title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The FIA also had several entry bids from other racing teams including World Series by Renault and Le Mans entrant Epsilon Euskadi, Dave Richards's highly successful Prodrive outfit and Italian touring car team N.Technology as well as re-imaginings of former teams March, Brabham, Lola Cars and Team Lotus (not to be confused with Lotus Racing). Other expressions of interest came from Team Superfund, an Austrian outfit to be fronted by former driver Alex Wurz and myf1dream.com, a team established by fans of the sport and funded by their donations. Experienced sports car and touring car entrant Ray Mallock Limited had intended to submit an entry bid, but decided against it following the mid-season political crisis.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: Of the most interest to the media was Stefan Grand Prix, created by Zoran Stefanovic and hailed as Serbia's first Formula 1 team. Stefan claimed to have acquired the remains of Toyota's abandoned TF110 chassis and engine and had access to Toyota Motorsport's former headquarters in Cologne, Germany. After being rejected from the grid, Stefanovic filed a complaint with the European Commission over the entry selection process and then announced his intentions to continue development of the Toyota chassis, re-badged as the Stefan S-01, with the team even going so far as to send equipment to Bahrain, Australia and Malaysia. After several difficulties including the cancellation of a planned test in Portugal when Bridgestone refused to supply tyres, Stefan attempted to purchase the defunct USF1 entry, but the moves were blocked. Stefan was finally rejected on 4 March when the FIA stated that it was not possible to issue entries so close to the season opener.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: On 21 September 2009 the provisional 2010 calendar was issued by the World Motor Sport Council containing 19 races, followed by a second provisional schedule which had the Abu Dhabi and Brazilian Grands Prix switching dates. The final calendar was released on 11 December 2009.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) had planned to introduce a budget cap, in order to safeguard the sport and reduce the costs. The proposal had an optional budget cap of €30 million ($45 million, £27 million), with greater technical and design freedoms allowed to teams who nominated to use it. The teams objected to what they believed would be a two-tier championship and five of the teams within the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Renault, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso announced their intentions to withdraw from the 2010 championship. BMW Sauber later announced on their withdrawal from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: Following negotiations, the FOTA teams unanimously decided to withdraw at the end of the 2009 season unless the budget cap rules were changed. Williams and Force India both submitted their own entries and were temporarily suspended from FOTA, while the remaining teams submitted conditional entries for the 2010 season. The 2010 entry list was published by the FIA on 12 June, which included all teams and three new teams, Campos Meta, Virgin Racing and US F1 Team. Discussions between the FIA and FOTA failed to find a resolution to the budget cap issues and the eight FOTA teams announced intentions to form a breakaway series for 2010. However, following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on 24 June, FOTA agreed to remain in Formula One and FIA president Max Mosley confirmed he would not stand for re-election in October.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: During a meeting on 8 July between the FIA and FOTA on future regulations, the teams walked out of the meeting after being informed that they were not entered for the 2010 season and could therefore have no input on regulatory discussions. In response it was announced that plans for a breakaway series were still being pursued. Negotiations on a new Concorde Agreement directly with CVC, the commercial rights holders, led to the eventual end of the dispute with its signing by the FIA on 1 August. The new Concorde Agreement secured the sport's future until its expiration in 2012.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The new season test schedule started on 1 December 2009 with a three-day 'Young Driver Test' (for drivers with fewer than three Formula One race starts to their name) at Spain's Circuito de Jerez. British Formula 3 Champion Daniel Ricciardo was fastest for Red Bull Racing. As with 2009, the teams were allowed a maximum of over the course of fifteen days in February. Testing sessions were confirmed for Valencia (1–3 February), Jerez (10–13 February and 17–20 February), Barcelona (25–28 February) and Bahrain Endurance Circuit (5–7 March). All but Campos/Hispania and US F1 took part in the pre-season tests.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: Pre-season testing started at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia with seven teams. Ferrari dominated the test session, with Felipe Massa setting the fastest lap times on days one and two. In his first appearance for the team, Fernando Alonso set the fastest overall time on the third day of the test with 1:11.470.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The second session took place at Circuito de Jerez, Spain with heavy downpours throughout the test. This also marked the first public test for new team Virgin Racing who only managed five laps after a shortage of parts became a problem. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the test during a dry Saturday session with 1:19.583.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The third test at Jerez for another four-day test was also affected by mixed weather conditions. Lotus Racing started its first public test with the T127. The penultimate and last days saw sunny weather with Jenson Button setting the fastest time (1:18.871).


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The fourth test took place at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. The test started in sunny weather with rain showers scattered through the weekend. Virgin's testing misery carried on with Lucas di Grassi crashing and more mechanical issues. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the week (1:20.472) with most teams doing low fuel runs on Sunday.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The last pre-season test took place at Bahrain Endurance Circuit, Sakhir. The test started in sunny weather with through the weekend. Mercedes joining Jacques Villeneuve for testing replacement from Nico Rosberg failing to travel Bahrain following bus accident in Barcelona. Mark Webber set the fastest lap of the week (1:55.874) with most teams doing low fuel runs on Saturday.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The 2010 season saw the debut of three new teams, Virgin, Lotus and Hispania. The teams were often more than three seconds per lap slower than the established teams. After fighting reliability issues early in the season, the three teams soon established themselves with Lotus leading the way, their best result being a twelfth place for Heikki Kovalainen in Japan. Virgin struggled after discovering their fuel tank was too small, forcing them to push their development schedule back five races in order to build a car that could finish the race. Hispania were the slowest of the three, and by mid-season were rotating their drivers on a regular basis, but a pair of fourteenth places by Karun Chandhok in Australia and Monaco put the team ahead of Virgin in the Constructors' Championship for most of the season.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: In stark contrast to , no one driver emerged as dominant in the early stages of the 2010 season. Fernando Alonso won the opening race of the season in Bahrain after Sebastian Vettel's engine misfired, with Alonso becoming just the sixth Ferrari driver to win on debut for the Italian team. Reigning World Champion Jenson Button claimed victory in Australia for the second year in succession, whilst Vettel won in Malaysia, setting up a unique situation that would last for the rest of the season whereby no driver would win a race while leading the World Championship.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: Button became the first driver to win more than one race with victory in China, but Mark Webber would be the first to take back-to-back victories with wins in Spain and Monaco. Webber was leading the when teammate Vettel attempted a pass on lap 40 that ended with the two Red Bulls colliding; Vettel retired whilst Webber recovered to finish third behind eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Hamilton would match Webber's feat of back-to-back victories by claiming first place in Canada.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The middle of the season saw controversy, starting at the in Valencia following a disputed safety car ruling. Mark Webber collided with Heikki Kovalainen at the fastest point on the circuit, the collision destroying Webber's front wing and launching Webber into a somersault. The safety car was deployed immediately, joining the circuit behind race leader Vettel, but ahead of then-second placed Hamilton and the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa. Hamilton overtook the safety car as it emerged from the pit lane but after it had crossed the safety car control line. It took the race stewards twenty minutes to pass verdict on the infringement, and while Hamilton was issued with a drive-through penalty for his actions, it had little effect as he was already well clear of the rest of the field.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The marked the halfway point of the season and saw further tensions within Red Bull. Team principal Christian Horner removed the team's new front wing from Webber's car and placed it on Vettel's for qualifying and the race, after the German driver's wing was damaged in the final practice session. Webber won the race after passing Vettel from second off the start, who then developed a puncture on the first lap and was forced to pit.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: The saw a return to form for Ferrari, with both Alonso and Massa quickest over the course of the race meeting. On the anniversary of his accident, Felipe Massa led most of the race before a message from the Ferrari pit appeared to be a coded instruction telling Massa to move over and let Alonso through, granting Alonso seven extra World Championship points for his ultimate win. Ferrari were fined US$100,000 for the use of team orders to deliberately alter the outcome of a race and faced further sanctions at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in September where they face charges of bringing the sport into disrepute, though the hearing would ultimately acquit Ferrari on the grounds of a lack of evidence.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: After finishing sixth in Germany, Webber won again in Hungary after Vettel broke an obscure safety car rule and was issued with a drive-through penalty that demoted him to third, while Lewis Hamilton won a wet from Mark Webber and Robert Kubica while Vettel was involved in a collision with Button that eliminated the incumbent World Champion whilst Vettel was handed his second drive-through penalty in as many races. Fernando Alonso retired after a mistake in the wet. The European season ended in Italy, with Alonso claiming his third victory of the season and adding a fourth to his tally – and his first Grand Slam – in Singapore.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: Red Bull reasserted their dominance in Japan, with Vettel winning comfortably from Webber and Alonso third. They were prepared to continue their performance in a rain-delayed , but an early accident eliminated Webber and a late engine failure for Vettel handed the victory to Alonso. Nico Hülkenberg claimed his maiden pole position for Williams by over a second in changing conditions in Brazil, but Red Bull went on to claim their fourth 1–2 finish of the season, claiming enough points to be declared World Constructors' Champion in just their sixth year of competition.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: In the week leading up to the final race of the season, Red Bull repeated their intentions not to use team orders, a decision they were widely criticised for as allowing Mark Webber to finish ahead of Sebastian Vettel would have meant he trailed Fernando Alonso by just one point ahead of the race in Abu Dhabi. However, the Australian struggled to find speed across the weekend, qualifying behind Alonso and unable to find a way past the Ferrari driver for most of the race. Like Webber, Alonso had opted for an early pit stop in his tyre strategy, but emerged behind Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov. Taking into account the cars ahead of them that had yet to stop, this meant that Alonso would be running sixth on the road when he needed to finish fourth to claim the title.


