Porterhouse College, Cambridge
''Porterhouse Blue'' is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. A satirical look at Cambridge life and the struggle between tradition and reform, ''Porterhouse Blue'' tells the story of Skullion, the Head Porter of Porterhouse, a fictional college of Cambridge University. The novel has a sequel, '' Grantchester Grind''. In 1987, Channel 4 adapted ''Porterhouse Blue'' into a TV series of the same name. Characters The central characters are Skullion, the Head Porter; Zipser, a research graduate student; Sir Godber Evans, the Master; Lady Mary, the Master's wife; the Dean; and Mrs. Biggs, Zipser's bedder. Plot For the first time in five hundred years, the master of Porterhouse fails to name his successor on his deathbed before dying. He succumbs to a ''Porterhouse Blue'' - a stroke brought about by overindulgence in the college's legendary cuisine. Sir Godber Evans is appointed as his successor. Sir Godber, egged on by his zealous wife, Lady Mary, announce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Sharpe
Thomas Ridley Sharpe (30 March 1928 – 6 June 2013) was an English satirical novelist, best known for his '' Wilt'' series, as well as ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape,'' all three of which were adapted for television. Life Sharpe was born in Holloway, London, and brought up in Croydon. Sharpe's father, the Reverend George Coverdale Sharpe, was a Unitarian minister who was active in far-right politics in the 1930s. He was chairman of the Acton and Ealing branch of The Link, and a member of the Nordic League. He declared that he hated Jews "in the sense that he hated all corruption". Sharpe initially shared some of his father's views, but was horrified on seeing films of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. University of Cambridge Sharpe was educated at Bloxham School, on which he based Groxbourne in ''Vintage Stuff'', followed by Lancing College. He then did national service in the Royal Marines before being admitted to Pembroke College, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Condom Machine
A condom machine is a vending machine for the sale of condoms. Condom machines are often placed in public toilets, subway stations, railway stations and airports as a public health measure to promote safe sex. Many pharmacies also keep one outside, for after-hours access. Rare examples exist that dispense internal condoms. History Condom vending machines were introduced in 1928 by Julius Fromm's company. Popular culture In the novel ''Porterhouse Blue'', conflict over an attempt to introduce such a device to a Cambridge college, is one of the factors that leads to murder. Safety Advice According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, when using condoms from a machine, one should check the expiration date, that the condoms are latex and labelled for disease prevention, and that the machine is not exposed to direct sunlight or other source of extreme temperatures. See also * Emergency contraception * Safe sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for his work in the BBC television Sketch comedy, comedy sketch shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones''. From 2008 to 2016, he presented the television bloopers show ''It'll be Alright on the Night'' for ITV (TV network), ITV, having replaced Denis Norden, and being succeeded in 2018 by David Walliams. Early life and education Griffith Rhys Jones was born on 16 November 1953 in Cardiff, the son of Gwynneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn Rhys Jones, a medical doctor. His family moved due to his father's occupation to West Sussex when Rhys Jones was six months old.Matthew Stadle"Griff Rhys Jones: 'I’m greedy for life – I do too many things'" ''The Daily Telegraph'', 3 November 2014. Rhys Jones attended Conifer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp. The name is a combination of several publishing firm names: Harper & Row, an American publishing company acquired in 1987—whose own name was the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers (founded in 1817) and Row, Peterson & Company—together with Scottish publishing company William Collins, Sons (founded in 1819), acquired in 1989. The worldwide CEO of HarperCollins is Brian Murray. HarperCollins has publishing groups in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, India, and China. The company publishes many different imprints, both former independent publishing houses and new imprints. History Collins Harper Mergers and acquisitions Collins was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corpora ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word ''tradition'' itself derives from the Latin ''tradere'' literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways. The phrase "according to tradition", or "by tradition", usually means that whatever information follows is known only by oral tradition, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Academic Rank
Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ranks are specific for each country, there is no worldwide-unified ranking system. Among the common ranks are professor, associate professor (docent), assistant professor and instructor. In most cases, the academic rank is automatically attached to a person at the time of employment in a position with the same name, and deprived when a working relation is expired. Therefore the term "academic rank" usually means the same as "position in academia". However in some countries the terms "position" and "academic rank" are not synonyms. So in modern Russia there exist the docent and professor ranks, whereas the set of positions in academia is broader. The academic rank is conferred only after the person has been successfully working in the docent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Live Television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand). For example, the Pluto TV app has two categories for viewing: "Live TV" & "On Demand." On its website, Xfinity states "Watch TV series and top rated movies live and on demand with Xfinity Stream." In most cases live programming is not being recorded as it is shown on TV, but rather was not rehearsed or edited and is being shown only as it was recorded prior to being aired. Shows broadcast live include newscasts, morning shows, awards shows, sports programs, reality programs and, occasionally, episodes of scripted television series. Live television was more common until the late 1950s, when videotape technology was invented. Because of the prohibitive cost, adoption was slow, and some television shows remained live until the 1970s, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fire Apparatus
A firefighting apparatus describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting and emergency medical services. History An early device used to squirt water onto a fire is a ''squirt'' or ''fire syringe''. Hand squirts and hand pumps are noted before Ctesibius of Alexandria invented the first fire pump circa the 2nd century B.C., and an example of a force-pump possibly used for a fire-engine is mentioned by Heron of Alexandria. The fire pump was reinvented in Europe during the 16th century, reportedly used in Augsburg in 1518 and Nuremberg in 1657. A book of 1655 inventions mentions a steam engine (called a ''fire engine'') pump used to "raise a column of water 40 feet []", but there was no mention of whether it was portable. Colonial laws in America required each house to have a bucket of water on the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Woman On Top (sex Position)
Woman on top is any sex position in which the woman is on top of her sexual partner during sexual activity. The position most commonly associated with the woman on top is often called the cowgirl or riding position, which derives its name from the image of the woman "riding" the man as a cowgirl rides a bucking horse. In that position, a man typically lies on his back with his legs closed, while the female partner straddles him, usually in a kneeling position facing either forward or back, and either the man or woman inserts the man's erect penis into the woman's vagina or anus."Discovery Health Sexual Positions" [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chimney
A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the stack, or chimney effect. The space inside a chimney is called the ''flue''. Chimneys are adjacent to large industrial refineries, fossil fuel combustion facilities or part of buildings, steam locomotives and ships. In the United States, the term ''smokestack industry'' refers to the environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels by industrial society, including the electric industry during its earliest history. The term ''smokestack'' (colloquially, ''stack'') is also used when referring to locomotive chimneys or ship chimneys, and the term ''funnel'' can also be used. The height of a chim ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gas Fire
A gas heater is a space heater used to heat a room or outdoor area by burning natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, propane or butane. Indoor household gas heaters can be broadly categorized in one of two ways: ''flued'' or ''non-flued,'' or ''vented'' and ''unvented''. History The first gas heater made use of the same principles of the Bunsen burner invented in the previous year. It was first commercialized by the English company ''Pettit and Smith'' in 1856. The flame heats the air locally. This heated air then spreads by convection, thus heating the whole room. Today the same principle applies with outdoor patio heaters or "mushroom heaters" which act as giant Bunsen burners. Beginning in 1881, the burner's flame was used to heat a structure made of asbestos, a design patented by Sigismund Leoni, a British engineer. Later, fire clay replaced the asbestos because it is easier to mould. Modern gas heaters still work this way although using other refractory material. Moder ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fuel Gas
Fuel gas is any one of a number of fuels that under ordinary conditions are gaseous. Most fuel gases are composed of hydrocarbons (such as methane or propane), hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or mixtures thereof. Such gases are sources energy that can be readily transmitted and distributed through pipes. Fuel gas is contrasted with liquid fuels and from solid fuels, although some fuel gases are Liquefaction of gases, liquefied for storage or transport (for example, autogas). While their gaseous nature has advantages, avoiding the difficulty of transporting solid fuel and the dangers of spillage inherent in liquid fuels, it also has limitation. It is possible for a fuel gas to be undetected and cause gas explosion. For this reason, odorizers are added to most fuel gases. The most common type of fuel gas in current use is natural gas. Types There are two broad classes of fuel gases, based not on their chemical composition, but their source and the way they are produced: those found n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |