Tom Gaebel is a German singer and leader of a big band named after himself. He changed the spelling of his last name, omitting the umlaut. In addition to singing and arranging, Gaebel writes lyrics in English.

Gaebel was born on 13 January 1975 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, into a musical family. His younger brother Denis Gäbel plays tenor saxophone in the Tom Gaebel big band. Colin Gäbel is a singer and guitarist in addition to being a TV presenter and reporter about computer games; he is a member of the rock band Mondo Kane. Gaebel started music lessons at an early age. He plays several instruments, including drums, violin, trombone, and piano. During high school, he was a member of bands, including two big bands and a rock band called Goresaw.  He attended the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In October 2004, he received a major in jazz singing from the Conservatorium. After performing and singing in big bands, such as The Young Sinatras and the Tobias Kremer Big Band, he formed his own group in 2005.

His debut solo album, Introducing: Myself, was released in 2005 and became a best seller. A live DVD, Live in Concert, followed in 2006. His second album, Good Life from 2007, featured more of Gaebel's original numbers. Don't Wanna Dance spotlighted Gaebel expanding his style to pop and soul, with songs influenced by Motown. In 2010, he released two new albums. Music to Watch Girls By focused on the style of late 1960s easy listening ballads and uptempo numbers, and a Christmas album, Easy Christmas, which includes songs for the season written by Gaebel. In June 2010, Gaebel and his big band performed at the Sommerfest for the Federal President Christian Wulff held at Castle Bellevue in Berlin.

Awards
2006 – JAZZ award
2007 – JAZZ award

Discography
 2003 The Unknown – The Young Sinatras
 2003 Sinatra – Tobias Kremer Big Band featuring Tom Gaebel
 2003 The Day That Lies Ahead
 2004 SWING! – Tom Gaebel & the Tobias Kremer Big Band
 2005 Introducing: Myself
 2007 Good Life
 2008 Single: "Highway to Hell" –  Jazzkantine featuring Tom Gaebel
 2008 Single: "So Easy" from Don't Wanna Dance
 2008 Don't Wanna Dance
 2010 Music to Watch Girls By
 2010 Easy Christmas
 2014 So Good to Be Me
 2015 A Swinging Christmas
 2018 Perfect Day

DVDs
2006 Tom Gaebel & his Big Band – Live in Concert

References

External links

1975 births
English-language singers from Germany
German jazz trombonists
Male trombonists
German male singer-songwriters
German singer-songwriters
21st-century German male singers
German jazz singers
German drummers
Male drummers
21st-century German male pianists
Jazz-pop singers
Living people
People from Gelsenkirchen
Smooth jazz singers
Swing singers
Traditional pop music singers
Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni
21st-century drummers
21st-century trombonists
German male jazz musicians


Virtuoso in New York is an album by American jazz guitarist Joe Pass, recorded in 1975 and released posthumously in 2004.

Track listing
"I Never Knew (That Roses Grew)" (Gus Kahn, Fiorito) – 3:02
"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (Victor Young, Bing Crosby, Ned Washington) – 5:43
"We'll Be Together Again" (Frankie Laine, Carl Fischer) – 4:44
"Blues for Alagarn" (Joe Pass) – 6:31
"The Way You Look Tonight" (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields) – 6:22
"How Long Has This Been Going On? " (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 4:39
"Moritat" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 5:52
"When Your Lover Has Gone" (Einar A. Swan) – 6:55
"Blues for Alagarn" (Pass) – 5:40

Personnel
 Joe Pass – guitar

References

2004 albums
Joe Pass albums
Albums produced by Norman Granz
Pablo Records albums


The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achievements in content creation on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, and other social networking sites. The Shorty Awards began in 2008 and initially recognized achievements by independent creators on Twitter, with the first formal awards ceremony occurring in February 2009. Since then, the awards, which are now awarded each spring, have shifted their focus to recognize content across numerous platforms.

Entrant work is judged on the merits of excellence in creativity, strategy, and engagement by the Real Time Academy, a group of industry professionals selected by the Shorty Awards on the basis of their professional reputations, industry knowledge, and personal achievements (which may include previous Shorty wins). An additional public voting component, known as Audience Honor Voting, is also used to select Shorty Awards contenders.

Notable Shorty Award winners include Malala Yousafzai, Trevor Noah, Michelle Obama, Conan O’Brien, Lady Gaga, Bill Nye, and Lizzo. Brands and organizations such as Chipotle, Duolingo, Marvel Studios, HBO, Red Bull, Airbnb, Nestle, BMW, UNICEF and the Human Rights Campaign have also been awarded.

The Shorty Awards also produces an annual award program called The Shorty Impact Awards, a competition dedicated to showcasing digital and social media-based projects by brands, agencies, and organizations that seek to make the world a better place.

List of ceremonies

1st Shorty Awards

The awards were created in 2008 by tech entrepreneurs Greg Galant, Adam Varga, and Lee Semel of Sawhorse Media. They invited Twitter account holders to nominate the best Twitter users in general categories such as humor, news, food, and design. Winners were chosen by more than 30,000 Twitter users during the voting period. The founders of Twitter first heard about the awards after the contest had gotten underway and expressed support for it.

The first Shorty Awards ceremony was held on February 11, 2009, at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, New York. Approximately 300 people attended the event. The event was hosted by CNN anchor Rick Sanchez and featured appearances by prominent Twitter users MC Hammer and Gary Vaynerchuk and a video appearance by Shaquille O'Neal. The awards, in 26 categories, were voted on by Twitter users.

2nd Shorty Awards

Voting for the second Shorty Awards opened in January 2010 in 26 official categories. A Real-Time Photo of the Year category was added to the list of official categories for the first time, recognizing the best photo posted to services such as Twitpic, Yfrog, or Facebook.

The second Shorty Awards competition introduced a panel of judges called the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences whose members were Craig Newmark, David Pogue, Kurt Andersen, Caterina Fake, Joi Ito, Frank Moss, Alberto Ibargüen, Sreenath Sreenivasan, MC Hammer, Alyssa Milano and Jimmy Wales. After public nominations determined the finalists, the academy decided on the winners.

Winners were announced at a ceremony held in the Times Center in The New York Times building in Manhattan that was also streamed online. The ceremony was hosted by CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, who presented awards in the official categories as well as the newly added Real-Time Photo of the Year and a special humanitarian award.

3rd Shorty Awards

The nomination period for the third annual Shorty Awards opened in January 2011 and ran through February 11, 2011, except for new categories that had extended nomination deadlines. There were 30 official categories and five special categories. In addition to Real-Time Photo of the Year, for the first time the awards accepted nominations for Foursquare Mayor of the Year, Foursquare Location of the Year, Microblog of the Year on Tumblr, and a Connecting People award. The awards also introduced new Shorty Industry Awards to recognize the best uses of social media by brands and agencies. Winners were announced at a ceremony on March 28, 2011, hosted by Aasif Mandvi in the Times Center. Other Shorty Awards presenters were scheduled to include Kiefer Sutherland, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Stephen Wallem, Miss USA Rima Fakih, and Miss Teen USA Kamie Crawford.

4th Shorty Awards

The 4th Annual Shorty Awards featured Ricky Gervais and Tiffani Thiessen. 1.6 million tweeted nominations were made across all the categories to honor the top users on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare, YouTube and other internet platforms.

5th Shorty Awards

The 5th Annual Shorty Awards ceremony featured Felicia Day, James Urbaniak, Kristian Nairn, Hannibal Buress, Carrie Keagan, Chris Hardwick, David Karp and Coco Rocha. 2.4 million tweeted nominations were made across all the categories to honor the top users on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare, YouTube and other internet sites.

6th Shorty Awards

The ceremony took place on April 7, 2014, at the New York TimesCenter and was hosted by Comedian Natasha Leggero. The show included appearances by Patton Oswalt, Jamie Oliver, Kristen Bell, Jerry Seinfeld, Moshe Kasher, Julie Klausner, Erin Brady, Guy Kawasaki, Matt Walsh, Retta, Us the Duo, Big Boi, Gilbert Gottfried, Thomas Middleditch, Billie Jean King and Leandra Medine. Winners included Jerry Seinfeld and Will Ferrell.

7th Shorty Awards

The Seventh Annual Shorty Awards was hosted by comedian Rachel Dratch and took place on April 20, 2015, at The Times Center in NYC. The Real-Time Academy, the judging body of the Shortys, tripled in size for the 7th annual Awards and included Alton Brown, Mamrie Hart, Nikki Glaser, OK Go, The Fine Bros, Debbie Sterling, Dan Savage, Deena Varshavskaya and Palmer Luckey. Panic! at the Disco was the musical guest at the ceremony. On-stage presenters included Kevin Jonas, Bill Nye, Bella Thorne, Wyclef Jean, Emily Kinney and Tyler Oakley.

8th Shorty Awards

The Eighth Annual Shorty Awards were held in NYC at the TimesCenter on April 11, 2016. They were hosted by YouTuber, Writer and Comedian Mamrie Hart with musical performances from Nico & Vinz. Winners of the night included Bill Wurtz, DJ Khaled, Misty Copeland, Casey Neistat, Dwayne Johnson, Hannah Hart, Troye Sivan, Baddie Winkle, Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, King Bach, and Zach King.

9th Shorty Awards

The Ninth Annual Shorty Awards were held in NYC at the PlayStation Theater on April 23, 2017. They were hosted by two-time Emmy Award winner Tony Hale with a musical performance by Lizzo. Winners of the night included Bill Nye, Shay Mitchell, Doug the Pug, Gigi Gorgeous, Simone Biles, Mara Wilson, Gaten Matarazzo and Chrissy Teigen.

10th Shorty Awards

The 10th Annual Shorty Awards, took place on April 15, 2018, at the PlayStation Theater, New York City. The ceremony was hosted by actress, singer, and songwriter Keke Palmer with a musical performance by Betty Who.

11th Shorty Awards

The 11th Annual Shorty Awards were held on May 5, 2019, in New York City at the PlayStation Theater. The ceremony was hosted by American actress and comedian Kathy Griffin, with a musical performance by Tank and the Bangas.

12th Shorty Awards

The 12th Annual Shorty Awards were held on May 3, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony took place online for the first time, with presenters and award winners filming from their own homes. The ceremony was hosted by actor J.B. Smoove and featured a remixed performance of Trap Queen by Fetty Wap. Award winners included Jack Stauber, Supercar Blondie, Rose and Rosie, and Greta Thunberg.