title: 2010 Formula One World Championship

text: McLaren's Jenson Button took the lead of the race when Sebastian Vettel pitted, the 2009 World Champion attempting to extend his lead enough to avoid a costly encounter with Robert Kubica after Lewis Hamilton got caught behind the Renault driver; passing Kubica would give him a chance to catch Vettel, who would resume the lead when Button pitted. Button needed a lead of twenty-two seconds to rejoin the circuit ahead of Kubica and Hamilton, but Kubica was able to match him on lap times and McLaren were forced to pit Button, who rejoined fourth behind his teammate, becoming third when Kubica pitted. While Kubica was expected to rejoin somewhere behind Mark Webber, Vitaly Petrov had held Webber and Alonso up enough that when Kubica completed his stop, he joined the circuit ahead of them, adding his name to the list of drivers Alonso needed to pass in order to win the World Championship. Sebastian Vettel won the race, with the McLarens second and third. Alonso was unable to find a way past Petrov and so finished seventh, handing the title to Vettel by four points. Abu Dhabi was the first time Sebastian Vettel had led the 2010 World Championship. Only twice before in the history of Formula One had the Drivers' World Champion led the championship only for the last race: in and .


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The role of the secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter. However, the office's qualifications, selection process and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. As the recommendation must come from the Security Council, any of the five permanent members of the council can veto a nomination. Most secretaries-general are compromise candidates from middle powers and have little prior fame.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: Unofficial qualifications for the job have been set by precedent in previous selections. The appointee may not be a citizen of any of the Security Council's five permanent members. The General Assembly resolution 51/241 in 1997 stated that, in the appointment of "the best candidate", due regard should be given to regional (continental) rotation of the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as secretary-general. All appointees to date have been career diplomats.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The length of the term is discretionary, but all secretaries-general since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every secretary-general since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a term limit of two full terms, established when China, in the 1981 selection, cast a record 16 vetoes against a third term for Kurt Waldheim. No secretary-general since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The selection process is opaque and is often compared to a papal conclave. Since 1981, the Security Council has voted in secret in a series of straw polls; it then submits the winning candidate to the General Assembly for ratification. No candidate has ever been rejected by the General Assembly, and only once, in 1950, has a candidate been voted upon despite a UNSC veto.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: In 2016, the General Assembly and the Security Council sought nominations and conducted public debates for the first time. However, the Security Council voted in private and followed the same process as previous selections, leading the president of the General Assembly to complain that it "does not live up to the expectations of the membership and the new standard of openness and transparency".


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The role of the secretary-general is described as combining the functions and responsibilities of an advocate, diplomat, civil servant, and chief executive officer. The UN Charter designates the secretary-general as the "chief administrative officer" of the UN and allows them to perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by other United Nations organs. The Charter also empowers the secretary-general to inform the Security Council of "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security". These provisions have been interpreted as providing broad leeway for officeholders to serve a variety of roles as suited to their preferences, skill set, or circumstances.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The secretary-general's routine duties include overseeing the activities and duties of the secretariat; attending sessions with United Nations bodies; consulting with world leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders; and travelling the world to engage with global constituents and bring attention to certain international issues. The secretary-general publishes an annual report on the work of the UN, which includes an assessment of its activities and an outline future priorities. The secretary-general is also the chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), a body composed of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and specialized agencies, which meets twice a year to discuss substantive and management issues facing the United Nations System.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: Many of the secretary-general's powers are informal and left open to individual interpretation; some appointees have opted for more activist roles, while others have been more technocratic or administrative. The secretary-general is often reliant upon the use of their "good offices", described as "steps taken publicly and in private, drawing upon his independence, impartiality and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating or spreading". Consequently, observers have variably described the office as the "world's most visible bully pulpit" or as the "world's moderator". Examples include Dag Hammarskjöld's promotion of an armistice between the warring parties of Arab-Israel conflict, Javier Perez de Cuellar's negotiation of a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War, and U Thant's role in deescalating the Cuban Missile Crisis.


title: Secretary-General of the United Nations

text: The official residence of the secretary-general is a townhouse at 3 Sutton Place, Manhattan, in New York City, United States. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan in 1921 and donated to the United Nations in 1972.


title: Mead

text: Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.


title: Mead

text: The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead, although "wine" is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits, and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary, for example, is the fermentation of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits.


title: Mead

text: <onlyinclude>Mead was produced in ancient times throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, and has played an important role in the mythology of some peoples. In Norse mythology, for example, the Mead of Poetry, crafted from the blood of Kvasir (a wise being born from the mingled spittle of the Aesir and Vanir deities) would turn anyone who drank it into a poet or scholar.</onlyinclude>


title: Mead

text: Mead is a drink widely considered to have been discovered prior to the advent of both agriculture and ceramic pottery in the Neolithic China, due to the prevalence of naturally occurring fermentation and the distribution of eusocial honey-producing insects worldwide; as a result, it is hard to pinpoint the exact historical origin of mead given the possibility of multiple discovery or potential knowledge transfer between early humans prior to recorded history. For example, mead can be produced by flooding a bee nest, and it has been speculated that late Paleolithic African hunter-gatherers possibly discovered how to make "short" or quick meads via this method, ready to drink within a few days or weeks, as a means of making water safer to drink and pleasant to consume. With the eventual rise of ceramic pottery and increasing use of fermentation in food processing to preserve surplus agricultural crops, evidence of mead begins to show up in the archaeological record more clearly, with pottery vessels from northern China dating from at least 7000 BCE discovered containing chemical signatures consistent with the presence of honey, rice, and organic compounds associated with fermentation. In Europe, mead is first described from residual samples found in ceramics of the Bell Beaker Culture (c. 2800–1800 BCE).


title: Mead

text: The earliest surviving written record of mead is possibly the soma mentioned in the hymns of the "Rigveda", one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and (later) Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BCE.


title: Mead

text: The Abri, a northern subgroup of the Taulantii, were known to the ancient Greek writers for their technique of preparing mead from honey.


title: Mead

text: During the Golden Age of ancient Greece, mead was said to be the preferred drink. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) discussed mead made in Illiria in his "Meteorologica" and elsewhere, while Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) called mead "militites" in his "Naturalis Historia" and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead. The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Columella gave a recipe for mead in "De re rustica", about 60 CE.


title: Mead

text: Ancient Greek writer Pytheas described a grain and honey drink similar to mead that he encountered while travelling in Thule. According to James Henry Ramsay this was an earlier version of Welsh "metheglin". When 12-year-old Prince Charles II visited Wales in 1642 Welsh metheglin was served at the feast as a symbol of Welsh presence in the emerging British identity in the years between the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.


title: Mead

text: There is a poem attributed to the Welsh bard Taliesin, who lived around 550 CE, called the "" or "Song of Mead" (Cân y medd). The legendary drinking, feasting, and boasting of warriors in the mead hall is echoed in the mead hall Din Eidyn (modern-day Edinburgh) as depicted in the poem "Y Gododdin", attributed to the poet Aneirin who would have been a contemporary of Taliesin. In the Old English epic poem "Beowulf", the Danish warriors drank mead. In both Insular Celtic and Germanic poetry, mead was the primary heroic or divine drink, see Mead of poetry.


title: Mead

text: Mead (Old Irish "mid") was a popular drink in medieval Ireland. Beekeeping was brought around the 5th century, traditionally attributed to Modomnoc, and mead came with it. A banquet hall on the Hill of Tara was known as "Tech Mid Chuarda" ("house of the circling of mead"). Mead was often infused with hazelnuts. Many other legends of saints mention mead, as does that of the Children of Lir.


title: Mead

text: Later, taxation and regulations governing the ingredients of alcoholic beverages led to commercial mead becoming a more obscure beverage until recently. Some monasteries kept up the traditions of mead-making as a by-product of beekeeping, especially in areas where grapes could not be grown.


title: Mead

text: The English "mead" – "fermented honey drink" – derives from the Old English "meodu" or "medu", and Proto-Indo-European language, *"médʰu". Its cognates include Old Norse "mjǫðr", Proto-Slavic "medъ", Middle Dutch "mede", and Old High German "metu", and the ancient Irish queen Medb, among others. The Chinese word for honey, "mì" (蜜) was borrowed from the extinct Indo-European Tocharian word "mit –" also a cognate with the English word "mead".


title: Mead

text: Meads will often ferment well at the same temperatures at which wine is fermented, and the yeast used in mead making is often identical to that used in wine making (particularly those used in the preparation of white wines). Many home mead makers choose to use wine yeasts to make their meads.


title: Mead

text: By measuring the specific gravity of the mead once before fermentation and throughout the fermentation process using a hydrometer or refractometer, mead makers can determine the proportion of alcohol by volume that will appear in the final product. This also serves to troubleshoot a "stuck" batch, one where the fermentation process has been halted prematurely by dormant or dried yeast.


