title: Ken Norton

text: In 1975, at the peak of his boxing career, Norton made his acting debut starring in Dino De Laurentiis blaxploitation film "Mandingo", about a pre-Civil War slave purchased to fight other slaves for their master's entertainment. After starring in the 1976 sequel "Drum" Norton went on to play bit parts in a dozen other productions.


title: Ken Norton

text: Norton worked as an actor and TV boxing commentator following his retirement from boxing. He also was a member of the Sports Illustrated Speakers Bureau and started the Ken Norton Management Co., which represented athletes in contract negotiations.


title: Ken Norton

text: Norton continued making TV, radio and public speaking appearances until suffering injuries in a near-fatal car accident in 1986 which left him with slow and slurred speech.


title: Ken Norton

text: He appeared along with Ali, Foreman, Frazier and Holmes in a video, "Champions Forever", discussing their best times, and in 2000 he published his autobiography, "Going the Distance".


title: Ken Norton

text: Norton was married three times and had four children. Prior to his first marriage, he had a son named Keith. He married Jeannette Henderson in 1966 while still in the Marines. The marriage lasted until 1968 and produced football player and coach Ken Norton Jr. In 1977 he married Jacqueline 'Jackie' Halton, who also had a son, Brandon, from a previous marriage. Jackie gave birth to daughter Kenisha (1976) and son Kene Jon (1981). They remained married for over 24 years before divorcing around 2000. Around 2012 he married Rose Marie Conant.


title: Ken Norton

text: Norton was twice voted "Father of the Year" by the "Los Angeles Sentinel" and the "Los Angeles Times" in 1977. To quote Norton from his biography, "Believe: Journey From Jacksonville": "Of all the titles that I've been privileged to have, the title of 'dad' has always been the best."


title: Ken Norton

text: His first son, Ken Norton Jr., played football at UCLA and had a long successful career in the NFL. In tribute to his father's boxing career, Ken Jr. would strike a boxing stance in the end zone each time he scored a defensive touchdown and throw a punching combination at the goalpost pad.


title: Ken Norton

text: Ken Norton's son Keith Norton was once the weekend sports anchor for KPRC in Houston, Texas. He followed his father in serving in the Marine Corps.


title: Ken Norton

text: Norton died at a care facility in Las Vegas on September 18, 2013. He was 70 years old and had suffered a series of strokes in later years. Across the boxing world tributes were paid, with Foreman calling him "the fairest of them all" and Holmes saying that he "will be incredibly missed in the boxing world and by many". He was buried at Jackonsville East Cemetery, in Jacksonville, Illinois.


title: Six of Crows

text: Six of Crows is a fantasy novel written by the Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo and published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2015. The story follows a thieving crew and is primarily set in the city of Ketterdam, which is loosely inspired by Dutch Republic–era Amsterdam. The plot is told from third-person viewpoints of six different characters.


title: Six of Crows

text: The novel is the first of a duology, completed in "Crooked Kingdom" (2016). The series is part of Bardugo's Grishaverse. Nina's storyline continues in the "King of Scars" duology: "King of Scars" (2019) and "Rule of Wolves" (2021), and the other Crows make cameo appearances in the latter novel.


title: Six of Crows

text: In Ketterdam, the capital of Kerch, Councilman Hoede tests a drug called "jurda parem" on a Grisha Healer. The drug enhances her abilities, allowing her to control and manipulate human minds. She escapes after paralyzing Hoede and some guards, but is found dead days later.


title: Six of Crows

text: Wealthy merchant Jan Van Eck divulges the results of Hoede's experiment to 17-year-old criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker and tasks him with rescuing its inventor, Bo Yul-Bayur, from the Ice Court, an unbreachable military stronghold in Fjerda, and prevent the drug's existence from being exposed to the world. Kaz agrees for a hefty price and starts recruiting a crew: Inej Ghafa, his right-hand spy he had saved from a pleasure house called the Menagerie two years before; Nina Zenik, a Grisha Heartrender, who joins upon learning of his intention to free and employ Matthias Helvar, a former Fjerdan "drüskelle" (Grisha-hunter) detained at Hellgate Prison because of Nina; and Jesper Fahey, a Zemeni sharpshooter with a gambling addiction. Together, they break Matthias out of prison, who agrees to help in exchange for a pardon that would enable his reinstatement as a "drüskelle". Kaz also enlists Wylan Van Eck, Jan Van Eck's runaway son, as a demolitions expert and leverage if Van Eck reneges on their deal. As they are about to sail from Ketterdam, the crew repels an ambush by rival gangs; after torturing a gangster, Kaz learns that gang leader Pekka Rollins, the man responsible for his brother Jordie's death, is also after the scientist. Kaz explains his rescue plan to the crew: they will enter the Ice Court as prisoners, cross to the embassy sector through the roof and disguise themselves as foreign dignitaries during a festival. After finding and freeing Yul-Bayur from the White Island, on the inner ring, they will exit from the embassy sector.


title: Six of Crows

text: Upon reaching Fjerda, two Grisha on "jurda parem" attack the group. The crew prevail, but Nina recognizes one of their assailants as an old friend and, troubled by the two Grisha's deaths, decides to stay behind to bury them. Matthias assists, letting them finally talk about her betrayal. Nina had been a Grisha soldier of the Ravkan Second Army captured by Matthias with his Fjerdan "drüskelle" party and put on a ship to Fjerda for trial and eventual execution. The ship sank during a storm, and Matthias and Nina fell in love while trying to find civilization. When they arrived at a city, Nina was questioned by Grisha spies about her "drüskelle" companion. To save Matthias from her compatriots, Nina reported him as a slave trader to a Kerch citizen in the harbor, unaware that Matthias would be imprisoned in Hellgate immediately after reaching Ketterdam. Instead of returning to Ravka, Nina stayed in Ketterdam to try and free him. Matthias reconciles with Nina upon learning the truth and they agree to kill Yul-Bayur, both acknowledging that "jurda parem" is a threat to Grisha and Fjerdans alike.


title: Six of Crows

text: The crew intercept a cart of prisoners being taken to the Ice Court and take the place of six of them. Due to the constant feeling of bodies pressing against him, Kaz loses consciousness, and more of his past is revealed. After he and his brother were conned by Pekka Rollins, a plague had swept through Ketterdam, killing many of its residents, including Jordie. Kaz fell ill and recovered but was mistakenly thought dead and tossed in the Reaper's Barge with the bodies for burning. He was only able to survive by swimming to shore using Jordie's corpse as a buoy. The experience created an intense aversion to any sort of physical contact with human skin, prompting him to wear gloves constantly. He wakes up as they enter the Ice Court. The crew is split as men and women are taken to different wards. Jesper, revealed to be a Grisha Fabrikator, fashions lock picks from the cell bars. Kaz frees Nina and Inej from their cells while Matthias and Jesper gather as much rope as they can find. Kaz goes with Nina to search the other holding cells for Yul-Bayur and while split up, Kaz deviates from the plan and finds Pekka Rollins in a cell. Nina is spotted by guards, who manage to raise the alarm before she can kill them. She hurries to the basement where Inej has scaled a six-story incinerator shaft to the roof, securing an escape route for the rest of the crew. With the prison alarm triggered, their plan is ruined so they improvise to get to the center of the Ice Court. Inej and Nina get in by taking the place of two Menagerie girls, but only Nina gets through the guards; Inej is held back. Matthias and Kaz get in through a secret bridge known only to "drüskelle". Jesper and Wylan move to destroy the ringwall gate and trigger the Ice Court's alarm.


title: Six of Crows

text: While trying to coax information from a Fjerdan official, Nina is surprised to see Jarl Brum, leader of the "drüskelle" and the former commander of the ship that she was held captive in. Brum lures Nina into touring prison cells specifically constructed to detain Grisha and locks her in a cell. Matthias shows up, appearing to have betrayed her but turns against his old commander and frees Nina, making a sacred "drüskelle" vow to keep her safe until he dies. They look for Bo Yul-Bayur, but learn of his death. His son, Kuwei Yul-Bo, is alive and is being forced to replicate his father's research. Matthias and Nina forgo killing him as he is only fifteen and a Grisha. They take the boy and leave, blowing up the lab as they go. They meet up with Kaz, and escape through a waterfall unearthed by Kaz. Meanwhile, Inej is spotted by the leader of the Menagerie, her former employer Heleen van Houden, who informs the guards of Inej's true identity. Jesper and Wylan rescue her and hijack a Fjerdan tank and use it to ram through the walls and escape. They head toward the dock where they are supposed to rendezvous with their ship, but find a large Fjerdan party waiting for them, a Heartrender using "parem" at the fore. With no other choice, Nina takes "jurda parem" and subdues the army.


title: Six of Crows

text: The crew safely reaches Ketterdam, with Nina already suffering from withdrawals. They leave her with Wylan, while the rest of the crew take Kuwei to Jan Van Eck. Van Eck, however, reveals that he only wanted the formula for "jurda parem" to profit from the fallout of its release to the world. He sinks the crew's ship despite Kaz's warning that Wylan is aboard. Van Eck reveals that he deems his son unfit to inherit his business empire as Wylan is dyslexic. Kaz, however reveals that the boy Van Eck thinks is Kuwei Yul-Bo is actually Wylan, tailored by Nina to look exactly like the scientist's son. Furious, Van Eck kidnaps Inej and gives them seven days to bring him the real Kuwei. Unwilling to endanger Inej, Kaz lets the merchant go. Kaz and his remaining crew go to Pekka Rollins, revealed to have been set free by Kaz at the Ice Court, and Kaz sells his shares in the Crow Club and the Fifth Harbour to raise the money he needs. He then hatches a plan to rescue Inej and redeem the money they were promised.


title: Six of Crows

text: "The New York Times" recommends "Six of Crows" in the YA Crossover shortlist: "There’s conflict between morality and amorality and an appetite for sometimes grimace-inducing violence that recalls the ""Game of Thrones"" series. But for every bloody exchange there are pages of crackling dialogue and sumptuous description. Bardugo dives deep into this world, with full color and sound. If you’re not careful, it’ll steal all your time." It was also included in their "7 Great Fantasy Novels for Teenagers" list. "The Hollywood Reporter" likened the duology to a blend of "Ocean's 11" and "Game of Thrones"."


title: Six of Crows

text: "The Guardian" opined the plot was "bursting with action and overflowing with suspense right from the beginning...fast-paced...transitions between chapters and points of view were immaculate and really provided a sense of urgency and impact to the most significant scenes."


title: Six of Crows

text: Although "NPR" books criticized the characters, claiming that the characters do not behave or think like adolescents, but rather display the wisdom and traits of much older people, it also comments ""Six of Crows" is a well-turned heist tale...[It] has a muscle car's drive and a cast that hangs with you like they were made of magnets"


title: Six of Crows

text: According to "The Times of India", different perspectives in the book each provide an in-depth view of each character's traits and backgrounds. It further says, "Bardugo's language and her intelligent storytelling effectively makes "The Six of Crows" a white-knuckle page-turner."


title: Six of Crows

text: It has been praised by various medias for its inclusivity and diversity, with characters who are LGBT, disabled, have different body types, and religious backgrounds, and are of different races.


title: Six of Crows

text: In January 2019, Netflix greenlit an eight-episode series based on "Shadow and Bone" ("The Grisha Trilogy" Book 1) and "Six of Crows" with Eric Heisserer as showrunner. Bardugo is also serving as an executive producer on this series. Production began in October 2019 with Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker, Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa, Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik, and Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar. Wylan Van Eck did not appear in the first season and is set to appear in the second season, played by Jack Wolfe. The first season follows the plot of Book 1 of "Shadow and Bone" and acts as a prequel to "Six of Crows", setting up a future adaptation of the novel.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corruption scandals and the lessening of media freedoms.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: After a successful career in the machine-building industry of the Soviet Union, Kuchma began his political career in 1990, when he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament); he was re-elected in 1994. He served as Prime Minister of Ukraine between October 1992 and September 1993.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent President Leonid Kravchuk. Kuchma won re-election for an additional five-year term in 1999. Corruption accelerated after Kuchma's election in 1994, but in 2000–2001, his power began to weaken in the face of exposures in the media. Kuchma's administration began a campaign of media censorship in 1999, leading to arrests of journalists, the death of Georgiy Gongadze, and the subsequent Cassette Scandal and mass protests. The Ukrainian economy continued to decline until 1999, whereas growth was recorded since 2000, bringing relative prosperity to some segments of urban residents. During his presidency, Ukrainian-Russian ties began to improve.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma declined to seek a third term in office, instead supporting Party of Regions candidate Viktor Yanukovych for the 2004 election. Following public protests over the alleged electoral fraud which escalated into the Orange Revolution, Kuchma took a neutral stance and was a mediator between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. Between 2014 and 2020, Kuchma was a special presidential representative of Ukraine at the semi-official peace talks regarding the ongoing War in Donbas.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's legacy has proven controversial, and he has been described as authoritarian by various sources. Widespread corruption and media censorship under Kuchma's administration continue to have an impact on Ukraine today, and he has been accused of promoting oligarchism.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was born in the village of Chaikyne in rural Chernihiv Oblast on 9 August 1938. His father, Danylo Prokopovych Kuchma (1901–1942) was wounded in World War II and eventually died of his wounds in the field hospital #756 (near the village of Novoselytsia) when Leonid was four. His mother Paraska Trokhymivna Kuchma worked on a kolkhoz.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma attended the Kostobobriv general education school in the neighboring Semenivka Raion. Later he enrolled in Dnipropetrovsk National University and graduated in 1960 with a degree in mechanical engineering (majoring in aerospace engineering). In 1960 joined the Communist Party of Soviet Union. Kuchma is a candidate of technical sciences.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: After graduation, Kuchma worked in the field of aerospace engineering for the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipropetrovsk. At 28 he became a testing director for the Bureau deployed at the Baikonur cosmodrome.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Some political observers suggested that Kuchma's early career was significantly boosted by his marriage to , an adopted daughter of Gennadiy Tumanov, the Yuzhmash chief engineering officer and later the Soviet Minister of Medium Machine Building.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: At 38 Kuchma became the Communist party chief at Yuzhny Machine-building Plant and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He was a delegate of the 27th and 28th Congresses of the Communist Party of Soviet Union. By the end of the 1980s, Kuchma openly criticized the Communist Party.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In 1982 Kuchma was appointed the first deputy of general design engineer at Yuzhmash, and from 1986 to 1992, he held the position of the company's general director. From 1990 to 1992, Kuchma was a member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament). In 1992 he was appointed as Prime Minister of Ukraine. He resigned a year later, complaining of "slow pace of reform". He was re-elected into parliament in 1994.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma resigned from the position of Prime Minister of Ukraine in September 1993 to run for the presidency in 1994 on a platform to boost the economy by restoring economic relations with Russia and faster pro-market reforms. Kuchma won a clear victory against the incumbent President Leonid Kravchuk, receiving strong support from the industrial areas in the east and south. His worst results were in the west of the country.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma was re-elected in 1999 to his second term. This time the areas that gave him strongest support last time voted for his opponents, and the areas which voted against him last time came to his support.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: During Kuchma's presidency, he closed opposition papers and several journalists and political opponents, such as Viacheslav Chornovil, died in mysterious circumstances. According to historian Serhy Yekelchyk, President Kuchma's administration "employed electoral fraud freely" during the 2000 constitutional referendum and 1999 presidential elections.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In October 1994, Kuchma announced comprehensive economic reforms, including reduced subsidies, lifting of price controls, lower taxes, privatization of industry and agriculture, and reforms in currency regulation and banking. The parliament approved the plan's main points. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) promised a $360 million loan to initiate reforms.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: He was re-elected in 1999 to his second term. Opponents accused him of involvement in the killing in 2000 of journalist Georgiy Gongadze, but Kuchma has consistently denied such claims. Critics have also blamed Kuchma for restrictions on press freedom. Kuchma is believed to have played a key role in sacking the Cabinet of Viktor Yushchenko by Verkhovna Rada on 26 April 2001.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's Prime Minister from 2002 until early January 2005 was Viktor Yanukovych, after Kuchma dismissed Anatoliy Kinakh, his previous appointee.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In 2002, Kuchma stated that Ukraine wanted to sign an association agreement with the European Union by 2003–2004 and that Ukraine would meet all EU membership requirements by 2007–2011. He also hoped for a free trade treaty with the EU.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma signed a "Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership" with Russia, and endorsed a round of talks with the CIS. Additionally, he referred to Russian as "an official language". He signed a special partnership agreement with NATO and raised the possibility of membership of the alliance. Under Kuchma's leadership, the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in the Iraq War.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: After Kuchma's popularity at home and abroad sank as he became mired in corruption scandals, he turned to Russia as his new ally. From the late 1990s he adopted a foreign policy which he described as "multi-vector", reaching out to Russia, Europe, and the United States. Critics assessed this policy as manipulating both the West and Russia to the personal benefit of Kuchma and Ukrainian oligarchs.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: On 4 October 2001, Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 was shot down over the Black Sea by the Ukrainian Air Force while en route to Novosibirsk, Russia, from Tel Aviv, Israel. All 78 occupants of the plane, most of whom were Israelis visiting relatives in Russia, were killed. Following the shootdown, Kuchma initially refused to accept the resignation of Oleksandr Kuzmuk, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and said, "Look what is happening around the world, in Europe. We are not the first, and we will not be the last. There is no need to make a tragedy out of this. Mistakes happen everywhere, and not only on this scale, but on a much larger, planetary scale." A week later, however, Kuchma announced his willingness to cooperate with Russian investigators, apologised to the governments of Russia and Israel, and accepted Kuzmuk's resignation.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: From 1998 to 2000, Kuchma's bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko was allegedly eavesdropping Kuchma's office, later publishing the recordings. The release of the tapes – dubbed the Cassette Scandal – supposedly revealed Kuchma's numerous crimes. In particular was his approving the sale of radar systems to Saddam Hussein (among other illegal arms sales) and ordering the death of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In September 2000, Gongadze disappeared and his headless corpse was found mutilated on 3 November 2000. On 28 November, opposition politician Oleksandr Moroz publicised the tape recordings implicating Kuchma in Gongadze's murder. In 2005, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office instigated criminal proceedings against Kuchma and members of his former administration in connection with the murder of Gongadze. In 2005, the press reported that Kuchma had been unofficially granted immunity from prosecution in return for his graceful departure from office in 2005.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Critics of the tapes point to the difficulty of Melnychenko recording 500 hours of dictaphone tape unaided and undetected, the lack of material evidence of said recording equipment, and other doubts which question the authenticity and motive of the release of the tape. Kuchma acknowledged in 2003 that his voice was one of those on the tapes, but claimed the tapes had been selectively edited to distort his meaning.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: However, the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Carlos Pascual, revealed that the tapes are genuine, undistorted, unaltered, and not manipulated because of the conclusion from FBI Electronic Research Facility's analysis of the original recording device and the original recording found that there are not unusual sounds which would indicate a tampering of the recording, the recording is continuous with no breaks, and there is no manipulation of the digital files.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: The General Prosecutor of Ukraine's Office cancelled its resolution to deny opening of criminal cases against Kuchma and other politicians within the Gongadze-case on 9 October 2010. On 22 March 2011, Ukraine opened an official investigation into the murder of Gongadze and, two days later, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kuchma with involvement in the murder. A Ukrainian district court ordered prosecutors to drop criminal charges against Kuchma on 14 December 2011 on grounds that evidence linking him to the murder of Gongadze was insufficient. The court rejected Melnychenko's recordings as evidence. Gongadze's widow, Myroslava Gongadze, lodged an appeal against the ruling one week later.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: During the trial of Oleksiy Pukach for the murder of Gongadze, he claimed that Kuchma and Kuchma's head of his Presidential Administration, Volodymyr Lytvyn, were the ones who ordered the murder. Pukach was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Gongadze.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin claimed 20 February 2013 that his office had collected enough evidence confirming Kuchma's responsibility for ordering Gongadze's assassination. Kuchma's reply the next day was, "This is another banal example of a provocation, which I've heard more than enough in the past 12 years".


