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Botticelli (game)
Botticelli is a guessing game where one person or team thinks of a famous person and reveals the initial letter of their name, and then answers yes–no questions to allow other players to guess the identity. It requires the players to have a good knowledge of biographical details of famous people. The game takes its name from the principle that the famous person must be at least as famous as Sandro Botticelli. How to play One player (the chooser) is selected to think of a famous person (the identity). This person should be someone the chooser is comfortable answering biographical questions about, and someone the chooser is very confident that the other players will all have heard of; obscure identities make for frustrating game play, especially with young players. The rule of thumb is that the person should be at least as famous or well known as Sandro Botticelli, hence the name of the game. Fictional characters are acceptable, but can present certain difficulties. In some c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guessing Game
Guessing is the act of drawing a swift conclusion, called a guess, from data directly at hand, which is then held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is an unstable answer, as it is "always putative, fallible, open to further revision and interpretation, and validated against the horizon of possible meanings by showing that one interpretation is more probable than another in light of what we already know". In many of its uses, "the meaning of guessing is assumed as implicitly understood",Mark Tschaepe, "Gradations of Guessing: Preliminary Sketches and Suggestions", in John R. Shook, ''Contemporary Pragmatism'' Volume 10, Number 2, (December 2013), p. 135-154. and the term is therefore often used without being meticulously defined. Guessing may combine elements of deductive reasoning, deduction, inductive reasoning, induction, abductive reasoning, abduction, and the purely ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illya Kuryakin
Illya Kuryakin (Russian: Илья Курякин) is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series, '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' He is a secret agent with a range of weapons and explosives skills, and is described in the series as holding a master's degree from the Sorbonne and a Ph.D. in Quantum Mechanics from the University of Cambridge ("The Her Master's Voice Affair"). And attended the University of Georgia in Ukraine, where he studied gymnastics among other things ("Hot Number"). Kuryakin speaks many languages, including French, Spanish ("The Very Important Zombie Affair"), German, Arabic, Italian and Japanese ("The Cherry Blossom Affair"). The series was remarkable for pairing an American character, Napoleon Solo, with the Russian Kuryakin as two spies who work together for an international espionage organization at the height of the Cold War. Background Kuryakin was played by Scottish actor David McCallum. Although originally conceived as a minor character, Ku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crying Of Lot 49
''The Crying of Lot 49'' is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon. It was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. on April27, 1966. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman who begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-old feud between two mail distribution companies. One of these companies, Thurn and Taxis, actually existed; operating from 1806 to 1867, Thurn and Taxis was the first private firm to distribute postal mail. Like most of Pynchon's writing, ''The Crying of Lot 49'' is often described as postmodernist literature. ''Time'' magazine included the book in its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. Plot In the mid-1960s, Oedipa Maas lives a fairly comfortable life in a northern Californian village, despite her lackluster marriage with Mucho Maas, a rudderless radio jockey and ephebophile, and her sessions with Dr. Hilarius, an unhinged German psychotherapist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For ''Gravity's Rainbow'', Pynchon won the 1974 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. (With essays by Casey Hicks and Chad Post from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog. The mock acceptance speech by Irwin Corey is not reprinted by NBF.) He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon served two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known: ''V.'' (1963), ''The Crying of Lot 49'' (1966), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (1973). Rumors of a historical novel about Charles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge Simpson, Marge, Bart Simpson, Bart, Lisa Simpson, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson, Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield (The Simpsons), Springfield, in an unspecified location in the United States, it caricatures society, Western culture, television and the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of The Simpsons shorts, animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton". The shorts became a part of ''The Tracey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funeral For A Fiend
"Funeral for a Fiend" is the eighth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 25, 2007. It was written by Michael Price and was directed by Rob Oliver. Serving as a stand-alone sequel to " The Italian Bob", it features Kelsey Grammer in his tenth appearance as Sideshow Bob, as well as David Hyde Pierce in his second appearance as Cecil Terwilliger. John Mahoney makes his sole appearance as their father, Doctor Robert Terwilliger Sr.. Keith Olbermann also makes a guest appearance as himself. Plot The Simpsons see a commercial for a new restaurant called "Wes Doobner's World Famous Family Style Rib Huts", owned by a cowboy of the same name and perfectly suited to each member of the family. They decide to visit it for its grand opening, but discover Doobner is actually Sideshow Bob, having fled Italy alongside his wife and son, Francesca, and Gino, and crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: '' A Wind in the Door'', '' A Swiftly Tilting Planet'', '' Many Waters'', and '' An Acceptable Time''. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science. Early life Madeleine L'Engle Camp was born in New York City on November 29, 1918, and named after her great-grandmother, Madeleine Margaret L'Engle, otherwise known as Mado. Her maternal grandfather was Florida banker Bion Barnett, co-founder of Barnett Bank in Jacksonville, Florida. Her mother, a pianist, was also named Madeleine: Madeleine Hall Barnett. Her father, Charles Wadsworth Camp, was a writer, critic, and foreign correspondent who, according to his daughter, suffered lung damage from mustard gas during World War I. L'Engle wrote her first story aged five and began keeping a journal aged eight. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Acceptable Time
''An Acceptable Time'' is a 1989 young adult science fiction novel by American author Madeleine L'Engle, the last of her books to feature Polyhymnia O'Keefe, better known as Poly ('' The Arm of the Starfish'', '' Dragons in the Waters'') or Polly ('' A House Like a Lotus'', ''An Acceptable Time''). Marketed as part of the author's Time Quintet, ''An Acceptable Time'' connects Polly's adventures with those of her parents, Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe, which take place a generation earlier. The book's title is taken from Psalm 69:13, "But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable time." Plot summary Happy to be away from her large family for a while, Polly O'Keefe is spending the autumn with her maternal grandparents, Dr. Kate Murry and Dr. Alex Murry, getting a better education from them in science than she would have received at home. She is grieving the loss of her beloved friend and mentor, Maximiliana Sebastiane Horne. Soon, however, surprising things start t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Young Ones (TV Series)
''The Young Ones'' is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, starring Adrian Edmondson, Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, and Alexei Sayle, and broadcast on BBC2 for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included Anarchy, anarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers. ''The Young Ones'' helped bring alternative comedy to British television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers. The show became a notable icon of 1980s British popular culture, and it received its own game and a home-media release while becoming the first non-music-related programme to appear on MTV in the United States in 1985. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (novel)
''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'' is a 1976 novel by Tom Robbins. Plot summary Sissy Hankshaw, the novel's protagonist, is a woman born with enormously large thumbs who considers her mutation a gift. The novel covers various topics, including free love, feminism, drug use, birds, political rebellion, animal rights, body odor, religion, and yams. Sissy capitalizes on the size of her thumbs by becoming a hitchhiker and subsequently travels to New York. The character becomes a model for The Countess, a male homosexual tycoon of menstrual hygiene products. The tycoon introduces Sissy to a staid Mohawk named Julian Gitche, whom she later marries. In her later travels, she encounters, among many others, a sexually open cowgirl named Bonanza Jellybean and an itinerant escapee from a Japanese internment camp happily mislabeled The Chink, who is presented as a hermetic mystic and, at one point writes on a cave wall, "I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in noth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Robbins
Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his books. His 1976 novel ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'' was adapted into the 1993 film version by Gus Van Sant. His last work, published in 2014, was '' Tibetan Peach Pie'', a self-declared "un-memoir". Early life Robbins was born on July 22, 1932, in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to George Thomas Robbins and Katherine Belle Robinson. Both of his grandfathers were Southern Baptist preachers. The Robbins family lived in Blowing Rock before moving to Warsaw, Virginia, when the author was still a young boy. In adulthood, Robbins described his young self as being a "hillbilly". Robbins attended Warsaw High School (class of 1949) and Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, where he won the Senior Essay Medal. The next year he enro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct United States in the Vietnam War, US military involvement escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian Civil War, Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming Communism, communist in 1975. After the defeat of the French Union in the First Indoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
