrained control capacity and growing traffic lead to flight cancellation and delays: By then the market for air-traffic services was worth $14bn. More efficient ATC could save 5-10% of

Callsigns.

A prerequisite to safe air traffic separation is the assignment and use of distinctive call signs. These are permanently allocated by ICAO on request usually to scheduled flights and some air forces and other military services for military flights. There are written callsigns with a 3-letter combination like KLM, BAW, VLG followed by the flight number, like AAL872, VLG1011. As such they appear on flight plans and ATC radar labels. There are also the "audio" or "Radiotelephony" callsigns used on the radio contact between pilots and air traffic control. These are not always identical to their written counterparts. An example of an audio callsign would be "Speedbird 832", instead of the written "BAW832". This is used to reduce the chance of confusion between ATC and the aircraft. By default, the callsign for any other flight is the registration number (tail number) of the aircraft, such as "N12345", "C-GABC" or "EC-IZD". The short "Radiotelephony" callsigns for these tail numbers is the last 3 letters using the NATO phonetic alphabet (i.e. ABC spoken "alpha-bravo-charlie" for C-GABC) or the last 3 numbers (i.e. "three-four-five" for N12345). In the United States, the prefix may be an aircraft

Technology.

Most ATC still rely on WWII technologies:  Many technologies are used in air traffic control systems. Primary and secondary radar are used to enhance a controller's situation awareness within his assigned airspace – all types of aircraft send back primary echoes of varying sizes to controllers' screens as radar energy is bounced off their skins, and transponder-equipped aircraft reply to secondary radar interrogations by giving an ID (Mode A), an altitude (Mode C) and/or a unique callsign (Mode S). Certain types of weather may also register on the radar screen.  These inputs, added to data from other radars, are correlated to build the air situation. Some basic processing occurs on the radar tracks, such as calculating ground speed and magnetic headings.  Usually, a flight data processing system manages all the flight plan related data, incorporating – in a low or high degree – the information of the track once the correlation between them (flight plan and track) is established. All this information is distributed to modern operational display

Proposed changes.

In the United States, some alterations to traffic control procedures are being examined:  Change in regulation in admittance for possible A.T.C.'s regarding their eye-refraction and correction thereof by technology has been proposed. In Europe, the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) programme plans to develop new methods, technologies, procedures, and systems to accommodate future (2020 and beyond) air traffic needs. In October 2018, European controller unions dismissed setting targets to improve ATC as "a waste of time and effort" as new technology could cut costs for users but threaten their jobs. In April 2019, the EU called for a "Digital European Sky", focusing on cutting costs by including a common digitisation standard and allowing controllers to move to where they are needed instead of merging national ATCs, as it would not solve all problems. Single air-traffic control services in continent-sized America and China does not alleviate congestion. Eurocontrol tries to reduce delays by diverting flights to less busy routes: flight paths across Europe were redesigned to accommodate the new airport in Istanbul, which opened in April, but the extra capacity will be absorbed by rising demand for air travel. Well-paid jobs in Western Europe could move East with cheaper labour. The average Spanish controller earn over €200,000 a year, over seven times the country average salary, more than pilots, and at least ten controllers were paid over €810,000 ($1.1m) a year in 2010. French controllers spent a cumulative nine months on strike between 2004 and 2016.

Privatization.

Many countries have also privatized or corporatized their air navigation service providers. There are several models that can be used for ATC service providers. The first is to have the ATC services be part of a government agency as is currently the case in the United States. The problem with this model is that funding can be inconsistent and can disrupt the development and operation of services. Sometimes funding can disappear when lawmakers cannot approve budgets in time. Both proponents and opponents of privatization recognize that

ATC regulations in the United States.

FAA control tower operators (CTO) / air traffic controllers use FAA Order 7110.65 as the authority for all procedures regarding air traffic. For more information regarding air traffic control rules and regulations, refer to the FAA's website.

Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots. In some countries, ATC plays a security or defensive role, or is operated by the military.

