Dracula Untold

I would like to watch Dracula Untold, which is Set amid the brutality of 15th-century Transylvania, where young Prince Vlad is kidnapped at an early age by the Ottoman Empire and held princely hostage. Here he is trained to be a soldier in the Sultan’s elite Janissary corp, and becomes their most feared warrior, earning the nickname Impaler, after slaughtering thousands. However he is Eventually sickened by his acts, and vows to put aside his violent past and rule his domains in peace, As Vlad III (Luke Evans), prince of Wallachia and Transylvania, with his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon).

One day in the forest, Vlad and his soldiers discover anOttoman scouting party and fearing an imminent Ottoman attack , They follow a trail and end up in a high mountain cave in Broke Tooth Mountain, the ground of which is carpeted in crushed bone. Suddenly they are attacked in the dark by an unknown creature and both Vlad’s men and The Ottoman Scouting Party are all killed, but Vlad manages to escape from the cave. Returning to his castle, Vlad finds out from a local monk that the creature is a vampire, once a man who summoned a demon from the depths of hell and made a pact with him for dark powers but was tricked by the demon and was cursed to remain in the cave forever until he is released by someone who has seen him.

The next day an Ottoman contingent arrives unexpectedly at the castle informing Vlad that a battalion of Ottoman scouts has gone missing, and suspects that Vlad has had them killed, naturally Vlad deny’s killing them. The emissary demands an additional tribute of 1,000 boys to be trained as Janissaries, through the devşirme system. Vlad refuses, however his army is small and no match for the Turks. So He approaches the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper) to make a deal, however this is refused. In desperation Vlad tells his son to run back to his mom, then takes the emissary’s sword, kills the emissary and his small entourage of soldiers.

In desperation, Vlad returns to the Broke Tooth Mountain cave to seek help from the vampire and explains he needs the power of the vampire so that he can defeat the invading Ottoman army. The vampire offers him some of his blood, which will temporarily give Vlad the powers of a vampire, but If he resists the intense urge to drink human blood for three days, he will turn back into a human. Otherwise, he will remain a vampire forever, and will one day be called upon to help his maker. Vlad accepts the offer and drinks the vampire’s blood.

Waking up in the forest afterwards, Vlad discovers he has been granted heightened senses, increased strength, and the ability to transform into a flock of bats, but sunlight burns his skin. When he returns to Castle Dracula, the Ottoman army attacks, so Vlad single-handedly confronts them. He then sends most of the castle’s subjects to Cozia Monastery, on the edge of Cozia Mountain. A Romany named Shkelgim, who knows Vlad is a vampire, proclaims himself as his servant and offers his own blood, but Vlad resists. Then As they near the monastery, the Valahs are ambushed by Ottoman soldiers. The following day a monk learns of the curse and leads the the prince’s subjects to turn on Vlad, trapping him in a burning building, while the outraged Vlad angrily reveals that he became a vampire in order to protect his people from the Ottomans.

That night, the Ottoman army marches on the monastery. Vlad commands an enormous swarm of bats to repel them; meanwhile a handful of Turks infiltrate the monastery and kidnap Ingeras. Mirena tries to defend her son, but is seriously injured. Dying, Mirena pleads with Vlad to drink her blood before the sun rises to give him the strength to save their son. So Vlad reluctantly drinks her blood, becoming A full-blooded vampire and gaining even greater powers. Meanwhile At the Ottoman camp, Mehmed prepares for a massive invasion of Europe through the Balkans and Hungary.

In an exciting conclusion, Vlad’s vampires arrive to confront the soldiers, while Vlad himself goes to confront Mehmed, who is holding Ingeras captive. However the other Vampires, wish to sacrifice Ingeras but Vlad defies them and ends up paying a heavy price. Later With The Ottoman Turks, temporarily pushed out of Europe, Ingeras is crowned the new Prince of Wallachia, and Vlad the Impaler is presumed dead. However, Shkelgim secretly takes Dracula into the shadows and revives him with his blood. Meanwhile another vampire observes unseen from the shadows…

GRAMMY Award Winners 2015

1. Record of the Year
Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)

Sam Smith

2. Album of the Year
Morning Phase
Beck

3. Song of the Year

Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)

James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith

4. Best New Artist
Sam Smith

5. Best Pop Solo Performance
Pharrell Williams

6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Say Something
A Great Big World with Christina Aguilera
Track from: Is There Anybody Out There?

7. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Cheek to Cheek
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

8. Best Pop Vocal Album
In The Lonely Hour
Sam Smith

9. Best Dance Recording
Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne
Grace Chatto & Jack Patterson, producers; Wez Clarke & Jack Patterson, mixers
Track from: New Eyes

10. Best Dance/Electronic Album
Syro|
Aphex Twin

11. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Bass and Mandolin

12. Best Rock Performance
Lazaretto
Jack White
Track from: Lazaretto

13. Best Metal Performance
The Last In Line
Tenacious D
Track from: Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life

14. Best Rock Song
Ain’t It Fun
Track from: Paramore

15. Best Rock Album
Morning Phase
Beck

16. Best Alternative Music Album
St. Lorna Vista

17. Best R&B Performance
Drunk In Love
Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z
Track from: Beyoncé

18. Best Traditional R&B Performance
Jesus Children
Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Lalah Hathaway & Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Track from: Black Radio 2

19. Best R&B Song
Drunk In Love
Shawn Carter, Rasool Diaz, Noel Fisher, Jerome Harmon, Beyoncé Knowles, Timothy Mosely, Andre Eric Proctor & Brian Soko, songwriters (Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z
Track from: Beyoncé

20. Best Urban Contemporary Album
Girl
Pharrell Williams
Label: Columbia Records

21. Best R&B Album
Love, Marriage & Divorce
Toni Braxton & Babyface
Label: Def Jam Recordings

22. Best Rap Performance
Kendrick Lamarr

23. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
The Monster
Eminem Featuring Rihanna
Track from: The Marshall Mathers LP2

24. Best Rap Song
Kendrick Lamar
K. Duckworth & C. Smith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)

25. Best Rap Album
The Marshall Mathers LP2
Eminem

26. Best Country Solo Performance
Something in the Water
Carrie Underwood

27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Gentle On My Mind
The Band Perry
Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)
Track from: Glen Campbell, I’ll Be Me Soundtrack

28. Best Country Song
I’m Not Gonna Miss You
Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)
Track from: Glen Campbell, I’ll Be Me Soundtrack

29. Best Country Album
Platinum
Miranda Lambert
Label: RCA Nashville

30. Best New Age Album
Winds of Samsara
Winds Of Samsara
Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman
Label: Listen 2 Africa

31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Fingerprints
Chick Corea, soloist
Track from: Trilogy (Chick Corea Trio)
Label: Concord Jazz

32. Best Jazz Vocal Album
Beautiful Life
Dianne Reeves
Label: Concord Records

33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Trilogy
Chick Corea Trio
Label: Concord Jazz

34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Life In The Bubble
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band
Label: Telarc International

35. Best Latin Jazz Album
The Offense Of The Drum
Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Label: Motema

36. Best Gospel Performance/Song
No Greater Love
Smokie Norful

37. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
Messengers
Lecrae Featuring For King & Country

38. Best Gospel Album
Help
Erica Campbell
Label: EOne/My Block

39. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.
For King & Country
Label: Fervent/Word/Curb

40. Best Roots Gospel Album
Shine For All The People
Mike Farris
Label: Compass Records

41. Best Latin Pop Album
Tangos
Rubén Blades
Label: Sunnyside Records

42. Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
Multiviral
Calle 13
Label: Sony Music Latin

43. Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Mano A Mano – Tangos A La Manera De Vicente Fernández
Vicente Fernández
Label: Sony Music Latin

44. Best Tropical Latin Album
Más + Corazón Profundo
Carlos Vives
Label: Sony Music Latin

45. Best American Roots Performance
A Feather’s Not A Bird
Rosanne Cash
Track from: The River & The Thread
Label: Blue Note Records

46. Best American Roots Song
Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, songwriters (Rosanne Cash)
Track from: The River & The Thread
Label: Blue Note Records; Publishers: Chelcait Music admin. by Measurable Music LLC, a Notable Music Co./Lev-A-Tunes

47. Best Americana Album
The River & The Thread
Rosanne Cash
Label: Blue Note Records

48. Best Bluegrass Album
The Earls Of Leicester
The Earls Of Leicester
Label: Rounder

49. Best Blues Album
Step Back
Johnny Winter
Label: Megaforce Records

50. Best Folk Album
Remedy
Old Crow Medicine Show
Label: ATO Records

51. Best Regional Roots Music Album
The Legacy
Jo-El Sonnier
Label: Takau Records

52. Best Reggae Album
Fly Rasta
Ziggy Marley
Label: Tuff Gong Worldwide

53. Best World Music Album
Eve
Angelique Kidjo
Label: 429 Records

54. Best Children’s Album
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai)
Neela Vaswani
Label: Hachette Audio

55. Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
Diary Of A Mad Diva
Joan Rivers
Label: Penguin Audio

56. Best Comedy Album
Mandatory Fun
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Label: RCA Records

57. Best Musical Theater Album
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Jessie Mueller, principal soloist; Jason Howland, Steve Sidwell & Billy Jay Stein, producers (Carole King, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)
Label: Ghostlight/Razor & Tie

58. Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Frozen
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Tom MacDougall & Chris Montan, compilation producers
Label: Walt Disney Records

59. Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, composer
Label: Abkco Music & Records

60. Best Song Written for Visual Media
Let It Go
Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel)
Track from: Frozen
Label: Walt Disney Records; Publisher: Wonderland Music Company, Inc.

