text:
Kurt Schwenk
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)
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Office: Pharmacy-Biology Building Rm. 600
Lab: Pharm-Bio 410, 412
Office phone: (860) 486-0351
Lab phone: 860-486-4158
Fax: (860) 486-6364
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Mailing Address:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
75 N. Eagleville Road
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
- 1976: Zookeeper (intern): Bronx Zoo (Herpetology)
- 1977: B.A. (high honors) Oberlin College, studied with Warren F. Walker, Jr., and Jim Stewart
- 1977-78: Zookeeper: Bronx Zoo (Mammalogy)
- 1984: Ph.D. Dept. of Zoology (now within Integrative Biology), University of California, Berkeley, with Marvalee H. Wake
- 1984-87: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Instructor in Anatomy: Dept. of Oral Anatomy (now within Oral Biology), University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry with Karen Hiiemae (deceased, 2007)
- 1987-89: NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Lecturer on Biology: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Dept. of Organismic Biology, Harvard University with Fuzz Crompton
- 1989-present: Assistant, Associate and Full Professor: Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
- 2007-09: Chair, Division of Vertebrate Morphology (DVM), Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB)
- 2004-06: Associate Editor, Evolution
- 2006-10: Associate Editor, Journal of Comparative Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology
- 2006-present: Editorial Board, Journal of Anatomy
- 2010-present: Editorial Board, Journal of Comparative Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology.
- My CV
- Schwenk Lab Page (under construction)
- My Classic Works in Evolutionary Biology pages: Introduction and Annotated List
- My Guide to Scientific Paper Citation Formatfor undergraduates
- PhD student Bill Ryerson's page
- Former PhD student Dr. Tobias Landberg's page (postdoc with Howard Whiteman, Murray State Univ, KY)
- Former PhD student Dr. Nirvana Filoramo's page (Asst. Prof, Worcester State Univ., MA)
- Former PhD student Dr. Chuck Smith's page (Asst. Prof., Wofford College, SC)
- Collaborator, Gunter Wagner's page (Yale Univ., CT)
- My brother John Schwenk's page (follow link to view some of my father's [George Schwenk] paintings)
- Schwenk the World (too weird to explain—you have to see for yourself...)
- BIO 1102 Foundations of Biology
- (spring 2010)
- EEB 3273 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
- (spring 2010; next offered fall, 2012)
- EEB 3254/5254 Mammalogy
- Mammalogy Class Pictures Page
- (spring 2011; next offered fall 2013)
- EEB 2245W EEB 2245W Schwenk Section Page
- (spring 2012)
The list below represents a series of public information pages I will be creating to address commonly asked questions about biological issues—particularly issues and questions about vertebrate animals that I have direct or personal knowledge of. I have been motivated to create these pages because of running across web pages that purport to provide 'answers' to people's questions about animals, evolution and biology generally. While some of the information available on the web is reasonably accurate, I have found that most of it is misleading or downright erroneous. The 'answers' are usually written by people who, although good-intentioned, are mostly ignorant about the topics they address. In any case, the information is nearly always cobbled together from secondary and tertiary sources of information—or worse—rather than direct knowledge of the science or the primary literature on the topic. The aim of these pages, therefore, is to provide accurate, scientifically validated information on some topics in my areas of expertise that come to my attention as being of general interest. I was motivated to do this mostly because of the widespread misinformation being propagated on the web about the first question, below. Since the information used to 'answer' this question is almost always based on a distorted or misunderstood representation of my own research, it seems appropriate for me to set the record straight.
- 2. Why do snakes flick their tongues? [in preparation]
- 3. How do snakes eat? [in preparation]
- 4. How do lizards eat? [in preparation]
- 5. Can snakes hear? [in preparation]
- Phenotypic evolution
- Evolutionary constraint
- Evolutionary and functional morphology of vertebrates
- Evolutionary and functional morphology of feeding in tetrapod vertebrates, especially lizards
- Evolutionary and functional morphology of chemoreception in lizards and snakes
- Evolutionary and functional morphology of the vertebrate tongue
My research program is three-pronged: I pursue empirical studies related to the functional and evolutionary morphology of squamate feeding and chemoreception, and theoretical work related to phenotypic evolution and evolutionary constraint. Feeding and chemoreception are functionally and evolutionarily related in squamates owing to their shared use of a single, complex organ, the tongue. From a biomechanical point of view, optimization of the tongue for feeding function makes it less effective in (vomeronasal) chemoreception and vice versa. Thus, there is a classic functional (and evolutionary) trade-off between the two principal functions of the tongue. Phylogenetic character analysis reveals how each major clade of squamates has found a unique 'solution' to the problem of this trade-off. The dynamic nature of the evolutionary tension created by competing sources of selection pressure has led to my theoretical work on internal selection, functional integration, phenotypic stability and evolutionary constraint. Much of this work has been done in collaboration with Günter Wagner at Yale University. Although theoretical, the work is firmly grounded in my empirical work on squamate feeding and chemosensory systems, which have proven to be compelling model systems for approaching these broader issues.
Students in my laboratory develop their own, independent research programs under my supervision. Although I expect there to be some overlap or mutual interest in student projects, I do not require students to work in my specific research areas. Ideally students will incorporate elements of morphology, evolution and/or function into their projects. Purely ecological or conservation-related projects are discouraged (because they lie outside my areas of expertise), although these can be elements of a research program centered on the former topics. Although I am best able to supervise work on squamate reptiles, I am open to projects dealing with any vertebrate group. I principally do laboratory-based work, but recent graduate students have included significant field components in their research. Applications from potential doctoral students are preferred, but doing a Masters is also possible.
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UConn is very integrative and interactive, and there is a great deal of cross-fertilization among labs. The department comprises 30 full-time faculty, all of whom work in the general area of organismal biology. There are an additional 60+ biologists in our sister departments of Physiology and Neurobiology, and Molecular and Cell Biology - and this is not to mention a variety of wildlife biologists in the School of Agriculture, biomedical researchers in the School of Medicine, etc. Thus, there is virtually no area of expertise unavailable to students when they assemble their research advisory committees.
There are eight vertebrate biology faculty in the department (4 herpetology, 2 ornithology, 1 ichthyology, 1 mammalogy), and along with postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students, they constitute a very active and interactive research group. We have informal weekly meetings called Vertlunch in which we read and critique recent papers (and laugh a lot) and every Friday at 4:00 the Schwenk and Rubega labs (and others) meet for Beermorph in which - well, it's pretty self-explanatory. For those morphologists with a developmental bent, we also have sporadic meetings of an Evo-Devo Journal Club in which we read and discuss current literature. And this is not to mention, of course, the frequent graduate seminars on various topics offered by faculty in the department, as well as weekly departmental seminars and occasional 'Tuesday Evening Seminars' run by the EEB graduate students. All-in-all, a very active place where you can be intellectually challenged and exposed to a variety of viewpoints - often while drinking at the same time.
Before applying directly to the department for admission into the graduate program, you should contact me by email and describe your research interests and goals so that we can determine if there is an appropriate match. You should also explore the departmental web page to get as much information about EEB as you can. If you have any questions at all about the department or the University, don't hesitate to email me. I can also put you in touch with current graduate students if you would like to hear about the program from their perspectives.
Students accepted into the doctoral program are guaranteed 5 years of support (mostly by means of Teaching Assistantships). Support beyond 5 years is usually possible for students making good progress, but is not guaranteed. Masters students are guaranteed 2 years of support. The support package includes a tuition waiver and full health benefits.
At the January, 2009, annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) in Boston, William Zamer of the National Science Foundation challenged the Society to determine what the 'grand challenge questions' are for future work in organismal biology. As the largest comparative, organismal professional society in the country (and probably the world), SICB was called upon to organize organismal biologists to help shape future funding in the field by identifying integrative and forward-looking research arenas that would not only contribute to basic knowledge in organismal biology, but would also tie-in with interest-areas targeted by the Obama administration. SICB President Rich Satterlie called a series of meetings and discussions among the SICB Executive Committee, and on the basis of these discussions, a four-person subcommittee was appointed, with me as Chair, to produce a brief, initial document to be distributed among NSF staff immediately (as required by NSF's budget meeting schedule). This draft document has been expanded into a full-length manuscript that appeared in the first 2009 issue of the Sociey's journal, Integrative and Comparative Biology. Subsequent issues of the journal feature additional 'perspective' pieces written by other organismal biologists targeting more specific topics. The aim of the documents posted here, as well as the other essays published in ICB, is to stimulate broader discussion in the field about future research initiatives and novel, collaborative and synthetic research directions. SICB (and NSF) hopes that additional discussion will further develop and refine the 'grand challenges' in organismal biology. In the near future, face-to-face meetings are planned to broaden and extend the initiative, and these meetings, it is hoped, will lead to concrete advances and funding opportunities for organismal biology, an area that has been chronically underfunded for many years.
The 'grand challenges' initiative is presently in full swing. Additional essays on organismal biology are appearing regularly in ICB and workshops wer held at the 2010 and 2011 annual SICB meetings directed at broadening participation and developing methods for implementation. I have contributed my own ideas with regard to the latter in an invited BioScience essay (below).
- You can download the preliminary 'grand challenges' NSF document HERE
- You can download a reprint of the published 'grand challenges' paper by Schwenk et al. (from Integrative and Comparative Biology) HERE.
- You can download a reprint of the BioScience 'Viewpoint' essay by Schwenk on strategies for implementing the 'grand challenges' program HERE.
- You can link to the SICB website for further information.
- For other questions/comments, please contact me directly: firstname.lastname@example.com
Email for reprints not available here as pdfs: firstname.lastname@example.com
Schwenk, K. (editor) (2000) Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. Academic Press, San Diego. xv + 537 pp.
