The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.

Source and route

It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the famous flood of 1966, with 4,500 m³/s after a rain of 437.2 mm in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres in Florence, in only 24 hours.

The flow rate of the Arno is irregular. It is sometimes described as having a torrent-like behaviour, because it can easily go from almost dry to near-flood in a few days. At the point where the Arno leaves the Apennines, flow measurements can vary between 0.56 m³/s and 3,540 m³/s. New dams built upstream of Florence have greatly alleviated the problem in recent years.

A flood on November 4, 1966 collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of art and rare books. New conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even 40 years later hundreds of works still await restoration.

Gallery

References

External links

Category:Rivers of Italy Category:Rivers of Tuscany Category:Geography of Florence Category:Geography of Pisa Category:Rivers of the Province of Arezzo Category:Rivers of the Province of Florence Category:Rivers of the Province of Pisa Category:Rivers of the Province of Prato

Career

Unlike most other performers in the small, specialized field of pickpocket entertainment, Arno does not present magical effects for their own sake. He does incorporate principles of magic in much the same manner that criminal pickpockets, con artists, and other street thieves do. And, given that his show is comedy, he is not above preparing a volunteer on occasion to enhance his humorous finale. Regardless, Arno's thievery skills are legendary. Blue Moon Talent Agency says "Nothing a victim possesses is safe from Bob Arno's lightning lifts." He has perfected the art of the steal to include neckties, suspenders, glasses, belts, cell phones, wallets, and pocket contents, as well as watches.

In 1993, looking to expand the show, Arno and his wife wondered if they could bring elements from the street to the stage. They began a serious study of street criminals, filming them in the act of tricking and/or stealing from victims, and interviewing them when possible. "Wearing hidden camera and recording equipment, they do everything they can to put themselves in the thick of the action," according to ''Las Vegas Review Journal''. Arno and Vincent began calling themselves "thief-hunters" and soon amassed a valuable film archive of a little-documented crime.

In the preface of their book (see below), Arno and Vincent claim to have initially suffered inner turmoil created by failing to prevent incidents occurring in their presence, but they overcame that discomfort after realizing the value of their study. Certainly they were able to port street techniques to the stage, as originally hoped. But the video footage and interviews garnered interest from law enforcement and security agencies, while the video mixed with anecdotes and lessons became a popular lecture to laymen.

Thus began Arno's career as a criminologist and speaker. His study had begun much earlier with observations of soldiers on R&R; leave in Asia during the 60s. On May 11, 1969, a front page profile written by Brian Moynahan in the London ''Sunday Times'' called Arno "one of the world's pickpocketing experts." In the four-column article Arno describes theft risks peculiar to various Asian countries and compares victim reaction by nationality. In its June 20, 1969 issue, Time magazine wrote: "One of the world's foremost experts in the techniques of first-rank 'wires' (or 'cannons' or 'pit workers') is Bob Arno, a 29-year-old Swede whose demonstrations onstage and in nightclubs earn him more than $100,000 a year." In a January 9, 1981 article entitled "Beware the Stiff-Armed Stranger; He May be Lifting Your Wallet," ''The Wall Street Journal'' quoted "Robert [sic] Arno, a Miami, Fla., pickpocketing expert who's advised police in various countries."

In 1993, armed with video cameras to document his findings, Arno revived his research in earnest. His knowledge base started with common and specialized forms of street thievery, and later grew to include off-the-street theft from tourists. His expertise now includes behavior profiling, identity theft, laptop theft, credit card fraud and internet scams. He lectures to corporate and lay audiences and presents training for law enforcement and security, and other government agencies in the United States and abroad. Promenade Speakers Bureau calls Arno's presentations "a tad provocative," and says they include “pattern recognition” and “body language profiling."

With Vincent, Arno is co-author of the book ''Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams'' (Bonus Books, 2003).

The feature article “Thieves Among Us” in the April 2005 issue of ''National Geographic Traveler'' documents several of Arno’s “unorthodox surveillance tactics.” Arno walked into the picturesque but crime-ridden Spanish Quarter of Naples, Italy, to see how long it would take for his (fake) Rolex to be stolen by scooter-riding bandits. By alleging to be a pickpocket, he establishes a rapport with street thieves, which has resulted in at least one offer to join an organized crime ring at US$1,000/day for himself and Vincent.

History

From age 20 to 23, Arno toured Asia with his pickpocket show, working nightclubs and U.S. military bases. From 23 to 25 he toured across Europe working nightclubs and theaters. At 25 he worked for two months at the Latin Quarter (nightclub) in New York, which began his career in America. He worked steadily from then on, mostly in casino revues, moving from Atlantic City to the Caribbean to Canada to Las Vegas. In 1992, after many years in Las Vegas and three years (1990–1992) in the ''Jubilee!'' show at Bally's Casino there, he quit his casino revue career in order to travel with his wife. Cruise ships served a triple purpose in the 90s: a steady income as a performing venue; exotic world travel; and putting Arno in the middle of huge tourist crowds, which is generally where pickpockets operate. These crowds, primarily in the great cities of Europe, but also in Asia, Africa, and South America, were the inspiration for Arno's criminal pickpocket research. The study soon became the motivation for further cruise ship engagements.

The 90s also saw Arno in theater productions. He starred in his own show with Swedish comedian John Houdi at Berns Salonger in Stockholm, performed at the Lido in Amsterdam, at Liseberg and Gröna Lund in Sweden, at theaters in Sydney, and at Sun City, North West. He also began performing at private corporate events, which is currently his main focus along with keynote speaking and law enforcement training.

In 2008 he toured as part of a stage show called ''Hoodwinked'' with Banachek, Todd Robbins and Richard Turner.

He was featured in the Just for Laughs Comedy Tour of 2010, along with Jeremy Hotz, Robert Kelly, Ryan Hamilton, and Gina Yashere.

Books

Television

Arno's foreign television credits are many, including appearances in Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Brazil, and United Kingdom.

References

External links

Laidback Luke grew up in The Netherlands and made his name as a graffiti artist before turning to making music. He has worked with artists such as David Guetta, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Junior Sanchez and played throughout Europe and North America as well as shows in Japan and Ibiza. He has released two studio albums: Psyched Up (1998) and Electronic Satisfaction (2002) as well as a successful mix album, Windmill Skill (2003). In 2003, van Scheppingen did a remix of the Daft Punk song "Crescendolls" for the duo's remix album ''Daft Club''. Luke has also released his own mix album, titled ''Ibiza Closing Party'', as a free covermount CD in the October 2008 issue of ''Mixmag''. He has currently released his new album on the 4th of July 2011, called ''Cream Ibiza Super You & Me''.

Discography

Singles

Remixes, Bootlegs, Edits and Unofficial Reworks

Notes

External links

Category:1976 births Category:Dutch DJs Category:Living people

Singer Songwriter

During his career as the lead singer of rock band The Springbok Nude Girls, and subsequently as a solo artist, Arno has released 7 studio albums and had 18 top ten singles. He has won 5 South African Music Awards and shared the stage with legends of the music world.

Arno has performed on the main stage at the Isle of Wight Festival, has appeared at Glastonbury, V Festival, T in the Park and Hard Rock Calling and has supported the likes of The Rolling Stones, Paul Weller, The Police, Simple Minds, Ultravox and Meat Loaf on European tours. Arno features as lead vocalist and co-writer on three tracks on the Mike + The Mechanics 2011 album "The Road".

Wonderful Wild

The first single ''Dreamer'', taken from this forthcoming UK debut album, will be released in February 2010.

The Hello Goodbye Boys

Another Universe

References

External links

Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:South African singer-songwriters