NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG-IL DEAD AFTER HEART ATTACK

(CNN) -- North Korea's enigmatic leader Kim Jong Il -- who, after succeeding his father 17 years ago, captained his poor, closed nation and antagonized its enemies -- is dead, state media reported Monday. Kim, 69, died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, according to state media. A tearful broadcaster reported that Kim died due to "overwork" after "dedicating his life to the people." Kim suffered "great mental and physical strain" while on a train during a "field guidance tour," North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency reported. A look back at the life of Kim Jong Il More specifically, the agency reported that Kim suffered a heart attack and couldn't be saved despite the use of "every possible first-aid measure." He had been treated for "cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long period," KCNA noted. Kim Jong Il's death shocks South Korea Report: Kim Jong Il dead North Korea: Our leader is dead His funeral will be held December 28 and the national mourning period extends until December 29, said the news agency. North Korean and communist party officials "released a notice on Saturday informing" members of the Workers' Party of Korea, military "and all other people" of Kim's passing, according to KCNA. South Korea's national security council convened after news broke about Kim's death and was still meeting as of 2 p.m. Monday, President Lee Myung-bak's office said. The president canceled the rest of his Monday schedule, and all members of South Korea's military have been placed on "emergency alert," according to Lee's office. Under the alert -- which is short of the highest possible level -- South Korean forces will monitor North Korean troop movements closely and tighten security measures at sea, according to the ministry of defense. In addition, South Korea's National Police Agency has ordered police across the country to be on emergency work shifts. "South Korea's concern is warranted, frankly, because an insecure North Korea could well be an even more dangerous North Korea," a U.S. official said. The White House, meanwhile, released a statement saying U.S. officials are "closely monitoring reports" of Kim's death and are "in close touch with our allies in South Korea and Japan." This Just In: Up-to-the minute news on the death of Kim Jong Il "We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies," the White House statement said. The son of Kim Il Song, founder of the communist nation, Kim Jong Il had been in power since 1994 when his father died of a heart attack at age 82. The enigmatic leader was a frequent thorn in the side of neighboring South Korea, as well as the United States. There have been reports in recent years about his health, as well as that power will be transitioned to his son, Kim Jong Un. U.S. 'committed' to Korean security Can the son of the 'Dear Leader' lead? What is North Korea's future? North Korea's nuclear program -- and international attempts to hinder its nuclear weaponry potential -- put Kim at odds with many world leaders in recent years, as did his governing style.

La Boum

La boum (English title: The Party) is a 1980 French language motion picture comedy directed by Claude Pinoteau, and starring Claude Brasseur, Brigitte Fossey, and Sophie Marceau appearing in her film début. The movie was an international box-office hit. The music was written by Vladimir Cosma, with Richard Sanderson singing the song "Reality". A sequel movie La boum 2 was released in 1982

Plot

Thirteen-year-old Vic (Sophie Marceau) is new at her high school. She makes friends with Pénélope (Sheila O'Connor) and together they check out the boys at their school, looking for true love. Vic is frustrated by her parents, who will not allow her to attend the "boum", a big party. Her grandmother, Poupette, helps her out, and Vic ends up falling in love with Matthieu (Alexandre Sterling). While Vic is busy finding her true love, her parent's marriage faces a crisis when her father's ex-girlfriend demands a last night together.[1]

Production

This was Sophie Marceau's first movie. She and her co-star Claude Brasseur (who plays her father) were re-united in the 1986 crime thriller Descente aux enfers playing the parts of husband and wife.

CastClaude Brasseur as François Beretton
Brigitte Fossey as Françoise Beretton
Sophie Marceau as Vic Beretton
Denise Grey as Poupette
Dominique Lavanant as Vanessa
Bernard Giraudeau as Éric Thompson
Jean-Michel Dupuis as Étienne
Jacques Ardouin as Père de Raoul
Evelyne Bellego as Éliane

Sophie Marceau

Sophie Marceau (French pronunciation: [sɔfi maʁso]; born 17 November 1966) is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum (1980) and La boum 2 (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress. She became a film star in Europe with a string of successful films, including L'étudiante (1988), Pacific Palisades (1990), and Fanfan (1993). In the 1990s, Marceau became an international film star with her performances in Braveheart (1995), Firelight (1997), and the James Bond thriller The World Is Not Enough (1999).
In February 1980, Marceau and her mother came across a model agency looking for teenagers. Marceau had photos taken at the agency, but did not think anything would come of it. At the same time, Françoise Menidrey, the casting director for Claude Pinoteau's La boum (1980), asked modeling agencies to recommend a new teenager for the project. After viewing the rushes, Alain Poiré, the director of the Gaumont Film Company, signed Marceau to a long-term contract. La boum was a hit movie, not only in France, where 4.5 million tickets were sold, but several other European countries and Japan.[citation needed] In 1981, Marceau made her singing debut with French singer François Valéry on record "Dream in Blue", written by Delanoë.[citation needed]

In 1982, at the age of 15, Marceau bought back her contract with Gaumont for one million French francs.[4] She borrowed most of the money. After starring in the sequel film La boum 2 (1982), Marceau focused on more dramatic roles, including Fort Saganne in 1984 with Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) in 1984, L'amour braque and Police in 1985, and Descente aux enfers (Descent Into Hell) in 1986. In 1988, she starred in L'étudiante (The Student) and Chouans!. That year, Marceau was named Best Romantic Actress at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role in Chouans![5]

In 1989, Marceau starred in Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights Are More Beautiful than your Days), which was directed by her long-time boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski. In 1990, she starred in Pacific Palisades and La note bleue, her third film directed by her companion. In 1991, she ventured into the theater in Eurydice, which earned Marceau the Moliere Award for Best Female Newcomer.[5] Throughout the 1990s, Marceau began making less-dramatic films, such as the comedy Fanfan in 1993 and La fille de D'artagnan in 1994—both popular in Europe and abroad. That year, she returned to the theatre as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion.[5]