61. Best Instrumental Composition
The Book Thief
John Williams, composer (John Williams)
Track from: The Book Thief Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Label: Sony Classical, Fox Music; Publisher: Fox Film Music Corp.

62. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella
Daft Punk
Ben Bram, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstin Maldonado & Kevin Olusola, arrangers (Pentatonix)
Track from: PTX, Vol. 2
Label: RCA Records

63. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
New York Tendaberry
Billy Childs, arranger (Billy Childs Featuring Renée Fleming & Yo-Yo Ma)
Track from: Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro
Label: Masterworks

64. Best Recording Package
Lightning Bolt
Jeff Ament, Don Pendleton, Joe Spix & Jerome Turner, art directors (Pearl Jam)
Label: Republic Records

65. Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27)
Susan Archie, Dean Blackwood & Jack White, art directors (Various Artists)
Label: Third Man Records/ Revenant Records

66. Best Album Notes
Offering: Live At Temple University
Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane)
Label: Resonance/Impulse]

67. Best Historical Album
The Garden Spot Programs, 1950
Colin Escott & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Hank Williams)
Label: Omnivore Recordings

68. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Morning Phase
Tom Elmhirst, David Greenbaum, Florian Lagatta, Cole Marsden Greif-Neill, Robbie Nelson, Darrell Thorp, Cassidy Turbin & Joe Visciano, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Beck)
Label: Capitol Records

69. Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Max Martin
Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj) (S)
Break Free (Ariana Grande Featuring Zedd) (S)
Dark Horse (Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J) (S)
Problem (Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea) (S)
Shake It Off (Taylor Swift) (S)
Unconditionally (Katy Perry) (S)

70. Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
All Of Me (Tiesto’s Birthday Treatment Remix)
Tijs Michiel Verwest, remixer (John Legend)
Label: Columbia Records

71. Best Surround Sound Album
Beyoncé
Elliot Scheiner, surround mix engineer; Bob Ludwig, surround mastering engineer;Beyoncé Knowles, surround producer (Beyoncé)
Label: Columbia Records

72. Best Engineered Album, Classical
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem; Symphony No. 4; The Lark Ascending
Michael Bishop, engineer; Michael Bishop, mastering engineer (Robert Spano, Norman Mackenzie, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus)
Label: ASO Media

73. Producer of the Year, Classical
Judith Sherman
Beethoven: Cello & Piano Complete (Fischer Duo)
Brahms By Heart (Chiara String Quartet)
Composing America (Lark Quartet)
Divergence (Plattform K + K Vienna)
The Good Song (Thomas Meglioranza)
Mozart & Brahms: Clarinet Quintets (Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet)
Snapshot (American Brass Quintet)
Two X Four (Jaime Laredo, Jennifer Koh, Vinay Parameswaran & Curtis 20/21 Ensemble)
Wagner Without Words (Ll_r Williams)

74. Best Orchestral Performance
Adams, John: City Noir
David Robertson, conductor (St. Louis Symphony)
Label: Nonesuch

75. Best Opera Recording
Charpentier: La Descente D’Orphée Aux Enfers
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Aaron Sheehan; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble)
Label: CPO

76. Best Choral Performance
The Sacred Spirit Of Russia
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Conspirare)
Label: Harmonia Mundi

77. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
In 27 Pieces – The Hilary Hahn Encores
Hilary Hahn & Cory Smythe
Label: Deutsche Grammophon

78. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Play
Jason Vieaux
Label: Azica Records

79. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Douce France
Anne Sofie Von Otter; Bengt Forsberg, accompanist (Carl Bagge, Margareta Bengston, Mats Bergström, Per Ekdahl, Bengan Janson, Olle Linder & Antoine Tamestit)
Label: Naïve

80. Best Classical Compendium
Partch: Plectra & Percussion Dances
Partch; John Schneider, producer
Label: Bridge Records, Inc.

81. Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Adams, John Luther: Become Ocean
John Luther Adams, composer (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
Label: Cantaloupe Music

82. Best Music Video
Happy
Pharrell Williams
We Are From LA, video director; Kathleen Heffernan, Solal Micenmacher, Jett Steiger, video producers
Label: Columbia Records

Frederick Hawksworth

BR 2-6-0 1501pt

Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick William Hawksworth was born 10 February 1884. He was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (Great Britain) (GWR). Hawksworth was born in Swindon, and he joined the GWR in 1898, aged 15, but did not become CME until he was 57, in 1941. Having been at the forefront of steam locomotive development under George Jackson Churchward, ideas at Swindon Works had somewhat stagnated under the later years of his successor C. B. Collett, whose reluctance to give up the CME’s post resulted in Hawksworth’s lateness in taking up this position. Hawksworth had been one of Churchward’s “Bright Young Men”, and was involved in Churchward’s designs: he worked on, for example, the general arrangement drawings for “The Great Bear”.

Hawksworth continued in the design tradition which he had been involved in throughout his career, but made some important improvements. In particular increased superheat started to be fitted to the larger classes under his regime, and the works started to make much more use of welded construction. Another prominent new concept was a tender with slab sides, using welded construction, giving a much smoother appearance than the traditional design with stepped sides and riveted plates. His first design to be built, from 1944, was the Modified Hall, a significant development of the Collett design with increased superheat and very different cylinder and frame construction.After the war there were four more new designs, mostly improvements of earlier types. The ‘County’ Class 4-6-0 was the last and most powerful GWR 2-cylinder 4-6-0, the culmination of a line that began with the ‘Saints’ 42 years before. The chassis was similar to the modified Hall, but the boilers were to a new design, larger in diameter than the Std 1 (Hall) boiler but smaller in diameter and appreciably shorter than the Castle boiler. This boiler used tooling which was available from LMS 8F 2-8-0 boilers which Swindon had built for the Railway Executive during World War II and was pressed to 280psi, higher pressure than any previous GWR boiler.

They used some of the names from the vanished Churchward County Class 4-4-0s. He also designed The taper boilered 9400 Class 0-6-0 pannier tank, which were similar to the 5700 class under the footplate but had a much larger boiler giving them more power and adhesive weight – and thus braking capacity. Only the first ten, built by the Swindon, appeared under the GWR. The last two designs were only seen in British Railways livery. Arguably his most radical design was the 1500 Class. This had the same boiler as the 9400 but an all new short wheelbase chassis with outside Walschaerts valve gear and no running plate, and made considerable use of welded construction. They were designed for easy maintenance by the trackside. The last Hawksworth design was a very light conventional 0-6-0 pannier tank, the 1600 Class. This was a modernisation of the 2021 Class. Hawksworth remained Chief Mechanical Engineer through the formation of the Western Region of British Railways in 1948, continuing to work on locomotive design until retiring at the end of 1949. He died in Swindon 27 years later in July 1976. His ashes are buried in St. Mark’s Church, adjacent to the former site of Swindon Works.

Fyodor Dovstoyevsy

Best known for writing the novel “Crime and Punishment” the Russian Novelist Fyodor Dovstoyevsky sadly passed a way on 9th February. Born 11 November 1821 in the Mariinsky hospital in Moscow, Russia. Dostoyevsky was introduced to literature at an early age – fairy tales and legends, as well as books by English, French, German and Russian authors. His mother’s sudden death in 1837 devastated him. At around the same time, he left school to enter the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute. Once he graduated, he worked as an engineer and briefly enjoyed a liberal lifestyle.

He soon began to translate books to earn extra money. Around the mid-1840s he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, allowing him to join St Petersburg’s literary circles. He also wrote short stories and essays which explore human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russia. Although Dostoyevsky began writing books in the mid-1840s, his most remembered are from his last years, including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. He wrote eleven novels, three novellas, seventeen short novels and three essays, and has been acknowledged by many literary critics as one of the greatest and most prominent psychologists in universal literature.

In 1849 he was arrested for his involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle, a secret, however society of liberal utopians as well as a literary discussion group. He and other members were condemned to death, but the penalty proved to be a mock execution and the sentence was commuted to four years’ hard labour in Siberia. After his release, Dostoyevsky was forced to serve as a soldier, but was discharged from the military due to his ill health. In the following years Dostoyevsky worked as a journalist, publishing and editing several magazines of his own and later a serial, A Writer’s Diary. When he began to travel around western Europe, his finances suffered because of his gambling addiction and he had to face the humiliation of begging for money. He suffered from epilepsy throughout his adult life. But through sheer energy and the volume of his work, he eventually became one of the most widely read and renowned Russian writers, His books remain popular and have been translated into more than 170 languages and sold around 15 million copies. He has also influenced a vast range of writers, from Anton Chekhov and James Joyce to Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ayn Rand, to name but a few.