Sunday, May 24, 2020

Grace Kelly - Actress and Princess of Monaco

Grace Kelly was a beautiful, classy stage actress who became an Oscar-winning movie star. In five years she starred in 11 motion pictures and, while at the top of her popularity, she left stardom to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. Dates: November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982 Also Known As: Grace Patricia Kelly; Princess Grace of Monaco Growing Up On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born the daughter of Margaret Katherine (nà ©e Majer) and John Brendan Kelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kelly’s father was a successful construction company owner and former triple Olympic gold medalist in rowing.  Her mother had been the first coach of womens athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Kelly’s siblings included an older sister, older brother, and a younger sister. Although the family did not come from â€Å"old money,† they were successful in business, athletics, and politics. Grace Kelly grew up in a 17-room brick mansion with plenty of recreational features for active children; plus, she spent summers in her family’s vacation home in Ocean City, Maryland. Unlike the rest of her athletic family, Kelly was introverted and always seemed to be fighting a cold. She enjoyed making up stories and reading, feeling like a misfit in the sporty household. As a child, Kelly was taught by her mother to never publicly show emotions and her father taught her to strive for perfection. After Ravenhill Academy elementary school, Kelly attended the private Stevens School for young matrons, where, to the astonishment of her parents, she excelled in the school’s drama society. Grace Kelly wanted to continue studying drama in college; thus, she applied to Bennington College in Vermont due to their outstanding drama department. With low scores in math, however, Kelly was turned down. Her father was against her second choice, which was to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Kelly’s mother intervened, telling her husband to let Grace go; she was confident their daughter would be home in a week. Grace Kelly Becomes an Actress In 1947, Grace Kelly was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She took off for New York, lived at the Barbizon Hotel for Women, and earned extra money by modeling for the John Robert Powers modeling agency. With her blonde hair, porcelain complexion, blue-green eyes, and 5’8† perfect poise, Grace Kelly became one of the highest-paid models in New York City at the time. After graduation from the Academy in 1949, Kelly appeared in two plays at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and then in her first Broadway play, The Father. Kelly received good reviews for her â€Å"essence of freshness.† She retained an agent, Edith Van Cleve, and began acting in television dramas in 1950, including the Philco Television Playhouse and the Kraft Theatre. Sol C. Siegel, a producer at Twentieth Century Fox, had seen Grace Kelly in The Father and was impressed with her performance. Siegel sent director Henry Hathaway to test Kelly for a small part in the motion picture Fourteen Hours (1951). Kelly passed the reading test and joined the Hollywood cast. Her parents, concerned about her safety, sent Kelly’s younger sister to accompany her to the West Coast. The shooting for Kelly’s part, a cool wife seeking a divorce, only took two days; after which she returned back east. Continuing to act in off-Broadway plays in Ann Arbor and Denver in 1951, Kelly received a call from Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer to play the part of a young Quaker wife in the Western film High Noon. Kelly jumped at the chance to work with the experienced leading man, Gary Cooper. High Noon (1952) went on to win four Academy Awards; however, Grace Kelly was not nominated. Kelly returned to acting on live television dramas and Broadway plays. She took more acting classes in New York with Sanford Meisner to work on her voice. In the autumn of 1952, Grace Kelly tested for the film Mogambo (1953), enticed by it being filmed in Africa and starring legendary film star Clark Gable. After the test, Kelly was offered the part and a seven-year contract at MGM. The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress for Ava Gardner and Best Supporting Actress for Grace Kelly. Neither actress won, but Kelly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Hitchcock Uncovers Kellys Warmth By the 1950s, director Alfred Hitchcock had made a name for himself in Hollywood making suspenseful motion pictures that featured very cool blondes as his leading ladies. In June 1953, Kelly got a call to meet Hitchcock. After their meeting, Grace Kelly was cast as the female star in Hitchcock’s next motion picture, Dial M for Murder (1954). To rival television in the 50s, Warner Brothers decided the movie would be shot in 3-D, to Hitchcock’s dismay. The cumbersome camera made routine filming difficult and scenes had to be shot over and over, especially the murder scene in which Kelly’s character turns from victim to victor with a pair of scissors. Despite Hitchcock’s irritation over the 3-D frustration, Kelly enjoyed working with him. He had a way of exploiting her cool exterior while unearthing her warm passionate interior. When filming for Dial M for Murder finished, Kelly returned to New York. Soon she was offered two screenplays and had to make up her mind which movie to star in. On the Waterfront (1954) was to be filmed in New York, where Kelly could continue dating her boyfriend, the famous clothing designer Oleg Cassini. The other was another Hitchcock picture, Rear Window (1954), to be filmed in Hollywood. Feeling that she better understood the fashion model character in Rear Window, Kelly opted to go back to Hollywood and work with Hitchcock. Kelly Wins Academy Award and Meets a Prince In 1954, Grace Kelly was handed the script for The Country Girl, a role that was completely different from anything she had played before, that of the wearied wife of an alcoholic. She wanted the part badly, but MGM wanted her to star in Green Fire, a film she felt was full of clichà ©s. Kelly never found enchantment or contentment in Hollywood and wrestled with MGM with firm resolve, threatening to retire. The studio and Kelly compromised and she starred in both movies. Green Fire (1954) was a box-office failure. The Country Girl (1954) was a box-office success and Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress. While Grace Kelly turned down multiple motion picture offers, to the studio’s displeasure, audiences revered her everywhere. One film she did not turn down was Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (1955), filmed on the French Riviera with Cary Grant. Kelly’s boyfriend, Oleg Cassini, followed her to France and when the film finished, she introduced him to her family. They did not hide their disdain for him. He was divorced twice and seemed to be interested in more women than just their daughter, which was true, and the romance ended several months later. In spring 1955, while at the Cannes Film Festival, Grace Kelly was asked to appear in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III. She obliged and met the prince. They chatted lightly while photos were taken. The photos sold magazines worldwide. After being a bridesmaid in her younger sister’s wedding during the summer of 1955, Kelly wanted marriage and a family of her own all the more. Prince Rainier, who was actively seeking a wife, began corresponding with her, finding out that they had a lot in common; they were both uncomfortable celebrities, devout Catholics, and desired a family. Grace Kelly Exits Stardom and Enters Royalty Prince Rainier arrived in the States to woo his future princess during the holidays of 1955 before asking Grace Kelly for her hand in marriage. Kelly’s family was very proud and the official proclamation of the couple’s engagement was made in January 1956, which became front-page international news. To finish her contract, Kelly starred in two final movies: The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956). She then left stardom behind to become a princess. (No one was more melancholy about her leaving Hollywood than Hitchcock for he had her in mind as his leading lady for several more of his movies -- if not all of them.) The royal wedding of 26-year-old Miss Grace Patricia Kelly to 32-year-old His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco was held in Monaco on April 19, 1956. Then began Kelly’s most challenging role of all, fitting into a foreign country while feeling like an unwelcome visitor. She had left the States, her family, friends, and her acting career behind to enter the unknown. She became homesick. Sensing his wife’s unease, the prince began to ask her opinions and include her in state projects, which seemed to improve Kelly’s outlook as well as Monaco’s tourism. Kelly surrendered her former acting desires, settled into life in Monaco, and revitalized the principality as a center for opera, ballet, concerts, plays, flower festivals, and cultural conferences. She also opened the palace for guided tours during the summer when she and the prince were away at their summer home, Roc-Agel in France. The Prince and Princess of Monaco had three children: Princess Caroline, born 1957; Prince Albert, born in 1958; and Princess Stà ©phanie, born in 1965. In addition to motherhood, Princess Grace, as she was known, supervised the renovation of a crumbling medical facility into a first-rate hospital and founded the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to help those with special needs. Princess Grace of Monaco became loved and cherished by the people of her adopted homeland. Death of the Princess Princess Grace began suffering from severe headaches and abnormally high blood pressure in 1982. On September 13th of that year, Grace and 17-year-old Stà ©phanie were returning to Monaco from their country home, Roc-Agel, when Grace, who was driving, blacked out for a second. When she came to, she accidentally pressed her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, driving the car over an embankment. As the women were pulled from the wreckage, it was discovered that Stà ©phanie had sustained minor injuries (a hairline cervical fracture), but Princess Grace was unresponsive. She was placed on mechanical life support at the hospital in Monaco. Doctors concluded that she had suffered a massive stroke, which had caused irreversible brain damage. The day following the accident, Princess Grace’s family made the decision to remove her from the artificial devices that were keeping her heart and lungs going. Grace Kelly died on September 14, 1982, at the age of 52.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Aaron Thomas The Caribbean Journal Of A Royal Navy...

Keeping some sort of diary or journal about your daily thoughts and experiences is at times said to be therapeutic and help the mind unwind. It is also important when it comes to looking back and seeing how time has changed the not only a persons thoughts and actions but the worlds. This is what is seen in Aaron Thomas’s: The Caribbean Journal of a Royal Navy Seaman. Documenting a year at sea is obviously time consuming, can take a great toll on a person but most importantly can give a great deal of information about the person as well as the time period and geographical location. Aaron Thomas: The Caribbean Journal of a Royal Navy Seaman is a personal diary/journal belonging to Aaron Thomas. It began on June 15, 1798 and ended on October 26, 1799. The entries were written aboard a ship named the HMS Lapwing traveling in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary Wars. The journal contains first-hand accounts of the naval operations upon the HMS Lapwing, descriptio ns of their customs, as well as humorous stories about his shipmates. There are also entries about the health and punishment conditions of the men aboard the ship to go alongside his personal take on controversial topics such as religion and slavery. This journal in particular is just one in a series that Thomas wrote throughout his life. Aaron Thomas was born in Wigmore, Herefordshire, England on January 18, 1762. There are no records regarding Thomas’ formal education but it is assumed from

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Patterns of Evolution Free Essays

Patterns of Evolution Humans alter our environment to suit our needs rather than adapt to our environment based on environmental stressors. Due to this fact, we are unlikely to be affected by the pressures of natural selection. We will not likely be affected by further evolution. We will write a custom essay sample on Patterns of Evolution or any similar topic only for you Order Now In convergent evolution, unrelated species living in the similar environments become more and more alike in appearance as they adapt to the same kind of environment. Dolphins and sharks are examples of convergent evolution. Although they are from different vertebrate groups, they live in similar environment. They have evolved similar characteristics like their body shape, coloration, location of back fins, and shape of tail. Divergent evolution is the process of two or more related species becoming more and more dissimilar. Adaptive radiation is an example of divergent evolution. Horses are an example of divergent evolution. Over time as they adapted to different environments, the species diverged and evolved into mules and zebras. Honeycreeper birds are examples of adaptive radiation. Species of birds evolved, seemingly from a single familial species, on a group of islands. Co-evolution is the evolution of one species influencing the evolution of another species. Predators and their prey sometimes co-evolve. Cheetahs and Thompson’s gazelles are examples of co-evolution. As a result of co-evolution, Cheetahs have evolved into the world`s fastest mammal and the gazelle is just slightly slower. As predators evolve, prey evolves and vice versa. Divergent evolution could have an impact on humans in the future. Although we are all different in appearances and characteristics right now, we could diverge in the future. Climates are different all over the world and as human move to and habitat in these environments, the body could adapt to the different atmosphere. This will cause humans to diverge in appearance. Head shape could change, skin and eye color as well. References Pruitt, N. L. , Underwood, L. S. (2006). Bioinquiry: Making connections in biology (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. How to cite Patterns of Evolution, Papers

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Significance of Managers in Companies’ Success

Questions: 1. Assess the significance of managers in achieving organisational success, for a company of your own choice.2. Compare and contrast organic and mechanistic organisation.3. Describe the process that can help a company of your own choice to formulate its corporate strategy.4. What do you understand by the term organisational culture? Suggest how a company can create an innovative culture. Answers: Introduction The report is build upon the 4 major business aspects questions that is faced and accessed once the business faces such a situation that needs involvement of people, development of new work processes so that it stays well ahead of the competing businesses. Further, organizational policy and strategies for the self developed business would be discussed that would give the strategic incline to the people and the last answer shall concentrate on developing the organizational culture and innovations for better market potential gain is also the cultural gain discussed, that has developed the organizational culture need support such operational excellence for renovation of the cultural aspect altogether. 1. Significance of Managers in Companies success The role of the managers in business success is huge on the companys overall business altogether. The role involves role selection of giving the right job to the right people, affectivity study, motivation, and maximum utilization of resources in business. The study is conducted on the retail chain of Sainsbury to understand and elaborate the managers role in success of the business. The Sainsbury has been a retail chain for long competing with other major brands, so the competition had to be monitored and discussed in details to understand the role that the retail managers of the business has played in the success of the business. The job of the managers is not only to lead the team but also to facilitate the team to innovate and deliver the best to the consumers to gain their confidence and be the key behind the satisfaction that brings in loyalty towards the brand they are working for. Thus the grooming, delivery standards, way to push sale and develop relationship of trust betwee n the employer and employees are important for the business to develop that enhance the business outputs (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003). In the context of business success the managers role of defining the targets, empowerment of the employees to take individual decision that suites the consumers as well as business interest as well as develop a leadership style that have goals and targets measured is key to the manager success in employing the employees with best results. The managers gives the staff the ability to set individual and departmental goals which they have a strong involvement in these goal setting and are strongly involved in building the business motives and targets that it wish to reach for. This goal setting exercise brings the employees on the same platform to debate and discuss the achievable targets and ideas. The relationship development with coworkers too is the job of the managers where they try to build a consensus of jobs and targets that all agrees to and strive to achieve. This may be revenue, service standards, and positive relation development to gain the trust of the employees. Coworker c oordination like issues that may give the managers an edge where the employee grievance swells as their preferences may come forth and gets addresses. The team coordination and empowerment of each member in the team to perform what is needed out of them well as inter team communication clarity are all that is needed for a good team performance which a managers needs to inculcate while developing the team and there working styles. Here the concept of empowerment to decide and deliveries also the key which enables the managers to make the employees understand the protocol and their rights and responsibilities likewise making the operation trustworthy, standardized and ensure delivery of excellence where they should be the leaders in example settings too. 2. Contrast between organic and mechanistic organization Each organization is unique in its role of power authority, roles, systemic and information flowing channels. This differentiates the nature of organization from the way they distinguish the own and authoritative structures in the operations. The way an organization chooses its operation process speaks a lot in the terms of the settings of the business that they follow. The way the organization changes its structures and operational needs speaks a lot about its organizing structure and also indicate how well the business is prepared to react to market changes and thus adopt to the changes in the new environment and structures both internally and externally. The mechanistic and organic structures of the two different organization structures are mechanist and organic structural differences. The mechanistic structure is termed given to the bureaucratic structures where all the structures are formalized a centralized for the business decision making and formal network. However, this sort of structure is capable of operations in a stable centralized network that which is quiet uncertain in the changing business networks and dynamics of modern day structures (Foshay et al, 2013). Mechanistic structures are the formal centralized controls within business that have its own hierarchy and reporting structures, well defined job boundaries and decision making authorities. This is a stable structure that is been preplanned and the organization works and follows the structure as is there, especially when the business is stable and the situations are regular and suited for such structure. Hence the subordinates are expected to follow the structure and the communication flow follows from top to bottom and the people are expected to follow the instructions given to them from the top. Healthcare, Armed forces, Government structures are few examples of such structure adherence where the hierarchy and chain of command are very clear and strictly adhered to (Foshay et al. 2013). The organic structure however is the quick adoption of the processes in unstable and dynamic environment. It is based on the ability of the organization to gather process and disseminate the instruction as needed, fast and right to see the best outcomes. Failure to adapt to the changes in business environment may cause loss of revenue and the business may lose its edge. Thus the communication and execution needs to be fast implemented and coordinated for the best outcomes so the strict hierarchy and flow of command structure as in the mechanistic structures are absent in the organic structures which is more of need oriented. The organization practice joint and coordinated way of work and so the changes are fast and are adaptive to the changes in the environment where the scope for execution belongs to all along with idea and norm selections. 3. Formulation of Corporate Strategy The corporate strategy can be said to be the reaction of the business to its environment like competitors, policy of the government, changes in choices of the consumers etc. The strategies are formulated to redirect the business from its present state to the state that it wants to be in the longer run. Nevertheless, this process in the changing business world is comprised of the environmental scanning and continuous implementation of ideas to sustain and be competitive in a market with stiff competition. Environmental scanning or the attention to simple environmental changes and factors those may have impact on the business are well judged so that the best solution to such a problem can be implemented to have least impact on the business performance. Thus the changes are the outcome of the necessity and are implemented for the best of the business results. The continuous implementation of policies and strategies for better results in business are the key to corporate strategy formula tion keeping in mind the current business environments and competitions (De Clercq et al. 2013). The vision and mission formulations are the first step in developing the future strategies those helps in the achievement of the developed vision and mission. The affectivity of the core ideology or the corporate mission is to enhance and thus create a platform to monitor the achievements to the targets to access the achievements of the business. Thus based on the achievements to the targeted positions the strategic design is laid to see that the targeted vision and mission statements sees the light of day. The strategies to be adopted, the processes, the critical successes indicators are fixed to measure the strategic achievements met by the business as well as plan the futuristic processes to achieve them (Rakowska et al, 2015). 4. Organizational Culture Each organization is different from the perspective of the outsiders in the market. Thus the difference that the organization portrays is the creation of its culture that is termed organization culture. A business has certain values, deliverables, innovation, attention to details, outcomes, people orientation, and teamwork. Reaction to competition in the market etc defines the culture that the organization portrays. Each of these cultural elements have its own role in building the organizational culture development and so dose it portrays to the market or an observer. The retail business of Tesco is been considered for the same to discuss the organizational culture that it follows and the role that each of its cultural element plays in the market. Innovation is the risk mitigating element where the business innovates new ways to keep the external threats of competitors low. Tescos regular survey of the pricing strategies of its competitors have made its employees to innovate ways to mitigate the threat with discount schemes and pricing and availability to stay ahead. Further attention to details is also another very vital aspect which makes the business to give attention to every aspect that makes the shopping experience fulfilling for the consumers. This is closely linked to outcome that the business receives where the attention is focused on the way the strategies and attention put in is achieving the expected results. The emphasis of Tesco is in getting the best of consumer satisfaction and perception of value in the purchase process so the ability to get the outcome correct and have the desired results is key to the achievement orientation of outcomes for the business. People are the key element who actually serves and delivers the desired emphasis and strategic outcomes that business desires to achieve. Tesco treats there people as vital asset and thus gets the desired results from them in terms of outcome oriented performance (Anyadike-Danes et al. 2005). Teamwork is another very vital part where the people shows collaboration and orientation as a unit and aspires to give the business its targeted vision and mission achievement. Collaboration and orientation with others and following the result oriented performance where all individuals are involved as one in a team to gives the best resultant outcome. Thus how teamwork is another very vital dimension of organizational culture that depicts the team over individual and acts as a unit in achieving the success for the business (MacQueen and Miller, 1960). Conclusions Business has different people and value oriented practices those makes it an organization different from others and also portrays its distinctive culture to the outsiders. Strategy, peoples orientation with it, managers role in developing the business policies and the standardized practice as well as the innovative formulation for better performance is discusses which helps the business in achieving the desired value and mission accomplishment as designed. List of references Anyadike-Danes, M., Hart, M. and OReilly, M. (2005). Watch that Space! The County Hierarchy in Firm Births and Deaths in the UK, 1980-1999. Small Bus Econ, 25(3), pp.273-292. De Clercq, D., Lim, D. and Oh, C. (2013). Hierarchy and conservatism in the contributions of resources to entrepreneurial activity. Small Bus Econ, 42(3), pp.507-522. Foshay, N., Boyle, T. and Mather, J. (2013). A Hierarchy of Metadata Elements for Business Intelligence Information Resource Retrieval. International Journal of Business Intelligence Research, 4(4), pp.33-44. Lindgreen, A. and Hingley, M. (2003). The impact of food safety and animal welfare policies on supply chain management. British Food Journal, 105(6), pp.328-349. MacQueen, J. and Miller, R. (1960). Optimal Persistence Policies. Operations Research, 8(3), pp.362-380. Rakowska, A., Valdes-Conca, J. and de Juana-Espinosa, S. (2015). Affecting Factors of Public Employees Ganizational Commitment. ijsr, 3, p.5.