The Diplomat

The Diplomat is an online international news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Asia-Pacific region. It is based in Tokyo, Japan.

History

It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones, David Llewellyn-Smith and Sung Lee in 2001. The first edition was published in April 2002, with Bui Jones as the founding editor and Llewellyn-Smith the founding publisher.

In September 2004, the U.S. magazine Time forced the cancellation of advertisements by The Diplomat, which emphasised the magazine's Australian perspective by presenting the national flags of the United States, the UK, and Australia and logos of Time and The Economist below a headline "To which view do you subscribe?"

The magazine was acquired by James Pach through his company Trans-Asia Inc. in December 2007. Pach assumed the role of executive publisher and hired former Penthouse editor Ian Gerrard to update its presentation. Nonetheless, the print edition suffered continued losses, and The Diplomat eventually went completely online in August 2009. Its Sydney office was closed and its headquarters were moved to Tokyo; Jason Miks was appointed editor in September 2009 and Ulara Nakagawa was appointed associate editor. Miks was succeeded as editor by Harry Kazianis before publisher James Pach took over. Shannon Tiezzi currently serves as managing editor. Franz-Stefan Gady, Ankit Panda, Catherine Putz, and Prashanth Parameswaran are associate editors.

HBO

HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Home Box Office Inc., the cable flagship division of Time Warner. HBO's programming consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television series, along with made-for-cable movies and documentaries, boxing matches and occasional stand-up comedy and concert specials.

It is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service (basic or premium) in the United States, having been in operation since November 8, 1972. In 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013.

Overview

As of July 2015, HBO's programming is available to approximately 36,483,000 households with at least one television set (31.3% of all cable, satellite and telco customers) in the United States (36,013,000 subscribers or 30.9% of all households with pay television service receive at least HBO's primary channel), making it the second largest premium channel in the United States (Encore's programming reaches 40.54 million pay television households as of July 2015). In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO broadcasts in at least 151 countries, covering approximately 122 million subscribers worldwide.

Documentary film

A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. Such films were originally shot on film stock—the only medium available—but now include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made into a TV show or released for screening in cinemas. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.

Defining documentary

In popular myth, the word documentary was coined by Scottish documentarian John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson).

Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, with this position at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's provocation to present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously) and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).

HBO Films

HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the miniseries Angels in America, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Generation Kill, and Mildred Pierce, it has also branched into theatrical distribution with such critically acclaimed films as Elephant and American Splendor, in which their theatrical releases were handled by Fine Line Features, then a subsidiary of New Line Cinema. Theatrical releases of HBO Films output were usually handled by Picturehouse, a joint venture between HBO Films and New Line (as Fine Line was merged into Picturehouse); both are owned by Time Warner.

HBO began producing films in 1983 with their HBO Premiere Films banner. Their first film, The Terry Fox Story, was also the first feature film produced expressly for pay television. In 1985, HBO Pictures was started, folding the Premiere Films brand into it. Another film production company, HBO Showcase (later HBO NYC) was folded into HBO Pictures to create the current company HBO Films.

Pig Destroyer

Pig Destroyer is an American grindcore band from Alexandria, Virginia.

Biography

The band formed in 1997 with vocalist J. R. Hayes (Enemy Soil), guitarist Scott Hull (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Japanese Torture Comedy Hour, ex-Anal Cunt), and drummer John Evans. Evans was later replaced by Brian Harvey. Sampler Blake Harrison joined prior to recording Phantom Limb.

In an interview, Scott Hull claims that they picked the band name on the criteria that it was insulting, yet somewhat more creative than the name of his last band, Anal Cunt. Deciding that "Cop Killer" or "Cop Destroyer" would be tactless, they eventually settled on "Pig Destroyer" ("pig" being a pejorative American slang term for the police). Derived from a non-musical source as extreme as the band's sound, Pig Destroyer's easily identifiable logo was created using a graphic from ANSWER Me! magazine as a template. However, the band has become less political in recent times.

Relapse Records signed the band and issued a split 7" with Isis on the label's Singles Series in July 2000. 38 Counts of Battery was a complete discography of Pig Destroyer releases up to the year 2000, which included split records with Gnob and influential screamo act Orchid, as well as their debut album, Explosions In Ward 6, and the demo that secured their record deal.