Schwenk, K. and G. P. Wagner. Evolutionary Constraint (in preparation)
Schwenk, K., and J. M. Starck (eds.) (2005) Integrative organismal biology: papers in honor of Professor Marvalee H. Wake. Zoology 108(4):261-356. LINK [email me for a copy of the entire issue]
- (names in bold are current or former students)
- (names in bold are current or former students)
Ryerson, W., and K. Schwenk. Kinematics of chemosensory tongue-flicking in garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) (in prep).
Schwenk, K., and W. Ryerson. Biomechanics of chemosensory tongue-flicking in garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) (in prep).
Ryerson, W., and K. Schwenk. Kinematics of terrestrial versus aquatic chemosensory tongue-flicking in water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) (in prep).
Ryerson, W., and K. Schwenk. Why snakes flick their tongues. (in prep)
- UConn Today—Snakes, Lizards, and Tongues
- UConn Magazine—Studying Snakes
- 'Super Slo-Mo Tuesdays', Daily Planet, Discovery Channel, Canada
- New Scientist, on Bill's SICB presentation on aquatic tongue-flicking in Nerodia (forthcoming)
Filoramo, N., and K. Schwenk. Tongue tips, tropotaxis and the mechanism of chemical delivery to the vomeronasal organs in fork-tongued squamates (Reptilia) (in prep)
Ryerson, W., and K. Schwenk (2012) A simple, inexpensive system for digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) in biomechanics. J. Exp. Zool. 317A:127-140.
(JEZA featured paper)
Schwenk, K. (2011) Letter to the Editor, Oberlin Alumni Magazine (in response to an article suggesting that social media, e.g., 'tweeting', provide good training for writing).
Schwenk, K. (2010) Implementing the organismal agenda . BioScience 60:673-674.
Ryerson, W. and S. Deban (2010) Buccal pumping mechanics of Xenopus laevis tadpoles: effects of biotic and abiotic factors. J. Exp. Biol. 213:2444-2452.
Schwenk, K., and G. P. Wagner (2010) Visualizing vertebrates: new methods in functional morphology (editorial). J. Exp. Zool. 313A:241-243.
Flores-Villela, O., C. A. Ríos-Muñoz, K. Schwenk, G. Zamudio-Varela and G. Magaña-Cota (2010) An unpublished manuscript of Alfredo Dugès related to the classification of lizards according to tongue morphology, c. 1898-1899. Archives of Natural History 37:246-254.
Smith C. F., G. W. Schuett and K. Schwenk (2010) Plasma sex sterioids and mating season in wild-living copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) at the northeastern extreme of their range. Journal of Zoology 280:362-370.
Smith C. F., G. W. Schuett, R. L. Earley, and K. Schwenk. (2009) The spatial and reproductive ecology of copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix (Serpentes: Viperidae), at the northeastern extreme of their range. Herpetological Monographs 23:43-73.
Schwenk, K.*, D. Padilla*, G. Bakken* and R. Full* (2009) Grand challenges in organismal biology. Integrative and Comparative Biology 49:7-14. (*authorship equally shared)
Filoramo, N., and K. Schwenk (2009) The mechanism of chemical delivery to the vomeronasal organs in squamate reptiles: a comparative morphological approach. J. Exp. Zool. 311A:20-34.
Schwenk, K. (2008) Aristotle's ghost. Wild River Review. October 2008. [Online reprint of Schwenk (2002)], Wild River Review home page
Sherbrooke, W. C.,* and K. Schwenk.* (2008) Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) incapacitate dangerous ant prey with mucus. J. Exp. Zool. 309A:447-459. (*authorship equally shared) (JEZA featured paper)
- Journal of Experimental Biology, 'Lizards incapacitate ants with mucus', by Stefan Pulver (see last page of pdf)
- ScienceNOW, 'How to eat a nasty ant', by Greg Miller LINK or pdf
- Natural History (12/08-1/09), 'How to Harvest a Harvester', by Graciela Flores
- The Daily Planet television segment, Discovery Channel (Canada). First broadcast 25 March 2009, approx. 6 min. (working on getting a clip posted)
Smith, C. F., K. Schwenk, R. L. Earley and G. W. Schuett (2008) Sexual size dimorphism of the tongue in a North American pitviper. Journal of Zoology 274:367-374.
Schwenk, K. (2008) Comparative anatomy and physiology of chemical senses in non-avian aquatic reptiles. In: Sensory Evolution on the Threshold. Adaptations in Secondarily Aquatic Vertebrates. J. G. M. Thewissen and S. Nummela (eds.). Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. Pp. 65-81.
Schwenk, K., and J. G. M. Thewissen (2008) Aquatic and semi-aquatic reptiles. In: Sensory Evolution on the Threshold. Adaptations in Secondarily Aquatic Vertebrates. J. G. M. Thewissen and S. Nummela (eds.). Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. Pp. 7-23.
Eisthen, H., and Schwenk, K. (2008) The chemical stimulus and its detection. In: Sensory Evolution on the Threshold. Adaptations in Secondarily Aquatic Vertebrates. J. G. M. Thewissen and S. Nummela (eds.). Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. Pp. 35-41.
Schwenk, K. (2006) Evolution illustrated (Letter to the Editor). The Hartford Courant, 4 March:A9.
Schwenk, K.,and M. Rubega (2005) Diversity of vertebrate feeding systems. Pp. 1-41. In: Physiological and Ecological Adaptations to Feeding in Vertebrates. J. M. Starck and T. Wang (eds.). Science Publishers, Enfield, NH.
Schulp, A. S., E. W. A. Mulder and K. Schwenk (2005) Did mosasaurs have forked tongues? Neth. J. Geosci. 84:359-371.
Schwenk, K. , W. Korff and J. M. Starck (2005) Preface. Integrative organismal biology: papers in honor of Professor Marvalee H. Wake. Zoology 108:261-267.
Schwenk, K., and G. P. Wagner (2004) The relativism of constraints on phenotypic evolution. Pp. 390-408. In: Phenotypic Integration: Studying the Ecology and Evolution of Complex Phenotypes. M. Pigliucci & K. Preston (eds.). Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Schwenk, K. (2004) REVIEWS OF: Introduction to Horned Lizards of North America, by Wade C. Sherbrooke, and Horned Lizards: The Book of Horny Toads, by Jane Manaster. Copeia 2004:190-192.
Schwenk, K. (2004) Leapin' non-ophidian squamates! REVIEW OF: Lizards. Windows to the Evolution of Diversity, by E. R. Pianka and L. J. Vitt. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:357-358.
Vitt, L. J., E. R. Pianka, W. E. Cooper and K. Schwenk (2003) History and the global ecology of squamate reptiles. American Naturalist 162:44-60.
Schwenk, K., and G. P. Wagner. (2003) Constraint. Pp. 52-61. In: Key Words and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology. B. K. Hall & W. M. Olson (eds.). Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Schwenk, K. (2002) Constraint. Pp. 196-199. In: Encyclopedia of Evolution, M. Pagel (ed.). Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Schwenk, K. (2002) Aristotle's ghost. Creative Nonfiction No.19:32-40 (Special Issue: "Diversity Dialogues").
Schwenk, K. (2001) Extrinsic vs. intrinsic lingual muscles: a false dichotomy? Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. (Harvard) 156:219-235.
Schwenk, K., and G. P. Wagner (2001) Function and the evolution of phenotypic stability: connecting pattern to process. American Zoologist 41:552-563.
Schwenk, K. (2001) Functional units and their evolution. Pp. 165-198. In: The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology. G. P. Wagner (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
Nishikawa, K. C., and K. Schwenk (2001) Ingestion in amphibians and reptiles. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester [doi:10.1038/npg.els.0001835] (pdf = 7 pp) LINK TO ELS SITE
Schwenk, K. (2000) The apian way: from beehives to burrows, animal building sheds new light on biology. REVIEW OF: The Extended Organism. The Physiology of Animal-Built Structures, by J. Scott Turner. The New York Times Book Review, 10 Dec., p. 37. OR SEE IT ONLINE HERE
Schwenk, K. (2000) Preface. Pp. xiii-xv. In: Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
Schwenk, K. (2000) Tetrapod feeding in the context of vertebrate morphology. Pp. 3-20. In: Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
Schwenk, K. (2000) An introduction to tetrapod feeding. Pp. 21-61. In: Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
Schwenk, K. (2000) Feeding in lepidosaurs. Pp. 175-291. In: Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
EMAIL (firstname.lastname@example.com) FOR HIGH QUALITY HARD COPY
Schwenk, K. (2000) A bibliography of turtle feeding. Pp. 169-171. In: Feeding: Form, Function and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk (ed.). Academic Press, San Diego.
Wagner, G. P.,* and K. Schwenk* (2000) Evolutionarily Stable Configurations: functional integration and the evolution of phenotypic stability. Pp. 155-217. In: Evolutionary Biology, vol. 31. M. K. Hecht, R. J. MacIntyre & M. T. Clegg (eds.). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, New York. (*authorship equally shared). YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THIS PAPER HERE
Schwenk, K. (1998) REVIEW OF: Lizards, Vols. 1 & 2. By M. Rogner. Copeia 1998:1114-1116.
Schwenk, K. (1998) REVIEW OF: Comparative Osteological Examinations of Geckonids, Eublepharids and Uroplatids, by V. Wellborn (translated by A. P. Russell, A. M. Bauer & A. Deufel). Herpetological Translations No. 1. Breck Bartholomew, Bibliomania, Logan, Utah. Copeia 1998:259-260.
Schwenk, K. (1997) Snakes and the evolution of Harry Greene. REVIEW OF: Snakes. The Evolution of Mystery in Nature, by H. W. Greene. Natural History 106:8-9 (July/August).
Dial, B. E., and K. Schwenk (1996) Olfaction and predator detection in Coleonyx brevis (Squamata: Eublepharidae) with comments on the functional significance of buccal pulsing in geckos. J. Exp. Zool. 276:415-424.
Pigliucci, M., C. D. Schlichting, C. S. Jones and K. Schwenk (1996) Developmental reaction norms: the interactions among allometry, ontogeny and plasticity. Plant Species Biology 11:69-85.
Schwenk, K. (1996) REVIEW OF: Vertebrate Life, 4th ed., by F. H. Pough et al., Quart. Rev. Biol. 71:581-582.
Schwenk, K. (1995) REVIEW OF: The Lizard Man Speaks, by E. R. Pianka. Quart. Rev. Biol. 70:328-329.
Schwenk, K. (1995) Of tongues and noses: chemoreception in lizards and snakes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10:7-12.
Schwenk, K. (1995) A utilitarian approach to evolutionary constraint. Zoology 98:251-262.
Schwenk, K., and H. W. Greene (1995) No electrostatic sense in snakes. Nature 373:26.
Schwenk, K. (1995) The serpent's tongue. Natural History 104:48-55 (April).
Schwenk, K. (1994) Why snakes have forked tongues. Science 263:1573-1577.
- National Public Radio (All Things Considered) (see The NPR Interviews, 1995. R. Siegel, ed.)
- BBC World News Service
- Voice of America
- CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.)
- AAAS Science Update (Mutual Radio Network)
- WFIU Radio (Indiana Univ., ''A Moment of Science'')
- ABC news, New Haven, with Geoff Fox (television)
- TV Ontario (segment for children's show)
- Associated Press (newspapers throughout North America and Europe) Example:
- New Scientist
- Chronical of Higher Education
- Discover Magazine
- National Geographic Magazine
- Australia Nature
- Readers' Digest
- Omni Magazine
- Weekly Reader Magazine
- Scholastic Super Science"
- International Wildlife
- Wilson Quarterly
- Washington Post
- USA Today (front page: )
- International Herald Tribune
- Boston Globe
- Daily Telegraph (London)
- La Guardia (Spain)
- Hartford Courant
- New Haven Register''
- Manchester Journal Inquirer
- San Jose Mercury News
- Willimantic Chronicle
- College and University Dialogue (Adventist journal) )
- Encyclopaedia Britanica Yearbook of Science and the Future (1995)
- Blue Genes and Polyester Plants, by S. McGrayne (1997)
- The NPR Interviews, 1995, edited by Robert Siegel (1995)
Schwenk, K. (1994) Craniology: getting a head. REVIEW OF: The Skull, 3 vols. J. Hanken & B. K. Hall (eds.). Science 263:1779-1780.
Schwenk, K. (1994) Comparative biology and the importance of cladistic classification: a case study from the sensory biology of squamate reptiles. Biological J. Linnean Soc. 52:69-82.
Schwenk, K. (1994) Systematics and subjectivity: the phylogeny and classification of iguanian lizards reconsidered. Herpetological Review 25:53-57.
Schwenk, K., and D. B. Wake (1993) Prey processing in Leurognathus marmoratus and the evolution of form and function in desmognathine salamanders (Plethodontidae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 49:141-162.
Schwenk, K. (1993) Are geckos olfactory specialists? J. Zool., Lond. 229:289-302.
Schwenk, K. (1993) The evolution of chemoreception in squamate reptiles: a phylogenetic approach. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 41:124-137.
Schwenk, K. and G. C. Mayer (1991) Tongue display in anoles and its evolutionary basis. 4th Anolis Newsletter. J. Losos & G. Mayer (eds.). National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, Washington, DC.
Schwenk, K. (1989) REVIEW OF: The Evolution of Vertebrate Design, by L. B. Radinsky. American Scientist 77:84.
Schwenk, K. and G. S Throckmorton (1989) Functional and evolutionary morphology of lingual feeding in squamate reptiles: phylogenetics and kinematics. J. Zool., Lond. 219:153-175.
Schwenk, K. and D. A. Bell (1988) A cryptic intermediate in the evolution of chameleon tongue projection. Experientia 44:697-700.
Schwenk, K. (1988) Comparative morphology of the lepidosaur tongue and its relevance to squamate phylogeny. In: R. Estes & G. Pregill (eds.). Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families. Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, 569-598.
Schwenk, K. and H. W. Greene (1987) Water collection and drinking in Phrynocephalus helioscopus: a possible condensation mechanism. J. Herpetology 21:134-139.
Schwenk, K. (1986) Morphology of the tongue in the tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus (Reptilia: Lepidosauria), with comments on function and phylogeny. J. Morphology 188:129-156.
Wake, M. H. and K. Schwenk (1986) A preliminary report on the morphology and distribution of taste buds in gymnophiones, with comparison to other amphibians. J. Herpetology 20:254-256.
Schwenk, K. (1985) Occurrence, distribution and functional significance of taste buds in lizards. Copeia 1985:91-101.
Good, D. A., and K. Schwenk (1985) A new species of Abronia (Lacertilia: Anguidae) from Oaxaca, Mexico. Copeia 1985:135-141.
Schwenk, K. (1984) Evolutionary Morphology of the Lepidosaur Tongue. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
Houck, L., and K. Schwenk (1984) The potential for long-term sperm competition in a plethodontid salamander. Herpetologica 40:410-415.
Jaksic, F. M., and K. Schwenk (1983) Natural history observations on Liolaemus magellanicus, the southernmost lizard in the world. Herpetologica 39:457-461.
Bemis, W., K. Schwenk and M. H. Wake (1983) Morphology and function of the feeding apparatus in Dermophis mexicanus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 77:75-96.
Jaksic, F. M., H. W. Greene, K. Schwenk and R. L. Seib (1982) Predation upon reptiles in Mediterranean habitats of Chile, California, and Spain: a comparative analysis. Oecologia 53:152-159.
Schwenk, K., S. K. Sessions and D. M. Peccinini-Seale (1982) Karyotypes of the basiliscine lizards Corytophanes cristatus and Corytophanes hernandesii, with comments on the relationship between chromosomal and morphological evolution in lizards. Herpetologica 38:493-501.


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TRACY - The Tracy Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a vehicle that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident, authorities said.
A 27-year-old man died of his injuries after being struck about 8:45 p.m. last Wednesday on Schulte Road near Lauriana Lane, police said. The vehicle fled the scene, officers said.
The car was described as a dark-colored, shiny 1990s sedan with tinted windows, a loud exhaust, fog lights and, possibly, front-end damage, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tracy Police Department at (209) 831-6550.
Help sought in fatal hit-and-run
Feb 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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Heat Lists for Competing Dancers
This heat list is only for your reference. Be sure that you and your teacher (if applicable) get a hard copy the most current heat list when you check in at the event.
Please be ready to dance 30 minutes prior to your start time as the event may be ahead of schedule.
Ly, Han
Dancing With Crystal Li
Session | Heat | Time | Dance Name | Level | Age | Place |
4 | Pro 2 | 9:05 PM | Professional Rising Star International Latin(C/S/R/P/J) | N/A | N/A | SEMIFINAL |


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Poolstar Chlor Tabs Calcium Tablets 5kg
- Use with chlorine dispensers.
Unfortunately due to size, weight or the materials involved we are not able to offer delivery for this product. But you can still buy online for collection at your local Mitre 10 MEGA store.
We are happy to exchange or refund any unopened and unused, non-customised items returned to us in their original condition and packaging, including all accessories and the invoice or delivery docket, within 28 days. Customised products, which include products cut, made-to-measure, special order or mixed to specific requirements, cannot be refunded or exchanged.
It's always easiest to return your product to the store you got it from, but you can return it to any Mitre 10 store. If you prefer to courier your product back to us, just check your invoice to see which store dispatched your order and that's where you send it back to.
We will refund to your original payment method where possible or, if you prefer, we can issue you a Mitre 10 gift card for the sum equal to the cost of the product excluding handling and any delivery or returns costs.
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Tournament Title: CC [Beta 2010] 1v1 - Cyprus
Tournament Type: Standard - 1v1 (single-elimination)
Comments: The concept is a 1v1 single-elimination tournament to be played on the beta maps released in 2010.
- Number of entrants: 16 players
- Map: Cyprus
- Game Type: 1v1 (single-elimination)
- Play Order: Sequential
- Troop Deployment: Automatic
- Spoils: No Spoils
- Reinforcements: Chained
- Fog of War: No
Miscellaneous: Single-elimination, bracket tournament (bracket to be determined by random.org). 48 hours to join each game, 100% of the spots open to sign-ups (in this thread). As this is a 1v1 tournament, account-sitting is discouraged - people who sign up will expect to play the other signed-up players, not anyone else. If deemed inappropriate, account-sitting may lead to disqualification (if in doubt, feel free to pm).


text: At Gemvara, we believe that the ring you wear should be as unique as you. That's why we make all our men's rings to order, one at a time, in your choice of gems and precious metals. Make a bold statement or say something subtle. You can also add your own personal meaning to any of our Men's Multistone Peridot Gemstone Rings , creating a beautiful memories and brilliant reminder. We use only the highest quality materials to craft our Men's Multistone Peridot Gemstone Rings with meticulous attention to detail. Our precious metals are recycled or responsibly mined. We hand-select each conflict-free gem in to perfectly complement your design. Peridot will add a fresh bolt of color to your wardrobe.The profile, textures, and details of our Men's Multistone Peridot Gemstone Rings add individuality and style to everything you wear. Skilled American craftspeople set every gem in our multistone styles by hand.When our work is done and you open that box, you'll see your men's ring design is even more striking when brought to life in the finest precious materials.


text:
(→Live and Installable Images) |
(→Live and Installable Images) |
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More information at http://kshadeslayer.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/introducing-project-neon-5-isos/ | More information at http://kshadeslayer.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/introducing-project-neon-5-isos/ | ||
− | Image: http://kshadeslayer.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/neon5.png | + | Image: http://kshadeslayer.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/neon5.png |
== Contact the Team == | == Contact the Team == |
Project Neon is a nightly build of the latest KDE trunk for Ubuntu. It is an easy way for new contributors to KDE to get started without having to download and build the entire KDE source code tree. Additionally, dependencies are automatically handled and updated. This is suitable for new developers, translators, usability designers, documenters, promoters, bug triagers, etc. This process makes the steps detailed on this page.
However, for developers, it may at some point become necessary to build more components from source code as you become more involved in the project. The kdesrc-build script is an easy way to build all or parts of KDE from its source code repositories.
Project Neon always requires either the latest stable Kubuntu release or the development release. Previous versions of Kubuntu are not supported.
To use Project Neon, add the following PPA (Personal Package Archive) to your sources.list using your preferred method:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neon/ppa
# Project neon nightly KDE4 build deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/neon/ppa/ubuntu saucy main #above repository is PGP signed, refer to below link for getting PGP key https://launchpad.net/~neon/+archive/ppa
Now you need to synchronize the package index files. Run
sudo apt-get update
After that, you can simply install the nightly package of whichever modules you want to work on. The packages are named project-neon-<git/svn module name>. The packages are installed in /opt/project-neon/ and won't affect your stable KDE install.
You can install all of the packages or just the ones you are interested in, depending on what you want to use them for.
To use Project Neon version of KDE Workspace, install the project-neon-base package. You can then log out, select the "Project Neon" session in KDM session list and log in.
sudo apt-get install project-neon-base
You can also install other KDE Workspace goodies, such as extra plasmoids, with:
sudo apt-get install project-neon-kdeplasma-addons
If you are only interested in application development in another module, you can install just the module package.
First install project-neon-utils. This package contains a number of utilities among which neon-env, which is needed to run Project Neon applications:
sudo apt-get install project-neon-utils
You can then install the package for the module you are interested in. For example to test the latest version of kdepim applications:
sudo apt-get install project-neon-kdepim
That command will also install the kdelibs, kdepimlibs and other dependencies too. In your regular (stable) KDE session you can now set up Project Neon environment and run the nightly version of your chosen application.
neon-env will setup the environment and start a subshell from which you can work with your project neon installation. This will correctly use the nightly version of libraries instead of using the stable versions, so no other changes are necessary to your library path etc. You'll need to close the terminal session for the settings to be undone.
Note that settings for applications that you run from project neon do not conflict with your regular application settings and data. .project-neon-kde/ is used instead of .kde/
If you want to install all packages that are provided by Project Neon in one go, you can use the project-neon-all package which will install all provided packages. To install all debugging symbols (Warning: takes a lot of disk space) project-neon-all-dbg can be used.
If you are joining one of the development teams in KDE, you will need a real SVN/GIT checkout in order to contribute your code back to the project and create patches easily. If you only code for KDE every now and then, Project Neon provides some extra tools for this purpose in the package project-neon-utils:
NOTE: both neon-cmake and neonmake require neon-env to be run first!
You can change the cmake and make options used by setting these variables in ~/.neonrc:
The debugging symbols for every package are in its corresponding -dbg
package, so to install the debugging symbols for kdelibs you can use
sudo apt-get install project-neon-kdelibs-dbg
If you are already using a nightly package of the module you want to develop for, you should remove that and checkout the development version. For example:
# Remove the packaged nightly version sudo apt-get purge project-neon-kdepim # Add below Project Neon source code repository to sources.list if you didn't use add-apt-repository deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/neon/ppa/ubuntu maverick main # Get the dependencies for building kdepim sudo apt-get build-dep project-neon-kdepim cd ~ # You may choose to do your development in a different folder. cd Development # Gets the latest version of the kdepim module. git clone git://anongit.kde.org/kdepim cd kdepim # Set up neon environment neon-env # Shortcut provided by Project Neon to make the module # and install it to the prefix /opt/project-neon/ neonmake
Note that you should usually checkout a module from KDE, not an application. Most modules contain libraries shared within the module and which are necessary to build the applications in the module.
Also note that when using apt-get build-dep it will always get all build-depends, so watch out that it doesn't install a component you want to build yourself as that would overwrite your changes should you install the packages after installing your build.
The Project Neon nightly packages include English language strings only. Translated packages are not available. However, if you are translating KDE applications, you can install the translations from KDE SVN in your normal workflow.
cd ~
cd Translations
# The -N switch checks out only the top level directory from svn.
svn co -N svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/trunk/l10n-kde4
cd l10n-kde4
# scripts necessary to build translations.
svn up scripts
# Get the German translations
svn up de
# Generate the build files for the German language pack - if you get a message
# that revpath couldn't be found you need to install the xutils-dev package
./scripts/autogen.sh de
cd de
After building the translations it is possible to either change the language in system settings, or run applications in another language using the environment variable KDE_LANG.
switchtonightly # or neon-env
KDE_LANG=de kmail
Exit the shell to reset the settings.
The Project Neon nightly source packages include the official KDE User Documentation in English.
TODO: How to build user docs from SVN.
If you are creating screenshots or screencasts of the latest version of KDE, project Neon is a simple and fast way of getting a default KDE4 session.
The KDE Promotion team recommends using the default background, theme, icons etc when preparing official promotional materials (unless the feature you are showing is related to configuring KDE artwork). Project Neon uses the default artwork that comes with KDE4, so it is useful for creating promo materials.
Here is a shortcut to get all available modules from the PPA:
sudo apt-get install project-neon-all
The application screenie is provided since Kubuntu 8.10 as screenie-qt.
sudo apt-get install screenie-qt
Project Neon 5 is the codename for the KDE Frameworks 5-based version of Project Neon. It offers regularly updated, precompiled packages for KDE Frameworks 5 ("KF5") libraries, the Plasma components that make up the workspace. These packages are useful to ease the setup of a KF5 environment for developing and porting applications and add-on components. They are also useful in order to get an idea of the state of development.
Please note the following:
In order to install Neon5, you have to add the download repository, then you can install the packages.
Add the Neon5 repository:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:neon/kf5-snapshot-weekly
sudo apt-get update
(If you would like more frequent updates, (which also bear the risk of breaking more often!), use "ppa:neon/kf5-snapshot-daily" or "ppa:neon/kf" for the most frequent updates. To install Project Neon 5, issue the command
sudo apt-get install project-neon5-session project-neon5-utils \
The LightDM login screen will now offer a Project Neon 5 session. You can also run neon5-env, and start plasma-shell from there. By default, we start an xterm with the environment set up. In order to start plasma, run "plasma-shell", for Konsole, start "konsole". If you want to keep your current session running (which is probably most convenient), you can run
plasma-shell --windowed
to start Plasma in a window (not as desktop or root window).
On the following pages, you can find the update status of the different packages:
KF5 and Plasma 2 builds in an ISO to test in VirtualBox.
More information at http://kshadeslayer.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/introducing-project-neon-5-isos/
Image: http://kshadeslayer.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/neon5.png
You can reach the Project Neon team on IRC in
#project-neon on irc.freenode.net
or you can ask a question on launchpad
If you think there is a bug in our packaging of the provided software you can file a bug on launchpad


text:
Crafted with a sleek north-south silhouette, this elegant crossbody will easily accommodate your must-haves and go-tos. Unique floral-inspired embossing decorates the flap, while a medallion-like embossed design takes over the center front. Adjust the thin strap with ease to compliment your favorite ensembles and rest easy knowing that a magnetic snap secures your belongings. Pair it with a maxi dress and flee.
Baguette: A small handbag that is long and narrow like the French loaf of bread by the same name.
Billfold (wallet): A folding pocketbook with compartments for money, cards and personal items.
Bottom feet: Metal or plastic knobs on the bottom of a stiff-sided handbag. These protect the bag when it is set down.
Box bag: A small or medium-sized handbag with hard sides and a box shape.
Bracelet handle: A handle that forms a complete circle.
Bucket bag: A soft-sided, bucket-shaped handbag with a round bottom; usually taller than wide.
Change (coin) purse: A small purse or wallet section for loose coins.
Clutch: A small handbag that is carried in the hand with no straps or handles; it also may be tucked under the arm.
Coin (change) purse: A small purse or wallet section for loose coins.
Compartment: A large section inside a handbag.
Demi bag: A small handbag with a short top handle to be carried in the hand or on the shoulder.
Drawstring: A cord, strip of leather or fabric, or string that can be pulled to gather the fabric of a handbag to close it.
East-west: A handbag that is wider than it is tall.
Etui: Small, ornamental bag for personal items.
Evening bag: A handbag to use with evening wear; usually only large enough for a few personal items, such as money and lipstick.
Flap bag: A handbag with a fold-over flap that is its distinguishing feature.
Framed bag: A bag with a solid frame that defines its shape.
Gusset: The triangular end piece of a handbag that gives it its depth and roominess.
Half moon bag: A bag shaped like a half moon, with or without a handle.
Handle Drop: The distance between the top of the handbag and the top of the handle(s). This is the open space for your shoulder, arm, or hand to hold the bag.
Hobo bag: A slouchy, cloth shoulder bag that hangs down in the middle.
Messenger bag: A large bag with a long strap to wear across the shoulders. The front features a large fold-over flap.
North-south: A handbag that is taller than it is wide.
Organizer: A pocketbook with compartments to carry personal items.
Pocket: A small section inside a handbag.
Pouchette: A small, oval handbag.
Purse: A general term for a small bag to carry money and personal items.
Satchel: A large handbag with a top closure, top carrying handle and notable triangular side profile.
Sling bag: A cloth bag with a shoulder strap that attaches on one end to the top of the bag and on the other end to the bottom of the bag.
Shopper (tote) bag: A large bag with two handles and an open top.
Shoulder bag: A general term for a bag that can be strapped over the shoulder.
Shoulder guard: A piece of fabric or padding on a shoulder strap that distributes the weight of a bag.
Shoulder strap: A long strap on a bag that allows it to be carried on the shoulder.
Slouch bag: A general term for a cloth bag without a defined or stiff shape.
Top-handle bag: A bag with a small handle at the top for carrying in the hand.
Tote (shopper) bag: A large bag with two handles and an open top.
Valise: A handbag with a top closure that has two top carrying handles and features a triangular or oval profile.
Wallet (billfold): A folding pocketbook with compartments for money, cards and personal items.
Wrist strap: A thin loop of material attached to a small bag or wallet so that it may be carried on the wrist.
Zipper pull: A zipper with a tab for easy opening and closing; sometimes has a signature element of the handbag designer.


text:
JASPER, Ala. (AP) — Investigators believe a small plane that crashed in the Alabama woods was taken without permission for a joyride by a student pilot and two other teenagers who died in the wreck Tuesday night.
Walker County sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said Wednesday authorities are still investigating but believe the three teenagers took off in the plane before it went down in a wooded area near Jasper, northwest of Birmingham.
"We don't know for sure but we think it was some teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it," Painter told The Associated Press. "They got it in and took off and didn't go very far."
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Piper PA 30 crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper.
The names of the three occupants of the plane haven't been released.
"I think they were just looking for a thrill and they had their last one," Painter said.
The plane had departed from the small airport around 10:30 p.m. in overcast skies and a low cloud ceiling, airport manager Edwin Banks said.
"It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night," Banks said. He declined to name the student before authorities release the identities.
The teenage pilot had flown a single-engine airplane in the past "and he got in a double-engine at night in bad weather with a couple of his buddies," Banks said.
The Piper PA 30 is also called a Piper Twin Comanche. It is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model.
The planes were built from 1963 until 1972, and were popular with flight schools because of their fuel efficiency and relatively inexpensive price tags, according to the International Comanche Society, an enthusiasts' group.
Deadly Ala. plane crash may have been teen joyride
Jan 2, 2013 at 4:30 PM


text:
The last of four suspects to be arraigned on charges stemming from three Adrian armed robberies last month appeared Friday in Lenawee County District Court. Renata Michel Villarreal-Banks, 31, of Adrian is charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony, lying to police during a violent crime investigation and with illegal possession and use of a financial transaction device.
A Feb. 15 preliminary hearing was set and a personal recognizance bond continued.
Villarreal-Banks is charged with involvement in a Jan. 20 robbery of a man in front of his State Street home. That robbery and two others on Jan. 19 and 23 were allegedly carried out by Malachi Delonte Crenshaw, 19. He is accused of using a gun to steal wallets from all three victims.
Crenshaw, Jerrell Delontrea Hill, 22, and Tabitha Jo Davenport, 23, all of Adrian, were arraigned Monday and are also scheduled for Feb. 15 hearings.
Fourth suspect in Adrian armed robberies is arraigned
Feb 8, 2013 at 4:00 PM
Feb 8, 2013 at 5:01 PM


text:
The North Face Single-Track T.H. (Men's)
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text:
If the print dialog box does not automatically appear, open the file menu and choose Print.
Article published April 20, 2013
Halt the wagging
Robert E. Freemon
Butler Township
Most people have heard the saying "tail wagging the dog."
In Washington, the National Rifle Association is wagging members of Congress. Before considering proposed legislation involving guns, many in Congress first consult with the NRA to ascertain that the measure doesn't offend that powerful organization.
In other words, the NRA owns our politicians.
Although the NRA has the money to buy politicians, Americans have the vote to send them home.
It's time for the voters to start doing that.


text:
Used Simca cars for sale in Billingham
We currently have 0 used Simca cars available in Billingham. With the widest range of private and trade Simca cars available in Billingham, you have access to the biggest choice and the best prices.
Feel free to browse our selected vehicles, further refine your search, and find your perfect car.


text:
Skip to Main Content
Utility Links
24 Hour Report Abuse Hotline
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About Us
Administration and Funding
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Contact Us
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Care Coordination
Caregiver Support Program
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
Choices for Care Program
Colbert v. Quinn
Community Care Program
Comprehensive Care in Residential Settings
Emergency Home Response Service
Farmer's Market
Information and Assistance Services
Money Management
Pathways to Community Living (Money Follows the Person)
Residential Repair and Modification
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Event Calendar
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To be determined eligible for these benefits, you must submit a Benefit Access Application on the Internet.
Paper applications are not available.
Please note that current processing times to determine eligibility of your Benefits Access Application is approximately 8 weeks.
Once your application is approved you may print a certificate of eligibility to take to your local transit authority or Secretary of State's Office. Please wait 10 business days from the date of your approval for your license plate discount to be available. If you requested the ride free benefit, please contact your local public transit system for further information. Your local transit system may have additional requirements in order to obtain the free ride. You can check the Website at anytime to determine your application status.
How do I find out if my application has been approved?
You may check the Website for the status of your application
Apply Online
To file your application on the Internet,
click here
For information or help applying, visit a local office of the following:
Senior Health Assistance Program
Area Agency on Aging
Call toll-free:
1-800-252-8966 or 1-888-206-1327 (TTY)
Note: Have your Social Security number ready when you call.


text: Interdependence Interdependence refers to how much you need dependency or a "couple identity" with your partner. Your answer pattens suggest that you tend not to become overly dependent on a romantic partner. People scoring like you are comfortable being singled out for praise and rewards, and their personal identity and independence from others is important to them. Therefore, it seems you need a reasonable level of independence in a relationship. This does not mean that you do not desire to be close with a partner. Indeed, when you feel close to someone, this person often becomes an important part of who you are on the inside and you probably like showing off your "couplehood" in public. However, you do not necessarily need to be constantly "joined at the hip" in order to feel connected and secure in a relationship. Bottom line: you need someone who reciprocates a strong feeling of attachment to a partner but who also respects and copes well with the fact that you benefit from a reasonable level of physical and psychological space at times. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "interdependency" needs with potential partners: "Are you the type of person who feels lonely easily? Please explain and share some past experiences of how you coped well or did not cope well" "When it comes to the time a couple spends together, is quality more important than quantity in your opinion?" "When you've been away from a partner for any length of time, how have you filled that time and found personal fulfillment?" Intimacy Intimacy refers to the how much you need emotional closeness with your partner. You are very comfortable with being intimate and vulnerable with a partner. However, your desire for emotional closeness and security puts you at some risk for disclosing too much, too soon when a relationship is newly developing. People like you have big hearts and an impressive openness to your partner. That openness includes lessons learned from your past experiences and relationships, extending trust, believing your partner returns your feelings and devotion and being generally comfortable with surrendering yourself to a partner. In fact, you probably feel very uncomfortable – and even guilty – if there were any secrets between you and your partner. Likewise, you regard your lover as your best friend and your foremost confidant. There is typically no hesitation discussing current problems or concerns with this person. It also seems that you have realistic expectations for a committed relationship. You are willing to act on the belief that your partner's feelings are equally as strong as yours. Therefore, you are probably not deterred in taking the risks associated with being vulnerable on all levels. Bottom line: you need someone who believes and acts on the belief that the intimacy of a relationship is sacred. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "intimacy" needs with potential partners: "Under what circumstances do you think it is okay for someone to discuss details of his/her relationship with family or friends?" "What type of issues would you talk to your friends or family about before sharing with your partner?" "Do you think couples should have access to each other's bank accounts, email accounts, calendars and basically all personal information?" Self-efficacy Self-Efficacy refers to your self-image, stability of mood and level of motivation. You have good levels of self-esteem, sense of self and a sense of accomplishment. It seems you are acutely aware – but accepting – of your strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, you likely feel that people who are important in your life understand you. But people in your scoring range tend to be comfortable not giving in to peer, family and other social pressures. Family is indeed important to you, but their expectations do not strongly influence your life. Instead, people who score like you tend to have their own well-defined ambitions and goals – and may even set specific benchmarks to monitor the progress made toward achievements. You probably have a strong sense of control over your life and are decisive in managing it. You are also probably very influential and persuasive with others. In fact, your family, friends and acquaintances may often come to you for ideas of guidance across a range of issues. Bottom line: you need a partner who has a good degree of energy, enthusiasm and self-efficacy like you, as opposed to a partner who needs constant nurturance and reassurance to feel empowered and valued as person. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "self-efficacy" needs with potential partners: "Do your positive qualities outweigh your faults? Why or why not?" "Do you ever feel guilty when you do not meet the expectations of your family or friends? Explain" "Are you the type of person who likes to stand out in a crowd or go totally unnoticed?" Relationship readiness Relationship Readiness refers to how prepared you are emotionally, psychologically and pragmatically for a committed relationship. You seem to have a good foundation and appear pretty much ready and willing to find a committed relationship. In fact, most people in this scoring range have a clear vision and a sense of purpose for their life. They have the ability to connect with others, they have well defined ideas about where their life is headed and they are assertive and resourceful in meeting their goals. Therefore, you likely feel in control and are able to take charge and go after what you want in life and in a relationship. Your housekeeping is also probably in check – meaning that you do not have any negative baggage that can weigh down a relationship, like financial or legal problems or emotional, health or family issues. As such, you do not seem to be seeking a relationship primarily to fill a void in your life or to gain a feeling of acceptance and belonging that was weakened or lost due to other relationships that ended or disappointed you. Rather, it seems to be that you are striving for a balance in your life and that now includes wanting to offer everything you can to a partner. Bottom line: you need someone who wants a relationship, rather than needs one to feel personally fulfilled. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "relationship readiness" needs with potential partners: "Tell me in what ways you are a happy and successful single" "Are you truly happy with the way you have lived your life? Explain" Are there any ways in which you feel your life is not balanced?" Communication Communication refers to your approach to interpersonal interactions and level of emotional intelligence. Effective communicators have strong emotional intelligence, and you have the necessary foundation for strong emotional intelligence. People in this scoring range enjoy the learning opportunities of most challenges and are not afraid of making or admitting to mistakes. It is brave to show this level of vulnerability to others. Therefore, it is not surprising that you are sensitive to and accepting of other people's expressions of vulnerability. For example, you can likely sense when someone feels troubled before being told. However, your sensitivity has limits. Most in this scoring range are neither comfortable nor patient with all expressions of emotion. They also are not keenly aware of all of the types of nonverbal signs that people send out nor are they always cognizant of how their own behavior impacts others. It is likely that you seek for others to understand you, rather than you seek to understand others. Bottom line: you need someone who seeks to understand you, thereby accepting an equal share of responsibility in maintaining open and honest communication in the relationship. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "communication" needs with potential partners: "Do you tend to ask your romantic partner questions when you suspect s/he is upset, or is it more comfortable for you simply to allow them space to work it out alone?" "Do you prefer to talk through issues in the heat of the moment, or approach your partner after you have had time to cool off and think about how best to explain what is on your mind?" "Which sounds like a more appealing way to spend some free time: going out to see friends with your partner or staying alone at home with your partner talking about each other?" Conflict resolution Conflict Resolution refers to your stress management and problem solving skills. Effective conflict resolution has nine general elements: View Conflict as Positive; Address Conflict in the Proper Atmosphere; Clarify Perceptions; Note Needs, not wants; Draw on the Power of a Positive Partnership; Focus on the Future, then learn from the past; Identify Options for Mutual Gain; Develop 'Doables' or stepping stones to action; and Make Mutually-Beneficial Agreements. Your score indicates that you are fairly strong on all of these basic elements, except for Making Mutually-Beneficial Agreements. This suggests that you are very flexible and action-oriented when addressing problems, yet not so eager to find resolution that you settle for quick, temporary agreements. Settling on a temporary agreement is often a way of avoiding conflict, and it can lead to needs not being met. You do not seem to avoid conflict; instead you appear to evaluate the possible solutions and then actively engage your partner to work on a positive outcome for the relationship. Bottom line: you need someone who will join you in taking time to find a complete and genuine resolution to issues as opposed to avoiding conflict by settling for quick, temporary agreements. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "conflict resolution" needs with potential partners: "Would you say that you have a hard time accepting that some mysteries in life just can not be solved? Explain" "Does it help you to solve problems by thinking of your own past experiences and knowledge in new ways?" "In your experience, does knowing too much about a problem hinder or help you resolve it?" Sexuality Sexuality refers to your needs (frequency, boundaries, expressions) related to physical intimacy. Scientific models of love and attachment always include physical chemistry and sexuality. It is a crucial topic for any couple to address, because it involves issues of control and vulnerability. People at your scoring level have a fairly good sense of their sexual orientation, preferred sexual activities and comfort level. In fact, people in this range are characterized sexually as liking the focus on themselves and maintaining control. This does not mean that you are not concerned with satisfying your partner; indeed you can be quite passionate. It simply means that you probably put your own sexual needs first more often than not. Those sexual needs are perhaps best described as fairly conservative compared to most other people, yet you are no prude. You are confident in your own sexual ability and are likely open to try various activities as long as they sound appealing to you. Therefore, you may be less inclined to new experiences if they are only intended to please your partner. You tend to be open when talking to your partner about your needs, and you certainly tend not to be self conscious in the bedroom itself. For people in this range, sex can be casual, but they strive for it to be always fun and romantic. Bottom line: you need someone who sees sex as romantic and fun and especially who will like to be submissive to your sexual desires. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "sexual" needs with potential partners: "Do you think you have a stronger sex drive than most people?" "Where do you think most of your ideas and values about sex originated?" "If you felt safe, do you think you would do almost anything to please your partner sexually?" Attitudes toward love Attitudes Toward Love refers to your level of needs for romantic love and friendship love. There are two main types of love – Romantic Love and Companionate Love. Romantic Love is passionate, emotional and intense, whereas Companionate Love is a deep, affectionate attachment. People feel these two types of loves to different degrees in a relationship, and the levels of each can fluctuate over time. You scored as someone who may be best described as "a realist with a touch of hopeless romantic." This means that you do value Romantic Love, but for you a relationship must have a strong dose of Companionate Love. Thus, people in this scoring range typically believe that differences can be overcome and lasting love can be sustained if the couple does the hard of work of consistently showing mutual understanding and accommodation. In this sense, it is likely that you believe soul mates are made, not born. Bottom line: you need someone who believes that the best kind of love grows out of a strong friendship. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "love attitude" needs with potential partners: "Do you believe that the best kind of love grows out of strong friendship?" "In your opinion, how can a couple overcome differences on issues like religion, ethnicity, politics or social class?" "When it comes to a romantic partner, how would define someone who is unusually well adjusted?" Preferred Expressions of Affection Preferred Expressions of Affection refers to your likes and dislikes for different ways a partner can express love and devotion. There are many ways in which people show affection to their loved ones: physical touch, doing favors, spending time together, giving gifts or communicating love through words. Statistically, you gave higher weighted ratings to Gifts. Bottom line: You need someone who can express affection through tangible surprises – such as fun gifts s/he makes, souvenirs purchased on business trips or beautiful tokens or presents that show s/he remembers and celebrates special occasions. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "affection" needs with potential partners: "Is it more like you to surprise a partner with single, extravagant gifts or shower the person with little gifts or surprises here and there?" "Is it difficult for you to come up with personalized gift ideas for loved ones?" "Do you think giving gifts is really just an attempt to buy someone's affection?" Out of the various modes of expressing affection, Time spent together received lower weighted ratings from you. Bottom line: This does not mean that you neither like nor need time with a partner. Rather, it suggests that you need someone who can show affection in ways other than just spending time with you – such as talking at home, taking leisurely strolls outside or extended road trips. Next, PlentyofFish presents some customized probing questions to use "as is" or as inspiration to develop your own to help you explore your "affection" needs with potential partners: "Have you ever taken off work early to spend some special with your partner or a loved one?" "Have past partners consistently complained that you would frequently call to say you were running late for a date?" "How much alone time during the week do you need with a partner to feel satisfied?" About This test was created by the world's foremost team of academic psychologists who specialize in personality testing, To read more about our assessment check out our FAQ page. |


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Randall "Shane" Thomas, 47, of Hendersonville passed away Friday, December 28, 2012 at Park Ridge Hospital. A native of Thomasville, NC, he was a son of Ivey and Linda Huskins Thomas of Hendersonville. He was a retired detective with the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.
In addition to his parents, survivors include his wife, Anita Thomas; two daughters, Monica Hartline and Lauren Thomas, both of Hendersonville; two sons, Josh Thomas and Justin Hartline, both of Hendersonville; a grandson, Micah Schott; a sister, Amy Wilkie and her husband Jerome of Hendersonville; a brother, Jack Thomas and his wife Pam of Churchton, MD; and five nieces and nephews.
A funeral will be at 1:00 pm Monday, December 31, 2012 at Mud Creek Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 11: 00 am to 1:00 pm prior to the service in the church.
Memorials may be made to Henderson County Sheriff's Office Mounted Patrol, 100 N. Grove Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792.
A guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.forestlawnhendersonville.com.
Forest Lawn Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Randall "Shane" Thomas, 47
Dec 30, 2012 at 4:30 AM


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The Lord of the Rings
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality. |
The Lord of the Rings | |
Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Released | 1954-1955 |
Format | Hardcover, Paperback |
Pages | 1210 |
- "The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them."
- ― Sunday Times
The Lord of the Rings is a book by J.R.R. Tolkien, the sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. It was published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955.
The story's titular character is the Dark Lord Sauron of Mordor. The primary villain of the work, he created the One Ring to control nineteen other Rings of Power, and is thus the "Lord of the Rings." Sauron, in turn, was the servant of an earlier Dark Lord, Morgoth (Melkor), who is prominent in Tolkien's The Silmarillion, the history of Middle-earth.
Contents |
Books and volumes
Tolkien did not originally intend to write a sequel to The Hobbit, and instead wrote several other children's tales, including Roverandom and Farmer Giles of Ham. As his main work, Tolkien began to outline the history of Arda, telling tales of the Silmarils, and many other stories of how the races and situations that we read about in the Lord of the Rings trilogy came to be. Tolkien died before he could complete and put together The Silmarillion, but his son Christopher Tolkien edited his father's work, filled in gaps and published in 1977.
Tolkien had a deep desire to write a mythology for England, especially after his horrific experiences during the First World War. He was also influenced by the effects of continued industrialisation, where he saw much of the England he loved passing away and became aware of the immense evil in the world. Thus to understand his writings we must be aware of how Tolkien the scholar influences Tolkien the author. His writing of this mythology emerges as an Oxford philologist well acquainted with Northern European Medieval Literature including the great mythic works such as the Hervarar saga, the Völsunga saga, the influential Beowulf as well as other Old Norse, Old and Middle English Texts. He was also inspired by non-Germanic works such as the Finnish epic Kalevala. A man who had created his first language by the age of seven, he was driven by a desire to write a mythology for England influenced by his exposure and expertise of these ancient traditions. The need for such a myth was often a topic of conversation in his meetings with the Inklings, fellow Oxford scholars who have been described as Christian Romantics, meeting weekly and discussing Icelandic myths and their own unpublished compositions. Tolkien agreed with one of the other members of the group, C.S. Lewis, that if there were no adequate myths for England then they would have to write their own. Tolkien's work has been commonly interpreted in this light.
