title: Advaita Vedanta

text: According to Nakamura, "there must have been an enormous number of other writings turned out in this period [between the Brahma Sutras and Shankara], but unfortunately all of them have been scattered or lost and have not come down to us today". In his commentaries, Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his Sampradaya. In the beginning of his commentary on the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad Shankara salutes the teachers of the Brahmavidya Sampradaya. Pre-Shankara doctrines and sayings can be traced in the works of the later schools, which does give insight into the development of early Vedānta philosophy.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: According to tradition, Gauḍapāda (6th century) was the teacher of Govinda Bhagavatpada and the grandteacher of Shankara. Gauḍapāda wrote or compiled the ', also known as the ' or the '. The ' is a commentary in verse form on the "Māṇḍūkya Upanishad", one of the shortest Upanishads consisting of just 13 prose sentences. Of the ancient literature related to Advaita Vedānta, the oldest surviving complete text is the "Māṇḍukya Kārikā". The "Māṇḍūkya Upanishad" was considered to be a Śruti before the era of Adi Shankara, but not treated as particularly important. In later post-Shankara period its value became far more important, and regarded as expressing the essence of the Upanishad philosophy. The entire "Karika" became a key text for the Advaita school in this later era.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Gaudapada took over the Yogachara teaching of "vijñapti-mātra", "representation-only," which states that the empirical reality that we experience is a fabrication of the mind, experienced by consciousness-an-sich, and the four-cornered negation, which negates any positive predicates of 'the Absolute'. Gaudapada "wove [both doctrines] into the philosophy of "Mandukaya Upanisad", which was further developed by Shankara". In this view,


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Gauḍapāda uses the concepts of Ajātivāda to explain that 'the Absolute' is not subject to birth, change and death. The Absolute is "aja", the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Maṇḍana Miśra, an older contemporary of Shankara, was a Mimamsa scholar and a follower of Kumarila, but also wrote a seminal text on Advaita that has survived into the modern era, the "Brahma-siddhi". According to Fiordalis, he was influenced by the Yoga-tradition, and with that indiractly by Buddhism, given the strong influence of Buddhism on the Yoga-tradition. For a couple of centuries he seems to have been regarded as "the most important representative of the Advaita position," and the "theory of error" set forth in the "Brahma-siddhi" became the normative Advaita Vedanta theory of error.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Very little is known about Shankara. According to Dalal, "Hagiographical accounts of his life, the "Śaṅkaravijayas" ("Conquests of Śaṅkara"), were composed several centuries after his death," in the 14th to 17th century, and established Shankara as a rallying symbol of valuesin a time when most of India was conquered by Muslims. He is often considered to be the founder of the Advaita Vedānta school, but was actually a systematizer, not a founder.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Shankara was a scholar who synthesized and systematized "Advaita-vāda" thought which already existed at his lifetime. According to Nakamura, comparison of the known teachings of the early Vedantins and Shankara's thought shows that most of the characteristics of Shankara's thought "were advocated by someone before Śankara". According to Nakamura, after the growing influence of Buddhism on Vedānta, culminating in the works of Gauḍapāda, Adi Shankara gave a Vedantic character to the Buddhistic elements in these works, synthesising and rejuvenating the doctrine of Advaita. According to Koller, using ideas in ancient Indian texts, Shankara systematized the foundation for Advaita Vedānta in the 8th century, reforming Badarayana's Vedānta tradition. According to Mayeda, Shankara represents a turning point in the development of Vedānta, yet he also notices that it is only since Deussens's praise that Shankara "has usually been regarded as the greatest philosopher of India." Mayeda further notes that Shankara was primarily concerned with "moksha", "and not with the establishment of a complete system of philosophy or theology," following Potter, who qualifies Shankara as a "speculative philosopher." Lipner notes that Shankara's "main literary approach was commentarial and hence perforce disjointed rather than procedurally systematic [...] though a systematic philosophy can be derived from Samkara's thought."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Adi Shankara is best known for his reviews and commentaries ("Bhasyas") on ancient Indian texts. His "Brahmasutrabhasya" (literally, commentary on Brahma Sutra) is a fundamental text of the Vedānta school of Hinduism. His commentaries on ten Mukhya (principal) Upanishads are also considered authentic by scholars. Other authentic works of Shankara include commentaries on the Bhagavad Gitā (part of his Prasthana Trayi Bhasya). He also authored Upadesasahasri, his most important original philosophical work. The authenticity of Shankara being the author of has been questioned, and "modern scholars tend to reject its authenticity as a work by Shankara."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: While Shankara has an unparalleled status in the history of Advaita Vedanta, scholars have questioned the traditional narrative of Shankara's early influence in India. Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary Maṇḍana Miśra, who was considered to be the major representative of Advaita. Only when Vacaspati Misra, an influential student of Maṇḍana Miśra, harmonised the teachings of Shankara with those of Maṇḍana Miśra, Shankara's teachings gained prominence. Some modern Advaitins argue that most of post-Shankara Advaita Vedanta actually deviates from Shankara, and that only his student Suresvara, who's had little influence, represents Shankara correctly. In this view, Shankara's influential student Padmapada misunderstood Shankara, while his views were manitained by the Suresvara school. According to Satchidanandendra Sarasvati, "almost all the later Advaitins were influenced by Mandana Misra and Bhaskara." Until the 11th century, Vedanta itself was a peripheral school of thought; Vedanta became a major influence when Vedanta philosophy was utilized by various sects of Hinduism to ground their doctrines, such as Ramanuja (11th c.), who aligned bhakti, "the major force in the religions of Hinduism," with philosophical thought, meanwhile rejecting Shankara's views.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: The cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta started only centuries later, in the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th century, when Sringeri "matha" started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire and became a powerful institution. Vidyaranya, also known as Madhava, who was the Jagadguru of the Śringeri Śarada Pītham from ca. 1374–1380 to 1386 played a central role in this growing influence of Advaita Vedanta, and the deification of Shankara as a ruler-renunciate. From 1346 onwards Sringeri "matha" received patronage from the Vijayanagara kings, and its importance and influence grew rapidly in the second half of the 14th century. Vidyaranya and the Sringeri matha competed for royal patronage and converts with Srivaisnava "Visistadvaita", which was dominant in territories conquered by the Vijayanagara Empire, and Madhava (the pre-ordination name of Vidyaranya) presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all "darsanas", portraying the other "darsanas" as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings. The subsequent "Shankara Digvijayam" genre, following the example of the earlier "Madhva Digvijayam", presented Shankara as a ruler-renunciate, conquering the four quarters of India and bringing harmony. The genre created legends to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his "digvijaya" ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Shankara's position was further established in the 19th and 20th century, when neo-Vedantins and western Orientalists, following Vidyaranya, elevated Advaita Vedanta "as the connecting theological thread that united Hinduism into a single religious tradition." Shankara became "an iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Two defunct schools are the "Pancapadika" and "Istasiddhi", which were replaced by Prakasatman's Vivarana school. The still existing Bhāmatī and Vivarana developed in the 11th-14th century. These schools worked out the logical implications of various Advaita doctrines. Two of the problems they encountered were the further interpretations of the concepts of māyā and avidya.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Padmapada (c. 800 CE), the founder of the defunct Pancapadika school, was a direct disciple of Shankara. He wrote the "Pancapadika", a commentary on the "Sankara-bhaya". Padmapada diverged from Shankara in his description of "avidya", designating "prakrti" as "avidya" or "ajnana".


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Sureśvara (fl. 800–900 CE) was a contemporary of Shankara, and often (incorrectly) identified with Maṇḍana Miśra. Sureśvara has also been credited as the founder of a pre-Shankara branch of Advaita Vedānta.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Mandana Mishra's student Vachaspati Miśra (9th/10th century CE), who is believed to have been an incarnation of Shankara to popularize the Advaita view, wrote the "Bhamati", a commentary on Shankara's "Brahma Sutra Bhashya", and the "Brahmatattva-samiksa", a commentary on Mandana Mishra's "Brahma-siddhi". His thought was mainly inspired by Mandana Miśra, and harmonises Shankara's thought with that of Mandana Miśra. The Bhamati school takes an ontological approach. It sees the Jiva as the source of avidya. It sees contemplation as the main factor in the acquirement of liberation, while the study of the Vedas and reflection are additional factors.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Vimuktatman (c. 1200 CE) wrote the "Ista-siddhi". It is one of the four traditional "siddhi", together with Mandana's "Brahma-siddhi", Suresvara's "Naiskarmya-siddhi", and Madusudana's "Advaita-siddhi". According to Vimuktatman, absolute Reality is "pure intuitive consciousness". His school of thought was eventually replaced by Prakasatman's Vivarana school.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Prakasatman (c. 1200–1300) wrote the "Pancapadika-Vivarana", a commentary on the "Pancapadika" by Padmapadacharya. The "Vivarana" lends its name to the subsequent school. According to Roodurmun, "[H]is line of thought [...] became the leitmotif of all subsequent developments in the evolution of the Advaita tradition." The Vivarana school takes an epistemological approach. It is distinguished from the "Bhamati" school by its rejection of action and favouring Vedic study and "a direct apprehension of Brahma." Prakasatman was the first to propound the theory of "mulavidya" or "maya" as being of "positive beginningless nature", and sees Brahman as the source of avidya. Critics object that Brahman is pure consciousness, so it cannot be the source of avidya. Another problem is that contradictory qualities, namely knowledge and ignorance, are attributed to Brahman.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Michael S. Allen and Anand Venkatkrishnan note that Shankara is very well-studied, but "scholars have yet to provide even a rudimentary, let alone comprehensive account of the history of Advaita Vedānta in the centuries leading up to the colonial period."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: While indologists like Paul Hacker and Wilhelm Halbfass took Shankara's system as the measure for an "orthodox" Advaita Vedānta, the living Advaita Vedānta tradition in medieval times was influenced by, and incorporated elements from, the yogic tradition and texts like the "Yoga Vasistha" and the "Bhagavata Purana". Yoga and samkhya had become minor schools of thought since the time of Shankara, and no longer posed a thread for the sectarian identity of Advaita, in contrast to the Vaishnava traditions. The "Yoga Vasistha" became an authoritative source text in the Advaita vedānta tradition in the 14th century, and the "yogic Advaita" of Vidyāraņya's "Jivanmuktiviveka" (14th century) was influenced by the "(Laghu-)Yoga-Vasistha", which in turn was influenced by Kashmir Shaivism. Vivekananda's 19th century emphasis on "nirvikalpa samadhi" was preceded by medieval yogic influences on Advaita Vedānta. In the 16th and 17th centuries, some Nath and hatha yoga texts also came within the scope of the developing Advaita Vedānta tradition.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: According to Nicholson, it was with the arrival of Islamic rule, first in the form of Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire, and the subsequent persecution of Indian religions, that Hindu scholars began a self-conscious attempts to define an identity and unity. Between the twelfth and the fourteenth century, according to Andrew Nicholson, this effort emerged with a classification of astika and nastika systems of Indian philosophies. Certain thinkers, according to Nicholson, began to retrospectively classify ancient thought into "six systems" ("saddarsana") of mainstream Hindu philosophy.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: It is only during this period that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta was established. Advaita Vedanta's position as most influential Hindu "darsana" took shape as Advaitins in the Vijayanagara Empire competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their sect. Central in this repositioning was Vidyāraṇya, also known as Madhava, who was the Jagadguru of the Śringeri Śarada Pītham from 1380 to 1386 and a minister in the Vijayanagara Empire. He inspired the re-creation of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire of South India, in response to the devastation caused by the Islamic Delhi Sultanate, but his efforts were also targeted at Srivaisnava groups, especially "Visistadvaita", which was dominant in territories conquered by the Vijayanagara Empire. Sects competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their own sectarian system, and Vidyaranya efforts were aimed at promoting Advaita Vedanta. Most of Shankara's biographies were created and published from the 14th to the 17th century, such as the widely cited "Śankara-vijaya", in which legends were created to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his "digvijaya" ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Vidyaranya and his brothers wrote extensive Advaitic commentaries on the Vedas and Dharma to make "the authoritative literature of the Aryan religion" more accessible. In his doxography "Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha" ("Summary of all views") Vidyaranya presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all "darsanas", presenting the other "darsanas" as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings, which was regarded to be the most inclusive system. The Vaishanava traditions of Dvaita and Visitadvaita were not classified as Vedanta, and placed just above Buddhism and Jainism, reflecting the threat they posed for Vidyaranya's Advaita allegiance. Bhedabheda wasn't mentioned at all, "literally written out of the history of Indian philosophy." Vidyaranya became head of Sringeri "matha", proclaiming that it was established by Shankara himself. Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support, and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries ("mathas") to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Michael S. Allen has written on the influence and popularity of Advaita Vedanta in early modern north India, especially on the work of the Advaita Dādū-panthī monk Niścaldās (ca. 1791–1863), author of "The Ocean of Inquiry" (Hindi: Vicār-sāgar), a vernacular compendium of Advaita. According to Allen, the work of Niścaldās "was quite popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: it was translated into over eight languages and was once referred to by Vivekananda as having 'more influence in India than any [book] that has been written in any language within the last three centuries.'"


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Allen highlights the widespread prominence in early modern India of what he calls "Greater Advaita Vedānta" which refers to popular Advaita works, including "narratives and dramas, “eclectic” works blending Vedānta with other traditions, and vernacular works such as "The Ocean of Inquiry"." Allen refers to several popular late figures and texts which draw on Advaita Vedanta, such as the Maharashtrian sant Eknāth (16th c.), the popular "Adhyātma-rāmāyaṇa" (ca. late 15th c.), which synthesizes Rama bhakti and advaita metaphysics and the "Tripurā-rahasya" (a tantric text that adopts an advaita metaphysics). Other important vernacular Advaita figures include the Hindu authors Manohardās and Māṇakdās (who wrote the Ātma-bodh). Advaita literature was also written in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Oriya.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: According to King, with the consolidation of the British imperialist rule the new rulers started to view Indians through the "colonially crafted lenses" of Orientalism. In response Hindu nationalism emerged, striving for socio-political independence and countering the influence of Christian missionaries. Among the colonial era intelligentsia the monistic Advaita Vedānta has been a major ideological force for Hindu nationalism, with Hindu intellectuals formulating a "humanistic, inclusivist" response, now called Neo-Vedānta, attempting to respond to this colonial stereotyping of "Indian culture [as] backward, superstitious and inferior to the West."


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Due to the influence of Vidyaranya's "Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha", early Indologists regarded Advaita Vedanta as the most accurate interpretation of the Upanishads. Vedānta came to be regarded, both by westerners as by Indian nationalists, as the essence of Hinduism, and Advaita Vedānta came to be regarded as "then paradigmatic example of the mystical nature of the Hindu religion" and umbrella of "inclusivism". Colonial era Indian thinkers, such as Vivekananda, presented Advaita Vedānta as an inclusive universal religion, a spirituality that in part helped organize a religiously infused identity. It also aided the rise of Hindu nationalism as a counter weight to Islam-infused Muslim communitarian organizations such as the Muslim League, to Christianity-infused colonial orientalism and to religious persecution of those belonging to Indian religions. Neo-Vedānta subsumed and incorporated Buddhist ideas thereby making the Buddha a part of the Vedānta tradition, all in an attempt to reposition the history of Indian culture. This view on Advaita Vedānta, according to King, "provided an opportunity for the construction of a nationalist ideology that could unite Hindus in their struggle against colonial oppression".


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Vivekananda discerned a universal religion, regarding all the apparent differences between various traditions as various manifestations of one truth. Vivekananda emphasised "nirvikalpa" samadhi as the spiritual goal of Vedānta, he equated it to the liberation in Yoga and encouraged Yoga practice which he called "Raja yoga". With the efforts of Vivekananda, modern formulations of Advaita Vedānta have "become a dominant force in Indian intellectual thought", though Hindu beliefs and practices are diverse.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first a professor at Oxford University and later a President of India, further popularized Advaita Vedānta, presenting it as the essence of Hinduism. According to Michael Hawley, Radhakrishnan saw other religions, as well as "what Radhakrishnan understands as lower forms of Hinduism," as interpretations of Advaita Vedānta, thereby "in a sense Hindusizing all religions". Radhakrishnan metaphysics was grounded in Advaita Vedānta, but he reinterpreted Advaita Vedānta for contemporary needs and context.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Contemporary teachers are the orthodox Jagadguru of Sringeri Sharada Peetham; the more traditional teachers Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963), Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916-1993), Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya) (1930-2015), Swami Paramarthananda, Swami Tattvavidananda Sarasvati, Carol Whitfield (Radha), Sri Vasudevacharya (previously Michael Comans) and less traditional teachers such as Narayana Guru. According to Sangeetha Menon, prominent names in 20th century Advaita tradition are Shri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswami, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal, Sacchidānandendra Saraswati.


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: Advaita Vedānta has gained attention in western spirituality and New Age as nondualism, where various traditions are seen as driven by the same non-dual experience. Nonduality points to "a primordial, natural awareness without subject or object". It is also used to refer to interconnectedness, "the sense that all things are interconnected and not separate, while at the same time all things retain their individuality".


title: Advaita Vedanta

text: "Neo-Advaita" is a New Religious Movement based on a popularised, western interpretation of Advaita Vedānta and the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Neo-Advaita is being criticised for discarding the traditional prerequisites of knowledge of the scriptures and "renunciation as necessary preparation for the path of "jnana"-yoga". Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja, his students Gangaji Andrew Cohen, and Eckhart Tolle.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as "Arizona Dream" (1993), "The House of the Spirits" (1993), "Palookaville" (1995), and "The Funeral" (1996). His lead roles include Tetro in "Tetro" (2009) and Mohammed in "Essential Killing" (2010). He won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in "Essential Killing". He is most associated with the independent films he has made, including "Buffalo '66" (1998), which he wrote, directed, scored and starred in, and "The Brown Bunny" (2003), which he also wrote, directed, produced, starred in and photographed. In the early 2000s, he released several solo recordings on Warp Records.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: He was born in Buffalo, New York to Sicilian parents. Both were hairdressers, and his father retired to be "a gambler."


title: Vincent Gallo

text: During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in the 1981 film "Downtown 81" with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 1984, Gallo acted in "The Way It Is" (1985) by Eric Mitchell, which included actors Steve Buscemi and Rockets Redglare. After starring in the obscure 1989 film "Doc's Kingdom", he began acting in small parts in more well-known films such as "Goodfellas", "The House of the Spirits", and "The Perez Family". French director Claire Denis hired Gallo to act in several films such as the short film "Keep It for Yourself", the made-for-TV "U.S. Go Home", and its follow-up feature "Nénette et Boni" (1996)."


title: Vincent Gallo

text: In 1998, his directorial debut film "Buffalo '66" was nominated for, but did not win, an award for "Best First Feature" at the Independent Spirit Awards. Gallo made this drama for $1.5 million, serving as writer, director, lead actor, and composer/performer of the soundtrack. The release of Buffalo '66 "gained him a solid fan base."


