#David Leonard Landau

[perfettamentechic]

4 dicembre … ricordiamo …

4 dicembre … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2021: Gertraud Jesserer, attrice austriaca, moglie dell’attore tedesco Peter Vogel e la madre dell’attore-giornalista Nikolas Voge. La ricordiamo per le sue interpretazioni nei film: Il mercante di Venezia (1968), Commissario Rex (dal 2008-2011) e Non con me tesoro (2012). È morta all’età di 77 anni nell’incendio della sua casa a Vienna. (n.1943) 2020: François Leterrier, regista e attore…

[ulkaralakbarova]

Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1945. Engineer Preston Tucker dreams of designing the car of future, but his innovative envision will be repeatedly sabotaged by his own unrealistic expectations and the Detroit automobile industry tycoons. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Preston Tucker: Jeff Bridges Vera: Joan Allen Abe: Martin Landau Eddie: Frederic Forrest Jimmy: Mako Howard Hughes: Dean Stockwell Junior: Christian Slater Marilyn Lee: Nina Siemaszko Frank: Marshall Bell Kerner: Peter Donat Alex: Elias Koteas Kirby: Jay O. Sanders Noble: Corin Nemec Stan: Don Novello Johnny: Anders Johnson Bennington: Dean Goodman Ferguson’s Agent: John X. Heart Millie: Patti Austin Stan’s Assistant: Sandy Bull Judge: Joe Miksak Floyd Cerf: Scott Beach Oscar Beasley: Roland Scrivner Narrator (voice): Bob Safford Doc: Larry Menkin Fritz: Ron Close Dutch: Joe Flood Gas Station Owner: Leonard Gardner Garage Owner: Bill Bonham Ferguson’s Secretary #1: Abigail van Alyn Ferguson’s Secretary #2: Taylor Gilbert Woman on Steps: David Booth Newscaster (voice): Al Hart Security Guard: Cab Covay Man in Audience: James Cranna Board Member: Bill Reddick Mayor: Ed Loerke Head Engineer: Jay Jacobus Bennington’s Secretary: Anne Lawder Singing Girl #1: Jeanette Lana Sartain Singing Girl #2: Mary Buffett Singing Girl #3: Annie Stocking Recording Engineer: Michael McShane Tucker’s Secretary #1: Hope Alexander-Willis Tucker’s Secretary #2: Taylor Young Police Sergeant: Jim Giovanni Reporter at Trial: Joe Lerer Ingram: Morgan Upton SEC Agent: Ken Grantham Blue: Mark Anger Jury Foreman: Al Nalbandian Senator Homer Ferguson (uncredited): Lloyd Bridges Girl at Mellon Publicity Event (uncredited): Sofia Coppola Film Crew: Executive Producer: George Lucas Director: Francis Ford Coppola Producer: Fred Roos Additional Music: Carmine Coppola Director of Photography: Vittorio Storaro Production Design: Dean Tavoularis Editor: Priscilla Nedd-Friendly Casting: Janet Hirshenson Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Richard Beggs Producer: Fred Fuchs Casting: Jane Jenkins Music Editor: Mark Adler Supervising Sound Editor: Gloria S. Borders Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Johnson Set Decoration: Armin Ganz Costume Designer: Milena Canonero Unit Production Manager: Ian Bryce Foley Artist: Dennie Thorpe Sound Effects Editor: Tim Holland Leadman: Doug von Koss Second Unit Director: Buddy Joe Hooker Assistant Costume Designer: Judianna Makovsky Assistant Makeup Artist: Karen Bradley Set Designer: Jim Pohl Camera Operator: Jamie Anderson Foley Editor: Sandina Bailo-Lape Stunts: Jimmy Nickerson Screenplay: Arnold Schulman Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Randy Thom ADR Editor: Louise Rubacky Original Music Composer: Joe Jackson Researcher: Anahid Nazarian Assistant Sound Designer: Mildred Iatrou Location Casting: Aleta Chappelle Stunts: Gary McLarty Screenplay: David Seidler First Assistant Director: H. Gordon Boos Stunts: Dick Ziker Makeup Artist: Richard Dean ADR Editor: Tom Bellfort Art Direction: Alex Tavoularis Assistant Hairstylist: Terry Baliel Technical Advisor: Enrico Umetelli Property Master: Douglas E. Madison Script Supervisor: Wilma Garscadden-Gahret Still Photographer: Ralph Nelson Jr. Stunts: Steve M. Davison Sound Effects Editor: Robert Shoup Stunts: Tim A. Davison Assistant Sound Editor: Martha Pike Hairstylist: Lyndell Quiyou Costume Supervisor: Winnie D. Brown Assistant Sound Editor: Michele Perrone Foley Editor: Diana Pellegrini First Assistant Camera: Billy Clevenger Assistant Property Master: Douglas T. Madison Construction Coordinator: John J. Rutchland Jr. Unit Publicist: Susan Landau Finch Second Assistant Director: L. Dean Jones Jr. Production Sound Mixer: Michael Evje Assistant Sound Editor: Clare C. Freeman Assistant Sound Editor: Paige Sartorius Location Manager: Rory Enke Second Assistant Director: Daniel R. Suhart Gaffer: Pat Fitzsimmons Dialogue Editor: Melissa Dietz Associate Producer: Teri Fettis-D’Ovidio Boom Operator: D. G. Fisher Special Effects Supervisor: David Pier Production Accountant: Joe Murphy Negative Cutter: Donah Bassett Second Assistant C...

[deanwasalwaysbi]

That Drink Pour - a Meta Homage to Ben-Hur & Classic Hays Era Queercoding?

This 6x06 scene  - was strange to say the least

(Left) Boyd, Mentally playing this as a sex scene                        (Right) Heston, Has no idea what the director told Boyd

Long post analysis of the pour under the cut

Ben Hur came out in 1959 based on a 1880 novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It won 11 Academy Awards. The tangentially biblical saga checked every box for "morality" and "red blooded" American film, including a staring roll for macho menman Charlton Heston. They wanted Paul Newman or Rock Hudson, but they got Charlton Heston.  If you asked the general audience, the movie portrayed the tragic turn of two profoundly loyal friends to bitter enemies. But what if we asked the screen writer? 🤔  

Enter a fateful conversation between screenwriter Gore Vidal and director William Wyler about the exact nature of the two characters, Ben-Hur (Heston) and Messala.  Gore Vidal revealed in 1995 that he wrote the two as ex-lovers who became bitter enemies. Full stop. The head screenwriter told director Wyler that they could do it all in subtext, they needn't say a single line of dialogue. It would go over the heads of most of the audience, but to those who understood? it would be absolutely clear. Wyler said okay, but don't tell Heston.

And so, Vidal crafted a sex scene for his characters. Where one slowly poured a drink for the other. The writer was in on it. The director was in on it. and Stephen Boyd, the actor playing Messala was in on it. ... but Cheston had no idea. “So Heston thinks he’s doing Francis X. Bushman [Ben-Hur in the silent version]. And Stephen Boyd is acting it to pieces. There are looks that he gives him that are just so clear.”   - Vidal

The music swells.

/\ in on it                  completely in the dark /\

38 years later the writer recounted the story in the documentary 'The Celluloid Closet' and Heston promptly lost his shit. A shade filled response from Videl can be found here. (x)

It was a story about two friends. Two loyal friends. Who trust each other completely. Who share a profound bond with each other. The writer is secretly coding them as lovers, until, ultimately, one betrays the other. The characters never kiss on screen, but have elaborate rituals to be coded as sex in ways that will slip past the censors. Hmm.  🤔

What was the plot of Supernatural season 6 again?

Wasn't there an episode?

/\ Jensen Ackles                   Misha Collins /\

6x06 You Can't Handle the Truth Written by Eric Charmelo, Nicole Snyder, & David Reed Directed by Jan Eliasberg Sam and Dean investigate a town plagued by Veritas, where people can't help telling the truth.

The scene feels like an amalgamation of the Ben Hur scene and a scene from North by Northwest by Hitchcock where a queercoded character, Leonard, pours whiskey into a glass to imply violation of the male lead. That actor,  Martin Landau, since acknowledged that he played the character of Leonard as gay. (x)

The rest of the season, at least the episodes from writers who were in the ‘club’ include this long arc where Cas is secretly working with Crowley, “to protect Dean”, in a plotline coded as an affair.   The reveal really started in 6x17 (x), but the coding  was never more clear than in 6x20 The Man Who Would Be King: Dean unable to fathom Cas ‘cheating on him’ (x)  and the troubled reveal that Cas got Sam out of the cage. (x) The orange glow of the fire an pain in their eyes when Dean discovers Cas was working with Crowley (x)  “You make it sound so simple. Where were you when I needed to hear it?” “I was there. Where were you?” (x) That stab through the chest when Dean looks back at Cas before running out the door. (x) Commentary on 6x20 (x)

When did the writers begin to write Destiel in purposely?  We already know that Misha was playing Cas a certain way on his own, but When did the writers and Misha come together on what they were doing? Was Jensen aware of what was happening? If so, after what point? “Don’t ruin it for everyone” “No???”  “Destiel Doesn’t Exist.” “We’re missing the gay angel” “It’s always Dean (with the bromances)” These are questions I think about often. Much more on that in an ongoing long draft that will take a long time.

[mrepstein]

Brian Epstein’s Address & Telephone Book

A small leather bound pocket address and telephone book that was owned and used by Brian Epstein. The book dates to 1967 and it consists of 57 pages of addresses and telephone number some of which are typed, some of which are in Epstein’s hand and some which have been added by hand on his behalf. // (click HERE to view more pages from the book)

The book contains a total of 404 entries - a selection of them are listed below:

A

ATV Ltd 

ABC Television Ltd 

AIR London Ltd. 

Tom Arnold Ltd 

Neil Aspinall 

Artistes Car Hire 

Annabels [nightclub] 

Alexander’s Restaurant 

Ashley Steiner Famous [talent agency] 

Al Aronowitz 

Atlantic Records 

Eric Andersen 

Bob Anthony 

B

Bryce Hanmer & Co [accounting firm] 

Bedford, Okrent & Co 

BBC Television Centre 

BBC Broadcasting House 

Al Brodax 

Cilla Black 

Mr. & Mrs. Tony Barrow 

Mr. & Mrs Don Black 

Bryan Barrett 

Jack Barclay Ltd  [Bentley dealership] 

Peter Brown 

Mr. & Mrs. B. Bullough 

Mr. & Mrs J. Bullough 

Miss J. Balmer 

Mr. &. Mrs. Ivan Bennett 

Eric Burdon 

Francisco Bermudez 

Lionel Bart 

David Bailey 

Bag O’Nails 

Tony Barlow 

Ray Bartell 

Rodney Barnes 

Bruno One Restaurant 

Sid Bernstein 

Kenn Brodziak 

Leonard Bernstein 

Al Bennett 

Beverly Hills Hotel 

Brian Bedford 

Scotty Bower 

David Ballman 

Bob Bonis 

Bill Buist 

Arthur Buist 

C

Dr. Norman Cowan 

Curzon House Club 

Crockfords Club 

Clermont Club 

Cromwellian Club 

Paddy Chambers 

Radio Caroline 

Michael Codron 

Cap-Estel Le 

Mr. & Mrs. J. Cassen 

Columbia Pictures Ltd 

Eric Clapton 

Capitol Records Mexico 

Michael Cooper 

Roger Curtis 

Neil Christian 

Maureen Cleave 

Thomas Clyde 

Cash Box 

CBS Records Ltd 

Denny Cordell 

William Cavendish 

Caprice Restuarant 

David Charkham 

Capitol Records 

Columbia Broadcasting System 

Bob Crewe 

May Cunnell 

Car Hire Co. for Lincoln 

Dr. Kenneth Chesky 

Capitol Records (Voyle Gilmore) 

Irving E. Chezar 

Danny Cleary 

Bobby Colomby 

Bob Casper 

Andre Cadet 

D

Daily Express 

Disc & Music Echo 

Decca Records 

Bernard Delfont Ltd 

Bernard Delfont 

Noel Dixon 

Jimmy Douglas 

Chris Denning 

Simon Dee 

Rik Dane 

Dolly’s [nightclub] 

Hunter Davies 

Terry Doran 

Pat Doncaster 

Norrie Drummond 

Alan David 

John Dunbar 

Peter Dalton 

Kappy Ditson 

Robert Dunlap 

Robert L. David 

Diana Dors 

Ivor Davis 

Tom Dawes 

Brandon de Wilde 

Don Danneman 

E

Malcolm Evans 

Clive J. Epstein 

Mr. & Mrs. H. Epstein 

EMI Records Ltd 

EMI Studios 

Geoffrey Ellis 

Etoile Restaurant 

Tim Ellis 

Terry Eaton 

Kenny Everett 

John East 

Bob Eubanks 

Esther Edwards 

Ahmet Ertegun 

F

Alan Freeman 

David Frost 

Georgie Fame 

Robert Fraser 

Andre Fattacini 

Dan Farson 

Billy Fury 

Barry Finch 

Marianne Faithfull 

Robert Fitzpatrick 

Warren Frederikson 

John Fisher 

Danny Fields 

Francis Fiorino 

G

Dr. Geoffrey Gray 

Hamish Grimes 

Derek Grainger 

Rik Gunnell 

Rik Gunnell Agency Ltd 

Derrick Goodman & Co. 

Peter Goldman 

Christopher Gibbs 

David Garrick 

Geoffrey Grant 

Mick Green 

John P. Greenside 

Michael Gillet 

General Artists Corp. 

John Gillespie 

Voyle Gilmore 

George Greif 

Ren Grevatt 

Milton Goldman 

M. Goldstein 

Gary Grove 

Henry Grossman 

H

Mr. & Mrs. Berrell Hyman 

Doreen Hyman 

Mr. & Mrs. Basil J. Hyman 

Mrs. A. Hyman 

Steve Hardy 

H. Huntsman & Son Ltd 

Simon Hayes 

Frankie Howerd 

Henry Higgins 

Chris Hutchins 

Tony Howard 

Wendy Hanson 

Marty Himmel 

Casper Halpern

John Heska

Ricky Heiman

Joe Hunter

Ty Hargrove

Hullabaloo.

Walter Hofer

J

M.A. Jacobs & Son 

David Jacobs [lawyer] 

Dick James Music Ltd 

Mr. & Mrs. D. James 

Mick Jagger 

Brian Jones 

Michael Jeffries 

Drummond Jackson 

David Jacobs [d.j.] 

Brian Joyce 

Gerry Justice 

K

Gibson Kemp 

Johnathan King 

Mr. & Mrs Maurice Kinn 

Kingsway Recording Studios 

Ashley Kozac 

Kafetz Camera Ltd. 

Reg King 

Andrew Koritsas 

Ed Kenmore 

Walker Kundzicz 

John Kurland 

Murray Kauffman

L

Larry Lamb 

Martin Landau 

Kit Lambert 

Dick Lester 

Mr. & Mrs. Vic Lewis 

Tony Lynch 

Radio London 

Mike Leander 

John Lyndon 

Bernard Lee 

Kenny Lynch 

Denny Laine 

Lomax Alliance 

Ed Leffler 

David G. Lowe 

Richard W. Lean 

Goddard Lieberson 

Laurie Records 

Liberty Records 

London Records 

Alan Livingston

M

Melody Maker 

Peter Murray 

Keith Moon 

Mr. & Mrs. G. Martin 

Mr. & Mrs. Brian Matthew 

Midland Bank Limited 

Vyvienne Moynihan 

Gerry Marsden 

Ian Moody 

Michael McGrath 

Cathy McGowan 

Mr. & Mrs. J. McCartney 

Albert Marrion 

Robin Maughan 

Peter Maddok 

Gordon Mills 

Brian McEwan 

John Mendell Jnr. 

Marshall Migatz 

Fred Morrow 

Chruch McLaine 

Vincent Morrone 

Jeffrey Martin Co. 

Gavin Murrell 

Dean Martin 

Gordon B. McLendon 

Sal Mineo 

Scott Manley 

Bernard Mavnitte 

Verne Miller 

N

John Neville 

Joanne Newfield 

Tommy Nutter 

Francisco Neuner 

Tatsuji Nagasima 

New Musical Express 

NEMS Enterprises Ltd 

Graham Nash 

Nemperor Artists Ltd 

Louis Nizer 

Bob Nauss 

Gene Narmore 

O

George H. Ornstein 

Olympic Sound Studios 

A. L. Oldham 

Myles Osternak 

Roy Onsborg 

P

Col. Tom Parker 

Jerry Pam 

Plaza Hotel 

PAN AM. rep 

Bob Perlman 

Allen Pohju 

Robert H. Prech 

John Pritchard 

Prince Of Wales Theatre 

Don Paul 

Sean Phillips 

Jon Pertwee 

Ricki Pipe 

Dr. D. A. Pond 

David Puttnam 

David Puttnam Associates 

Tom Parr 

Harry Pinsker 

Kenneth Partridge 

Larry Parnes 

Priory Nursing Home 

Viv Prince 

Steve Paul 

R

Radnor Arms [pub] 

Leo Rost 

Keith Richard 

Record Mirror 

Dolly Robertson-Ward 

Charles Ross 

Rules Restuarant 

Marian Rainford 

Bobby Roberts 

Bill Rosado 

S

Vic Singh 

Speakeasy [club] 

Simon and Marijke 

Simon Shops 

Judith Symons 

Keith Skeel 

Tony Sharman 

Simon Scott 

Barrie Summers 

John Singleton 

Squarciafichi 

Don Short 

Dr. Walter Strach 

Walter Shenson 

John Sandoe Ltd 

Bobby Shafto 

Harry South 

Brian Sommerville 

Robert Stigwood

David Shaw 

Chris Stamp 

Aaron Schroeder 

Stephen, Jacques & Stephen [law firm] 

Leo Sullivan 

Gene Schwann 

Herb Schlosser 

Gary Smith 

Jim Stewart [co-founder, Stax Records] 

John Simon 

Jerry N. Schatzberg 

Lex Taylor 

Robert Shoot 

Lauren Stanton 

St. Regis Hotel 

Eric Spiros 

Howard Soloman 

T

Taft Limousine Corp 

[Sidney] Traxler (lawyer) 

T.W.A. Ken S. Fletcher [director, public relations, TWA] 

Derek & Joan Taylor 

T.W.A. (Victor Page) 

Martin Tempest 

Evelyn Taylor 

Twickenham Studios 

Kenneth Tynan 

Alistair Taylor 

F. T. Turner & Son Ltd. 

R. S. Taylor 

Michael Taylor 

George Tempest 

Norm Talbott 

U

United Artists Corp Ltd 

U.P.I. 

V

Klaus & Christine Voormann 

V.I.P. Travel Ltd 

W

Mark Warman 

Gary Walker 

Robert Whitaker 

Peter Watkins 

Peter Weldon 

Mrs. Freda Weldon 

Alan Warren 

Orson Welles 

Sir David Webster 

Alan Williams 

Dennis Wiley 

Terry Wilson 

Nathan Weiss 

Norman Weiss 

Gerry Wexler 

Y

Murial Young 

Bernice Young 

Z

Peter Zorcon 

[perfectirishgifts]

‘Laverne & Shirley’ Star David L. Lander Dies At 73

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/laverne-shirley-star-david-l-lander-dies-at-73/

‘Laverne & Shirley’ Star David L. Lander Dies At 73

UNSPECIFIED – circa 1970: Photo of LENNY & SQUIGGY; Above Lenny (Michael McKean), below Squigy … [] (David Lander) (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)

David L. Lander, who is remembered for his iconic role as knucklehead Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman on ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, passed away Friday from complications of multiple sclerosis. He was 73.

Originally hired as writers on Laverne & Shirley, Lander and Michael McKean, who portrayed Squiggy’s best friend (and equally odd) Lenny Kosnowski, were immediately used on camera as comedic foils to Laverne (Pennny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams). The sitcom, which ran from 1976 to 1983 and was spun-off from Happy Days, revolved around the exploits of the wisecracking Laverne DeFazio and the more innocent Shirley Feeney, the two title characters, who were roommates and worked together at the fictional Shotz Brewery. Lander as Squiggy and McKean as Lenny drove trucks for the brewery and shared the apartment above Laverne and Shirley’s.

The cast of ABC sitcom “Laverne & Shirley.”

Upon hearing the news of his death, Lander’s friend and colleague Michael McKean posted a touching photo of the two.

Michael McKean and David L. Lander were friends and colleagues since college.

Born David Leonard Landau on June 22, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, Lander met McKean in 1965 when both were freshmen at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Tech. It was there they developed the characters of Lenny and Squiggy, and eventually they teamed up with the Los Angeles-based ensemble The Credibility Gap as performers. During the sitcom’s run, the duo released an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1979, and later appeared together in the 1979 Steven Spielberg theatrical 1941, and the 1980 Kurt Russell film Used Cars.

Lander and McKean also lent their vocal talents to the animated TV series Oswald, which ran from 2001 to 2003, and appeared as Lenny and Squiggy on Happy Days.

Lander, additionally, guest-starred on numerous other TV series including The Bob Newhart Show, Barney Miller, Married With Children, Twin Peaks, Mad About You, Family Matters and The Drew Carey Show. He was also busy as a voice actor on animated series like Galaxy High School, Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone, and Jungle Cubs; and in 1988 Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In 2002, he reprised his role as Squiggy in The Simpsons, and he also had a stint on CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful.

In 2002, Lander published the 2000 book Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody. Eventually, he became a goodwill ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

In addition to his wife, whom he married in 1979, Lander’s survivors include daughter Natalie Lander.

From Hollywood & Entertainment in Perfectirishgifts

[nebris]

David Lander born David Leonard Landau (June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020)

[madamlaydebug]

Committee of300 Abdullah II King of Jordan Roman Abramovich Josef Ackermann Edward Adeane Marcus Agius Martti Ahtisaari Daniel Akerson Albert II King of Belgium Alexander Crown Prince of Yugoslavia Giuliano Amato Carl A. Anderson Giulio Andreotti Andrew Duke of York Anne Princess Royal Nick Anstee Timothy Garton Ash William Waldorf Astor Pyotr Aven Jan Peter Balkenende Steve Ballmer Ed Balls Jose Manuel Barroso Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands Marek Belka C. Fred Bergsten Silvio Berlusconi Ben Bernanke Nils Bernstein Donald Berwick Carl Bildt Sir Winfried Bischoff Tony Blair Lloyd Blankfein Leonard Blavatnik Michael Bloomberg Frits Bolkestein Hassanal Bolkiah Michael C Bonello Emma Bonino David L. Boren Borwin Duke of Mecklenburg  Charles Bronfman Edgar Jr. Bronfman John Bruton Zbigniew Brzezinski Robin Budenberg Warren Buffett George HW Bush David Cameron Camilla Duchess of Cornwall Fernando Henrique Cardoso Peter Carington Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden Carlos Duke of Parma Mark Carney Cynthia Carroll Jaime Caruana Sir William Castell Anson Chan Margaret Chan Norman Chan Charles Prince of Wales Richard Chartres Stefano Delle Chiaie Dr John Chipman Patokh Chodiev Christoph Prince of Schleswig-Holstein Fabrizio Cicchitto Wesley Clark Kenneth Clarke Nick Clegg Bill Clinton Abby Joseph Cohen Ronald Cohen Gary Cohn Marcantonio Colonna di Paliano Duke of Paliano Marcantonio Colonna di Paliano Duke of Paliano Constantijn Prince of the Netherlands Constantine II King of Greece David Cooksey Brian Cowen Sir John Craven Andrew Crockett Uri Dadush Tony D'Aloisio Alistair Darling Sir Howard Davies Etienne Davignon David Davis Benjamin de Rothschild David Rene de Rothschild Evelyn de Rothschild Leopold de Rothschild Joseph Deiss Oleg Deripaska Michael Dobson Mario Draghi Jan Du Plessis William C. Dudley Wim Duisenberg Edward Duke of Kent Edward Earl of Wessex Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom John Elkann Vittorio Emanuele Prince of Naples Ernst August Prince of Hanover Martin Feldstein Matthew Festing François Fillon Heinz Fischer Joschka Fischer Stanley Fischer Niall FitzGerald Franz Duke of Bavaria Mikhail Fridman Friso Prince of Orange-Nassau Bill Gates Christopher Geidt Timothy Geithner Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia Dr Chris Gibson-Smith Mikhail Gorbachev Al Gore Allan Gotlieb Stephen Green Alan Greenspan Gerald Grosvenor 6th Duke of Westminster Jose Angel Gurria William Hague Sir Philip Hampton Hans-Adam II Prince of Liechtenstein Harald V King of Norway Stephen Harper François Heisbourg Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg Philipp Hildebrand Carla Anderson Hills Richard Holbrooke Patrick Honohan Alan Howard Alijan Ibragimov Stefan Ingves Walter Isaacson Juan Carlos King of Spain Kenneth M. Jacobs DeAnne Julius Jean-Claude Juncker Peter Kenen John Kerry Mervyn King Glenys Kinnock Henry Kissinger Malcolm Knight William H. Koon II Paul Krugman John Kufuor Giovanni Lajolo Anthony Lake Richard Lambert Pascal Lamy Jean-Pierre Landau Timothy Laurence   Arthur Levitt Michael Levy Joe Lieberman Ian Livingston Lee Hsien Loong Lorenz of Belgium Glenys Kinnock Henry Kissinger Malcolm Knight William H. Koon II Paul Krugman John Kufuor Giovanni Lajolo Anthony Lake Richard Lambert Pascal Lamy Jean-Pierre Landau Timothy Laurence James Leigh-Pemberton Leka Crown Prince of Albania Mark Leonard Peter Levene Lev Leviev Arthur Levitt Michael Levy Joe Lieberman Ian Livingston Lee Hsien Loong Lorenz of Belgium Archduke of Austria-Este Louis Alphonse Duke of Anjou Gerard Louis-Dreyfus Mabel Princess of Orange-Nassau Peter Mandelson Sir David Manning Margherita Archduchess of Austria-Este Margrethe II Queen of Denmark Guillermo Ortiz Martinez Alexander Mashkevitch Stefano Massimo Prince of Roccasecca dei Volsci Fabrizio Massimo-Brancaccio Prince of Arsoli and Triggiano William Joseph McDonough Mack McLarty Yves Mersch Michael Prince of Kent Michael King of Romania David Miliband Ed Miliband Lakshmi Mittal Glen Moreno Moritz Prince and Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Rupert Murdoch Charles Napoleon Jacques Nasser Robin Niblett Vincent Nichols Adolfo Nicolas Christian Noyer Sammy Ofer Alexandra Ogilvy Lady Ogilvy David Ogilvy 13th Earl of Airlie Jorma Ollila Nicky Oppenheimer George Osborne Frederic Oudea Sir John Parker Chris Patten Michel Pebereau Gareth Penny Shimon Peres Philip Duke of Edinburgh Dom Duarte Pio Duke of Braganza Karl Otto Pohl Colin Powell Mikhail Prokhorov Guy Quaden Anders Fogh Rasmussen Joseph Alois Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) David Reuben Simon Reuben William R. Rhodes Susan Rice Richard Duke of Gloucester Sir Malcolm Rifkind Sir John Ritblat Stephen S. Roach Mary Robinson David Rockefeller Jr. David Rockefeller Sr. Nicholas Rockefeller Javier Echevarria Rodriguez Kenneth Rogoff Jean-Pierre Roth Jacob Rothschild David Rubenstein Robert Rubin Francesco Ruspoli 10th Prince of Cerveteri Joseph Safra Moises Safra Peter Sands Nicolas Sarkozy Isaac Sassoon James Sassoon Sir Robert John Sawers Marjorie Scardino Klaus Schwab Karel Schwarzenberg Stephen A. Schwarzman Sidney Shapiro Nigel Sheinwald Sigismund Grand Duke of Tuscany Archduke of Austria Simeon of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Olympia Snowe Sofia Queen of Spain George Soros Arlen Specter Ernest Stern Dennis Stevenson Tom Steyer Joseph Stiglitz Dominique Strauss-Kahn Jack Straw Peter Sutherland Mary Tanner Ettore Gotti Tedeschi Mark Thompson Dr. James Thomson  Hans Tietmeyer Jean-Claude Trichet Paul Tucker Herman Van Rompuy Alvaro Uribe Velez Alfons Verplaetse Kaspar Villiger Maria Vladimirovna Grand Duchess of Russia Paul Volcker Otto von Habsburg Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Sultan of Brunei Sir David Walker Jacob Wallenberg John Walsh Max Warburg Axel Alfred Weber Michael David Weill Nout Wellink Marina von Neumann Whitman Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange William Prince of Wales Dr Rowan Williams Shirley Williams David Wilson James Wolfensohn Neal S. Wolin Harry Woolf R. James Jr. Woolsey Sir Robert Worcester Sarah Wu Robert Zoellick Most of the names listed above are of Jewish lineage 

[true-halloween-tales]

2017: #3-GUIDE TO THE OUTER LIMITS

There is nothing wrong with your television set.  Do not attempt to adjust the picture.  We are controlling transmission.  If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume.  If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper.  We will control the horizontal.  We will control the vertical.  We can roll the image, make it flutter.  We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity.  For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear.  We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set.  You are about to participate in a great adventure.  You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Outer Limits.                – Prologue to The Outer Limits.

In the late 1980’s I would often get home from work around 1 am.  I would turn on my old, small, ancient, black and white, tv that had separate VHF and UHF dials and a partially broken antenna.  To get the tv to produce any sort of recognizable image, a misshapen rock had to be balanced on one dial exactly the right way - and presto - the tv worked!  And what I saw was a black and white older tv program with enormous tension, gripping drama, good music, and scary aliens.  I became mesmerized by this series and tried to watch all of the episodes (see 2016: #3-BLOODY MESMERISM).  The aliens’ designs were very creative, and the suspenseful series had intense cinematography, often with a dose of film noir or even German Expressionism.  This excessively eerie series was The Outer Limits.

The Outer Limits is an hour long science fiction/horror/fantasy anthology series that aired for two seasons, from 1963-65 comprising forty-nine episodes.  It is very much classified with The Twilight Zone.  There are a number of black and white, horror/science-fiction anthology tv series like The Twilight Zone: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, One Step Beyond, Thriller with Boris Karloff, and The Outer Limits.  These series all had a narrator such as Rod Serling who often said something that sounded special, imparting some wisdom.  The Outer Limits had no regular cast members at all, but Vic Perrin provided the Control Voice heard in each episode.  His opening and closing remarks sound much more profound and humanistic than what was said on these other series.  The Outer Limits was created by Leslie Stevens who directed William Shatner in the 1966 horror film, Incubus, that was filmed using the artificial language of Esperanto.  Stevens originally wanted The Outer Limits to be titled, Please Stand By.  The producer of the series was Joseph Stefano who was also the screenwriter for Hitchcock’s Psycho.  Stephen King has described The Outer Limits as “the best program of its type ever to run on network TV.”

In addition to having excellent creatures, effects, and cinematography, The Outer Limits also included quite a few stars.  Batman’s Adam West made an appearance as an astronaut on Mars.  Eddie Albert battled growling tumbleweeds in one episode, and Martin Landau appears in two episodes.  Cliff Robertson contacted glowing aliens, and timid Donald Pleasance used his psionic powers on people.  David McCallum’s fat head swelled up, and Simon Oakland from The Night Stalker turned into a bird alien (see 2015: #5-GUIDE TO THE NIGHT STALKER).  Lou Grant’s Ed Asner and Ted Knight both popped up as did Russell Johnson, the Professor from Gilligan’ Island.  Robert Culp appeared in three episodes, one about evil, alien, scheming, zombie-making, greasy black rocks.  Even Richard Dawson from Family Feud somehow managed to appear in an episode.  

Episodes were written by by science fiction authors such as Harlan Ellison and Clifford Simak.  The best episodes of the series were written by Jospeh Stefano.  He left the series after the first season, and the series did not survive beyond season two.  Many of the best episodes of The Outer Limits are also quite strange.  “It Crawled Out of the Woodwork” is about a ball of dust that takes over a corporation.  Since full episode guides can be found online, a focus on the best episodes may be useful.  “Nightmare” has some of the most unforgettable aliens, the Ebonites, who are apparently involved in a war against humanity, and one of their prisoners is a frantic Martin Sheen.  “Keeper of the Purple Twilight” is about tall, scary aliens pursuing one of their own to Earth.  “Controlled Experiment” is the only comedy episode of the series and one of my favorites; it was intended to be a pilot for a new tv series.  It is about Martians secretly on Earth trying to understand why humans commit murder by using a time machine.  “Controlled Experiment” stars Archie Bunker’s Carrol O’Connor, Space 1999’s Barry Morse, and Star Trek’s Grace Lee Whitney, (aka Yeoman Rand).  German electronic musician, Pete Namlook, was a fan of The Outer Limits and included samples from the series in his albums; he sampled “Controlled Experiment” for his album, Miles Apart.  “Don’t Open Until Doomsday” is about a horrifying monster in a box that sucks others into its timeless realm.  “The Zanti Misfits” is considered by TV Guide to be one of the one-hundred best episodes of television.  It is about a criminal, Bruce Dern, who encounters small, irate, intelligent, insect-like criminals in their tiny UFO.  “A Feasibility Study” is perhaps the best and most frightening episode of the series, similar in plot to The Mist and with scary aliens.  If you watch any episodes of The Outer Limits, watch “A Feasibility Study.”  

There is a strong connection between The Outer Limits and the original Star Trek series.  This may be true because Gene Roddenberry often visited the The Outer Limits studios.  One of the best episodes of The Outer Limits, “Fun and Games,” is about advanced aliens who kidnap other aliens to fight it out to the death for their entertainment; this was later a plot for an episode of Star Trek.  William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and James Doohan (aka Scotty) all appear in separate episodes of The Outer Limits.  Vic Perrin, the Control Voice, appeared or provided voice work in three Star Trek episodes.  Alien design, props, and special effects were also borrowed for Star Trek from The Outer Limits.  The exact alien prop of the Horta from Star Trek’s “Devil in the Dark” first appeared in The Outer Limits’ episode, “The Probe.”  Even the most iconic Star Trek special effect of the transporter, the sparkling vanishing effect, originated from The Outer Limits’ “The Mutant.”

In the 1980’s and 90’s, horror/science fiction tv series became popular again.  The Darkroom was introduced by James Coburn wearing all black.  Monsters featured exactly that in each half-hour episode.  Tales From the Darkside was soon replaced by Tales From the Crypt.  A new The Twilight Zone series emerged.  It was only a matter of time until The Outer Limits was revived in 1995 in the form of a new, color tv series that ran until 2002.  It was not nearly as good as the original series, and the new series ran for a hundred and fifty-four episodes over seven seasons.  A few episodes were remade such as “Nightmare,” “A Feasibility Study” and “I, Robot.”  Episodes included such stars as Mark Hamill and various new Star Trek actors such as Marina Sirtis, Rene Auberjonis, Robert Picardo, and Doug Jones from Star Trek: Discovery.  “Dark Matters” is probably the best episode of the new series, and focuses on a starless void filled with marooned spacecraft and the ghosts of aliens.  I adapted that plot for a Dungeons & Dragons adventure (see 2015: #12-THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES 4: THE FAR REALM – THE ILLITHID DREADNAUGHT, PART 2).  

Since Joseph Stefano was the main force behind The Outer Limits stranger monsters, what became of him?  Years after The Outer Limits, he was the writer of “Skin of Evil” for Star Trek: The Next Generation.  The episode featured Armus, a frightening monster that was an amalgamation of evil from an alien species that looked like a hulking, vaguely humanoid black pudding.  Armus shockingly killed Tasha Yar, a main character in the series.  Stefano wrote for The Swamp Thing tv series and he wrote two episodes for the new The Outer Limits series.  He wrote the remade episodes of “Nightmare” and “A Feasibility Study.”  His final big project was writing the screenplay for the 1998 Psycho remake film by Gus van Sant.  

If you don’t have time to watch a horror film, watch The Outer Limits.  The atmosphere the series creates is perfect for the month of Halloween.  The entire series is available in a DVD box set that is reasonable in price.  There is a soundtrack cd, action figures, and Halloween masks for sale based on aliens from the series.  Go and experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the Outer Limits!

[alexserna]

Las circunstancias me obligan a regresar antes de lo que anticipé. Hay momentos que odio el rumbo que parece estar tomando esta columna. Y a nuestro pesar, es algo natural e inevitable si consideramos las edades de las figuras que veneramos desde nuestra juventud. Wes Craven, Germán Robles, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Lupita Tovar, Gene Wilder, Jonathan Demme y Adam West son algunos de mis héroes caídos que han ocupado horas de nuestro duelo compartido. Será –contra lo que deseo- una tendencia cada vez más común en los próximos 10 años, como fatalmente me recordó mi colega Antonio Camarillo. Suena en mi cabeza la voz de Marge Simpson: “Tinta negra se convirtió tan lentamente en un obituario que ni cuenta me di”.

La placidez de la tarde de nuestro domingo se interrumpió por la noticia –que tardé minutos angustiantes en confirmar aunque había corrido como reguero de pólvora en las redes sociales- de la muerte física de George Andrew Romero. Dejó este mundo en su hogar en Toronto, Canadá, mientras dormía apaciblemente, luego de “una corta pero agresiva batalla contra el cáncer pulmonar”. Lo hizo junto a su tercera esposa Suzanne Desrocher Romero y su hija (de su segundo matrimonio) Tina, mientras escuchaba la partitura de una de sus cintas favoritas, la comedia romántica El hombre quieto (John Ford, 1952). Tenía 77 años de edad. Todos los aficionados de los territorios del horror lo lloramos y tenemos una deuda impagable con él. No abundaré en sus méritos ni el peso de sus contribuciones pues podría consumir mucho de nuestro tiempo. Tampoco discutiré sobre su obra maestra, la película que le valió la inmortalidad, La noche de los muertos vivientes (1968), pues lo he hecho ampliamente en el pasado. Sólo diré que “creó un subgénero del cine de horror”, como apropiadamente señaló nuestro compatriota Guillermo del Toro. “George era un iconoclasta, una mente indómita y un pensador liberal que utilizó el horror para iluminar la oscuridad que nos rodea”. Suscribo completamente.

Apenas unas horas después, se informó de otro deceso, el de su paisano Martin Landau (también era originario de Nueva Yortk). Los aficionados lo recordamos por las tres temporadas en que interpretó al amo de los disfraces Rollind Hand en la primera época de la teleserie Misión: Imposible (1966-1973). O por su papel como el malandro Leonard en Intriga internacional (North by northwest, 1959) del insuperable Alfred Hichcock. O como el Dr. Alvin Kurtzweil en Los expedientes secretos X: combate al futuro (Rob Bowman, 1998). Pero especialmente lo tenemos presente por encarnar a un decadente Bela Lugosi en el sexto largometraje de Tim Burton, Ed Wood (1994), el que para muchos es su mejor filme. Su fantástico desempeño, que facilitó el inspirado maquillaje del talentoso Rick Baker, le valió un premio Óscar como Mejor Actor de Reparto (Baker también fue galardonado por su trabajo) y un Globo de Oro en la misma categoría. Landau de hecho falleció la tarde del sábado, luego de que fuera hospitalizado en el Centro Médico Ronald Reagan de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles, a causa de “complicaciones inesperadas”. Tenía 89 años.

A Romero tuve el gusto de conocerlo en octubre de 2011. Era un hombre enorme, no sólo por su estatura sino por su sencillez. Cuando estuve frente a él, las piernas me flaqueaban. Le expresé con torpeza mi inmensa admiración y aún mayor gratitud. “Usted me enseñó que esto, en lo que creo vehementemente, puede ser respetable”, balbuceé. Estoy seguro que percibió mi emoción y la correspondió con la expresión más amable.

Romero y Landau conocieron dos formas de recompensa, y lo mejor de ello es que lo hicieron mientras vivían. Creo que la más valiosa fue penetrar en los corazones de miles de personas en todo el planeta, y la gozaron con plena consciencia. En sus respectivos campos, siempre brillaron. Dejaron poderosas muestras de su paso por este mundo, a las que siempre podremos acudir al presionar un botón en un control remoto. Desde el lugar donde actualmente residen, seguramente sonríen al comprobar su legado. Todos somos sus dolientes. Todos somos sus deudos.

Y la vida continúa. Nos leeremos de nuevo el 27 de julio.

  —

Roberto Coria es investigador en literatura y cine fantástico. Imparte desde 1998 cursos, talleres, ciclos de cine y conferencias sobre estos mundos en diversas casas académicas del país. Es asesor literario de Mórbido. Condujo el podcast Testigos del Crimen y escribe el blog Horroris causa, convertido en un programa radiofónico. En sus horas diurnas es Perito en Arte Forense de la Procuraduría General de Justicia de la Ciudad de México.

La Tinta Negra cambia de día por una ocasión especial: el adiós a Romero y Landau Las circunstancias me obligan a regresar antes de lo que anticipé. Hay momentos que odio el rumbo que parece estar tomando esta columna.

[profoundretrooldies]

Laverne & Shirley and Lenny & Squiggy made this show hilarious! Penny Marshall (RIP) as Laverne and Cindy Williams as Shirley is what I enjoyed watching them 2 argue and fight with each other like sisters. Lenny and Squiggy were funny goofy and like brothers played by Michael McKean and David Leonard Landau on the TV sitcom Laverne & Shirley.

[peacekaleandyoga1]

CHANHASSEN, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Life Time Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:LTM), The Healthy Way of Life Company,

along with Leonard Green & Partners and TPG, today announced that they

have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which affiliates

of Leonard Green & Partners and TPG will acquire Life Time in a

transaction valued at more than $4.0 billion. Other key investors

include LNK Partners and Life Time Chairman, President and Chief

Executive Officer, Bahram Akradi, who will remain in his role and has

committed to make a rollover investment of $125 million in Life Time

common stock.

Life Time’s board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement

and recommends that the Company’s shareholders vote in favor of the

transaction.

Under the terms of the merger agreement the investors will acquire all

of the outstanding shares of Life Time Fitness common stock for $72.10

per share in cash. This price represents a significant premium to Life

Time’s closing share price of $41.60 on August 22, 2014, the most recent

trading day before the Company announced that its board of directors and

senior management team had initiated a process to explore a potential

conversion of real estate assets into a Real Estate Investment Trust

(REIT).

The merger is subject to approval from Life Time’s shareholders and

other customary closing conditions. The transaction is currently

expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.

“Following a comprehensive review by Life Time’s board of directors of

strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, we are pleased to

have reached this agreement, which provides our shareholders with

immediate and substantial cash value representing a significant premium

to our unaffected share price,” said Akradi. “There are no words to

describe my gratitude for the confidence and significant commitment

Leonard Green & Partners, TPG and LNK Partners have made to Life Time

and our management team.”

“We look forward to working with Bahram Akradi, the Life Time management

team and all of its talented and passionate employees,” said John

Danhakl, Managing Partner of Leonard Green & Partners. “We are confident

that we will have a long and successful partnership as we continue to

serve Life Time’s many loyal members and customers.”

“Life Time is a differentiated market leader with a long history of

consistent performance and significant growth potential,” said Jonathan

Coslet, Chief Investment Officer at TPG. “We are excited to partner with

Bahram Akradi and his team on the next chapter of the Company’s growth.”

“It’s great to be back partnering with Bahram Akradi and his terrific

management team in continuing to build Life Time’s extraordinary

business,” said David Landau, Partner of LNK Partners.

Guggenheim Securities and Wells Fargo Securities are serving as the

Company’s financial advisors. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

and Faegre Baker Daniels LLP are serving as its legal advisors. Latham &

Watkins LLP is serving as legal advisor to Leonard Green & Partners and

Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal advisor to TPG. Fully committed

debt financing is expected to be provided by affiliates of Deutsche Bank

Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Jefferies, BMO Capital Markets,

RBC Capital Markets, Macquarie Capital and Nomura, who also are serving

as financial advisors to Leonard Green & Partners and TPG. Kirkland &

Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to LNK Partners.

About Life Time Fitness, Inc.

As The Healthy Way of Life Company, Life Time Fitness (NYSE:LTM) helps

organizations, communities and individuals achieve their total health

objectives, athletic aspirations and fitness goals by engaging in their

areas of interest — or discovering new passions — both inside and

outside of Life Time’s distinctive and large sports, professional

fitness, family recreation and spa destinations, most of which operate

24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Company’s Healthy Way of Life

approach enables customers to achieve this by providing the best

programs, people and places of uncompromising quality and value. As of

March 16, 2015, the Company operated 114 centers under the LIFE TIME

FITNESS® and LIFE TIME ATHLETIC® brands in the

United States and Canada. Additional information about Life Time

centers, programs and services is available at lifetimefitness.com.