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's role in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election and subsequent Orange Revolution is not entirely clear. In the run-up to the elections, oligarchs opposed to Leonid Kuchma contributed about $150 million to opposition political parties. According to Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014 and architect of Obama's policy in the region, the U.S. government spent more than $18 million on "democracy promotion" in the two years leading up to the election. After the second round on 22 November 2004, it appeared that Yanukovych had won the election by fraud, which caused the opposition and independent observers to dispute the results, leading to the Orange Revolution.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma was urged by Yanukovych and Viktor Medvedchuk (the head of the presidential office) to declare a state of emergency and hold the inauguration of Yanukovych. He denied the request. Later, Yanukovych publicly accused Kuchma of a betrayal. Kuchma refused to officially dismiss Prime Minister Yanukovych after the parliament passed a motion of no confidence against the Cabinet on 1 December 2004. Soon after, Kuchma left the country. He returned to Ukraine in March 2005.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma said in October 2009 that he would vote for Victor Yanukovych in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election. In a document dated 2 February 2010 and uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak, Kuchma, in a conversation with United States Ambassador to Ukraine John F. Tefft, called the voters' choice between Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko during the second round of the 2010 presidential election as a choice between "bad and very bad" and praised (the candidate eliminated in the first round of the election) Arseniy Yatsenyuk instead.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In September 2011, Kuchma stated that he believed that Yanukovych was the real winner of the 2004 election.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Leonid Kuchma has been active in politics since his presidency ended. He aligned himself with President Viktor Yushchenko in 2005, but later raised concerns about the president in correspondence with then U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John Tefft. Kuchma endorsed Yanukovych for president in 2010.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma represented Ukraine at negotiations with the armed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces on 21 June 2014 to discuss President Petro Poroshenko's peace plan. His role as a diplomat was received positively by the west and Russia as well as by the public in Ukraine.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: On 11 February 2015, Kuchma was one of the signatories of a draft plan to end the conflict in Donbas. The summit was known as Minsk II. The plan ensured that a ceasefire was implemented; reaction from leaders in Europe was generally positive.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In March 2015, Kuchma delivered an address calling on the west for greater involvement in the region. He criticized the action of Russian-backed forces in the attempt to seize the town of Debaltseve.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: In September 2015, Kuchma was again appointed as the representative for Ukraine at the Trilateral Contact Group. The group met in Belarus to discuss ending the conflict in Donbas. In early 2017, Kuchma spoke out against the transport blockade of Donbas. In March 2017 at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk, he demanded that the Russian Federation repeal their decree on the recognition of passports issued in separatist-held areas.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: On 2 October 2018, Kuchma stepped down as Ukraine's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group due to his age. He returned to the talks in June 2019, at the request of newly elected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and after mediation by Victor Pinchuk. According to American sources, he left the post again in July 2020, citing fatigue. He was replaced by Leonid Kravchuk.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kuchma said that he would remain to help defend the country: "I stay at home, in Ukraine, because we are all in our Homeland, there is no other. And we will defend it together until the very victory – without division into party columns, without personal interests and old arguments. United we stand around the Flag, the Army, and the President. Ukraine is not Russia. And it will never become Russia. No matter how hard they want this. We are already winning. And this can’t be stopped. And I will only say to the Russian Federation that I agree with the words of my compatriots who say in one voice: damn you all!".


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Leonid Kuchma has been married to Lyudmyla Kuchma since 1967. She is the Honorary President of the National Fund of Social Protection of Mothers and Children, "Ukraine to Children" and is also known as a paralympic movement in Ukraine supporter.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's only child, daughter Olena Pinchuk, is married to Viktor Pinchuk, an industrialist and philanthropist whose Victor Pinchuk Foundation regularly hosts Ukraine-dedicated and philanthropic forums at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Olena Pinchuk has a son Roman (born in 1991, from her previous marriage with Ukrainian businessman Igor Franchuk) who attends Brown University, and two daughters with Viktor Pinchuk, Katerina (born in 2003) and Veronica (2011).


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Olena Pinchuk founded the ANTIAIDS Foundation in 2003. According to the Ukrainian magazine "Focus," Olena Pinchuk was amongst the "top 10 most influential women" in Ukraine as of 2010.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Victor Pinchuk made headlines when it was revealed that one of his lobbyists was previously picked by Donald Trump for national security aide.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma was an amateur guitar player in his younger years. He was also known for his skill at the complicated card game "preferans."


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: After retirement, Kuchma was allowed to keep the state-owned dacha in Koncha-Zaspa for his personal use upon completion of his state duties. Government order #15-r, which allowed Kuchma to keep his estate, was signed by acting Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on 19 January 2005. Kuchma was also allowed to keep his full presidential salary and all service personnel, along with two state-owned vehicles. That order also stated that these costs would be paid out of the state budget.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's legacy as President of Ukraine has proven divisive and controversial. He has been commonly referred to as authoritarian, and his attacks on independent media, as well as his economic reforms, have continued to impact Ukraine in the years since he left office.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's detractors have accused him of establishing the Ukrainian oligarchs with his economic reforms, and many oligarchs entered politics during his presidency, among them Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk, Viktor Medvedchuk, Ihor Bakai, Kostyantyn Zhevago and Heorhiy Kirpa.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma's political legacy has also been impactful. Each of his successors except Volodymyr Zelenskyy began their political career under and with the support of Kuchma. Several other politicians, such as Medevdchuk, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Leonid Derkach, Volodymyr Horbulin, and Oleksandr Omelchenko also were promoted by Kuchma during his tenure in office.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Despite numerous human rights abuses during his tenure, such as vote rigging in the 2004 presidential election, and the mysterious deaths of numerous political opponents, among them Gongadze and Viacheslav Chornovil, Kuchma has never been charged with a crime, and numerous attempts to do so have proven unsuccessful.


title: Leonid Kuchma

text: Kuchma was awarded the Azerbaijani Istiglal Order for his contributions to Azerbaijan-Ukraine relations and strategic cooperation between the states by President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev on 6 August 1999.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Tahj Dayton Mowry (; born May 17, 1986) is an American actor. He is the brother of identical twin actresses Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry and is known for his role on the show "Smart Guy" as the main character TJ on The WB, though the show gained later recognition on Disney Channel. Mowry was later cast as the voice of ten-year-old super genius Wade Load on "Kim Possible" as a nod to this role. He is also known for his roles as Michelle's best friend Teddy on "Full House" and Tucker Dobbs on Freeform's comedy show "Baby Daddy".


