Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson, is an allegorical fable in novella form about a seagull who is trying to learn about flying, personal reflection, freedom, and self-realization. It was first published in book form in 1970 with little advertising or expectations; by the end of 1972, over a million copies were in print, the book having reached the number one spot on bestseller lists mostly through word of mouth recommendations.
Bugs Bunny is a fictional character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. Earlier iterations of the character first appeared in Ben Hardaway's Porky's Hare Hunt (1938) and subsequent shorts before Bugs's definitive characterization debuted in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare (1940). Bob Givens, Chuck Jones and Robert McKimson are credited for defining Bugs's design.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and is the largest part of the Tyneside. With a population of 286,445 it is North East England's most populated settlement in the census.
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid." He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age, made between 1942 and 1964.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, but is successful in catching the Road Runner on only extremely rare occasions. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey, which comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.
Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained homing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance. The time it takes the animal to cover the specified distance is measured and the bird's rate of travel is calculated and compared with all of the other pigeons in the race to determine which animal returned at the highest speed.
Kevin Whately is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Neville "Nev" Hope in the British comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet; Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse (1987–2000) and Lewis (2006–2015); and Jack Kerruish in the drama series Peak Practice, although he has appeared in numerous other roles.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk, also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred underparts; females and juveniles are brown above with brown barring below. The female is up to 25% larger than the male – one of the greatest size differences between the sexes in any bird species. Though it is a predator which specialises in catching woodland birds, the Eurasian sparrowhawk can be found in any habitat and often hunts garden birds in towns and cities. Males tend to take smaller birds, including tits, finches, and sparrows; females catch primarily thrushes and starlings, but are capable of killing birds weighing 500 g (18 oz) or more.
Our Friends in the North is a British television drama serial produced by the BBC. It was originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC2 in early 1996. Written by Peter Flannery, it tells the story of four friends from Newcastle upon Tyne over a period of 31 years, from 1964 to 1995. The story makes reference to certain political and social events which occurred during the era portrayed, some specific to Newcastle and others which affected Britain as a whole. These include general elections, police and local government corruption, the UK miners' strike (1984–85), and the Great Storm of 1987.
Between the Lions is an American animated/live-action/puppet children's preschool television series designed to promote reading. The show was a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the distributor from seasons 1–10, in Mississippi. The show won nine Daytime Emmy awards between 2001 and 2007. Although it was created by alumni of the fellow PBS children’s show Sesame Street, Between the Lions was not created by Sesame Workshop, nor was it produced with their involvement in any way. The show ran from April 3, 2000 to November 22, 2010, taking over the schedule slot held by The Puzzle Place upon its debut.
Alain Gordon Whyte is an English musician, songwriter, composer and singer. He was Morrissey's main songwriting partner and guitarist between 1991 and 2007.
Valiant is a 2005 computer-animated comedy film produced by Vanguard Animation, Ealing Studios and Odyssey Entertainment, and released by Entertainment Film Distributors in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2005, and by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on August 19, 2005. Set in May of the year 1944, it tells the story of a group of war pigeons during World War II. The film is based on a story by George Webster, and inspired by true stories of hundreds of pigeons that helped the soldiers in the war.
Derek Griffiths is a British actor, singer and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in television drama.
Paul Hull Julian, better known as Paul Julian, was an American background animator, sound effects artist and voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons. He worked on Looney Tunes short films, primarily on director Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety Bird shorts.
Charles B. Findley is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities and versatility are renowned even among other session players, with the celebrated session horn player and arranger Jerry Hey saying "Chuck Findley can play anything".
Really, Raquel was a prime-time variety show adapted from Raquel Welch's 1973 live night club show. The special showcased Welch's talents as a singer, dancer and comedian, pitting her in a variety of skits with the Krofft Puppets, who were the only guest stars. The show aired on CBS on March 8, 1974, and on BBC 2 in London on May 2.
Madelaine Newton is a British actress best known for her portrayal of Dolly in 1970s BBC television drama When the Boat Comes In. Since 1984 she has been married to actor Kevin Whately, known for his role as Robert "Robbie" Lewis in both Inspector Morse and its spin-off Lewis. They have two children.
Date Night is a 2010 American romantic comedy crime film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Josh Klausner.
Joseph Mazzarino is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on Sesame Street as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on Sesame Street, winning 22 Emmy Awards for his work.