title: Mead

text: With many different styles of mead possible, there are many different processes employed, although many producers will use techniques recognizable from wine-making. One such example is to rack the product into a second container, once fermentation slows down significantly. These are known as a primary and a secondary fermentation, respectively. Some larger commercial fermenters are designed to allow both primary and secondary fermentation to happen inside the same vessel. Racking is done for two reasons: it lets the mead sit away from the remains of the yeast cells (lees) that have died during the fermentation process. Second, this lets the mead have time to clear. Cloudiness can be caused by either yeast or suspended protein molecules. There is also the possibility that the pectin from any fruit that is used could have set which gives the mead a cloudy look. The cloudiness can be cleared up by either "cold breaking", which is leaving the mead in a cold environment overnight, or using a fining material, such as sparkolloid, bentonite, egg white, or isinglass. If the mead-maker wishes to backsweeten the product (add supplementary sweetener) or prevent it from oxidizing, potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate are added. After the mead clears, it is bottled and distributed.


title: Mead

text: Primary fermentation usually takes 28 to 56 days, after which the must is placed in a secondary fermentation vessel for 6 to 9 months of aging. Durations of primary and secondary fermentation producing satisfactory mead may vary considerably according to numerous factors, such as floral origin of the honey and its natural sugar and microorganism contents, must water percentage, pH, additives used, and strain of yeast, among others. Although supplementation of the must with non-nitrogen based salts, or vitamins has been tested to improve mead qualities, no evidence suggests that adding micronutrients reduced fermentation time or improved quality. Cell immobilization methods, however, proved effective for enhancing mead quality.


title: Mead

text: Mead can have a wide range of flavors depending on the source of the honey, additives (also known as "adjuncts" or "gruit") including fruit and spices, the yeast employed during fermentation, and the aging procedure. Some producers have erroneously marketed white wine sweetened and flavored with honey after fermentation as mead, sometimes spelling it "meade." This is closer in style to a hypocras. Blended varieties of mead may be known by the style represented; for instance, a mead made with cinnamon and apples may be referred to as either a cinnamon "metheglin" or an apple "cyser".


title: Mead

text: A mead that also contains spices (such as cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg), or herbs (such as meadowsweet, hops, or even lavender or chamomile), is called a "metheglin" .


title: Mead

text: A mead that contains fruit (such as raspberry, blackberry or strawberry) is called a melomel, which was also used as a means of food preservation, keeping summer produce for the winter. A mead that is fermented with grape juice is called a "pyment".


title: Mead

text: Mulled mead is a popular drink at Christmas time, where mead is flavored with spices (and sometimes various fruits) and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into it.


title: Mead

text: Some meads retain some measure of the sweetness of the original honey, and some may even be considered as dessert wines. Drier meads are also available, and some producers offer sparkling meads.


title: Mead

text: Historically, meads were fermented with wild yeasts and bacteria (as noted in the recipe quoted above) residing on the skins of the fruit or within the honey itself. Wild yeasts can produce inconsistent results. Yeast companies have isolated strains of yeast that produce consistently appealing products. Brewers, winemakers, and mead makers commonly use them for fermentation, including yeast strains identified specifically for mead fermentation. These are strains that have been selected because of their characteristic of preserving delicate honey flavors and aromas.


title: Mead

text: Mead can also be distilled to a brandy or liqueur strength, in which case it is sometimes referred to as a whiskey. A version called "honey jack" can be made by partly freezing a quantity of mead and straining the ice out of the liquid (a process known as freeze distillation), in the same way that applejack is made from cider.


title: Mead

text: In Finland, a sweet mead called "" is connected with the Finnish Vappu festival (although in modern practice, brown sugar is often used in place of honey). During secondary fermentation, added-raisins augment the amount of sugar available to the yeast and indicate readiness for consumption, rising to the top of the bottle when sufficiently depleted. Sima is commonly served with both the pulp and rind of a lemon.


title: Mead

text: Ethiopian mead is called "tej" (ጠጅ, ) and is usually home-made. It is flavored with the powdered leaves and bark of "gesho", a hop-like bittering agent which is a species of buckthorn. A sweeter, less-alcoholic version called "berz", aged for a shorter time, is also made. The traditional vessel for drinking "tej" is a rounded vase-shaped container called a "berele".


title: Mead

text: In the United States, mead is enjoying a resurgence, starting with small home meaderies and now with a number of small commercial meaderies. As mead becomes more widely available, it is seeing increased attention and exposure from the news media. This resurgence can also been seen around the world in the UK and Australia particularly with session (lower alcohol styles) some times call hydromel and Mead-Beer Hybrids also known as Braggots.


title: David Geffen

text: David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American business magnate, producer and film studio executive. He co-created Asylum Records in 1971 with Elliot Roberts, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in 1994.


title: David Geffen

text: David Geffen was born in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham Geffen and Batya Volovskaya (1909–1988). Geffen's mother owned a clothing store in Borough Park called Chic Corsets by Geffen. Both of his parents were Jewish immigrants who met in British Mandatory Palestine and then moved to the United States. Geffen graduated from Brooklyn's New Utrecht High School in 1960 with a "barely passing 66 average". He attended the University of Texas at Austin for a semester, and then Brooklyn College, before again dropping out. He then moved to Los Angeles, California to find his way in the entertainment business. He attended Santa Monica College (then known as Santa Monica City College) in Santa Monica, California, but soon left. Geffen attributed his challenges in school to dyslexia.


title: David Geffen

text: After a brief appearance as an extra in the 1961 film "The Explosive Generation", Geffen began his entertainment career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency (WMA), where he quickly became a talent agent. In order to obtain the WMA job, he had to prove he was a college graduate. As he later reported in an interview, he claimed in his job application at WMA that he had graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Because he worked in the mailroom, Geffen was able to intercept a letter from UCLA to WMA which stated that he had not graduated from UCLA. He modified the letter to show that he had attended and graduated, then submitted it to WMA. From 1964 to 1968 he was a mailroom clerk and then agent at WMA.


title: David Geffen

text: In 1968, he was a talent agent for Ashley Famous Agency. In 1969, he was Executive vice president and talent agent for Creative Management Associates.


title: David Geffen

text: His colleagues in the mailroom included Elliot Roberts, who later became Geffen's partner in a management company. Geffen left William Morris to become a personal manager and was immediately successful with Laura Nyro and Crosby, Stills and Nash. When Geffen was engaged in the process of looking for a record deal for young Jackson Browne, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun suggested that Geffen start his own record label.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen co-founded Asylum Records in 1971 with Elliot Roberts after Geffen was unable to get Jackson Browne a record deal anywhere else. The name Asylum was chosen because of the owners' reputations for signing artists who would struggle to find a record company that would contract with them. The label was distributed by Atlantic Records at this time. Asylum became a generator of the Southern California folk-rock sound and signed artists such as Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Judee Sill, and J.D. Souther. Later in the 1970s Geffen left Asylum, which was later acquired by Atlantic's parent company, Warner Communications, and merged with Elektra Records in 1972 to become Elektra/Asylum Records. The label was revived in 2004 as an urban music operation, signing hip-hop artists such as Waka Flocka Flame, Cam’ron, Gucci Mane, Paul Wall, Mike Jones and Bun B.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen remained in charge until December 1975, when he went to work as vice chairman of Warner Bros. film studios. He then retired and in 1977 was informed (erroneously) that he had cancer. During his retirement period he spent a short time (the fall of 1978 and spring of 1979) teaching a noncredit seminar on the music industry and arts management at Yale University, where he featured classroom guests Jackson Browne and Paul Simon. In 1980 a new medical diagnosis revealed the error in the original diagnosis and Geffen was given a clean bill of health, whereupon he decided to return to working in the entertainment industry.


title: David Geffen

text: In 1980, he founded Geffen Records and recruited Warner Bros. Records exec Ed Rosenblatt as president. The Geffen label's meteoric rise to prominence within the year proved a bittersweet success. Geffen's first artist to sign on was Donna Summer, who was anxious to leave Casablanca/PolyGram Records. Geffen shortly after released her "The Wanderer" album, the lead single of which reached #3 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and the album certified gold. Casablanca countered by releasing more singles off her 1979 "Bad Girls" album such as the song Walk Away and a similarly named hits compilation to compete, but by then New Wave sound was dominating the airwaves.


title: David Geffen

text: The November 1980 release of John Lennon's album "Double Fantasy" seems an impressive feat for a new label, but at the time Lennon stated that Geffen was the only one with enough confidence in him to agree to a deal without hearing the record first. Yoko Ono, Lennon's wife and partner, stated that Geffen was the only label head to pay attention to her. In December 1980, Lennon was murdered and "Double Fantasy" became a massive seller. Over the years Geffen Records/DGC has released recordings by artists including Olivia Newton-John, Asia,


title: David Geffen

text: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Elton John, Cher, Sonic Youth, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, XTC, Peter Gabriel, Lone Justice, Blink-182, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Lifehouse, Tyketto, Pat Metheny, Sloan, the Stone Roses and Neil Young.


