In the film And Now Ladies and Gentlemen, Valentin is a criminal mastermind, but his exploits don't prove much in the way of satisfaction. Thus, he sets out on a one-man sailing trip around the world in a last attempt at finding meaning in his life. Meanwhile, in Morocco, a burned-out jazz singer named Jane is trying to forget a fizzled love affair. And so begins the journey of these two lost souls who are destined to cross paths.
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe has pronounced eccentricities, as well as strict rules concerning his way of life, and their occasional violation adds spice to many of the stories. For example, he is extremely fastidious about his clothing and hates to wear anything that has been soiled, even in private. The short story "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo" opens with an example of this habit, in which Wolfe removes his necktie and leaves it on his desk after dropping a bit of sauce on it during lunch. The tie is later used to commit a murder in his office.
R. Austin Freeman was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. He claimed to have invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery) and used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels. A large proportion of the Dr Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
The Bay Cat is a small feline endemic to the island of Borneo. Nearly everything that is known about this cat is based on just twelve specimens, the first of which was collected by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1855 in Sarawak. A total of seven further skins surfaced over the following decades, but it was not until 1992 that a living specimen was obtained, and there were no photographs of the animal until a second living specimen was captured in 1998.
The M104 Wolverine is an armoured combat engineering vehicle designed to provide deployable bridge capability for units engaged in military operations. The Wolverine is operated by two crewmen who sit within the hull. Both crewmen have access to the bridging controls, while the bridge itself is carried in two sections above the hull. Once a bridging site is chosen the vehicle securely anchors itself in place with a spade. The two sections of the bridge are joined together, and then the entire bridge is extended across the obstacle and dropped into place. During launch, the crewmen have the ability to make minor corrections if needed. Once operations are complete the Wolverine drives across the bridge and retrieves it from the other side simply by reversing the process. The bridge can be launched in under 5 minutes or retrieved in less than 10, all without the crewmen ever leaving the safety of their vehicle.
Milestii Mici is a wine factory and wine collection of Moldova situated 20 km south of Chisinau near a village with a similar name. Its underground wine city in limestone is stretching for 250 km of which 120 km are currently in use.
The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
Alexis Soyer was a French chef who became the most celebrated cook in Victorian England. He also tried to alleviate suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), and improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War.
George Plimpton was an American journalist. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping found The Paris Review.
Giuseppe Guarneri was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line. Giuseppe is known as del Gesù because his labels incorporated the nomina sacra, I.H.S. (iota-eta-sigma) and a Roman Cross. His instruments diverged significantly from family tradition, becoming uniquely his own style. They are considered second in quality only to those of Stradivari but are also claimed by some to be superior.