title: Vincent Gallo

text: In 2003, Gallo starred in and directed the film "The Brown Bunny," which chronicles a motorcycle racer's cross-country road trip and co-starred Chloë Sevigny. The film, which contained a scene of Sevigny performing unsimulated oral sex upon Gallo, received an overwhelmingly negative critical response to its Cannes premiere and became a media scandal, in part due to Gallo's use of a still image from a sex scene on a promotional billboard. In part, the critical response discussed whether Sevigny had been pressured into performing a sex act by Gallo. According to Andrea LeVasseur of "Allmovie", "The Brown Bunny" "premiered to much derision at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival." Film critic Roger Ebert stated that "The Brown Bunny" was the worst film in the history of Cannes. Gallo retorted by calling Ebert a "fat pig with the physique of a slave trader" and put a hex on Ebert, wishing him colon cancer. Ebert then responded – paraphrasing a statement made by Winston Churchill – that, "although I am fat, one day I will be thin, but Mr. Gallo will still have been the director of "The Brown Bunny"." Gallo and Ebert later appeared to have reconciled, and Ebert ended up giving a thumbs up to a re-edited version of "The Brown Bunny". However, in a 2018 article, written after Ebert's death, Gallo accused Ebert's review of the re-edited version as being "far fetched and an outright lie."


title: Vincent Gallo

text: In 2010, Gallo won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 67th Venice International Film Festival for his role in "Essential Killing", although he did not have a line in the film. He did not attend the ceremony to accept his award in person, leaving the duty to the film's director Jerzy Skolimowski, who tried to get the actor to reveal himself, leading the audience in a chant of his name. Gallo was not in attendance.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: Gallo stars in Davide Manuli's "La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser", a modern-western interpretation of the German legend of Kaspar Hauser which premiered at the 2012 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Gallo plays the two largest roles in the film, the English-speaking Sheriff and the Italian-speaking assassin.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: Gallo played electric bass and sang in the mid-1970s in several adolescent garage bands such as Blue Mood; a progressive rock cover band named Zephyr (not to be confused with the late 1960s band of the same name) which did one performance at Lincoln Park, Tonawanda, New York in 1978; The Good (with Bernie Kugel and Larry Galanowitz); The Detours; and the Plastics. At the age of 16, Gallo moved to New York City and was a later member of the band Gray, with visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Gray played at clubs such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB's, Hurrahs, and the Mudd Club. A few of Gray's recordings appear on the soundtrack for the film "Downtown 81".


title: Vincent Gallo

text: Gallo played in a band called Bohack which recorded an album entitled "It Took Several Wives". When Bohack disbanded, Gallo turned his attention to acting, directing, and composing in films. He wrote songs for the soundtrack of the 1998 film "Buffalo 66". He played in a rock band with Lukas Haas called Bunny, and Gallo put out his own album which he wrote, performed and produced under Warp Records, titled "When".


title: Vincent Gallo

text: On August 3, 2013, Vincent Gallo headlined the 3rd Annual San Frandelic Summer Fest in San Francisco.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: Gallo directed music videos for the songs "Going Inside" by John Frusciante, and "Anemone" by L'Arc-en-Ciel. He also starred in the music videos for "Bitter" by Lit, "Cosmopolitan Bloodloss" by Glassjaw, and "Grounded" by My Vitriol.


title: Vincent Gallo

text: In 1984, he (using the name "Prince Vince") appeared as a dancer on an unsold TV pilot for a hip-hop dance show called "Graffiti Rock".


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 117th season of top-flight English football overall. The season began on 8 August 2015, and was scheduled to conclude on 15 May 2016. However, the match between Manchester United and Bournemouth on the final day was postponed to 17 May 2016 due to a suspicious package found at Old Trafford.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Chelsea began the season as defending champions of the 2014–15 season. Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich City entered as the three promoted teams from the 2014–15 Football League Championship.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Leicester City, managed by Italian Claudio Ranieri, were crowned champions for the first time in their 132-year history, with 2 games to spare, after Tottenham failed to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 2 May 2016, becoming the 24th club to become English football champions, and the sixth club to win the Premier League. Many commentators consider this to be one of the greatest sporting shocks in history, especially given that Leicester spent a great deal of the previous season at the bottom of the table before rallying towards the season's end to finish 14th. At the beginning of the season, bookmakers had given Leicester City odds of 5000/1 against them winning the league.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Leicester striker Jamie Vardy's goal against Manchester United on 28 November 2015 meant he had scored in 11 consecutive matches, surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy's Premier League record of 10 straight games with a goal, which he set in 2003.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Aston Villa, one of seven teams who had played in the Premier League since its inaugural season, were relegated from the top flight in England for the first time since 1987.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Leicester celebrated their title win with renditions of "Nessun dorma" and "Con te partirò" by Andrea Bocelli, who sang for the Leicester fans on the pitch of the King Power Stadium in May.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Leicester City were the surprise of the season. Following their late escape from relegation in the previous season many pundits had predicted that they would be relegated and bookmakers gave 5,000–1 odds on them winning the title. After the dismissal of manager Nigel Pearson, they began the new season with Italian Claudio Ranieri in charge. Pearson had been known for his short temper with the press, while Ranieri has a reputation for good humour. The appointment was met with scepticism by pundits, including Leicester fan and former player Gary Lineker, as Ranieri had recently been sacked from his previous post as manager of the Greece national team after suffering a humiliating defeat to the Faroe Islands in his last game in charge.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Despite winning their opening game against Sunderland and topping the table, they dropped back following a 5–2 home defeat to Arsenal in September. However, aided by Jamie Vardy's record feat of scoring in eleven consecutive Premier League games, they then remained unbeaten – and returned to the top of the table – until 26 December, when a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool dropped them to second place. They returned to the top after a 1–1 draw with Aston Villa on 16 January, and remained there for the rest of the season. Following a 2–2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on 2 May 2016, and having two more games to play, Leicester City were confirmed champions, their first title in the top flight of English football, eclipsing the runners-up spot they reached in 1929.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Defending champions Chelsea sacked manager José Mourinho in December while in 16th place and eventually failed to qualify for European football for the first time in two decades. Eden Hazard, the previous season's PFA Players' Player of the Year, did not score a league goal until late April. They eventually finished 10th, breaking the record for lowest finish for a Premier League title holder - 7th - held jointly by Blackburn Rovers in 1995–96 and Manchester United in 2013–14. This record only stood for one year, as Leicester City finished 12th the following season.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Arsenal, looking for their first title since 2004 and following a poor start, improved and in early January took the top spot from Leicester. However, a poor run of results, including draws with Liverpool, Stoke City and Southampton, and a loss to Chelsea saw them drop to fourth by mid-February. They remained in contention, but draws with West Ham United, Sunderland and Crystal Palace in April saw their title hopes vanish.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Meanwhile, Arsenal's London rivals Tottenham Hotspur won six matches in a row, and when Arsenal lost to Manchester United at the end of February, Tottenham leapfrogged them into second place, where they remained until the final weekend of the season. Draws with West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea prevented them from winning their first league title since 1961. The game in which Tottenham's title challenge ended was their 2–2 draw at Chelsea on 2 May, with many altercations between players and benches on and off the field, especially after Eden Hazard scored the equalizing and final goal. Mark Clattenburg, who refereed the game, subsequently stated that he could have "sent three players off from Tottenham" but chose instead to allow them to play on, giving the team a total of nine yellow cards (a league record), so as to allow them to "self destruct" and have no one else to blame but themselves.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: After a 2–1 home loss to Southampton and a 5–1 defeat away to Newcastle United in their final two matches, Tottenham ended the season in third place, one point behind Arsenal.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: West Ham United, in their final season at the Boleyn Ground after 112 years, achieved 62 points, a club record for a Premier League campaign. It was also the first Premier League season where they had finished with a positive goal difference (+14) and West Ham's eight defeats was also a club record for the fewest losses suffered in a Premier League season.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Aston Villa, a presence in the Premier League since the league's foundation in 1992 and present in the top division since the 1988–89 season, were the first team to be mathematically relegated, after a 1–0 loss at Manchester United on 16 April. On 11 May, Sunderland won 3–0 against Everton, a result which relegated both Newcastle United and Norwich City with one game remaining.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: All of the final fixtures of the season were scheduled for 15 May and were to kick off at the same time. However, Manchester United's home game against Bournemouth was postponed to two days later after Old Trafford was evacuated because of the discovery of a suspicious device, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion. It was confirmed to be an accidental leftover from a training exercise.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: The unlikely nature of Leicester's title led to a flood of coverage from across the globe. Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted his congratulations, saying it was "An extraordinary, thoroughly deserved, Premier League title." Congratulations were also sent by the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who praised his compatriot Ranieri.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore described it as "biggest story we've ever had" in English football. Former Leicester manager Martin O'Neill described it as the "greatest achievement of this century". Gary Lineker, the former Leicester striker who led a consortium that saved the club from administration in 2002, had said he would host the BBC football show "Match of the Day" in his underwear if Leicester won the title. After they won the title, he did indeed present the show clad only in boxer shorts. He said: "There were no odds that I would have taken at the start of the season. No odds. You could have given me 10 million to one and I'd have said 'Nah, it's a waste of a quid'". José Mourinho, manager of 2015 champions Chelsea and Ranieri's replacement at the same team eleven years earlier, sent his congratulations, saying: "I lost my title to Claudio Ranieri and it is with incredible emotion that I live this magic moment in his career."


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Ranieri said after winning his first title at the age of 64 that he wouldn't have appreciated it as a young man: "Now I am an old man I can feel it much better."


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: The long odds bookmakers had given Leicester at the start of the season led to them incurring losses of up to £25 million, with one punter winning over £100,000, having wagered £20 at the original 5,000–1 odds; the largest payout was £200,000 to an anonymous bettor who wagered £100 on the team in October when the odds were improved to 2,000–1.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Superstitious claims of phenomena helping Leicester win the league include the club's Thai owners engaging Buddhist monks to bless the players, and the reburial of King Richard III in the city's cathedral in March 2015.


title: 2015–16 Premier League

text: Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Bournemouth (playing in the top flight for the first time ever), Watford (returning to the top flight after eight years) and Norwich City (returning after a season's absence). They replaced Hull City (ending their two-year spell in the top flight), Burnley and Queens Park Rangers (both teams relegated after a season's presence).


title: Dulé Hill

text: Karim Dulé Hill (; born May 3, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series "The West Wing", for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama "Psych". He also had minor roles in the movies "Holes", "The Guardian", and "She's All That" and a recurring role on "Ballers". He joined the regular cast of "Suits" for seasons 8 and 9, and plays the father in the 2021 remake of "The Wonder Years". Hill also serves as a member of the Screen Actors Guild Hollywood Board of Directors.


title: Dulé Hill

text: Hill was born in Orange, New Jersey to Jamaican parents and was raised in Sayreville, New Jersey. He studied ballet at a young age, and appeared in the musical "The Tap Dance Kid" as Savion Glover's understudy on Broadway, a part he subsequently played on the show's national tour. Hill graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School in 1993, and studied business finance at Seton Hall University and acting at William Esper Studio. While at Seton Hall, he accepted a role on Jim Henson's "CityKids".


title: Dulé Hill

text: In 1985, 10-year-old Hill performed a tap dance number on the MDA telethon. When the music could not be found for his routine, telethon host Jerry Lewis helped by having the orchestra play another song while Hill performed. His first film role was in "Sugar Hill" in 1993 during his senior year of high school. While in college at Seton Hall, he was cast in a starring role in "Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk" on Broadway.


title: Dulé Hill

text: In 1999, Hill was cast on "The West Wing" as Charlie Young, the personal aide to President Josiah Bartlet, who was played by Martin Sheen. During the sixth season of the series, Charlie became a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. Hill starred as Charlie for six seasons before he chose to leave the show at the beginning of the seventh season (September 2005) to star in the pilot for the new television show "Psych" for the USA Network, which premiered July 7, 2006. However, when the announcement was made that "The West Wing" would be ending in May 2006, Hill returned for the show's last episodes.


title: Dulé Hill

text: Hill also had roles in the 1999 film "She's All That" starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook, both of whom he later reunited with on "Psych", as a Los Angeles doctor named Owen in the movie and series "10.5", the Disney movie "Holes" as Sam the Onion Man (the movie itself was referenced in the "Psych" episode "65 Million Years Off"), and in "The Guardian".


title: Dulé Hill

text: Hill also appeared on Broadway in "Stick Fly" from December 2011 to February 2012 and "After Midnight" in November 2013.


title: Dulé Hill

text: As a voice actor, Hill was part of the cast of the 2021 animated feature "Night of the Animated Dead," an adaptation of George A. Romero's "eponymous book."


title: Dulé Hill

text: Hill married actress Nicole Lyn in 2004. They had no children. Hill filed for legal separation from Lyn in 2012 citing irreconcilable differences.


title: Dulé Hill

text: On April 14, 2017, Hill became engaged to girlfriend and "Ballers" co-star Jazmyn Simon. In early 2018, Hill married Simon and later adopted her daughter. In 2019, Hill and his wife announced the birth of their son.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Georgia Arianna, Lady Colin Campbell ("née" Ziadie, born 17 August 1949), also known as Lady C, is a British Jamaican author, socialite, and television personality who has published seven books about the British royal family. They include biographies of Diana, Princess of Wales, which was on "The New York Times" Best Seller list in 1992, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Born into the Ziadie family, a prominent family of Lebanese descent, she grew up in the Colony of Jamaica as the child of a wealthy department store owner. Campbell was born with a genital malformation and, following the medical advice of that time, was raised as a boy despite being female. She moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology and began working as a model. In 1970 she had corrective surgery for her congenital vaginal malformation, funded by her grandmother. She legally changed her name from George William Ziadie to Georgia Arianna Ziadie, receiving a new birth certificate. While in the United States, she met and married Lord Colin Ivar Campbell, the second son of Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll and Louise Hollingsworth Morris Clews. The marriage quickly soured and they divorced nine months later following a scandal surrounding her gender at birth, with Campbell accusing her husband of selling a false story that she had a sex change to the papers.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: As well as being a royal biographer, Campbell is a television personality who has made appearances on "Comedy Nation", "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!", "Celebs Go Dating", "Salvage Hunters", "Through the Keyhole", "Good Morning Britain", and "Celebs on the Farm". She is the châtelaine of Castle Goring in Worthing, the ancestral seat of the Shelley baronets, which she runs as a wedding venue and event space.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Campbell was born in Jamaica on 17 August 1949 as George William Ziadie, one of four children of department store owner Michael George Ziadie and Gloria Dey ("née" Smedmore). She claims her father was a Russian count and that she is thus a Russian countess in her own right and has stated that her family descends from Charlemagne and William the Conqueror. Campbell is a cousin of opera director Sir Peter Jonas.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: At birth, she had a genital malformation (a fused labia and deformed clitoris). Medical advice at the time was to assign her as a male so that she could live what was deemed a normal life, as what was thought of at that time as "the superior sex". Though her family life was otherwise happy, Ziadie has since spoken and written of the many personal issues she faced being raised as a boy when she is biologically female.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Her family, the Ziadies, were prominent in Jamaica after emigrating from Lebanon, having grown wealthy from trade. Campbell moved from Jamaica to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. She was not able to have the corrective surgery needed for her congenital vaginal malformation until 1970 when she was 21, when her grandmother discovered what had occurred and gave her the $5,000 she needed. At that time, Ziadie legally changed her name from George William Ziadie to Georgia Arianna Ziadie and received a new birth certificate. "No one ever faced the knife more eagerly than I. You would have thought I was going on a wonderful cruise – which, in a way, I suppose I was," Ziadie wrote in her autobiography. She had already started working as a model in New York City prior to her surgery.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: On 23 March 1974, after having known him for only five days, she married Lord Colin Ivar Campbell, the younger son of the eleventh Duke of Argyll. She has said of him, "He had the strongest personality of anyone I had ever met – he simply exuded strength, decisiveness and charm." However, their relationship quickly soured. The couple split after nine months over the scandal surrounding her gender at birth, and divorced after 14 months. She successfully sued several publications that claimed she was born a boy and had subsequently undergone a sex change, and accused her former husband of selling the untrue story for money.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: In 1993, she adopted two Russian boys, Michael ‘Misha’ and Dimitri ‘Dima’, both of whom appeared on MTV's 2018 reality television show "The Royal World" calling themselves "Count".


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: In 2013, she bought Castle Goring, the ancestral home of the family of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (although he never lived there), and a Grade I listed country house in Worthing, Sussex.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Campbell wrote special Radio pantomimes for the BBC in 1982 and 1983, entitled "Dick Whittington" and "Sleeping Beauty". She is best known for her books on Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her 1992 book, "Diana in Private: The Princess Nobody Knows", provided information about Diana's struggle with bulimia and her affair with James Hewitt (insights into these matters deriving from the fact that "one of [Campbell's] closest friends was one of [Diana's] closest friends"). Campbell was dismissed as a fantasist, but some of her claims were later vindicated. "Diana in Private" appeared on "The New York Times" Best Seller list in 1992. Campbell later claimed that the book initially started as an authorised official biography but later Diana decided to make it an unofficial one and use it as a "get out of jail card" after being "advised by friends that she should play the victim."


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: Campbell's 2012 book, "The Untold Life of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother", was met with criticism. Her theorising, including claims quoting the Duke of Windsor regarding the Queen Mother's parentage, was dismissed by writers Hugo Vickers and Michael Thornton as "bizarre" and "complete nonsense". The timing of the publication of Campbell's book, a service of remembrance for the Queen Mother marking the tenth anniversary of her death, was also condemned. In "The Sunday Times", the journalist Lynn Barber opined that Campbell's claims ought not to be dismissed out of hand. In "The Independent", reviewing Campbell's "The Royal Marriages", Barber had described her pleasure in encountering "an author so exhilaratingly untrammelled by any fear (or knowledge?) of the libel laws. Nothing is beyond her", concluding "either (Campbell) is the greatest gossip since Pepys or she is a complete fabulist: one can only read it and gawp... Lady Colin Campbell never bothers her head with anything so tedious as verification".


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: In 2020 Campbell released another biography called "Meghan and Harry: The Real Story", addressing Meghan and Prince Harry's life, romance and ensuing rift with the Royal Family. Her other books include a book about her own mother titled "Daughter of a Narcissus: A Family's Struggle to Survive their Mother's Narcissistic Personality Disorder", and a book about Queen Elizabeth II titled "The Queen's Marriage". Campbell has been called a "polarizing figure" by "Vanity Fair" and an "amusing dinner partner" by Tina Brown.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: She appeared on "Comedy Nation", a British TV show. In November 2015, Campbell took part in the fifteenth TV series of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". The following month, she left the programme before its conclusion "on medical grounds". In a later interview, Campbell said that she felt bullied into leaving the show by Tony Hadley and Duncan Bannatyne.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: In 2016, she featured in a documentary entitled "Lady C and the Castle", which was broadcast by ITV. The programme charted her journey in converting her dilapidated castle into a wedding venue. In 2017 she appeared at the castle in an episode of "Salvage Hunters" on Quest. She also appeared on "Through the Keyhole", where Keith Lemon toured Castle Goring.


title: Lady Colin Campbell

text: In November of that year she appeared on "Good Morning Britain" to defend Prince Andrew, Duke of York's associations with Jeffrey Epstein, who had been convicted of soliciting a 17-year-old female named Virginia Roberts for prostitution. She said that Epstein was not a paedophile but an ephebophile, and argued that there is a material difference between "a minor and a child" (no legal difference exists where Epstein was convicted). She reiterated this defence on the launch of GB News in June 2021. She subsequently sued the "Daily Mirror" after the newspaper accused her in an article of defending "Jeffrey Epstein's right to rape children".


title: Fencing

text: Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also "saber"); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, singlestick, appeared in the 1904 Olympics but was dropped after that and is not a part of modern fencing. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics. Based on the traditional skills of swordsmanship, the modern sport arose at the end of the 19th century, with the Italian school having modified the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refining the Italian system. There are three forms of modern fencing, each of which uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules; thus the sport itself is divided into three competitive scenes: foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialize in one weapon only.


title: Fencing

text: Competitive fencing is one of the five activities which have been featured in every modern Olympic Games, the other four being athletics, cycling, swimming, and gymnastics.


title: Fencing

text: Fencing is governed by Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE). Today, its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 145 national federations, each of which is recognised by its state Olympic Committee as the sole representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country.


title: Fencing

text: The FIE maintains the current rules used by FIE sanctioned international events, including world cups, world championships and the Olympic Games. The FIE handles proposals to change the rules the first year after an Olympic year in the annual congress. The US Fencing Association has slightly different rules, but usually adheres to FIE standards.


title: Fencing

text: Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels and self defense. The oldest surviving treatise on western fencing is the Royal Armouries Ms. I.33, also known as the Tower mansuscript, written ca.1300 in present-day Germany,which discusses the usage of the arming sword together with the buckler. It was followed by a number of treatises, primarily from Germany and Italy, with the oldest surviving Italian treatise being Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi, written ca. 1400. However, because they were written for the context of a knighly duell with a primary focus on archaic weapons such as the arming sword, longsword, or poleaxe, these older treatises do not really stand in continuity with modern fencing.


title: Fencing

text: From the 16th century onward, the Italian school of fencing would be dominated by the Bolgonese or Dardi-School of fencing, named after its founder, Filippo Dardi, a Bolognese fencing master and Professor of Geometry at the University of Bologna. Unlike the previous traditions, the Bolognese school would primarily focus on the sidesword being either used alone or in combination with a buckler, a cape, a Parrying dagger, or duel wielded with another sidesword, though some Bolognese masters, such as Achille Marozo, would still cover the usage of the two-handed greatsword or spadone. The Bolognese school would eventually spread outside of Italy and lay the foundation for modern fencing, eclipsing both older Italian and German traditions. This was partially due to the German schools' focus on archaic weapons such as the longsword, but also due to a general decline in fencing within Germany.


title: Fencing

text: The mechanics of modern fencing originated in the 18th century in an Italian school of fencing of the Renaissance, and under their influence, were improved by the French school of fencing. The Spanish school of fencing stagnated and was replaced by the Italian and French schools.


title: Fencing

text: The shift towards fencing as a sport rather than as military training happened from the mid-18th century, and was led by Domenico Angelo, who established a fencing academy, Angelo's School of Arms, in Carlisle House, Soho, London in 1763. There, he taught the aristocracy the fashionable art of swordsmanship. His school was run by three generations of his family and dominated the art of European fencing for almost a century.


title: Fencing

text: He established the essential rules of posture and footwork that still govern modern sport fencing, although his attacking and parrying methods were still much different from current practice. Although he intended to prepare his students for real combat, he was the first fencing master to emphasize the health and sporting benefits of fencing more than its use as a killing art, particularly in his influential book "L'École des armes" ("The School of Fencing"), published in 1763.


title: Fencing

text: Basic conventions were collated and set down during the 1880s by the French fencing master Camille Prévost. It was during this time that many officially recognised fencing associations began to appear in different parts of the world, such as the Amateur Fencers League of America was founded in 1891, the Amateur Fencing Association of Great Britain in 1902, and the Fédération Nationale des Sociétés d’Escrime et Salles d’Armes de France in 1906.


title: Fencing

text: The first regularized fencing competition was held at the inaugural Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, in Islington in June. The Tournament featured a series of competitions between army officers and soldiers. Each bout was fought for five hits and the foils were pointed with black to aid the judges. The Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing Association drew up an official set of fencing regulations in 1896.


title: Fencing

text: Fencing was part of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1896. Sabre events have been held at every Summer Olympics; foil events have been held at every Summer Olympics except 1908; épée events have been held at every Summer Olympics except in the summer of 1896 because of unknown reasons.


title: Fencing

text: Starting with épée in 1933, side judges were replaced by the Laurent-Pagan electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. Foil was automated in 1956, sabre in 1988. The scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, and more touches to the back and flank than before.


title: Fencing

text: There are three weapons in modern fencing: foil, épée, and sabre. Each weapon has its own rules and strategies. Equipment needed includes at least 2 swords, a lamé (not for épée), a white jacket, underarm protector, two body and mask cords, knee high socks, glove and knickers.


title: Fencing

text: The foil is a light thrusting weapon with a maximum weight of 500 grams. The foil targets the torso, but not the arms or legs. The foil has a small circular hand guard that serves to protect the hand from direct stabs. As the hand is not a valid target in foil, this is primarily for safety. Touches are scored only with the tip; hits with the side of the blade do not register on the electronic scoring apparatus (and do not halt the action). Touches that land outside the target area (called an "off-target touch" and signaled by a distinct color on the scoring apparatus) stop the action, but are not scored. Only a single touch can be awarded to either fencer at the end of a phrase. If both fencers land touches within a close enough interval of milliseconds to register two lights on the machine, the referee uses the rules of "right of way" to determine which fencer is awarded the touch, or if an off-target hit has priority over a valid hit, in which case no touch is awarded. If the referee is unable to determine which fencer has right of way, no touch is awarded.


title: Fencing

text: The épée is a thrusting weapon like the foil, but heavier, with a maximum total weight of 775 grams. In épée, the entire body is a valid target. The hand guard on the épée is a large circle that extends towards the pommel, effectively covering the hand, which is a valid target in épée. Like foil, all hits must be with the tip and not the sides of the blade. Hits with the side of the blade do not register on the electronic scoring apparatus (and do not halt the action). As the entire body is legal target, there is no concept of an off-target touch, except if the fencer accidentally strikes the floor, setting off the light and tone on the scoring apparatus. Unlike foil and sabre, épée does not use "right of way", simultaneous touches to both fencers, known as “double touches.” However, if the score is tied in a match at the last point and a double touch is scored, the point is null and void.


title: Fencing

text: The sabre is a light cutting and thrusting weapon that targets the entire body above the waist, including the head and both the hands. Sabre is the newest weapon to be used. Like the foil, the maximum legal weight of a sabre is 500 grams. The hand guard on the sabre extends from hilt to the point at which the blade connects to the pommel. This guard is generally turned outwards during sport to protect the sword arm from touches. Hits with the entire blade or point are valid. As in foil, touches that land outside the target area are not scored. However, unlike foil, these "off-target" touches do not stop the action, and the fencing continues. In the case of both fencers landing a scoring touch, the referee determines which fencer receives the point for the action, again through the use of "right of way".


title: Fencing

text: Most personal protective equipment for fencing is made of tough cotton or nylon. Kevlar was added to top level uniform pieces (jacket, breeches, underarm protector, lamé, and the bib of the mask) following the death of Vladimir Smirnov at the 1982 World Championships in Rome. However, Kevlar is degraded by both ultraviolet light and chlorine, which can complicate cleaning.


title: Fencing

text: Other ballistic fabrics, such as Dyneema, have been developed that resist puncture, and which do not degrade the way that Kevlar does. FIE rules state that tournament wear must be made of fabric that resists a force of , and that the mask bib must resist twice that amount.


title: Fencing

text: Traditionally, the fencer's uniform is white, and an instructor's uniform is black. This may be due to the occasional pre-electric practice of covering the point of the weapon in dye, soot, or colored chalk in order to make it easier for the referee to determine the placing of the touches. As this is no longer a factor in the electric era, the FIE rules have been relaxed to allow colored uniforms (save black). The guidelines also limit the permitted size and positioning of sponsorship logos.


title: Fencing

text: A set of electric fencing equipment is required to participate in electric fencing. Electric equipment in fencing varies depending on the weapon with which it is used in accordance. The main component of a set of electric equipment is the body cord. The body cord serves as the connection between a fencer and a reel of wire that is part of a system for electrically detecting that the weapon has touched the opponent. There are two types: one for épée, and one for foil and sabre.


title: Fencing

text: Épée body cords consist of two sets of three prongs each connected by a wire. One set plugs into the fencer's weapon, with the other connecting to the reel. Foil and sabre body cords have only two prongs (or a twist-lock bayonet connector) on the weapon side, with the third wire connecting instead to the fencer's lamé. The need in foil and sabre to distinguish between on and off-target touches requires a wired connection to the valid target area.


