Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (abbreviated as MGM or M-G-M, also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or simply Metro) is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs.

Once the largest, most glamorous, and most revered film studio, MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. It is one of the oldest mini-major film studios and a former major film studio.

In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, a plan which never came into fruition. Over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-Chairmen and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

MGM-18 Lacrosse

The MGM-18 Lacrosse was a short-ranged tactical ballistic weapon intended for close support of ground troops. Its first flight test was in 1954 and was deployed by the United States Army beginning in 1959, despite being still in the development stage. The program's many technical hurdles proved too difficult to overcome and the missile was withdrawn from field service by 1964.

History

Development

The Lacrosse project began with a United States Marine Corps requirement for a short-range guided missile to supplement conventional field artillery. The navy's Bureau of Ordnance issued contracts to both the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in September 1947, for the study of design aspects pertaining to this mission.

The missile system was named the Lacrosse because it employed a forward observation station which had a direct view of the target. The forward observation station was mounted on a jeep and after the missile was launched control was passed to the forward station for final guidance to the target. Hence the name Lacrosse which is how the game of lacrosse is played with the ball being passed to players closer to the goal.

MGM-134 Midgetman

The MGM-134A Midgetman, also known as the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (SICBM), was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the United States Air Force.

Overview

The Midgetman grew out of a requirement expressed in the mid-1980s by the U.S. Air Force for a small ICBM which could be deployed on road vehicles. Fixed silos are inherently vulnerable to attack, and with the increasing accuracy of submarine-launched ballistic missiles there was a growing threat that the Soviet Union could launch large numbers of missiles from off the coast, destroying most of the U.S. ICBM force before it could be used (first strike). By producing a mobile missile which could not easily be targeted by enemy forces, and thus survive a first strike attempt, the Air Force hoped to reduce this possibility and maintain the ability to deter (second strike). It was also a response to the Soviet development of SS-24 (rail mobile) and the SS-25 (road mobile) ICBMs.

System definition studies for the SICBM (Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) commenced in 1984 under an Air Force Program Office, located at Norton AFB, CA, with TRW providing System Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support. Contracts were awarded by the end of 1986 to Martin Marietta, Thiokol, Hercules, Aerojet, Boeing, General Electric, Rockwell and Logicon and authorization to proceed with full scale development of the MGM-134A Midgetman was granted. The first prototype missile was launched in 1989, but tumbled off course and was destroyed over the Pacific Ocean after about 70 seconds. The first successful test flight took place on April 18, 1991.

Oldschool jungle

Jungle (sometimes oldschool jungle), is a genre of electronic music that developed in England in the early 1990s as part of rave music scenes. The style is characterized by fast tempos (150 to 170 bpm), relatively slow and lyrical reggae-derived basslines, breakbeats, and other heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples and synthesized effects make up the easily recognizable form of jungle. Long pitch-shifted snare rolls are common in oldschool jungle. The terms "jungle" and "drum and bass" are often used interchangeably, although whether the two genres are actually distinct is an ongoing topic of debate. For those individuals who consider the two genres as separate entities, drum and bass is usually considered to have departed from jungle in the mid to late 1990s.

Producers create the drum patterns, which are sometimes completely off-beat, by cutting apart breakbeats (most notably the Amen break). Jungle producers incorporated classic Jamaican/Caribbean sound-system culture production-methods. The slow, deep basslines and simple melodies (reminiscent of those found in dub, reggae and dancehall) accentuated the overall production, giving jungle its "rolling" quality.

Jungle (2000 film)

Jungle is a 2000 Indian thriller film produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma starring Sunil Shetty, Fardeen Khan and Urmila Matondkar. The ensemble cast film has received positive reviews upon release and was declared a Hit. The film won the Bollywood Movie Award for Best Direction.

Plot

Anu Malhotra and Siddharth Mishra (Sidhu) are in love with each other and would like to get married. Anu is ready to inform her parents about her future life-partner, but everything is put on hold, as the family decides to go out on a group safari-like expedition. Siddharth decides to go incognito also. The group gets to view wildlife from fairly close distances. Tragedy strikes when the group (except Sidhu) is kidnapped by the Bandit Durga Narayan Choudhary and his gang. The bandits commit atrocities on the kidnapped people and finally behead one of the women in order to terrorize the government and extract ransom as well as release of one of their men who is in police custody. Once their demands are met, the bandits release remaining hostages, except Anu, whom the chief Durga Narayan Choudhary has started liking. This is unacceptable by his girlfriend Bali, the only female bandit of the gang. When Sidhu not find Anu among the released hostages, he sends the illegal arms supplier Dorai to request Durga Narayan Choudhary for Anu's release. He secretly follows Dorai and finally reaches Anu. In the ensuing commotion, he is able to run away with her, with the bandits in their pursuit. They keep searching their way out of the dense forest. Meanwhile the goons started to reduce in numbers as they get shot one by one during repeated police encounters. Finally, Durga is the only one left. Still mad about Anu, he searches for her. He is about to take Anu away once more but is intercepted by Commander Shivraj, whom he eventually murders, but finally Sidhu kills Durga and re-unites with Anu and the movie ends on a happy note.

Jungle (board game)

Jungle or Dou Shou Qi (Chinese: 鬥獸棋, "Game of Fighting Animals") is a traditional Chinese board game played on a 7×9 board. The game is also known as The Jungle Game, Jungle Chess, or Animals Chess, and is sometimes called Oriental Chess or Children's Chess.

Jungle is a two-player strategy game and has been cited as resembling the Western game Stratego, but Stratego actually has more in common with another Chinese board game known as Jun Qi (Chinese: 軍棋) or "Army Game".

Rules

Objective

The goal of the game is either to move a piece onto a special square, the den, on the opponent's side of the board, or capture all of the opponent's pieces.

Board

The Jungle gameboard consists of seven columns and nine rows of squares. Pieces move on the square spaces as in international chess, not on the lines as in xiangqi. Pictures of eight animals and their names appear on each side of the board to indicate initial placement of the game pieces. After initial setup, these animal spaces have no special meaning in gameplay.