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Wyssogota coat of arms

Wyssogota is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Notable bearers
Notable bearers of this coat of arms include:
 * Ignacy Wyssogota Zakrzewski (1745–1805), Polish politician, MP and president of Warsaw in the times of Kościuszko's Uprising

title: Wyssogota coat of arms


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John Henshaw

John Joseph Henshaw (born August 1950) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Ken Dixon the landlord in Early Doors, Wilf Bradshaw in Born and Bred and PC Roy Bramwell in The Cops. Often associated with characters who are "hard men", he played John Prescott in the 2007 ITV drama Confessions of a Diary Secretary.

Early life
One of 12 siblings, he was born in August 1950 and grew up in Ancoats, Manchester's "Little Italy" community. He was a binman for ten years before deciding, at the age of 40, to become an actor.

Acting career
His first big break in acting was as a minder to Robert Lindsay's character Michael Murray in the acclaimed Channel 4 series G.B.H.. He had roles in the Steve Coogan film The Parole Officer and in the BBC Three sitcom The Visit, first shown in July 2007. In 2002 he appeared in the Scottish Gaelic drama, Anna Bheag (Wee Anna), although not as a Gaelic-speaking character.

Other credits include Nice Guy Eddie, When Saturday Comes plus appearances in The Royle Family, Last of the Summer Wine, Life on Mars and the comedy series Early Doors. In September 2007, at the Lowry in Salford, he starred in the world premier of the play King Cotton.

He played the role of Ken, the deputy manager in the Post Office adverts, in 2007 to 2008. March 2008 saw Henshaw return to the Manchester area playing the lead in Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. Summer 2009 saw Henshaw play Meatballs in the film Looking for Eric, directed by Ken Loach and starring Eric Cantona. The character was a workmate and friend of the lead character Eric Bishop played by Steve Evets. In 2008 he played Albert Ross in The Heart Of A Man, the 12th episode of the 17th series of Heartbeat.

In 2010 he played Mr Pony in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and in 2011 he portrayed the character of John Holt, one of the original founding fathers of the Co-operative movement, in a feature film The Rochdale Pioneers. In 2013 he played Arthur Potts in Series 15 Episode 5 ("The Sicilian Defence") of Midsomer Murders. He also played the role of Harry, a mentor and friend to the main character, in Ken Loach's 2012 Scottish comedy-drama The Angels' Share and Danny in Chris Shepherd's 2013 film The Ringer.

In 2013 he played Stan Bond in By Any Means and in 2014 played the judge in Closer to the Moon. In 2015 he played Murphy in "Charlie's Plan" directed by John McCormack.

In 2017, he appeared in the BBC series Father Brown as Barney Butterfield episode 5.12 "The Theatre of the Invisible" and returned to playing Ken the landlord in the Early Doors live stage show.

He had a small role in the 2018 film Stan and Ollie as Nobby Cook, a British comedian who briefly stands in for Oliver Hardy when Hardy is taken ill.

He also appeared as Disco Des in the 10000th episode of Coronation Street.

Personal life
Henshaw was Director of the 24:7 Theatre Festival, an annual festival of new writing for theatre based in Manchester, which started in 2004.

Henshaw is also a patron of the Ancoats Dispensary Trust which campaigns to save and restore for community use the Grade II listed Ancoats Dispensary close to his birthplace.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: John Henshaw


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Peter Løvenkrands

Peter Rosenkrands Løvenkrands (born 29 January 1980) is a Danish professional football manager and former player. He played mainly as a striker or as a winger, and was known for his pace.

Løvenkrands began his career in his native Denmark, winning the 1999 Danish Cup with Akademisk Boldklub. He then moved to Scottish club Rangers where he played for six years and won seven major honours, including two Scottish Premier League titles. He signed for German team Schalke 04 in 2006, but eventually fell out of favour during his last season there, and transferred to Premier League side Newcastle United in the winter of 2008. After three-and-a-half seasons he moved to Birmingham City, who released him at the end of the 2013–14 season and he subsequently retired.

He won the 1998 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year award. He played 21 times and scored a single goal for the Danish national team, representing them at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004 tournaments.

Akademisk Boldklub
Born in Hørsholm, Løvenkrands signed his first professional contract with Danish Superliga club Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in February 1998. He made his Superliga debut in July 1998, and was quickly touted as a future Danish national team player by his manager Christian Andersen. He was a part of the 1999 Danish Cup-winning AB team, though he did not play in the final against Aalborg BK.

Rangers
Løvenkrands joined Scottish club Rangers for £1.3 million in June 2000. He went on to play 182 games for Rangers, winning two Scottish Premier League championships. He scored 54 goals for Rangers, including a last-minute winner against Old Firm rivals Celtic in the 2002 Scottish Cup Final. During his time at Rangers, he was often played out of position as a left winger instead of his natural position of centre forward. He played the 2005–06 season in the centre forward position, as well as on the left wing, and had his highest-scoring season at Rangers.

In August 2005, he trialled for English Premier League club Middlesbrough, but decided not to move. He started the 2005–06 season still with Rangers. He played an important role in Rangers' run to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, scoring four goals during the 2005–06 campaign. In the group stage, he opened the scoring in the 3–2 win against Porto, and with his goal in the 1–1 draw against Inter Milan he secured Rangers' progression to the knock-out round. In the round of 16, he scored in both the home and away game, though Rangers were eventually eliminated by Villarreal on the away goals rule. He netted a total of fourteen goals during the 2005–06 SPL season, the highest tally of his Ibrox career.

Schalke 04
After six years at Rangers, his contract expired in summer 2006 and he left the club on a free transfer. Løvenkrands was reportedly in talks with a number of clubs, including Spanish club Osasuna, Roma from Italy and English side Newcastle United. He eventually signed for German club Schalke 04 on 23 May 2006, joining fellow Danish international Søren Larsen.

Løvenkrands enjoyed a successful first season at Schalke, playing as a left winger and contributing six goals and four assists. In the decisive part of the season, however, he picked up an injury and was side-lined as Schalke missed out on the Bundesliga title. Løvenkrands' second season proved less successful. After a series of unfortunate performances without any goal, partly due to injuries, he lost his place in the starting line-up. Although fit again in February 2008, Løvenkrands did not start for Schalke under interim coaches Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder. New coach Fred Rutten chose not to employ Løvenkrands, even as Schalke struggled to remain in the race for the Bundesliga and were eliminated from the 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage. During the winter break, Schalke announced that Løvenkrands was one of the players the club would seek to sell, and moved the player to the club's reserve team, along with Albert Streit and Carlos Grossmüller. Having played only nine minutes for the first team in the 2008–09 season, he was finally released by the club in January 2009.

Newcastle United
Løvenkrands joined Newcastle United on a two-week trial and soon signed a contract on 23 January 2009, with a duration until the end of the season. He made his first appearance coming on as a substitute in the 2–1 loss to Manchester City. Following another substitute appearance in the 1–1 draw against Sunderland, Løvenkrands made his first start against West Bromwich Albion on 7 February and scored Newcastle's second goal in their 3–2 victory in the ninth minute to make it 1–2. On 4 March, he scored the opening goal against Manchester United. This was the first goal that goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had conceded in 1,311 minutes of football, dating back to 8 November 2008. On 11 May 2009, Løvenkrands scored Newcastle's third goal in a 3–1 victory over Middlesbrough with two games left to play. Despite the victory, Newcastle lost those last two games of the season against Fulham and Aston Villa, thus relegating them to the Championship for the 2009–10 season. He left Newcastle on 1 July 2009 after his contract with the club expired.

Løvenkrands joined Newcastle for a second spell on 1 September 2009 on a three-year contract. He was handed the number 11 shirt, formerly occupied by Damien Duff, as his previous number, 24, from his first spell at the club had been taken by Andy Carroll.

After his return to St James' Park, Løvenkrands did not start as well as he did in his first spell and played only few games. His few appearances were on the left wing, a position he felt less comfortable in. He featured in Newcastle's 2–0 defeat against Peterborough United in the League Cup, starting on the right wing. He later admitted to having "personal problems" and that was the reason for his frequent absence, he claimed that they were behind him and he was to fully concentrate on football. Shortly afterwards, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 victory over Swansea City, his fourth goal for Newcastle. On 13 January 2010, Løvenkrands scored his first Newcastle hat-trick in a 3–0 FA Cup victory against Plymouth Argyle. He made himself available for the 18 January match against West Brom despite having just returned to Denmark upon his father's death. He increased his tally to nine goals by heading in a José Enrique cross to put Newcastle level in a 2–2 draw and dedicated it to his late father. From January onwards, Løvenkrands' Newcastle career picked up and he formed a strong forward partnership with Andy Carroll.

Løvenkrands found himself out of the team for the away draw with Leicester City and remained on the bench. New signing Leon Best was then selected ahead of Løvenkrands for the fixture at St James' Park against Cardiff City. Løvenkrands replaced Best after 60 minutes, and he went on to score the fourth and fifth goals of the game in an emphatic 5–1 win for Newcastle. He scored the winning goal for Newcastle in their last game of their successful season against Queens Park Rangers finishing off a successful season for both Løvenkrands and Newcastle. He did not start Newcastle's opening Premier League games, starting on the bench. He played alongside Shola Ameobi in a 3–2 away win against Accrington Stanley in the League Cup. He got his first goal of the season there, scoring the winner with a close range acrobatic volley. After a brief substitute appearance against Blackpool, he started in Newcastle's 4–3 away win against Chelsea, also in the League Cup. He scored the only goal in the 3–1 defeat to West Brom. With Carroll injured throughout January, Løvenkrands had a successful month, scoring once in a 5–0 win over West Ham and playing well a week earlier against Wigan Athletic. After the sale of Carroll to Liverpool in January, Løvenkrands gained more opportunities up front along with the likes of Leon Best and Nile Ranger. He rekindled his partnership with Best upon the injury of Ameobi in February, and Løvenkrands scored in a 2–0 victory over Birmingham City on 15 February. He continued as a regular striker until the end of the season as Best picked up an ankle injury. He ended his season by scoring in a 3–3 draw with West Bromwich Albion.