title: David Geffen

text: The label was distributed by Warner Bros. Records since its inception but, in 1990, the label was sold to MCA Records with Geffen receiving shares in MCA worth $550 million. A year later, Matsushita Electric acquired MCA and paid Geffen $670 million. Geffen continued to run the label before leaving Geffen Records in 1995. The Geffen label is today is part of the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division of MCA's successor, Universal Music Group, formed as the result of the 1999 merger between the MCA and PolyGram families of labels.


title: David Geffen

text: Through the Geffen Film Company, Geffen produced dark-tinged comedies such as the remake of "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986), "Risky Business" (1983) and "Beetlejuice" (1988). Geffen was the Broadway backer for the musicals "Dreamgirls" and "Cats". In 1994, Geffen co-founded the DreamWorks SKG studio with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. In 1995, Dreamworks signed a $100 million deal with ABC. In 2008, Geffen left DreamWorks.


title: David Geffen

text: Until 2017, Geffen owned a Malibu compound on Carbon Beach. In 1983 Geffen received permits from the California Coastal Commission to build a Cape Cod-style compound over multiple beachfront lots in exchange for creating a public pathway to the beach. He failed to build that pathway, and in 2002, filed a lawsuit to block public access altogether. After a protracted three-year legal battle, Geffen reached a settlement with the Coastal Commission, granting the public a nine-foot-wide easement to the beach and reimbursing the state and non-profit groups $300,000 in legal fees. The pathway was opened on May 30, 2005 to national and international media coverage. The controversy has been called the "most famous Malibu battle" for beach access. The Coastal Commission later contacted the state transportation department without receiving a response to ask if the curb cuts that prevented public parking were valid, amid rumors that Geffen had installed four fake garage doors.


title: David Geffen

text: On March 9, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Geffen, Barry Diller and his stepson, Alex Von Furstenberg, were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for insider trading of options on Activision Blizzard just three days before Microsoft's announced acquisition. Diller denied the allegations and claimed it was "simply a lucky bet."


title: David Geffen

text: In 1995 he donated $5 million towards UCLA's Westwood Playhouse. The theatre was renamed the Geffen Playhouse.


title: David Geffen

text: According to "Forbes" ("The 400 Richest Americans of 2004") and other sources, Geffen has pledged to give whatever money he makes from now on to charity, although he has not specified which charities or the manner of his giving. In 2002, he announced a $200 million unrestricted endowment for the School of Medicine at UCLA. The School thereafter was named David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Along with Kenneth Langone's gift to New York University School of Medicine, Geffen's donation is the largest donation ever made to a medical school in the United States. On December 13, 2012, UCLA announced that Geffen had donated another $100 million in addition to his 2002 donation of $200 million, making him the largest individual benefactor for the UC system. The latest donation funds the full cost of attendance for up to 30 students per year, beginning with the Class of 2017.


title: David Geffen

text: In 2015, Geffen pledged $100 million toward renovation of what was then called Avery Fisher Hall, part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. His gift, which amounted to about 20% of the hall's renovation costs, gave him naming rights in perpetuity over the building, now known as David Geffen Hall.


title: David Geffen

text: In December 2020, Geffen pledged to donate $46 million to the UCLA medical school, which is named after him.


title: David Geffen

text: In June 2021, Geffen gave $150 million to the Yale School of Drama. This gift allowed the drama school to eliminate tuition for all students enrolled in masters, doctoral, and certificate programs. The school was renamed the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.


title: David Geffen

text: In September 2021, Columbia Business School announced that David Geffen had made a gift of $75 million to support the school's new facilities in the Manhattanville neighborhood, north of Columbia's main campus. In recognition of his donation, the East Building will be renamed David Geffen Hall when opened in 2022.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen is a donor to Democratic Party candidates and organizations, and was an early financial supporter of President Bill Clinton. In 2001, he had a quarrel with the former president over Clinton's decision not to pardon Leonard Peltier, on whose behalf he had lobbied the President.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president and raised $1.3 million for Obama in a Beverly Hills fundraiser.


title: David Geffen

text: Along with other celebrities including Steven Spielberg and Brad Pitt, Geffen donated money to oppose Proposition 8 in the November 2008 election. Proposition 8 would have amended California's Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. California's voters passed Proposition 8 by a margin of 52.24% to 47.76%. Decisions in federal courts ultimately invalidated California's prohibition of same-sex marriage. See 2008 California Proposition 8 § Legal challenges.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen, among other wealthy Democrats, donated to the Lincoln Project, a Republican-led super PAC that opposed the re-election of Donald Trump and the Republican Senators who supported Trump in the 2020 election.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen was named one of the 2010 recipients of Ahmet Ertegun Award from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Geffen was awarded with the President's Merit Award for "indelible contributions to the music industry" from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences at the 53rd Grammy Awards in February 2011.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen has an estimated net worth of $10.8 billion, making him one of the richest people in the entertainment industry.


title: David Geffen

text: Though not only closeted but defensive about his true sexuality and the speculation that resulted, Geffen eventually came out as gay in 1992. In May 2007, "Out" magazine ranked Geffen first in its list of the fifty "Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America".


title: David Geffen

text: Joni Mitchell and Geffen were close friends and, in the early 1970s, made a trip to Paris with Robbie Robertson and Robertson's wife, Dominique. As a result of that trip, Mitchell wrote "Free Man in Paris" about Geffen.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen can be heard on Barbra Streisand's "The Broadway Album", released in 1985. The track "Putting It Together" features Geffen, Sydney Pollack, and Ken Sylk portraying the voices of record company executives talking to Streisand.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen is the subject of several books, most recently "The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood" (2001) by Tom King, who initially had Geffen's cooperation, but later did not. An earlier biography was "The Rise and Rise of David Geffen" (1997) by Stephen Singular. He is also a featured character in "Mailroom: Hollywood History From The Bottom Up" by David Rensen, in "Mansion On The Hill" by Fred Goodman, in "Hotel California" by Barney Hoskyns, and in several books about Michael Ovitz.


title: David Geffen

text: He was the subject of an "American Masters" PBS television documentary entitled "Inventing David Geffen". The documentary was directed by Susan Lacy and was first broadcast on 20 November 2012.


title: David Geffen

text: His older brother Mitchell (born Mischa) Geffen (1933–2006) was an attorney who attended UCLA Law School and later settled in Encino, California. Mitchell Geffen fathered two daughters, who are David's closest surviving relatives.


title: David Geffen

text: In February 2020, Geffen sold his Beverly Hills estate to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for $165 million, a price believed to be the highest ever paid for a home in a California real estate transaction. In June 2020, Geffen purchased Casey Wasserman's Beverly Hills estate for $68 million.


title: David Geffen

text: Geffen is a keen collector of American artists' work, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning. According to the chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Paul Schimmel: "There's no collection that has a better representation of post-war American art than David Geffen's."


title: David Geffen

text: In October 2006, Geffen sold two paintings by Jasper Johns and a De Kooning from his collection for a combined sum of $143.5 million. On November 3, 2006, "The New York Times" reported that Geffen had sold Pollock's 1948 painting "No. 5, 1948" from his collection for $140 million (£73.35 million) to Mexican financier David Martinez. Martinez is the founder of London-based Fintech Advisory Ltd, a financial house that specializes in buying Third World debt. The sale made "No. 5, 1948" the most expensive painting ever sold (outstripping the $134 million paid in October 2006 for Gustav Klimt's portrait "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I," purchased by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder).


title: David Geffen

text: Wealth-X reported in June 2013 that Geffen owns the most valuable private art collection in the world, and estimated its worth at $1.1B at the time.


title: David Geffen

text: In February 2016, Bloomberg News reported that Geffen had sold De Kooning's 1955 oil painting, "Interchanged", for $300 million, and Pollock's 1948 painting, "Number 17A", for $200 million, both to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.


title: David Geffen

text: In 2007, Geffen bought a half-share in friend Larry Ellison's luxury yacht "Rising Sun", then at the sixth largest motor yacht in the world. After Ellison ordered a new and more compact yacht, he sold his remaining half share in "Rising Sun" to Geffen in 2010.


title: David Geffen

text: In 2009, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich agreed to a divorce settlement with his wife Irina that resulted in her taking ownership of the yacht "Pelorus". Approached on Geffen's behalf by broker Merle Wood, Geffen bought "Pelorus" in 2011 for $300 million. Later that year Geffen sold "Pelorus" to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for €214 million, more than €15 million below its former price.


title: David Geffen

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Geffen drew backlash for posting on Instagram that he and a 45-member crew were self-isolating in the Grenadines on the "Rising Sun".


title: David Geffen

text: David Geffen has been ranked the most polluting individual American and second most polluting individual in the world, largely due to his yachts.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's "First Take", where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an NBA analyst on "SportsCenter". Smith also is an NBA analyst for ESPN on "NBA Countdown" and NBA broadcasts on ESPN. He also hosted "The Stephen A. Smith Show" on ESPN Radio. Smith is a featured columnist for ESPNNY.com, ESPN.com, and "The Philadelphia Inquirer".


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Stephen Anthony Smith was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. He was raised in the Hollis section of Queens. Smith is the fifth of six children. He has four older sisters and had a younger brother, Basil, who died in a car accident in 1992. He also has a half-brother on his father's side. Smith's parents were originally from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. His father managed a hardware store. Smith's maternal grandmother was white, the rest of his grandparents black. He graduated in 1986 from Thomas Edison High School in Queens.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: After attending the Fashion Institute of Technology for one year, Smith received a basketball scholarship to attend Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In college, he played basketball under Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. While still on the team, Smith wrote a column for the university newspaper, "The News Argus", arguing Gaines should retire due to health issues. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Smith graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith began his print media career with the "Winston-Salem Journal", the "Greensboro News and Record", and the "New York Daily News".


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Beginning in 1994, Smith had a position as a writer for "The Philadelphia Inquirer". He began reporting on the Philadelphia 76ers as their NBA columnist, and eventually, as a general sports columnist. On August 23, 2007, the "Inquirer" announced that Smith would no longer be writing columns and would instead be demoted back to the position of general assignment reporter. In 2008, the "Inquirer" ended its relationship with Smith, which coincided with Smith starting his own blog, stephena.com. In February 2010, Smith returned to "The Philadelphia Inquirer" after winning an arbitrator's ruling that he was to be reinstated but having to agree to remove all of his political views from his website and from cable news shows.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On April 11, 2005, Smith became the host of a weekday noon to 2 p.m. radio show on WEPN in New York City with his "right-hand man B.T. (Brandon Tierney)". On September 20, 2007, the show was shifted to the 2–4 p.m. slot, with the second hour being broadcast nationally on ESPN Radio, replacing the third hour of "The Dan Patrick Show" (Mike Tirico took over the first two hours). Smith's show came to an end in April 2008 as he sought to expand his career in television, and beginning May 1, Scott Van Pelt began hosting in the 3–4 p.m. hour that was previously Smith's.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In November 2009, Smith became an on-air contributor to Fox Sports Radio and broke the story of Allen Iverson's retirement on the Chris Myers–Steve Hartman afternoon show on November 25. Iverson later ended his short retirement and re-joined the Philadelphia 76ers on December 2. Smith became a Fox Sports Radio morning show host on January 4, 2010, replacing Washington, D.C.-based host Steve Czaban. On his radio program, Smith correctly predicted that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would all sign with the Miami Heat during 2010 free agency. In early 2011, Smith became a resident FSR NBA insider and ended his morning show.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: It was announced on February 1, 2011, that Smith would be returning to ESPN as a columnist for ESPN.com and host for weekday local radio shows on 1050 ESPN Radio New York (WEPN-AM) at 7–9 p.m. ET as well as 710 ESPN Radio Los Angeles (KSPN-AM) at 6–8 p.m. PT. April 24, 2012, was Smith's last show for LA 710 ESPN.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In 2013, Smith left ESPN for Sirius XM Radio, where he joined Chris Russo's Mad Dog Sports Channel. The move was announced just one day after Smith made some controversial comments on ESPN2's "First Take" program regarding the Ray Rice situation.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On January 17, 2017, Smith moved from Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports channel back to ESPN. His daily two-hour program is heard on WEPN in New York, KSPN in Los Angeles, Sirius XM's ESPN channel, and via syndication.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith is currently one of the hosts of "First Take" on ESPN. He also appears as an analyst on various ESPN programs. He is known for provocative analysis and dour delivery.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In August 2005, Smith started hosting a daily hour-long show on ESPN called "Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith". After the show was cancelled in January 2007, he mainly concentrated on basketball, serving as an NBA analyst. He also appeared on other ESPN shows, including the reality series "Dream Job", as well as serving as a frequent guest (and guest host) on "Pardon the Interruption", "Jim Rome Is Burning", and as a participant on "1st and 10". He appeared as an anchor on the Sunday morning edition of "SportsCenter". On April 17, 2009, Smith announced on his website that he would be leaving ESPN on May 1, 2009. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that ESPN commented that, "We decided to move in different directions." Though according to "Big Lead Sports", a source says that ESPN and Smith went to the negotiating table and could not reach an agreement.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith later returned to ESPN, and it was announced on April 30, 2012, on air that Smith would be joining "First Take" on a permanent, five-days-per-week basis under a new format for the show called "Embrace Debate" in which he squares off against longtime "First Take" commentator Skip Bayless.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On July 25, 2014, Smith made controversial remarks on "First Take" that women may provoke domestic abuse, in regards to the domestic violence situation involving Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice and his wife. After criticism of the remarks, including comments on Twitter from ESPN reporter Michelle Beadle, Smith apologized for his words on a taped segment on ESPN. On July 29, 2014, Smith was suspended by ESPN for a week and did not appear on any of their programs again until August 6, 2014.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In a March 9, 2015, episode of "First Take", while discussing the topic of Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Chip Kelly trading away running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso, Smith said: "Chip Kelly has made decisions over the last couple of years that, dare I say, leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable." Michael David Smith of NBS Sports believed that Smith had hinted Kelly's roster moves regarding the 2014 release of wide receiver DeSean Jackson, the McCoy trade, and letting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin depart for free agency to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, while still keeping wide receiver Riley Cooper on the Eagles' roster might be racially motivated. In an interview with "ESPN The Magazine" that was published on May 8, 2015, McCoy admitted that while he respected Kelly as a head coach, he did not see eye to eye with him. McCoy also believed that some of the roster moves that are being made by Kelly are racially motivated. Kelly has said that the roster moves that he has made have nothing to do with race, it has to do with finding the right players that fit well into his team. Smith defended his comments by saying that he never used a form of the word racism to imply that Kelly was a racist.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On June 11, 2015, Smith received criticism for a comment he made about female soccer players during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. While on "SportsCenter", a replay was shown of a goal scored by Norway on a free kick against Germany. Tim Legler pointed out that the German players forming the wall turned their heads as the ball went by, and Smith joked that the players "might not have wanted to mess up their hair". Smith's comment was criticized as being sexist and a poor joke. ESPN said they spoke with Smith about the comment, and he later apologized in a series of tweets.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On November 5, 2016, Smith joined Top Rank's broadcasting team for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas boxing pay-per-view event. In 2019, Smith became a UFC commentator as ESPN became the UFC's television broadcaster.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In 2020, Smith served as a commentator for the after-party coverage of the 92nd Academy Awards on ABC.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: On June 10, 2021 Smith broke into the soccer coverage space as he put it "let's do that soccer". Smith selected a Euro2020 team and followed this up with another soccer segment called "Ain't No Way" on June 14, 2021.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith made his acting debut on the ABC soap opera "General Hospital" in a cameo appearance as a television reporter on February 2, 2007. Smith is a longtime fan of the show, as his older sisters watched it every day growing up. Smith appeared as Brick on "General Hospital" on March 31, 2016, and has made guest appearances in the role every year since.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Beginning in 2014, he has appeared in a series of Oberto all-natural beef jerky commercials as "The Little Voice in Your Stomach", each time appearing alongside sports figures, such as star athletes Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and pro snowboarder Louie Vito, and notable basketball sportscaster Dick "Dickie V" Vitale.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: In a December 11, 2019, interview with "GQ", Smith disclosed that he has two daughters, aged 10 and 11 years old at the time. He was once engaged. When asked why he never went through with the marriage, he said: "It didn't work out. Matter of fact, I just told my sister that the other day: none of your business ... Something about my job and my money. I said this is not a discussion. You'll get an answer if I want to give you an answer."


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith is known for his frequent use of catchphrases while hosting "First Take", such as "blasphemous" when describing something completely outrageous that does not make sense to him. He also frequently refers to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a "baaaaaaaad man" (with the "A" stretched out for several seconds). Smith has worn Rodgers' jersey on two occasions on "First Take" in 2017: once following the Dallas Cowboys' elimination at the hands of the Packers and once during a special taping of "First Take" from Dallas where Smith received boos from the live crowd.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith has been known to show a strong hatred towards the Cowboys, often at times mocking them with their "How 'Bout Them Cowboys?" slogan in a sarcastic manner, claiming that they are "an accident waiting to happen", and calling them "a damn disgrace". A song was even made all about Smith's hatred of the Cowboys. He has frequently mocked former Cowboys player and fellow "First Take" commentator Michael Irvin after losses, as well as other past and present ESPN employees who were known Cowboys fans such as Skip Bayless, Will Cain and Marcus Spears.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith has been known to say many times that he knows absolutely nothing about the sport of hockey, such as by saying that tie games still exist in the sport (the NHL abolished ties following the 2004–05 NHL lockout), despite the presence of three hockey teams from within the New York metropolitan area where he was brought up. In recent years, and especially after ESPN acquired broadcasting rights for the NHL in the United States as of the 2021-2022 season, Smith would talk about hockey more often on both "First Take" and his new show "Stephen A.’s World", such as when he roasted the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl after they got swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the opening round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and equated the Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff failures to that of the Dallas Cowboys’. Smith would also have NHL defenseman P.K. Subban occasionally appear as a guest on both shows.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: Smith is known for his outspoken stance on NFL players and the usage of marijuana (still prohibited by league policy, punishable by fine or suspension), loudly telling players to "Stay off the weed!" Examples of players that he has called out for smoking the drug include Stedman Bailey, Adrian Peterson, Josh Gordon, Joseph Randle, Randy Gregory, Aldon Smith, LeGarrette Blount, Le'veon Bell, and Martavis Bryant. He also has the same reaction for athletes of other leagues getting caught with the usage of marijuana. Firstly, when the NBA's Zach Randolph was caught and subsequently arrested for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell in August 2017, then another NBA star, D'Angelo Russell, getting cited for marijuana possession inside his luggage at New York's LaGuardia Airport while flying to Louisville in May 2019, and then Alex Caruso after the NBA star was arrested in Texas for marijuana possession in June 2021.


title: Stephen A. Smith

text: The day after the Golden State Warriors Game 1 overtime victory in the 2018 NBA Finals, which saw Cleveland Cavaliers player J. R. Smith dribble the ball out without attempting a shot in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, thinking his team was leading the game rather than attempting to break the tie score, Stephen A. Smith jokingly delivered his "Stay off the weed!" line at the request of the live crowd attending the live "First Take" taping in Oakland, garnering applause from the crowd and his "First Take" co-hosts. The Warriors ultimately won the series and the NBA championship in a four-game sweep.


title: George Gershwin

text: George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions "Rhapsody in Blue" (1924) and "An American in Paris" (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera "Porgy and Bess" (1935), which included the hit "Summertime".