Marceau achieved international recognition in 1995 as Princess Isabelle in Mel Gibson's Braveheart. That year, she was part of an ensemble of international actors in the French film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders, Beyond the Clouds. In 1997, she continued her string of successful films with William Nicholson's Firelight, filmed in England, Véra Belmont's Marquise, filmed in France, and Bernard Rose's Anna Karenina. In 1999, she played Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and became a villainess Bond girl in her role as Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough. In 2000, Marceau teamed up again with her then-boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski to film La fidélité

Pocahontas

Pocahontas (born Matoaka, and later known as Rebecca Rolfe, c. 1595 – March 1617) was a Virginia Indian[1] notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote that may or may not be true, she is said to have saved the life of Indian captive John Smith in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him.

Pocahontas was captured by the English during Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613, and held for ransom. During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. When the opportunity arose for her to return to her people, she chose to remain with the English. In April 1614, she married tobacco planter John Rolfe, and, in January 1615, bore him a son, Thomas Rolfe.

In 1616, the Rolfes traveled to London. Pocahontas was presented to English society as an example of the civilized "savage" in hopes of stimulating investment in the Jamestown settlement. She became something of a celebrity, was elegantly fêted, and attended a masque at Whitehall Palace. In 1617, the Rolfes set sail for home, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes. She was buried in England, but her resting place is not known.

Numerous places, landmarks, and products in the United States have been named after Pocahontas. Her story has been romanticized over the years, and she is the subject of art, literature, and film. Her descendants through her son Thomas include members of the First Families of Virginia‎, First Ladies Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan, astronomer Percival Lowell and American reality television personality Benjamin Wade.

Early lifePocahontas's birth year is unknown, but some historians estimate it to have been around 1595 based on the accounts of Captain John Smith. In A True Relation of Virginia (1608), Smith described the Pocahontas he met in the spring of 1608 as being "a child of tenne years old".[2] In a letter written in 1616, he again described her as she was in 1608, but this time she had grown slightly to "a child of twelve or thirteen years of age".[3]

Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of about thirty Algonquian-speaking groups and petty chiefdoms in Tidewater Virginia.[4] Her mother, whose name and specific group of origin are unknown, was one of dozens of wives taken by Powhatan; each wife gave him a single child and then was sent back to her village to be supported by the paramount chief until she found another husband.[5]

Pocahontas's childhood was probably little different from that of most girls who lived in Tsenacommacah. She learned how to perform what was considered to be women's work, which included foraging for food and firewood, farming, and searching for the plant materials used in building thatched houses.[6] As she grew older, she probably helped other members of Powhatan's household with preparations for large feasts.[5] Serving feasts such as the one presented to John Smith after his capture was a regular obligation of the mamanatowick, or paramount chief.[7]

[edit] NamesAt the time Pocahontas was born, it was common for the Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians to be given several personal names. Bestowed at different times, the names carried different meanings and might be used in different contexts. It was not uncommon for American Indians to have more than one name at the same time, to have secret names that only a select few knew, and to change their names on important occasions.[8] Pocahontas was no different. Early in her life she was given a secret name, Matoaka, but later she was also known as Amonute. None of these names can be translated.[9]

The name Pocahontas was a childhood nickname that probably referred to her frolicsome nature; according to the colonist William Strachey, it meant "little wanton".[10] The 18th-century historian William Stith claimed that "her real name, it seems, was originally Matoax, which the Indians carefully concealed from the English and changed it to Pocahontas, out of a superstitious fear, lest they, by the knowledge of her true name, should be enabled to do her some hurt."[11] According to the anthropologist Helen C. Rountree, Pocahontas "revealed [her secret name] to the English only after she had taken another religious—baptismal—name, Rebecca".[12]

Pocahontas's Christian name, Rebecca, may have been a symbolic gesture to Rebecca of the Book of Genesis who, as the mother of Jacob and Esau, was the mother of two "nations", or distinct peoples. Pocahontas, as an American Indian marrying an Englishman, may have been seen by herself and by her contemporaries as being also, potentially, the mother of two nations

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American,[1][2] Latino American,[1][2] and gay[1][2][3][4] communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other locations such as New York City, New Jersey, Toronto, Montreal, London, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. It then reached Europe, and since the early to mid-1990s, it has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Early house music was generally dance-based music characterised by repetitive 4/4 beats and rhythms centred around drum machines,[5] off-beat hi-hat cymbals and synthesized basslines. Whilst house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic, minimalistic,[6] and less structured around the song rather than a repetitive rhythm. House music today, whilst keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house, to the more minimalistic microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as Euro house and tech house.[7]

House music, after enjoying significant underground and club-based success from the early 1980s onwards, emerged into the UK mainstream pop market in the mid to late 80s. Popularity quickly followed in Europe, from the late 80s to early 90s, and it became a global phenomenon from the mid 90s onwards.[8] It proved to be a commercially successful genre and a more mainstream pop-based variation grew increasingly popular. Artists and groups such as Madonna,[9][10] Janet Jackson,[11] Björk, and C+C Music Factory[12][13] incorporated the genre in their work. After enjoying significant success in the early to mid-90s, house music's popularity started to decline by the latter part of the decade;[14] nevertheless, the genre still remained popular and fused into other subgenres which were popular. In Europe, the genre remained highly popular into the 2000s, with groups and artists such as Daft Punk[15] and Justice performing in the genre, and obtaining commercial success and critical acclaim.[16] In the 2000s, a house subgenre known as electro house achieved popularity. Today, house music remains popular in both clubs and in the mainstream pop scene.