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National Lampoon's Doon
''National Lampoon's Doon'' is a parody of Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel '' Dune'', written by Ellis Weiner and published in 1984 by Pocket Books for '' National Lampoon''. It was reprinted by Grafton Books () in 1985. In 1988 William F. Touponce called the book "something of a tribute to Herbert's success on college campuses", noting that "the only other book to have been so honored is Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''," which was parodied by ''The Harvard Lampoon'' in 1969. ''Dune'' is set on the dangerous, sandworm-ridden desert planet Arrakis, sole source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe. The parody follows a similar storyline, wherein rival restaurant-owning families battle for control of Arruckus, which is overrun by giant pretzels and the source of valuable beer. Plot Within the Galactic Empire, a change of fief is occurring. Led by the verbose Baron Vladimir, House Hardchargin, the Great Big House given charge of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellis Weiner
Ellis Weiner (born 31 October 1950) is an author and humorist who has previously worked as an editor of '' National Lampoon'' and a columnist for ''Spy Magazine''. His humor has also appeared in ''The New Yorker '', ''Paris Review'', and ''The New York Times Magazine''. Weiner was raised in Pikesville, Maryland. He attended Wellwood Elementary School, Sudbrook Junior High, Pikesville High School and the University of Pennsylvania. In college, he played drums and sang in a rock band called Droylesden Wake. His first produced work was the 1967 Pikesville High Junior Play, an original parody using music from ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' and other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Weiner was a split end in the Development Football League from 1961 to 1964 with the Summit Park Colts Association (SPCA). He works regularly as an editor and ghostwriter for Kevin Anderson & Associates Inc. Publications Books * ''The Great Muppet Caper!: The Making of the Masterpiece'' (mock behind-the-scenes book a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Planet
A desert planet, also known as a dry planet, an arid planet, or a dune planet, is a theoretical type of terrestrial planet with a surface consistency similar to Earth's hot deserts. History A 2011 study suggested that not only are life-sustaining desert planets possible, but that they might be more common than Earth-like planets. The study found that, when modeled, desert planets had a much larger habitable zone than ocean planets. The same study also speculated that Venus may have once been a habitable desert planet as recently as 1 billion years ago. It is also predicted that Earth will become a desert planet within a billion years due to the Sun's increasing luminosity. A study conducted in 2013 concluded that hot desert planets without runaway greenhouse effect can exist in 0.5 AU around Sun-like stars. In that study, it was concluded that a minimum humidity of 1% is needed to wash off carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but too much water can act as a greenhouse ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serutan
Serutan was an early fiber-type laxative product which was widely promoted on U.S. radio and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. Serutan was folded into Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s 1957 acquisition of J. B. Williams Co., founded in 1885. J. B. Williams Co. was bought out by Nabisco in 1971. The origin of the brand name was straight forward. The makers merely decided to spell "natures" backwards, and "Read it backwards" was the product's advertising slogan. This was to differentiate it as being a "natural" product as opposed to laxative brands which stimulated the colon by chemical action. The product was almost uniformly promoted on programs whose core audience was known to be considerably older than the typical television viewer. Serutan is especially associated with ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' and '' The Original Amateur Hour'', both of which were also sponsored by J. B. Williams products Sominex, a sleeping pill, and Geritol, a vitamin supplement. Serutan was the target o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and avesix albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959". Biography Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy, into a musical family. His father, Benedetto Paolo "Bismarck" Mantovani, was a violinist and served as the concertmaster of La Scala opera house's orchestra in Milan, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The family moved to England in 1912, where young Annunzio studied at Trinity College of Music in London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played in and around Birmingham. He married Winifred Moss in 1934, having two children: Kenneth (born 12 July 1935) and Paula Irene (born 11 April 1939 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
550 Madison Avenue
550 Madison Avenue (formerly known as the Sony Tower, Sony Plaza, and AT&T Building) is a postmodern skyscraper at Madison Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee with associate architect Simmons Architects, the building was completed in 1984 as the headquarters of AT&T and later became the American headquarters of Sony. The building consists of a , 37-story office tower with a facade made of pink granite. It originally had a four-story granite annex to the west, which was demolished and replaced with a shorter annex in the early 2020s. At the base of the building is a large entrance arch facing east toward Madison Avenue, flanked by arcades with smaller flat arches. A pedestrian atrium, connecting 55th and 56th Streets midblock, was also included in the design, which enabled the building to rise higher without the use of setbacks. The ground-level lobby is surrounded by retail s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 Madison Avenue in New York, designed for AT&T; 190 South La Salle Street in Chicago; the Sculpture Garden of the Museum of Modern Art; and the Pre-Columbian Pavilion at Dumbarton Oaks. In his obituary in 2005, ''The New York Times'' wrote that his works "were widely considered among the architectural masterpieces of the 20th century."New York Times obituary, January 27, 2005, accessed March 16, 2022 In 1930, Johnson became the first director of the architecture department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. There he arranged for visits by Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier and negotiated the first American commission for Mies van der Rohe, when he fled Nazi Germany. In 1932, he organized the first exhibition on modern ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litany Against Fear
The Bene Gesserit () refers to a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional ''Dune'' universe. The group is an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that seem magical to outsiders. Members who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers. The Bene Gesserit are focused on acquiring more power and influence to direct humanity on an enlightened path. Sometimes called "witches" due to their secretive nature and misunderstood powers, the Bene Gesserit are loyal only to themselves and their collective goals. However, to attain their goals and avoid outside interference, they often screen themselves with the illusion of being loyal to other groups or individuals. Their every move is calculated toward a result. As the skills of a Bene Gesserit are as desirable as an alliance with the Sisterhood itself, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit () refers to a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe. The group is an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that seem magical to outsiders. Members who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers. The Bene Gesserit are focused on acquiring more power and influence to direct humanity on an enlightened path. Sometimes called "witches" due to their secretive nature and misunderstood powers, the Bene Gesserit are loyal only to themselves and their collective goals. However, to attain their goals and avoid outside interference, they often screen themselves with the illusion of being loyal to other groups or individuals. Their every move is calculated toward a result. As the skills of a Bene Gesserit are as desirable as an alliance with the Sist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liqueur
A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond a resting period during production, when necessary, for their flavors to mingle. Liqueurs are historical descendants of herbal medicines. They were made in Italy as early as the 13th century, often prepared by monks (for example, Chartreuse). Today they are produced all over the world, commonly served neat, over ice, with coffee, in cocktails, and used in cooking. Etymology The French word ''liqueur'' is derived from the Latin ''liquifacere'', which means "to dissolve". In some parts of the United States and Canada, liqueurs may be referred to as cordials, or schnapps. This can cause confusion as in the United Kingdom a cordial would refer to a non-alcoholic concentrated fruit syrup, typically diluted to taste and consumed as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creative Accounting
Creative accounting is a euphemism referring to accounting practices that may follow the letter of the rules of standard accounting practices, but deviate from the spirit of those rules with questionable accounting ethics—specifically distorting results in favor of the "preparers", or the firm that hired the accountant. They are characterized by excessive complication and the use of novel ways of characterizing income, assets, or liabilities, and the intent to influence readers towards the interpretations desired by the authors. The terms "innovative" or "aggressive" are also sometimes used. Another common synonym is "cooking the books". Creative accounting is oftentimes used in tandem with outright financial fraud (including securities fraud), and lines between the two are blurred. Creative accounting practices are known since ancient times and appear world-wide in various forms. The term as generally understood refers to systematic misrepresentation of the true income and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
