|
The Austere Academy
''The Austere Academy'' is the fifth novel in the children's novel series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' by Lemony Snicket. The Baudelaire orphans are sent to a boarding school, overseen by monstrous employees. There, the orphans meet new friends, new enemies, and Count Olaf in disguises. It was released in 2000 in the US, and 2001 in the UK, despite ''The Miserable Mill'' (the fourth book) being released in 2002. Plot summary Mr. Poe drops the Baudelaire children—Violet, Klaus and Sunny—off at Prufrock Preparatory School, a boarding school they are to attend. They are greeted by a rude girl, Carmelita Spats, who calls the children "cakesniffers". Vice Principal Nero tells them about the school's odd rules: they are to sleep in a crab-infested, fungus-dripping shack because they have no living guardian to sign a permission slip for them. Sunny will work as Nero's administrative assistant. They must attend nightly concerts at which Nero performs terribly on the violin. Pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and ''All the Wrong Questions'', published under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The former was adapted into a Nickelodeon film in 2004 as well as a Netflix series from 2017 to 2019. Handler has published adult novels and a stage play under his real name, along with other children's books under the Snicket pseudonym. His first book, a satirical fiction piece titled ''The Basic Eight'', was rejected by many publishers for its dark subject matter. Handler has also played the accordion in several bands, and appeared on the album ''69 Love Songs'' by indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. Life Handler was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Sandra Handler (née Walpole), a retired City College of San Francisco dean, and Louis Handler, an accountant. His father wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monobrow
A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose. The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair. History The word ''monobrow'' first appeared in print in 1968, and the adjectival form ''monobrowed'' followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel ''The Rachel Papers''. The first known use of the word ''unibrow'' was in 1981. Culture and beauty Oman A unibrow is considered as a sign of beauty by Baluchi Omanis. Its popularity causes women to draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population. Tajikistan In Tajikistan, a unibrow is viewed as an attractive quality in both men and women. For women, it is associated with virginity and purity a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Kupperman
Michael Kupperman (born April 26, 1966), also known by the pseudonym P. Revess,Spurgeon, Tom"A Short Interview With Michael Kupperman,"The Comics Reporter (August 7, 2005). is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He created the comic strips ''Up All Night'' and ''Found in the Street'', and has written scripts for DC Comics. His work often dwells in surrealism and absurdity "played as seriously as possible." His work has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''The New York Times'', ''LA Weekly'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Screw'', ''Fortune'', ''The Independent on Sunday'', ''Libération'', ''Nickelodeon Magazine'', '' The Believer'', and '' Heavy Metal'', as well as in comics anthologies such as ''Hotwire'', ''Snake Eyes'', '' Zero Zero'', ''Hyena'', ''Hodags and Hodaddies'', ''Blood Orange'', ''Rosetta'', ''106U'', and ''Legal Action Comics''. He has also worked on many books and projects for McSweeney's. Biography Kupperman spent part of his childhood in England. Later on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penny Dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to a story published in weekly parts of 8 to 16 pages, each costing one penny. The subject matter of these stories was typically sensational, focusing on the exploits of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities. First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls featured characters such as Sweeney Todd, Dick Turpin, Varney the Vampire, and Spring-heeled Jack. The BBC called penny dreadfuls "a 19th-century British publishing phenomenon". By the 1850s, there were up to a hundred publishers of penny-fiction, and in the 1860s and 1870s more than a million boys' periodicals were sold a week. ''The Guardian'' described penny dreadfuls as "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young", and "the Victorian equivalent of vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. ''Oliver Twist'' unromantically portrays the sordid lives of criminals, and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. The alternative title, ''The Parish Boy's Progress'', alludes to Bunyan's ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', as well as the 18th-century caricature series by painter William Hogarth, ''A Rake's Progress'' and ''A Harlot's Progress''. In an early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises child labour, domestic violence, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sappho
Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Most of Poetry of Sappho, Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; only the "Ode to Aphrodite" is certainly complete. As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry. Three epigrams attributed to Sappho are extant, but these are actually Hellenistic imitations of Sappho's style. Little is known of Sappho's life. She was from a wealthy family from Lesbos, though her parents' names are uncertain. Ancient sources say that she had three brothers; Charaxos (Χάραξος), Larichos ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tench
The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal. It normally inhabits slow-moving freshwater habitats, particularly lakes and lowland rivers.B. Whitton (1982). ''Rivers, Lakes and Marshes'' p 163. Hodder & Staughton, London. Taxonomy The tench was formerly classified in the subfamily Leuciscinae with other Eurasian minnows, but more recent phylogenetic studies have supported it belonging to its own family Tincidae. Ecology The tench is most often found in still waters with a clay or muddy substrate and abundant vegetation.A. F. Magri MacMahon (1946). ''Fishlore'', pp 156-158. Pelican Books. This species is rare in clear waters across stony substrate, and is absent altogether from fast-flowing streams. It tolerates water with a low oxygen concentration, being fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remora
The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. The disk is made up of stout, flexible membranes that can be raised and lowered to generate suction. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats, and have been observed attaching to divers as well. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion. Characteristics Remora front dorsal fins have evolved to enable them to adhere by suction to smooth surfaces, and they spend most of their lives clinging to a host animal such as a whale, turtle, shark or ray. It is probably a mutualistic arrang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (fish)
Bass () is a name shared by many species of fish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species, all belonging to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes. The word ''bass'' comes from Middle English , meaning 'perch'. Types * The black basses, such as the Choctaw bass (''Micropterus haiaka''), Guadalupe bass (''M. treculii''), largemouth bass (''M. salmoides''), smallmouth bass (''M. dolomieu''), and spotted bass (''M. punctulatus''), belong to the sunfish family Centrarchidae. * The temperate basses, such as the European seabass (''Dicentrarchus labrax''), striped bass (''Morone saxatilis'') and white bass (''M. chrysops''), belong to the family Moronidae. * The Asian seabasses, such as the Japanese seabass (''Lateolabrax japonicus'') and Blackfin seabass (''L. latus''), belong to the family Lateolabracidae. Other species known as bass Many species are also known as basses, including: * The Australian bass, ''Macquaria novemaculeata'', is a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of Mongolic peoples. The Oirats in Western Mongolia as well as the Buryats and Kalmyks of Russia are classified either as distinct ethno-linguistic groups or subgroups of Mongols. The Mongols are bound together by a common heritage and ethnic identity. Their indigenous dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language. The ancestors of the modern-day Mongols are referred to as Proto-Mongols. Definition Broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper (also known as the Khalkha Mongols), Buryats, Oirats, the Kalmyk people and the Southern Mongols. The latter comprises the Abaga Mongols, Abaganar, Aohans, Baarins, Chahars, Eastern Dorbets, Gorlos Mongols, Jalaids, Jaruud, Kharchins, Khishig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , dynasty = Genghisid , regnal name = Genghis Khan () , temple name = Taizu () , posthumous name = Emperor Fatian Qiyun Shengwu () , father = Yesügei , mother = Hoelun , religion = Tengrism , birth_date = , birth_place = Khentii Mountains, Khamag Mongol , death_date = (aged 64–65) , death_place = Xingqing, Western Xia , burial_place = Unknown(presumptively Ikh Khorig, Burkhan Khaldun, Khentii Province) Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded him on the throne. Nero was popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard and lower-class commoners in Rome and its provinces, but he was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. After being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate, he committed suicide at age 30. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When Nero was two years old, his father died. His mother married the emperor Claudius, who eventually adopted Nero as his heir; when Cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