About Leonard Green & Partners, L.P.

Founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles, Leonard Green & Partners is

one of the nation’s preeminent private equity firms. Leonard Green

invests in established companies that are leaders in their markets,

including The Container Store, Shake Shack, Whole Foods Market, Topshop,

J.Crew, Jetro Cash & Carry, Activision, CHG Healthcare, and Petco. For

more information, please visit www.leonardgreen.com.

About TPG

TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with

over $67 billion of assets under management and offices in San

Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Beijing, Hong

Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, São Paulo,

Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG has extensive experience with global

public and private investments executed through leveraged buyouts,

recapitalizations, spinouts, growth investments, joint ventures and

restructurings. The firm has deep consumer and retail expertise with

investments including Beringer Wines, Burger King, Chobani, J.Crew,

Lenta, Neiman Marcus, Petco and Savers, among others. For more

information visit www.tpg.com.

About LNK Partners

LNK Partners is a private equity firm focused on backing strong

management teams who are building outstanding consumer and retail

businesses. LNK is highly flexible in the type and structure of its

investments, and is comfortable being a minority or majority

shareholder. The firm typically invests up to $150 million of equity per

transaction. LNK’s partners have extensive experience successfully

investing in, operating, or serving on the boards of many leading

consumer and retail businesses, including Staples, Quaker Oats, Pepsi,

Gatorade, Panera Bread, Life Time Fitness, Levi Strauss, PVH/Tommy

Hilfiger/Calvin Klein, Campbell’s, Pepperidge Farm, Godiva, and Yankee

Candle. To learn more, please visit LNKpartners.com.

Important Additional Information

In connection with the proposed merger, Life Time intends to file

relevant materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the

“SEC”), including a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A.

Following the filing of the definitive proxy statement with the SEC,

Life Time will mail the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to

each shareholder entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the

proposed merger. SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THESE

MATERIALS IN THEIR ENTIRETY (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS

THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT LIFE TIME WILL FILE WITH

THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT

INFORMATION. The proxy statement and other relevant materials (when

available), and any and all documents filed by Life Time with the SEC,

may also be obtained for free at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

In addition, shareholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed

with the SEC by Life Time via Life Time’s Investor Relations section of

its website at www.lifetimefitness.com

or by contacting Investor Relations by directing a request to Life Time

Fitness, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 2902 Corporate Place,

Chanhassen, MN 55317, or by calling (952) 229-7427.

This document does not constitute a solicitation of proxy, an offer to

purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. Life

Time, its directors, executive officers and certain employees may be

deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the

shareholders of Life Time in connection with the proposed merger.

Information about the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be

considered to be participants in the solicitation of Life Time’s

stockholders in connection with the proposed merger, and any interest

they have in the proposed merger, will be set forth in the definitive

proxy statement when it is filed with the SEC. Additional information

regarding these individuals is set forth in Life Time’s proxy statement

for its 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the

SEC on April 24, 2014, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal

year ended December 31, 2014, which was filed with the SEC on March 2,

2015. These documents (when available) may be obtained for free at the

SEC’s website at www.sec.gov,

and via Life Time’s Investor Relations section of its website at www.lifetimefitness.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document may include “forward-looking” statements within the

meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,

including, without limitation, statements relating to the completion of

the merger. Forward-looking statements can usually be identified by the

use of terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,”

“estimate,” “evolve,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “looking ahead,”

“may,” “opinion,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “project,” “should,”

“will” and similar words or expression. These statements are based on

current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and

uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those

anticipated as a result of various factors, including: (1) Life Time may

be unable to obtain shareholder approval as required for the merger;

(2) conditions to the closing of the merger, including the obtaining of

required regulatory approvals, may not be satisfied; (3) the merger may

involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; (4) the business of

Life Time may suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the merger;

(5) the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the merger; (6) Life

Time may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or

competitive factors; (7) the occurrence of any event, change or other

circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger

agreement; (8) the ability to recognize benefits of the merger;

(9) risks that the merger disrupts current plans and operations and the

potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the merger;

(10) other risks to consummation of the merger, including the risk that

the merger will not be consummated within the expected time period or at

all; (11) the risks described from time to time in Life Time’s reports

filed with the SEC under the heading “Risk Factors,” including the

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014,

Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and in

other of Life Time’s filings with the SEC; and (12) general industry and

economic conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance

on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on

which such statements were made. Except as required by applicable law,

Life Time undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements

to reflect events or circumstances arising after such date.

If you enjoyed this post, you should read this: Handy Tips For Losing That Extra Weight

from https://ift.tt/2u8YTr5

[mrmichaelchadler]

A Lit Fuse: The History of the Mission: Impossible Franchise

With this week’s release of “Mission: Impossible - Fallout,” it is time to accept an increasingly undeniable fact—the “Mission: Impossible” series is quite possibly the standout film franchise of its time. From a financial standpoint, its significance cannot be denied; the first five films in the series—“Mission: Impossible” (1996), “Mission: Impossible II” (2000), “Mission: Impossible III” (2006), “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” (2011) and “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” (2015)—have pulled in over $2.7 billion dollars and, barring some unforeseen disaster, the new one should put it well over the $3 billion mark. With grosses like that, it would be easy to simply treat the series as a sort of annuity that one could return to every couple of years to make a lot of money simply by repeating the basic formula established by the previous films for as long as audiences are will to pay to see them. And yet, thanks to the combination of things up by adding new and intriguing elements to the mix each time, the unique approaches to the basic material employed by a strong and eclectic string of directors and, of course, the indefatigable efforts of producer/star Tom Cruise to thrill moviegoers by any means necessary, a series that should by all means have become creatively moribund years ago has instead gotten better, craftier and more entertaining with age. If all blockbuster-sized entertainments were even half as ambitious and ingenious as these films have been, moviegoers would be infinitely better off.

The inspiration for the series is, of course, the long-running television series that aired between 1966-1973 that chronicled the globe-trotting adventures of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a secret quasi-government organization of secret agents who went out on missions, should they choose to accept them, that found them going up against enemy spies, dictators and, once budget cuts forced the producers to reduce the scope in later years, homegrown criminal organizations. In the first year of the series, the group was led by Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) but in the second season, the character was dropped and replaced with Jim Phelps (Peter Graves), who would lead the team for the remainder of the series as well as a short-lived revival of the show that appeared in the late 1980s. 

Seen through today’s eyes, the show is more than a bit odd—this was a program in which most of the episodes seemed to involve the IMF working on assassination plots (though in nearly every case, it would be left to someone else to actually pull the trigger so as not to sully the reputations of our heroes) but the terse approach to the material—the characters were all business and almost never delved into their personal lives—was interesting, the labyrinthine plots (which often included multiple layers of deception and elaborate disguises) were fairly complex by contemporary television standards, the cast (which also included the likes of Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Leonard Nimoy, Sam Elliott, Greg Morris and Peter Lupus) did solid work and the theme song by Lalo Schifrin remains a stone-cold classic. 

In the Eighties going into the Nineties, spurned on by the success of the “Star Trek” movies, making big screen versions out of familiar small screen titles suddenly became the rage for a while. With its well-known title and memorable theme music, Paramount Pictures was keen to make a “Mission: Impossible” film but the project remained in limbo until Tom Cruise, at the very apex of his stardom, decided not only to do it but to make it the first effort from his newly-formed production company. Sydney Pollack was attached to the project for a while but eventually it went to Brian De Palma—the notion of the generally iconoclastic filmmaker doing a potential tentpole project of this sort must have seemed strange at the time but his last major box-office success had been an adaptation of another television show, “The Untouchables” (1987). A number of top writers, including Robert Towne, Steve Zaillian and David Koepp, worked on the script but it reportedly went into production without a completed screenplay. There were also rumors of friction during the shoot between Cruise and De Palma that appeared to be tacitly confirmed when De Palma dropped out of the film’s press junket on the eve of its opening.

When audiences first sat down to watch “Mission: Impossible” in May 1996, those with an actual working knowledge of the series must have felt right at home. From the start, the film trotted out the most familiar ingredients—the theme, the opening credits featuring a rapid-fire assortment of clips from the story we were about to see and, most of all, an IMF team once again led by veteran Jim Phelps (now played by Jon Voight) and including his wife, Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), and various experts in their respective fields (played by such familiar faces as Kristin Scott Thomas and Emilio Estevez). Most importantly, there was point man Ethan Hunt (Cruise) choosing to accept a mission in Prague to recover a top secret list of CIA agents from the American Embassy that requires clever moves, hi-tech gadgetry and, of course, an elaborate disguise or two. Then, in classic De Palma fashion, things quickly go sideways and the once-cocky Ethan is left standing helpless as the rest of his team is killed off one by one and the list vanishes. To make matters worse, when Hunt reports to his superior (Henry Czerny) for debriefing, he learns that the entire mission was a ruse designed to ferret out a mole who was intending on stealing and selling the list to a secretive arms dealer known only as Max—since he was the only survivor, the assumption is that Ethan was the guilty party. He escapes easily enough and, after putting together an ad-hoc team consisting of a couple of disgraced former IMF operatives, computer genius Luther Stickey (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), and Claire, who survived the attack after all, creates an elaborate plan to steal the real list himself in order to lure the person who framed him while at the same time escaping the pursuit of his former employers. 

