- published: 15 Jan 2016
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Birch is a broadleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula ( /ˈbɛtjʊlə/ Bé-tu-la), in the family Betulaceae which also includes alders, hazels and hornbeams and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains from 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates.
The common name "birch" is derived from an old Germanic root, birka, with the Proto-Indo-European root *bherəg, "white, bright; to shine." The Proto-Germanic rune berkanan is named after the birch. The generic name Betula is from Latin.
Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of temperate climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets. The fruit is a small samara, although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders (Alnus, other genus in the family) in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins.
Raymond Paul "Ray" Mears (born 7 February 1964) is an English woodsman, instructor, author and TV presenter. His TV appearances cover bushcraft and survival techniques, and he is best known for the TV series Ray Mears' Bushcraft, Ray Mears' World of Survival, Extreme Survival, Survival with Ray Mears, Wild Britain with Ray Mears and Ray Mears Goes Walkabout.
Mears grew up in Kenley, Greater London, and the North Downs, where he discovered a countryside abundant with wildlife. Educated at Reigate Grammar School, a co-educational independent school in Reigate, Surrey, he learned to track foxes in the forest at a young age. As a boy, he desired to sleep out on the trail, but unable to afford camping equipment, he resorted to setting up camp using what he could find in his surroundings.
Mears's enthusiasm for his subject, combined with his broad knowledge of survival and the uses which may be made of plants, trees and other natural materials found in woodland, forest or desert, have made him a popular figure in TV broadcasting in the UK.[citation needed] He has travelled extensively across the world for his TV series and has learned survival techniques from the indigenous peoples he has met. In his programmes he demonstrates his knowledge of the wild, how to find food from seeds, berries, roots and other growing things, and how to survive by constructing temporary shelters, fires and canoes from natural materials.
Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.
Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California. As a child, Newsom was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio because she was raised by doctors who were "kind of idealists when it came to hoping they could protect us from bad influences, like violent movies, or stupid stuff". She was exposed to music from a young age. Her father played the guitar and her mother was a classically trained pianist who played the hammered dulcimer, the autoharp and conga drums. Newsom attended a Waldorf school where she studied theater and learned to memorize and recite long poems. This skill helps her to remember lyrics while on tour.
At the age of five, Newsom asked her parents if she could play the harp. Her parents eventually agreed to sign her up for harp lessons, but the local harp teacher did not want to take on such a young student and suggested she learn to play the piano first. Starting at the age of four, she began playing the piano and later the harp, which she "loved from the first lesson onward." From her instructor, Joanna learned composition and improvisation. She learned to play on smaller Celtic harps until her parents bought her a full-size pedal harp in the seventh grade. During her teens, she and the instrument became inseparable, and she describes her relationship with the harp as similar to "an artificial limb or a wheelchair. It’s almost part of me, but more to the point, it serves a purpose, and if it wasn’t there I would wonder what was supposed to fit in its place."
Actors: Patrick McGuinn (director), Patrick McGuinn (producer), Peter Perrone (producer), Chris Graham (actor), Christian Hawkins (composer), Sara Jecko (actress), Valerie Ryan Miller (actress), Greg Chandler (writer), Andrew Glaszek (actor), Jeremy Neal (actor), Glenda Lauten (actress), Maggie Gaster (miscellaneous crew),
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance,Actors: Chris Myers (producer), Chris Myers (actor), Chris Myers (writer), Marc McElroy (editor), Marc McElroy (director), Marc McElroy (actor), Jordan Dunbar (actor), Aaron Butler (actor), Conall Kelly (actor), Tom Flight (actor), David Elliot (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Short,Actors: Charles Anteby (actor), Sara Branscum (miscellaneous crew), Alexandra Barreto (producer), Valerie Azlynn (actress), Marc Evan Jackson (actor), Jason Williams (actor), Peter Cilella (actor), John Lavelle (actor), Dillaran Martin (actor), Barry Onody (actor), David Crane (actor), Sarayu Rao (actress), Kelly Sry (actor), Vanat Sermpol (editor), Doug Hannah (producer),
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Short,Actors: Jason Liquori (actor), Jason Liquori (producer), Linnea Quigley (actress), Wayne Douglas Morgan (actor), Tiffany Shepis (actress), Wayne Douglas Morgan (miscellaneous crew), Lloyd Kaufman (actor), Valensky Sylvain (actor), Debbie Rochon (actress), Johnny Rock (actor), Louis Dupuy (actor), Louis Dupuy (miscellaneous crew), Steven Shea (producer), Steven Shea (writer), Jessica Luebe (actress),
Plot: When a group of college kids win a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, they soon find themselves on a rollercoaster of survival as bodies drop left and right. When the workers at a local VooDoo tourist attraction begin turning up dead, the teens must bind together and stay alive to figure out who is behind this most wicked plot. But, hey, who can be inconvenienced at the biggest party of the year?
Keywords: blood, crack-whore, female-nudity, gore, independent-film, knot-hole, lesbian, lesbian-kiss, lesbian-sex, lesbianismActors: Dawn Westlake (actress), Jon Jacobs (producer), Jon Jacobs (actor), Dawn Westlake (producer), Terry Camilleri (actor), Steve Solomon (miscellaneous crew), Matt K. Miller (actor), Eric Grush (actor), Tosca Musk (actress), Will Bilton (actor), Charlotte Lewis (actress), Dechen Thurman (actor), Stephen Sullivan (actor), John Tague (actor), Marc Lempert (director),
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, War,Actors: Ron Donachie (actor), Marc Warren (actor), Al Sapienza (actor), Ricky Tomlinson (actor), Roger Phillips (miscellaneous crew), Warwick Davis (actor), Richard Roundtree (actor), Sam Douglas (actor), Neil Cairns (miscellaneous crew), Ralf Little (actor), Peter Jaques (producer), Peter Jaques (actor), Mark Shelley (miscellaneous crew), Stephen Lord (actor), Justin Krish (editor),
Genres: Crime, Drama,Actors: Michael McAdam (actor), Ego Plum (composer), Chris Flanders (actor), Michael Lorre (actor), Dale Obert (actor), Jason Barnett (director), Jason Barnett (writer), Forrest G. Wood (actor), Audrey Looten (actress), Neil Colleran (actor), Marcia Janine Galles (editor), Gye Di Capua (actor), Susan Ralya (costume designer), Carrie Worley (actress), Robert Davies (editor),
Genres: ,Actors: Carl Weathers (actor), Thomas F. Wilson (actor), Craig T. Nelson (actor), Branscombe Richmond (actor), Ed O'Ross (actor), James Lew (actor), Bob Minor (actor), Bill Duke (actor), Jim Haynie (actor), Sonny Landham (actor), Francis X. McCarthy (actor), Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (actor), Robert Davi (actor), Sharon Stone (actress), Nicholas Worth (actor),
Plot: Jericho "Action" Jackson is a Detroit police sergeant who was demoted from lieutenant for almost tearing the arm off of sexually violent sociopath Sean Dellaplane, whose father is Peter Dellaplane, a major car manufacturer. But Dellaplane himself is violent as well. Dellaplane kills his wife Patrice by shooting her. And then he plants her body in Jackson's apartment, framing Jackson. Dellaplane won't miss Patrice very much, because he has a drug-addicted mistress named Sydney Ash. He keeps Sydney hooked with a free supply of heroin. Jackson suspects Dellaplane of masterminding a murder spree against local officials from the auto workers' union. Dellaplane's mission is to gain a political power base and choose the next president of the United States. Because of what happened to Dellaplane's son Sean, Dellaplane has taken a particular dislike to Jackson. Jackson gets Sydney's help in going after Dellaplane.
Keywords: action-hero, african-american, anti-hero, b-movie, bar-brawl, bar-fight, bare-breasts, bare-chested-male, bare-chested-male-bondage, blaxploitationActors: Chris Haywood (actor), John Flaus (actor), Rob Steele (actor), Hugh Keays-Byrne (actor), Richard Lowenstein (producer), Richard Lowenstein (writer), Richard Lowenstein (director), John Howard (actor), Jill Bilcock (editor), Timothy White (producer), Reg Evans (actor), Tiriel Mora (actor), Carol Burns (actress), Daniel Scharf (miscellaneous crew), Anthony Hawkins (actor),
Genres: Drama,Actors: Wallace Ford (actor), William Forrest (actor), Griff Barnett (actor), John Butler (actor), Wheaton Chambers (actor), George Chandler (actor), Ralph Brooks (actor), Frank Darien (actor), Edgar Dearing (actor), Robert Dudley (actor), Dick Elliott (actor), Tom Fadden (actor), Franklyn Farnum (actor), Frank Fenton (actor), Howard Freeman (actor),
Plot: Rip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure...until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes...
Keywords: change-of-mind, citizen, collateral-effect, discovery, exploitation, fame, media, neighbor, opinion, poll