title: Fencing

text: A body cord consists of three wires known as the A, B, and C lines. At the reel connector (and both connectors for Épée cords) The B pin is in the middle, the A pin is 1.5 cm to one side of B, and the C pin is 2 cm to the other side of B. This asymmetrical arrangement ensures that the cord cannot be plugged in the wrong way around.


title: Fencing

text: In foil, the A line is connected to the lamé and the B line runs up a wire to the tip of the weapon. The B line is normally connected to the C line through the tip. When the tip is depressed, the circuit is broken and one of three things can happen:


title: Fencing

text: In Épée, the A and B lines run up separate wires to the tip (there is no lamé). When the tip is depressed, it connects the A and B lines, resulting in a valid touch. However, if the tip is touching the opponents weapon (their C line) or the grounded strip, nothing happens when it is depressed, as the current is redirected to the C line. Grounded strips are particularly important in Épée, as without one, a touch to the floor registers as a valid touch (rather than off-target as in Foil).


title: Fencing

text: In Sabre, similarly to Foil, the A line is connected to the lamé, but both the B and C lines are connected to the body of the weapon. Any contact between the one's B/C line (doesn't matter which, as they are always connected) and the opponent's A line (their lamé) results in a valid touch. There is no need for grounded strips in Sabre, as hitting something other than the opponent's lame does nothing.


title: Fencing

text: The electric equipment of sabre is very similar to that of foil. In addition, equipment used in sabre includes:


title: Fencing

text: Épée fencers lack a lamé, conductive bib, and head cord due to their target area. Also, their body cords are constructed differently as described above. However, they possess all of the other components of a foil fencer's equipment.


title: Fencing

text: Techniques or movements in fencing can be divided into two categories: offensive and defensive. Some techniques can fall into both categories ("e.g." the beat). Certain techniques are used offensively, with the purpose of landing a hit on your opponent while holding the right of way (foil and sabre). Others are used defensively, to protect against a hit or obtain the right of way.


title: Fencing

text: The attacks and defences may be performed in countless combinations of feet and hand actions. For example, fencer A attacks the arm of fencer B, drawing a high outside parry; fencer B then follows the parry with a high line riposte. Fencer A, expecting that, then makes his own parry by pivoting his blade under fencer B's weapon (from straight out to more or less straight down), putting fencer B's tip off target and fencer A now scoring against the low line by angulating the hand upwards.


title: Fencing

text: Whenever a point is scored, the fencers will go back to their starting mark. The fight will start again after the following commands have been given by the referee (in French in international settings): "En garde" (On guard), "Êtes-vous prêts ?" (Are you ready?), "Allez" (Fence!).


title: Fencing

text: University students compete internationally at the World University Games. The United States holds two national level university tournaments including the NCAA championship and the USACFC National Championships tournaments in the US and the BUCS fencing championships in the United Kingdom.


title: Fencing

text: National fencing organisations have set up programmes to encourage more students to fence. Examples include the Regional Youth Circuit program in the US and the Leon Paul Youth Development series in the UK.


title: Fencing

text: In recent years, attempts have been made to introduce fencing to a wider and younger audience, by using foam and plastic swords, which require much less protective equipment. This makes it much less expensive to provide classes, and thus easier to take fencing to a wider range of schools than traditionally has been the case. There is even a competition series in Scotland – the Plastic-and-Foam Fencing FunLeague – specifically for Primary and early Secondary school-age children using this equipment.


title: Fencing

text: The UK hosts two national competitions in which schools compete against each other directly: the Public Schools Fencing Championship, a competition only open to Independent Schools, and the Scottish Secondary Schools Championships, open to all secondary schools in Scotland. It contains both teams and individual events and is highly anticipated. Schools organise matches directly against one another and school age pupils can compete individually in the British Youth Championships.


title: Fencing

text: Many universities in Ontario, Canada have fencing teams that participate in an annual inter-university competition called the OUA Finals.


title: Fencing

text: Other variants include wheelchair fencing for those with disabilities, chair fencing, "one-hit épée" (one of the five events which constitute modern pentathlon) and the various types of non-Olympic competitive fencing. Chair fencing is similar to wheelchair fencing, but for the able bodied. The opponents set up opposing chairs and fence while seated; all the usual rules of fencing are applied. An example of the latter is the American Fencing League (distinct from the United States Fencing Association): the format of competitions is different and the right of way rules are interpreted in a different way. In a number of countries, school and university matches deviate slightly from the FIE format. A variant of the sport using toy lightsabers earned national attention when ESPN2 acquired the rights to a selection of matches and included it as part of its "ESPN8: The Ocho" programming block in August 2018.


title: Fencing

text: One of the most notable films related to fencing is the 2015 Finnish-Estonian-German film "The Fencer", directed by Klaus Härö, which is loosely based on the life of Endel Nelis, an accomplished Estonian fencer and coach. The film was nominated for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in the Foreign Language Film Category. <br>


title: Fencing

text: In 2017, the first issue of the "Fence" comic book series, which follows a fictional team of young fencers, was published by the US-based Boom! Studios.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: John Michael Higgins (born February 12, 1963) is an American actor and comedian whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's "The Late Shift", and a starring role in the American version of "Kath & Kim". He portrayed Peter Lovett in the TV Land original sitcom "Happily Divorced" and provided the voice of Iknik Blackstone Varrick in "The Legend of Korra" and Mini-Max in "". He also starred in the NBC sitcom "Great News" as Chuck Pierce for two seasons. Since 2018 he has hosted the game show "America Says", which earned him a 2019 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host, though he lost to Alex Trebek.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: In the early 1980s Higgins was a theatre instructor with Street 70, a theatre production company in Rockville, MD. It is now known as Round House Theatre. He also taught voice and improvisation. In 1991, Higgins was featured in Broadway's "La Bête", and in 2000 he was seen Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in a production of Edward Albee's "Tiny Alice". He also originated the title role in Paul Rudnick's "Jeffrey" Off-Broadway in 1993.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins's numerous television credits include recurring characters on "Ally McBeal", "Brother's Keeper", "Boston Legal" and "". In Season 8 of "Seinfeld", he portrayed Elaine's boyfriend Kurt. He also played attorney Wayne Jarvis in five episodes of "Arrested Development". Higgins arranged the dense vocal harmonies sung by the nine-part ("neuftet") New Main Street Singers in 2003's "A Mighty Wind", a change from the writers' original concept of having the group sing in unison, leveraged by Higgins' musical talent.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins gained more recognition by being featured in the films "Fun with Dick and Jane", "Pitch Perfect" and its sequels, and "The Break-Up", for which he also wrote vocal arrangements. His work as a voice actor includes the roles of Judge Mentok in "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law", 2401 Penitent Tangent in "Halo 2", and Riddler in "". Higgins also portrayed David Letterman in the HBO TV film "The Late Shift". Higgins was seen in the pre-show video for the Epcot attraction Test Track. However, the ride was refurbished in 2012 and the pre-show room was removed.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins directs and appears on the stage from time to time as well. In 2004, he played Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the American premiere of David Hare's "Stuff Happens" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In 2003, he played the title role in A. R. Gurney's "Big Bill" at New York's Lincoln Center Theater.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins has been featured in TV ads for DirecTV, alongside fellow co-stars Christopher Guest and Ed Begley Jr., and for Old Navy. He also stars in season 2 of TNT's "Raising the Bar" as an openly gay, rule-obsessed judge. Higgins took part in "The Suite Life on Deck", taking the role of the sinister and secluded Mr. Tipton.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: In 2011, Higgins was cast in "Happily Divorced" opposite Fran Drescher. He played Fran's gay ex-husband, Peter Lovett, a character based on Drescher's real-life ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: In 2012, Higgins was cast as the voice of vain and eccentric businessman Iknik Blackstone Varrick in "The Legend of Korra".


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins became the host of the game show "America Says" in 2018. Coincidentally, he played a game show host 14 years earlier in a season 3 episode of the TV comedy/drama detective series "Monk".


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Since 2019, Higgins has appeared in TV commercials for Omaha-based Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. In 2020, Higgins began appearing in a series of adverts for 123.ie, an Irish insurance company.


title: John Michael Higgins

text: Higgins played the role of Principal Toddman in the 2020 Peacock comedy series "Saved by the Bell", which was created by Tracey Wigfield.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of St Mary ("Santa Maria Nascente"), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Archbishop Mario Delpini.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete: construction began in 1386, and the final details were completed in 1965. It is the largest church in the Italian Republic—the larger St. Peter's Basilica is in the State of Vatican City, a sovereign state—and possibly the second largest in Europe and the third largest in the world (its size and position remain a matter of debate).


