This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 29 May to 11 June. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.
God of War(nominated by JDC808) is an action-adventure video game series loosely based on Greek mythology. Debuting in 2005, the series has become a flagship title for the PlayStation brand, consisting of seven games across multiple platforms with an eighth in development. The series' story centers around its playable character, Kratos, a Spartan warrior tricked into killing his wife and child by his former master, Ares. Kratos kills Ares at the behest of the goddess Athena and takes his place as the new God of War, but is still haunted by the nightmares of his past. Revealed to be a demigod and the son of Zeus, the King of the Olympian Gods, who betrays Kratos, the Spartan then seeks revenge against the gods for their machinations. What follows is a series of attempts to free himself from the influence of the gods and the Titans and exact revenge. Each game chapter forms part of a saga with vengeance as a central motif. Games in the series have been praised for being the best action games for the PlayStation brand, and some of the best action games of all time. Strong sales and support of the series led to the franchise's expansion into other media, such as a comic book series, two novels, and a web-based graphic novel.
Michael Francis Egan(nominated by Coemgenus) (1761–1814) was an Irish American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Ireland, he joined the Franciscan Order at a young age. He served as a priest in Rome, Ireland, and Pennsylvania and became known as a gifted preacher. In 1808, Egan was appointed the first Bishop of Philadelphia, holding that position until his death in 1814. Egan's tenure as bishop saw the construction of new churches and the expansion of the Catholic Church membership in his diocese, but much of his time was consumed by disputes with the lay trustees of his pro-cathedral in Philadelphia.
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Bronx, New York, that competes in Major League Baseball. Their history(nominated by Giants2008) spans more than a century. Frank J. Farrell and William Stephen Devery bought the rights to an American League (AL) club in New York City after the 1902 season. The team, which became known as the Yankees in 1913, rarely contended for the AL championship before the acquisition of Babe Ruth after the 1919 season. With Ruth in the lineup, the Yankees won their first AL title in 1921, followed by their first World Series championship in 1923. Since then they have won the World Series championship twenty-six times again, with their most recent victory coming in 2009.
The Good Terrorist(nominated by Bruce1ee) is a 1985 political novel by Doris Lessing. The story examines events in the life of Alice, a naïve and well-intentioned squatter, who moves in with a group of radicals in London, and is drawn into their terrorist activities. Three reviewers labelled the novel as a satire, while Lessing called it humorous. Some critics called the novel's title an oxymoron, stating that it highlights Alice's ambivalent nature, and that she is neither a good person, nor a good revolutionary. The Good Terrorist was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and won the Mondello Prize and the WH Smith Literary Award.
Portrait of Maria Portinari(nominated by Ceoil) is a small c. 1470–72 tempera and oil on wood painting by Hans Memling. It portrays Maria Maddalena Baroncelli, about whom very little is known. She is aged about 14 years old, and depicted shortly before her wedding to the Italian banker Tommaso Portinari. The panel is the right wing of a devotional and hinged triptych; the lost center panel is recorded in sixteenth-century inventories as Virgin and Child.
Nights into Dreams...(nominated by Jaguar) is an action video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn in 1996. The story follows two teenagers, Claris and Elliot, who enter a dream world called Nightopia where all dreams take place. With the help of Nights they begin a journey to stop the evil ruler Wizeman from destroying Nightopia and consequently the real world. It received positive reviews upon release; critics praised the graphics, gameplay, soundtrack, and atmosphere. It has been included on multiple lists as being the best Sega Saturn game of all time, as well as among the best games ever made. A direct sequel, Nights: Journey of Dreams, was released for the Wii in 2007.
Borscht(nominated by Kpalion) is a tart soup popular in several East European cuisines. The variety most commonly associated with the name in English is of Ukrainian origin and includes beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which gives the dish a distinctive red color. It shares the name, however, with a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as green borscht, white borscht, cabbage borscht, etc.
Freida Pinto(nominated by Vensatry) (born 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Pinto rose to prominence through the 2008 British drama Slumdog Millionaire, her first appearance in a film. She won the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and was nominated for various other awards. Her biggest commercial success came with the 2011 science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Pinto received major attention for portraying the titular character Trishna and her performance in Desert Dancer received critical acclaim.
The Dorset Ooser(nominated by Midnightblueowl) is a wooden head that featured in the nineteenth-century folk culture of Melbury Osmond, a village in the southwestern English county of Dorset. The head was hollow, thus perhaps serving as a mask, and included a humanoid face with horns, a beard, and a hinged jaw which allowed the mouth to open and close. Although sometimes used to scare people during practical jokes, its main recorded purpose was as part of a local variant of the charivari custom known as "skimity riding" or "rough music", in which it was used to humiliate those who were deemed to have behaved in an immoral manner.
Hurricane Patricia(nominated by Cyclonebiskit) was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere and the second-most intense worldwide in terms of barometric pressure. It also featured the highest one-minute maximum sustained winds ever recorded in a tropical cyclone. Originating from a sprawling disturbance near the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Patricia was first classified a tropical depression. The system later became a tropical storm and was named Patricia. Exceptionally favorable environmental conditions fueled explosive intensification, and Patricia grew from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane. The storm acquired maximum sustained winds of 205 mph (335 km/h) and a pressure of 879 mbar. Patricia's exceptional intensity prompted the retirement of its name in April 2016. Patricia made landfall in a significantly weakened state. Despite weakening greatly, it was the strongest landfalling hurricane on record along the Pacific coast of Mexico with winds estimated at 150 mph (240 km/h). Interaction with the mountainous terrain of Mexico induced dramatic weakening, faster than the storm had intensified. Within 24 hours of moving ashore, Patricia degraded into a tropical depression and dissipated soon thereafter.
Nothomyrmecia(nominated by Burklemore1) is a rare genus of ants consisting of a single species, Nothomyrmecia macrops. It lives in South Australia, nesting in old-growth mallee and Eucalyptus woodlands. It measures 9.7–11 mm (0.38–0.43 in). Workers are monomorphic, showing little morphological differentiation among one another. Mature colonies are very small, with only 50 to 100 individuals in each nest. Workers are strictly nocturnal and are solitary foragers, collecting arthropod prey and sweet substances such as honeydew.
Len Deighton (born 1929) is an English author. His bibliography(nominated by SchroCat) includes novels, works of military history, screenplays and cookery writing. He wrote his first novel in 1962, The IPCRESS File, and has written 26 further until 1996.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 action film directed by George Miller. The film is set in a dystopian desert wasteland where gasoline and water are rare commodities. Tom Hardy stars as the title character Max Rockatansky, who helps rebel soldier Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), rescue five women from the imprisonment of despotic leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). It grossed a worldwide total of over $378 million on a production budget of $150 million. Mad Max: Fury Road garnered awards and nominations(nominated by Cowlibob) in a variety of categories with particular praise for Miller's direction, its visual effects, costume design, editing, and Theron's performance. The film received ten nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, and went on to win the most awards at the ceremony with six.
T-ara is a South Korean girl group, that debuted in 2009 after three years of training. Their discography(nominated by HĐ) includes four studio albums, seven extended plays, two compilation albums, two remix albums, thirty-six singles, and six promotional singles.
S.L. Benfica is a Portuguese professional football team based in São Domingos de Benfica, Lisbon. Since their first competitive match in 1906, more than 750 players(nominated by Threeohsix) have appeared in first-team matches for the club, and almost 130 have made at least 100 appearances. Benfica's record appearance maker is Nené, who played 575 matches during his record 18-year career at the club; he is followed by António Veloso, with 538 appearances over 15 seasons. Manuel Bento is the oldest player to have played for Benfica.
The 400-series highways(nominated by Floydian) are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the Autoroute system of Quebec, but under provincial jurisdiction and regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. Although Ontario had been constructing divided highways for two decades prior, 400-series designations were introduced in 1952. Initially only Highways 400, 401 and 402 were numbered; other designations followed in the subsequent decades.
London Wildlife Trust(nominated by Dudley Miles and Chiswick Chap) is the local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 47 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area. The trust aims to protect London's wildlife and wild spaces, and it manages over 40 nature reserves in Greater London.
Spotlight is a 2015 American drama film directed by Tom McCarthy. The film follows The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team and its investigation of sexual abuse in Boston. The film was a commercial success, grossing $88.3 million worldwide on a budget of $20 million. The film has been nominated for 138 awards, winning 71(nominated by FrB.TG); its direction, screenplay and the performances of Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams have received the most attention from award groups. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for Best Original Screenplay.
Selena (1971–1995) was an American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, actress, and fashion designer. She has released(nominated by AJona1992) five studio albums, three live albums, three boxsets, two remix albums, one soundtrack album, and twenty compilation albums. Credited for elevating a music genre into the mainstream market, Selena remains the best-selling Tejano recording artist whose posthumous releases continue to outsell those of living musicians.
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