13th Shorty Awards
The 13th Annual Shorty Awards took place from April 26 to May 14, 2021. The ceremony was hosted on different social media platforms, such as Instagram and Clubhouse, to create a more tailored experience. Winners were announced from May 12 to 14, with 10 winners being revealed each hour from 1 to 4 p.m. EST on the Shorty Awards Instagram account.

See also
 The Streamer Awards
 Streamy Awards
 Webby Awards

References

External links
 Official Shorty Awards Site
 The Real-Time Academy

Web awards
Blog awards
Twitter
Social media
Awards established in 2008
Advertising awards
Podcasting awards


The Amazing Spiez () is an animated television series created and developed by David Michel and Vincent Chalvon-Demersay. It was co-produced by Marathon Media, Image Entertainment Corporation, and Canal J. The series is a spin-off of Totally Spies! another series from Marathon Media. In France, the series debuted on TF1 on April 1st, 2009. Its final episode was broadcast on May 25th, 2012.

The series follows 4 siblings Lee, Marc, Megan and Tony Clarke who have been chosen by the W.O.O.H.P (World Organization Of Human Protection) to become international spies. Together, the spies learn to juggle everyday life with their missions.

Episodes

Characters
 Lee Clark (voiced by Donald Reignoux in the French version and by Andrew Sabiston in the English version) is the oldest at age 13 (later 14) and considered the strongest one. He is very athletic and the most powerful spy in the group. While his two brothers share funny and immature traits, Lee is one part big brother and one part father figure, and in his eyes, nothing is more important than his siblings. His spy suit and his MPCom are red. He is also the jet pilot and is often shown to be claustrophobic. In addition, he has a habit of going crazy over girls, which is similar to Clover's boy-craziness. In his normal appearance, Lee has auburn colored hair in the style of a flat top, pale blue eyes, and light skin. He wears a red short sleeved shirt with a white "W" on it, burgundy pants, red and white shoes, and a red and white wrist band.
 Marc Clark (voiced by Alexandre N'Guyen in the French version and by Peter Cugno in the English version) is the smartest one in the group at age 12 (later 13). Much like Sam, his intelligence is sometimes considered freaky by his siblings, as shown in Operation WOOCSI. He calls himself the 'Family Geek'. He has the knowledge of every single subject known to man, but 'like most geeks' cannot get a date. His spy suit and his MPCom are blue. Sometimes he switches places with Lee or Megan as the jet pilot. In his normal appearance, Marc has short light brown hair, hazel eyes and light skin. He wears a short sleeved blue two-toned hoodie with a white long sleeved shirt under it, dark green cargo pants, and blue and white shoes. He and Lee are the only two siblings that look like their mom - with the hair and skin tone.
 Megan Clark (voiced by Caroline Mozzone in the French version and by Alyson Court in the English version) is an optimistic and high energy 12-year-old girl (later 13) who is Marc's fraternal twin sister. She always hangs out with her brothers and usually cracks up at jokes that are not funny at all. She is big on saving the environment and is trying to find ways to reduce her family's carbon footprint. She is often reminded by her brothers that she is 'just a girl', but this pushes her to be even more competitive. Her spy suit and MPCom are pink. She sometimes switches places with Lee as the jet pilot. Megan is almost the spitting image of Alex from the original series, 'Totally Spies!'. In her normal appearance, Megan has black hair swept up in the back (almost like Alex's), green eyes and dark skin. She wears a short-sleeved pink zip-up hoodie with purple sleeves that reveals her midriff, a pink skirt with white leggings, and pink and white shoes with fuchsia pink pom-poms on them. Her dark skin is probably from her aunt Trudy who is seen with a dark complexion and hair color from her father.
 Tony Clark (voiced by Céline Ronté in the French version and by Julie Lemieux in the English version) is the youngest sibling of the Clark family who is 11 (later 12) years old. He is a no-nonsense go-getter and very hyperactive boy. He is impatient and prefers to act before even thinking, which sometimes leads the spies into deep trouble. His spy suit and MPCom are yellow and the Freezdiscs seem to be his favorite gadget. He shares a room with Marc. In his normal appearance, Tony, like Megan, has black hair that is swept up one way and down the other and also has green eyes and dark skin. He wears a long sleeved yellow shirt under a blue jacket, blue pants, yellow and white shoes, and a grey belt. He and Megan are the only ones to look like Alex from Totally Spies! and to look like their dad - skin tone and hair style.
 Jerry (voiced by Jean-Claude Donda in the French version and by Adrian Truss in the English version) is the founder and administrator of WOOHP (World Organization of Human Protection). He is a middle-aged, and very serious British gentleman. He briefs the Spiez on their missions, distributes their gadgets, and provides mission support with information or direct involvement. He is often the butt of jokes when it comes to his absence of a full head of hair and his age.
 Tami (voiced by Delphine Braillon in the French version and by Sugar Lyn Beard in the English version) is a popular 13-year-old (later 14) girl in the Spiez' school. She's a rival to the Spiez. They, particularly Megan, find her annoying and greatly dislike her for being spoiled and snobby all the time. She is somewhat like Mandy from Totally Spies! although not as malicious. In "Operation: Scary Jerry Part 2," an anesmatic Jerry mistakes her for his daughter and she ends up assisting him, Terry, and Sherry in their plot. Luckily, her memory was erased at the end of the episode. She is the only character that wears more than one outfit in the whole show, aside from Megan in some episodes.
 Coline, Danielle and Jacqueline: Coline, Danielle and Jacqueline were Tami's three best friends. They are also rivals to Tony, Marc, and Lee.
 Cal Clark (voiced by Emmanuel Garijo in the French version and by Dan Petronijevic in the English version) is the husband of Karen and the father of the Spiez. He is a former OOPSIE agent who beat Alpha and Omega (episode 22-24) with his partner and now wife, Karen. He has no idea his children are WOOHP agents. He owns a sports store and has a very healthy way of life. As the head of the Clark family, Cal wishes to instill his kids to follow a certain kind of discipline.
 Karen Clark (voiced by Alexandra Garijo in the French version and by Liz Ramos in the English version) is the wife of Cal, the younger sister of Aunt Trudy, and the mother of the Spiez.  Karen is a former OOPSIE agent who, like her husband, has no idea her children are WOOHP agents.
 Trudy was the aunt of the spiez, Karen’s sister and Cal’s sister-in-law.
 Sam, Alex, Clover, Britney, Blaine, and Dean appear on occasion.
 Some of the villains from Totally Spies! particularly from the fifth season, have appeared.

Broadcast
The Amazing Spiez was broadcast on Cartoon Network in the United States. It was also aired on MBC 3 in the Arab World and Discovery Kids in India. As of April 16, 2022, the series started to become available on the official Totally Spies! YouTube channel, with new episodes being uploaded on Saturdays. The show also has its own YouTube channel, established in 2013, which mostly uploads highlights from various episodes.

Notes

References

External links
 SpieZ! Nouvelle Génération at Gulli.fr

Totally Spies!
Espionage television series
Fiction about mind control
2009 French television series debuts
2012 French television series endings
2009 Canadian television series debuts
2012 Canadian television series endings
Teletoon original programming
TF1 original programming
Television series by Image Entertainment Corporation
2000s French animated television series
2010s French animated television series
2000s Canadian animated television series
2010s Canadian animated television series
Canadian children's animated action television series
Canadian children's animated adventure television series
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
French children's animated action television series
French children's animated adventure television series
French children's animated comedy television series
Anime-influenced Western animated television series
Canadian animated television spin-offs
French animated television spin-offs
English-language television shows
French-language television shows
Teen animated television series
Television shows set in Paris
Television shows filmed in Paris
Television shows set in Miami
Television shows filmed in Miami
French spy television series
Canadian spy television series


Blue Bloods is a series of vampire novels by Melissa de la Cruz. The series is set in Manhattan, New York. The complete series comprises seven books: Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations, The Van Alen Legacy, Misguided Angel, Lost in Time, and Gates of Paradise. The author also wrote two companion novels, Keys to the Repository and Bloody Valentine, along with two spin-off series, Wolf Pact and Witches of East End. Blue Bloods: A Graphic Novel was published on January 15, 2013, also the publication date of the final novel in the series.

The series follows its characters through numerous adventures involving romance, loyalty, mystery, and war.

Melissa de la Cruz has begun a second Blue Bloods series, Vampires of Manhattan.

Characters

The Van Alen family

Schuyler Theodora Elizabeth Van Alen Chase (Dimidium Cognatus - 'half-human, half-vampire') (Sky-ler) A half-blood vampire, the first and only one of her kind. The main character of the series, she must help solve the mystery of the Blue Bloods slayings, and the existence of their ancient rivals, the Silver Bloods.

Allegra Van Alen Chase (Gabrielle, The Uncorrupted, the Virtuous, the Messenger, Archangel of the Light). Schuyler's mother. Her "bondmate" is Charles Force, but she forsook her bond with him to be with her "human familiar", Stephen Chase. According to the Repository files, she subsequently fell into a coma when Schuyler was three. The most powerful of the seven messengers.

Cordelia Van Alen (Seraphiel, Angel of Song) Bondmate of Lawrence Van Alen, and Schuyler's grandmother and guardian.

Lawrence Van Alen (Metraton, Heavenly Scribe) Bondmate of Cordelia Van Alen, and Schuyler's grandfather. He is "Enmortal" and therefore does not adhere to the cycles of birth and death as other vampires do; he remains in the same physical shell for centuries.

Stephen "Ben" Bendix Chase (Human Familiar) Schuyler Van Alen's father, and Allegra's "human familiar".

Schuyler's friends

Oliver Hazard-Perry (Human Familiar/Human Conduit) Schuyler Van Alen's best friend, conduit, and human familiar.

Dylan Ward (Xathanael, the Hidden One) Notorious "bad boy". Romantically linked to Bliss Llewellyn.

The Force family

Benjamin "Jack" Hamilton Force (Abbadon, Angel of Destruction, Twin Angel of the Apocalypse, The Hammer Blow, The Enforcer, The Unlikely, Destroyer of Worlds) His bondmate is his twin sister, Mimi Force, but he forsook their bond to be with his true love, Schuyler Van Alen.

Madeleine "Mimi" Alexis Force (Azrael, Angel of Death, Twin Angel of the Apocalypse, Light Destroyer) Schuyler Van Alen's nemesis. Jack's twin sister and bondmate. After Jack forsook their bond, she chose to be with her true love, Kingsley Martin.

Charles (Van Alen) Force (Michael, Pure of Heart, the Valiant, Prince of the Angels, Supreme Commander of the Lord's Armies, Archangel of the Light) Allegra Van Alen's former bondmate and twin brother, and Jack and Mimi's father. He changed his last name to Force after Allegra broke their bond.

Trinity Burden Force (Sandalphon, Angel of Silence) Charles Force's wife, and Jack and Mimi's mother. Her bondmate, Salgiel, was lost during the Great War in Rome.

The Llewellyn family

Bliss Llewellyn (Azazel, The Darkling, Lupus Theliel, Angel of Love, Wolfsbane) A good friend and half-sister of Schuyler Van Alen, though she was once more closely associated with Mimi Force. Born from a union between Lucifer and Gabrielle (Allegra Van Alen)

Forsyth Llewellyn (Malakai, the Steward) State senator, Bliss's father, bondmate of BobiAnne Llewellyn.

BobiAnne Llewellyn (Andela, of the Dawn) Bondmate of Forsyth Llewellyn, Bliss's step-mother.

Jordan Llewellyn (Pistis Sophia, Elder of the Elders, the Watcher) Bliss's younger half-sister, and daughter of Forsyth and BobiAnne Llewellyn.

Other characters

Kingsley Drexel Martin (Araquiel, Angel of Vengeance, The Angel with Two Faces) A reformed Silver Blood and an Enmortal. A Venator (the Conclave's secret police force), and Mimi's true love.

Augusta "Aggie" Carondolet A Blue Blood student at Duchesne, the vampires' prestigious private school, and one of Mimi's friends. The first victim of the New York slayings by the Silver Bloods.

Dehua Chen (Xi Wangmu, Angel of Immortality) A Venator from the Blue Blood coven in Shanghai, China. Twin sister of Deming Chen.

Deming Chen (Kuan Yin, Angel of Mercy) A Venator from the Blue Blood coven in Shanghai, China. Twin sister of Dehua Chen.

Sam and Ted Lennox Twin brothers and Venators allied with Mimi and Kingsley. Are also the Twin Angels of the West Winds.

House of the Morningstar (Morgenstern)

Lucifer (The Morningstar, Lightbringer, Prince of Heaven, Prince of Darkness, Archangel of the Dark) Leader of the Silver Bloods.

Leviathan (The Giant, the Kraken, Goliath of the Glom) Brother of Lucifer.

Nan Cutler (Harbonah, Angel of Annihilation) The "Regent" of the Conclave; the second-highest-ranking Blue Blood in the New York Coven.

Vampires

Blue Bloods
The Blue Bloods, Lucifer's loyal army of angels who fought alongside him in an epic war when he sought to win the heavenly throne, are fallen angels forced to live on earth as vampires. They have excellent speed, high intelligence, a photographic memory, and enhanced senses. When victory was nearly within reach for Lucifer, the twin angels Abbadon and Azrael, his most loyal lieutenants, stood down, an act that was soon followed by many others. They betrayed Lucifer and turned to Michael, but it was too late to save themselves. Banished from Heaven, the angels awoke on Earth as immortals, cursed to survive on human blood and to live forever through cycles of reincarnation.

Gabrielle chose to descend to Earth out of love for them, and was joined by her heavenly twin Michael, who could not bear to live without her by his side. They were called the Uncorrupted, as they were not vampires by sin, but by choice. Together, Michael and Gabrielle created the Code of the Vampires, the rules that they would all follow through the centuries to bring peace and beauty to the world, with the hope to one day be forgiven and be allowed to return to Paradise.

Silver Bloods
Fallen angels who have remained loyal to Lucifer and have no desire to return to Heaven or to follow the Code, Silver Bloods each have the strength of a thousand vampires. Instead of feeding on humans, they fed on their fellow vampires—the Blue Bloods—consuming their souls and memories; this act led to a life of turmoil and misery, and turned their blood silver. This causes them to appear schizophrenic. In past centuries, they had been enslaved by the Blue Bloods on Earth, until they rose up and fought against them in a ruthless massacre. Michael declared war against Lucifer and his followers, eventually banishing Lucifer into Hell, securing him behind 7 impenetrable gates. The Blue Bloods continued to live their lives safely, but rumors of the Silver Bloods' return continued to circulate every hundred years or so.

Half Bloods
Half Bloods are the product of one Blue Blood parent and one Red Blood (human) parent. They harbor the same powers as Blue Bloods and can also take human familiars. Only one Half Blood has ever been born: Schuyler Van Alen. Her parents were Allegra Van Alen Chase, a Blue Blood, and Stephen Chase, a Red Blood.

Summaries

Blue Bloods
Publication Date: March 27, 2006

Schuyler Van Alen never fit in at Duchesne, her prestigious private school, preferring grungy, thrift-like second-hand clothes to expensive designer labels, and living in a decrepit old mansion with her grandmother, Cordelia, the only family she has. While most find her strange, she is content with her life and her two only friends, Oliver Hazard-Perry and Dylan Ward.

But when Schuyler turns fifteen, her life suddenly begins to change. Aggie Carondolet, a Duchesne classmate and close friend to Schuyler's nemesis, Mimi Force, is found dead in one of the city's nightclubs, she notices mysterious, intricate blue veins pulsing from her arms, and Jack Force, a dashing and popular boy who happens to be Mimi's twin brother, begins to take a sudden interest in her.

She receives a letter telling her that she has been accepted into "The Committee", and although she's not sure she wants to attend, she agrees due to the insistence of her grandmother. When she arrives, she finds that she has more in common with her classmates than she thought. She is a Blue Blood—a vampire. A society of powerful and influential Americans whose ancestors can be traced back for centuries. Schuyler and Oliver, whom she learns is her human Conduit, are suddenly thrown into a race to find the answers to the questions that she, and everyone else is asking. Have their ancient enemies, the Silver Bloods—vampires who prey on vampires—suddenly returned after having thought to be vanquished? Is the incriminatory circumstance of Schuyler's birth that broke the most sacred code of vampires the reason why her mother has been trapped in a coma for so many years?

After a tragic attack involving Cordelia, Schuyler soon finds that she herself is in danger, and that she has a long journey ahead of her that will take her to every corner of the world.

Masquerade
Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Schuyler and Oliver have traveled to Venice, Italy, in search of her grandfather, Lawrence Van Alen, who is said to have the answers she is looking for to solve the mysteries of the Silver Bloods. When they meet him, Lawrence doesn't believe that he can help them, and they dejectedly return to New York. As they return, the Blue Blood community is preparing for the annual Four Hundred Ball, the grandest event in all of New York City. Schuyler attends the ball with the hopes of seeing Jack Force, her forbidden crush, but he barely acknowledges her. After the ball, however, Schuyler receives an invite to a secret Blue Blood masquerade ball, covertly organized by Mimi Force. Schuyler attends, again with the hope of seeing Jack. When she is kissed at the party by a mysterious masked vampire, she presumes that it is Jack, only to later suspect it was someone else. Bliss Llewellyn meets a masked gentleman, hoping that he is Dylan Ward, who had disappeared during the speculated return of the Silver Bloods.

When Schuyler returns home, she is thrilled to find that Lawrence has returned to New York. He hires help to restore the dilapidated mansion to its original glory, while starting Schuyler's training to hone her vampire skills. The lives of the young vampires continue to become more mysterious, with Bliss experiencing recurrent blackouts, visions of a man in a white suit, and a menacing voice that only she can hear, while Schuyler is growing weaker as her mixed blood complicates her transformation from human to vampire. When Lawrence learns that Schuyler needs to take a human familiar in order to stabilize her transformation, an act that is not allowed until the vampire has turned eighteen, he suggests that she choose Oliver.

Meanwhile, Mimi Force, teamed up with Kingsley Martin, the mysterious and striking new Duchesne student, is conjuring a plan to be rid of Schuyler, whose budding relationship with Jack is putting Mimi and Jack's sacred bond at stake. Her plan turns into a disaster that puts countless others in danger, and her blood legacy into question, forcing a blood trial. Could the allegations against Mimi possibly be true? And what will the shocking return of a tortured vampire say about where Schuyler's allegiance lies?

Shelter Island (short story)
Publication Date: September 1, 2007

A girl named Hannah lives peacefully in her home on Shelter Island. One night she's visited by a boy who later introduces his name as Dylan Ward. He is a vampire whose family used to live in Hannah's home. Dylan is trying to elude another vampire who wishes to kill him, but he cannot succeed without blood. After several nights, Hannah finally agrees to aid him, and he is able to leave the house.

Revelations
Publication Date: October 31, 2008

As the controversy rises due to Dylan's stunning allegation against Schuyler, she has moved into the Force household with Charles Force, the Regis of the vampire Coven and her mother's former bondmate, his wife Trinity, and Mimi and Jack, after Charles's adoption petition was accepted. Charles forbids Schuyler to have any contact with her grandfather or her best friend, Oliver. No one is aware that both Jack and Schuyler have been having secret romantic meetings in one of his family's apartments until Mimi's suspicions drive her to follow them. Knowing that her heavenly bond with Jack is being put at risk, she aims to make life miserable for Schuyler, as well as keenly planning her ceremony with Jack in the hopes that she can still save their bond. Schuyler and Jack begin to contemplate the outcome if he were to forsake his bond and stay with Schuyler. Schuyler knows that because she has now taken Oliver as her human familiar, he is forever devoted to her, and whichever choice she makes will have consequences.

Bliss does not tell anyone about seeing Dylan, who has returned ragged and almost sickly, as she is still torn between her love for him and her fear of what the conclave would do to him if they knew. But when he suddenly attacks Schuyler—an act that doesn't seem to be of his own accord—Bliss decides to tell her father, who admits Dylan into a therapy center for Blue Bloods. In the meantime, Jordan Llewellyn, Bliss's younger half-sister, has been behaving differently and is caught in an attempt to murder her sister. Bliss had always been treated as the favorite child, with Jordan often pushed to the background, even by her own mother, BobiAnne. As the secrets of the Llewellyn family begin to unravel, Bliss discovers Jordan's identity as Sophia the Watcher, a Blue Blood born fully aware of her identity and abilities, forcefully called into the cycle by Cordelia Van Alen to defeat Lucifer and his allies.

After Kingsley's true identity as a Venator is revealed, she, as a new member of the Conclave, is intent on finding out what is happening to the Blue Bloods in different areas of the world, as Silver Bloods appear to be a growing threat.

Lawrence Van Alen, the newly appointed Regis of the Coven, must go to Rio de Janeiro to find out who is responsible for the Silver Blood menace, leaving Schuyler alone in New York. While he is gone, she communicates telepathically with him, but it brings her no peace. When more members of the Conclave travel to Rio, both Oliver and Schuyler, who is said to be the key to defeating the Silver Bloods, secretly follow them. But once the Conclave arrives for a gathering, a mass attack against them takes place that further endangers the future of the Blue Bloods. The majority of the conclave members slaughtered, it is discovered that Nan Cutler, the Regent of the Coven was a Silver Blood traitor all along. Lawrence, Schuyler and Oliver raced to the Statue of the Redeemer which is the location of Corcovado, the prison which holds Leviathan, Lucifer's brother, to try to stop him from being freed but when they arrived they realized it was too late. They were soon attacked by Lucifer himself when they reached the top of the mountain and in their battle, Lawrence was stabbed with a poisoned sword, destroying any possibility of future reincarnations. The battle is bloody, and when the violence ends in a heart-breaking outcome, Schuyler is once again in danger.

The Van Alen Legacy
Publication Date: October 6, 2009

Each chapter of The Van Alen Legacy alternates between the story progressions of Schuyler, Mimi, and Bliss.

More than a year has passed since the battle in Rio de Janeiro. Oliver and Schuyler have run away; her very life and future are in danger as she is unfairly blamed for her grandfather's tragic death. Complying with Lawrence's last words, Schuyler tries to find Charles Force in order to discover what is said to be the ‘Van Alen Legacy'. Their travels soon take them to Paris, where they attend a party thrown by the European Conclave. There, Schuyler unexpectedly finds Jack, who has come to warn her that Leviathan, the Silver Blood responsible for Lawrence's death, is hunting her. He tries to convince Schuyler to come home to no avail, but when her physical health continues to deteriorate, she agrees and returns to New York with Oliver.

Mimi has become a Venator, and has chosen to be a part of the team that is searching for Jordan Llewellyn, whose heavenly identity as ‘Sophia, the Watcher' has been revealed. She travels with the Lennox twins, and with Kingsley Martin, whom she begins to discover she has a deeper connection with than previously thought. When their journey takes them back to Rio, they finally discover Jordan, except they find that her body has been abandoned and that Sophia has taken on a new living form. She returns to New York City for her senior year, and despite her feelings for Kingsley, she continues to make sure that her imminent bonding ritual with Jack draws ever near.

After returning home, Schuyler learns that her mother, Allegra, has finally awoken, and she rushes to the hospital to see her. When Allegra informs her daughter of The Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler must inform the seven gatekeepers that Lucifer and Leviathan are plotting to open the Gates of Hell so they may be released onto Earth. Allegra claims that she now must find Charles Force, who was last seen battling Leviathan in an underground labyrinth.

Bliss's life has undoubtedly changed—possibly for the worse. She has learned the stunning secret of her origin. She is the daughter of Allegra Van Alen from a previous cycle by Lucifer himself, who has been using her body to speak to her—a voice she refers to as ‘the Visitor'—and to control her. Living in fear of Lucifer's demand to kill Schuyler, she avoids contact with her friends until the time of Jack and Mimi's bonding ceremony, of which she is one of Mimi's ‘bondsmaids'. Before the ceremony, she discovers that a small piece of glass hidden in her bouquet is the sword of Michael, the same sword that Jordan had used in her attempt to stab her. The bonding ceremony, however, goes terribly wrong, and Lucifer himself appears. Realizing that the only way to rid herself of her, father, Lucifer himself, Bliss takes the piece of glass which is Michael's sword and stabs herself in the heart. His presence forces Jack, Schuyler, Mimi, and Kingsley into the glom: an alternative netherworld in the universe that vampires can access. The only one that does not make it out of the glom is Kingsley, who becomes trapped in the underworld.

Misguided Angel
Publication Date: October 26, 2010

After saying farewell to Oliver in New York, Schuyler has traveled to Florence, Italy with her true love, Jack Force, with the hopes of protecting the remaining five Gates of Hell from Lucifer. Isabella of Orleans has offered them protection as they pursue their mission, but they quickly realize that Isabella's offer is more like imprisonment than protection, and they devise a plan to escape and continue their quest to locate the Gates of Hell. They find themselves in danger and on the run from Isabella's minions, soon discovering that they are under surveillance by the European Conclave.

Mimi Force has been elected as the new Regent of the crumbling Coven, which, thanks to an internet video release of the teen vampires at a party, is at risk of being exposed to the Red Bloods (humans). She is heartbroken over losing Kingsley, who is trapped in Hell, and faces immense rage and embarrassment over Jack's decision to forsake their bond to be with the half-blood, Schuyler Van Alen. Meanwhile, she has begun working with Oliver—an unlikely situation due to their rocky relationship—and the Lennox twins in order to find a missing teenage vampire who has been kidnapped and threatened with being burned alive. The Conclave covers up the secrets of the video by making the public believe that it is a new movie trailer, and assign certain members to work on production. This provides a cover-up, but does not fix the real problem at hand—someone knows far too much about them, and has every intention of using it against them. Help with the kidnapping soon comes from a Chinese Venator named Deming Chen, who must solve the mystery of the kidnapping before one of their own is destroyed. She is quickly thrown into untangling a web of lies and secrets regarding the kidnapping, facing an unforeseen twist when she thought she had all the answers, yet ultimately finding who is responsible for threatening their world, and why.

Mimi learns that Jack has been found by the Venators that she had sent to look for him, but he refuses to turn himself in. While she is pleased that her brother is ready to face his fate, she is also planning to travel to Hell to rescue Kingsley, with Oliver by her side.

Lost In Time
Publication Date: September 27, 2011

Each chapter in Lost In Time alternates between the stories of Schuyler and Jack, Mimi and Kingsley, and the past relationship of Allegra and Ben.

Jack and Schuyler have traveled to Egypt in an attempt to find a solution to the impending blood trial, the confrontation between Jack and Mimi in which only one can survive. The two of them search Alexandria for one of the gates along with its gatekeeper, Catherine of Siena. They hope to find a way to keep Jack from facing Mimi's wrath, and to save the Blue Bloods. After they are kidnapped by none other than Deming Chen and the Lennox twins, Sam and Ted, they learn that Red Blood women are being taken in order to birth 'Nephilim' by the Silver Bloods to be used in Lucifer's fight to regain access back into Heaven.

Mimi still has every intention of making Jack pay for breaking their bond, but she first wants to rescue Kingsley Martin. She and Oliver go on a mission to travel to Hell to find him, but Mimi knows that she has to make a trade—a soul for a soul—if she wants to free her true love, and secretly takes advantage of Oliver's presence. When they find Kingsley, she is shocked to find that he appears to be content living in Hell and appears to have lost all interest in her, much to her dismay. It is only when Kingsley learns of Mimi's true reason for traveling to Hell, that he realizes the misunderstanding and reveals his true feelings to her.

Allegra Van Alen has developed deep feelings for Ben, but forces herself to attempt to stay away from him before it progresses too far. She knows that she is the true bondmate of Charles Van Alen, and the two of them are meant to be together. Charles knows what is happening between the two of them and tries to keep Allegra on the right path and protect her from making a dire mistake, but she cannot help but be drawn to Ben. Even though she is plagued with visions of her lying unconscious in a hospital bed as a result of her temptations, she cannot turn her back on love.

Jack finally confronts Mimi to face his fate, but he has learned what they must do in order to permanently break their bond so neither of them will have to perish, and they ultimately make a very dark decision to once again give their loyalty to Lucifer.

Gates of Paradise
Publication Date: January 15, 2013

Gates of Paradise tells the stories of Mimi, Schuyler and Bliss in their final struggle against Lucifer. Mimi and Jack Force are tasked by Lucifer to kill their loves, Kingsley and Schuyler respectively. Schuyler is preparing to storm the gates of hell to defeat Lucifer. Bliss with the help of Lawson work to free the Hounds of Hell from their imprisonment. Jack and Mimi have agreed to deceive Lucifer into believing they were loyal to him once again. Jack's deception was made more believable by draining some of Schuyler's blood. This was actually to Schuyler's aid, and allowed her to open the Gate of Paradise, killing Jack, and defeating Lucifer in the process.

After their redemption the Blue Bloods were allowed access back into Heaven. Many chose to through the gates while some stayed on Earth to finish their cycle. Michael and Gabrielle; Charles Force and Allegra Van Alen Chase respectively, chose to return to heaven immediately. Schuyler learned that her father; Ben Chase, had another daughter. Schuyler is able to meet her half-sister and paternal grandmother. Oliver ends up falling in love with Schuyler's half-sister and proceeds to ask Heaven to turn him into a Blue Blood. Several years after the final battle while Schuyler is attending college she runs into Jack who has been brought back to life and returned to Earth for his part in the destruction of Lucifer.

Keys to the Repository (companion novel)
Publication Date: June 29, 2010

This book is a "companion novel" and not a part of the story told in the seven-book series. This book is structured as a set of files from the Repository of History, a Blue Blood establishment below the streets of New York City. These files contain detailed descriptions and information on the characters in the series. It contains short stories involving the secret meetings between Schuyler and Jack, and Mimi and Kingsley, as well as what happened to Dylan during the time he was missing. It also includes journal entries, personal letters, and a sneak peek into the spin-off series Wolf Pact, in which Bliss Llewellyn is the central character.

Bloody Valentine (novella)
Publication Date: December 28, 2010

Bloody Valentine is a Blue Bloods novella and not a part of the story told in the seven-book series. It contains three stories centered around love and passion.

The first is about Schuyler's best friend Oliver Hazard-Perry, and Freya Beauchamp, a bartender and the center of another Blue Bloods spin-off series entitled Witches of East End. It tells the story of what Oliver was going through during the events in the previous book.

The second story dates back to 1985, when Allegra Van Alen, Schuyler's mother, was attending Endicott Academy with Charles Force, where she fell in love with her human familiar Steven Chase, better known as "Ben".

The final story centers around Jack and Schuyler and tells the story of their bonding ceremony.

Wolf Pact (Companion series)
Publication Date: April 1, 2012

Wolf Pact is a spin-off to the Blue Bloods series. It consists of four books which tell the story of Bliss Llewellyn after Jack and Schuyler's bonding ceremony, in which she is no longer a vampire and must seek help from the "Hellhounds" in order to help defeat the Silver Bloods.,

Glossary

Blade of Justice Michael's sword. It is one of two, the other belonging to Gabrielle. Only an archangel's sword can kill an archangel.

Blood Bond The immortal bond between two vampires whose souls were twinned in Heaven. Bondmates must renew their sacred bond during each cycle with a ceremony, normally happening at twenty-one years of age after they have come into their full powers and memories of their past lives. The two vampires become stronger after the bond has been renewed, but if it is broken, the betrayed vampire may call a blood trial, which will ultimately lead to the other's death. Not every vampire has a bond with another.

Blood Manifest (Transformation) When a Blue Blood vampire's DNA begins to take over, usually around the age of fifteen. Their fangs grow in, their body switches from needing food to needing human blood, and the memories of their past lives begin to return. The process usually has an intense effect on the vampire, making them weak and sick.

Blood Trial How serious offenses against The Code are resolved. It requires the blood of the offending party to be consumed in order to tell truth from lie. In the past, only Gabrielle (Allegra) could perform the trial, but Schuyler has inherited her mother's ability. The punishment for vampires found guilty is being burned to death.

The Code of the Vampires (the Code, the Blue Bloods Code) A strict set of rules that the Blue Bloods follow with the hope that it will eventually lead them back to Paradise. It states that Red Bloods (humans) are not to be dominated, but respected, so that the Blue Bloods will bring peace to the world.

The Conclave The coven's highest leadership. They are responsible for making decisions for the future of the vampire race.

Conduit A human who is assigned to a Blue Blood at birth to be their associate and caretaker to help him/her navigate the human world. Many Conduit families will serve their Blue Blood families for centuries as their lawyers, doctors, accountants, and friends. If a vampire expires, their Conduit will have a choice to either work in the Repository or have their memories erased.

Coven A group of vampires living in a geographic area.

The Cycle The length of a human life. When Blue Bloods are reincarnated, their body lives for one cycle then dies like any other human body, but their DNA and memories are kept safe until they are called upon again. When they are called, their DNA is placed inside a female Blue Blood using IVF. They are then born and live as normal humans until the Sunset Years.

Duchesne (Doo-SHEN) The prestigious private school in Manhattan attended by Blue Bloods. The school also educates Human Conduits, as well as Red Bloods who are there on scholarship, some of whom serve as Human Familiars.

Enmortals Vampires who do not rest and reincarnate between cycles, and keep the same physical form over many centuries. They do not require the proximity of other vampires in order to survive.

The Gates of Hell Seven gates created by the Order of the Seven (the gatekeepers) to keep Lucifer and the Silver Bloods trapped in the underworld.

The Glom It is described as two separate things: one is the line of consciousness that the vampires use to communicate telepathically with one another, or to control the mind of a human. The second is described as the twilight netherworld that vampires can access.

Human Familiar The humans that the Blue Bloods feed on. The Code requires vampires to never abuse them or fully drain them, and to treat them with care for the service they provide. Once a familiar is taken, they will forever feel a bond with their vampire.

Nephilim Half-human, half-Silver Blood.

Red Bloods Humans.

Regent The second-highest-ranking member of the Conclave. They assume responsibility for the Coven if the Regis is unable to.

Regis The leader of the Coven and Conclave. The Regis is chosen unanimously by the seven Wardens who represent the ruling houses.

The Sunset Years The name given to the years between the ages of 15 and 21. During the Sunset Years, Blue Bloods start to turn into fully-fledged vampires, remembering past lives and discovering their abilities. Vampires are most vulnerable during these years.

The Repository of History The headquarters of the Committee and all of the Blue Bloods' archives. It contains all of their knowledge and secrets.

Venator (Truth Seeker, Truth Teller) The highest rank of the Committee's secret police. Their role is to keep the Blue Bloods safe. They are capable of deciphering dreams and can access the memories of both humans and vampires.

Spin-off series

Witches of East End is the first book in a spin-off series that takes place in the fictional town of North Hampton, and is centered around the Beauchamp family, including Freya Beauchamp, a sexy bartender whom Oliver meets in Bloody Valentine. The series so far contains three books; Serpent's Kiss and Winds of Salem  are the sequel to Witches of East End.

Film Adaptation
Walt Disney Pictures acquired the film rights to make the series into a film franchise. Producers have not yet announced who will direct the movie.

Critical reception

"De la Cruz introduces a conception of vampires far different from stake-fleeing demons in traditional horror fiction, coupling sly humor with gauzier trappings of being fanged and fabulous." —Booklist (starred review)

"The intriguing plot will keep teens reading." —School Library Journal

"Juicy voyeuristic peek into the lives of rich Manhattanites—who happen to be vampires." —Kirkus Reviews

See also

References

External links

 List of books in Blue Bloods series

American vampire novels
American young adult novels
Incest in fiction
Novels set in Manhattan
Young adult novel series


Shannan Marie Click (born November 17, 1983) is an American model. She has appeared in a variety of international editions of Vogue (including Vogue Italia) and the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Early life and discovery
Click was born on November 17, 1983, in San Dimas, California. She was discovered by an agent while at Huntington Beach.

Career
Click's first major modeling gig was with GUESS?. A year later, she began her international runway career, walking for designers like Miu Miu, Prada, Alexander McQueen, and Luella Bartley. She has walked in other seasons for many fashion houses, such as Yves Saint Laurent, Dior Cosmetics, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton.

Her most recent campaign work includes Pepe Jeans, Pretty by Elizabeth Arden, GAP, and Tommy Hilfiger. Other campaigns include Levi's, Emporio Armani, H&M, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Dior Cosmetics, and Biotherm.

Personal life
Click began dating English actor Jack Huston in 2011. Click and Huston have one daughter, Sage Lavinia Huston, born on April 6, 2013, in New York City, and one son, Cypress Night Huston, born in January 2016.

References

External links

 Shannan Click at supermodels.nl

1983 births
Female models from California
Living people
People from San Dimas, California
21st-century American women


The second season of Veronica Mars, an American drama television series created by Rob Thomas, premiered on UPN in the United States on September 28, 2005. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Silver Pictures Television and Rob Thomas Productions, and Joel Silver and Thomas served as the executive producers.

The season begins with the introduction of two new cases: when a school bus full of Neptune High students plunges off a cliff, killing almost everyone on board, Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) makes it her mission to discover why the bus crashed. Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is accused of killing a Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) biker gang member after a drunken fight with Eli "Weevil" Navarro (Francis Capra) and the PCHers.

The series was critically acclaimed, and appeared on several fall television best lists. The second season garnered an average of 2.3 million viewers per all 22 episodes in the US. Out of all regular primetime programming that aired during the 2005–2006 American television season, Veronica Mars ranked 145th out of 156, according to the Nielsen ratings system. The premiere was watched by 3.30 million viewers, while the finale was watched by 2.42 million viewers.

Cast and crew

The second season was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Silver Pictures Television and Rob Thomas Productions. Joel Silver and Thomas served as the executive producers, and Jennifer Gwartz, Danielle Stokdyk and Diane Ruggiero served as co-executive producers. The season's crew also included producers Howard Grisby and Dan Etheridge, co-producer Stacy Fields, head writer Dayna Lynne North, and casting director Deedee Bradley.

The second season features a cast of nine actors who receive star billing, six of whom were regulars in the first season. Kristen Bell portrays the titular Veronica Mars, a high school senior and skilled private detective. Teddy Dunn plays Duncan Kane, Veronica's ex-boyfriend and Lilly's brother. Jason Dohring plays Logan Echolls, the "bad-boy" son of an A-list actor and an "09er", a group of wealthy students from the fictional 90909 ZIP code. Percy Daggs III portrays Wallace Fennel, Veronica's best friend and frequent partner in solving mysteries. Francis Capra portrays Eli "Weevil" Navarro, the leader of the PCH Biker gang and Veronica's friend. Enrico Colantoni plays Veronica's father Keith Mars, a private investigator and former Balboa County Sheriff.

Thomas, who said that he "conceive[d] the show as a one-year mystery", decided that he needed to introduce and eliminate several characters to be able to create an "equally fascinating mystery" for the series' second season. Thomas felt that he could not bring back the Kanes and the Echolls and "have them all involved in a new mystery"; he needed "new blood". The second season saw the introduction of Tessa Thompson as Jackie Cook, a romantic interest of Wallace and daughter of a famous baseball player. Previous recurring characters Dick Casablancas and Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas were upgraded to series regulars. Dick, played by Ryan Hansen, was an 09er friend of Logan, a womanizer and former high-school bully turned frat boy. Kyle Gallner portrayed "Beaver", Dick's introverted younger brother. Dunn, who played Duncan Kane, left the series midway through the season. Thomas explained that the Logan–Veronica–Duncan love triangle had run its course, and to keep the series fresh, there would need to be "other guys in her life". He attributed Dunn's removal to fan interest dominating the Logan–Veronica relationship, saying "it became clear that one suitor won out".

Episodes
The season begins with Veronica's life returning to the way it was before Lilly's death: having broken up with Logan during the summer, she reunites with Duncan and is somewhat accepted by the 09ers. However, her tough personality and work as a private investigator keep her from being truly assimilated back into the rich crowd. 09ers Dick and Cassidy are abandoned by their father, who flees the country while under investigation for real estate fraud. The brothers are forced to deal with their stepmother, Kendall (Charisma Carpenter), who is only interested in their father's money. Wallace discovers that his biological father is alive and takes a romantic interest in Jackie.

Reception

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 92% with an average score of 8.67/10, based on 12 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "She may have solved the murder of her best friend, but everyone's favorite teen sleuth still has plenty of high school drama and danger to go around in Veronica Mars' successful second season."

