Wuxia, which means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of fantasy literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms such as Chinese opera, mànhuà, television series and video games, it forms part of popular culture in many Chinese-speaking communities around the world. The word "wǔxiá" is a compound composed of the elements wǔ and xiá. A martial artist who follows the code of xia is referred to as a xiákè or yóuxiá. In some translations, the martial artist is referred to as a "swordsman" or "swordswoman" though he or she may not wield a sword; the heroes in wuxia fiction do not serve a lord, wield military power, or belong to the aristocratic class. They originate from the lower social classes of ancient Chinese society. A code of chivalry requires wuxia heroes to right and redress wrongs, fight for righteousness, remove oppressors, bring retribution for past misdeeds.
Chinese xia traditions can be compared to martial codes from other cultures such as the Japanese samurai bushidō. Though the term "wuxia" as the name of a genre is a recent coinage, stories about xia date back more than 2,000 years. Wuxia stories have their roots in some early youxia tales from 300–200 BCE; the Legalist philosopher Han Fei spoke disparagingly of youxias in his book Han Feizi in the chapter On Five'Maggot' Classes about five social classes in the Spring and Autumn period. Some well-known stories include Zhuan Zhu's assassination of King Liao of Wu, most notably, Jing Ke's attempt on the life of the King of Qin. In Volume 86 of the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian mentioned five notable assassins – Cao Mo, Zhuan Zhu, Yu Rang, Nie Zheng and Jing Ke – in the Warring States period who undertook tasks of conducting political assassinations of aristocrats and nobles; these assassins were known as cike. They rendered their loyalties and services to feudal lords and nobles in return for rewards such as riches and women.
In Volume 124 of the Shi Ji, Sima Qian detailed several embryonic features of xia culture from his period. These popular phenomena were documented in other historical records such as the Book of Han and the Book of the Later Han. Xiake stories returned in the form of chuanqi. Stories from that era, such as Nie Yinniang, The Kunlun Slave, Thirteenth Madame Jing, Red String and The Bearded Warrior, served as prototypes for modern wuxia stories, they featured fantasies and isolated protagonists – loners – who performed daring heroic deeds. During the Song dynasty, similar stories circulated in the huaben, short works that were once thought to have served as prompt-books for shuochang; the genre of the martial or military romance developed during the Tang dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an wrote Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin which are among the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; the former is a romanticised historical retelling of the events in the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, while the latter criticises the deplorable socio-economic status of the late Northern Song dynasty.
Water Margin is seen as the first full-length wuxia novel: the portrayal of the 108 heroes, their code of honour and willingness to become outlaws rather than serve a corrupt government, played an influential role in the development of jianghu culture in centuries. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is seen as a possible early antecedent and contains classic close-combat descriptions that were emulated by wuxia writers in their worksIn the Qing dynasty, further developments were the gong'an and related detective novels, where xia and other heroes, in collaboration with a judge or magistrate, solved crimes and battled injustice; the Justice Bao stories from Sanxia Wuyi and Xiaowuyi, incorporated much of social justice themes of wuxia stories. Xiayi stories of chivalrous romance, which featured female heroes and supernatural fighting abilities surfaced during the Qing dynasty. Novels such as Shi Gong'an Qiwen and Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan have been cited as the clearest nascent wuxia novels; the term "wuxia" as a genre label itself first appeared at the end of the Qing dynasty, a calque of the Japanese "bukyō", a genre of oft-militaristic and bushido-influenced adventure fiction.
