Sophie (book series)

Sophie is a series of six children's books written by Dick King-Smith, and illustrated by David Parkins. . The six books were written between 1988 to 1995.

Plot

The story lines are set over a four-year period showing Sophie as she grows older. Over the six books she acquires various pets, including a Cat (Tomboy), Rabbit (Beano) and Dog (Puddle) and last a Pony (Lucky), she starts school and goes on family holidays and has riding lessons. She is constantly supported throughout the books on her ambition to become a 'Lady Farmer' by her family, and save up 'farm money', so that, as she one day hopes, can purchase a farm. During Sophie's Lucky, the last book, after her great great Aunt Alice dies, she gets a farm in the Scottish Highlands as her eventual inheritance from her.

Characters

Sophie - The titular character in the series; her birthday is on Christmas Day, and in the first book she is four years old. She is often described as wearing a faded blue jumper with her name written on it, jeans and red wellies, and her hair is often quoted as looking like she's come through a hedge backwards. Her one and only ambition in life is to become a Lady Farmer, and to this end she has an ever increasing collection of pets, many of which are the focus of individual books (such as in 'Sophie's Tom' and 'Sophie's Lucky'). She is a determined young lady who can often come across as stubborn, but is portrayed as loveable nonetheless. She has a collection of phrases that reappear throughout the books, such as 'yikes' 'you're mowldy, stupid and assive' which is hissed when she is angry. The series follows Sophie as she grows up, her collection of pets growing year by year and her dream of becoming a lady farmer growing ever closer.

1632 series

The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books. The series is set in 17th-century Europe, in which the small fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia, in the year 2000 was sent to the past in central Germany in the year 1631, during the Thirty Years' War.

As of 2015, the series has five published novels propelling the main plot and over ten published novels moving several subplots and threads forward. The series also includes fan-written, but professionally edited, collaborative material which are published in bi-monthly magazine titled The Grantville Gazettes and some collaborative short fictions.

Series overview

The 1632 series began with Flint's stand alone novel 1632 (released February 2000). It is, excepting the lead novel and the serialized e-novel The Anaconda Project (2007), virtually all collaboratively written, including some "main works" with multiple co-authors. However, Flint has mentioned contracts with the publisher for at least two additional solo novels he has in planning on his website. Flint, whose bibliography is dominated by collaborative work, claims that this approach encourages the cross-fertilization of ideas and styles, stimulating the creative process and preventing stale, formulaic works.

Series (baseball)

A series in baseball terminology refers to two or more consecutive games played between the same two teams.

Historically and currently, professional baseball season revolves around a schedule of series, each typically lasting three or four games. In college baseball, there are typically midweek single games and weekend series, with all conference games in series of three games, with the second and fourth rounds of the NCAA Division I playoffs being best two out of three game series. These series are often geographically grouped, allowing teams to visit adjacent cities conveniently. This is known in baseball as a road trip, and a team can be on the road for up to 20 games, or 4-5 series. When a team hosts series at home, it is called a homestand. During the Major League Baseball Postseason, there is only one wild card game (one in each League). The remainder of the Postseason consists of the League Division Series, which is a best-of-5 series, and the League Championship Series, which is a best-of-7 series, followed by the World Series, a best-of-7 series to determine the Major League Baseball Champion.

Séries+

Séries+ is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel devoted to scripted comedy and dramatic programming. The channel is owned by Corus Entertainment.

History

On May 21, 1999, Alliance Atlantis Communications (AAC) and Premier Choix Networks (a division of Astral Media) were granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a national French-language specialty television service called Canal Fiction, described as a "service devoted to drama."

The channel was launched on January 31, 2000 as Séries+ at 6pm EST.

On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media purchased AAC and gained AAC's interest in Séries+.

On October 27, 2010, Shaw Communications completed its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media, giving it control of CW Media's 50% interest in Séries+.

On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced that it would acquire Astral Media's stakes in Séries+ and Historia, as well as several other properties, under separate transactions with the two companies. The purchase was tied to Bell Media's pending takeover of Astral Media; an earlier proposal had been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012 due to concerns surrounding its total market share following the merger, but was restructured under the condition that the companies divest certain media properties. In a separate deal, Corus also acquired Shaw's interests in Séries+ and Historia, giving it full ownership. The deals were approved by the CRTC on December 20, 2013 and Corus officially become the full owner of the channel on January 1, 2014.

281 series

The 281 series (281系) is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It was introduced on September 4, 1994 for passengers travelling to/from Kansai International Airport. Provisions are made for luggage racks and dedicated luggage room.

Design

Built jointly by Kinki Sharyo and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the trains are used on the Haruka limited express service via the Kansai Airport Line in 3- or 6-car formations.

Formations

Sets are based at Hineno Depot, and are formed as shown below.

6-car sets

3-car sets

Interior

281 series standard-class interior

281 series standard-class interior

281 series Green (first class) car interior

281 series Green (first class) car interior

References

External links

Sophie the Stegosaurus

Sophie the Stegosaurus is the most complete fossil specimen of a stegosaurus. It is a young adult of undetermined sex, 5.6 metres long and 2.9 metres tall. The specimen, found in Wyoming, is 85% intact, containing 360 bones. It was put on display at the Natural History Museum, London in December, 2014.

See also

References

Sophie Digital Library of Works by German-Speaking Women

The Sophie Digital Library is a digital library and resource center for works produced by German-speaking women pre-17th century through the early 20th century, a group that has often been underrepresented in collections of historical printed works.

Resources available at the site include literary and journalistic texts (including some English translations), musical scores and recordings, screenplays and dramas, and a collection of colonial/travel texts. There is also an image gallery containing portraits and photographs of the artists and illustrations from some of the works. Most of the texts included in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The project tries to make these as free as possible, in long-lasting, easy to use, open formats which can be used on any computer. The collection provides the texts as aids for research and teaching.

Publications

Since the beginning of The Sophie Project, undergraduates and graduate students, as well as faculty, have been encouraged to expand their research of German-speaking women's writing. In order to foster such research, the Sophie Project has several different initiatives: