SECOND LIFE*

DrAcUl*

Between 1879 and 1898 Stoker are business manager for the world-famous Lyceum Theatre in London, where he supplemented his income by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale Dracula published on may 1897. Parts of it are set around the town of Whitby, where he was living at the time. While Dracula is famous today (due in large part to its 20th century life on film), it was not an important or famous work for Victorian readers, being just another potboiler adventure among many. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, authors such as H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and H.G. Wells wrote many tales in which fantastic creatures threatened the British Empire. Invasion literature was at a peak, and Stoker's formula of an invasion of England by continental European influences was by 1897 very familiar to readers of fantastic adventure stories.

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bomb at madrid aiport

On the morning of December 30, 2006, an explosion took place in the carpark building attached to Terminal 4 of Madrid Barajas International Airport in Spain.

Madrid's international airport was thrown into chaos when a powerful bomb exploded in a parking garage. There were no serious injuries.

The explosion took place in the terminal's car garage, and the interior minister has stated the parking garage was damaged (three of four stories were demolished by the explosion, 60% of the building destroyed).Responsibility for the explosion has since been claimed by an anonymous caller claiming to represent ETA.

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wikipedia

MAGIC*

Peter Adkison first met with Richard Garfield to discuss Garfield's new game RoboRally. Adkison was not enthusiastic about the game, as board games are expensive to produce and difficult to market. He did enjoy Garfield's ideas and mentioned that he was looking for a portable game that could be played in the downtime that frequently occurs at gaming conventions. Garfield returned later with a prototype he had been working with on and off over the last few years under the development name of Mana Clash. Adkison immediately saw the potential of the game and agreed to produce it.
Role-players were enthusiastic early fans of Magic, but the game achieved much wider popularity among strategy gamers. The commercial success of the game prompted a wave of other collectible card games to flood the market in the mid-1990s. Many of them were poorly received and failed both commercially and in popularity while others were considered equal in gameplay quality, stature, and popularity to Magic: The Gathering.
In 1996, Wizards of the Coast established the "Pro Tour", a circuit of tournaments where players can compete for a top prize of US$40,000 for a single weekend-long tournament. Sanctioned through the Duelists' Convocation International, the tournaments add an element of prestige to the game by virtue of the cash payouts and media coverage from within the community. The system is similar to those used in golf, tennis and other professional sports. The company publicizes good players who win frequently in order to create a "star" system; the stars are offered as inspirations to which other players aspire.
In 2002, an official online version of the game was released. While unofficial methods of online play existed beforehand,Magic: The Gathering Online quickly became a success for the company thanks to its rules enforcement, feature-rich environment, and accessible nature.

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magic the gathering

XMAS in french

The celebration of Christmas in France varies by region. Most provinces celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, which is a bank holiday. However, in eastern and northern France, the Christmas season begins on 6 December, la fête de Saint Nicolas, and in some provinces la fête des Rois* is one the most important holidays of the Christmas season. In Lyon, 8 December is la Fête de lumières, when Lyonnais pay hommage to the virgin Mary by putting candles in their windows which light up the village.

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xmas in spain

In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and castanets.
Children think of the Three Wise Man as the gift bearers. Tradition has it that they arrive on January 6th, the date the Wise Men gave gifts to Jesus.

The Spanish especially honor the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm.

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bush visit estonia

The President's visit to Estonia and Latvia will underscore the importance of the Alliance in fostering a Europe whole and free by highlighting new Allies that have successfully transitioned to free-market democracies, contribute to the War on Terror, and offer lessons learned and expertise to others pursuing liberty. In Riga, Latvia, the President will discuss with NATO leaders how to improve Alliance capabilities to ensure it can meet the challenges of the 21st century. This trip, the President's first visit to Estonia and his second visit to Latvia, is part of a series of Presidential trips to Europe which underscore the common commitment of the United States and our European allies to work together to advance democracy, security, and prosperity in Europe, its neighborhood, and beyond.

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greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases.

A tropical cyclone is a warm storm system fueled by thunderstorms near its center. It feeds on the heat released when moist air rises and the water vapor in it condenses. The term describes the storm's origin in the tropics and its cyclonic nature, which means that its circulation is in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical cyclones are distinguished from other cyclonic windstorms such as nor'easters, European windstorms, and polar lows by the heat mechanism that fuels them, which makes them "warm core" storm systems. Depending on their location and strength, there are various terms by which tropical cyclones are known, such as hurricane.

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wikipedia