In the 2011–12 season, Løvenkrands scored twice (a goal and a penalty) in a League Cup victory over Nottingham Forest. He added one more in the next League Cup fixture, a 4–3 extra time loss to Blackburn Rovers, scoring from the spot to push the game into its latter stages. He was sidelined for much of the season with a knee injury. He was released by Newcastle on 1 June 2012.

Birmingham City
On 9 July 2012, Løvenkrands signed a two-year deal with Championship club Birmingham City, with an option for a further year. He was given squad number 11.

Løvenkrands scored his first goal for his new club on his competitive debut on 14 August, making the score 4–1 in the 5–1 defeat of Barnet in the League Cup, and kept his place for the opening match of the 2012–13 Football League season, a 1–1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic.

Birmingham confirmed he would be released when his contract expired at the end of the 2013–14 season. He finished his Birmingham career having scored 8 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions. Løvenkrands confirmed his retirement on 19 November 2014.

International
Alongside Akademisk Boldklub teammate and later Danish international Martin Albrechtsen, Løvenkrands made his debut with the Denmark under-19 national team in September 1997. He scored five goals in eight matches for the Danish under-19 national team, and was named 1998 Danish under-19 Player of the Year. He was called up for the under-21 side in March 1999, and played 12 games and scored 7 goals for the under-21s until October 2001.

While at Rangers, Løvenkrands made his senior international debut under national team coach Morten Olsen, in the 13 February 2002 friendly match 1–0 win against Saudi Arabia. Having played a total four international games, he was a part of the Danish squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and played one minute in the 1–1 group stage draw with Senegal. He also participated at UEFA Euro 2004, playing five minutes in the 0–3 quarter-final defeat against the Czech Republic. In his 17th national team game on 15 November 2006, he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 friendly match draw with the Czech Republic. On 10 September 2008, he played his 21st national team game in the 3–2 2010 World Cup qualification win against Portugal, whereafter his international career went on hiatus.

His effort in the Portugal game was praised by Morten Olsen, but following the turmoil in his Schalke career, Løvenkrands had fallen out of contention for a place in the national team by September 2009. Although talks of a recall surfaced in 2010 following his impressive form at Newcastle, Løvenkrands stated that his mind was not on the recall, and he prioritized aiding the club back to the Premier League. After Newcastle's return to the Premier League, Løvenkrands played his first game for Denmark in over two years, coincidentally against Portugal, as part of a 3–1 defeat.

Coaching career
Løvenkrands returned to Rangers in May 2017 as a part-time coach in the clubs Academy. On 13 June 2018, Løvenkrands announced he would be taking on the role of Reserve Team Coach at Rangers. He left Rangers in June 2020 with the intention of taking a coaching position in Japan, but COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that he had not moved there as of December 2020. On 18 June 2021, he was announced as manager of Danish 1st Division side Fremad Amager. After a mixed season in which Fremad Amager finished in 10th place, it was confirmed in June 2022 that Løvenkrands wouldn't continue at the club.

On 16 October 2023, he was announced as head coach of the under-19 team at AaB Fodbold. In addition, Løvenkrands would also act as second assistant to the first team squad. On May 31, 2024, AaB confirmed that Løvenkrands would leave the club this summer for personal reasons.

Personal life
He is the younger brother of fellow footballer Tommy Løvenkrands. Their father died aged 61 on 15 January 2010 after a long illness and Løvenkrands dedicated his goal against West Bromwich Albion three days later to him. Løvenkrands has since started a charity appeal to fund research into a cure for Alzheimer's disease, from which his father suffered during the final five years of his life.

A fluent speaker of English, he developed a Glaswegian accent during his time with Rangers.

Honours
Akademisk Boldklub
 * Danish Cup: 1998–99

Rangers
 * Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05
 * Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
 * Scottish League Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05

Newcastle United
 * Football League Championship: 2009–10

Individual
 * Danish U-19 Player of the Year: 1998

title: Peter Løvenkrands


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Category:Radio stations in Utah

Radio stations in the U.S. state of Utah.

title: Category:Radio stations in Utah


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Twilight Ophera

Twilight Ophera is a symphonic black metal band from Finland. The band formed in 1996, and signed with British label Cacophonous the following year. This label folded in 2000, and the group went through lineup changes before signing with Crash Music in the United States in 2003.

Band members

 * Mikko Häkkinen - vocals
 * Mikko Kaipainen - guitar
 * Toni Näykki - guitar
 * Lord Heikkinen - bass
 * Timo Puranen - keyboards
 * Janne Ojala - drums

Former members

 * Timo Kollin - drums
 * Sauli "Karkkunen" Lehtisaari (died 2004) - vocals
 * Anu Kohonen - vocals
 * Jani Viljakainen - bass
 * T. Kristian - drums

Discography

 * Shadows Embrace the Dark (1997)
 * Midnight Horror (1999)
 * The End of Halcyon Age (2003)
 * Twilight Ophera and the Order of the Sanguine Diadem presents: Descension (2006)

title: Twilight Ophera


text: Category:Investiture Controversy

title: Category:Investiture Controversy


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Wikipedia:Entertainment Collaboration of the week/History

This page contains nominations from the main Entertainment Collaboration of the week page which have received enough votes to begin working on them. Unsuccessful nominations are listed at the removed page.

MacGyver

 * ''Nominated October 10, 2004; needs 5 votes by October 17 (minimum 5 votes per week)

Support
 * 1) ZayZayEM 11:02, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Netoholic @ 17:58, 2004 Oct 10 (UTC)
 * 3) [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm|(talk)]] 18:10, Oct 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) [[User:Aranel|Aranel ("Sarah")]] 18:32, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Farside 18:27, 11 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) GuloGuloGulo 10:13, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) PedanticallySpeaking 16:33, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * 8) Cordell Walker 04:36, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Comments
 * something everybody loves!!! He can defuse a bomb with nothing but chewing gum and a broken toothpick (while handcuffed no less). Its not exactly uber-stub; but MacGyver deserves more.
 * Indeed somewhat stubby. Besides, how can I not support this article :) I'm not called MacGyverMagic for nothing. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm|(talk)]] 18:10, Oct 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * As an aggregate, Wikipedia needs to educate the public about MacGyver. We need to make it so that Henry Winkler and the guy with the mullet get larger residual checks, not smaller ones. We can all pitch in. Cordell Walker 03:17, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)


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Michael Ball (footballer)

Michael John Ball (born 2 October 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left back.

Ball started his professional career at Everton, making his debut as a 17-year-old in 1997. He was capped by the England national team in 2001. Ball joined Rangers in the 2001 close season in a £6.5 million transfer. In the 2004–05 season, Ball won Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup medals with Rangers.

Before the start of the 2005–06 season, Ball was signed by PSV Eindhoven. He spent one and a half seasons with the club, winning the Dutch Eredivisie. Ball was sold to Manchester City in 2007. He signed for Leicester City, where his contract was terminated following homophobic messages sent on Twitter to actor Antony Cotton.

Everton (1996–2001)
Ball was born in Liverpool, Merseyside. As a schoolboy he was part of the Liverpool youth system, playing alongside Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard. From 1994 to 1996 he attended The Football Association's National School at Lilleshall, before joining Everton. He played his first senior match in April 1997 as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur, and made his first start a week later at West Ham United. Ball developed into an impressive player equally adept at both centre back and his main position, left back. His solid performances for Everton led to an England national team call-up to Sven-Göran Eriksson's first England squad for a friendly against Spain in February 2001. Ball was named as a substitute, and made his debut when he replaced Chris Powell at half-time.

Rangers (2001–2005)
In 2001, he was allowed to leave Everton, primarily due to the club's financial problems. Although he had offers from Premier League clubs, he opted for a lucrative deal with Scottish Premier League (SPL) club Rangers and moved to Glasgow in a £6.5 million deal. His first Old Firm match ended in controversy when he swore at Rangers manager Dick Advocaat after being substituted, resulting in a £10,000 fine. He scored his first Rangers goal in the UEFA Cup against Dynamo Moscow. In December 2001, after his eleventh Rangers appearance, he suffered medial ligament damage which kept him sidelined for 18 months, including the entire 2002–03 season. Upon his return to fitness he regained his place in the team, becoming a first-team regular in the 2003–04 season, scoring his first league goal against Dundee. He also won the Player of the Month award in his first month back.

Ball's transfer to Rangers included instalments payable after fixed numbers of appearances. As Ball approached 60 appearances Rangers became reluctant to play him, as doing so would trigger a £500,000 payment to Everton. As a result, Ball played only four matches in the first four months of the 2004–05 season. The scenario was eventually resolved in December 2004 when negotiations involving the player and the two clubs reached an undisclosed agreement. With the contractual wrangling resolved, Ball returned to the first team, and won a Scottish League Cup medal and an SPL medal as Rangers won the 2004–05 title.

