Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean (born October 28, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and photographer. Recognized for his idiosyncratic musical style, introspective and elliptical songwriting, unconventional production techniques, and wide vocal range, Ocean is among the most acclaimed artists of his generation. Music critics have credited him with revitalizing jazz and funk influenced R&B, as well as advancing the genre through his experimental approach. 

Ocean began his musical career as a ghostwriter, prior to joining the hip hop collective Odd Future in 2010. In 2011, Ocean released his critically successful debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra and subsequently secured a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings. Drawing on electro-funk,  pop-soul,  jazz-funk,  and psychedelic music,   Ocean's debut studio album Channel Orange (2012) was one of the most acclaimed albums of 2012. It was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards, while the album's hit single "Thinkin Bout You" garnered Ocean a nomination for Record of the Year.

Following four years of recluse, Ocean released the visual project Endless, the day before releasing his highly anticipated second album Blonde (2016), in order to fulfill contractual obligations with Def Jam.  Released independently, Blonde debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Encompassing avant-garde,  soul,  and psychedelic rock,  the album was acclaimed by critics  and Ocean was praised for challenging the conventions of contemporary R&B and pop music. 

Among Ocean's awards are two Grammy Awards, a Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist in 2013 and an NME Award for Best International Male Artist in 2017. He was included in the 2013 edition of the Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world and the 2017 edition of the Forbes 30 Under 30. Both Insider and The Wall Street Journal regarded Ocean as the most dominant artist of the 2010s decade. As a photographer, he worked with Vogue at the annual Met Gala and the British fashion magazine i-D. Premiered in 2017, he also has his own Beats 1 radio show, Blonded Radio, that often premiers his new singles.

Ocean was born on October 28, 1987 , in Long Beach, California.  When he was five years old, he and his family relocated to New Orleans.  Ocean was first introduced to music through his mother, who would often play jazz music on her car stereo, as well as albums by Celine Dion and Anita Baker and the soundtrack to The Phantom of the Opera.  He later frequented New Orleans jazz bars and parlors, which encouraged him to begin recording his own music.  In order to raise funds for recording time, he performed several jobs as a teenager such as washing cars, mowing lawns, and walking his neighbors' dogs.  After graduating from John Ehret High School in New Orleans in 2005, Ocean enrolled in the University of New Orleans to study English  However, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, destroying his home and personal recording facility and forcing him to transfer to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  He stayed there for a brief time before dropping out. 

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Ocean

Heroes (American TV series)

Heroes (American TV series)

Heroes is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have superhuman abilities and how these abilities take effect in the characters' lives as they work together to prevent catastrophic futures. The series emulates the aesthetic style and storytelling of American comic books, using multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing narrative.  The series was produced by Tailwind Productions in association with Universal Media Studios.  It was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California. 

Four complete seasons aired, ending on February 8, 2010.  The critically acclaimed first season had a run of 23 episodes and garnered an average of 14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the highest rating for an NBC drama premiere in five years. The second season of Heroes attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers in the U.S.,  and marked NBC's sole series among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007–2008 season.  Heroes earned a number of awards and nominations, including Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards, and British Academy Television Awards. 

An online extension of the series, Heroes 360 Experience, later rebranded as Heroes Evolutions, was created to explore the Heroes universe and provides insight into the show's mythology.  Other official Heroes media include magazines, action figures, tie-in and interactive websites, a mobile game, a novel, clothing and other merchandise. In the fall of 2008, NBC Digital Entertainment released a series of online content for the summer, including more original web content, wireless iTV interactivity, graphic novels available for mobile viewing and webisodes. 

A 13-episode miniseries entitled Heroes Reborn premiered on NBC on September 24, 2015. 

Originally, Kring designed the series to have an ever-shifting cast. However, his motivation changed when he realized how popular the original cast was with audiences; therefore, he brought back most of the first-season cast for the second season, with a few additions who received star billing.  In its first season, the show features an ensemble cast of twelve main characters making it the third largest cast in American primetime television behind Desperate Housewives and Lost. Although NBC's first-season cast page listed only ten characters,  Leonard Roberts, who first appeared in the series' fifth episode as D. L. Hawkins, was an additional member of the original full-time cast. In the first season episode "Fallout", Jack Coleman, who portrays Noah Bennet, was upgraded from a recurring role to become the twelfth full-time cast member. 