title: Milan Cathedral

text: Milan's layout, with streets either radiating from the Duomo or circling it, reveals that the Duomo occupies what was the most central site in Roman Mediolanum, that of the public basilica facing the forum. The first cathedral, the "new basilica" ("") dedicated to St Thecla, was completed by 355. It seems to share, on a slightly smaller scale, the plan of the contemporaneous church recently rediscovered beneath Tower Hill in London. An adjoining basilica was erected in 836. The old octagonal baptistery, the "Battistero Paleocristiano", dates to 335 and still can be visited under the cathedral. When a fire damaged the cathedral and basilica in 1075, they were rebuilt as the Duomo.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In 1386, Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo began construction of the cathedral. Start of the construction coincided with the ascension to power in Milan of the archbishop's cousin Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and was meant as a reward to the noble and working classes, who had suffered under his tyrannical Visconti predecessor Barnabò. The construction of the cathedral was also dictated by very specific political choices: with the new construction site the population of Milan intended to emphasize the centrality of Milan in the eyes of Gian Galeazzo, a prominence questioned by the choice of the new lord to reside and maintain his court, like his father Galeazzo II, in Pavia and not in Milan. Before actual work began, three main buildings were demolished: the palace of the Archbishop, the Ordinari Palace and the Baptistry of St. Stephen at the Spring, while the old church of Sta. Maria Maggiore was exploited as a stone quarry. Enthusiasm for the immense new building soon spread among the population, and the shrewd Gian Galeazzo, together with his cousin the archbishop, collected large donations for the work-in-progress. The construction program was strictly regulated under the "Fabbrica del Duomo", which had 300 employees led by first chief engineer Simone da Orsenigo. Orsenigo initially planned to build the cathedral from brick in Lombard Gothic style.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: Visconti had ambitions to follow the newest trends in European architecture. In 1389, a French chief engineer, Nicolas de Bonaventure, was appointed, adding to the church its Rayonnant Gothic. Galeazzo gave the Fabbrica del Duomo exclusive use of the marble from the Candoglia quarry and exempted it from taxes. Ten years later another French architect, Jean Mignot, was called from Paris to judge and improve upon the work done, as the masons needed new technical aid to lift stones to an unprecedented height. Mignot declared all the work done up until then as in "pericolo di ruina" ("peril of ruin"), as it had been done "sine scienzia" ("without science"). In the following years Mignot's forecasts proved untrue, but they spurred Galeazzo's engineers to improve their instruments and techniques. However, relations between Gian Galeazzo and the top management of the factory (chosen by the citizens of Milan) were often tense: the lord (who in 1395 had become Duke of Milan) intended to transform the cathedral into the dynastic "mausoleum" of the Visconti, inserting the central part of the cathedral funeral monument of his father Galeazzo II and this met with strong opposition from both the factory and the Milanese, who wanted to underline their autonomy. A clash arose, which forced Gian Galeazzo to decide on the foundation of a new construction site intended exclusively for the Visconti dynasty: the Certosa di Pavia. Work proceeded quickly, and at the death of Gian Galeazzo in 1402, almost half the cathedral was complete. Construction, however, stalled almost totally until 1480, for lack of money and ideas: the most notable works of this period were the tombs of Marco Carelli and Pope Martin V (1424) and the windows of the apse (1470s), of which those extant portray "St. John the Evangelist", by Cristoforo de' Mottis, and "Saint Eligius" and "San John of Damascus", both by Niccolò da Varallo. In 1452, under Francesco Sforza, the nave and the aisles were completed up to the sixth bay.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In 1488, both Leonardo da Vinci and Donato Bramante created models in a competition to design the central cupola; Leonardo later withdrew his submission. From 1500 to 1510, under Ludovico Sforza, the octagonal cupola was completed, and decorated in the interior with four series of 15 statues each, portraying saints, prophets, sibyls and other Figures from the Bible. The exterior long remained without any decoration, except for the "Guglietto dell'Amadeo" ("Amadeo's Little Spire"), constructed 1507–1510. This is a Renaissance masterwork which nevertheless harmonized well with the general Gothic appearance of the church.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: During the subsequent Spanish domination, the new church proved usable, even though the interior remained largely unfinished, and some bays of the nave and the transepts were still missing. In 1552 Giacomo Antegnati was commissioned to build a large organ for the north side of the choir, and Giuseppe Meda provided four of the sixteen reliefs which were to decorate the altar area (the program was completed by Federico Borromeo). In 1562, Marco d' Agrate's "" and the famous Trivulzio candelabrum (12th century) were added.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: After the accession of Carlo Borromeo to the archbishop's throne, all lay monuments were removed from the Duomo. These included the tombs of Giovanni, and Filippo Maria Visconti, Francesco I and his wife Bianca, Galeazzo Maria, which were brought to unknown destinations. However, Borromeo's main intervention was the appointment, in 1571, of Pellegrino Pellegrini as chief engineer— a contentious move, since to appoint Pellegrino, who was not a lay brother of the duomo, required a revision of the Fabbrica's statutes.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: Borromeo and Pellegrini strove for a new, Renaissance appearance for the cathedral, that would emphasise its Roman / Italian nature, and subdue the Gothic style, which was now seen as foreign. As the façade still was largely incomplete, Pellegrini designed a "Roman" style one, with columns, obelisks and a large tympanum. When Pellegrini's design was revealed, a competition for the design of the façade was announced, and this elicited nearly a dozen entries, including one by Antonio Barca.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: This design was never carried out, but the interior decoration continued: in 1575-1585 the presbytery was rebuilt, while new altars and the baptistry were added. The wooden choir stalls were constructed by 1614 for the main altar by Francesco Brambilla. In 1577 Borromeo finally consecrated the whole edifice as a new church, distinct from the old Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Tecla (which had been unified in 1549 after heavy disputes).


title: Milan Cathedral

text: At the beginning of the 17th century Federico Borromeo had the foundations of the new façade laid by Francesco Maria Richini and Fabio Mangone. Work continued until 1638 with the construction of five portals and two middle windows. In 1649, however, the new chief architect Carlo Buzzi introduced a striking revolution: the façade was to revert to original Gothic style, including the already finished details within big Gothic pilasters and two giant belfries. Other designs were provided by, among others, Filippo Juvarra (1733) and Luigi Vanvitelli (1745), but all remained unapplied. In 1682 the façade of Santa Maria Maggiore was demolished and the cathedral's roof covering completed.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In 1762 one of the main features of the cathedral, the Madonnina's spire, was erected at the dizzying height of 108.5 m. The spire was designed by Carlo Pellicani and sports at the top a famous polychrome Madonnina statue, designed by Giuseppe Perego that befits the stature of the cathedral. Given Milan's notoriously damp and foggy climate, the Milanese consider it a fair-weather day when the Madonnina is visible from a distance, as it is so often covered by mist.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: On 20 May 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte, about to be crowned King of Italy, ordered the façade to be finished by Pellicani. In his enthusiasm, he assured that all expenses would fall to the French treasurer, who would reimburse the Fabbrica for the real estate it had to sell. Even though this reimbursement was never paid, it still meant that finally, within only seven years, the cathedral's façade was completed. Pellicani largely followed Buzzi's project, adding some neo-Gothic details to the upper windows. As a form of thanksgiving, a statue of Napoleon was placed at the top of one of the spires. Napoleon was crowned King of Italy at the Duomo.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In the following years, most of the missing arches and spires were constructed. The statues on the southern wall were also finished, while in 1829–1858, new stained glass windows replaced the old ones, though with less aesthetically significant results. The last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century: the last portal was inaugurated on 6 January 1965. This date is considered the very end of a process which had proceeded for generations, although even now, some uncarved blocks remain to be completed as statues. The Allied bombing of Milan in World War II further delayed construction. Like many other cathedrals in cities bombed by the Allied forces, the Duomo suffered some damage, although to a lesser degree compared to other major buildings in the vicinity such as the La Scala Theatre. It was quickly repaired and became a place of solace and gathering for displaced local residents.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The Duomo's main façade went under renovation from 2003 to early 2009: as of February 2009, it has been completely uncovered, showing again the colours of the Candoglia marble.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In November 2012 officials announced a campaign to raise funds for the cathedral's preservation by asking patrons to adopt the building's spires. The effects of pollution on the 14th-century building entail regular maintenance, and recent austerity cuts to Italy's culture budget has left less money for upkeep of cultural institutions, including the cathedral. To help make up funds, Duomo management launched a campaign offering its 135 spires up for "adoption". Donors who contribute €100,000 (about $110,505) or more will have a plaque with their name engraved on it placed on the spire.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The plan consists of a nave with four side-aisles, crossed by a transept and then followed by choir and apse. The height of the nave is about , the highest Gothic vaults of a complete church (less than the of Beauvais Cathedral, which was never completed).


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The roof of the cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork pinnacles and spires, set upon delicate flying buttresses.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The cathedral's five broad naves, divided by 40 pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the façade. Even the transepts have aisles. The nave columns are high, and the apsidal windows are . The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The cathedral was built over several hundred years in a number of contrasting styles. Reactions to it have ranged from admiration to disfavour. The Guida d’Italia: Milano 1998 (Touring Club Editore, p. 154) points out that the early Romantics tended to praise it in "the first intense enthusiasms for Gothic." As the Gothic Revival brought in a purer taste, condemnation was often equally intense.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: John Ruskin commented acidly that the cathedral steals "from every style in the world: and every style spoiled. The cathedral is a mixture of Perpendicular with Flamboyant, the latter being peculiarly barbarous and angular, owing to its being engrafted, not on a pure, but a very early penetrative Gothic … The rest of the architecture among which this curious Flamboyant is set is a Perpendicular with horizontal bars across: and with the most detestable crocketing, utterly vile. Not a ray of invention in a single form… Finally the statues all over are of the worst possible common stonemasons’ yard species, and look pinned on for show. The only redeeming character about the whole being the frequent use of the sharp gable ... which gives lightness, and the crowding of the spiry pinnacles into the sky." (Notebooks[M.6L]). The plastered ceiling painted to imitate elaborate tracery carved in stone particularly aroused his contempt as a "gross degradation".


title: Milan Cathedral

text: While appreciating the force of Ruskin's criticisms, Henry James was more appreciative: "A structure not supremely interesting, not logical, not … commandingly beautiful, but grandly curious and superbly rich. … If it had no other distinction it would still have that of impressive, immeasurable achievement … a supreme embodiment of vigorous effort."


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The American writer and journalist Mark Twain visited Milan in the summer of 1867. He dedicated chapter 18 of "Innocents Abroad" to Milan Cathedral, including many physical and historical details, and a visit to the roof. He describes the Duomo as follows:


title: Milan Cathedral

text: Oscar Wilde visited Milan in June 1875. In a letter to his mother he wrote: "The Cathedral is an awful failure. Outside the design is monstrous and inartistic. The over-elaborated details stuck high up where no one can see them; everything is vile in it; it is, however, imposing and gigantic as a failure, through its great size and elaborate execution."


title: Milan Cathedral

text: In "Italian Hours", Henry James describes: a certain exhibition that I privately enjoyed of the relics of St. Charles Borromeus. This holy man lies at his eternal rest in a small but gorgeous sepulchral chapel … and for the modest sum of five francs you may have his shrivelled mortality unveiled and gaze at it with whatever reserves occur to you. The Catholic Church never renounces a chance of the sublime for fear of a chance of the ridiculous--especially when the chance of the sublime may be the very excellent chance of five francs. The performance in question, of which the good San Carlo paid in the first instance the cost, was impressive certainly, but as a monstrous matter or a grim comedy may still be. The little sacristan, having secured his audience, … lighted a couple of extra candles and proceeded to remove from above the altar, by means of a crank, a sort of sliding shutter, just as you may see a shop-boy do of a morning at his master's window. In this case too a large sheet of plate-glass was uncovered, and to form an idea of the étalage you must imagine that a jeweller, for reasons of his own, has struck an unnatural partnership with an undertaker. The black mummified corpse of the saint is stretched out in a glass coffin, clad in his mouldering canonicals, mitred, crosiered and gloved, glittering with votive jewels. It is an extraordinary mixture of death and life; the desiccated clay, the ashen rags, the hideous little black mask and skull, and the living, glowing, twinkling splendour of diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. The collection is really fine, and many great historic names are attached to the different offerings. Whatever may be the better opinion as to the future of the Church, I can't help thinking she will make a figure in the world so long as she retains this great fund of precious "properties," this prodigious capital decoratively invested and scintillating throughout Christendom at effectively-scattered points.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: From 1 December 1786, the Austrian Empire adopted “transalpine time”. The astronomers at Brera Astronomical Observatory were engaged by Count Giuseppe Di Wilczek, the plenipotentiary governor of Lombardy, to build a meridian line inside the Duomo. The meridian was constructed by Giovanni Angelo Cesaris and Francesco Reggio, with Roger Boscovich acting as a consultant.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The meridian line was laid on the floor of the Duomo at the west end so as to be accessible and not interfere with religious services. A hole was inserted in the roof near the south wall at a height of . The Duomo is not quite wide enough for a hole at this height so the meridian line extends up the north wall for about . As the beam of light crossed the brass line and indicated solar noon, a signal was given towards the tower of the Palazzo dei Giureconsulti. A person there alerted Sforzesco Castle and a cannon was fired to announce solar noon to the city. This signal was then used to set all of the city clocks to the same time.


title: Milan Cathedral

text: The line was examined in 1976 by the architects of the Duomo and astronomers from Brera. There was deviation in azimuth by up to and in level by up to but the accuracy of the line still enabled the fixing of solar noon to within 2 seconds.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx is a character in Riot Games' video game "League of Legends" and its associated media franchise. She first appeared in the music video "Get Jinxed" to commemorate her official debut as a playable champion in the game’s October 2013 update. Jinx is depicted as a manic and impulsive criminal from Zaun who serves as the archenemy of the Piltover enforcer Vi. The 2021 Netflix animated streaming series "Arcane" explores the character's origin story as Powder, Vi's younger sister who, following a series of family tragedies, is taken in and raised by the crime lord Silco.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx has become one of the franchise's most popular and iconic characters since her introduction. Her portrayal in "Arcane" has garnered acclaim from critics and fans.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Illustrator Katie De Sousa posted conceptual artwork of the "gun-toting, braid-rocking criminal" that would end up being Jinx on a bulletin board for potential ideas at Riot Games. De Sousa wanted to create a "completely insane female villain who is beyond any kind of reform or rehabilitation" for "League of Legends". De Sousa was also a fan of "Attack Damage Carry" (ADC), a term used to describe champions that deal high levels of continuous damage in matches. The character was given the codename "Psycho Arsenal" and remained on the board for months until August Browning, seeking to make a weapon-swapping ADC, decided to work on her with De Sousa. They avoided giving her a "sexy persona" and instead depicted her as a pale and slender woman who wielded disproportionately oversized weapons to make her stand out from other female "League" champions. The Joker, Gollum, and actress Helena Bonham Carter served as primary inspirations for Jinx's character.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx's backstory was written by Graham McNeill. To commemorate her in-game debut, a music video starring the character titled "Get Jinxed" was released on the "League of Legends" YouTube channel. Jinx would officially join "League of Legends" in the October 2013 update. Sarah Anne Williams provided Jinx’s voice for most of the games and videos she featured in. The character's origin was later expanded upon when she was adapted by Christian Linke and Alex Yee for the animated series "Arcane". The first season was released on Netflix in November 2021. Ella Purnell voices Jinx in the series, while Mia Sinclair Jenness voices a younger version of the character in Act 1.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx was added as a playable champion to the marksman roster of "League of Legends" in October 2013. As established in the lore written by Graham McNeill, Jinx was once a young innocent girl from Zaun, the seedy underbelly of the utopian city of Piltover. She harbors a dark and mysterious past with Vi, another champion from the game. Following a childhood tragedy, Jinx grew up to become "manic and impulsive" and her capacity for creating mayhem "became the stuff of legend". Her most notorious crimes include releasing a stampede of exotic animals, disrupting trade by lining the city's bridges with destructive explosives, and pulling a heist on one of Piltover’s most secure treasuries. The game’s developers ensured the character moved quickly during gameplay to portray her chaotic personality and energy.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx’s primary weapons include her minigun nicknamed "Pow-Pow"; her shock pistol "Zapper"; her explosive grenades called "Flame Chompers"; and her customized rocket launcher dubbed "Fishbones" for its shark-inspired design.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx's alternate character skins in the game originate from parallel realities separate from the main lore. In the “Odyssey” universe, Jinx is a member of an intergalactic crew that travels the cosmos. In the “Star Guardian” universe, she is part of a magical girl squad. Jinx's design from "Arcane" was also adapted as an alternate skin in "League of Legends".


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: The first season of "Arcane" reveals that Jinx was originally named Powder. She and her older sister Violet "Vi" were orphaned following the repressed undercity's failed uprising against the utopian city of Piltover, after which they were taken in by Vander, the leader of the rebellion.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: At the start of the series, Powder and Vi rob a penthouse owned by scientist Jayce Talis in Piltover. Powder steals a set of arcane crystals and accidentally causes an explosion. They escape back to the undercity but the enforcers of Piltover relentlessly search for the culprit. Vander turns himself in to protect them only to be taken by Silco, his former brother-in-arms. Powder follows Vi and her foster brothers, Mylo and Claggor, when they leave to rescue Vander and, attempting to help them fend off Silco's forces, uses the stolen crystals to cause a massive explosion that results in the deaths of Vander, Mylo and Claggor. In her grief, Vi hits Powder and calls her a "jinx" before walking away. Believing herself to be abandoned, Powder seeks comfort in Silco's arms.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Years later, a teenage Powder goes by the name Jinx, having been raised by Silco as his daughter. Silco has taken control of the undercity, now called Zaun, and Jinx helps to smuggle the chemical stimulant "Shimmer" into Piltover for Silco's second revolt. After a job goes awry due to the interference of insurgents known as the Firelights, Jinx attempts to impress Silco by stealing an arcane "Hextech" gemstone from Jayce, killing six enforcers in the process. Silco asks Jinx to weaponize the gemstone and advises her to let go of her past trauma, while rookie enforcer Caitlyn Kiramman recruits Vi, who has been imprisoned for years, to help track Jinx down. As Jinx turns on Vi upon realizing that she is working with Caitlyn, the Firelights intervene and take the gemstone.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx kills the enforcers on the bridge connecting Zaun to Piltover and recovers the gemstone, though she is grievously wounded during an encounter with Ekko, the Firelights' leader and her childhood friend. Silco finds Jinx and brings her to Singed, a scientist who injects her with Shimmer to heal her injuries. Jinx hallucinates Vi and Caitlyn inflicting her pain so she kidnaps them both. She abducts Silco as well upon overhearing him lament choosing between Zaun's independence and her as part of an ultimatum offered to him by Jayce. Jinx forces Vi to choose between Caitlyn and herself. Both Vi and Silco appeal to Jinx, causing her to suffer a panic attack. Silco breaks free and almost shoots Vi before Jinx, in a manic fit, guns him down. In his final moments, Silco reaffirms he never would have betrayed Jinx and comforts her by telling her that she is "perfect". Jinx finally accepts her new identity and, having weaponized the gemstone to power a rocket launcher, fires at the Piltover council just as they approve to grant Zaun its independence.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx was one of the first champions from "League of Legends" to star in her own animated music video in the lead-up to her in-game debut. "Get Jinxed" by Agnete Kjølsrud from the band Djerv, which follows Jinx’s destructive exploits in Piltover, was released on YouTube on October 8, 2013.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx later appeared as the central character of the music video "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons and JID, which depicts "the parts of [Jinx's] childhood that led her to a life of crime". "Enemy" was released on YouTube on October 28, 2021 to promote "Arcane", in addition to serving as the series' title track.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx has also featured in various "League of Legends" spin-off games, including "Teamfight Tactics", "Legends of Runeterra", and "". As promotion for "Arcane", Jinx was added as a playable character in "PUBG Mobile", "Fortnite", and "Among Us".