PSV Eindhoven (2005–2007)
In the 2005 close season, Rangers wished to remove the higher earners from their wage bill, so Ball moved to Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven for a fee of £500,000, signing a two-year contract. Ball struggled with injury and fitness issues during his time in the Netherlands. However, he went on to win the Eredivisie title and also reached the final of the KNVB Cup in 2006, losing 1–0 to Ajax in Rotterdam.

Manchester City (2007–2009)

He joined Manchester City on 31 January 2007 after impressing on a week-long trial, on a six-month contract for a nominal fee. He made his debut ten days later against Portsmouth, and scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup fifth-round match against Preston North End on 18 February. He was often used as third-choice captain, when either Richard Dunne (captain) or Micah Richards (vice-captain) were unavailable. On 5 May 2007, in a 1–0 home defeat to Manchester United, he stamped on Cristiano Ronaldo's stomach. This was missed by the referee, and he was subsequently banned for three matches.

On 24 August 2008, Ball was given the captain's armband in the 46th minute after stand in captain Richards was knocked out in a challenge with a teammate and substituted during a game against West Ham United. City went on to score three goals and win the game 3–0.

At the end of January 2009 Ball had a knee operation on his left patella tendon, which kept him out of action for nine months. On 1 July 2009, he was released by Manchester City as his contract expired.

Free agent
In January 2010, Ball was reported to be training with Wigan Athletic and to be regaining match fitness. However, no contract was reported as having been offered. Subsequently, in September 2010 Ball was reported as training with Blackpool, but again no contract resulted.

Leicester City (2011–2012)
Ball was on trial with Leicester City in July 2011, travelling on their pre-season tour of Sweden and Austria. He signed a one-year contract on 8 August 2011, after featuring in six pre-season friendlies. Ball made his competitive debut in a 4–1 win over Rotherham in the League Cup first round on 9 August 2011. Ball made three appearances for Leicester, all in the League Cup, and left the club on 24 January 2012 after his contract was terminated, following homophobic messages sent on Twitter to actor Antony Cotton.

International career
In February 2001, he made his only appearance for England in a friendly against Spain, coming on as a half-time substitute for Chris Powell.

Honours
Rangers
 * Scottish Premier League: 2004–05
 * Scottish League Cup: 2004–05

PSV Eindhoven
 * Eredivisie: 2005–06

title: Michael Ball (footballer)


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Mark Benton

Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in Early Doors, Howard in Northern Lights and Martin Pond in Barbara. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road as mathematics teacher Daniel "Chalky" Chalk from 2011 to 2014. In 2013, Benton took part in Strictly Come Dancing, and in 2015 he hosted the daytime game show The Edge.

Since 2018, Benton has played the leading role of Frank Hathaway in Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators on BBC1.

Early life
Benton was born in Guisborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, and attended Sarah Metcalfe Comprehensive School and, later, Stockton Billingham Technical College. Some of Benton's early acting experience came at Middlesbrough Youth Theatre with performances in plays such as Atmos Fear and Twist.

Career
Benton has a recurring role as Father McBride in the series Murphy's Law and has worked with Vic and Bob in the series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000 TV series), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. In 1999, he played Mickey-O in "The Wedding", the last episode of series 5 of Ballykissangel. He also appeared as an earthly representative of the devil in the 2003 ITV drama The Second Coming and the 2005 ITV drama Planespotting. From 1999 to 2003 Benton played Martin Pond in sitcom Barbara. He has also starred in the BBC Three comedy I'm with Stupid and appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Rose" as conspiracy theorist Clive. In late 2008, Benton starred in the ITV drama Britannia High and from 2009 to 2011 co-starred as Max de Lacey in Scoop. Benton also co-starred in the Roman Mysteries episode "The Slave Girl from Jerusalem".

Film roles include Ricky in Mike Leigh's Career Girls (1997), Phil in the 2001 cult British independent film Mr In-Between, and Vic in the British comedy Three and Out (2008). Benton featured in all three of The Booze Cruise episodes, with Martin Clunes and Brian Murphy, among others. In 1996 he appeared in Catherine's Cookson The Girl.

Benton played the role of the bank manager in a string of eight television commercials for the Nationwide Building Society, directed by Armando Iannucci, shown from 2004 to 2010.

In April 2008, Benton appeared as Jess Yates in the BBC Four drama Hughie Green, Most Sincerely.

Benton did the voiceover for the programme Street Doctor on BBC One.

Other roles have included Connor in Afterlife (2005), Dad in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Hustle (2010), and Farmer Finch in the BBC's Land Girls.

Benton joined the cast of BBC drama Waterloo Road in its seventh series as Daniel 'Chalky' Chalk, a maths teacher, until 6 March 2013. He returned for an episode in series 9.

In 2011, Benton appeared in The Railway Children at Waterloo Station in London as Mr Perks.

On BBC Radio 4, Benton starred as the optimistic title character Harvey Easter in Mr Blue Sky, written by Andrew Collins and broadcast in May and June 2011. A second series was due for May 2012. Benton has also played Fred the butcher in the televised series of episodes by Catherine Cookson.

In 2012, Benton appeared in the one-off special Panto! as Francis, the Director of the play. In July 2012, it was announced that Benton would star as Edna Turnblad in the 2013 UK tour of Hairspray the Musical, starting in February 2013 and finishing in September 2013.

In 2015, Benton appeared as Police Constable Walt Everett in the BBC daytime series Father Brown, episode 3.12 "The Standing Stones". He also appeared as Les in the "La Couchette", the first episode of the second series of anthology series Inside No. 9. In 2015, Benton presented the BBC One daytime game show The Edge for its first series, being replaced by Gabby Logan.

In 2016, UK progressive rock band Gandalf's Fist announced that Benton will voice several characters on their album "The Clockwork Fable"

On 21 August 2016, Benton played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn) in the BBC prom 48. Benton appeared as a bartender in the December 2016 Christmas Special of British Sitcom Outnumbered.

In 2017, he played Dennis Feldman in the ITV drama, The Halcyon.

Since February 2018, Benton has appeared as Frank Hathaway, alongside actress Jo Joyner in the new BBC daytime comedy drama Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators. Benton played the role of Eddie Rowbotham in episode 2 of the 20th season of Midsomer Murders ("Death of the Small Coppers").

Strictly Come Dancing
In September 2013, Benton became one of the contestants in the eleventh series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing, where he was partnered with world dancing champion Iveta Lukosiute. The couple left the show on week 10 after losing the public vote. Mark Benton has been in the most consecutive dance-offs in Strictly history with the number of 4 weeks in a row. He got eliminated on the 4th dance-off.

Personal life
Benton has been married to Sarah Gardner since 2002 and has three children. He is a supporter of Middlesbrough F.C. and has featured in the club's official website advertising campaign to encourage other fans to renew their season tickets.

title: Mark Benton


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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (Kıbrıs Radyo Yayın Kurumu), or CyBC (ΡΙΚ; KRYK), is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic television channels, and uses one satellite channel for the Cypriot diaspora. It also transmits on a separate high definition channel.

CyBC is a nonprofit organization, using its entire income for its mission to provide objective information news, culture and entertainment to the people of Cyprus.

CyBC was partially funded by a tax on electric bills, a practice which ended on 1 July 2000; CyBC is currently funded by the state budget. The amount of the tax was dependent on the size of the home and, as a hypothecated tax for public television, was similar in principle to the television licence systems in other countries. The corporation is a member of the international broadcasting community, belonging to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Broadcasting Organisation of Non-Aligned Countries (BONAC) and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA).

History and legal framework
CyBC began as the Cyprus Broadcasting Service, with its first radio broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday, 4 October 1953. Programmes were broadcast in Greek, Turkish and English on 434 and 495 metres medium wave (691 and 606 kilohertz). The station produced a free weekly publication, Radio Cyprus.

Television broadcasting began on 1 October 1957. Broadcasts were initially five days a week, averaging three hours a day, and the service covered a radius of 33 kilometres from Nicosia.

On 1 January 1959, the CBS ceased to be a government department and was renamed the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation under Chapter 300A of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Act. The corporation was modelled in part on the British Broadcasting Corporation. CyBC was admitted as an associate member of the European Broadcasting Union on 1 January 1964, becoming an active member five years later.

As the state broadcaster, CBC is responsible for implementing the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. According to Article 171 of the constitution:

"In sound and vision broadcasting there shall be programmes both for the Greek and the Turkish Communities. The time allocated to programmes for the Turkish Cypriot Community in sound broadcasting shall not be less than 75 hours in a seven-day week, spread to all days of such week in daily normal periods of transmission: Provided that if the total period of transmissions has to be reduced so that the time allotted to programs for the Greek Community should fall below 75 hours in a seven-day week, then the time allotted to programmes for the Turkish Community in any such week should be reduced by the same number of hours as that by which the time allotted to programmes for the Greek Community is reduced below such hours: Provided further that if the time allotted to programmes for the Greek Community is increased above 140 hours in a 7-day week, then the time allotted to programmes for the Turkish Community shall be increased in the ratio of 3 hours for the Turkish Community to every 7 hours for the Greek Community.

In vision broadcasting there shall be allotted three transmission days to the programmes for the Turkish Community of every ten consecutive transmission days and the total time allotted to the programmes for the Turkish Community in such ten transmission days shall be in the ratio of three hours to seven hours allotted to programmes for the Greek-Hellenic Community in such ten transmission days.

All official broadcasts in sound and vision shall be made both in Greek and Turkish and shall not be taken into account for the purposes of calculating the time under this Article."

Article 19 of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Act (Chapter 300A) states:

"The Corporation (CyBC) shall conduct the broadcasting services with impartial attention to the interests and susceptibilities of the different communities and with due regard to the interests of minority communities in the Republic.

The Corporation shall operate the broadcasting services in the Greek, Turkish and English languages and any other languages at its discretion and shall at all times keep a fair balance in the allocation of broadcasting hours and other matters between these languages."

Television
CyBC operates three domestic channels (CyBC 1, CyBC 2 and CyBC HD) and an international service (RIK Sat) for the Cypriot diaspora. It also carries Euronews, and ERT World. On 1 July 2011 all analogue television transmissions ended, and CyBC broadcasts on its own DVB-T network.

CyBC 1
CyBC 1 (RIK 1) features news and current-affairs programming in Greek: political, financial and sports news; documentaries and feature films, operas, concerts, ballets and plays.

CyBC 2
CyBC 2 (RIK 2) primarily carries entertainment programming: Cypriot and foreign series, feature films, Cypriot and foreign movies, music and children's programmes. It also broadcasts news in Greek, Turkish and English. Since 1 February 1993, PIK2 has simulcast Euronews as part of its daily schedule (about 80 hours per week).

CyBC HD
The HD channel simulcasts domestic and international special events along with the standard-definition channels. Events simulcast in HD by CyBC in 2013 included Formula 1 auto racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the Eurovision Song Contest and the FIFA Confederations Cup.

RIK Sat
RIK Sat is the international service of RIK TV, broadcasting to Europe and North America. It is currently available as a free-to-air service in Europe on the Hellas Sat 2 and Eutelsat 33E satellites and as a digital terrestrial television channel in Greece.

In North America, Titan Television is the distributor for Canada and the United States. On 23 September 2014, the channel debuted in Canada on Bell Fibe TV.

RIK World
RIK World is an international version of RIK Sat available in Middle East Africa Asia and the Pacific.

Radio
CyBC has four radio channels (First, Second, Third and Fourth), which aim to transmit quality programs and provide information, culture and entertainment to all communities in Cyprus. Programs are broadcast in a number of languages 24 hours a day and are also available via satellite and on the Internet.

First Channel
The First Channel known as RIK Proto (CyBC Radio 1) features news, current affairs, educational and cultural programmes on 963 and 693 kHz AM and 97.2, 92.4, 105 and 91.4 MHz FM. It has programming for children and young adults on history and classical, modern and traditional music. Since 27 June 1999 CyBC has broadcast a program for Maronites, The Voice of Maronites. A programme for the Catholic community began on 13 November 1999.

Second Channel
This channel, known as RIK Deftero (CyBC Radio 2), is a service for Cyprus's Turkish and Armenian communities. The Armenian broadcast is from 17:00 to 18.00 daily. The broadcast to the Turkish Cypriots aims to maintain ties with them, and programming includes three news bulletins daily (at 07:30, 13:15 and 16:50). The Second Channel is on 91.1, 93.1, 94.2 and 97.9 MHz FM is streamed online at www.cybc.com.cy and can also be heard on Hellas Sat in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Third Channel
The Third Channel, known as RIK Triton (CyBC Radio 3) the most popular CyBC channel in Cyprus, is primarily an entertainment and information channel on 603 and 1044 kHz AM and 94.8, 94, 96 and 106.7 MHz FM.

Fourth Channel
The Fourth Channel is known as RIK Classic (CyBC Classic) and presents classical, jazz and classic rock music on 88.2, 90.2, 90.5 and 100.9 MHz FM.

External Service
CyBC Greek-language programming is available for Greek Cypriot expatriates in the United Kingdom on weekends via shortwave radio. The External Service uses a transmitter, operated by VT Communications, which is also used for BBC World Service programming in the area. The External Service daily news broadcast is also rebroadcast in the United Kingdom by the UK radio station London Greek Radio.

title: Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation


text:
Redon of Britain

Redon was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He came to power in 149BC.

He was preceded by Eldol and succeeded by Redechius.

title: Redon of Britain


text:
The Scribblies

The Scribblies were a fantasy fiction group of writers formed in the U.S. city of Minneapolis in January 1980. Members included Nate Bucklin, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Kara Dalkey, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly and Patricia Wrede. At the time, they shared the same editor and literary agent.

These authors all contributed short stories in the Liavek anthologies. Liavek was a shared-world series edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly.

The name "Scribblies" is a joke inspired by the Industrial Workers of the World, "the Wobblies". It also derives from Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh's comment to Edward Gibbon upon receiving the second (or third, or possibly both) volume(s) of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire "Another damned thick book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?"

title: The Scribblies


text: User talk:201.224.65.81

title: User talk:201.224.65.81


text:
Face to Face (1996 Face to Face album)

Face to Face is the 1996 third studio album by the California punk band Face to Face.

Track listing
All songs written by Trever Keith, except where noted.
 * 1) "Resignation" - 3:48
 * 2) "Walk the Walk" (Keith, Scott Shiflett) - 3:35
 * 3) "Blind" - 2:43
 * 4) "Ordinary" - 2:48
 * 5) "I Won't Lie Down" (Keith, Shiflett) - 3:17
 * 6) "Can't Change the World" - 2:13
 * 7) "Handout" (Keith, Shiflett) - 3:37
 * 8) "Everything's Your Fault" - 2:49
 * 9) "Take It Back" - 2:59
 * 10) "Complicated" (Keith, Chad Yaro) - 4:02
 * 11) "Put You in Your Place" - 3:42
 * 12) "Falling" - 3:01

Personnel

 * Trever Keith – vocals, guitar
 * Chad Yaro – guitar, vocals
 * Scott Shiflett – bass, vocals
 * Rob Kurth – drums, vocals

Miscellaneous
the track, "I Won't Lie Down" was covered by Christian rock band Spoken on their album Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell, and Israeli punk band Man Alive on their 2007 EP Access Denied! A remixed version of "I Won't Lie Down" was also a part of the soundtrack for the movie Mortal Kombat Annihilation. "Blind" was covered by American punk rock band Rise Against on the album Long Forgotten Songs: B-Sides & Covers 2000–2013.

title: Face to Face (1996 Face to Face album)


text:
Category:History of Catholicism in Italy

Articles relating to the history of Catholicism in Italy.


text: File:Face to face ST 1996 album.jpg

title: File:Face to face ST 1996 album.jpg


text:
Hong Kong English

Hong Kong English is a variety of the English language native to Hong Kong. The variant is either a learner interlanguage or emergent variant, primarily a result of Hong Kong's British colonial history and the influence of native Hong Kong Cantonese speakers.

Background
English is one of two official languages in Hong Kong – the other being Chinese (Cantonese) – and is used in academia, business and the courts, as well as in most government materials. Major businesses routinely issue important material in both Chinese and English, and all road and government signs are bilingual. Since the Handover, English in Hong Kong remains primarily a second language, in contrast to Singapore where English has been shifting toward being a first language. The falling English proficiency of local English language teachers has come under criticism. The proportion of the Hong Kong population who report using English (that is, all forms) as their "usual spoken language" increased from 2.8% in 2006 to 4.3% in 2016, while 51.1%, 63.5% and 65.6% respectively, reported being able to speak, write and read the language.

Status
The existence of Hong Kong English, as a distinct variety of the English language, is still a matter of debate among many scholars.

Evidence suggesting variant established
In the literature examining the existence of Hong Kong English as a distinct variety, scholars have sought evidence of expression of the variant which may be classified according to the following criteria: Using these criteria, scholars have said that Hong Kong English possesses the attributes of a distinct variety.
 * Standard and recognisable accent; research has demonstrated the existence of, and local preference for, a local Hong Kong English accent
 * Distinctive vocabulary; local media, such as newspapers, clearly show a shared common vocabulary used among English speakers in Hong Kong
 * History; a continuous link can be drawn between Hong Kong English and early pidgin forms used to communicate between traders in Canton before the establishment of Hong Kong as a colony.
 * Literature using the variant; there is a growing corpus of literature produced in English which is meant for local consumption.
 * Reference works; reference texts describing Hong Kong English are beginning to emerge, such as A Dictionary of Hong Kong English: Words from the Fragrant Harbor

Hong Kong English is also featured as a separate entity in the Oxford Guide to World English, under the sub-heading of "East Asia". Hong Kong English is also included as a separate variety of English within the International Corpus of English, with a dedicated local research team collecting data to describe the usage of English in Hong Kong.

Evidence suggesting variant not established
It has also been argued that there is no such thing as Hong Kong English and the predominance of recent works discuss Hong Kong phonology in terms of erroneous deviation from varieties such as British and American English. In one co-authored work describing a study conducted of five Hong Kong speakers of English, it was concluded, controversially, as they conceded, that HKE was at most an emergent variety and perhaps no more than a "learner interlanguage". In the Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes, it has been classified as in the third phase, that of Nativisation, but more recently it has been shown that many young people are happy to identify themselves as speakers of Hong Kong English, so it may be regarded as progressing into the fourth phase, that of Endonormative Stabilisation. Furthermore, by the criteria identified in the above section, scholars have noted that there is very little literature produced in English which is meant for local consumption.

Intelligibility and recognition
It has been demonstrated that English spoken in Hong Kong is highly intelligible to listeners from elsewhere, which helps explain why an increasing number of people are happy to be identified as speakers of this variety. However, it has been noted that language use is highly politicised and compartmentalised in Hong Kong, where the two official languages are seen as having different and distinct uses. Indeed, it has been argued that even English language teachers in Hong Kong would refuse to acknowledge the local variant of English within a classroom setting, opting instead for more "standard" variations.

It has been argued that the lack of recognition of Hong Kong English as a variety on par with other Asian varieties, such as Indian English or Singaporean English, is due to a lack of research.

Pronunciation
As a result of the colonial legacy, the pronunciation of Hong Kong English was assumed to be originally based on British English, However, nowadays, there are new features of pronunciation derived from American English, and the influence of American English has emerged. Furthermore, there seem to be some innovative developments that are unique to Hong Kong English, such as a split in the realisation of /v/ as [f] or [w]. Some of the more salient features are listed below.

Segments

 * tends to be, so this is ,
 * tends to be, so whether is.
 * may be or, so event may have  while even has . It seems that  occurs at the start of a stressed syllable while  occurs at the start of an unstressed syllable.
 * There is alternation between [l] and [n], and the same speaker may alternate with words such as light and night, and both loud and number may have either or  at the start.
 * Words with final add long vowel ; Joyce, for instance, becomes Joysee.
 * In final consonant clusters, just as with many other varieties of English, there is a tendency for simplification, so the plosive at the end of words such as think and camp is often omitted. Deletion of coronal plosives and  from word-final clusters has been reported to occur in about 76% of tokens, though this frequency is a little less if the function words and and just are excluded from the analysis.
 * L-vocalisation is common, so dark in the coda of a syllable is often pronounced as, and fill may be  while tell is , just as in London English (Cockney). After back rounded vowels  is often omitted, so school is  and wall is.
 * Like many accents in Britain, Hong Kong English is non-rhotic, so is only pronounced before a vowel. However, with the growing influence of American English, many young people in Hong Kong now pronounce the  in the coda of a syllable.
 * There is often little distinction between the non-close front vowels, and, so bat and bet may be pronounced the same (with ).
 * Long and short vowels are generally merged, particularly involving the close vowels and  (so heat and hit are both pronounced  with a short tense ) as well as  and  (so pull and pool are the same).
 * Vowel reduction is often avoided in function words, so a full vowel occurs in words such as and and to as well as the first syllable of content words such as accept and patrol.

Intonation

 * Multi-syllable words are often differently stressed. For example, while the word latte is pronounced in most variants of the English language, it is usually pronounced  in Hong Kong English, with the second syllable stressed instead of the first.
 * Omission of entire "r-" syllables in longer words; difference becomes, and temperature becomes.
 * Words beginning with the unstressed syllable con- are generally pronounced with its stressed form with a lower pitch, e.g. connection, consent, condition. Words beginning with the stressed syllable com- e.g. competition, common and compromise are pronounced.
 * The schwa tends to be pronounced as in final closed syllables; ticket is pronounced, and carpet is pronounced.
 * The suffix -age is generally pronounced ; message is pronounced, package is pronounced etc.
 * There is less vowel reduction in unstressed syllables, and some variation in the placement of stress. For example, chocolate may be pronounced, as distinct from in other varieties of English.
 * Compared to other varieties of English, there is less difference between stressed and unstressed syllables. In most varieties of English, unstressed syllables are reduced, taking less time. This difference is smaller in Hong Kong English.

Others

 * In Cantonese, there is no structure of diphthong+consonant. As a result, becomes,  becomes ,  becomes ,  becomes ,  becomes ,  becomes ,  becomes ,  becomes  etc.
 * For the case, or , the ending consonant is generally omitted, resulting in.
 * Many Chinese will speak a foreign language with the same characteristic monosyllabic staccato of spoken Chinese, with varying degrees of the natural liaisons between syllables that natives employ. In a similar vein, they often pronounce syllables as if words were transliterated into Cantonese: Cameron is pronounced as based on its transliteration; basic is pronounced as.
 * Exaggeration of certain final consonants, for example to  and  sounds of the past-tense form of verbs to.
 * Differences or omission in ending sounds, as the ending consonants are always voiceless and unreleased (glottalised) in Cantonese with the exceptions of, and , similar to Basel German
 * Pronouncing the silent, sounds in words like Green-wich, Bon-ham, Chat-ham, Beck-ham are often reflected in the transliteration of the words; for example, Beckham is transliterated  (pronounced ).
 * Merging the contrast of voiceless/voiced consonants with aspirated/unaspirated if any contrast exists in Cantonese. This is because English voiceless consonants are most often aspirated, whereas the voiced ones are always unaspirated. The stop stays as  but  becomes ;  stays as  but  becomes ;  stays as  but  becomes ;  becomes  and  becomes  (except when preceded by s, where the English consonants are unaspirated).
 * Merging voiceless/voiced consonants into voiceless if there is no contrast in aspirated/unaspirated in Cantonese. Both and  become ; both  and  become ; both  and  become ; the only exception might be that  and  are never confused, due to difficulty in pronouncing  and : many pronounce  as, and  as.
 * Confusion between homographs (words with the same spelling but different meanings), e.g. the noun resume (a CV) and the verb resume (to continue).

American/British spelling and word usage

 * Both British and American spellings are in common use, although the British variant predominates in official circles, and remains the officially taught form in education.
 * However, Hong Kong has significant American influence in its treatment of abbreviations and initialisms: the full point is expected in shortened titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., St.), and government honours also retain the full point in post-nominals (G.B.M., G.B.S.), whereas British English no longer uses the full point.
 * When referring to the same thing, British vocabulary is more commonly used, for example: rubbish bin instead of garbage/trash can; lift instead of elevator; mobile phone instead of cell phone; estate agent instead of real estate broker.

Hong Kong vocabulary/expressions
Some words and phrases widely understood in Hong Kong are rare or unheard of elsewhere. These often derive from Chinese, Anglo-Indian, or Portuguese/Macanese.
 * A chop is a seal or stamp, e.g. a company chop is the seal or stamp of a corporation (it actually originates from colonial Indian English). It is now used in some other Commonwealth countries as a non-official term.
 * A Tai-Pan (or taipan; ) is a term used in the early 20th century for a business executive of a large corporation.
 * An amah is a term used in the early 20th century for a live-in servant (from Macanese/Portuguese ama 'nurse'); now supplanted by  [domestic] helper.
 * A shroff is a cashier, in a hospital, a government office or a car park (parking garage).
 * Godown is a warehouse. From the Malay gudang. The ultimate origins were traced to the Indian subcontinent.
 * Nullah is a concrete or stone-lined canal or a reinforced creek bed used to contain run-off. Nullah entered the English language from Hindi.
 * Jetso ("") is sometimes used to mean discount or special offer.
 * 'Add oil', direct translation of the Chinese, an exclamatory entreaty of encouragement. The usage became popularised by the Umbrella Movement.
 * Lai see, a transliteration of the Cantonese term, also referred to as "red envelopes", or "red packets", or by the Mandarin term , for red envelopes bearing auspicious Chinese phrases or characters containing money and handed out as gifts, particularly during the Lunar New Year festival.

In 2015 University of Hong Kong professor Lisa Lim stated that some of the words, by that year, had declined in usage.

title: Hong Kong English


text:
Barry Diller

Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994.

Early life
Diller was born on February 2, 1942 in San Francisco, California, to Michael Diller and his wife Reva (née Addison). However, he was raised in Beverly Hills. In May 2012, New York magazine noted that Diller was "a second generation Austrian Jewish kid."

Career
Diller began his career through a family connection in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency after dropping out of UCLA after three weeks. His proximity to the company's file room meant that he could spend free time reading through the archives and learning the entire history of the entertainment industry. He was hired as an assistant by Elton Rule, then West Coast head of ABC, who was promoted to network President at the same time Diller went to work for him in 1964, taking him on to New York City. Diller was soon placed in charge of negotiating broadcast rights to feature films. He was promoted to Vice President of Development in 1965. In this position, Diller created the ABC Movie of the Week, pioneering the concept of the made-for-television movie through a regular series of 90-minute films produced exclusively for television.

Paramount
Diller served for 10 years as the chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures Corporation from 1974 until 1984. With Diller at the helm, the studio produced hit television programs such as Laverne & Shirley (1976), Taxi (1978), and Cheers (1982) and films that include Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and sequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Terms of Endearment (1983), and Beverly Hills Cop (1984). The New York Times reported in 1983 that Diller was also "one of the three key executives" for then Paramount parent company Gulf+Western, with A. D. Murphy, director of the motion picture producing program at the University of Southern California, even describing him as "probably the most successful executive in the film business today." In the same article, Diller stated, among other things, that he wanted to use Paramount to make movies based on games distributed by then Gulf+Western-owned video game manufacturing company Sega. As head of Paramount, Diller also put together a three-way ownership of the USA Network in 1981 in order to prevent the Gulf+Western owned Madison Square Garden from selling its interest in the network. Diller also focused on having the Madison Square Garden maintain rights to its sports games, which in turn could allow for an extended level of broadcasting for future Madison Square Garden events as not only a source of programming for the USA Network, but also as a source of programming for Madison Square Garden Network cable subscribers and any future regional pay-television network.

Fox
From October 1984 to April 1992, Diller held the positions of chairman and chief executive officer of 20th Century Fox, where he created and launched the Fox network and greenlighted shows such as Married... with Children and The Simpsons.

QVC
On February 24, 1992, Diller announced that he would leave Fox within a three month period, citing a desire to "own my own store." After leaving Fox, Diller's company Arrow Investments Inc. purchased a $25 million stake in the QVC teleshopping network. Despite owning less than 3 percent of the network, Diller gained supervision of the network after forming a partnership with Liberty Media Corporation and the Comcast Corporation which made all of their shares a single group on matters which required shareholder approval. New York Times journalist Calvin Sims noted on December 11, 1992 that Diller sought "to turn the shopping channel into an on-line entertainment and merchandising service in which the subscriber and the cable company can freely interact." He then launched a bid to purchase Paramount Communications, but lost it to Viacom. Diller resigned from QVC in 1995.

HSN and USA Broadcasting
In August 1995, Diller acquired the assets of Silver King Broadcasting. His ownership of Silver Broadcasting would be finalized in March 1996. In August 1996, it was agreed that Silver King Broadcasting, now under Diller's leadership, would buy back the Home Shopping Network (HSN), a former Silver King asset which split from the company in 1992, and that the two companies would merge. In December 1996, Silver King Broadcasting acquired an 80% stake in HSN for $1.3 billion worth of stock, and afterwards changed its own name to 'HSN, Inc.. Through his purchase of HSN, Diller would also eventually acquire Universal's cable and domestic-television assets from the Bronfman family.

Due to Home Shopping getting more notoriety on the cable networks from his former dealings with the QVC Network, Diller sought to repurpose the broadcast stations into independent, locally run stations as part of a station group dubbed USA Broadcasting of which the flagship station was WAMI-TV in Miami Beach, Florida. In October 1997, it was announced that Diller would be acquiring the USA Network, which was run by Kay Koplovitz, and other Seagram-owned Universal TV businesses, which included the Koplovitz-run USA Network spinoff Sci Fi Channel, for $4.1 billion and that these networks would be owned by Diller's Home Shopping Network. Diller previously had owned stock in the USA Network in the early 1980s, when Paramount Pictures acquired part of the network under his leadership. Paramount parent company Gulf + Western also owned the Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., which helped create the USA Network with Koplovitz. He was also the one who put together the 1981 USA Network ownership agreement between Paramount, Time Inc. and MCA which convinced Madison Square Garden management to not sell their interests in the network.

Diller's purchase of the USA Network was finalized in February 1998. In April 1998, Diller would assume the chairman and CEO positions which Koplovitz previously held at USA Networks since 1977. During Diller's time as head of the USA Network, the network's flagship WWF programming experienced a dramatic ratings turnaround, with WWF Raw dominating the ratings on cable television. Under Diller's leadership, the USA Network also showed tolerance to the growing WWF angles which were breaking with traditional censorship and were considered controversial, with even his USA Network spokesman David Schwartz describing an incident where the wrestler Jacqueline exposed one of her breasts as “not worse than anything you see on broadcast television at that time of night, such as NYPD Blue.” Shaun Assel and Mike Mooneyham's book Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment stated that "the terrain shifted completely under everyone's feet" following Diller's purchase of the USA Network and also resulted in him and Universal TV executive Bonnie Hammer, who was regarded as the most sympathetic USA Network executive when came to relations with the WWF, thwarting an attempt which Koplovitz and other USA Network executives, including network entertainment head Rod Perth, made to remove the WWF from the USA Network in May 1998. Hammer, who has openly credited Diller as her mentor, would in later years serve on the board of directors at IAC/InterActiveCorp.

The purpose of the network was to have the flagship, WAMI, produce sports and news programming while testing locally produced general-interest programming for the other stations in the group. Due to the high costs of producing and acquiring talent for shows outside the typical areas of New York City and Los Angeles, plus the significantly low ratings such shows received in Miami Beach, the remaining shows were moved to Los Angeles to regain traction, but never did. Diller eventually sold the TV assets to Univision after rejecting a bid from The Walt Disney Company. The USA Network and its assets were later sold off to Vivendi. Diller was still involved with the USA Network until the Vivendi sale was announced in December 2001. Diller retained the assets of the Home Shopping Network and the subsequent Internet assets he acquired later to bolster the HSN Online stable that later became IAC/InterActiveCorp.

2000s
Diller was the Chairman of Expedia and the Chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, an interactive commerce conglomerate and the parent of companies including HomeAdvisor, Match Group (until 2020), Citysearch, and Connected Ventures, home of Vimeo and CollegeHumor (until 2020). IAC/InterActiveCorp is also the parent company of Tinder, UrbanSpoon, The Daily Beast, and more. In 2005, IAC/InterActiveCorp acquired Ask.com, marking a strategic move into the Internet search category. He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp on December 2, 2010.

The new headquarters for the IAC/InterActiveCorp, the IAC Building was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2007 at 18th Street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The western half of the block is dedicated to the building, which stands several stories taller than the massive Chelsea Piers sporting complex just across the West Side Highway. The extra floors guarantee a panoramic Hudson River view from Diller's sixth-floor office.

Diller has been on the board of Coca-Cola since 2002.

In 2003, on the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers, Diller voiced a strong warning against media consolidation. In the interview he referred to media ownership by a few big corporations as an oligarchy, saying the concentration strangles new ideas.

Diller was "the highest-paid executive [of fiscal year 2005]", according to a report by The New York Times on October 26, 2006, with total compensation in excess of $295 million (mostly from stock).

In October 2019, Diller had a $4.2 billion fortune in technology companies, after investing early on in companies such as Match.com and Vimeo. In 2012, Diller became an investor in the streaming service company Aereo. Aereo went out of business in June 2014 after the United States Supreme Court ruled that its method of streaming media content violated copyright laws.

Since 2013, Diller has co-produced more than ten Broadway shows in partnership with Scott Rudin, including To Kill A Mockingbird, West Side Story, Carousel, The Humans, Three Tall Women, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, and A Doll's House, Part 2. IAC Films has also backed numerous films produced by Rudin, including Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Eighth Grade, The Meyerowitz Stories, and Ex Machina.

In early 2020, Diller took over Expedia's day-to-day operations alongside the vice chairman Peter Kern, after the company's CFO stepped down in December 2019. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Expedia's shares plummeted along with those of other travel companies. Diller announced that Expedia is generating no revenue and would have to cut costs. And he has been member of the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

"The Killer Dillers"
Diller is responsible for what the media dubs "The Killer Dillers" – people whom Diller mentored and who later became major media and internet executives in their own right. Examples include Michael Eisner (who was President of Paramount Pictures while Diller was its Chairman & CEO, and went on to become Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Jeffrey Katzenberg (a head of production of Paramount under Diller who became a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG and former head of DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney Studios), Strauss Zelnick (President at Fox while Diller was its Chairman and CEO who became the founder and CEO of private equity firm ZMC, the chairman and CEO of video game company Take-Two Interactive), Don Simpson (who was President of Production at Paramount under Diller and Eisner before forming an independent production company initially based on the Paramount lot with Jerry Bruckheimer), Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Dawn Steel (a VP of Production for Paramount when Diller was Chair & CEO; she went on to become President of Columbia Pictures, one of the first women to run a major movie studio) and Garth Ancier (former president of BBC America).

Diller worked with Stephen Chao at Fox Television Network, whom he later hired as President of Programming and Marketing at USA Network. Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, served as Diller's General Counsel during their tenure at USA Broadcasting, and again as Chief of Business Operations and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Accusations of insider trading
On March 9, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Diller, David Geffen and his stepson, Alex Von Furstenberg were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for insider trading of options on Activision Blizzard just three days before Microsoft's announced acquisition. Diller denied the allegations and claimed "It was simply a lucky bet."

Personal life

In December 1992, it was publicly noted how Diller saw potential in online service.

In 2001, Diller married fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, mother of Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg and Princess Tatiana von Fürstenberg. Diller owns an estimated third of her eponymous fashion company. He is a member of the Democratic Party and supporter of related political causes. As of June 2020, Diller's estimated net worth was $4.2 billion. He owns Eos, one of the largest private sailing yachts in the world.

Sexual orientation
The media has speculated on Diller's sexual orientation. As reported in James B. Stewart's 2005 book DisneyWar, Michael Eisner sent a confidential letter to The Walt Disney Company board of directors in 1997 during its search for a successor to Eisner.

"Pressed by the board to name a successor, Mr. Eisner cited the entertainment executive Barry Diller, but then wrote a confidential letter to the board saying that “the fact he is a homosexual should have no weight,” which, at the time, all but guaranteed Mr. Diller would never succeed him."

However, New York magazine wrote in 2001 that Diller is "often referred to as bisexual," stating that he has "lived most of his adult life as a more or less openly gay man," but also that his relationship with Diane von Fürstenberg "is said to be a warm and genuine one."

Philanthropy
In 2011, the Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation announced a donation of $20 million to support the completion of the High Line park in Manhattan. In 2012, Diller donated $30 million to the Hollywood Fund, which provides health and social care to retired individuals from the show-business world.

In 2015, Diller and his wife committed to donate $260 million toward Little Island, a public park and performance space on a reconstructed pier 55 in the Hudson River in New York City. It is stated to be the largest donation to a public park in city history. The park was completed on May 21, 2021.

Honors and recognition

 * 1990: DGA Honorary Life Member Award
 * 1992: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
 * 1994: Television Hall of Fame

title: Barry Diller


text:
Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine

Redon is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.

Geography
Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments.

It is situated at the junction of the Oust and Vilaine rivers and Nantes-Brest canal, which makes it well known for its autumn and winter floods.

