Paycheck (short story)

"Paycheck" is a short story by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, written on July 31, 1952 and first published in the June 1953 issue of Imagination. The story was later made, with various alterations, into the film Paycheck in 2003 directed by John Woo and starring Ben Affleck.

Plot summary

Jennings, a talented electronic engineer, has accepted a secret contract with Rethrick Construction. The terms of the contract state that he will work for two years on a secret project after which he will have his memory of the time erased and will be paid an inordinate sum. It is implied that this type of working contract has replaced non-disclosure agreements in business and are commonplace. He wakes up to find that during his tenure he decided to forgo the payment of money and instead receive an envelope of trinkets.

Soon after exiting the building he is seized by the secret police who want to know what Rethrick is doing. Fortunately one of the trinkets he received as payment enables his escape from the police. Jennings soon realizes that the only way to secure his safety is to blackmail Rethrick who will be able to shield him from the government. Using several more of the trinkets he is able to make his way back to Rethrick's hidden facility. He has also realized that during his tenure at Rethrick Industries he worked on a machine that allowed people to view the future and the trinkets are part of a carefully crafted plan to ensure his survival.

Mashing

In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain (typically malted barley with supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye or wheat), known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture. Mashing allows the enzymes in the malt to break down the starch in the grain into sugars, typically maltose to create a malty liquid called wort. There are two main methods—infusion mashing, in which the grains are heated in one vessel; and decoction mashing, in which a proportion of the grains are boiled and then returned to the mash, raising the temperature. Mashing involves pauses at certain temperatures (notably 45–62–73 °C or 113–144–163 °F), and takes place in a "mash tun"—an insulated brewing vessel with a false bottom. The end product of mashing is called a "mash".

Infusion mashing

Most breweries use infusion mashing, in which the mash is heated directly to go from rest temperature to rest temperature. Some infusion mashes achieve temperature changes by adding hot water, and there are also breweries that do single-step infusion, performing only one rest before lautering.

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors is a 1968 novel by Richard Hooker (the pen name for former military surgeon Dr. H. Richard Hornberger and writer W. C. Heinz) which is notable as the inspiration for the 1970 feature film MASH and TV series M*A*S*H. The novel is about a fictional U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea during the Korean War.

Hooker followed the novel with two sequels. There was also a series of sequels of rather different and lighter tone credited as being written by Hooker and William E. Butterworth, but actually written by Butterworth alone.

Background

Hornberger was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey in 1924. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After graduating from Cornell University Medical School, he was drafted into the Korean War and assigned to the 8055 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

M.A.S.H. units, according to one doctor assigned to the unit, "weren't on the front lines, but they were close. They lived and worked in tents. It was hot in the summer and colder than cold in the winter." The operating room consisted of stretchers balanced on carpenter's sawhorses.

Slip-on shoe

Slip-ons are typically low, lace-less shoes. The style most commonly seen, known as a loafer or slippers in American culture, has a moccasin construction. One of the first designs was introduced in London by Wildsmith Shoes, called the Wildsmith Loafer. They began as casual shoes, but have increased in popularity to the point of being worn in America with city lounge suits. Another design was introduced as Aurlandskoen (the Aurland Shoe) in Norway (early 20th century). They are worn in many situations in a variety of colours and designs, often featuring tassels on the front, or metal decorations (the 'Gucci' loafer).

A less casual, earlier type of slip-on is made with side gussets (sometimes called a dress loafer). Made in the same shape as lace-up Oxfords, but lacking the laces, these shoes have elasticated inserts on the side which allow the shoe to be easily removed but remain snug when worn. This cut has its greatest popularity in Britain.

Loafers

History

A bespoke shoe company based in London that was established in 1847 developed the first loafer as a country house shoe for the landed gentry and the royal family. The "Wildsmith Loafer" made by Raymond Lewis Wildsmith of Wildsmith Shoes, was designed for King George VI as a casual house shoe. The shoe has subsequently been marketed and sold by other London shoe firms and dubbed "the Harrow".

Super (2010 American film)

Super is a 2010 American superhero dark comedy-drama film written and directed by James Gunn, starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon and Nathan Fillion. The film premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in theaters in the United States on April 1, 2011 and on video on demand on April 13, 2011. The film was released unrated in U.S. theaters, and later received an R rating for its DVD/Blu-ray release.

Plot

Short-order cook Frank Darbo (Rainn Wilson) says in voice-over that he has only two good memories from a disappointing life: marrying his beautiful wife, Sarah (Liv Tyler), and an incident in which he directed a police officer to catch a purse snatcher. Frank immortalizes these two events in a pair of crayon drawings that he hangs on his wall for inspiration.

Later, Sarah, a recovering addict, leaves Frank for Jacques (Kevin Bacon), a charismatic strip club owner who gets her hooked on drugs. Frank sinks into depression, where he has a vision in which he is touched by the finger of God and meets the Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion), a superhero from a public-access television show on the All-Jesus Network, who tells Frank that God has chosen him for a very special purpose. Frank believes that God has chosen him to become a superhero and goes to a local comic book store for inspiration. His claim that he is designing a new superhero is met with enthusiastic appreciation from the foul-mouthed store clerk, Libby (Ellen Page). Frank creates a superhero costume and assumes the identity of "The Crimson Bolt."

.45 Super

The .45 Super is a large and powerful smokeless powder center fire metallic firearm cartridge developed in 1988 by Dean Grennell, a well-known writer in the firearms field as well as managing editor of Gun World magazine. Born of a desire to update and improve the 1906 era .45 ACP, the .45 Super cartridge is dimensionally identical with the older .45 ACP round. A notable difference is that it has a thicker case wall than its ACP brethren cartridge, and the Super is loaded to higher pressures, which makes it a substantially more powerful round than the standard .45 ACP. It offers an average 300 foot per second (ft/s) improvement in muzzle velocity. The cartridge was co-developed by Tom Fergerson and Ace Hindman.

Development history

Battle of Mogadishu (1993)

The Battle of Mogadishu or Day of the Rangers (Somali: Maalintii Rangers), was part of Operation Gothic Serpent and was fought on the 3rd and 4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, between forces of the United States, supported by UNOSOM II, and Somali militiamen loyal to the self-proclaimed president-to-be Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who had support from armed civilian fighters. The battle is also referred to as the First Battle of Mogadishu to distinguish it from subsequent battles in that city, such as the Second Battle of Mogadishu of 2006.

The initial U.S. Joint Special Operations force, Task Force Ranger, was a collaboration of various elite special forces units from Army Special Operations Command, Air Force Special Operations Command and Navy Special Warfare Command. Task Force Ranger was dispatched to seize two of Aidid's high-echelon lieutenants during a meeting in the city. The goal of the operation was achieved, though conditions spiraled into the deadly Battle of Mogadishu. The initial operation of 3 October 1993, intended to last an hour, became an overnight standoff and rescue operation extending into daylight hours of 4 October.