A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusc. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes (baroque pearls) occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.
The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is usually very poor and is easily distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry, but in the past were also used to adorn clothing. They have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations.
The Pearl River is a river in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Louisiana. It forms in Neshoba County, Mississippi from the confluence of Nanih Waiya and Tallahaga creeks. and has a meander length of 444 miles (715 km). The lower part of the river forms part of the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana. The river contains large areas of bottomland hardwood swamp and cypress swamp, providing habitat for many species of wildlife including sturgeon and black bears. There was once hope that Ivory-billed woodpeckers might survive here, but this now seems unlikely. The mouth of the river provides important marsh habitat along salinity gradients; these marshes have been the subject of many scientific studies. It is considered to be one of the most critical areas of natural habitat remaining in Louisiana.
The Yockanookany and Strong rivers are tributaries on the upper section and the Bogue Chitto is a tributary on the lower section. The Bogue Chitto's mean low-water discharge is nearly six times the mean low-water discharge of the Pearl River at Jackson, Mississippi, according to a 1936 government report of the Mississippi Planning Commission. Northeast of Jackson, the Ross Barnett Reservoir is formed by a 1962 dam. Average annual rainfall is about 52 inches in the upper third of the basin, and below Jackson the basin rainfall increases to 64 inches or more. The Yockanookany River along with the Lobutcha, Tuscolameta, and Pelahatchie Creeks are major tributaries to the river north of Jackson.
Pearl was an American literary journal published between 1974 and 2014 in Long Beach, California.
Pearl was founded by Joan Jobe Smith in 1974. The first issue appeared in May 1974. It was edited by Joan Jobe Smith, Marilyn Johnson, and Barbara Hauk. Pearl was based in Long Beach. It released an annual fiction issue and an annual poetry issue as well as hosting an annual poetry prize.
After several issues published Pearl went defunct until 1986 when Joan Jobe Smith and Marilyn Johnson relaunched it.
The magazine ceased publication in 2014.
Actors: Trevor Algatt (actor), Jeff Bornstein (actor), Dan Cesar (actor), Vernon Courteaux (actor), Steve Dellatori (actor), Armando DuBon Jr. (actor), Rich Finley (actor), William Forsythe (actor), Timothy Guest (actor), Michael Joseph Hudon (actor), Brandon D. Jackson (actor), Doug Jones (actor), Vinnie Jones (actor), Will Kemp (actor), Max Adler (actor),
Genres: Thriller,Actors: Trevor Algatt (actor), Jeff Bornstein (actor), Harry Lands (actor), Dominic Pace (actor), Brinna Kelly (actress), D.C. Hamilton (producer), Josh Harrison (producer), Brinna Kelly (producer), D.C. Hamilton (writer), Brinna Kelly (writer), D.C. Hamilton (director), D.C. Hamilton (editor),
Genres: Short, Thriller,Actors: Randy Are (actor), Shack Bal (actor), Wilbur Broad (actor), Yuel Bros (actor), Craig Daniels (actor), Red Gerald (actor), Al Gurst (actor), Al Gurst (actor), Drake Halle (actor), Rodney Hause (actor), Joe Jos (actor), Nick Jos (actor), Michael Read (actor), Jack Rewsten (actor), Bobb Sandler (actor),
Genres: Comedy,Actors: Shonni Albritton (actor), Maya Allen (actor), Freddie De Grate (actor), Antony Ferguson (actor), Cey'wan Herah (actor), Clark M. Long (actor), Michael Matthys (actor), Clark Mitchell Long (actor), Tim Tyler (actor), Timothy T Tyler (actor), Linda Berglund (actress), Cristina Sasso (actress), Zainab Burmawalla (producer), Zac Petrillo (producer), Norm Leonard (writer),
Genres: Drama, Short,Actors: A.J. Barrios (actor), Charles Arthur Berg (actor), Freddy Champagne (actor), Charles W. Crowe Jr. (actor), Paul Cullen (actor), Hugh Daly (actor), Robert Davi (actor), Sean Davi (actor), Keith David (actor), Mark Day (actor), Marc De'Antone (actor), Marc De'Antone (actor), Paul Dillon (actor), Guillermo Díaz (actor), Matthew R. Anderson (actor),
Plot: For nearly twenty years after his boxing career ended Merle Hench works for Murdoch, the capo of a San Fernando mob outfit. Merle spends his days cracking heads and collecting debts, it is not a job he enjoys. Cool, calm and collected, soft spoken even, Merle's an anachronism, a man out of place and out of time. His Boss thinks Merle has outlived his usefulness and is expendable. So they set him up to take the fall for a multi-million $ heist of a rival mob boss. A habitual gambler on a 20 year losing streak, Merle's luck turns as he survives the trap and winds up with a piece of the take and the girl. Merle might have been content to just disappear and spend his windfall with Jacqueline. But the betrayal of his loyalty for 20 years snapped something inside. Merle Hench, otherwise known as the Butcher is slow to anger yet quick to act, he's learned to live and let live to keep on going, but not this time. Everyone thought his nickname was a joke, what they didn't know was that Merle had a dark side, a secret past that earned that awful name. Merle finds himself in the cross-fire of a gang war, with all the guns aimed at him. It's an all-out race to win his freedom, win the girl and win redemption. They tried to bury him twice, but twice he got away. Underestimating Merle Hench is their biggest mistake and their final career move.
Keywords: animal-fight, bag-of-money, bar, bare-chested-male, bear, beating, blood, blood-splatter, bloodbath, brutalityActors: Robert Carradine (actor), Morton Downey Jr. (actor), Charles Fleischer (actor), Neil Giuntoli (actor), Clu Gulager (actor), John Gulager (actor), Tom Gulager (actor), Richard Hillman (actor), Patrick Kilpatrick (actor), Garrett Morris (actor), Soupy Sales (actor), Rosanna Arquette (actress), Tilghmin Bollends (actress), Renee DeBevoise (actress), David Bantly (actor),
Plot: Two dimwit owners (Robert Carradine, Richard Hillman) of a struggling hauling company are approached about hauling a huge, mysterious box across country at the end of the century. The cargo has religious significance and may be an attempt to release Satan in the Devil's Triangle to start the next century. En route, many step out to try to stop their delivery including Patrick Kilpatrick as a gay ex-con, Talia Shire playing in drag, Morton Downey, Jr. as a tv celebrity, and Rosanna Arquette as a gun-toting sexpot.
Keywords: chihuahua, gun, independent-film, male-nudity, murder, truckActors: Richard 'Dr.' Baily (actor), Lennox Brown (actor), Lyle Conway (actor), Clint Curtis (actor), D.V. DeVincentis (actor), Stephen Dorff (actor), Eric Edwards (actor), John Enos III (actor), Ryan Glorioso (actor), Tim Guinee (actor), Jeff Imada (actor), Elliott James (actor), Andray Johnson (actor), Kenny Johnson (actor), Marcus Aurelius (actor),
Plot: In a world where vampires walk the earth, Blade has a goal. His goal is to rid the world of all vampire evil. When Blade witnesses a vampire bite Dr. Karen Jenson, he fights away the beast and takes Jenson back to his hideout. Here, alongside Abraham Whistler, Blade attempts to help heal Jenson. The vampire Quinn who was attacked by Blade, reports back to his master Deacon Frost, who is planning a huge surprise for the human population.