The term was brought to China by writers and students who hoped that China would modernise its military and place emphasis on martial virtues, it became entrenched as the term used to refer to xiayi and other predecessors of wuxia proper. In Japan, the term "bukyō" faded into obscurity. Many wuxia works produced during the Ming and Qing dynasties were lost due to the governments' crackdown on and banning of such works. Wuxia works were deemed responsible for brewing anti-government sentiments, which led to rebellions in those eras; the departure from mainstream literature meant that patronage of this genre was limited to the masses and not to the literati, which led to the stifling of the development of the wuxia genre. Nonetheless, the wuxia genre remained enormously popular with the common people; the modern wuxia
South Run is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 6,389; the South Run CDP is in southern Fairfax County, bordered to the northwest by Burke Lake Park, to the north by Burke, to the east by Newington Forest, to the south by Crosspointe. The CDP's borders are formed by the Fairfax County Parkway to the north; the city of Fairfax is 8 miles to the north, downtown Washington, D. C. is 20 miles to the northeast. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the total area of the South Run CDP is 2.60 square miles, of which 2.53 square miles is land and 0.066 square miles, or 2.52%, is water. South Run, a tributary of Pohick Creek and part of the Potomac River watershed, flows from west to east through the center of CDP. At the southeast corner of the CDP it is impounded as Lake Mercer
A monster truck is a specialized truck with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Created by modifying stock pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, they have evolved into purpose-built vehicles with tube-frame chassis and fiberglass bodies rather than metal. A competition monster truck is 12 feet tall, equipped with 66-inch off-road tires. Monster trucks developed in the late 1970s and came into the public eye in the early 1980s as side acts at popular motocross, tractor pulling, mud bogging events, where they were used in car-crushing demonstrations. Today they are the main attraction with motocross, mud bogging, ATV racing, or demolition derbies as supporting events. Monster truck shows have two main events, a race and a freestyle competition. Races are conducted as a single-elimination tournament on short, symmetrical tracks, which may include obstacles such as junk cars or dirt mounds; the length and complexity of the track can vary with the size of the venue, with courses in indoor arenas being shorter with fewer obstacles.
In freestyle events, each driver puts on a performance consisting of stunts such as obstacle jumps, backflips and doughnuts. A panel of judges assign points to each performance and the driver with the most points is declared the winner. Additional vehicles for the drivers to crush, such as motor homes and school buses, were placed on the track for the freestyle event. However, incidences of debris flying into the stands and causing serious injuries have influenced most event promoters to turn away from such obstacles. Most freestyle courses now consist of large mounds and ramps erected to allow the trucks to perform large jumps and wheelies upon landing. Freestyle performances have a set time limit and only one truck is allowed on the track at a time as a safety measure. Freestyle events are the final competition of a show, as damage to the trucks would make them unable to race. In the late 1970s modified pickup trucks were becoming popular and the sports of mud bogging and truck pulling were gaining in popularity.
Several truck owners had created lifted trucks to compete in such events, soon competition to hold the title of "biggest truck" developed. The trucks which garnered the most national attention were Bob Chandler's Bigfoot, Everett Jasmer's USA-1, Fred Shafer and Jack Willman Sr.'s Bear Foot, Jeff Dane's King Kong. At the time, the largest tires the trucks were running were 48 inches in diameter. In April 1981, Bob Chandler drove over junked cars in Bigfoot in what is believed to be the first monster truck to crush cars. Chandler drove Bigfoot over a pair of cars in a field as a test of the truck's ability, filmed it to use as a promotional tool in his four-wheel drive performance shop. An event promoter asked Chandler to do it in front of a crowd. Hesitant because of the "destructive" image that could be associated with Bigfoot, Chandler agreed. After some smaller shows, Chandler performed the feat in the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982. At this show, Chandler debuted a new version of Bigfoot with 66-inch tires.
At a prior event in the early 1980s, when Bigfoot was still running 48-inch tires, Bob George, one of the owners of a motorsport promotion company named Truck-a-rama – known as the United States Hot Rod Association – is said to have coined the phrase "monster truck" when referring to Bigfoot. The term "monster truck" became the generic name for all trucks with oversized tires. King Kong and Bear Foot each followed Bigfoot to 66-inch-diameter tires, soon other monster trucks, such as King Krunch and Virginia Giant were being constructed; these early trucks were built on stock chassis which were reinforced, used leaf spring suspension, a stock body, heavy axles from military-specification vehicles to support the tires. For most of the early 1980s, monster trucks performed exhibitions as a side show to truck pulling or mud bogging events. In August 1983, Bigfoot and USA-1 competed in the first side-by-side monster truck race, filmed for the television show That's Incredible. By 1985 major promoters, such as the USHRA and TNT Motorsports, were racing monster trucks on a regular basis.