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Tahj Dayton Mowry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on May 17, 1986. His mother, Darlene Renée (née Flowers), managed her children's careers. His father, Timothy John Mowry, was in the U.S. Army and later became a custody officer/jailer with the City of Glendale Police Department when the family moved to California.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: His father has English and Irish ancestry, and his mother is of Afro-Bahamian descent. His parents met in high school in Miami, Florida. Both joined the U.S. Army, and both eventually reached the rank of Sergeant. His older twin sisters are Tia and Tamera Mowry and he also has a brother named Tavior. He played varsity football at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, California, and one season of football at Savannah State University and the University of Wyoming. He attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where his sisters Tia and Tamera both graduated.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Mowry starred and is perhaps best known as T.J. Henderson, a child prodigy, on the sitcom "Smart Guy". He played Teddy on the sitcom "Full House". He also appeared in Disney Channel movies such as "Hounded" and "The Poof Point". He had a guest role on the Disney Channel Original Series, "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and in a "" episode entitled "". Mowry appeared in the movie "Are We Done Yet?" as Danny Pulu and in "Seventeen Again" as Willie Donovan. Mowry also had an appearance in one episode in the fourth season of "Desperate Housewives". He also made a guest appearance on an episode of "The Game" as Melanie Barnett's brother (he's also the real brother of Melanie's portrayer Tia Mowry). Mowry performed the voice of Wade in the Disney Channel animated series "Kim Possible".


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Mowry sang "Shine Your Light On Me" for "School's Out! Christmas", "Circle of Life" for the Disney Channel Circle of Stars recording of "The Lion King" which was included on the Platinum Edition DVD and was featured on a single called "Kick It Out" with Boom Boom Satellites and Flo Rida. He also appeared in an episode of "Friends" when Phoebe sings for kindergarten kids.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: He also starred as Tucker Dobbs in the ABC Family sitcom "Baby Daddy". The half-hour sitcom premiered on June 20, 2012. Mowry released his debut single called "Flirt" produced by Excel Beats in April 2015. He released a six-song EP entitled, "Future Funk", on August 4, 2015. The EP included "Bossy", "Dancing Alone" and "End of the Road" as stand out tracks.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Mowry appeared on the daytime talk show "The Real" with his sister and co-host Tamera Mowry and as a guest co-host for three episodes.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: Mowry dated actress Naya Rivera between 2000 and 2004, after working together on "Smart Guy" in the 1990s. Rivera remained close with Tahj and his sisters, Tia and Tamera, until her death, including helping the sisters find an apartment when they got kicked out of their house.


title: Tahj Mowry

text: On July 12, 2020, Mowry posted an Instagram tribute to Rivera, while search operations were underway for her after she went missing while swimming on July 8 at Lake Piru in Southern California. Rivera was subsequently found the day after and pronounced dead.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: Meteor Garden () is a 2018 mainland Chinese television series starring Shen Yue, Dylan Wang, Darren Chen, Caesar Wu, and Connor Leong. The series is based on the Japanese shōjo manga series written by Yoko Kamio, and a remake of the 2001 Taiwanese series of the same name. The series is produced by the maker of the original Taiwanese series and directed by Lin Helong. It is set in Shanghai and London.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: The series reboot was first broadcast in China on Hunan Television, then made available after its airing to VIP users of its streaming counterpart, Mango TV. The stream was then made available to everyone the day after it aired. Two episodes were released per day on a Monday to Wednesday basis. It is also available globally via Netflix.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: The story centers around an ordinary girl, Dong Shancai (Shen Yue), who is accepted into the most prestigious university in the country, Ming De University. Shancai is a girl from a family that barely makes ends meet. Due to the nature of her personality, she immediately clashes with F4, an elite clique composed of the four most popular boys in the institution, especially its spoiled, rich and arrogant leader - Daoming Si (Dylan Wang). Gradually, Daoming Si falls deeply in love with Shancai, only to realize that she is in love with one of his best friends, Huaze Lei (Darren Chen).


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: Eventually, the four boys begin to acknowledge Shancai's unyielding personality that is like her namesake: a weed that can never be brought down. Shancai begins to see the good in the boys, paving the way for friendships and an eventual romance. However, Daoming Si's mother strongly disapproves of Shancai due to her social status and family background, thus the former doing all things in order to break Shancai and Daoming Si's relationship.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: In April 2017, Angie Chai announced the remake of "Meteor Garden", which she produced in 2001. Prior to the announcement, Barbie Hsu hinted at the news on her Weibo account. Chai planned on making the remake a "fuller —and flashier— adaptation of the books". The drama was budgeted at 720 million New Taiwan dollars (about US$24 million) with 15 million per episode, thirty times higher than the original.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: A casting call was announced on social media on June 21, 2017 with a video and the topic, "#FindingF4". On November 7, 2017, the actors playing F4 were revealed, namely Dylan Wang (Daoming Si), Darren Chen (Huaze Lei), Caesar Wu (Ximen Yan) and Connor Leong (Feng Meizuo). Shen Yue's role as Dong Shancai was unveiled at a press conference in Shanghai on November 9.


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: Dee Hsu auditioned for the role of Daoming Feng and was cast as Daoming Zhuang. The role of Daoming Feng was eventually portrayed by actress Wang Lin (Lilian Wang).


title: Meteor Garden (2018 TV series)

text: In China, ratings of at least 1.0% is considered high due to its large population and numerous TV share.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Star vs. the Forces of Evil is an American animated magical girl television series created by Daron Nefcy and developed by Jordana Arkin and Dave Wasson, which aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It is the first Disney XD series created by a woman, and the third overall for Disney Television Animation (following "Pepper Ann" from 1997 and "Doc McStuffins" from 2012).


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The series follows the adventures of Star Butterfly (voiced by Eden Sher), the young turbulent heir to the royal throne in the dimension of Mewni, who is sent to Earth to mellow her reckless behavior. There she befriends and becomes roommates with human Marco Diaz (Adam McArthur) and begins a semi-normal life in Echo Creek, attending school and meeting new friends. Throughout the first season, the two travel to exotic dimensions using dimensional scissors while preventing the Mewman monster Ludo (Alan Tudyk) from stealing Star's magic wand. As the series progresses, Star and Marco fall in love with each other, meet new friends, take on new enemies, and travel to even more weird and wild dimensions.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" typically follows a format of two 11 minute-long independent "segments" per episode for the first three seasons. The fourth season has a few more half-hour episodes than prior seasons. Greenlit for Disney Channel in 2013, the first episode aired there on January 18, 2015, as a preview, then the series moved over to Disney XD on March 30, 2015, where its premiere on Disney XD became the most-watched animated series debut in the network's history. The fourth and final season premiered on March 10, 2019, in its return to Disney Channel, with two new episodes airing every Sunday. The series ended on May 19, 2019, with the episode "Cleaved".


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Star Butterfly is a magical princess from the dimension of Mewni and the heiress to the royal throne of the Butterfly Kingdom. From tradition, she is given the family heirloom wand on her 14th birthday and was known to be the most energetic and silly child through the royal family. After she accidentally sets fire to the family castle, her parents, King River and Queen Moon Butterfly, decide that a safer option is to send her to Earth as a foreign exchange student, so she can continue her magic training there. She befriends student Marco Diaz and lives with his family in suburban Los Angeles while attending Echo Creek Academy. Going in a series of misadventures using "dimensional scissors" that can open portals, Star and Marco must deal with everyday school life while protecting Star's wand from falling into the hands of Ludo, a half-bird half-man creature from Mewni who commands a group of monsters.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: As the series progresses, new, more threatening antagonists appear in the show, including the mysterious monster Toffee and former Queen Eclipsa's half-Mewman, half-monster daughter Meteora Butterfly. The plot shifts from the defense of the wand from Ludo to a bigger and more complex narrative focusing on the various conflicts revolving around prejudice against monsters, the ruler ship of Mewni, Mewni's origins, and the very nature of magic itself. Several mysteries about the past of the Butterfly royal family are also unveiled, mostly revolving around Eclipsa Butterfly, the "Queen of Darkness" and the most infamous member in the Butterfly family history. Several secondary protagonists also appear more prominently or join the series in subsequent seasons, including Star's Mewman best friend Pony Head (who is a floating unicorn head), Star's half-demon ex-boyfriend Tom, the mischievous Janna, and Magic High Commission member Hekapoo; Queen Moon also takes on a bigger role.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Nefcy said she originally created Star as a girl who wanted to be a magical girl like "Sailor Moon", and Marco as a boy who was obsessed with "Dragon Ball Z" and karate; they would be enemies instead of friends. In this earlier version, Star did not have any actual magical powers; she instead would approach and solve problems primarily through the force of her determination alone. Nefcy began pitching the show to Cartoon Network during the time when she was in her third year of college, when the network was actively soliciting the creation of pilots for The Cartoonstitute. However, the network did not green light her vision for the show and was not made. Nefcy originally placed Star in the fourth grade, reflecting on a time in her own childhood when she held a self-described obsession with the animated series "Sailor Moon". However, Nefcy later adjusted the character's age to fourteen during the time she made her series proposition to Disney rather than Cartoon Network originally. An executive at that time made the suggestion for Star to have actual magical powers. Nefcy worked this concept into the show's current iteration, along with the idea of different dimensions as show locations, the framing device of Star being a foreign exchange student, and the plot aspects relating to Star being a princess and the subsequent consequences of her royal birthright. Nefcy said that the overall concept has evolved over about six years.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: In addition to "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z", Nefcy has said that she had heavy influence in her youth from the animated Japanese shows "Magic Knight Rayearth", "Revolutionary Girl Utena" and "Unico", the last of which featured a blue unicorn. She also cited shows unrelated to Japanese animation such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and was influenced by independent comic series such as "Scott Pilgrim" and "The Dungeon". With regards to the development of more strong female characters, Nefcy said that she "looked at TV over the years and I have had to go to Japan when I was younger to find the cartoons that had the characters that I wanted to see. It was always a question of 'Well, why isn't that on TV in the U.S.?'"