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris, intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style; Maurice Ravel voiced similar objections when Gershwin inquired about studying with him. He subsequently composed "An American in Paris", returned to New York City and wrote "Porgy and Bess" with Ira and DuBose Heyward. Initially a commercial failure, it came to be considered one of the most important American operas of the twentieth century and an American cultural classic.


title: George Gershwin

text: His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with many becoming jazz standards.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin was of Russian-Jewish ancestry. His grandfather, Jakov Gershowitz, was born in Odessa (Ukraine) and had served for 25 years as a mechanic for the Imperial Russian Army to earn the right of free travel and residence as a Jew, finally retiring near Saint Petersburg. His teenage son Moishe, George's father, worked as a leather cutter for women's shoes. His mother, Roza Bruskina, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Moishe met Roza in Vilnius, Lithuania where her father worked as a furrier. She and her family moved to New York because of increasing anti-Jewish sentiment in Russia, changing her first name to Rose. Moishe, faced with compulsory military service if he remained in Russia, moved to America as soon as he could afford to. Once in New York, he changed his first name to Morris. Gershowitz lived with a maternal uncle in Brooklyn, working as a foreman in a women's shoe factory. He married Rose on July 21, 1895, and Gershowitz soon Anglicized his name to Gershwine. Their first child, Ira Gershwin, was born on December 6, 1896, after which the family moved into a second-floor apartment at 242 Snediker Avenue in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.


title: George Gershwin

text: George was born on September 26, 1898, in the Snediker Avenue apartment. His birth certificate identifies him as Jacob Gershwine, with the surname pronounced 'Gersh-vin' in the Russian and Yiddish immigrant community. He was named after his grandfather, and, contrary to the American practice, had no middle name. He soon became known as George, and changed the spelling of his surname to 'Gershwin' around the time he became a professional musician; other family members followed suit. After Ira and George, another boy, Arthur Gershwin (1900–1981), and a girl, Frances Gershwin (1906–1999), were born into the family.


title: George Gershwin

text: The family lived in many different residences, as their father changed dwellings with each new enterprise in which he became involved. They grew up mostly in the Yiddish Theater District. George and Ira frequented the local Yiddish theaters, with George occasionally appearing onstage as an extra.


title: George Gershwin

text: George lived a boyhood not unusual in New York tenements, which included running around with his friends, roller-skating and misbehaving in the streets. Until 1908, he cared nothing about music. Then, as a ten-year-old, he was intrigued upon hearing his friend Maxie Rosenzweig's violin recital. The sound, and the way his friend played, captivated him. At about the same time, George's parents had bought a piano for his older brother Ira. To his parents' surprise, though, and to Ira's relief, it was George who spent more time playing it as he continued to enjoy it.


title: George Gershwin

text: Although his younger sister Frances was the first in the family to make a living through her musical talents, she married young and devoted herself to being a mother and housewife, thus precluding spending any serious time on musical endeavors. Having given up her performing career, she settled upon painting as a creative outlet, which had also been a hobby George briefly pursued. Arthur Gershwin followed in the paths of George and Ira, also becoming a composer of songs, musicals, and short various piano teachers for about two years (circa 1911) before finally being introduced to Charles Hambitzer by Jack Miller (circa 1913), the pianist in the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Until his death in 1918, Hambitzer remained Gershwin's musical mentor, taught him conventional piano technique, introduced him to music of the European classical tradition, and encouraged him to attend orchestral concerts.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1913, Gershwin left school at the age of 15 to work as a "song plugger" on New York City's Tin Pan Alley. He earned $15 a week from Jerome H. Remick and Company, a Detroit-based publishing firm with a branch office in New York.


title: George Gershwin

text: His first published song was "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em" in 1916. It earned the 17-year-old 50 cents.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1916, Gershwin started working for Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls in New York, recording and arranging. He produced dozens, if not hundreds, of rolls under his own and assumed names (pseudonyms attributed to Gershwin include Fred Murtha and Bert Wynn). He also recorded rolls of his own compositions for the Duo-Art and Welte-Mignon reproducing pianos. As well as recording piano rolls, Gershwin made a brief foray into vaudeville, accompanying both Nora Bayes and Louise Dresser on the piano. His 1917 novelty ragtime, "Rialto Ripples", was a commercial success.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1919 he scored his first big national hit with his song "Swanee", with words by Irving Caesar. Al Jolson, a Broadway star and former minstrel singer, heard Gershwin perform "Swanee" at a party and decided to sing it in one of his shows.


title: George Gershwin

text: In the late 1910s, Gershwin met songwriter and music director William Daly. The two collaborated on the Broadway musicals "Piccadilly to Broadway" (1920) and "For Goodness' Sake" (1922), and jointly composed the score for "Our Nell" (1923). This was the beginning of a long friendship. Daly was a frequent arranger, orchestrator and conductor of Gershwin's music, and Gershwin periodically turned to him for musical advice.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1924, Gershwin composed his first major work, "Rhapsody in Blue", for orchestra and piano. It was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé and premiered by Paul Whiteman's Concert Band, in New York. It subsequently went on to be his most popular work, and established Gershwin's signature style and genius in blending vastly different musical styles, including jazz and classical, in revolutionary ways.


title: George Gershwin

text: Since the early 1920s Gershwin had frequently worked with the lyricist Buddy DeSylva. Together they created the experimental one-act jazz opera "Blue Monday," set in Harlem. It is widely regarded as a forerunner to the groundbreaking "Porgy and Bess" introduced in 1935. In 1924, George and Ira Gershwin collaborated on a stage musical comedy "Lady Be Good", which included such future standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Oh, Lady Be Good!". They followed this with "Oh, Kay!" (1926), "Funny Face" (1927) and "Strike Up the Band" (1927 and 1930). Gershwin allowed the song, with a modified title, to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The Band for UCLA".


title: George Gershwin

text: In the mid-1920s, Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short period, during which he applied to study composition with the noted Nadia Boulanger, who, along with several other prospective tutors such as Maurice Ravel, turned him down, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. Maurice Ravel's rejection letter to Gershwin told him, "Why become a second-rate Ravel when you're already a first-rate Gershwin?" While there, Gershwin wrote "An American in Paris". This work received mixed reviews upon its first performance at Carnegie Hall on December 13, 1928, but it quickly became part of the standard repertoire in Europe and the United States.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1929, the Gershwin brothers created "Show Girl"; the following year brought "Girl Crazy", which introduced the standards "Embraceable You", sung by Ginger Rogers, and "I Got Rhythm". 1931's "Of Thee I Sing" became the first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; the winners were George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, and Ira Gershwin.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin spent the summer of 1934 on Folly Island in South Carolina after he was invited to visit by the author of the novel "Porgy", DuBose Heyward. He was inspired to write the music to his opera "Porgy and Bess" while on this working vacation"." "Porgy and Bess" was considered another American classic by the composer of "Rhapsody in Blue" — even if critics could not quite figure out how to evaluate it, or decide whether it was opera or simply an ambitious Broadway musical. "It crossed the barriers," per theater historian Robert Kimball. "It wasn't a musical work per se, and it wasn't a drama per se – it elicited response from both music and drama critics. But the work has sort of always been outside category."


title: George Gershwin

text: After the commercial failure of "Porgy and Bess", Gershwin moved to Hollywood, California. In 1936, he was commissioned by RKO Pictures to write the music for the film "Shall We Dance", starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Gershwin's extended score, which would marry ballet with jazz in a new way, runs over an hour. It took Gershwin several months to compose and orchestrate.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin had a ten-year affair with composer Kay Swift, whom he frequently consulted about his music. The two never married, although she eventually divorced her husband James Warburg in order to commit to the relationship. Swift's granddaughter, Katharine Weber, has suggested that the pair were not married because George's mother Rose was "unhappy that Kay Swift wasn't Jewish". The Gershwins' 1926 musical "Oh, Kay" was named for her. After Gershwin's death, Swift arranged some of his music, transcribed several of his recordings, and collaborated with his brother Ira on several projects.