The following remained major characters during all four seasons:

Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli, a hospice nurse with the ability to mimic abilities of other people

Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet, a high-school cheerleader who can spontaneously regenerate

Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, an office worker who can manipulate space-time

Adrian Pasdar as Nathan Petrelli, a congressional candidate with the ability to fly

Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman, an LAPD police officer who can read people's minds

During the first two seasons, some characters were written out to make room for new characters with new stories. In season one, Claude, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, who had the power of invisibility, was instrumental in helping Peter understand his powers, throwing him off a building to try to help him fly, but he discovered he healed instead. Simone Deveaux was the first major character to be written out, dying near the end of season one. DL became a guest star after the events of the first season's finale, making two appearances throughout season two. Isaac Mendez was also written out, dying at the hands of Sylar, which was shown during Hiro Nakamura's time traveling expedition to New York earlier in season one.

New characters added during season two include: Maya Herrera, played by Dania Ramirez, a fugitive with the ability to emit a deadly poison; Adam Monroe, a 400-year-old Englishman also known as Takezo Kensei with the ability to regenerate, portrayed by David Anders; Monica Dawson, portrayed by Dana Davis, a restaurant worker with the ability to mimic physical movements she sees; and Elle Bishop, a sadistic sociopath with the ability to generate electricity, portrayed by Kristen Bell. Two recurring characters from season one, Sylar, portrayed by Zachary Quinto, and Ando Masahashi, portrayed by James Kyson Lee, were upgraded to main characters in season two.

Starting in season three, recurring character Angela Petrelli, portrayed by Cristine Rose, was promoted to a main character.  Elle, Adam, and Micah were removed from the main cast. Monica Dawson did not appear after scenes including her were cut. Niki was also written out but actress Ali Larter remained on the show portraying a new character Tracy Strauss, Niki's triplet sister with the power to freeze objects with a touch.  For season four, a new character Samuel Sullivan, portrayed by Robert Knepper, was added. Originally cast as a recurring part, the part was changed to a starring role.  Deanne Bray was also added as Emma Coolidge, the deaf woman who had enhanced synesthesia (seeing colors for music) including the ability to create a siren song.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_(American_TV_series)

مانشستر

مانشستر

مانشستر (بالإنجليزية: Manchester)‏ أو منشستر هي مدينة بريطانية تقع في شمال غرب إنجلترا، وهي إحدى المدن الصناعية العريقة التي انطلقت منها الثورة الصناعية في أوروبا الغربية، وبها جامعات كبرى تعتبر من أهم جامعات المملكة المتحدة: جامعة مانشستر وجامعة مانشستر متروبوليتان وجامعة سالفورد. وتشتهر مدينة مانشستر بالنوادي الرياضية وخصوصاً مانشستر يونايتد ومانشستر سيتي. شهدت المدينة علماء كبار منهم الكيميائي جون دالتون مكتشف الذرة، وكارل ماركس مؤسس الشيوعية. ويقطنها جاليات مسلمة تمثل حوالي 5% من إجمالي سكان المدينة، أكثرهم من جنوب آسيا كما هو حال كبريات مدن بريطانيا، بجانب جاليات عربية جائت لأسباب متعددة، ومن ضمنها جالية ليبية مهمة بجنوب المدينة.

يعتقد أن اسم مانشستر نشأ من الكلمة الرومانية «ماموكيوم» (باللاتينية: Mamucium) والتي اطلقت على حصن روماني بني قرب موقع المدينة الحالي. وقد جاء الاسم الروماني «ماموكيوم» بنطق لاتيني للاسم الأصلي للمنطقة وهو «مامكيستر» حيث «مام» وهي كلتيية تعني التل المخروطي إضافة كلمة «كايستر» (باللاتينية: ceaster) من الإنجليزية القديمة وتعني بلدة أي «بلدة التل». ويوجد اعتقاد اخر ان أصل التسمية من اللغة البريثونية وتعني الام.

مراجع

https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1

Manchester

Manchester

Manchester (/ˈmæntʃɪstər, -tʃɛs-/) is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 547,627 as of 2018 (making it the fifth-most populous English district).  It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.5 million  and third-most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 3.3 million.  It is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation.  The local authority for the city is Manchester City Council.

The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium or Mancunium, which was established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Although historically and traditionally a part of Lancashire, areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century. The first to be included, Wythenshawe, was added to the city in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution,  and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city  Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and directly linking the city to the Irish Sea, 36 miles (58 km) to the west. Its fortune declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation, but the IRA bombing in 1996 led to extensive investment and regeneration.  Following successful redevelopment after the IRA bombing, Manchester was the host city for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

In 2019, Manchester surpassed Edinburgh to become the second most visited city in the UK after London  The city is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections.

Manchester is a city of notable firsts. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the world's first inter-city passenger railway station and the oldest remaining railway station. The city has also excelled in scientific and engineering advancement, as it was at The University of Manchester, in 1917, that scientist Ernest Rutherford first split the atom. The university's further achievements include Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill who developed and built the world's first stored-program computer in 1948; and, in 2004, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov successfully isolated and characterised the first graphene. While in 1904 Rolls-Royce motor car company was founded in Manchester by Henry Royce and Charles Rolls.

The name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunio and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians (/mænˈkjuːniən/). These names are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name. The generally accepted etymology of this name is that it comes from Brittonic *mamm- ("breast", in reference to a "breast-like hill").  However, more recent work suggests that it could come from *mamma ("mother", in reference to a local river goddess). Both usages are preserved in Insular Celtic languages, such as mam meaning "breast" in Irish and "mother" in Welsh.  The suffix -chester is from Old English ceaster ("Roman fortification", itself a loanword from Latin castra, "fort; fortified town")

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester

Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor is a theme park and zoo in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England, UK.

The park covers 280 acres of which about 113 acres are in use and hosts about 1.5 million people each year. The park's maximum daily capacity is 15,000 guests, which is set with guest experience and traffic congestion in mind. It is the fourth largest amusement park in the UK by land area at 280 acres.

The park is also home to Thomas Land and Drayton Manor Zoo, home to over 100 animals, including Red pandas, Eurasian lynx, Sumatran tigers and variety of monkeys and gibbons.

As of 03 August 2020 Drayton Manor Park has been sold to Looping Group.

The land on which the theme park was built on once belonged to the Peel family. Drayton Manor mansion, built for Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet in 1835, had been reduced to ruins by 1926. The British Army requisitioned it as a training post during World War II. After the war, entrepreneurs George and Vera Bryan borrowed £6,000 and bought the land (and the 17 huts that the army had constructed during their stay). In 1950, they opened a small amusement park with just a handful of children's rides. In 1954, Mrs Molly Badham, who later opened the nearby Twycross Zoo, joined forces with the Bryans and opened a small zoo to complement the amusement park. The amusement park grew slowly in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, but in the late 1980s, the park began to install bigger and more thrilling rides to attract customers from all over the United Kingdom. Drayton Manor Theme Park is today the fifth most popular theme park in the UK and is still managed by Colin Bryan, though his two sons do the majority of his job now, as Colin suffers from Dementia.

In 2019, a website was created named "Drayton Talk", where people can talk about the park's rides, zoo and hotels 

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drayton_Manor_Theme_Park

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan, also Raksha Bandhanam (Sanskrit: रक्षाबन्धनम्, romanized: Rakṣābandhanam),  is a Hindu, annual ceremony celebrated in India, Nepal and other parts of the Indian subcontinent, and among people around the world influenced by Hindu and Indian culture. On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi or raksha, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, receiving a gift in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care 

Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. The expression "Raksha Bandhan," Sanskrit, literally, "the bond of protection, obligation, or care," is now principally applied to this ritual. Until the mid-20th-century, the expression was more commonly applied to a similar ritual, also held on the same day, with precedence in ancient Hindu texts, in which a domestic priest ties amulets, charms, or threads on the wrists of his patrons, or changes their sacred thread, and receives gifts of money; in some places, this is still the case.  In contrast, the sister-brother festival, with origins in folk culture, had names which varied with location, with some rendered as Saluno Silono,  and Rakri A ritual associated with Saluno included the sisters placing shoots of barley behind the ears of their brothers. 

Of special significance to married women, Raksha Bandhan is rooted in the practice of territorial or village exogamy, in which a bride marries out of her natal village or town, and her parents, by custom, do not visit her in her married home.  In rural north India, where village exogamy is strongly prevalent, large numbers of married Hindu women travel back to their parents' homes every year for the ceremony. Their brothers, who typically live with the parents or nearby, sometimes travel to their sisters' married home to escort them back. Many younger married women arrive a few weeks earlier at their natal homes and stay until the ceremony.  The brothers serve as lifelong intermediaries between their sisters' married and parental homes,  as well as potential stewards of their security.

In urban India, where families are increasingly nuclear, the festival has become more symbolic, but continues to be highly popular. The rituals associated with this festival have spread beyond their traditional regions and have been transformed through technology and migration,  the movies,  social interaction,  and promotion by politicized Hinduism,  as well as by the nation state. 

Among women and men who are not blood relatives, there is also a transformed tradition of voluntary kin relations, achieved through the tying of rakhi amulets, which have cut across caste and class lines, and Hindu and Muslim divisions.  In some communities or contexts, other figures, such as a matriarch, or a person in authority, can be included in the ceremony in ritual acknowledgement of their benefaction. 

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raksha_Bandhan

جون هيوم

جون هيوم

جون هيوم (1937 - 2020)، هو سياسي أيرلندي سابق من ديري، أيرلندا الشمالية. وهو عضو مؤسس في حزب الاشتراكية الاجتماعية والعمال. تقاسم هيوم جائزة نوبل للسلام مع ديفيد تريمبل في عام 1998.

تقلد هيوم منصب القائد الثاني لحزب العمال في أيرلندا في عام 1979، واحتفظ به حتى عام 2001. وشغل كذلك مقعدًا في البرلمان الأوروبي، وبرلمان المملكة المتحدة، وجمعية أيرلندا الشمالية.

يُعد هيوم أحد أهم الشخصيات المؤثرة في تاريخ أيرلندا السياسي الحديث، ويُنسب إليه الفضل في عملية السلام في أيرلندا الشمالية. فاز هيوم بجائزة غاندي للسلام وجائزة مارتن لوثر كينغ، وبذلك أصبح الفائز الوحيد بجوائز السلام الثلاثة. وفي عام 2010 لُقب بأعظم شخصية في أيرلندا وفقًا لاستطلاع الرأي الذي أجراه راديو وتلفزيون أيرلندا. وفي عام 2012 كرمه البابا بندكت السادس عشر بلقب قائد فارس ومنحه وسام القديس غريغوري العظيم.

بداياته

وُلد جون هيوم في ديري لعائلة أيرلندية كاثوليكية. هاجر جده الذي كان يتبع الكنيسة المشيخية من اسكتلندا إلى مقاطعة دونيجال. كان هيوم طالبًا في كلية القديس كولومب وكلية القديس باتريك في ماينوث التي تُعد أهم معهد لاهوت كاثوليكي في أيرلندا وكلية مُعترف بها في جامعة أيرلندا الوطنية التي كان يرغب هيوم في الالتحاق بها حتى يحصل على درجة الكهنوت. ومن بين معلميه توماس أوفي رئيس الأساقفة في أيرلندا.

لم يكمل هيوم دراساته اللاهوتية، ولكنه نال درجة ماجستير الآداب من نفس الجامعة ثم عاد إلى بلدته الأصلية وصار مُعلمًا. كان هيوم عضوًا مؤسسًا في حركة الاتحاد الائتماني وعضوًا في اللجنة التي تطالب بإقامة جامعة في مدينة ديري في عام 1965.

أضحى هيوم شخصية بارزة في حركة الحقوق المدنية في أواخر ستينيات القرن العشرين بجانب عدة رموز أخرى مثل هيو لوغ. قاد هيوم الحركة المنادية بإنشاء جامعة ثانية في مدينة ديري في منتصف الستينيات ولكنها باءت بالفشل. وعقب تلك الحملة واصل هيوم جهوده حتى صار شخصية بارزة في لجنة مواطني ديري. أُنشئت تلك اللجنة عقب مسيرة 5 أكتوبر في ديري التي جذبت الكثير من الاهتمام بشأن الأوضاع في أيرلندا الشمالية. حاولت لجنة مواطني ديري أن تستغل الدعاية التي أحاطت بالأحداث المستجدة في أيرلندا لتسليط الضوء على شكاوي الناس في ديري التي نجحت الحكومة النقابية في إخمادها لأعوام. وبخلاف اتحاد الحقوق المدنية في أيرلندا الشمالية، استهدفت لجنة مواطني ديري الحكومة المحلية على وجه التحديد بهدف تحسين الأوضاع في ديري للجميع مع حفظ السلم. تعاونت تلك اللجنة كذلك مع اتحاد ستيواردز في منع جميع أشكال العنف من الحدوث خلال المسيرات والاعتصامات الإضرابية.

مراجع

https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%85