Flugverkehrskontrolle (FVK;, "ATC") ist ein Teilbereich der Flugsicherung und bezeichnet den bodenbasierten Dienst von Fluglotsen, die Flugzeuge am Boden und in der Luft leiten. Der primäre Zweck der Flugverkehrskontrolle ist die Staffelung von Flugzeugen, um Kollisionen zu vermeiden, die Organisierung und Beschleunigung des Verkehrsflusses, sowie die Bereitstellung von Informationen und Unterstützung der Piloten. In einigen Staaten übernimmt die Flugverkehrskontrolle auch teilweise Sicherheits- und Verteidigungsaufgaben (wie in den Vereinigten Staaten) oder wird gänzlich durch das Militär durchgeführt (wie in Brasilien).


Background, design and construction.

In the late 1890s the Dominion Line ordered three ships from Harland & Wolff for their profitable Liverpool to Boston service; the first of these was called "New England" the others were the "Commonwealth", and the "Columbus". The "New England" was launched on 7 April 1898.  "New England" had three overall decks, and a capacity of 200 First class, 200 Second class and 800 Third class passengers. She was powered by two four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines which were coupled to two propellers, and could propel the ship to a maximum speed of.

Career.

The "New England" started her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on 30 June 1898. In 1902 the Dominion Line and the White Star Line were taken over by the International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMMCo) which set about transferring ships between its subsidiary companies in order to increase efficiency. Most of the Dominion Line's profitable routes were soon transferred to the White Star Line including the Boston service. The "New England" made her last sailing from Liverpool under the Dominion Line on 17 September 1903, soon after she was sold internally within the IMMCo group along with her sisters to the White Star Line and renamed "Romanic". She was initially retained on the Liverpool–Boston service, and made her first sailing for White Star on 19 November 1903.  Soon afterwards "Romanic" was transferred to a new service from Boston to Naples and Genoa in Italy in order to take advantage of the lucrative market for immigrants from Italy to the United States. She commenced service on this route on 3 December 1903.  On 12 July 1907 "Romanic" collided with a 66 ton fishing schooner "Natalie B. Nickerson" in thick fog near the Nantucket Shoals. The schooner sank and three of her crew of eighteen lost their lives, the "Romanic" picked up the survivors and landed them at Boston.  "Romanic" continued on the Boston-Italy service until the growth of Italy's own merchant fleet began to displace British vessels on the Mediterranean service. "Romanic" was withdrawn from the service in November 1911, and in January 1912 she was sold to the Glasgow based Allan Line and renamed "Scandinavian". Her new owners refitted the vessel's passenger accommodation to carry 400 Second and 800 Third class passengers. her gross tonnage was increased in the refit to 12,099 tons. She commenced service for the Allan Line on 23 March 1912 between Glasgow, Halifax and Boston for their winter service, switching to Glasgow–Quebec–Montreal during the summer months.  Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the "Scandinavian" was used as a troopship to transport Canadian troops to Britain. between 1917 and 1918 she was operated under the Liner Requisition Scheme. In 1917 the Allan Line was taken over by the Canadian Pacific Line. Following her release from government service, "Scandinavian" made her first voyage for her new owners on 22 August 1918 between Liverpool and New York. Three months later she was switched to the Liverpool–St John service.  In May 1920 she was switched again to the Antwerp–Southampton–Quebec–Montreal route, but by 1922 there were a surplus of ships on this route, and "Scandinavian" was withdrawn from the service in July that year and laid up at Falmouth for disposal. The following year she was sold for scrap, and in October 1923 she moved to Hamburg for breaking up.

The SS "Scandinavian was a steamship ocean liner built at Harland & Wolff in Belfast which entered service in 1898. The ship changed names and owners several times; she was originally built for the Dominion Line and was known as New England, in 1903 she was transferred to the White Star Line and renamed Romanic". In 1912 she was sold to the Allan Line and renamed "Scandinavian", the name which she retained for the rest of her career.

Die Romanic war ein 1898 in Dienst gestelltes Dampfschiff, das von 1903 bis 1912 der britischen Reederei White Star Line gehörte, die es als Ozeandampfer auf der Nordatlantikroute von Italien in die USA einsetzte. Das Schiff wurde 1912 verkauft und 1923 in Hamburg abgewrackt.


Career and Family.

Not much is known about the early years. One of the earliest mentions of Tia is on a block now in the University of Chicago Oriental Institute (no. 10507). Tia and a man named Amenwashu are shown before King Seti I and the then crown-prince Ramesses II. Habachi conjectured that Amenwashu was Tia's father, but there is no evidence to support this idea. The identification of the man Tia on the Chicago stela with the official Tia is based on the rarity of the name. It is not known when Tia married Ramesses's sister Tia.  Tia had several honorific titles including hereditary prince and governor, seal-bearer of the King, sole companion, overseer of the secrets of the royal palace, favorite of the Horus in his palace, eyes of the King, and ears of the King. Tia's executive titles include, King's scribe, fanbearer on the right of the King and his most common title: overseer of the treasury in the Temple of Usermaatre Setepenre in the Domain of Amun.  A limestone block shows Tia and Tia in the presence of Queen Tuya. This scene likely comes from the tomb in Saqqara is now in the Royal Ontario Museum (no 955-79-2). Tuya is said to be a God's Wife and a King's Mother. Tia is clearly stated to be the King's sister and this scene shows that she was indeed the sister of Ramesses II.

Tomb at Saqqara.

Tia and Tia are best known from their tomb at Saqqara which was placed between the tomb of the 18th Dynasty general Horemhab (the later king) and the "overseer of the treasuries" Maya, the latter had the same title as Tia. The tomb is not very well preserved. The main entrance was on the east side. There was a first courtyard and a second one that was adorned with columns. At the back there were chapels and at the very back a small pyramid.  The outer courtyard of the tomb contained two smaller tomb-chapels. One of the chapels belonged to Iurudef, while the name of the owner of the second chapel is not known. A stela of an official belonging to the household of Tia, named Panakhtenniut, was found nearby. There is, however, no evidence that he was the owner of the chapel.  Tia was already known from several objects before his tomb was discovered. A "pyramidion" reached England in 1722 and was brought there from Alexandria. It is only known from old drawings, but they are good enough to read the name and titles.  Tia was once buried in a set of three coffins. There was a wooden inner, anthropoid coffin, a middle granite, anthropoid coffin and an outer, wooden, rectangular coffin. The coffins were only found in small fragments.

Chapel at Kafr el-Gebel.

Not all materials mentioning Tia and Tia comes from the tomb in Saqqara. Ahmed Mahmoud Moussa discovered a funerary chapel at Kafr el-Gebel which is located to the south of the Giza Pyramid Plateau at the edge of the desert. In Chapel G a stela showing Ramesses II before Osiris and the deified Seti I. A lower register of the stela depicts Queen Tuya followed by Tia and Tia before the goddess Isis and Ahmose (or a statue of the King).

Inscriptions.

The 1997 excavation report contains a list of known inscriptions associated with Tia and Tia. Below is a small sample of those inscriptions. These inscriptions are also mentioned in Kenneth Kitchen's Ramesside Inscriptions or are otherwise notable.

Tia was an ancient Egyptian high official under king Ramses II. His main title was that of an overseer of the treasuries. Tia was married to a woman with the same name, the princess Tia who was sister of Ramses II.

Tia war ein hoher altägyptischer Beamter unter Ramses II. Er war "Schreiber des Königs" und "Schatzhausvorsteher". Tia war mit der gleichnamigen "Königsschwester", Tia, verheiratet, einer Schwester von Ramses II. Diese trug weiterhin den Titel "Sängerin des Amun von ˁ3-nḫtw", was darauf hinweist, dass beide in der Ramsesstadt gewohnt haben könnten. Tias Vater hieß Amunwahsu.