title: George Gershwin

text: Early in 1937, Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression that he smelled burning rubber. (As early as February 1934, he had said he smelled burning garbage at the Detroit railway station, though those with him did not.) On February 11, 1937, he performed his Piano Concerto in F in a special concert of his music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of French maestro Pierre Monteux. Gershwin, normally a superb pianist in his own compositions, suffered coordination problems and blackouts during the performance. He was at the time working on other Hollywood film projects while living with Ira and his wife Leonore in their rented house in Beverly Hills. Leonore Gershwin began to be disturbed by George's mood swings and his seeming inability to eat without spilling food at the dinner table. She suspected mental illness and insisted he be moved out of their house to lyricist Yip Harburg's empty quarters nearby, where he was placed in the care of his valet, Paul Mueller. The headaches and olfactory hallucinations continued.


title: George Gershwin

text: On the night of July 9, 1937, Gershwin collapsed in Harburg's house, where he had been working on the score of "The Goldwyn Follies". He was rushed to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, and fell into a coma. Only then did his doctors come to believe that he was suffering from a brain tumor. Leonore called George's close friend Emil Mosbacher and explained the dire need to find a neurosurgeon. Mosbacher immediately called pioneering neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing in Boston, who, retired for several years by then, recommended Dr. Walter Dandy, who was on a boat fishing in Chesapeake Bay with the governor of Maryland. Mosbacher called the White House and had a Coast Guard cutter sent to find the governor's yacht and bring Dandy quickly to shore. Mosbacher then chartered a plane and flew Dandy to Newark Airport, where he was to catch a plane to Los Angeles; by that time, Gershwin's condition was critical and the need for surgery was immediate. In the early hours of July 11, 1937, doctors at Cedars removed a large brain tumor, believed to have been a glioblastoma, but Gershwin died that morning at the age of 38. The fact that he had suddenly collapsed and become comatose after he stood up on July 9 has been interpreted as brain herniation with Duret haemorrhages.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin's friends and admirers were shocked and devastated. John O'Hara remarked: "George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to." He was interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. A memorial concert was held at the Hollywood Bowl on September 8, 1937, at which Otto Klemperer conducted his own orchestration of the second of Gershwin's "Three Preludes".


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin was influenced by French composers of the early twentieth century. In turn Maurice Ravel was impressed with Gershwin's abilities, commenting, "Personally I find jazz most interesting: the rhythms, the way the melodies are handled, the melodies themselves. I have heard of George Gershwin's works and I find them intriguing." The orchestrations in Gershwin's symphonic works often seem similar to those of Ravel; likewise, Ravel's two piano concertos evince an influence of Gershwin.


title: George Gershwin

text: George Gershwin asked to study with Ravel. When Ravel heard how much Gershwin earned, Ravel replied with words to the effect of, "You should give "me" lessons." (Some versions of this story feature Igor Stravinsky rather than Ravel as the composer; however Stravinsky confirmed that he originally heard the story from Ravel.)


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin's own "Concerto in F" was criticized for being related to the work of Claude Debussy, more so than to the expected jazz style. The comparison did not deter him from continuing to explore French styles. The title of "An American in Paris" reflects the very journey that he had consciously taken as a composer: "The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and "Les Six", though the tunes are original."


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin was intrigued by the works of Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg. He also asked Schoenberg for composition lessons. Schoenberg refused, saying "I would only make you a bad Schoenberg, and you're such a good Gershwin already." (This quote is similar to one credited to Maurice Ravel during Gershwin's 1928 visit to France – "Why be a second-rate Ravel, when you are a first-rate Gershwin?") Gershwin was particularly impressed by the music of Berg, who gave him a score of the "Lyric Suite". He attended the American premiere of "Wozzeck", conducted by Leopold Stokowski in 1931, and was "thrilled and deeply impressed".


title: George Gershwin

text: Russian Joseph Schillinger's influence as Gershwin's teacher of composition (1932–1936) was substantial in providing him with a method of composition. There has been some disagreement about the nature of Schillinger's influence on Gershwin. After the posthumous success of "Porgy and Bess", Schillinger claimed he had a large and direct influence in overseeing the creation of the opera; Ira completely denied that his brother had any such assistance for this work. A third account of Gershwin's musical relationship with his teacher was written by Gershwin's close friend Vernon Duke, also a Schillinger student, in an article for "the Musical Quarterly" in 1947.


title: George Gershwin

text: What set Gershwin apart was his ability to manipulate forms of music into his own unique voice. He took the jazz he discovered on Tin Pan Alley into the mainstream by splicing its rhythms and tonality with that of the popular songs of his era. Although George Gershwin would seldom make grand statements about his music, he believed that "true music must reflect the thought and aspirations of the people and time. My people are Americans. My time is today."


title: George Gershwin

text: In 2007, the Library of Congress named its Gershwin Prize for Popular Song after George and Ira Gershwin. Recognizing the profound and positive effect of popular music on culture, the prize is given annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins. On March 1, 2007, the first Gershwin Prize was awarded to Paul Simon.


title: George Gershwin

text: Early in his career, under both his own name and pseudonyms, Gershwin recorded more than one hundred forty player piano rolls which were a main source of his income. The majority were popular music of the period and a smaller proportion were of his own works. Once his musical theatre-writing income became substantial, his regular roll-recording career became superfluous. He did record additional rolls throughout the 1920s of his main hits for the Aeolian Company's reproducing piano, including a complete version of his "Rhapsody in Blue".


title: George Gershwin

text: Compared to the piano rolls, there are few accessible audio recordings of Gershwin's playing. His first recording was his own "Swanee" with the Fred Van Eps Trio in 1919. The recorded balance highlights the banjo playing of Van Eps, and the piano is overshadowed. The recording took place before "Swanee" became famous as an Al Jolson specialty in early 1920.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin recorded an abridged version of "Rhapsody in Blue" with Paul Whiteman and his orchestra for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1924, soon after the world premiere. Gershwin and the same orchestra made an electrical recording of the abridged version for Victor in 1927. However, a dispute in the studio over interpretation angered Whiteman and he walked out on the session. Victor's staff conductor and arranger Nathaniel Shilkret led the orchestra, though Whiteman is still credited as conductor on the original record labels.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin made a number of solo piano recordings of tunes from his musicals, some including the vocals of Fred and Adele Astaire, as well as his "Three Preludes" for piano. In 1929, Gershwin "supervised" the world premiere recording of "An American in Paris" with Nathaniel Shilkret and the Victor Symphony Orchestra. Gershwin's role in the recording was rather limited, particularly because Shilkret was conducting and had his own ideas about the music. When it was realized that no one had been hired to play the brief celeste solo, Gershwin was asked if he could and would play the instrument, and he agreed. Gershwin can be heard, rather briefly, on the recording during the slow section.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin appeared on several radio programs, including Rudy Vallee's, and played some of his compositions. This included the third movement of the "Concerto in F" with Vallee conducting the studio orchestra. Some of these performances were preserved on transcription discs and have been released on LP and CD.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1934, in an effort to earn money to finance his planned folk opera, Gershwin hosted his own radio program titled "Music by Gershwin". The show was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from February to May and again in September through the final show on December 23, 1934. He presented his own work as well as the work of other composers. Recordings from this and other radio broadcasts include his "Variations on I Got Rhythm", portions of the "Concerto in F", and numerous songs from his musical comedies. He also recorded a run-through of his "Second Rhapsody", conducting the orchestra and playing the piano solos. Gershwin recorded excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" with members of the original cast, conducting the orchestra from the keyboard; he even announced the selections and the names of the performers. In 1935, RCA Victor asked him to supervise recordings of highlights from "Porgy and Bess"; these were his last recordings.


title: George Gershwin

text: Victor Records issued a 5 record 12 inch 78 rpm Memorial Album (C-29) recorded from the RCA Magic Key program broadcast on July 10, 1938, over the NBC Radio Network. It featured the Victor Salon Group conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret and singer Jane Froman.


title: George Gershwin

text: A 74-second newsreel film clip of Gershwin playing "I Got Rhythm" has survived, filmed at the opening of the Manhattan Theater (now The Ed Sullivan Theater) in August 1931. There are also silent home movies of Gershwin, some of them shot on Kodachrome color film stock, which have been featured in tributes to the composer. In addition, there is newsreel footage of Gershwin playing "Mademoiselle from New Rochelle" and "Strike Up the Band" on the piano during a Broadway rehearsal of the 1930 production of "Strike Up the Band". In the mid-30s, "Strike Up The Band" was given to UCLA to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The Band for UCLA". The comedy team of Clark and McCullough are seen conversing with Gershwin, then singing as he plays.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1945, the film biography "Rhapsody in Blue" was made, starring Robert Alda as George Gershwin. The film contains many factual errors about Gershwin's life, but also features many examples of his music, including an almost complete performance of "Rhapsody in Blue".


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1965, Movietone Records released an album MTM 1009 featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of the titled "George Gershwin plays RHAPSODY IN BLUE and his other favorite compositions". The B-side of the LP featured nine other recordings.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1975, Columbia Records released an album featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of "Rhapsody In Blue", accompanied by the Columbia Jazz Band playing the original jazz band accompaniment, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. The B-side of the Columbia Masterworks release features Tilson Thomas leading the New York Philharmonic in "An American In Paris."


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1976, RCA Records, as part of its "Victrola Americana" line, released a collection of Gershwin recordings taken from 78s recorded in the 1920s and called the LP "Gershwin plays Gershwin, Historic First Recordings" (RCA Victrola AVM1-1740). Included were recordings of "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and Gershwin on piano; "An American in Paris", from 1927 with Gershwin on celesta; and "Three Preludes", "Clap Yo' Hands" and Someone to Watch Over Me", among others. There are a total of ten recordings on the album. At the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, "Rhapsody in Blue" was performed in spectacular fashion by many pianists.


title: George Gershwin

text: The soundtrack to Woody Allen's 1979 film "Manhattan" is composed entirely of Gershwin's compositions, including "Rhapsody in Blue", "Love is Sweeping the Country", and "But Not for Me", performed by both the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Buffalo Philharmonic under Michael Tilson Thomas. The film begins with a monologue by Allen, in the role of a writer, describing a character in his book: "He adored New York City ... To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin."


title: George Gershwin

text: In 1993, two audio CDs featuring piano rolls recorded by Gershwin were issued by Nonesuch Records through the efforts of Artis Wodehouse, entitled "".


title: George Gershwin

text: In 2010, Brian Wilson released "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin", consisting of ten George and Ira Gershwin songs, bookended by passages from "Rhapsody in Blue", with two new songs completed from unfinished Gershwin fragments by Wilson and band member Scott Bennett.


title: George Gershwin

text: Gershwin died intestate, and his estate passed to his mother. The estate continues to collect royalties in the United States from licensing the copyrights on his post-"Rhapsody in Blue" work. The estate supported the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (that extended the U.S. 75-year copyright protection an additional 20 years) because its 1923 cutoff date was shortly before Gershwin had begun to create his most popular works. The copyrights on all Gershwin's solo works expired at the end of 2007 in the European Union, based on its life-plus-70-years rule, and in the U.S. on January 1, 2020, on Gershwin's pre-1925 work.


title: George Gershwin

text: In 2005, "The Guardian" determined using "estimates of earnings accrued in a composer's lifetime" that George Gershwin was the wealthiest composer of all time.


title: George Gershwin

text: The George and Ira Gershwin Collection, much of which was donated by Ira and the Gershwin family estates, resides at the Library of Congress.


title: George Gershwin

text: In September 2013, a partnership between the estates of Ira and George Gershwin and the University of Michigan was created and will provide the university's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance access to Gershwin's entire body of work, which includes all of Gershwin's papers, compositional drafts, and scores. This direct access to all of his works provides opportunities to musicians, composers, and scholars to analyze and reinterpret his work with the goal of accurately reflecting the composers' vision in order to preserve his legacy. The first fascicles of "The Gershwin Critical Edition", edited by Mark Clague, are expected in 2017; they will cover the 1924 jazz band version of "Rhapsody in Blue", "An American in Paris" and "Porgy and Bess".


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book written by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It advocates the importance of financial literacy (financial education), financial independence and building wealth through investing in assets, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses, as well as increasing one's financial intelligence (financial IQ).


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is written in the style of a set of parables, ostensibly based on Kiyosaki's life. The titular "rich dad" is his friend's father who accumulated wealth due to entrepreneurship and savvy investing, while the "poor dad" is claimed to be Kiyosaki's own father who he says worked hard all his life but never obtained financial security.


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: No one has ever proven that "Rich Dad", the man who supposedly gave Kiyosaki all his advice for wealthy living, ever existed. Nor has anyone ever documented any vast reserves of wealth earned by Kiyosaki prior to the publication of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" in 1997.


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" has sold over 32 million copies in more than 51 languages across more than 109 countries, been on the New York Times bestsellers list for over six years, launched a series of books and related products; and received positive reviews from some critics. American talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey endorsed the book on her show. Another celebrity supporter is actor Will Smith, who said he taught his son about the financial responsibility by reading the book. PBS Public Television station KOCE, aired a 55-minute presentation of Kiyosaki titled "A Guide to Wealth" in 2006 which essentially summarises his Rich Dad Poor Dad book. PBS also honoured him with an excellence in education award in 2005. Donald Trump did a literary collaboration with Kiyosaki in 2006 called "Why We Want You To Be Rich, Two Men One Message" and a second book called "Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich — And Why Most Don't" in 2011.


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: John T. Reed, says, ""Rich Dad, Poor Dad" contains much wrong advice, much bad advice, and virtually no good advice." He also states, ""Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is one of the dumbest financial advice books I have ever read. It contains many factual errors and numerous extremely unlikely accounts of events that supposedly occurred."


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: Slate reviewer Rob Walker called the book full of nonsense, and said that Kiyosaki's claims were often vague, the narrative "fablelike", and that much of the book was "self-help boilerplate", noting the predictable common features of such books were present in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". He also criticizes Kiyosaki's conclusions about Americans, American culture, and Kiyosaki's methods.


title: Rich Dad Poor Dad

text: The book was originally self-published in 1997 before being picked up commercially to become a "New York Times" bestseller. It has since sold over 32 million copies and become a household name. In his audio-book "Choose to be Rich", Kiyosaki said that every publisher turned him down, and Barnes & Noble refused to stock the book initially. He places his focus upon talk shows and radio show appearances, of which "The Oprah Winfrey Show" had the biggest influence on book sales. In April 2017 a 20th Anniversary edition was published and in a preface to this 20th Anniversary edition Kiyosaki asserts that an estimated 40 million copies of the book had been sold globally.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician current president of Nigeria since 2015.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état. The term Buharism is ascribed to the authoritarian policies of his military regime.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Buhari ran for president of Nigeria in 2003, 2007, and 2011. In December 2014, he emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress party for the 2015 general election. Buhari won the election, defeating incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. This was the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015. In February 2019, Buhari was re-elected, defeating his closest rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, by over 3 million votes.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Buhari was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Katsina State, his father was called Mallam Hardo Adamu, a Fulani chieftain from Dumurkul in Mai'Adua, and his mother's name was Zulaihat, who had Hausa and Kanuri ancestry. He is the twenty-third child of his father and was named after ninth-century Persian Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari. Buhari was raised by his mother, he was about four years old when his father died. He attended primary school in Daura and Mai'adua, in 1953, Katsina Middle School, and attended Katsina Provincial Secondary School from 1956 to 1961 Katsina State.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Buhari enrolled at age 19 in the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in 1962. In February 1964, the college was upgraded to an officer commissioning unit of the Nigerian Army and renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) (prior to 1964, the Nigerian government sent cadets who had completed their NMTC preliminary training to mostly Commonwealth military academies for officer cadet training).


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: From 1962 to 1963, Buhari underwent officer cadet training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England. In January 1963, at age 20, Buhari was commissioned a second lieutenant and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria. From November 1963 to January 1964, Buhari attended the Platoon Commanders' Course at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna. In 1964, he facilitated his military training by attending the Mechanical Transport Officer's Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: From 1965 to 1967, Buhari served as commander of the Second Infantry Battalion and appointed brigade major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967. Following the bloody 1966 Nigerian coup d'état, which resulted in the death of Premier Ahmadu Bello. Lieutenant Buhari alongside several young officers from Northern Nigeria, took part in the July counter-coup which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi replacing him with General Yakubu Gowon.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: Buhari was assigned to the 1st Division under the command of Lt. Col Mohammed Shuwa, the division had temporarily moved from Kaduna to Makurdi at the onset of the Nigerian Civil War. The 1st division was divided into sectors and then battalions with Shuwa assisted by sector commanders Martin Adamu and Sule Apollo who was later replaced by Theophilus Danjuma. Buhari's initial assignment was as Adjutant and Company Commander 2 battalion unit, Second Sector Infantry of the 1st Division. The 2 battalion was one of the units that participated in the first actions of the war, they started from Gakem near Afikpo and moved towards Ogoja with support from Gado Nasko's artillery squad. They reached and captured Ogoja within a week with the intention of advancing through the flanks to Enugu, the rebel capital. Buhari was briefly the 2 battalion's Commander and led the battalion to Afikpo to link with the 3rd Marine Commando and advance towards Enugu through Nkalagu and Abakaliki. However, before the move to Enugu, he was posted to Nsukka as Brigade Major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade under Joshua Gin who would later become battle fatigued and replaced by Isa Bukar. Buhari stayed with the infantry for a few months as the Nigerian army began to adjust tactics learnt from early battle experiences. Instead of swift advances, the new tactics involved securing and holding on to the lines of communications and using captured towns as training ground to train new recruits brought in from the army depots in Abeokuta and Zaria. In 1968, he was posted to the 4 Sector also called the Awka sector which was charged to take over the capture of Onitsha from Division 2. The sector's operations was within the Awka-Abagana-Onitsha region which was important to Biafran forces because it was a major source of food supply. It was in the sector that Buhari's group suffered a lot of casualties trying to protect food supplies route of the rebels along Oji River and Abagana.


title: Muhammadu Buhari

text: From 1970 to 1971, Buhari was Brigade Major/Commandant, Thirty-first Infantry Brigade. He then served as the Assistant Adjutant-General, First Infantry Division Headquarters, from 1971 to 1972. He also attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973. From 1974 to 1975 Buhari was acting director of Transport and Supply at the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters.