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.

Plastic surgery

Walter Yeo, a British soldier, is often cited as the first known person to have benefited from plastic surgery. The photograph shows him before the procedure (left) and after (right) receiving a skin flap surgery performed by Sir Harold Gillies in 1917.

Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns.Reconstructive surgery techniques were being carried out in India by 800 BC.[3] Sushruta, the father of Surgery,[4] made important contributions to the field of plastic and cataract surgery in 6th century BC.[4] The medical works of both Sushruta and Charak originally in Sanskrit were translated into Arabic language during the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 AD.[5] The Arabic translations made their way into Europe via intermediaries.[5] In Italy the Branca family[6] of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta.[5]

British physicians traveled to India to see rhinoplasties being performed by native methods.[7] Reports on Indian rhinoplasty performed by a Kumhar vaidya were published in the Gentleman's Magazine by 1794.[7] Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods.[7] Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the Western world by 1815.[8] Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in the Western world.[8]



Cosmetic surgery
Rhinoplasty or Nose SurgeryAesthetic plastic surgery involves techniques intended for the "enhancement" of appearance through surgical and medical techniques, and is specifically concerned with maintaining normal appearance, restoring it, or enhancing it beyond the average level toward some aesthetic ideal.

In 2006, nearly 11 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States alone. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century. Nearly 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007, with the five most common surgeries being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery looks at the statistics for thirty-four different cosmetic procedures. Nineteen of the procedures are surgical, such as rhinoplasty or facelift. The nonsurgical procedures include Botox and laser hair removal. In 2010, their survey revealed that there were 9,336,814 total procedures in the United States. Of those, 1,622,290 procedures were surgical (p. 5). They also found that a large majority, 81%, of the procedures were done on Caucasian people (p. 12). [12] The increased use of cosmetic procedures crosses racial and ethnic lines in the U.S., with increases seen among African-Americans and Hispanic Americans as well as Caucasian Americans. In Europe, the second largest market for cosmetic procedures, cosmetic surgery is a $2.2 billion business.[13] Cosmetic surgery is now very common in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. In Asia, cosmetic surgery has become an accepted practice, and China, followed by India has become Asia's biggest comestic surgery markets.[14] Children undergoing cosmetic eye surgery can be seen in Japan and South Korea.