The film got reviews that were decent but hardly spectacular with many of them complaining that the storyline was too convoluted for its own good. Therefore, it may come as a shock to people revisiting it for the first time in a while (or those who have never seen it before) to discover just how strong it really is. Yes, the systematic destruction of the IMF team in the opening scenes, coupled with the later revelation that—Spoiler Alert!—it was Phelps himself who was the mole, shocked and outraged fans of the original show (not to mention some of the original stars, who gave interviews to show their displeasure with the film). And yet, this move proved to be as dramatically clever as it was audacious. The times had changed considerably in the years since the original series went off the air and the notion of a clandestine spy agency going on officially unsanctioned missions to mess around in other countries was simply not going to play in the same fashion. By blowing things up in this way, the film managed to clear the decks for a “Mission: Impossible” designed for the current world while managing to throw most moviegoers for a loop early on in the proceedings. 

It is funny to note that this film was once derided for its alleged incoherence because the narrative seems remarkably clean and efficiently told, especially in comparison to what passes for blockbuster filmmaking these days. When it is seen a second time—and this is the rare modern screen spectacular that actually plays better on repeat viewings—one can more clearly see just how smartly written it really is. (I especially love the scene in which Ethan and Phelps reunite and catch each other up on what is happening and Ethan quietly realizing that he is being lied to by his former mentor.) The performances are also quite good as well, which also comes as a surprise since quality acting is not usually the highest priority in films like this. Cruise does an excellent job of playing against his generally cocksure screen persona, Voight adds weight and even a slight degree of poignance to his turn as Phelps and as the mysterious Max, Vanessa Redgrave turns up in a couple of scenes and pretty much steals the show—when she and Cruise have their big scene together, the screen crackles with so much electricity that one wishes that someone could have found a project that would have given them more chances to play off of each other. (The only sort-of disappointment in the cast is Beart, who is nowhere near as electrifying here as she was in films like “Manon of the Spring” or “La Belle Noisseuse” [1991], though that might have something to do with the last-minute deletion of scenes suggest a love triangle between Claire, her husband and Ethan.)

The best thing about “Mission: Impossible”—not to mention one of the key elements that would go on to drive the subsequent films—is the way that a film that was presumably launched primarily as a star project managed to morph, with the approval of the star/producer, into perhaps the most auteur-friendly franchise in operation today. Since it is a film where he was hired to interpret someone else’s material, this is clearly not a “pure” Brian De Palma movie in the manner of such self-generated projects as “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Blow Out” (1981) or “Femme Fatale” (2002). However, this is one of his most successful attempts at channeling his own particular obsessions into a more overtly commercial framework than is usually found in his more personal efforts. Although not necessarily the kind of story that he might have designed wholly on his own, this story allowed De Palma to tackle subject matter that has long fascinated him, such as voyeurism, technology, mistrust of the very organizations that are supposedly there to protect us and stories that feature unreliable narrators. The film also allows him to demonstrate once again that he is one of the great visual storytellers of our time and includes some of the most memorable extended set pieces of his career. Under normal circumstances, either the opening sabotage in Prague or the climactic fight aboard and on top of a train speeding through the Chunnel would be duly enshrined as the absolute peak moments in the career of an ordinary filmmaker. With De Palma, they aren’t even the high point of the film thanks to the masterful sequence depicting Ethan and his team infiltrating CIA headquarters to steal the list of spies from a room rigged to sound off alarms at even the slightest hint of an intruder in the room—even a simple drop of sweat could do the trick. The entire sequence is a breathtaking wonder that is pretty much a master class in filmmaking all by itself.

When “Mission: Impossible II” came around, Robert Towne was once again pulled into the fold to write the screenplay but the directing reins were passed on to John Woo, the Hong Kong filmmaker who dazzled audiences around the world with such jaw-droppers as “A Better Tomorrow” (1986), “The Killer” (1989) and “Hard Boiled” (1992) before going to Hollywood to make “Hard Target” (1993) and the smash hit “Face/Off” (1997). This time around, the story revolves around Ethan being sent off to track down Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), a rogue IMF agent who has stolen both a deadly virus and its cure, planning to release the former into the world and sell the latter to the highest bidder. To accomplish this, Ethan recruits professional thief and former Ambrose flame Nyah (Thandie Newton) to seduce her one-time lover and help him recover the virus and antidote—complications inevitably arise when Ethan winds up falling in love with Nyah himself. Yes, this is roughly the same plot as the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Notorious” (1946), though to be fair, “Notorious” did not contain nearly the amount of crazy stunts or over-the-top fight scenes on display here.

“Mission: Impossible II” is usually considered to be the weakest entry in the series but while it is undeniably not quite as good as its predecessor, it is still better than its reputation might otherwise suggest. The story is not much to speak of but it is presented with enough style and energy to keep things humming along nicely enough. The action sequences, starting with the sight of Cruise doing a free solo climb in Moab, Utah and climaxing with a crazy-ass duel with motorcycles, are appropriately hair-raising as well. Most significantly, the series has once again allowed a noted filmmaker to play to their strengths and idiosyncrasies instead of trying to tamp them down. This may not be a great John Woo film in the way that “The Killer” or “Hard Boiled” are but, as was the case with De Palma, he manages to make a film that is undeniably his while still serving the basic needs of any tentpole project. Woo has always been a filmmaker with a taste for grandly melodramatic stories and the swoony romantic triangle at the center of the narrative, not to mention the notion of good and evil being separated by only the thinnest of lines (illustrated at a couple of points by having Ambrose donning a mask to make himself look like Ethan), certainly accomplishes that here. 

After flirtations with David Fincher and Joe Carnahan, it was J.J. Abrams, then riding high on the twin successes of “Alias” and “Lost," who was brought on to make his feature directorial debut with “Mission: Impossible III.” In this installment, Ethan has finally left the field work behind in order to train new agents for their own future missions and is even engaged to marry Julia (Michelle Monaghan), who is under the impression that he works for the DMV. During his engagement party, he is informed that one of his trainees (Keri Russell, perhaps inevitably) has been taken captive by international bad guy Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). He and his team (including Jonathan Rhys Myers, Maggie Q and Rhames) swoop in to make a rescue, but it all goes wrong and Ethan finds himself under suspicion from the new IMF head (Laurence Fishburne). Without official authorization, Ethan and the team set off to nab Davian and while they are initially successful, things once again fall apart and the fates of both the world in general and Julia in particular are at stake. 

“Mission: Impossible III” is easily the most mixed bag of the entire series. Part of the problem with this one is that the main story too often comes across as a rehash of the first film’s plot without any of the genuinely surprising twists or narrative drive that its predecessor demonstrated in spades. The bigger issue is that while Abrams has gone on to direct some of the biggest films imaginable (he is the only guy to direct installments of both the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” franchises), he was just taking his first tentative steps into telling stories on that scale here and it shows. The action scenes are fast and noisy and frantic but for the most part, they lack the style and precision that De Palma and Woo brought to their set pieces, though comparing the efforts of a relative novice to experts like those two may be a little unfair. That said, Abrams seems more at home with the material involving Ethan’s personal life and the seeming impossibility of balancing a normal life with being called upon to save the world on a regular basis, which was also one of the key themes behind “Alias.” He also injects the series with a much-needed sense of humor courtesy of the introduction of Simon Pegg as a nerdy tech guy who would go on to become a series regular. The most significant aspect of the film, however, is the presence of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain. This was offbeat casting, to be sure, but it proved to be an extraordinarily effective choice—he is such a genuinely menacing presence throughout that even though you pretty much know going in that Hunt will indeed save the day, Hoffman forces you to consider the possibility that maybe he won’t after all.

When “Mission: Impossible III” was released in the summer of 2006, it came at a time when Tom Cruise’s stock as a star had dipped (this was the period of his sofa-hopping antics and the like) and while it was a success, it would prove to be the lowest-grossing entry in the series. Perhaps in response to this, “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” (2011) made a couple of additional tweaks to the formula that might have seemed risky—both literally and metaphorically—at the time but which proved to inject some needed energy into the franchise. The storyline was not necessarily a departure from the usual array of international goings-on: after being falsely accused of blowing up the Kremlin while on a mission to spring a key information source from a Moscow prison, Ethan and his officially disavowed team (which adds Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner with newly promoted Pegg) are assigned to pursue a Russian nuclear strategist (Michael Nyqvist) who is responsible for the bombing and who is hellbent on kicking off a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. But this was arguably the first time that the mission had the feel of a team effort that allowed everyone a moment to shine, from the suspiciously adept defensive moves from seemingly ordinary analyst Renner to the thrilling brawl between Patton and deadly assassin Lea Seydoux that might have been the unquestioned highlight of an ordinary movie. 

This is not to say that Cruise was exactly slacking off this time around. While he had always been a galvanizing physical presence in the previous films—one of the reasons that the stunts had such a visceral impact was that he was clearly doing the vast majority of them himself—perhaps he knew with this one that he had something to prove to audiences who might have thought that the series was beginning to die out. In turn, Cruise goes the extra mile with results that are both exhilarating and exhausting to watch. In the film's most famous moment, we see him climbing on the outside of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building. Sure, he was strapped to the building with numerous cables that were later removed in post-production but the sight of a real person hanging from a real building over a great height has a weight and gravity to it that the grandest of CGI spectacles can hardly hope to approach.

The film marked the live-action directorial debut of Brad Bird, who had previously made a name for himself for helming the beloved animated features “The Iron Giant” (1999), “The Incredibles” (2004) and “Ratatouille” (2007). Once again, the decision to put such a huge project in the hands of someone who had never made a film of this size or scope raised more than a few eyebrows at the time, but that was nothing compared to the amount of eyeballs that popped upon seeing what he had done with it. Bird brought his animator’s eye to the staging of the massive action sequences and part of the fun of the film was watching all of the disparate elements come together with a great degree of humor, split-second timing and a remarkable degree of clarity (which included the smart decision to eschew 3-D for the more impressive visual gimmick of shooting a chunk of the film in the high-resolution IMAX format). From the opening Russian jailbreak to the centerpiece Dubai segment (which eventually expands to include both a high-speed chase and a giant sandstorm) to the climax in which Ethan and the big bad guy do battle in an automatic car park in Mumbai that finds both fists and automobiles flying with carefully calibrated abandon, the film feels at times as if it is indeed a live-action cartoon (in the best sense of the word). Even at its most outlandish, however, there is still a human element at its center that keeps both the story and the character grounded at all times, at least metaphorically.

“Ghost Protocol” instantly reenergized the “Mission: Impossible” series (it would prove to be the most successful of the films to date as well as Cruise’s biggest hit) but it did it so well that it almost seemed to paint the franchise into a corner—just the idea of trying to top it in terms of thrills and spectacle seemed to be a doomed prospect. And yet, not only did “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” live up to those expectations, it somehow managed to exceed them. Taking over the co-writing and directing chores this time around was Christopher McQuarrie (who had worked with Cruise before on “Valkyrie” [2008], “Jack Reacher” [2012] and “Edge of Tomorrow” [2014] and who did uncredited rewrites on “Ghost Protocol”) and tell a story that tie in together rather than acting as stand-alone narratives. In “Rogue Nation,” with the IMF once again disavowed and placed under the aegis of the head of the CIA (Alec Baldwin), Ethan goes off on his own to investigate The Syndicate, a shadowy organization comprised of presumed-dead agents from around the world to serve as a sort of ad hoc terrorist group. Although old colleagues like Luther and Benji, now officially part of the CIA, turn up to help him prove the existence of the Syndicate and clear his name, Ethan also receives assistance from Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a mysterious assassin who is either a British intelligence agent posing as a Syndicate operative or vice versa. 

More so than any of the previous sequels, “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” did the best job since the original of balancing the white-knuckle action scenes with a story that served as more than just a laundry line to connect the setpieces. Much of the promotional hype surrounding the film was based around the opening sequence in which Cruise is seen dangling from the outside of an airbus in flight. This was a knockout scene to be sure but McQuarrie managed to top those later on with a couple of equally amazing scenes—one involving an extended brawl with a sniper in the wings above the Vienna State Opera during a production of “Turandot” and the other involving Ethan infiltrating Syndicate headquarters by swimming through a pressurized underwater cavern and reprogramming a computer in under three minutes and without the use of air tanks—that demonstrated a heretofore unexpected flair for action filmmaking that rivaled anything seen in the series, or anywhere else for that matter. The writing was just as strong—the chief villain, a former MI6 agent named Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), who seizes control of the Syndicate for his own means, is more interesting than usual, the narrative unfolds in a manner that is complex and twisty without slipping into confusion and contains some very funny moments to help lighten the mood—my favorite is an apparent homage to the old “Scenes We’d Like To See” feature from Mad Magazine that finds the IMF in front of a government commission to answer for the destruction they caused over the course of the earlier films. Best of all is the inclusion of the Ilsa Faust character, a real wild card who, thanks to Ferguson’s star-making performance, serves as both Hunt’s equal and a possible romantic foil, not that they have much time for anything like that here.

Which brings us, at long last, to “Mission: Impossible - Fallout,” which, in a break with tradition, finds McQuarrie returning to write and direct a story that ties directly into its predecessor and while I suppose that the original film remains my favorite of the franchise thanks to the contributions of De Palma, this one is a legitimate work of grand popular art that serves as a wonderful payoff for longtime fans of the series and as a top-notch entertainment on its own. You have no doubt heard about many—though hopefully not all—of the jaw-dropping stunts on display and they all live up to the hoopla. Needless to say, this is one of those movies that needs to be seen in the theatre, preferably on the biggest possible screen. At the same time, the screenplay does an equally impressive job of telling a complex and consistently surprising story that meets all of the genre requirements and still leaves room to allow us to get a better idea of who Hunt is and what it is that drives him. The film even takes time to acknowledge its own now-considerable history with nicely done moments that do everything from pay homage to Max from the first film to resolving the relationship between Ethan and Julia that had been left in a sort of limbo after “Mission: Impossible III.”

And then there is Cruise, whose luster may have dimmed a bit in recent years with such misfires as “The Mummy” but who once again reminds us of the very qualities that made him one of the biggest movie stars around in the first place. Physically, he throws himself into the proceedings with a heedlessness that is bracing to behold—just watching him as he goes about his running and jumping will be enough to exhaust most viewers—but for the first time in the films, he is willing to acknowledge, albeit subtly, that he is getting older, an interesting move for someone who normally plays up his youthful nature whenever he can. He puts just as much effort into the dramatic beats as well and while this is not the kind of performance that will go on to win any awards, I cannot imagine anyone inhabiting the role with even a sliver of the conviction that he continues to bring to it even after all these years. As long as he remains its driving force, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise will hopefully maintain the absurdly high standards that it has already set for itself. However, as many have noted, he is getting up there in years, at least by action hero standards—is there a possibility that he might step away from the series anytime soon? No one can say for sure right now, but I suspect that if you listen to his last line of dialogue in the film, you will have your answer.

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[dglee90]

Arxiv[quant-ph]**

Long coherence times for edge spins - Jack Kemp, Norman Y. Yao, Christopher R. Laumann, Paul Fendley

Entanglement renormalization, quantum error correction, and bulk causality - Isaac H. Kim, Michael J. Kastoryano

Finite-size Gap, Magnetization, and Entanglement of Deformed Fredkin Spin Chain - Takuma Udagawa, Hosho Katsura

One-way deficit and quantum phase transitions detection in XY model - Yao-Kun Wang, Yu-Ran Zhang

Fracton topological order via coupled layers - Han Ma, Ethan Lake, Xie Chen, Michael Hermele

Eternal non-Markovianity is generic for the spin-boson model - Li Li, Michael J. W. Hall

The Aharonov-Bohm Effect on Entanglement Entropy in Conformal Field Theory - Noburo Shiba

Group Field theory and Tensor Networks: towards a Ryu-Takayanagi formula in full quantum gravity - Goffredo Chirco, Daniele Oriti, Mingyi Zhang

Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg interferometry with driving fields in the quantum regime - S. Ashhab

Decoherence and Interferometric Sensitivity of BosonSampling in Superconducting Networks - Samuel Goldstein, Simcha Korenblit, Ydan Bendor, Hao You, Michael R. Geller, Nadav Katz

Towards quantum supremacy: enhancing quantum control by bootstrapping a quantum processor - Dawei Lu, Keren Li, Jun Li, Hemant Katiyar, Annie Jihyun Park, Guanru Feng, Tao Xin, Hang Li, GuiLu Long, Aharon Brodutch, Jonathan Baugh, Bei Zeng, Raymond Laflamme

In situ upgrade of quantum simulators to universal computers - Benjamin Dive, Alexander Pitchford, Florian Mintert, Daniel Burgarth

Gateway schemes of quantum control for spin networks - Koji Maruyama, Daniel Burgarth

Analogue of the quantum Hall effect for neutral particles with magnetic dipole moment - L. R. Ribeiro, E. Passos, C. Furtado, S. Sergeenkov

Energetic instability of passive states in thermodynamics - Carlo Sparaciari, David Jennings, Jonathan Oppenheim

The Second Law of Quantum Complexity - Adam R. Brown, Leonard Susskind

Gaussian intrinsic entanglement - Ladislav Mišta Jr., Richard Tatham

Unified Quantification of Nonclassicality and Non-Gaussianity: An Entropic Approach - Soumyakanti Bose

On the Cohomology of Contextuality - Giovanni Carù