Keywords: 1990s, action-hero, adoption, ambush, arm-cut-off, automatic-pistol, automobile, babe-scientist, bar-brawl, bar-fightActors: George Andros Aries (actor), Chad Brown (actor), Jeffrey Danneman (actor), David Emge (actor), Jason Evers (actor), Jim Farley (actor), Ron Fazio (actor), Brian Fitzpatrick (actor), Tom Franco (actor), Leonard Jackson (actor), Joseph Leavengood (actor), Matt Malloy (actor), Dominic Marcus (actor), Matt Mitler (actor), Doug Anderson (actor),
Plot: Frank Henenlotter's BASKET CASE 2 picks up right where the original BASKET CASE leaves off. After surviving the fall from their hotel room window, Duane Bradley and his misshapen, basket-dwelling brother Belial are taken to the city hospital. By now, their attempt at leading a secret life is blown, and the pair have become media darlings across the country. Meanwhile, Duane's long-lost Aunt learns of their situation and, along with her pregnant daughter Susan, helps them escape from the confines of the hospital and the eye of the press. Duane and Belial's aunt, known as Granny Ruth, takes them under her wing at her mansion, which serves as a safe haven for hideously deformed freaks of all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of this dynamic duo don't remain secret for too long, and Duane and Belial team up with Susan, Granny Ruth, and her houseful of mutants to devise a plan to do away with the exploitative reporters once and for all.
Keywords: accidental-death, anger, attic, b-movie, bar, baseball-bat, basket, black-comedy, blood, blood-splatterActors: Michael Boston (actor), Christopher Bradley (actor), Robert Broyles (actor), Steve Carlisle (actor), David Carradine (actor), Stephen Lee Davis (actor), Brad Dourif (actor), Steve Ingrassia (actor), Conrad Janis (actor), Sydney Lassick (actor), Ivan Naranjo (actor), Paul L. Smith (actor), Savina Gersak (actress), Samantha Phillips (actress), Jeff Bergquist (actor),
Plot: A small-town crime boss accepts delivery of a stolen car, only to find there's a baby in the back-seat. He and his transvestite "wife" cut out the boy's tongue and raise him as a mute accomplice in their crimes. When the grown "Sonny Boy" escapes and tries to make contact with the outside world, the attention he draws to his warped family results in darkly-humored mayhem.
Keywords: bare-chested-male, bare-chested-male-bondage, cannibal, cannibalism, child-abuse, father-son-relationship, independent-film, midwest, murder, pyramidActors: Ernie Lee Banks (actor), Jay Brooks (actor), Joe Carlo (actor), Ishmael Chase (actor), Frank DeKova (actor), Don Edmondson (actor), Pat Edwards (actor), Reginald Farmer (actor), Troy Farmer (actor), Larry French (actor), Onezene 'Ben' Geyen (actor), John Goodwin (actor), Larry Greene (actor), Nate Hardman (actor), John Abramson (actor),
Plot: It's a turf battle over the mean streets of Harlem between Italian mobsters and the black hoodlums living in the neighborhood run by "Big Tony" (Frank DeKove). The fighting becomes intense as each side tries to push the other out, with both groups bringing in their best hit men. Watch for a brutal transvestite mobster who kills with her high-heeled shoes.
Keywords: african-american, baby-brother, beating, belly-dance, belly-dancer, betting, blaxploitation, blood, brothel-madam, car-chaseThey'd say Pearl go get your boots on, we've got a
field to plow
Girl put down that book you aint got no time to read
right now
Mama she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me
She'd go barefoot down to Beale street, she had no
fancy shoes
She's tell them she was 21 and got paid to sing the
blues
She'd crawl back into her window every night at 2:00 am
And pray her daddy didn't come to steal her innocence
again
But finally she had her bus fare
They never found out where she'd gone
She left a note that said I'm goin' someplace
To make this life a better home
They'd say Pearl go get your boots on, we've got a
field to plow
Girl put down that book you aint got no time to read
right now
Mama she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me
I met her in a lonely church one cloudy afternoon
She was singin' softly to the Lord and fillin' up the
room
I said I've seen you on the big stage, lights and glory
all around
Pearl what brings you to this place, she said it's my
hometown
And I need just like the next one to remember who I was
So I've come back to find forgiveness
To see my past through eyes of love
They'd say Pearl go get your boots on, we've got a
field to plow
Girl put down that book you aint got time to read right
Mama she don't know the kind of visions that I see
But my ticket to the world is the soul inside of me
( Soul inside of me, Soul inside of me, Soul inside of
me )
Mail Guardian South Africa | 07 Mar 2021
The Times of India | 07 Mar 2021
The Independent | 08 Mar 2021