Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon Definition!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon a real word? What is the definition of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon?, As covered on TV tonight, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis is a real word. This word was created by Everett M. Smith in 1935 and was recognized as as a 45 letter word in the New York Herald Tribune that year which wrote as follows:

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis succeeded electrophotomicrographically as “the longest word in the English language recognized by the National Puzzlers’ League at the opening session of the organization’s 103rd semi-annual meeting held yesterday at the Hotel New Yorker. The puzzlers explained that the forty-five-letter word is the name of a special form of silicosis caused by ultra-microscopic particles of silica volcanic dust.”

It then appeared in the 1939 supplement to the Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition.

There are two spellings to the word:
1. pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
2. pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

So is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon a real word? Not according to Wiktionary, Wikipedia, Merriam Webster, or Ask.com’s Dictionary.

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UFC "Ultimate Fighter 9" finale: Diego Sanchez survives Clay Guida, Brits sweep reality show finals

After an interesting ninth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” it was finally time to determine the winners of the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions Saturday night. In addition to the six-figure contracts that would be awarded to the winners, there was a certain degree of national pride on the line, as this season was dubbed “U.S. vs. U.K.”

For most of the season, most fans didn’t really care about the match-up of nations, because the American team obviously didn’t represent the country’s best talent, plus the U.K. guys were generally more likeable and respectful anyway. The only thing that really got the patriotic juices flowing was U.K. coach, and former TUF winner, Michael Bisping, who was either talking trash or whining every time he was on camera. DeMarques Johnson was the only American fighter to make it into the finals. He faced James Wilks for the Welterweight contract, while Brits Ross Pearson and Andre Winner battled it out for the Lightweight crown. The most anticipated action of the night came in a couple of featured Lightweight fights. Nate Diaz and Joe Stevenson squared off, while Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida got medieval in the main event.

Lightweights: Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
This fight had a weird connection to the main event, as Diaz lost his last fight to Guida, while Stevenson was most recently beaten by Sanchez. The loss to Guida was the first of Diaz’ career, but Stevenson had suffered a string of defeats (he lost to B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian prior to Sanchez) recently. Needless to say, both fighters were hungry for a win. The first round was spent grappling with Stevenson dominating most of it. The last two rounds were very similar, with lots of grappling and transitions, but Stevenson almost looked like he took a page from Clay Guida’s playbook. He never really threatened to end the fight, but he was relentlessly stifling. I had him winning the first two rounds going away and squeaking out the third. In the end, all three judges scored it 29-28 in Stevenson’s favor.

TUF Lightweight finale: Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner
Two former training partners squared off to determine the Lightweight winner of the season. Winner is a technical striker, while Pearson is more of a stereotypical, tough brawler. Coming into the fight, my inclination was that it was going to come down to heart, which I felt Pearson had more of. All three rounds were extremely close. The only real consistent advantage that I saw was Winner keeping Pearson backed up against the cage while they were clinching. Pearson came on strong late in the third round, but I honestly had no idea how the rounds had been scored. Ultimately, all three judges saw Pearson as the winner and awarded him the decision.

Welterweights: Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Lytle held a distinct experience advantage in this fight, but Burns showed very quickly that he was a game opponent. In fact, Burns landed a punch that dropped Lytle with just under a minute left in the first round, but Lytle was able to hang on until the bell. Lytle came back with a solid second round, methodically attacking the mid-section of Burns, who was visibly slower by the ten-minute mark. A big right from Lytle opened a nasty cut next to Burns’ left eye early in the third round. He carried on, though, and after a few more minutes of brawling, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards. All three of them had Lytle winning by a score of 29-28.

TUF Welterweight finale: DeMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
As mentioned in the intro, Johnson represented the U.S.’ only hope to win one of the contracts on the line. Wilks is the stereotypical, smug Brit that Americans love to hate, but he represented a very serious threat to Johnson’s hopes. Wilks overwhelmed Johnson with submission attempts in the first round and shockingly, submitted him with a rear naked choke just eight seconds from the end of the round.

Lightweight Main Event: Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez
On paper, I was almost as excited about this fight as any other fight this year. Guida’s high-energy, caveman style is notorious, as is Sanchez’ pseudo-Zen master persona. It always cracks me up when commentators make serious statements about the mental strength of Sanchez. Personally, I think he’s a few Fruit Loops short of a necklace, but I always enjoy watching him fight. They came out like Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots, but Sanchez definitely got the better of the first exchange. Guida was visibly shaken, but as he always does, rallied and got a take down. After they stood back up, Sanchez landed a left high kick right across Guida’s jaw. On nothing but heart, Guida survived the first round, but it could easily have been scored 10-8 in Sanchez’ favor. Guida got an early take down in round 2 and spent almost all of the five minutes on top. Sanchez landed some vicious elbows from the bottom, but it was still Guida’s round in my book. The third round was all over the place, but ended up with Guida on top again. The scoring possibilities were all over the place and there was not only the potential for either guy to win, but also for a draw. In the end, Sanchez got it via split decision.

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Bad Seed, The (1956) starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack & Eileen Heckart

Little Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) will do anything to attain material goods. However, would this sweet and proper young girl resort to murder to get what she wants? The Bad Seed (1956) sets this thriller in the suburbs and explores the age-old questions of the effects of nurture and nature on behavior and how they relate to the criminal mind (indeed, the methods and tone of voice that Rhoda uses to blackmail and scheme could fit into an old gangster film).

When a boy at Rhoda’s school mysteriously drowns and the “perfect little lady” begins to behave in tell-tale ways, Christine Penmark (Nancy Kelly) begins to suspect her daughter of murder. Should she turn her child over to the police? Should she handle it herself?

Eileen Heckart, as the drowned boy’s distraught mother Mrs. Daigle, practically steals the show with only two scenes. Mrs. Daigle has decided to drink away her sorrows and arrives at the Penmark’s upper middle class residence to talk to the little girl who she heard was the last to see her son. Class issues arrive with Mrs. Diagle, who at one time worked in a beauty parlor and was frowned upon as “that frumpy blonde” by her son’s teacher. In her constant inebriated state, Mrs. Daigle remains remarkably lucid. The overwrought mother finds clues, questions, investigates and speaks her mind when no one else seems able or willing to discover what really happened on the forbidden wharf.

Seed is based on Maxwell Anderson’s 1954 Broadway hit of the same name, and employs all , except one, of the play’s principal actors. The film received a few Oscar nominations, including a nod for the young Patty McCormack.

Despite the amusing broad acting which garners the Camp classification that this film gets today, Seed tackles serious questions of behavior, heredity, childrearing and class warfare that can resonate with people in any era. It is really the story of two families who each lose their only child: one to drowning and one to a chilling psychosis.

Release Date: September 12, 1956

Studio: Warner Brothers

Screenwriter: John Lee Mahin

Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

Cast: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden

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Sea Dream Yacht Club

SeaDream Yacht Club, a small entrepreneurial company, set up shop in August 2001 and a month later took possession of two luxury ships originally known as the Sea Goddess I and II. The line offers “ultra-luxury cruises on mega-yachts,” and potential cruisers need only look to see who’s in charge here to get an idea of what’s in store for them. The owner of SeaDream is Norwegian industrialist Atle Brynestad, at one time the largest shareholder of the old Royal Viking Line and the founder, in 1987, of Seabourn Cruise Line. Chairman, CEO and co-owner is Larry Pimentel, who worked for Brynestad as the president of Seabourn. That luxury line is now owned by Carnival Corp., which sold the two 116-passenger ships to Brynestad and Pimentel.

Now named SeaDream I and II, the vessels were gorgeously transformed.
SeaDream promotes its style of cruising as “yacht-like” with a “resort-casual” dress code (read: no formalwear required) and upscale cuisine and amenities. “We are not a cruise line” is the mantra repeated by top executives who also tout the hallmarks of the vessels: “unstructured and free-form.” That means itineraries are somewhat flexible, allowing the captain to linger in a port if passengers wish or to depart early if rain spoils plans. Beverages, shore excursions and tips are included in the cruise fare. Seating is open for meals, and caviar and champagne are always available — even in the surf during beach visits.

The Fleet
Two identical vessels, the 110-passenger, 4,260-ton SeaDream I and II, were built in 1984 and 1985 but underwent renovations - SeaDream II in January 2002 and SeaDream I in April 2002. Since then, ships have undergone regular refreshenings to ensure quality maintenance though no new major features have been introduced since the first massive refurbishments.
Capacity was reduced a bit, to 110 passengers max, because a few large suites were added. The ships have no private balconies because the vessels were built before they became standard features and frankly, they’re not really missed. There’s so much deck space that there’s plenty of room for passengers to find a nook or cranny outdoors. And cabins, which mostly feature portholes, have been so beautifully decorated (with high tech toys, luxurious bedding, and a bathroom with a shower-for-two), are genuinely cozy and welcoming.

SeaDream is aggressively pursuing the lucrative corporate and incentive charter markets, but will designate one ship primarily for those groups and the other for individual passengers. If nearly every aspect of SeaDream is a plus this is potentially one minus: more than occasionally, the line will cancel a regular sailing if a charter gets booked — and it can throw off vacation plans of individual cruise travelers. On the other hand, if you have 100 or so close friends who can all chip in for a group cruise — what a blast!

Onboard
Casual, sophisticated and unpretentious, the SeaDream experience is highlighted by outstanding service, delicious cuisine and little of that “you must be here now” traditional cruise sensibility. If, rather oddly, there’s a reluctance to serve room service in cabins, passengers can order items from a comprehensive menu to be delivered anywhere else on board — and caviar, with all the trimmings, enjoyed poolside is a treat.

There’s no dress code — though plan on elegant casual by day and, well, casually elegant by night. All meals are open seating and there are many tables for two — which makes SeaDream a terrific choice for the romantically inclined. On the other hand, the ship’s intimate size fosters a lovely community it’s very easy to meet others.

SeaDream is one of the more all-inclusive lines in cruising so beverages, including cocktails, gratuities, activities such as equipment offered at the water sports platform and DVDs for in-cabin viewing, are part of the fare. You will shell out for treatments at the small but well appointed spa, super premium liquors and wines, shore excursions and…well, that’s all we can think of!

Fellow Passengers
What passengers tend to have in common is the fact that they’re well-heeled, well-traveled, sophisticated — and laid back. Age spans the gamut between 30s and infinity.Most of the cruises are seven nights in length which is good for those for whom vacation time is at a premium. For those who want longer voyages, SeaDream’s varying port of call schedules make SeaDream an attractive option for a back-to-back cruise,

Itineraries
The two ships spend warm weather months in Europe (offering varying voyages to the Eastern Mediterranean, Western Mediterranean and a combination of both). Both are in the Caribbean during the winter season.

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