Bear (2011 film)

Bear is a 2011 Australian short black comedy drama film directed by Nash Edgerton and written by David Michod and Nash Edgerton. The film had its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2011.

Plot

Jack has the perfect birthday surprise planned for Emelie. Sometimes, though, plans go horrifically wrong.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The film earned mainly positive reviews from critics. Ivan Kander of short of the week gave film the positive review said "Edgerton isn’t trying to surprise you—he already pulled off that magic trick once with Spider. Instead, he’s reveling a bit in a sort of misanthropic playground. Our protagonist is a cartoon character of sorts—the Wile E. Coyote of cinematic schadenfreude. He’s always getting himself, and his loved ones, into the darndest, deadliest situations. And, all the while, we can’t help but laugh at his misfortune." David Brook of blue print review gave the film three and a half out of five stars and said "A sequel to Spider, Bear basically replays the gag in a new setting. Predictable of course for this reason, but still funny and well produced." Another critic in his review said that "Reviewing a film this short is going to be fairly similar to reviewing an advert, because and with so little time to build character or a world, it essentially comes down to did you did or did you didn’t like the punch. In this case, I did, it gave me a legitimate ‘ I didn’t see that coming’ moment, upon the fact that it was coolly put together and even pulls of a very impressive stunt. Not one I’ll remember for the rest of my days for sure, but an amusing distraction, which is exactly what I think it was designed to be."

Bia blanc

Bia blanc is a white French wine grape variety that is no longer commercially cultivated for wine production with only a few plantings existing worldwide in viticultural archives and experimental vineyards. The exact origins of Bia blanc are not yet known though ampelographers have noted that the grapevine shares some morphological similarities to the red Isère grape Peloursin, one of the parent varieties to Petite Sirah (Durif).

Eco-geogroup

In the 20th century, ampelographers Louis Levadoux and (decades later) Linda Bisson categorized Bia blanc as a member of the Pelorsien eco-geogroup along with Durif, Béclan, Dureza, Exbrayat, Jacquère, Joubertin, Mondeuse blanche, Peloursin, Servanin and Verdesse.

Synonyms

Over the years, Bia blanc has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Bear, Beard and Biard.

References

Cub Scouting (Boy Scouts of America)

Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), available to boys from first through fifth grade, or 7 to 11½ years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the three BSA divisions (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing). Cub Scouting is part of the worldwide Scouting movement and aims to promote character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness.

Origins

As early as 1911, Ernest Thompson Seton had developed a prototype program he named Cub Scouts of America that was never implemented. James E. West felt that having BSA divisions for younger boys (those under 12; the "younger boy problem") would draw away boys from the core program, which was Scout troops focused on the 12- to 17-year-old age group; thus he opposed such a program for some time. In spite of this, unofficial programs for younger boys started around this time, under names such as Junior Troops or Cadet Corps. The BSA obtained the rights to Lord Baden-Powell's The Wolf Cub Handbook in 1916 and used it in unofficial Wolf Cub programs starting in 1918. This led to an issue with Daniel Carter Beard who felt that the use of the British book was nearly disloyal to the United States of America. West encouraged the formation of the Boy Rangers of America, a separate organization for boys eight through twelve based on an American Indian theme. The Boy Rangers used the Scout Law and their Chief Guide, Emerson Brooks, was a Boy Scout commissioner in Montclair, New Jersey. The BSA finally began some experimental Cub units in 1928 and in 1930 the BSA began registering the first Cub Scout packs, and the Boy Rangers were absorbed.

Stars (Simply Red album)

Stars is the fourth album by British-based pop/soul/jazz band Simply Red, released in September 1991. Five singles were released from the album, including the UK top ten hits "Stars" and "For Your Babies". The album was a worldwide success, particularly in the band's home country where it has been certified twelve times platinum and was the best-selling album of the year in the UK for both 1991 and 1992, the first album to be the best-seller in two consecutive years since Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970–71. As of February 2014 it is the 14th best-selling album of all time in the UK.

Stars was also the last album to feature member Tim Kellett, who started his own band Olive after touring. It is the only Simply Red album to feature Fritz McIntyre singing lead vocals, on the tracks "Something Got Me Started" and "Wonderland".

It was on the shortlist of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. In 2000 Q placed Stars at number 80 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever".

Stars (M. C. Escher)

Stars is a wood engraving print created by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher in 1948, depicting two chameleons in a polyhedral cage floating through space.

Although the compound of three octahedra used for the central cage in Stars had been studied before in mathematics, it was most likely invented independently for this image by Escher without reference to those studies. Escher used similar compound polyhedral forms in several other works, including Crystal (1947), Study for Stars (1948), Double Planetoid (1949), and Waterfall (1961).

The design for Stars was likely influenced by Escher's own interest in both geometry and astronomy, by a long history of using geometric forms to model the heavens, and by a drawing style used by Leonardo da Vinci. Commentators have interpreted the cage's compound shape as a reference to double and triple stars in astronomy, or to twinned crystals in crystallography. The image contrasts the celestial order of its polyhedral shapes with the more chaotic forms of biology.

Stars (Canadian band)

Stars is a Canadian indie pop and rock band.

History

All members of Stars grew up in Toronto. Torquil Campbell and Christopher Seligman started the first record Nightsongs in New York in 1999. When starting to play live shows they called in Evan Cranley, a childhood friend, to play bass. Cranley then recruited Amy Millan. The four of them then all moved to Montreal and began to work on the second full-length album Heart. In Montreal they met Patrick Mcgee, who became their drummer. Heart was released on the new label Arts&Crafts along with their friends Broken Social Scene. While on their first North American tour together, Stars and Broken Social Scene shared and swapped members on a nightly basis.

After critical acclaim for their album Heart, Stars rented a house in the Eastern Townships in the middle of winter. For a month and a half the five of them lived together and wrote Set Yourself on Fire. It was recorded at Studio Plateau in Montréal and was produced by the band and Tom McFall. The record received good reviews. Set Yourself on Fire and their highly acclaimed live performances established them as one of the most successful bands in Canada.