Persuaded by his publishers, he started 'a new hobbit' in December 1937. After several false starts, the story of the One Ring soon emerged, and the book mutated from being a sequel to The Hobbit to being, in theme, more of a sequel to the unpublished Silmarillion. The idea of the first chapter (A Long-Expected Party) arrived fully-formed, although the reasons behind Bilbo's disappearance, and the significance of the Ring did not arrive, along with the title The Lord of the Rings until spring 1938. Originally he was going to write another story in which Bilbo had used up all his treasure and was looking for another adventure to gain more; however he remembered the ring and the powers it had and decided to write about that instead. He started to write it with Bilbo as the main character but decided that the story was too serious to use the fun loving Hobbit so Tolkien looked to use a member of Bilbo's family. He thought about using Bilbo's son but this generated some difficult questions — Where was his wife? How could Bilbo let his son go into that kind of danger? — so he looked for an alternate character to carry the ring. In Greek legend, it was a hero's nephew that gained the item of power, and so into existence came the Hobbit Frodo.
Writing was slow due to Tolkien's perfectionism, and was frequently interrupted by his obligations as an examiner, and other academic duties. In fact, the first sentence of The Hobbit was written on a blank page a student had left on an exam paper that Tolkien was grading — "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit". He seems to have abandoned the book during most of 1943 and only re-started it in April 1944. This effort was written as a serial for Christopher Tolkien and C.S. Lewis — the former would be sent copies of chapters as they were written while he was serving in Africa in the Royal Air Force. He made another push in 1946, and showed a copy of the manuscript to his publishers in 1947. The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not finish revising earlier parts of the work until 1949.
A dispute with his publishers, Allen and Unwin, led to the book being offered to Collins in 1950. He intended the Silmarillion (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with The Lord of the Rings, but A&U were unwilling to do this. After his contact at Collins, Milton Waldman, expressed the belief that The Lord of the Rings itself 'urgently needed cutting', he eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952. They did not do so, and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying "I would gladly consider the publication of any part of the stuff".
For publication, due largely to post-war paper shortages, but also to keep the price of the first volume down, the book was divided into three volumes (The Fellowship of the Ring: Books I and II; The Two Towers: Books III and IV; and The Return of the King: Books V and VI, 6 appendices). Delays in producing appendices and maps led to these being published later than originally hoped — on the 29 July and 11 November 1954 and 20 October 1955 in the United Kingdom, slightly later in the United States. The Return of the King was especially delayed. He did not, however, much like the title The Return of the King, believing it gave away too much of the storyline. He had originally suggested The War of the Ring which was dismissed by his publishers.
The books were published under a 'profit-sharing' arrangement, where Tolkien would not receive an advance or royalties until the books had broken even, but after then take a large share of the profits.
An index to the entire 3-volume set at the end of third volume was promised in the first volume. However, this proved impractical to compile in a reasonable timescale. Later, in 1966, four indices which were not compiled by Tolkien were added to The Return of the King.
Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is usually referred to as the Lord of the Rings "trilogy". Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work, though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single novel.
A 1999 (Millennium Edition) British (ISBN 0-261-10387-3) 7-volume box set followed the six-book division authored by Tolkien, but with the Appendices from the end of Book VI bound as a separate volume. The letters of Tolkien appear on the spines of the boxed set which includes a CD.
The individual names for books in this series were decided posthumously, based on suggestions Tolkien had made during his lifetime.
- T Book I: The Ring Sets Out
- O Book II: The Ring Goes South
- L Book III: The Treason of Isengard
- K Book IV: The Ring Goes East
- I Book V: The War of the Ring
- E Book VI: The End of the Third Age
- N Appendices
The name of the complete work is often abbreviated to 'LotR', 'LOTR', or simply 'LR', and the three volumes as FR, FOTR, or FotR (The Fellowship of the Ring), TT or TTT (The Two Towers), and RK, ROTK, or RotK (The Return of the King).
Note that the three titles The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring and The End of the Third Age were used by Christopher Tolkien in The History of Middle-earth.
Some locations and characters were inspired by Tolkien's childhood in Sarehole, then a Warwickshire village, now part of Birmingham, and in Birmingham itself.
Publication history
The three parts were first published by Allen and Unwin in 1954-1955 several months apart. They were later reissued many times by multiple publishers, as one, three, six or seven volumes. Two current printings are ISBN 0-618-34399-7 (one-volume) and ISBN 0-618-34624-4 (three volume set).
In the early 1960s, Donald A. Wollheim, science fiction editor of the paperback publisher Ace Books, realized that The Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States under American copyright law because the US hardcover edition had been bound from pages printed in the UK for the British edition. Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without compensation to him. Tolkien made this plain to US fans who wrote to him. Grass-roots pressure became so great that Ace books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien, well below what he might have been due in an appropriate publication. However, this poor beginning was overshadowed when an authorized edition followed from Ballantine Books to tremendous commercial success. By the mid-1960s the books, due to their wide exposure on the American public stage, had become a true cultural phenomenon. The Second Edition of the Lord of the Rings dates from this time — Tolkien undertook various textual revisions to produce a version of the book that would have a valid U.S. copyright.
The books have been translated, with various degrees of success, into dozens of other languages. Tolkien, an expert in philology, examined many of these translations, and had comments on each that illuminate both the translation process and his work.
The enormous popular success of Tolkien's epic saga greatly expanded the demand for fantasy fiction. Largely thanks to The Lord of the Rings, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s. Many well-written books of this genre were published (comparable works include the Earthsea books of Ursula K. Le Guin, the Thomas Covenant novels of Stephen R. Donaldson, and in the case of the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake, and The Worm Ourobouros by E. R. Eddison, rediscovered). It also strongly influenced the role playing game industry that achieved popularity in the 1970s with Dungeons & Dragons which featured many creatures that could be found in Tolkien's books.
As in all artistic fields, a great many lesser derivatives of the more prominent works appeared. The term "Tolkienesque" is used in the genre to refer to the oft-used and abused storyline of The Lord of the Rings: a group of adventurers embarking on a quest to save a magical fantasy world from the armies of an evil "dark lord", and is a testament to how much the popularity of these books has increased, since many critics initially decried Lord of the Rings as being " Wagner for children" (a reference to the Ring Cycle) — a specially interesting commentary in light of a possible interpretation of The Lord of The Rings as a Christian response to Wagner, for example following ATimes' pseudo-Oswald Spengler.
On April 19, 2009 the first e-book of the trilogy was published by HarperCollins (ISBN 9780007322497, ISBN 9780007322503, ISBN 9780007322558, ASIN B0026REBFK). The e-book was made available at waterstones.com, harpercollinsebooks.co.uk and tolkien.co.uk. Another verision of the e-book was made available for the Amazon Kindle.
The books
The Lord of the Rings began as a personal exploration by Tolkien of his interests in philology, religion (particularly Roman Catholicism); fairy tales, and Norse and Celtic mythology. Tolkien detailed his creation to an astounding extent; he created a complete mythology for his realm of Middle-earth, including genealogies of characters, languages, runes, calendars and histories. Some of this supplementary material is detailed in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, and the mythological history was woven into a large, biblically-styled volume entitled The Silmarillion.
J. R. R. Tolkien once described The Lord of the Rings as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work" he wrote to his friend, the English Jesuit Father Robert Murray, "unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."(The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 142). There are many theological themes underlying the narrative, the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, the activity of grace, Death and Immortality, Resurrection, Salvation, Repentance, Self-Sacrifice, Free Will, Humility, Justice, Fellowship, Authority and Healing. In it the great virtues of Mercy and Pity (shown by Bilbo and Frodo towards Gollum) win the day and the message from the Lord's Prayer "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" was very much on Tolkien's mind as Frodo struggled against the power of the One Ring (Letters, 181 and 191).
Religious motifs other than Christian can be discerned as strong influences in Tolkien's Middle Earth. The pantheon of the Valar and Maiar (greater and lesser gods/angels) responsible for the creation and maintenance of everything from skies (Manwe) and seas (Ulmo), to dreams (Lorien) and dooms (Mandos) suggest a pre-Christian mythology in style, albeit that these Valar and Maiar are themselves creations of a monotheistic entity — Illuvatar or Eru, "The One".
Other pre-Christian mythological references can be seen in the representations of: a "Green Man" — Tom Bombadil, wise-men — the Istari (commonly referred to as the Wizards, perhaps more of angels), shapechangers — Beorn, undead spirits — Barrow Wights, Oathbreakers, sentient nonhumans — Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, and, of course, Ents. Magic is utilised freely in Middle Earth, and may be found not only in the incantations of Wizards, but in the weapons and tools of warriors and craftspeople, in the perceptions and abilities of heroes, and in the natural world itself.
Tolkien did repeatedly insist that his works were not an allegory of any kind, and even though his thoughts on the matter are mentioned in the introduction of the book, there has been heavy speculation about the Ruling Ring being an allegory for the atom bomb. However, Tolkien had already completed most of the book, and planned the ending in entirety, before the first atom bombs were made public to the world during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. However there is a strong theme of despair in front of new mechanized warfare that Tolkien himself had experienced in the trenches of World War One. The development of a specially bred orc army, and the destruction of the environment to aid this have modern resonances. Nevertheless, the author's own opinion on the matter of allegories was that he disliked them, and it would be irresponsible to dismiss such direct statements on these matters lightly.
The plot of The Lord of the Rings builds from his earlier book The Hobbit and more obliquely from the history in The Silmarillion, which contains events to which the characters of The Lord of the Rings look back upon in the book. The hobbits become embroiled in great events that threaten their entire world, as Sauron, an evil spirit, attempts to regain the lost One Ring which will restore him to full potency.
The storyline
See the articles on The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King for plot summaries.
The book was characterized as "juvenile balderdash" by American critic Edmund Wilson in his essay "Oo, those awful Orcs", and in 1961 Philip Toynbee wrote, somewhat prematurely, that it had "passed into a merciful oblivion" [1]. Although she had never read The Lord of the Rings, Germaine Greer wrote "it has been my nightmare that Tolkien would turn out to be the most influential writer of the twentieth century. The bad dream has materialized."
W.H. Auden also criticized the book in a 1968 Critical Quarterly article, "Good and evil in The Lord of the Rings," objecting to Tolkien's conception of sentient species that are intrinsically evil without possibility of redemption. (This is a criticism often directed at Dungeons and Dragons-like fantasy worlds as well as at fantasy literature in general, and a criticism that Tolkien himself increasingly struggled with during his last years.) On the other hand, in a 1956 New York Times book review, "At the end of the Quest, Victory," Auden also called the book "a masterpiece of its genre" that "succeeded where Milton failed" in depicting an epic battle between good and evil, and wrote that it "never violated" the "reader's sense of the credible."
Furthermore, like almost every fantasy book, Lord of the Rings is also accused by Evangelicals for its alleged references to quasi-pagan elements and "occultism".
Science-fiction author David Brin has criticized the books for unquestioning devotion to a traditional elitist social structure, their positive depiction of the slaughter of the opposing forces, and their romantic backward-looking worldview [2]. These criticisms often supply also similar accusations about racism.
Another notable SF writer Michael Moorcock wrote a long and piercing critique of the book under the title Epic Pooh advancing the thesis that it was simply a child's tale written in the language of epic myth.
China Mieville, a modern fantasy writer, criticised Tolkien's works as "reactionary." Mieville is also a detractor of later fantasy which draws heavily upon Tolkien's work, based on the idea that such work is cliche.
Alternative Titles
J.R.R. Tolkien contemplated numerous alternative titles for The Lord of the Rings and its volumes before the final titles were chosen. An early title for the trilogy was "The Magic Ring" (John D. Rateliff, The History of The Hobbit). From a letter to Rayner Unwin, Tolkien writes:
- "Would it not do if the 'book-titles' were used: e.g. The Lord of the Rings: Vol. I The Ring Sets out (sic) and The Ring Goes South; Vol. II The Treason of Isengard, and The Ring goes East; Vol. III The War of the Ring, and The End of the Third Age? "If not, I can at the moment think of nothing better than: I The Shadow Grows II The Ring in the Shadow III The War of the Ring or The Return of the King."
- ― The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 136
A note from this letter states a manuscript located at Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA, has a different set of titles: Vol. I The First Journey and The Journey of the Nine Companions; Vol. II The Treason of Isengard and The Journey of the Ringbearers; Vol. III The War of the Ring and The End of the Third Age.
In Letter 139 Tolkien writes again to Unwin with his new preferences: The Return of the Shadow, II The Shadow Lengthens, and III The Return of the King. On August 17th he writes his updated choices: I The Fellowship of the Ring, II The Two Towers (deliberately ambiguous), III The War of the Ring.
The Lord of the Rings on film
Failed efforts
Early efforts
- Main article: Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
This film, originally released by United Artists, was directed by Ralph Bakshi and used an animation technique called rotoscoping in which footage of live actors was filmed and then traced over.
The film was part one of what was originally to be a two-part adaptation of Tolkien's story, Part I ending after the battle of Helm's Deep, but before Sam, Frodo and Gollum traverse the Dead Marshes, and Part II picking up from where the first film left off. Made for a minimal budget of $8 million dollars, the film earned $30 million dollars at the box office.
United Artists viewed the film as a flop, and refused to fund a Part II (covering the rest of the story), leaving the door open for Rankin/Bass to do the work for him.
- Main article: Rankin/Bass' The Return of the King
The 1980 animated television version of The Return of the King picked up from where the book began, and not from where Bakshi's film left off. Additionally, the change in style and character design was quite noticeable.
Since this film was targeted to a younger audience, adult enthusiasts have complained that much of the depth and darkness of the book was discarded.
- Main article: Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings
Miramax developed a full-fledged live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with Peter Jackson as director. Eventually, Miramax became uneasy with the sheer scope of the proposed project and wanted to combine the suggested two films into one. Peter Jackson struck a deal with Miramax that if he could not find a fresh studio to back the project, he would walk away and leave the rights and all the work so far completed with Miramax. However, in 1998, New Line Cinema assumed production responsibility, unexpectedly announcing that it would mount three, not just two films (while Miramax executives Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein retained on-screen credits as executive film producers).
The three live action films (supplemented with extensive computer-generated imagery, for example in the major battle scenes, using the "Massive" software) were filmed simultaneously. Jackson filmed all the major scenes in his native New Zealand. The Fellowship of the Ring was released on December 19, 2001. The Two Towers was released on December 18, 2002 and The Return of the King was released worldwide on December 17, 2003. All three films won the Hugo Award for Best (Long-form) Dramatic Presentation in their respective years.
Although some have criticized these films because they have altered the story somewhat and, arguably, have a noticeably different tone from Tolkien's original vision, others have hailed them as remarkable achievements. Peter Jackson has defended his changes by stating that he views the films as merely one man's interpretation.
Peter Jackson's film adaptations garnered seventeen Oscars (four for The Fellowship of the Ring, two for The Two Towers, and eleven for The Return of the King); these cover many of the awards categories (in fact, The Return of the King won all of the eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture). With 30 total nominations, the trilogy also became the most-nominated in the Academy's history, surpassing the Godfather series (28).
The Return of the King's Oscar sweep is widely seen as a proxy award for the entire trilogy. The Return of the King's 11 Oscars at the 2004 Academy Awards tied it for most awards won for one film with Titanic six years earlier and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. It also broke the previous "sweep" record, beating Gigi and The Last Emperor (which had gone 9 for 9).
The visual-effects work has been groundbreaking, particularly the creation of the emotionally versatile digital character Gollum. The scale of the production alone — three films shot and edited back to back over a period of little more than three years — is unprecedented.
The films have also proven to be substantial box office successes. The premiere of The Return of the King took place in Wellington, New Zealand, on December 1, 2003 and was surrounded by fan celebrations and official promotions (the production of the films having contributed significantly to the New Zealand economy). It has made movie history as the largest Wednesday opening ever. The Return of the King was also the second movie in history (after Titanic) to earn over 1 billion $US (worldwide). Note, however, that these numbers are all unadjusted for inflation, making their significance questionable. Adjusted for inflation, as of 24 March 2005, the three films rank (in order of release) as the 71st, 56th, and 48th highest-grossing films in the United States [3].
Fanatics of the films have also flocked to the locations where the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, with many tour companies being totally devoted to taking fans to and from the filming locations that Director Peter Jackson chose for the adaptation of Tolkien's epic trilogy.[4]
The Lord of the Rings on radio
The BBC produced a 13-part radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings in 1955. It is uncertain whether Tolkien ever heard either series. No recording of the 1956 series is known to exist. It is a very faithful adaptation, incorporating some passing references to The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
A 1979 dramatization was broadcast in the USA and subsequently issued on tape and CD. No cast or credits appear on the audio packaging. Each of the actors was apparently recorded separately and then the various parts were edited together. Thus, unlike a BBC recording session where the actors are recorded together, none of the cast are actually interacting with each other and the performances suffer badly as a result.
In 1981 the BBC broadcast a new, ambitious dramatization of The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour installments.
The Lord of the Rings on stage
Mirvish Productions has started rehearsals for a three-hour stage musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings that will have a cast of over 65 actors and cost C$27 million (£11.5 million). The show will be written by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus with music by A. R. Rahman and Värttinä, collaborating with Christopher Nightingale and will be directed by Matthew Warchus. It will open on March 23 2006 at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre, with preview performances from February 2 until March 22. It is planned to premiere in London in autumn 2006 and New York City within two years.
The director explained his vision of the play's format by saying, "We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of musical theatre, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material. As a result, we will be presenting a hybrid of text, physical theatre, music and spectacle never previously seen on this scale. To read the novel is to experience the events of Middle-earth in the mind's eye; to watch the films is to view Middle-earth as though through a giant window. Only in the theatre are we actually plunged into the events as they happen. The environment surrounds us. We participate. We are in Middle-earth."
Satire and parody based on The Lord of the Rings
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- In 1957 it was awarded the International Fantasy Award
- In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted by the BBC, The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's Best-loved Book".
- Australians voted The Lord of the Rings "My Favourite Book" in a 2004 survey conducted by the Australian ABC
- In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". [5]
- In 2002 Tolkien was voted the ninety-second "greatest Briton" in a poll conducted by the BBC
- In 2004 he was voted thirty-fifth in the SABC3's Great South Africans, the only person to appear in both lists
- In a 2004 poll inspired by the UK's "Big Read" survey, about 250,000 Germans found The Lord of the Rings to be their favourite work of literature. [6]
- The Lord of the Rings came in 3rd in the Librarians' Poll [7]
See also
The Lord of the Rings | |
Foreword · Prologue · The Fellowship of the Ring · The Two Towers · The Return of the King · Appendices · Index |