Brian Raftery of Entertainment Weekly praised the cast as ingenious, in particular Bell and Colantoni, who he thought kept the season "humming along". Raftery found their characters' "sweet-natured, genuine father-daughter friendship remains the show's rock-hard axis". Eric Goldman of IGN wrote that the season was "entertaining start to finish", with "great" returning characters and a "wonderful array of guest stars". Goldman criticized the main mysteries for not having the "same personal touchstone for Veronica or for the audience", but found the pace pick[ed] up considerably in the final episodes". The reviewer called Bell's performance "Emmy-worthy", showing "an amazing amount of different emotions throughout the season, while maintaining Veronica's trademark wit and cleverness".

Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics found that the focus was less on Veronica than in the first season. Swindoll wrote that although the ongoing bus crash mystery lacked the personal touch of season one, other characters were given more screen time and the narrative was still interesting and enjoyable. Reviewers for UGO Networks declared the second season "much more captivating than its freshman predecessor". Despite the positive reviews, numerous critics were frustrated with the complexity of the second season. Entertainment Weekly thought that the season contained "way-too-ancillary characters and red-herring subplots so extraneous that even the most ardent followers needed a Wikipedic memory to keep track of things". Robert Bianco of USA Today felt that the season was "lost in an overly complex plot".

Awards
The second season was nominated for nine awards, winning two. Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni were awarded with the Family Television Award for Favorite Father/Daughter. The series was nominated for the International Cinematographers Guild Publicists Award for The Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Award for Television, and the Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series. Kristen Bell won the Saturn Award for Best Television Actress, was nominated for the Satellite Award for Actress in a Drama Series, and the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress: Drama/Action Adventure. Percy Daggs III and Enrico Colantoni were respectively nominated for the Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Sidekick and Choice TV Parental Unit. Rob Thomas was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama for his work on "Normal Is the Watchword".

Distribution

The second season was released in the US under the title Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season as a widescreen six-disc Region 1 DVD box set on August 22, 2006, Region 2 on August 15, 2008, and Region 4 on September 8, 2008. In addition to all of the aired episodes, DVD extras included a gag reel, a promo trailer for the third season, deleted and additional scenes, including an alternate ending to "My Mother, the Fiend", and two featurettes: "A Day on the Set with Veronica Mars" and "Veronica Mars: Not Your Average Teen Detective". IGN's Goldman was displeased with the minimal number of extras, and criticized the crew for the lack of commentaries. The reviewer felt that although the DVD was worth the episodes alone, the few extras made the set a disappointment. Contrastingly, reviewers for UGO Networks wrote that the DVD box set was as engaging as the season's episodes.

The CTV Television Network, which began airing the first season in Canada in May 2005, decided not to pick up the second season. Instead, Sun TV began broadcasting the season on July 18, 2006. Living began airing the second season in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2006, airing one episode per week rather than showing one every night as they did in the first season. Despite "underwhelming" ratings, Living picked up the series' third season. Network Ten broadcast the second season in Australia on Fridays in 2007.

References
General

Specific

External links

 Mars Investigations

Veronica Mars episodes
2005 American television seasons
2006 American television seasons


Benjamin Risinger, (born 25 November 1977 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian professional baseball player.

Early Career
Risinger played for the Australian entry that won Bronze at the 1995 World Junior Baseball Championship. He made his professional debut in the 1995–1996 Australian Baseball League, hitting .265/.321/.286 as a backup infielder for the Perth Heat. The next year he went 0 for 15 with 4 walks for Perth.

In the 1997–1998 season, the right-handed batter batted .244/.351/.358 for the Melbourne Monarchs. Risinger was 9 for 25 with 6 walks, 2 doubles and a home run in the 2000–2001 International Baseball League of Australia season.

Minor league career
Signing with the Springfield Capitals, Risinger helped them to the 1998 Frontier League title as the regular shortstop. He hit .242 and slugged .366. He saw scant action for Melbourne in the winter, going 4 for 15 with 2 doubles and a walk. Moving on to Organized Baseball, the 21-year-old played for the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation in 1999, hitting .249/~.309/.334 for the Hickory Crawdads as their primary third baseman and also seeing time at shortstop, first base and second base.

Pittsburgh traded Risinger to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later (who became Luis Andújar). In 2000, Ben split time between the Fort Wayne Wizards (.176/.268/.201 in 50 games) and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (.260/.345/.460 in 15 games). He played catcher, second base, third base, the outfield and pitched that year, only missing out on shortstop.

In 2001, he played for the Lake Elsinore Storm, producing at a .251/.333/.305 clip in 105 games, playing at least 15 games at shortstop, second base, third base and catcher. Lake Elsinore was co-champion of the California League when the final series was cancelled due to the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September.

In 2002, Risinger had his best minor league season. Playing for the AA Mobile BayBears, he batted .288/.357/.363 with 26 doubles. He played every position except pitcher, primarily being used at third base (97 games). He just missed the Southern League's top 10 in batting average, falling 4 points shy. He was named to the SL All-Star team as a utility man.

Risinger was primarily a 3B/C in 2003 when he made his AAA debut with the Portland Beavers. He hit .252/.321/.371 in 86 games of action. In 2004, he batted .242/.310/.344 in 79 contests for the Beavers, playing every position except the outfield. The next season, his average fell further as he only eked out a batting line of .211/.369/.336 in 41 games; all he had going for him was the fact that he managed to get hit by pitch 13 times. He cut back on the number of positions played, appearing at catcher, first base and third base. He was not close to the Pacific Coast League lead in times plunked as Carlos Quentin was hit 29 times.

Released by Portland, Risinger signed with the Gary SouthShore RailCats and hit .310. In the postseason, he batted .432 with a team-high 3 home runs and 12 RBI as Gary won the Northern League title.

San Diego re-signed Risinger but he only played one game for Portland in 2006 (going 0 for 3). He was then brought up to San Diego, not as a player, but as the bullpen catcher when Mark Merila was battling a brain tumor.

National Team career
In the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Risinger put on a fine show hitting .550-.625–1.000 with 6 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 7 games at DH. He led the Cup in average but was not included in the All-Star team as Maximiliano De Biase was chosen as the DH. Risinger tied Omar Linares for the third-highest average in an Intercontinental Cup from 1991–2007, trailing only Jeffrey Cranston (.591, 1995) and fellow Australian team member Paul Gonzalez (.571, 1994). Risinger was a RF-DH for Australia in the 2007 Baseball World Cup and hit .346-.485-.423, getting hit by four pitches in 8 games. He only scored one run despite getting on base frequently, but did drive in seven. He had a couple key hits. Against South Korea, he came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, two outs and Justin Huber aboard.

After falling behind 0–2 in the count, he smacked a 93-mph fastball from Doo-sung Hwang into deep center field to drive in Huber with the winning run. Against Canada, he came to bat with a 5–4 lead in the 9th and Brad Harman and Huber aboard. He delivered a 2-run single off of ex-major leaguer Mike Johnson for a 7–4 lead. The hit became significant when Canada scored twice in the bottom of the 9th. Had Risinger hit into a double play instead of singling, Australia would have lost the game.

In the Beijing 2008 Baseball Qualification Tournament, Risinger hit .267-.290-.400 as the main Australian left fielder. He was 4 for 5 with 3 runs and 4 RBI against Spain but otherwise hit .192 with no RBI in the event. Australia did not make the top three and failed to earn a trip to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

2009 World Baseball Classic
He participated with Australia in 2009 World Baseball Classic, he played as first base in all team games. Against Mexico, he hit .400 and was 2 for 5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI included a HR.

References

External links

IBAF site

1977 births
Living people
Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States
Baseball people from Western Australia
Fort Wayne Wizards players
Gary SouthShore RailCats players
Hickory Crawdads players
Lake Elsinore Storm players
Major League Baseball bullpen catchers
Mobile BayBears players
Portland Beavers players
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players
Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia
Springfield Capitals players
2009 World Baseball Classic players


The economy of Montreal is the second largest of all cities in Canada and the first in Quebec. Montreal is a centre of commerce, industry, technology, culture, finance, and world affairs. In 2015, Metropolitan Montreal was responsible for $193 Billion CDN of Quebec's $370 Billion CDN GDP.

History
Montreal became an important centre of trade early in its history and surpassed Quebec City in importance even before their populations became comparable. When Canada became part of the British Empire in 1763, it was already the centre of the North American Fur Trade. Over the course of the 19th century Montreal grew to become the economic centre of Canada as well as its most populous city.

Montreal and Toronto
Between the end of World War II and 1971, both Montreal and Toronto grew enormously in size. Between 1941 and 1951, Montreal's population grew by 20% and Toronto's by 25%. Between 1951 and 1961, Montreal grew by 35% and Toronto 45%. And from 1961 to 1971, Montreal grew by a little less than 20% and Toronto 30%. In the early 1970s, 30 years after Toronto had begun challenging Montreal as the economic capital of Canada, Toronto surpassed Montreal in size. Indeed, the volume of stocks traded at the Toronto Stock Exchange surpassed that traded at the Montreal Stock Exchange in the 1940s.

Recovery
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of economic growth than many other major Canadian cities. By the late 1990s, however, Montreal's economic climate had improved, as new firms and institutions began to fill the traditional business and financial niches. As the city celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1992, construction began on its two newest and largest skyscrapers: 1000 de La Gauchetière and 1250 René-Lévesque. Montreal's improving economic conditions allowed further enhancements of the city infrastructure, with the expansion of the metro system, construction of new skyscrapers and the development of new highways including the start of a ring road around the island. The city also attracted several international organizations towards moving their secretariats into Montreal's Quartier International.

Industries

Montreal industries include aerospace, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, printed goods, software engineering, telecommunications, textile and apparel manufacturing, tobacco, tourism and transportation. The service sector is also strong and includes civil, mechanical and process engineering, finance, higher education, and research and development. In 2002, Montreal ranked as the 4th largest center in North America in terms of aerospace jobs.

Port of Montreal
The Port of Montreal is the largest inland port in the world, handling 26 million tonnes of cargo annually. As one of the most important ports in Canada, it remains a trans-shipment point for grain, sugar, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. For this reason, Montreal is the railway hub of Canada and has always been an extremely important rail city; it is home to the headquarters of the Canadian National Railway, and was home to the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Railway until 1995.

Artificial Intelligence
Montreal is a global hub for artificial intelligence research with many companies involved in this sector, such as Facebook AI Research (FAIR), Microsoft Research, Google Brain, DeepMind, Samsung Research, and Thales Group.(cortAIx). A notable Montreal AI start-up is Element AI. Element AI is co-founded by Université de Montréal professor Yoshua Bengio, who won the Turing Award in 2018 for his contributions to deep learning.

Growing alongside Montreal's AI industry is a cloud computing sector which takes advantage of the city's IT talent pool, lower electricity rates, and proximity to the US. Google opened a cloud data center in Montreal in 2017, its first in Canada, following the steps of Amazon, IBM, and Bell. Locally headquartered, middle-market cloud computing businesses also flourish in Montreal—like Ormuco Inc., a former cloud managed service provider which now also develops platforms for 5G mobile app development, reflecting a wider regional industry shift towards edge computing.

Video games

The video game industry is also growing rapidly in Montreal since 1997, coinciding with the opening of Ubisoft Montreal. Recently, the city has attracted world leading game developers and publishers studios such as Ubisoft, EA, Eidos Interactive, Artificial Mind and Movement, BioWare, and Strategy First, mainly because video games jobs have been heavily subsidized by the provincial government. Every year, this industry generates billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in the Montreal area.

Arts and Culture
Montreal is also a centre of film and television production. Five studios of the Academy Award-winning documentary producer National Film Board of Canada can be found here, as well as the head offices of Telefilm Canada, the national feature-length film and television funding agency. Given its eclectic architecture and broad availability of film services and crew members, Montreal is a popular filming location for feature-length films, and sometimes stands in for European locations. The city is also home to many recognized cultural, film and music festivals (Just For Laughs, Montreal Jazz Festival, and others), which contribute significantly to its economy. It is also home to one of the world's largest cultural enterprises, the Cirque du Soleil.

In 2006 Montreal was named a UNESCO City of Design, only one of three design capitals of the world (with the others being Berlin and Buenos Aires). This distinguished title recognizes Montreal's design community. Since 2005 the city has also been home for the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda), and the International Design Alliance (IDA).

The cultural sector is responsible for 6% of Montreal's GDP and 4.1% of all jobs in Montreal. In 2013, the cultural sector provided 82,740 direct jobs and 48,199 indirect jobs, for a total of 130,949 jobs. The cultural sector was estimated at 10.7 billion dollars in 2013.

Organizational and Corporate Headquarters
The headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency are located in Longueuil, directly east of Montreal across the Saint Lawrence River. Montreal also hosts the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, a United Nations body); the World Anti-Doping Agency (an Olympic body); the International Air Transport Association (IATA); and the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC), as well as some 60 other international organizations in various fields (See below).

Several companies are headquartered in Greater Montreal including:

Passenger Transport, loyalty programs, and tour operators
 Air Canada - Airline (Canada's largest)
 Air Transat - Airline
 Air Inuit
 Via Rail
 Aimia (company)
 Transat A.T.

Retail and restaurants
 Aldo Group
 Alimentation Couche-Tard - Convenience store operator (Largest in Canada)
 Birks Group
 Dollarama
 Metro Inc.
 MTY Food Group
 Reitmans
 Structube

Finance
 Bank of Montreal (legal head office, operational headquarters in Toronto)
 Desjardins Group (operational headquarters, legal head office is in Levis, Quebec)
 Laurentian Bank
 National Bank of Canada
 Power Corporation
 Royal Bank Of Canada (legal head office, operational headquarters in Toronto)

Utilities and media
 Bell Canada (Telecommunications and Media) - Global HQ
 Hydro-Québec
 Quebecor

E-commerce and Information Technology
 Beyond the Rack - E-Commerce, Flash Sales
 CGI Group (Information technology) - Global HQ
 Lightspeed - Point of sale software, E-Commerce
 Nuvei - Payments infrastructure software, E-Commerce

Aerospace
 Bombardier Inc. (Aircraft manufacturing, mass transportation equipment manufacturing and financial services provider) - Global HQ
 CAE
 Pratt and Whitney Canada

Freight transport
 Canada Steamship Lines
 Canadian National Railway
 TFI International

Sporting equipment and toys
 CCM (bicycle company)
 CCM (ice hockey)
 MEGA Brands

Arts
 CinéGroupe
 Cirque du Soleil
 Toon Boom Animation

Food and beverage
 Molson
 Saputo

Engineering firms
 SNC-Lavalin,
 WSP Global

Natural resources
 Domtar
 Kruger Inc.
 Resolute Forest Products
 Rio Tinto Alcan
 Targray - Supplier of materials and consumables for the international Solar, Energy Storage, and Biofuels industries.
 Tembec

Pharmaceuticals and personal care
 Bausch Health
 L'Oreal Canada
 Merck Canada Inc.
 Novartis Canada
 Pfizer Canada
 Pharmascience

See also

Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

References


The digital micromirror device, or DMD, is the  microoptoelectromechanical system (MOEMS) that is the core of the trademarked DLP projection technology from Texas Instruments (TI). Texas Instrument's DMD was created by solid-state physicist and TI Fellow Emeritus Dr. Larry Hornbeck in 1987. However, the technology goes back to 1973 with Harvey C. Nathanson's (inventor of MEMS c. 1965) use of millions of microscopically small moving mirrors to create a video display of the type now found in digital projectors.

History
The DMD project began as the deformable mirror device in 1977 using micromechanical analog light modulators.  The first analog DMD product was the TI DMD2000 airline ticket printer that used a DMD instead of a laser scanner.

Construction and use
A DMD chip has on its surface several hundred thousand microscopic mirrors arranged in a rectangular array which correspond to the pixels in the image to be displayed. The mirrors and supporting mechanical structures are constructed using surface micromachining. The mirrors can be individually rotated ±10-12°, to an on or off state. In the on state, light from the projector bulb is reflected into the lens making the pixel appear bright on the screen. In the off state, the light is directed elsewhere (usually onto a heatsink), making the pixel appear dark. To produce greyscales, the mirror is toggled on and off very quickly, and the ratio of on time to off time determines the shade produced (binary pulse-width modulation). Contemporary DMD chips can produce up to 1024 shades of gray (10 bits). See Digital Light Processing for discussion of how color images are produced in DMD-based systems.

The mirrors themselves are made of aluminum and are around 16 micrometers across. Each mirror is mounted on a yoke which in turn is connected to two support posts by compliant torsion hinges. In this type of hinge, the axle is fixed at both ends and twists in the middle. Because of the small scale, hinge fatigue is not a problem, and tests have shown that even 1 trillion (1012) operations do not cause noticeable damage. Tests have also shown that the hinges cannot be damaged by normal shock and vibration, since it is absorbed by the DMD superstructure.

Two pairs of electrodes control the position of the mirror by electrostatic attraction. Each pair has one electrode on each side of the hinge, with one of the pairs positioned to act on the yoke and the other acting directly on the mirror. The majority of the time, equal bias charges are applied to both sides simultaneously. Instead of flipping to a central position as one might expect, this actually holds the mirror in its current position. This is because the attraction force on the side the mirror is already tilted towards is greater since that side is closer to the electrodes.

To move the mirrors, the required state is first loaded into an SRAM cell located beneath each pixel, which is also connected to the electrodes. Once all the SRAM cells have been loaded, the bias voltage is removed, allowing the charges from the SRAM cell to prevail, moving the mirror. When the bias is restored, the mirror is once again held in position, and the next required movement can be loaded into the memory cell.

The bias system is used because it reduces the voltage levels required to address the pixels such that they can be driven directly from the SRAM cell, and also because the bias voltage can be removed at the same time for the whole chip, so every mirror moves at the same instant. The advantages of the latter are more accurate timing and a more cinematic moving image.

The described failure mode on these is caused by internal contamination usually due to seal failure corroding the mirror supports.
A related failure was the glue used between 2007 and 2013, under which heat and light degrades and outgasses: this normally causes fogging
inside the glass and eventually white/black pixels.
This cannot usually be repaired, but defective DMD chips can sometimes be used for less critical projects not needing rapidly changing patterns if the existing bad pixels can be made part of the projected image or otherwise mapped out, including 3D scanning.

Applications
 Televisions and HDTVs
 Holographic Versatile Discs
 Head-mounted displays
 Digital cinema
 DLP projectors
 Optical Metrology
 Laser Beam Machining
 Phase space measurement with forward modeling
 Spatial Light Modulation
 Multivariate optical computing
 Digital Holographic Tomography
 Optogenetics
 Flip-disc display

References

External links
 DLP White Paper Library
 DMD Technology Overview & Description

American inventions
Transducers
Semiconductor devices
Optoelectronics
Microtechnology


Donald Paul Pinkel (September 7, 1926 – March 9, 2022) was an American physician who specialized in pediatric hematology and oncology. Pinkel made contributions to cures for several forms of childhood cancer, including leukemia.

He was the first director of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, serving from 1962 to 1973. He also authored or co-authored numerous books, chapters in books, and journal articles.
He received many awards and recognitions for his research work, including the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1972, the Kettering Prize for cancer research in 1986, and the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research in 2003.

Early life and career
Pinkel was born in Buffalo, New York, on September 7, 1926.  His father, Lawrence, worked as a hardware salesman; his mother, Anne (Richardson), was a housewife.  Pinkel graduated from Canisius High School in 1944, and enlisted in the US Navy later that year.  As part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program, he studied at Cornell University, where he became interested in biology and medicine.  He later went back home and graduated from Canisius College in 1947.  He then entered medical school at the University at Buffalo, obtaining a medical degree in 1951.  Three years later, as a pediatrician in the Army Medical Corps in Massachusetts, Pinkel contracted polio.  As his condition improved, he began working with researcher Sidney Farber in Boston, experimenting with the impact of aminopterin on leukemia.

Pinkel was named chief of pediatrics at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo in 1956.  He soon began planning to relocate because of the impact of Buffalo's climate on his polio.

Director of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Pinkel met the Lebanese-American entertainer Danny Thomas in 1961.  The latter was spearheading the foundation and construction of a children's research hospital, called after St Jude, the patron of the hopeless, to be based in Memphis, Tennessee.  Pinkel visited the budding project in 1961, and decided to become a founding member, taking a significant pay reduction to make the move. He served as the first director and CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from February 1962 (when it opened) to 1974, focusing on Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most frequent cancer in young children.  His team pinpointed four key obstacles to its cure: drug resistance, drug toxicity, meningeal relapse, and pessimism among doctors.

Pinkel's team instituted a treatment program aimed at permanent cure of ALL.  Called "Total Therapy," it was based on all the available relevant laboratory and clinical research and experience. There were four phases: remission induction, remission consolidation or intensification, specific pre-emptive meningeal treatment and continuation chemotherapy for 3 years. Both radiotherapy and instillation of drug directly into spinal fluid were used for meningeal treatment. Eventually a 50% cure rate was achieved in the 1967–68 study V; this cure rate continues for the children in this study 40 years later. This was the first significant cure rate for generalized cancer and for primarily drug treatment of cancer.

This four-phase treatment plan is still used today with numerous modifications. Increases in resources and trained physicians and nurses, better infection control, safer blood transfusion and newer drugs and drug schedules have increased the reported cure rates to 75–85% of treated children with ALL in developed countries. Better use of drugs both systemically and by instillation into the spinal fluid have replaced the need for radiation therapy to pre-empt meningeal relapse in most children with ALL.

Later career
By 1968, it was becoming evident that Pinkel's approach to leukemia treatment was successful.  He spent the next several years publishing his findings and refining the procedure, allowing it to be more individualized for each patient.  He then resigned as the hospital’s director in 1973, and took leadership roles at a series of hospitals or faculties in Milwaukee, then Los Angeles, Houston, and Corpus Christi, Texas.  Pinkel retired from the medical profession in 1994.  He subsequently taught as an adjunct professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Personal life
Pinkel married Marita Donovan in December 1949.  They eventually divorced.  He later married Cathryn Howarth.  They remained married until his death.  He had nine children, one of whom predeceased him in 2019.  After retiring as a doctor, Pinkel moved to San Luis Obispo, California.  His polio symptoms returned during his retirement years, and he used a cane or braces for walking.  Pinkel died on March 9, 2022, at his home in San Luis Obispo, California.  He was 95 years old.

Awards
Pinkel received numerous recognitions for his contributions to the cure of childhood leukemia and other forms of pediatric cancer, including the Lasker Award for Medical Research, the Kettering Prize for Cancer Research, and the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research.  The American Cancer Society gave him its Annual Award for Clinical Research; the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society of America awarded him its Return of the Child award. In Germany he received the Zimmerman Prize for Cancer Research and in the United Kingdom the Leukemia Society Annual Lectureship and the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health biennial Windermere Lectureship. He was also inducted to the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame in 2017.

See also

 Cancer (2015 PBS film)
 History of cancer
 History of cancer chemotherapy
 The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

References

1926 births
2022 deaths
American hematologists
American medical researchers
Canisius University alumni
Military personnel from Buffalo, New York
Physicians from New York (state)
Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award
American people of German descent


The constraint composite graph is a node-weighted undirected graph associated with a given combinatorial optimization problem posed as a weighted constraint satisfaction problem. Developed and introduced by Satish Kumar Thittamaranahalli (T. K. Satish Kumar), the idea of the constraint composite graph is a big step towards unifying different approaches for exploiting "structure" in weighted constraint satisfaction problems.

A weighted constraint satisfaction problem (WCSP) is a generalization of a constraint satisfaction problem in which the constraints are no longer "hard," but are extended to specify non-negative costs associated with the tuples. The goal is then to find an assignment of values to all the variables from their respective domains so that the total cost is minimized. Weighted constraint satisfaction problems find innumerable applications in artificial intelligence and computer science. They are also variously referred to as markov random fields (in statistics and signal processing) and energy minimization problems (in physics).

While weighted constraint satisfaction problems are NP-hard to solve in general, several subclasses can be solved in polynomial time when their weighted constraints exhibit specific kinds of numerical structure. Tractable subclasses can also be identified by analyzing the way constraints are placed over the variables. Specifically, a weighted constraint satisfaction problem can be solved in time exponential only in the treewidth of its variable-interaction graph (constraint network). However, a major drawback of the constraint network is that it does not provide a computational framework for leveraging the numerical structure of the weighted constraints.

Unlike the constraint network, the constraint composite graph provides a unifying framework for representing both the graphical structure of the variable-interactions as well as the numerical structure of the weighted constraints. It can be constructed using a simple polynomial-time procedure; and a given weighted constraint satisfaction problem is reducible to the problem of computing the minimum weighted vertex cover for its associated constraint composite graph. The "hybrid" computational properties of the constraint composite graph are reflected in the following two important results:

(Result 1) The constraint composite graph of a given weighted constraint satisfaction problem has the same treewidth as its associated constraint network.

(Result 2) Many subclasses of weighted constraint satisfaction problems that are tractable by virtue of the numerical structure of their weighted constraints have associated constraint composite graphs that are bipartite in nature.

Result 1 shows that the constraint composite graph can be used to capture the graphical structure of the variable-interactions (since a minimum weighted vertex cover for any graph can be computed in time exponential only in the treewidth of that graph). Result 2 shows that the constraint composite graph can also be used to capture the numerical structure of the weighted constraints (since a minimum weighted vertex cover can be computed in polynomial time for bipartite graphs).

Empirically, when solving a WCSP, it has been shown that it is more advantageous to apply message passing algorithms and integer linear programming on the WCSP's constraint composite graph than on the WCSP directly.

References

Constraint programming


Jesús Omar de la Cruz, simply known as Omar de la Cruz (born November 5, 1979, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), is a Dominican professional mixed martial artist. Cruz is most known for his stint in Bellator Fighting Championships, fighting in its welterweight division.

Mixed martial arts
Omar is a fourth degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, and has been practicing the Korean martial art for 16 years, competing mostly in full-contact competitions. In 2001 he was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, rising steadily to the rank of Brown Belt under Dominican 1st degree black belt Abraham Tabar.

Cruz currently trains at his own gym, Fight Training Academy in his hometown of Santo Domingo, the only mixed martial arts gym in the country. Omar also acts as instructor in four other gyms. Omar had his first professional mixed martial arts bout on March 10, 2007, at the event Alianza Nacional Full Contact against Team ROC's Seth Horn, winning the fight via submission.

On August 29, 2009, Omar de la Cruz was promoted to brown belt under his instructor, Abraham Tabar.

On November 5, 2016, Omar de la Cruz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under his instructor, Abraham Tabar.

Bellator Fighting Championships
Omar was signed by Bellator Fighting Championships and is competing in their welterweight division. Cruz is participating in the tournament that began on April 10, 2009. Omar's first opponent was the previously undefeated Victor Meza, who was coming in on a nine-fight undefeated winning streak. Cruz won via unanimous decision after dominating in all three rounds.

Cruz's second fight for Bellator would be against former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, the fighter with the most extensive background Cruz would face to the date. The fight was a semi-final bout in the tournament and took place at Bellator 7. Omar traveled to California to train with personal friend, Brandon Vera in preparation for the match. The bout began with Menne rushing in on Cruz, clinching and eventually landing on top after a takedown. Omar worked to his guard, effectively defending punches coming from the top. Managing to get to his feet some moments later, Omar landed a straight on Menne's chin sending him to the canvas. Menne worked butterfly guard, eventually prompting de la Cruz to get up, then surprised him with vicious dropping fists from the top, causing serious damage. Impressively, Menne managed to get up and continue, only to receive kicks and punches resulting in a technical knockout in the first round.

In the Bellator welterweight finals, which took place at Bellator 11, Omar fought Lyman Good. Cruz was defeated by Good via TKO early in the first round, losing his bid for Bellator's welterweight title.

Sengoku
At Sengoku 13, Omar entered the Welterweight Grand Prix, after suffering from food poisoning and fever since arriving to Japan his team decided not to cancel the fight and after struggling to make weight and not being able to recover from the weight cut he lost to Keita Nakamura via TKO in the second round.

Mixed martial arts record

|-
| Loss
| align=center| 6–3
| Keita Nakamura
| TKO (punches)
| World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 13
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 3:53
| Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 6–2
| Prince McLean
| TKO (punches)
| C3 Fights: Knockout-Rockout Weekend 2
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 1:30
| Clinton, Oklahoma, United States
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 5–2
| Lyman Good
| TKO (punches)
| Bellator 11
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:23
| Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 5–1
| Dave Menne
| TKO (punches)
| Bellator 7
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:19
| Chicago, Illinois, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 4–1
| Victor Meza
| Decision (unanimous)
| Bellator 2
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 3–1
| Jason Potter
| Submission (armbar)
| Alianza National Full Contact 2
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:16
| Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 2–1
| Aaron Barrios
| Decision (unanimous)
| Total Combat 27
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Yuma, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 1–1
| Marcelo Brito
| Decision (split)
| MMAC: The Revolution
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Washington, D.C., United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 1–0
| Seth Horn
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Alianza National Full Contact 1
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 4:38
| Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
|

References

External links
Bellator Profile

Living people
1979 births
Dominican Republic practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Dominican Republic male taekwondo practitioners
Dominican Republic male mixed martial artists
Welterweight mixed martial artists
Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo
Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Sportspeople from Santo Domingo


Francis is a former provincial electoral division for the Legislative Assembly of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, centred on the town of Francis, Saskatchewan. This district was created before the 2nd Saskatchewan general election in 1908. The riding was dissolved and combined with the Milestone and Qu'Appelle-Wolseley districts before the 9th Saskatchewan general election in 1938. It is now part of the constituency of Indian Head-Milestone.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Election results

|-

|Provincial Rights
|John Wesley Mahan
|align="right"|877
|align="right"|47.33%
|align="right"|–
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|1,853
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|Conservative
|John Wesley Mahan
|align="right"|700
|align="right"|39.17%
|align="right"|-8.16
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|1,787
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|Conservative
|Franklin William James
|align="right"|1,228
|align="right"|39.79%
|align="right"|+0.62
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|3,086
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|Independent
|Samuel Norval Horner
|align="right"|1,228
|align="right"|45.75%
|align="right"|–
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|2,684
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|3,036
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|4,277
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

|-

|Conservative
|Samuel Norval Horner
|align="right"|1,896
|align="right"|34.57%
|align="right"|-23.53

|Farmer-Labour
|Robert Ernest Juby
|align="right"|1,085
|align="right"|19.78%
|align="right"|-
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|5,485
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|

See also
Electoral district (Canada)
List of Saskatchewan provincial electoral districts
List of Saskatchewan general elections
List of political parties in Saskatchewan
Francis, Saskatchewan

References
 Saskatchewan Archives Board – Saskatchewan Election Results By Electoral Division

Former provincial electoral districts of Saskatchewan