Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice (The Cheats), c. 1618–1620, by Valentin de Boulogne
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 17 to 24 August 2014. Anything in quotation marks is taken from the respective articles and lists, or their nominations; see their page histories for attribution.
Noye's Fludde(nominated by Brianboulton & Alfietucker) is a one-act opera by the British composer Benjamin Britten, which tells the story of the Biblical character Noah and his ark. The multi-FA writer Brianboulton teamed up with first-time FA-er Alfietucker for this delightful article and we can only hope for more top-notch stuff from both, either singly or in future collaborations.
Harry Glicken(nominated by ceranthor) was an American volcanologist killed by a lava flow on Mount Unzen, Japan at the age of 33. Described by the nominator Ceranthor as "a first-rate scientist and one strange dude", Glicken was an acknowledged expert in the field of volcanic debris avalanches.
Frédéric Chopin(nominated by Smerus) was a Polish composer and pianist, who is also listed as one of the level 3 vital articles; he was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic era. Another excellently written and beautifully presented article, one of three FAs promoted this week from the classical music sphere.
The Boat Race 2012(nominated by The Rambling Man) Part of The Rambling Man's drive to put as many articles about the annual Boat Race, the article on the 2012 race is the first to reach featured status. The race—between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames—was won by Cambridge in a controversial year for the contest, which saw the race stopped because of a protester who swam in front of the boats.
George Formby(nominated by SchroCat & Cassianto) was a music hall star, singer-songwriter, comedian and film star—and an unlikely one at that. While still trying to find his place on screen, one film producer thought him "too stupid to play the bad guy and too ugly to play the hero". The producer reckoned without the cheeky grin and the ingrained need of the British to have double entendre and smut in its cultural output, not forgetting the ukulele, of which he was a maestro, his playing still revered by amateurs and professionals alike.
John Gielgud(nominated by Tim riley & SchroCat) was one of the true greats of the British stage—and one of our level 4 vital articles to boot. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he enjoyed a career that spanned eight decades. Tim riley—notching up the first of two FAs in two days—led an overhaul, with co-nom SchroCat going one better with two FAs in one day.
The Bread-Winners(nominated by Wehwalt) is an 1883 novel by John Hay, former secretary to Abraham Lincoln, although published anonymously. It was controversial when published, as it presented a hostile view of organised labour; less contentious now, it is the latest FA from the hugely prodigious Wehwalt.
Katy Perry(nominated by SNUGGUMS & Samjohnzon) is an American singer, songwriter and actress who started her career singing gospel music before moving into pop. As is compulsory for modern celebrities, Perry has also released her own brand of perfume and gone through a short-lived and public marriage and divorce.
Nagato-class battleship(nominated by Sturmvogel 66) The Nagato-class battleships were a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the First World War, although not finished until after the war's end. Both were ineffectual during the Second World War, with one destroyed in a magazine explosion, and one was a target for US nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads in mid-1946. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second test.
John Plagis(nominated by Cliftonian) was a Southern Rhodesianflying ace in the RAF during the Second World War, particularly as "part of the multinational group of Allied pilots that successfully defended the strategically important island ... [of Malta] against numerically superior Axis forces". Plagis ended the war having been awarded the DSO, DFC & Bar.
List of accolades received by Her (film)(nominated by Sock & Cowlibob) Her, the 2013 comedy-drama film, earned 110 nominations from mainstream sources, and garnered 46 awards. Receiving particular praise was the script by Spike Jonze, which described the life of a man who develops a relationship with a female voice produced by an intelligent computer operating system.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan filmography(nominated by Krimuk90) The screen career of the Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan began in 1997, with her appearance in Iruvar, a Tamil-language political drama. Since then she has gone on to appear in over forty films in five different languages: Krimuk90 has catalogued the lot—his fifth filmography nomination on an Indian celebrity.
Four Freedoms(nominated by TonyTheTiger) With the promotion this week of Freedom from Want, the series of Four Freedoms paintings by the American artist Norman Rockwell becomes a Featured Topic. The nominator, TonyTheTiger, describes the four works as an important "series of works that served as illustrations for a series of essays in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's human rights declaration, Four Freedoms".
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