It is located at 50 km from Nantes, Rennes, Vannes and their airports

The town has a station which connects to Quimper and Rennes then Paris in 2h05.

History
Very little information exists about this area before 832; however, it would seem that there was a parish by the name of Riedones which gave the town its name. In 832, Conwoion, a Breton monk with the help of the Carolingian Emperor Louis the Pious founded the abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Redon. Today, documents relating to the life of the abbey still exist.

The town developed around the abbey until a small rural community of 6,000 inhabitants was formed in the 1960s.

In the Middle Ages, Redon benefitted from maritime commerce due to its location on the Vilaine.

Population
Inhabitants of Redon are called Redonnais/Redonnaises in French.

Breton language
The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 10 October 2008.

In 2008, 14.31% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.

Economy

 * Cargill Texturising Systems - A pectin factory
 * Faurecia, subsidiary of Peugeot-Citroën.
 * Bic - business making lighters, razors and pens among other things (with only lighters being made in Redon)
 * Eis

Cultural life

 * Fête de la Chataigne (sweet chestnut festival) in October.
 * Festival de la Bogue d'Or (Festival of songs and music from Upper Brittany)
 * On Monday 4 July, the third stage of the 2011 Tour de France ended in Redon. The 198 km stage, which was won by Tyler Farrar, was the first time the Tour had passed through Redon.

International relations
Redon is twinned with:
 * Andover, United Kingdom.
 * 🇩🇪 Goch, Germany.

title: Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine


text:
Thunderstone (band)

Thunderstone is a power metal band from Helsinki, Finland. The band was formed in 2000 by Nino Laurenne, and the line-up became complete in the following year. After the release of the band's self-titled debut album, Thunderstone, the band toured Europe supporting Stratovarius and Symphony X. Thunderstone released its first four albums through Nuclear Blast; however, their album Dirt Metal was released in October 2009 under Sony Music label.

History
Thunderstone was formed in early 2000 by ex-speed/thrash guitarist Nino Laurenne as a side project; his first demo was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios. With a growing awareness of the project's potential, a commitment was made to create a full-fledged band. Laurenne then recruited former Antidote bandmate Titus Hjelm on bass and backing vocals, Pasi Rantanen on vocals, and Mirka Rantanen on drums. By the summer of 2001, Kari Tornack joined the band as a keyboardist, and Thunderstone evolved into a quintet.

Thunderstone released their self-titled debut in 2002. Recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki (with Laurenne as guitarist, producer, and engineer) and mixed by Mikko Karmila (Children Of Bodom, Amorphis) at Finnvox Studios (Sentenced, Moonspell, Stratovarius), Thunderstone ended the year with a strong presence on numerous year-end "Top Metal Albums Of 2002" lists. In 2003, after being named "Newcomer of the Year" by the readers of Rock Hard Magazine, Thunderstone celebrated their accomplishments with an extensive European tour supporting Stratovarius and Symphony X.

Thunderstone returned to Sonic Pump to record their second album, The Burning. Among many accolades the album received (such as the appearance of their promotional video for "Until We Touch The Burning Sun" on Finnish television), the album rose to No. 13 on the official Finnish album chart.

The band entered the studio again in late 2004 and started work on their third album Tools Of Destruction. The album once again recorded at Sonic Pump Studios. The opening track, "Tool Of The Devil," went straight to No. 3 on the Finnish Singles Chart. Gigs in Finland and the first headlining European tour with label mates Crystal Ball followed.

The band returned yet again to the studio to record their fourth album in the fall of 2006. The same year also witnessed the bands first appearance in the USA. In October the band was invited to take part in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest. The band was voted second, losing only narrowly to Finnish Idol Hanna Pakarinen. The Eurovision fame resulted in the release of two singles, 10.000 Ways and Forevermore/Face in the Mirror, which both went straight to the top 3 in the Finnish single charts. Finally, the efforts of the previous studio sessions came to fruition when Thunderstone’s fourth studio album Evolution 4.0 was released in March 2007. Showing a darker side of the band and moving them away from the “power metal” of their first release, the album was liked by the fans and entered the Finnish charts at No.10. Again, a Finnish tour and summer festivals followed.

Late in 2007 the band posted this statement on their official website:

"We are sad to announce that Pasi Rantanen and Kari Tornack are no longer part of Thunderstone. Due to personal reasons and a visible lack of motivation on their part we saw it best to part with the guys, although the decision was not easy and the timing perhaps the worst possible. Everything was done in good spirits and we thank the guys for an unbelievably great and fun seven years and wish them all the best in their private endeavors.

However, the first priority for us was not to let our fans down even in a situation like this. Therefore, we will go on with the upcoming co-headlining tour with Nocturnal Rites as planned. And we are most proud to announce two incredible musicians who agreed to fill in for the tour on such a short notice. On keyboards we will have none other than legendary JENS JOHANSSON, the crazy Swede and a long-time friend from Stratovarius. The vocal duties will be handled by the incredible- sounding TOMMI 'TUPLE' SALMELA who in recent years has shared the vocals with Marco Hietala in the classic Finnish metal outfit Tarot. As you can probably imagine, we are more than thrilled to have these guys on board. Book your tickets NOW!!!"

Jens Johansson was unable to make it to the tour, but Status Minor keyboardist Jukka Karinen was able to fill in, and was ultimately asked to join the band before the tour even began.

In 2009, Thunderstone released their fifth album, Dirt Metal. Around this time, Mirka Rantanen founded the side project band Hevisaurus, which has seen heavy media coverage as a children's music band that plays heavy metal.

In late July/early August 2013, Thunderstone's official Facebook page made several announcements, including that both singer Rick Altzi and drummer Mirka Rantanen would be parting ways with the band. The last of the notices announced the return of Pasi Rantanen on vocals.

In early February 2014, band announced on their official Facebook page, that their new drummer is Atte Palokangas (Agonizer, Before the Dawn).

Eurovision
Thunderstone were in the Finnish preselection final round for Eurovision 2007, with their song "Forevermore". They were placed second with 33% of the given votes.

Members

 * Pasi Rantanen - lead vocals (2000-2007, 2013-onwards)
 * Nino Laurenne- guitar, backing vocal
 * Titus Hjelm - bass, backing vocal
 * Jukka Karinen- keyboards
 * Atte Palokangas - drums

Former members

 * Rick Altzi - lead vocals (2008-2013)
 * Mirka "Leka" Rantanen - drums
 * Kari Tornack - keyboards (2001–2007)

Discography

 * Demo
 * Demo (2001)

 * Studio albums
 * Thunderstone (2002)
 * The Burning (2004)
 * Tools of Destruction (2005)
 * Evolution 4.0 (2007)
 * Dirt Metal (2009)
 * Apocalypse Again (2016)

 * Compilation
 * All the Best (2011)

 * Singles
 * "Virus" (2002)
 * "Tool Of The Devil" (2005)
 * "10.000 Ways" (2007)
 * "Forevermore" / "Face In The Mirror" (2007)
 * "I Almighty" (2009)
 * "Veterans Of The Apocalypse" (2016)
 * "Virus 2020" (2020)

 * Music videos
 * "Virus" (First version) (2002)
 * "Until We Touch The Burning Sun" (2004)
 * "Tool Of The Devil" (2005)
 * "Face In The Mirror" (2007)
 * "Forevermore" (2007)
 * "I Almighty" (2009)
 * "Veterans Of The Apocalypse" (Lyric Video) [2016]
 * "The Path" (2016)
 * "Fire And Ice" (2016)
 * "Through The Pain" (2016)
 * "Virus" (Second version) (2020)

title: Thunderstone (band)


text:
Samsara (2001 film)

Samsara is a 2001 independent film directed and co-written by Pan Nalin. An international co-production of India, Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, the film tells the story of a Buddhist monk's quest to find Enlightenment. It stars Shawn Ku as the monk Tashi, and Christy Chung as Pema.

Plot
Tashi began his training as a Buddhist monk at the age of five. Twenty years later, he emerges from a three-year solitary meditation, for which he is awarded the degree of khenpo by the rinpoche. When Tashi begins to have wet dreams, his relationships at the temple become strained. On an official visit, he stays with a farmer and meets Pema, the farmer's daughter. He leaves monastic life, returning to the farm, where he joins the migrant workers for the harvest. After another encounter with Pema, they marry. They later have a son, Karma.

The ex-lama becomes a farmer and landowner, becoming financially successful by bringing the harvest to the city instead of selling to the local merchant Dawa, who cheats the local farmers. This puts him at odds with Jamayang, Pema's former fiancee and local stonemason, who resents Tashi for damaging the long-standing relationship between the people of the valley and Dawa.

Tashi is at odds with his sexuality and an attraction to Sujata, a migrant worker who returns to the farm to labor each year. While Pema goes to the city to sell their harvest, he and Sujata have sex. He's told that this was something Sujata and Pema have talked about for years. His friend from his time as a lama comes to visit, and informs Tashi that their mentor, Apo, has died. Racked with guilt over his infidelity and the death of Apo, Tashi leaves the farm to return to the monastery.

Cast

 * Shawn Ku as Tashi
 * Christy Chung as Pema
 * Neelesha Barthel as Sujata
 * Lhakpa Tsering as Dawa
 * Jamayang Jinpa as Sonam

title: Samsara (2001 film)


text:
Stag Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador

Stag Harbour is a designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is on Fogo Island within the Town of Fogo Island.

Geography
Stag Harbour is in Newfoundland on Fogo Island within Division No. 8.

Demographics
As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Stag Harbour recorded a population of 165 living in 70 of its 91 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2011 population of 161. With a land area of 8.48 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

title: Stag Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador


text:
Madeleine Meilleur

Madeleine Meilleur (born November 22, 1948) is a Canadian nurse, lawyer and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2016. She represented the riding of Ottawa—Vanier. She was a cabinet minister in the governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.

In May 2017, she was nominated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to become Canada's next Official Languages Commissioner. Her appointment had to be approved by the House of Commons and Senate to become official. On June 7, 2017, she withdrew her name from consideration due to controversy around her selection.

Background
Meilleur was born in the Quebec community of Kiamika. She is both a registered nurse and a lawyer, specializing in labour and employment law and has served on the Ottawa-Carleton Regional District Health Council, the Champlain District Health Council, the Ottawa-Carleton Children's Aid Society and the Vanier Housing Corporation.

Municipal politics
Meilleur was elected to the city of Vanier's municipal council in 1991, and also served as a council member in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (which included members from Vanier and other local municipalities). In 2000, she was acclaimed as a city councillor in the newly amalgamated city of Ottawa. During her time in municipal government, Meilleur represented the council on the French-Language Services Advisory Committee. She received the United Way's Community Builder's Award in 2001.

McGuinty government
In the 2003 provincial election, Meilleur was elected in the riding of Ottawa—Vanier as the Liberal Party candidate.

The Liberal party won the election, and Meilleur was appointed Minister of Culture with responsibility for Francophone Affairs on October 23, 2003. In November 2003, Meilleur announced that provincial grants would be made available to libraries in rural communities. In April 2004, she announced the extension of demolition controls on heritage buildings. In 2008, she became the province's first cabinet minister ever to attend an international summit of La Francophonie.

On April 5, 2006, Meilleur was appointed Minister of Community and Social Services. She was reelected to her Ottawa—Vanier riding in the 2007 provincial election.

After she was re-elected in the 2011 provincial election, she was appointed Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Wynne government
When Kathleen Wynne took over as Premier in 2013, Meilleur continued in her position as Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. She was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election. On June 24, 2014 she was appointed Attorney General of Ontario, the first francophone to hold the position.

In 2016, she was criticized over her initial refusal and subsequent delay in releasing the Special Investigations Unit's report on the police shooting of Andrew Loku.

On June 9, 2016, Meilleur announced her retirement after 25 years in politics. Her resignation from the legislature coincided with a June 2016 cabinet shuffle.

Commissioner of Official Languages
Meilleur was nominated to become the Commissioner of Official Language by the federal government on May 15, 2017. Her appointment was challenged as failing to be sufficiently non-partisan due to Meilleur's links to the ruling Liberal Party of Canada. She withdrew her name from consideration on June 7, 2017. In the end, this position was filled by Raymond Théberge.

title: Madeleine Meilleur


text:
Strike Force (TV series)

Strike Force is an American action-adventure/police procedural television series that aired on ABC during the 1981–1982 television season, and was produced by Aaron Spelling Productions. The program starred Robert Stack as Capt. Frank Murphy, the leader of a specialized unit of detectives and police officers whose job is to stop violent criminals at any cost (usually with a hail of gunfire).

Overview
Mixing elements of Stack's classic television series The Untouchables from 20 years earlier with doses of Mission: Impossible and Dirty Harry, Strike Force immediately provoked controversy over its violence – at one point the series was labeled the most violent in American TV history. The series attempted to balance the violence by interjecting liberal amounts of humor into its regular characters and focusing on the detectives' personal lives.

Cast

 * Series star Robert Stack's character, SCPD Det. Capt. Frank Murphy, is the head of the special Strike Force unit. He is a tough, incorruptible cop, tenacious and efficient on the job, but whose personal life is as unkempt as the home he lives in. He is a recent divorcé who is stuck with a house that was painted pink by his ex-wife, Eve (who left him for a career in show business, but whom he still obviously loves dearly), where he lives with Sam, his scruffy, oversized, beer-drinking dog (whose main source of nutrition appears to be a brand of dog food labeled "Doggone It"). He is as tough as nails, but caring and fair, and loyal to the people under his command. Capt. Murphy's favorite food is chili dogs (which he seems to "require" everyone on his team of "Strike Force" detectives to eat); his constant nemesis is the squad room soda machine, which seems to work for everyone in the precinct but him, and is a running joke in the series.
 * Det. Sgt. Paul Strobber, played by Dorian Harewood, is the only married member of the team, and the most serious; a loving family man, with a wife and young son, but easily the most fearless and dangerous Strike Force member on the street. He is like a coiled spring, ready to strike when provoked, as he does when his family is threatened by white supremacists in the episode "The Outcasts". He likes to wear turtleneck sweaters instead of ties, and hates Murphy's chili dog diet, refusing to share in it.
 * Det. Sgt. Rosie Johnson, played by former Australian teen singing star Trisha Noble,   is tough, curvaceous, and beautiful — and very much a lady. She became a police officer after her husband went missing in Vietnam and enjoys making — and-deflecting — jokes about her bust size. She is crazy about Gunzer, and often tries to get him to notice her.
 * Det. Lt. Charlie Gunzer, played by Richard Romanus, is the group's free-spending ladies' man, with a dry, wicked sense of humor, who Rosie likes, but is afraid to tell him. Gunzer likes fast cars (in one episode, he buys a Mercedes SL sports car), and faster women, and looks upon the chaste Rosie as nothing more than a friend and colleague.
 * Det. Sgt. Mark Osborne, played by Michael Goodwin, is the youngest member of the team, and clearly the most "normal" in this dynamic, dysfunctional group. Called "The Kid" by Gunzer, he is a dedicated police officer whose favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. He likes Rosie, and has asked her out at least once, but to no avail.
 * Deputy Police Commissioner Herbert Klein, as played by Herb Edelman, is Strike Force's immediate superior, and a close personal friend to Capt. Murphy. A dedicated cop and family man, Herb was cited several times for valor in his early career, but seems to have lost his taste for the violence in the streets, and now is content simply to stay behind a desk and wait out his time until retirement. He is also an amateur author, who often asks Murphy his opinion on the novels he writes — which never seem to get published.

Guest stars
Notable guest stars during the series run included:
 * Eric Braeden, best known for his roles as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, and as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series The Rat Patrol, guest-starred in the episode "The John Killers".
 * Paul Brinegar, known for his co-starring roles in TV series such as Rawhide, Wyatt Earp, and the Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter, guest-starred in the episode "Fallen Angel".
 * Joanna Cassidy guest-starred as Frank's ex-wife, Eve Murphy, in the episode "Turnabout" (which probably would have been a recurring role had the series continued).
 * Christopher Connelly, best known for the ABC series Peyton Place, guest-starred in the episode "Death Fare".
 * Billy Drago, who would go on to play Frank Nitti in the feature film version of Stack's TV series, The Untouchables, played a killer in the 90-minute Strike Force pilot.
 * Laurence Fishburne, future star of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Matrix and its sequels (as Morpheus), and Academy Award nominee for What's Love Got to Do With It, guest-starred in the episode "Humiliation".
 * Richard Herd, best known in the science fiction community for his role in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, as John, the Visitors' Supreme Commander, and on Star Trek: Voyager as Admiral Owen Paris, the father of Tom Paris, guest-starred in the episode "Kidnap".
 * Tab Hunter played a killer in the episode "Night Nurse".
 * David McCallum, best known for his co-starring roles in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS, played an international hit man with a long-standing grudge against Murphy in the episode "ICE".
 * Sam Melville, who co-starred in another Aaron Spelling cop series, The Rookies, guest-starred in the episode "Internal Affair".
 * Lynne Moody played twin sisters in the episode "The Victims".
 * Jeanette Nolan guest-starred in the episode "Sharks".
 * Paul Picerni, who played Stack's second-in-command, Agt. Lee Hobson, in The Untouchables, played a doctor in the episode "The John Killers".
 * Raymond St. Jacques also guest-starred in the episode "Turnabout" as an FBI agent.
 * Elizabeth Stack, Robert Stack's real-life daughter, appeared in the episode "Lonely Ladies".
 * Don Stroud played a mobster out to kill Murphy in the episode "Turnabout".
 * Philip Michael Thomas, future star of Miami Vice, guest-starred in the episode "The Victims".

Reception
Although initially popular, the novelty of the series quickly wore off; only 19 episodes were produced, plus the 90-minute pilot. According to Todd Gitlin's 1983 book Inside Prime Time, Strike Force finished a dismal 76 out of 105 shows in the Nielsen ratings for the 1981–82 season.

Another factor in the series' demise was the competition: ABC pitted Strike Force against the successful CBS soap-opera Falcon Crest, which had, as its lead-in, the then-number one show on television, Dallas.

Home media
The first episode of Strike Force was released on video in North America in the late 1980s.

As of 2018, there has been no official DVD release of this series, though there have been several requests for its release, and bootleg copies have circulated in the "collectors market" for the last three decades since Strike Force ' s cancellation.

title: Strike Force (TV series)


text:
Talk:Samsara (2001 film)

Untitled
I couldn't not add this film. Shawn Ku was my best friend in high school! - UtherSRG 17:27, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Kashmiri girl?
Who played the Kashmiri farm girl whom Shawn Ku's character cheats with? It was a kinky scene with her swinging on her own sari that was slung from the ceiling, as he made love to her. Le Anh-Huy 15:18, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Samsara film.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 04:59, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Samsara (2001 film)