Conquest (1937 film)

Conquest (also called Marie Walewska) is a 1937 film which tells the story of the Polish Countess Marie Walewska, who becomes the mistress of Napoleon in order to influence his actions towards her homeland. It stars Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer, Reginald Owen, Alan Marshal, Henry Stephenson, Leif Erickson, Dame May Whitty, George Zucco, and Maria Ouspenskaya.

The movie was adapted by S. N. Behrman, Samuel Hoffenstein, Helen Jerome and Salka Viertel from the novel Pani Walewska by Waclaw Gasiorowski. It was directed by Clarence Brown and Gustav Machatý (uncredited).

It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Boyer) and Best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning).

Its worldwide gross amounted to $2,141,000. But its massive budget led to a loss of $1,397,000.

Plot

Napoleon Bonaparte (Charles Boyer) launches an unsuccessful seduction of the Countess Marie Walewska (Greta Garbo), who is married to a much older man (Henry Stephenson), but she resists until convinced that giving in will save Poland. After her husband annuls their marriage and Napoleon divorces the Empress Josephine, the pair are free to formalize their happy relationship, but Napoleon shocks her by announcing his decision to wed the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria for political reasons. While he doesn't expect it to impact his relationship with Marie, she leaves him, without ever telling him that she is expecting his child.

Conquest (1998 film)

Conquest is a 1998 British-Canadian romantic comedy film set in the dying prairie town of Conquest, Saskatchewan, most of whose remaining residents are in their 70s and depressed. Thirty-two-year-old Pincer Bedier (Lothaire Bluteau), the French-Canadian manager of the only bank branch in the town, dreams of reviving the town and its only cash crop, the edible pea pods of the Caragana bush. Daisy MacDonald (Tara Fitzgerald), a young, beautiful and mysterious English or Australian woman, happens into town in her bright red Alfa Romeo sports car and when it stalls, finds herself stranded indefinitely until the needed parts can be shipped in. Her presence invigourates the town and its inhabitants and romance develops between her and the young banker, while the older inhabitants catch his vision of the future.

Conquest was shown at the 1998 Montreal World Film Festival. In 1999 Monique Mercure won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, that of Grace Gallagher. Conquest has been shown on the Showtime network in the United States.

Conquest (Uriah Heep album)

Conquest is the 13th album by British rock band Uriah Heep. It was released in 1980.

1979-80 was a period of change for Heep, with John Sloman taking over lead vocal duties, Lee Kerslake bowing out from behind the drumstool, and main songwriter Ken Hensley ultimately leaving the band. Taken together with the commercial rock sound of the album, this is the most contentious era of Uriah Heep's history, with many fans believing Conquest is the group's worst record. Despite this era being regarded in hindsight as something of a disaster by Hensley as well as Mick Box, the album did receive some positive reviews at the time, namely a five-star rating from Record Mirror and three-and-a-half stars from Geoff Barton in Sounds. It also sold well enough to crack the Top 40 of the UK album charts, whereas all three of the band's previous records with John Lawton had failed to chart in the UK at all.

The original UK release came in a single, matte LP sleeve, stickered with 'Special 10th Anniversary Price £3.99', with the liner being heavy-stock card, complete with lyrics. It credits Trevor Bolder with vocals on "It Ain't Easy" but it is, in fact, Sloman. The album was never issued in North America and was difficult to find there even as an import.

Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein (/ˈhaɪnlaɪn/; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was an influential and controversial author of the genre in his time.

He was one of the first science fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered to be the "Big Three" of science fiction authors.

A notable writer of science fiction short stories, Heinlein was one of a group of writers who came to prominence under the editorship of John W. Campbell, Jr. in his Astounding Science Fiction magazine—though Heinlein denied that Campbell influenced his writing to any great degree.

Within the framework of his science fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.

Ishtar (band)

Ishtar is a Belgian (Flemish) folk band who represented Belgium at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with the song O Julissi, sung in an imaginary language. They competed in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008.

O Julissi

"O Julissi" is a song by Ishtar. The band's site claims that the song is in an imaginary language. There is, however, a certain similarity to Ukrainian; in particular, the first line is fully understandable (Ukrainian "Ой у лісі на ялині", meaning "Oh, in the forest on a spruce"). The folk song represented Belgium at the semi-finals of Eurovision Song Contest 2008, at 20 May 2008, in Belgrade, but did not proceed to the finals. The single was released 14 March 2008. The song entered the Belgian Ultratop at #7. In its second week, O Julissi topped the list.

Ishtar's song was elected after they won the final of Eurosong 2008. Ishtar, until then an unknown band, defeated better known artists, like pop singers Sandrine and Brahim. The other contestants in the final were rock group Paranoiacs and Nelson, who had written a modern ballad.

Ishtar (singer)

Ishtar (born Esther (Eti) Zach, on 10 November 1968) is an Israeli pop singer who performs in Arabic, Hebrew, Bulgarian, French, Spanish, Russian and English. She is best known for her work as the front vocalist of the French-based band Alabina, and her solo pop hits such as C'est La Vie, Last Kiss, and Habibi (Sawah).

Biography

Early life

Eti Zach was born on 10 November 1968 in Kiryat Atta, near Haifa and was raised in Israel. She was born to an Egyptian-Jewish mother and a Moroccan-Jewish father, both of Sephardi-Mizrahi heritage, who had immigrated to Israel earlier.

She sings in Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and English. In addition, she says she "half-speaks Moroccan Arabic".

Ishtar began performing in clubs at age 14 and continued even while enrolled in the IDF. Though she was born Eti Zach, she chose the name 'Ishtar', a Mesopotamian Goddess, because her grandmother called her Ester, which "with her Egyptian accent it sounded like Ishtar", she said.