In 1988, TNT Motorsports created a series to establish the first national championship of monster truck racing. In 1988, to standardize rules for truck construction and safety, Bob Chandler and George Carpenter formed the Monster Truck Racing Association; the MTRA created standard safety rules to govern monster trucks. The organization still plays a major role in the sport's development in the USA and EU. With racing taking precedence, several teams began to think in new ways as to how the trucks could be built. Towards the end of 1988, Gary Cook and David Morris debuted Equalizer, a truck with a combination of coil springs and shock absorbers as the main source of suspension rather than the standard of leaf springs and shock absorbers. In 1989, Jack Willman Sr. now with his own truck, debuted a new truck which used a solid axle suspension system made of parallel four-link suspensions and coilovers that together weighed in at close to 9,000 pounds. However, the biggest innovation came from Chandler in 1989, when the CAD-designed Bigfoot #8 debuted featuring a full tubular chassis and a long-travel suspension system made of triangulated four-link suspensions, bump stops, limit straps and shock absorbers charged with nitrogen gas.
The truck revolutioniz
Brakemine was an early surface-to-air missile development project carried out in the United Kingdom during World War II. Brakemine used a beam riding guidance system developed at A. C. Cossor, while REME designed the testbed airframes. Trial launches were carried out between 1944 and 1945, the effort wound down as the war ended. Although Brakemine would never be used in its original form, its use of the "twist-and-steer" guidance method would be used on the more capable LOPGAP design, after major changes, emerged as the Bristol Bloodhound. A single Brakemine survives in the REME Museum. Brakemine was the result of two independently developed versions of the beam riding guidance system concept. In 1942, Captain Sedgfield of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers wrote a technical paper on the concept. In 1943, Leslie Herbert Bedford, director of research at A. C. Cossor, independently developed the same idea while on a long train ride; the filing of two similar concepts led to a conference at the headquarters of Anti-Aircraft Command, attended by Sir Frederick Pile and Brigadier J.
A. E. Burls, Chief Mechanical Engineer of AA Command. A follow-up meeting started planning for a number of committees to study development of the concept, but worried that this would lead to lengthy delays, Burls decided to allow Cossor a free hand to develop the guidance system while Major Sedgfield would handle rocket development at the AA Command's workshops at Park Royal. Development began in February 1944; the Brakemine missile developed as a simple cylindrical airframe with an ogive nosecone, small elliptical wings mounted near the center of gravity, four small fins at the rear. The missile was powered by eight solid rockets taken from the existing Unrotated Projectile anti-aircraft rocket, its flight was controlled using the "twist-and-steer" method of the two main wings. These were connected to the missile fuselage with pivots, allowing them to rotate to different angles of attack. To turn the missile, the wings would first rotate in opposite directions to cause the missile to roll. Once the wings were perpendicular to the required direction, they would be rotated in the same direction, creating lift to change its course.
A launcher consisting of a rail mounted to an QF 3.7 inch AA gun traversal mechanism was built at Walton-on-the-Naze and test firings started in September 1944. This pre-dates the Fairey Stooge, is the first launch of an anti-aircraft missile of British design. Early tests resulted in numerous failures, but as the missiles fell into the ocean they could be retrieved for study and the flaws corrected; as the missile aerodynamics improved and the failure rate dropped, further launches were fit with the guidance system, although they were not turned on. A total of 20 of these early designs were built and flown, shots 11 through 20 with the guidance system installed. At this point an improved missile body was introduced, launches of the operational system took place. Guidance was provided by the "Blue Cedar" radar in testing and entering service post-war as Radar, AA No. 3 Mk. 7. A proximity fuse was ready for use; when the war in Europe ended in the midst of testing, the Army lost interest in the project.
It was, at this time, the best-developed missile system in Britain. Further development was taken up by the Ministry of Supply, who took over development of the competing Stooge; the MoS moved the project to their rocket testing facilities at RAF Aberporth in Wales, but no further launches took place. The dozen existing Stooge test airframes were fired from Aberporth before that program ended. Further development on both projects ended in favour of the much more powerful English Electric Thunderbird, which had little in common with either project. Brakemine would have one lasting influence on British missile development, however; the MoS was interested in a much more capable design with altitude performance to 40,000 feet and selected Brakemine's twist-and-steer manoeuvering system as the basis for this improved LOPGAP design developed by Fairey. Over time these early developments culminated in the Bristol Bloodhound, which competed with the Thunderbird; the surviving Brakemine missile at the REME Museum is about 8 feet long, 2 feet in diameter.
Two wide-chord elliptical wings are mounted on either side just below the center of the missile. Much smaller rectangular fins are at the extreme rear of the airframe; the launcher consisted of a bridgework placed on the gun mounting, with two rails on top of the bridgework. The missile fuselage rode in the gap between the rails, with the rockets wrapped around the fuselage and falling away after launch. One problem with the guidance system, not solved during Brakemine's development was its reliance on a known launch orientation providing an "up" direction. If the missile rolled during its initial flight before the guidance system activated, this direction would not be set and the automated system that attempted to keep the missile centered in the radar beam would instead send out corrections that would move it further away from it. A single Brakemine missile is preserved in the REME Museum of Technology
Jay Manalo is a Filipino actor and model. He was raised in Tondo, Manila, he was born to Vietnamese mother. After he won as 1st runner-up of SM Man of the Year he became a model/endorser of Blowing Bubbles, his film debut was through the action movie Brat Pack in 1994. He became a lead in his second film, Paracale Gang, released in 1996 and followed by the movie Urban Rangers; that same year, he did a switch from action to sexy roles when he starred in the movie Gayuma opposite Amanda Page. Possessing boyish looks and an oozing sex appeal, he became a staple of sexy movies in the Philippines, with the film Totoy Mola pushing him to sexy stardom. After Totoy Mola, he played lead in "bold flicks" like Kool Ka Lang, Kaliwat Kanan, Sakit sa Katawan, Bayad Puri, Bawal na Halik and Balahibong Pusa. By the turn of the century, his roles had become more dramatic, his recent performances have been well received by movie critics, he has won a number of acting awards in the Philippines. Some of his noticeable portrayals are in the films Prosti, Bayarán, Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa, Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita and Mano Po 3: My Love.
He ventured into other film genres, having starred in comedies such as I Will Survive and Ako Legal Wife and in fantasy / horror films such as Gagamboy, Feng Shui, his latest film Barang. He voiced Simakwel in Urduja whom was the titular character's fiancé; the film stars Regine Velasquez, Cesar Montano, Eddie Garcia and Johnny Delgado. His latest movie role was in 2011's Shake, Rattle & Roll 13 as Mar in the episode, Rain Rain Go Away. Jay Manalo has been part of the cast of soap operas, his TV career started with the top-rated soap in 1997, Mula Sa Puso, which starred Claudine Barretto. He followed it up with other appearances in soaps like Kung Mawawala Ka, his breakthrough role in television is his portrayal in the soap opera, Vietnam Rose in ABS-CBN in 2005. He plays Miguel, a Vietnamese businessman, Carina's first love. Though the performances of the cast were well-cited by critics, the ratings were disappointing. After Vietnam Rose, he was included in the cast of GMA's TV adaptation of Bakekang.
He played Christoph, an actor and a love interest of the lead role, played by Sunshine Dizon and Valeria, played by Sheryl Cruz. Bakekang became one of the top-rated shows in the Philippines, he starred in his new action-adventure series on GMA titled Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan as Drigo, a Filipino version of Hessler of Shaider. Manalo was last seen in the teleserye FPJ's Ang Probinsyano on ABS-CBN, his Filipino father, Eustaquio G. Manalo, Jr. was a musician based in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. After Jay was born, they moved to Manila and by the time he was five, his parents separated, his mother forced to leave him. In 1981, his father went abroad to work as a musician and entertainer, leaving Jay with his grandmother. Jay reunited with his father in 1993, two years with his mother, she has since married a United States Navy serviceman. Despite being married, Manalo has admitted. Manalo was released to the custody of his lawyer on 6 July 2007, a day after cracking a bomb joke at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport while about to board a morning flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
Prosecutor Ticyado had ordered Atty. E. Teodoro to take him into custody, as bomb jokes are criminal offences in the country. Manalo was earlier removed from Philippine Airlines flight PR185 after telling a flight attendant that there was a bomb in his backpack; the prosecutor found that Manalo was only cracking a joke and had no intention of carrying explosives nor harming any of the passengers in the Palawan-bound flight. Valerai, Nini. "Jay Manalo:Bringing up father". Global Nation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2006. Sicami, Edmund L. C. "Jay Manalo: More Than a Stud". Planet Philippines. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Cruz, Marinel R. "2 Jay Manalo starrers". Global Nation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2006. Jay Manalo on IMDb Galvez, James Konstantin. "Actor Jay Manalo ordered released after bomb joke". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Jay Manalo on IMDb
Snow White is a 1987 American musical/fantasy film based on the classic fairytale and released as part of the "Cannon Movie Tales" series. The film was released straight to video. In August 2005 it was released on Region 1 DVD by MGM; the film opens with a handsome young prince traveling through the forest in winter with his men. In a forest glen, the prince finds Snow White lying in a glass coffin; the seven dwarfs tell the Prince of Snow White's story through flashback. A courageous King and his fair Queen rule their kingdom well. One winter's day while sewing with her maids, the Queen accidentally pricks her finger with her needle, a single drop of blood falls on the snow outside her windowsill; the King declares they will have a child with hair as black as ebony, cheeks as red as blood, skin as white as snow. The Good Queen gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Snow White, but dies shortly after her child is born; some years the king marries again. However, the new queen is vain and jealous of Snow White.
When her magic mirror tells her that Snow White is now the fairest in the land, the Evil Queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and kill her, to bring back her liver as proof of her death. During a hunting trip, the huntsman succeeds in taking Snow White away from her father, but Snow White, realizing her stepmother's plan to destroy her, manages to escape into the forest where she finds a cottage belonging to seven kindly dwarfs - Iddy, Kiddy, Fiddy and Liddy - who allow her to stay with them; the King is heartbroken when he is told that Snow White had been eaten by wild animals, he is killed in battle. 10 years Snow White grows into a beautiful young maiden. When the Evil Queen asks the magic mirror "who is the fairest one of all", she learns that Snow White is still alive; the Evil Queen decides to kill Snow White with three attempts. First, she disguises herself as a gypsy woman and laces up Snow White in a tight bodice, only for the dwarfs to cut the lace with scissors.
The second time, she disguises herself as an Asian comb seller and gives Snow White a poisoned comb, only for the dwarfs to remove the comb from her hair. The Evil Queen disguises herself as an old peddler woman and offers Snow White a poisoned apple. Snow White resists at first, but relents when the Evil Queen cuts the apple in half so they may share it. Snow White collapses; the dwarfs are unable to revive her, place her inside a glass coffin. The film returns to the present, where the dwarfs allow the Prince to take Snow White to a proper resting place; when Snow White is being transported, the coffin accidentally falls off the wagon due to a tree falling down by a snowstorm, causing the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, she awakens. The Prince is enchanted that Snow White magically revived herself and asks her to marry him, she accepts. Invitations to the wedding are sent throughout the land, the Evil Queen receives one as well, leaving the magic mirror into concluding that the Prince's bride is the fairest in the land.
Enraged, the Evil Queen smashes her mirror. She rushes to the church in time to see that the bride is Snow White, disintegrates into ashes before heading back to the carriage. Snow White and the Prince are married and live ever after. Diana Rigg as The Evil Queen, Snow White's evil stepmother Sarah Patterson as Snow White Nicola Stapleton as Young Snow White Billy Barty as Iddy Mike Edmonds as Biddy Ricardo Gil as Kiddy Malcolm Dixon as Diddy Gary Friedkin as Fiddy Arturo Gil as Giddy Tony Cooper as Liddy Doug Sheldon as The King, Snow White's father James Ian Wright as The Prince Dorit Adi as the First and Good Queen, Snow White's mother Julian Chagrin as the Magic Mirror Amnon Meskin as the Huntsman Azara Rapoport as the other King, the Prince's father Snow White on IMDb Snow White at AllMovie Snow White at the TCM Movie Database