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: One of the concepts she likes about the show is that it does not make high school the most important experience for teenagers. She also likes that Star does her own thing instead of being concerned about fitting in. Nefcy did not want the gimmick about keeping the magic powers a secret from others as typical of magical girl shows, so she had the students already know about it and Marco's parents as well. She also portrays Star as not really a superhero as she does not specifically go after super-villains except when they attack her, and that she does not really save people. Nefcy said that the episodes balance comedy and drama: "we really want our characters to feel like teenagers and have them going through the normal emotions that teenagers go through, but in this magical setting."


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Storyboarding and design are done in Los Angeles. In describing the process, Nefcy said that the show is storyboard-driven, with each episode mapped out by the storyboard artists. The storyboarders also do the writing, taking a two-page outline and turning it into a full script. A storyboard for 11 minutes would require about 2000 drawings to be done in a six-week period. After pre-production in the US, the first season animation was done at Mercury Filmworks in Ottawa, Canada. Mercury had also done "Wander Over Yonder" and the "Mickey Mouse" series. For the rest of first season, the animation was done in the Philippines. The rest of the series (seasons 2-4) was animated by Sugarcube and Rough Draft Studios, both located in South Korea.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The theme song was done by Brad Breeck, who also did "Gravity Falls" opening theme. Nefcy said, "when we were listening to it we didn't know, because we just listened blind". Brian Kim was chosen among a group of about ten people as the show's composer. Kim describes the music for each dimension as having a different sound and relating it to indie rock in Los Angeles.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The show was initially scheduled to premiere on Disney Channel after being greenlit in March 2013, for a premiere in the Fall of 2014, before being switched over to Disney XD. However, on February 23, 2018, it was announced that the show would be moving to Disney Channel for its fourth season. On February 7, 2019, it was announced that the fourth season would be its last.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The show's title sequence was promoted at Comic-Con 2014 six months prior to its scheduled broadcast premiere. As a result, the footage was uploaded by fans to YouTube who then started generating fan art and fan fiction. The first episode premiered on Disney Channel in January 2015. The positive reaction on social media prompted Disney XD to order a second season of the series in February 2015, six weeks ahead of its launch of the series on Disney XD in March. Disney sitcom actors Olivia Holt and Kelli Berglund participated in promoting the series the weeks before its Disney XD premiere, with Holt dressing up as Star.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The second season premiered on July 11, 2016, The show's third season was ordered ahead on March 4, 2016. It premiered on July 15, 2017, with a two-hour long television movie entitled ""The Battle for Mewni"" and consisted of the first four episodes. A live chat featuring Star and Marco was aired on Disney XD on July 17. The remaining third-season episodes started airing on November 6, 2017. A fourth season was also ordered ahead of the third season premiere. That fourth season, announced to be its last in February 2019, premiered on March 10, 2019, with twenty-one episodes.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" premiered in Canada on the DHX-owned Disney XD on April 6, 2015, and was later moved to the Corus-owned Disney XD on December 1. The series premiered on Disney XD channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 16, 2015, in Australia on August 3, and in the Middle East and Africa on October 5. It also premiered on November 8 on Disney Channel in Southeast Asia. On June 15, the series premiered in South Korea. The series premiered on December 18, 2015 in Japan. The series premiered on March 6, 2016, as "Star Butterfly" in French on Disney La Chaîne in Canada. The show premiered on November 2 on Disney XD in Italy, and on Disney Channel on November 2, 2016.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Kevin Johnson of "The A.V. Club" gave the pilot episode a B+, saying that the show was something children could have a lot of fun with, noting how the show follows current trends in western animation "towards large-eyed characters and quirky visual trends". Johnson stated that "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" "excels on wild, silly, and clever set-pieces to bring the laughs and action", but expected that adult viewers won't get much out of it.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: In reviewing episodes from the first season, Marcy Cook of "The Mary Sue" described the show as a blend of others such as "Invader Zim" and a sanitized "Ren & Stimpy", with great appeal to tween and teen girls as well some laugh out loud moments for adults. She said, "[I]t's really cool to see a girl who is into cuteness and rainbows also kick-ass and enjoy it". Cook was bothered by the short episodes that made the plot seem rushed or underdeveloped. Cook was bugged by Marco's retconned personality from the pilot episode where he was a safety conscious kid to the series where he was a martial arts fight seeker. Caitlin Donovan of entertainment website Epicstream listed it among her top 10 animated series of 2015. She found the first few episodes to be "a little rough for me, like the show was trying too hard to be funny and weird", but that the show got better with character development and relationship building, with "a really dramatic, high-tension finale to the first season".


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The premiere of "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" became the most-watched animated series debut in Disney XD’s history with an average of 1.2 million viewers. Following the end of the second season, Disney XD announced that in 2016, "Star" and another animated show "Milo Murphy's Law" had reached over 100 million consumer views combined across its media platforms.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The episode "Party with a Pony" was showcased in the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2015.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: In 2019, the season 3 episode, "Booth Buddies", was nominated an Annie Award for "Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production", and the season 3 finale, "Conquer", was also nominated an Annie Award for "Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production". However, both lost to the Netflix animated series, "Hilda".


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: A comic book series titled "Deep Trouble" was written by storyboarder Zach Marcus and illustrated by character designer Devin Taylor, both of whom are part of the "Star" crew. They have been released monthly by Joe Books starting in September 2016. A "Cinestory" comic based on the show's first episode, "Star Comes to Earth", was also developed, and was released on May 31, 2016, with a second "Cinestory" comic, based on the season 2 episode "Starcrushed", was scheduled for a July 30, 2019.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The book "Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension", authored by Amber Benson and supervising producer Dominic Bisignano, was released on March 7, 2017. Another book for the series, titled "The Book of Spells", authored by the show's creator, Daron Nefcy, alongside Benson and Bisignano, was published on September 11, 2018.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: A plush toy of Star was released as a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive in July 2018 by a toy company named PhatMojo. It received a retail release later that year.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: The series received a series of Pop! Vinyl figures from Funko, consisting of Star, Marco, Tom, and Ludo, on December 20, 2018 including a Mewberty Form Star exclusive to "Hot Topic" stores.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: Nefcy has stated that in the future she would like to see a continuation of the series, such as a film adaptation and a spin-off. However, as of September 2022 there are no official plans for a continuation.


title: Star vs. the Forces of Evil

text: On July 8, 2022, it was announced that the characters would appear in the Disney Channel original series "Chibiverse" which started airing on July 30, 2022.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: The Longest Ride is a 2015 American Neo Western romantic drama film directed by George Tillman Jr. and written by Craig Bolotin. Based on Nicholas Sparks' 2013 novel of the same name, the film stars Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood, Jack Huston, Oona Chaplin, and Alan Alda. The film was released on April 10, 2015 by 20th Century Fox.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: Professional bull rider Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood) meets Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson), an art student at Wake Forest University, after she attends a PBR event. On the way home from their first date, they spot a car crash in the woods and help rescue an elderly man from the vehicle, along with a box full of letters.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: In the hospital, Sophia visits the 91-year old man she rescued, Ira Levinson (Alan Alda). He explains the letters are what he wrote as a teenager to his late wife, Ruth, and she offers to read them to him, which tell the story of how they met and fell in love in 1940.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: In flashbacks, Ruth (Oona Chaplin) tells a young Ira (Jack Huston) that she wants a big family, and he eventually proposes to her before leaving to fight in World War II. However, Ira is shot during an attack and is later informed that he can no longer have children, news that causes distance between Ruth and him when he returns. Regardless, they decide to make it work and move in together, decorating the house with many paintings that Ruth and he love.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: Back in the present day, Ira is moved to a nursing home where Sophia continues to visit. Luke continues bull riding as Sophia and he fall in love. Luke attends an art exhibit with Sophia, which he finds disinteresting, and they realize how different their two worlds are; Luke says he does not feel their relationship will work. Sophia goes to Ira for advice, who tells her how he and Ruth made it work. In flashbacks, it is revealed that Ruth, a school teacher, became attached to a young student named Daniel McDonald after finding out she and Ira wouldn't have children of their own. They wanted to adopt him but Daniel's uncaring relatives wouldn't allow it.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: Luke is injured while riding and is rushed to hospital. He is advised not to ride again but he refuses to accept that his career is over. Following an argument, Luke and Sophia break up. In flashbacks, Ira and Ruth break up because she cannot see a life without children in their future. However, weeks later, Ruth returns as she cannot live without Ira. Decades later, now 80 years old, Ira wakes up to find Ruth has died in her sleep. One night, a woman knocks on his door, claiming to be the wife of Daniel McDonald, the child they almost adopted when they were younger, and informs Ira that Daniel, who later became a professor of physics and astronomy, has died. She gives him a portrait of Ruth that Daniel had painted, with a message on the back that reads: "Ruth Levinson, third grade teacher. She told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up".


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: Sophia and Luke are contacted by Ira's attorney who tells them that he has died and an auction will be held for his collection of paintings. Meanwhile, Luke wins his last ride, and the event championship, but feels disappointed because Sophia is not there to share it with him. Going to the auction, he buys the first piece of art, Daniel's "Portrait of Ruth". Sophia and Luke reconcile with a kiss after he tells her he will not ride anymore because what he really wants is to be with her for the rest of his life. The auctioneer then reveals that Ira's clause in the auction rules was: whoever buys Daniel's portrait will receive the entire collection, worth almost $200 million, as it is the piece of art that meant the most to him.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: A year later, Luke and Sophia, now married, have built a museum dedicated to Ira and Ruth and their paintings. Luke takes Sophia to Black Mountain College where Ira and Ruth used to spend their wedding anniversary. They sit under the same tree and read Ira's letters together.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: In April 2014, Fox 2000 Pictures set a film adaptation to be released on April 10, 2015, with George Tillman Jr. in final talks to direct, Craig Bolotin adapting the screenplay, and Britt Robertson as Sophia Danko, Oona Chaplin as Ruth, Scott Eastwood as Luke Collins, Jack Huston as Young Ira, and Alan Alda as old Ira.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: Principal photography began on June 16, 2014, in Wilmington and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On July 28, filming started in Jacksonville, where a major rodeo scene was shot. The PBR was the technical advisor and producer for all of the bull riding events. PBR bull riders doubled for Scott and appeared in the film. The crew then moved to Winston-Salem at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: "The Longest Ride" grossed $37,446,117 in North America and $25,498,698 in other territories for a worldwide total of $62,944,815.


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $13,019,686, finishing third at the box office behind "Furious 7" ($59,585,930) and "Home" ($18,532,280).


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: "The Longest Ride" has received negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 31%, based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Longest Ride" is less manipulative than the average Nicholas Sparks film, but it's still saccharine and hopelessly contrived — not that it'll matter to the target audience." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: The Longest Ride (film)

text: "The Longest Ride" earned an average grade of "A" in CinemaScore poll on an A+ to F scale, marking the first Sparks feature adaptation to earn an A in 11 years since "The Notebook" (2004).


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between Barcelona of Spain and Arsenal of England at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, France, on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. It was the final match of the 2005–06 season of Europe's primary cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their fifth final, having won the competition once in 1992, while it was Arsenal's first final appearance and the first appearance by a club from London.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Each club progressed through the group stage and three knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beating Chelsea, Benfica and Milan, respectively. Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, respectively.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: A crowd of 79,500 watched as Jens Lehmann was sent off early in the game. Despite this setback, Arsenal took the lead through Sol Campbell towards the end of the first half. After an hour, Henrik Larsson came on for Barcelona and was involved in both of their goals. Barcelona equalised through Samuel Eto'o near the end of the second half, and a few minutes later, Juliano Belletti scored to give Barcelona a 2–1 victory. This was Barcelona's second triumph in the competition, 14 years after they won their first European Cup in 1992.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Teams qualified for the Champions League group stage, either directly or through three preliminary rounds, based on both their position in the preceding domestic league and the strength of that league. Both Arsenal and Barcelona entered the competition in the group stages: Arsenal by finishing second in the 2004–05 FA Premier League, and Barcelona by winning La Liga. The group stages were contested as eight double round robin groups of four teams, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stage. Knockout matches were decided based on home and away matches, with the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: UEFA awarded the right to host the final to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis after considering its merits in terms of capacity, stadium infrastructure and dossiers including city and airport agreements and promotional plans. UEFA also conducted a variety of site visits. The Stade de France had previously staged the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Valencia, which Madrid won 3–0. Saint-Denis was chosen to host the final in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup final in 1956, held in nearby Paris at the Parc des Princes, now home of Paris Saint-Germain. The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1975 and 1981 European Cup finals, the 1978 and 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, and the 1998 UEFA Cup Final.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Barcelona showed the match live from their Mini Estadi on a television screen for an estimated audience of 15,276. Before the final, an estimated 1.2 million people descended into the streets of Barcelona, as the team toured the city on two open-top double-decker buses to celebrate winning La Liga. Arsenal went into the match with the record for the longest time without a conceding a goal, having played 919 minutes since conceding against AFC Ajax in the group stage. Arsenal's appearance in the match came six years to the day since their last European final, when they faced Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final; they lost on penalties after the match had finished goalless after extra time. Of the players who featured in that final, only Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp remained at the club, while Sylvinho, who had featured for Arsenal in the final, was now a Barcelona player.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: It was the first time Arsenal had appeared in the European Cup final, which also made them the first club from London to do so. Barcelona were appearing in the final for the fifth time; their last appearance was a 4–0 loss to Milan in 1994. Two more losses preceded the 1994 final (1961 and 1986), and their only success in the competition came in 1992 when they beat Sampdoria. Barcelona went into the final as domestic league champions, having won La Liga a fortnight earlier. They were regarded as the best side on the continent because they possessed players such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o. Barcelona player Deco dismissed the notion of Barcelona being favourites, insisting they would not be complacent: "Milan were winning 3–0 last year against Liverpool and ended up losing in the end. We need to be serious, calm and fully concentrated so that we don't make any errors".


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Neither side had been beaten en route to the final, with Arsenal only conceding two goals in their 12 matches before the final, including a record ten successive matches without conceding. Barcelona, on the other hand, had scored 114 goals in all competitions before the final. The two finalists were guaranteed a financial windfall from their progress to the final. Arsenal would receive a revenue of around €37.3 million if they won and approximately €34.7 million if they lost. Barcelona would earn €31.5 million from revenue if they won, and around €28.9 million if they were to lose. Included in the total for participating in the final, the UEFA Champions League winners would collect approximately €6.4 million, with the runners-up receiving approximately €3.8 million. The final marked the appearance of a new trophy following Liverpool's triumph over Milan the previous year. As Liverpool won the competition for the fifth time they were entitled to keep the trophy, creating the need for a new trophy.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Barcelona were expected to line up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly and Deco supporting Samuel Eto'o who would be deployed as the lone striker. They had doubts about the fitness of Lionel Messi going into the final. He had pulled a thigh muscle during the second leg of their match with Chelsea, and had not played since, though he was included in the 22-man squad for the final. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard stated he would leave it late before deciding whether to select him. Despite being included in the squad, Messi did not feature in the final. Arsenal were expected to line up in a 4–5–1 formation, with Thierry Henry as the sole striker. There was much discussion about whether José Antonio Reyes would take the place of Robert Pires on the left of midfield. It had been announced before the match that this would be Pires' last match as he had agreed to join Villarreal next season.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: On the morning of the final it emerged that the assistant referee for the game Ole Hermann Borgan had posed for photographs in a Barcelona shirt for "Drammens Tidende", a Norwegian newspaper. After initially sticking by the official, UEFA eventually decided to replace him with fellow Norwegian Arild Sundet. Norway's head of refereeing Rune Pedersen stated: "It is an unwritten rule that referees should not do anything that can doubt their impartial stance".


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Barcelona fielded a 4–3–3 formation with Mark van Bommel and Edmílson lining up in midfield alongside Deco, ahead of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Lionel Messi did not feature in the matchday squad, despite returning from injury and featuring in the 22-man squad, while Henrik Larsson was among the substitutes in potentially his last game for the club. Arsenal fielded a 4-4-1-1 formation, which saw Emmanuel Eboué replace the injured Lauren, and Ashley Cole return at left-back to make only his third appearance in the competition that season due to injury. Thierry Henry was deployed as the lone striker, with Freddie Ljungberg playing off his shoulder.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: As both teams' first-choice kits featured a shade of red, Arsenal wore their yellow away strip, while Barcelona wore their traditional blue and maroon striped kit. Arsenal won the coin toss and Barcelona kicked off. Barcelona almost immediately came under pressure when Thierry Henry shot straight at Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés, who conceded a corner. From the resulting corner Arsenal had another chance again courtesy of Henry, whose shot was again saved by Valdés. The next attack in the seventh minute resulted in Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saving from Ludovic Giuly after he shot from a narrow angle. Four minutes later Barcelona were awarded a free-kick from goal; Ronaldinho shot wide of the goal.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: With 18 minutes played, Lehmann became the first person to be sent off in a European Cup final after he brought down Samuel Eto'o outside the Arsenal box. Giuly subsequently put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was not allowed due to the foul. Arsenal substituted Robert Pires for Manuel Almunia, their substitute goalkeeper. The free-kick was sent wide by Ronaldinho. Following Lehmann's dismissal Barcelona exerted more pressure on Arsenal, to the point where Emmanuel Eboué was cautioned for a high tackle.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: In the 37th minute Arsenal overcame their numerical disadvantage to score when Sol Campbell headed in from a Thierry Henry free-kick following Carles Puyol's foul on Emmanuel Eboué. Some believed that Eboué was guilty of diving. Arsenal held onto their lead for the remainder of the half. Barcelona's best chance came from Eto'o, whose shot hit the post via a save from Almunia.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: At halftime, Barcelona replaced Edmílson, who had picked up an injury in the first half, with Andrés Iniesta. Almunia saved a shot from Iniesta six minutes into the half.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: After 61 minutes, Barcelona substituted Larsson for Van Bommel. Minutes later, Alexander Hleb received a pass from Henry but shot wide of the goal. Arsenal began to press forward and both Henry and Ljungberg saw shots saved; Henry then had another chance to score after being put through by Hleb, but he shot straight at Valdés. Following this attack, Oleguer was replaced by Juliano Belletti, and Arsenal replaced Cesc Fàbregas with Mathieu Flamini.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Next, Iniesta sent a pass through the inside-left channel to Larsson whose one-touch, right-footed lay-off quickly released Eto'o to equalise for Barcelona. Four minutes later, Larsson was again the provider, playing a one-two with Belletti in the inside-right channel, before the Brazilian full-back shot right-footed through Almunia's legs to score at the near post.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: The remaining minutes saw Arsenal replace Hleb with Reyes in an attempt to equalise, but Barcelona had the best chance during this period, only for Giuly to hit his shot straight at Almunia. Following this, Larsson impeded the Arsenal goalkeeper and was cautioned. The match finished soon after with Barcelona winning 2–1. With this defeat, Arsenal became the first English club and third overall – after Hamburger SV and Fiorentina – to have been runner-up in all three major European competitions (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup).


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Barcelona captain Carles Puyol collected the trophy from UEFA president Lennart Johansson as Barcelona celebrated their second European Cup triumph. As a result of winning the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona would face Sevilla, the winners of the UEFA Cup, in the UEFA Super Cup. The subsequent match, played on 25 August 2006, was won 3–0 by Sevilla. Barcelona's victory meant they would also participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. Receiving a bye in the first round, they beat Club América 4–0 in the semi-finals to progress to the final where they faced Copa Libertadores champions Internacional, who won 1–0.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Much of the discussion after the match centred around referee Terje Hauge's decision to send off Lehmann. Football pundit Mark Lawrenson stated: "The game changed when Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off". Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger agreed: "When Jens Lehmann got sent off, that left us with 70 minutes to play with ten against eleven, against a team that retains the ball very well". He refused to openly criticise this decision, although he did criticise the decision to award Barcelona's first goal, as he felt that Samuel Eto'o was offside. Wenger was also adamant that his young side would bounce back from the defeat. One person who did criticise the referee was Thierry Henry, stating: "I was kicked all over the place. I expected the referee to do his job. I don't think he did". There was much discussion after the match over whether Henry would remain with Arsenal or move to Barcelona, whom he had been linked with a move to over the past months. Arsène Wenger was asked post match if Henry would leave, to which the Arsenal manager replied: "I don't know. I don't think so". However, on 19 May, Henry signed a new four-year contract with Arsenal, ending the speculation about a possible move to Barcelona.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Thierry Henry paid tribute to Larsson's contribution to Barcelona's win after the game, saying, "People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight." Henry also remarked, "You have to remember that Barcelona is a team. It's not Eto'o, it's not Ronaldinho. On Wednesday, the man who made the difference was Henrik Larsson. You have to give him credit for that because when he came on he made some amazing runs around the box and he showed he is a team player. You saw two times he fed the ball back to people and that's what I always talk about, he is a team player. He did that against us, even though the first goal was a close offside decision." Larsson's addition giving Barcelona the cutting edge required to overcome Arsenal was noted by international press.


title: 2006 UEFA Champions League Final

text: Henrik Larsson, who provided the two assists for the goals, was delighted with the triumph and had no regrets over deciding to leave Barcelona after the match: "I want to play football. I feel I haven't played as much as I would love to because of the great players we have at Barcelona". Fellow Barcelona player Giovanni van Bronckhorst was emotional as he won against his former club: "It's special to win the final, and even more special to do it against your old team". Samuel Eto'o, scorer of Barcelona's first goal, cited Liverpool's comeback against Milan as inspiration for Barcelona's victory: "After having seen what Liverpool did last year, we told ourselves not to throw in the towel. We followed Liverpool's example". Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard praised the role of goalkeeper Victor Valdés in their victory, stating that he made a number of important saves to keep them in the match: "Valdes played a decisive role. He saved us at crucial moments".


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: After "Flesh", D'Arbanville performed in Warhol's "L'Amour" (1973), and as the title character in the David Hamilton film "Bilitis" (1977).


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: After her unabashedly risqué performances in her youth, D'Arbanville has worked steadily in film and television series in the United States and France. In 1987, D'Arbanville won a Drama-Logue Award as Best Actress for her stage performance in "Italian American Reconciliation" (1987). She was well known for her role as Lt. Virginia Cooper on the FOX series "New York Undercover".


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: In the late 1960s, when she was a model in London, D'Arbanville met and developed a romance with singer and songwriter Cat Stevens. She was the inspiration for at least two of his hit songs: "Lady D'Arbanville" and "Wild World".


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: D'Arbanville left Stevens for periods of time to continue her modeling career in Paris and New York City, and was a part of Warhol's Factory scene. In an interview with Warhol, she said wistfully that she had heard the song "Lady D'Arbanville":


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: D'Arbanville later had a relationship with actor Don Johnson from 1981 to 1986. The couple had a son, Jesse Wayne Johnson (born December 7, 1982).


title: Patti D'Arbanville

text: D'Arbanville has been married and divorced three times. She lived in France for ten years, becoming fluent in French, and was married to French actor , then known as Roger Mirmont, from August 1, 1975, to 1980. From April 26, 1980, to 1981, her husband was Steve Curry. She was then married to former New York City firefighter Terry Quinn from June 15, 1993, to March 12, 2002. They have three children: daughters Emmelyn and Alexandra; and son Liam.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes are a family, the Gruidae, of large, long-legged, and long-necked birds in the group Gruiformes. The 15 species of cranes are placed in three genera, "Antigone", "Balearica", and "Grus". Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Cranes live on most continents, with the exception of Antarctica and South America.


title: Crane (bird)

text: They are opportunistic feeders that change their diets according to the season and their own nutrient requirements. They eat a range of items from small rodents, eggs of birds, fish, amphibians, and insects to grain and berries.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes construct platform nests in shallow water, and typically lay two eggs at a time. Both parents help to rear the young, which remain with them until the next breeding season.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Some species and populations of cranes migrate over long distances; others do not migrate at all. Cranes are solitary during the breeding season, occurring in pairs, but during the nonbreeding season, most species are gregarious, forming large flocks where their numbers are sufficient.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Most species of cranes have been affected by human activities and are at the least classified as threatened, if not critically endangered. The plight of the whooping cranes of North America inspired some of the first US legislation to protect endangered species.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes are very large birds, often considered the world's tallest flying birds. They range in size from the demoiselle crane, which measures in length, to the sarus crane, which can be up to , although the heaviest is the red-crowned crane, which can weigh prior to migrating. They are long-legged and long-necked birds with streamlined bodies and large, rounded wings. The males and females do not vary in external appearance, but males tend to be slightly larger than females.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The plumage of cranes varies by habitat. Species inhabiting vast, open wetlands tend to have more white in their plumage than do species that inhabit smaller wetlands or forested habitats, which tend to be more grey. These white species are also generally larger. The smaller size and colour of the forest species is thought to help them maintain a less conspicuous profile while nesting; two of these species (the common and sandhill cranes) also daub their feathers with mud which some observers suspect helps them to hide while nesting.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Most species of cranes have some areas of bare skin on their faces; the only two exceptions are the blue and demoiselle cranes. This skin is used in communication with other cranes, and can be expanded by contracting and relaxing muscles, and change the intensity of colour. Feathers on the head can be moved and erected in the blue, wattled, and demoiselle cranes for signaling, as well.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Also important to communication is the position and length of the trachea. In the two crowned cranes, the trachea is shorter and only slightly impressed upon the bone of the sternum, whereas the trachea of the other species is longer and penetrates the sternum. In some species, the entire sternum is fused to the bony plates of the trachea, and this helps amplify the crane's calls, allowing them to carry for several kilometres.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The fossil record of cranes is incomplete. Apparently, the subfamilies were well distinct by the Late Eocene (around 35 mya). The present genera are apparently some 20 mya old. Biogeography of known fossil and the living taxa of cranes suggests that the group is probably of (Laurasian?) Old World origin. The extant diversity at the genus level is centered on (eastern) Africa, although no fossil record exists from there. On the other hand, it is peculiar that numerous fossils of Ciconiiformes are documented from there; these birds presumably shared much of their habitat with cranes back then already. Cranes are sister taxa to Eogruidae, a lineage of flightless birds; as predicted by the fossil record of true cranes, eogruids were native to the Old World. A species of true crane, "Antigone cubensis", has similarly become flightless and ratite-like.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The cranes have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring across most of the world continents. They are absent from Antarctica and, mysteriously, South America. East Asia has the highest crane diversity, with eight species, followed by Africa, which is home to five resident species and wintering populations of a sixth. Australia, Europe, and North America have two regularly occurring species each. Of the four crane genera, "Balearica" (two species) is restricted to Africa, and "Leucogeranus" (one species) is restricted to Asia; the other two genera, "Grus" (including "Anthropoides" and "Bugeranus") and "Antigone", are both widespread.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Many species of cranes are dependent on wetlands and grasslands, and most species nest in shallow wetlands. Some species nest in wetlands, but move their chicks up onto grasslands or uplands to feed (while returning to wetlands at night), whereas others remain in wetlands for the entirety of the breeding season. Even the demoiselle crane and blue crane, which may nest and feed in grasslands (or even arid grasslands or deserts), require wetlands for roosting at night. The Sarus Crane in south Asia is unique in having a significant breeding population using agricultural fields to breed in areas alongside very high density of humans and intensive farming, largely due to the positive attitudes of farmers towards the cranes. In Australia, the Brolga occurs in the breeding areas of Sarus Cranes in Queensland state, and they achieve sympatry by using different habitats. Sarus Cranes in Queensland largely live in "Eucalyptus"-dominated riverine, while most Brolgas use non-wooded regional ecosystems that include vast grassland habitats. The only two species that do not always roost in wetlands are the two African crowned cranes ("Balearica"), which are the only cranes to roost in trees.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Some crane species are sedentary, remaining in the same area throughout the year, while others are highly migratory, traveling thousands of kilometres each year from their breeding sites. A few species like Sarus Cranes have both migratory and sedentary populations, and healthy sedentary populations have a large proportion of cranes that are not territorial, breeding pairs.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The cranes are diurnal birds that vary in their sociality by season and location. During the breeding season, they are territorial and usually remain on their territory all the time. In contrast in the non-breeding season, they tend to be gregarious, forming large flocks to roost, socialize, and in some species feed. Sarus Crane breeding pairs maintain territories throughout the year in south Asia, and non-breeding birds live in flocks that can also be seen throughout the year. Large aggregations of cranes likely increase safety for individual cranes when resting and flying and also increase chances for young unmated birds to meet partners.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes are highly vocal and have several specialized calls. The vocabulary begins soon after hatching with low, purring calls for maintaining contact with their parents, as well as food-begging calls. Other calls used as chicks include alarm calls and "flight intention" calls, both of which are maintained into adulthood. Cranes are noticed the most due to their loud duet calls that can be used to distinguish individual pairs. Sarus crane trios produce synchronized unison calls called "triets" whose structure is identical to duets of normal pairs, but have a lower frequency.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The cranes consume a wide range of food, both animal and plant matter. When feeding on land, they consume seeds, leaves, nuts and acorns, berries, fruit, insects, worms, snails, small reptiles, mammals, and birds. In wetlands and agriculture fields, roots, rhizomes, tubers, and other parts of emergent plants, other molluscs, small fish, eggs of birds and amphibians are also consumed, as well. The exact composition of the diet varies by location, season, and availability. Within the wide range of items consumed, some patterns are suggested but require specific investigation to confirm; the shorter-billed species usually feed in drier uplands, while the longer-billed species feed in wetlands.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes employ different foraging techniques for different food types and in different habitats. Tubers and rhizomes are dug for and a crane digging for them remains in place for some time digging and then expanding a hole to prise them out of the soil. In contrast both to this and the stationary wait and watch hunting methods employed by many herons, they forage for insects and animal prey by slowly moving forwards with their heads lowered and probing with their bills.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Where more than one species of cranes exists in a locality, each species adopts separate niches to minimise competition. At one important lake in Jiangxi Province in China, the Siberian cranes feed on the mudflats and in shallow water, the white-naped cranes on the wetland borders, the hooded cranes on sedge meadows, and the last two species also feed on the agricultural fields along with the common cranes. In Australia, where Sarus Cranes live alongside Brolgas, they have different diets: Sarus Cranes' diet consisted of diverse vegetation, while Brolga diet spanned a much wider range of trophic levels. Some crane species such as the Common/ Eurasian crane use a kleptoparasitic strategy to recover from temporary reductions in feeding rate, particularly when the rate is below the threshold of intake necessary for survival. Accumulated intake of during daytime shows a typical anti-sigmoid shape, with greatest increases of intake after dawn and before dusk.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes are perennially monogamous breeders, establishing long-term pair bonds that may last the lifetime of the birds. Pair bonds begin to form in the second or third years of life, but several years pass before the first successful breeding season. Initial breeding attempts often fail, and in many cases, newer pair bonds dissolve (divorce) after unsuccessful breeding attempts. Pairs that are repeatedly successful at breeding remain together for as long as they continue to do so. In a study of sandhill cranes in Florida, seven of the 22 pairs studied remained together for an 11-year period. Of the pairs that separated, 53% was due to the death of one of the pair, 18% was due to divorce, and the fate of 29% of pairs was unknown. Similar results had been found by acoustic monitoring (sonography/frequency analysis of duet and guard calls) in three breeding areas of common cranes in Germany over 10 years.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Cranes are territorial and generally seasonal breeders. Seasonality varies both between and within species, depending on local conditions. Migratory species begin breeding upon reaching their summer breeding grounds, between April and June. The breeding season of tropical species is usually timed to coincide with the wet or monsoon seasons. Artificial sources of water such as irrigation canals and irregular rainfall can sometimes provide adequate moisture to maintain wetland habitat outside the normal wet season, and allows for occasional aseasonal nesting throughout the year in few tropical species.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Territory sizes also vary depending on location. Tropical species can maintain very small territories, for example sarus cranes in India can breed on territories as small as one hectare where the area is of sufficient quality and disturbance by humans is minimal. Even in areas with a high density of humans, in the absence of directed persecution, species like Sarus Crane maintain territories as small as 5 ha when agricultural crops and landscape conditions are suitable. In contrast, red-crowned crane territories may require 500 hectares, and pairs may defend even larger territories than that, up to several thousand hectares. Territory defence is either acoustic with both birds performing the unison call, or more rarely, physical with attacks usually by the male. Because of this, females are much less likely to retain the territory than males in the event of the death of a partner. Rarely, breeding territorial crane pairs allow a third crane into the territory to form polygynous or polyandrous trios that improves the chances of survival of the pair's chicks. Trios of Sarus cranes were seen largely in marginal habitats and third birds were young suggesting that third cranes would benefit by gaining experience.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The 15 living species of cranes are placed in three genera. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that the genus "Grus", as then defined, was polyphyletic. In the resulting rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the Siberian Crane was moved to the resurrected monotypic genus "Leucogeranus", while the sandhill crane, the white-naped crane, the sarus crane, and the brolga were moved to the resurrected genus "Antigone". Some authorities recognize the additional genera "Anthropoides" (for the demoiselle crane and blue crane) and "Bugeranus" (for the wattled crane) on morphological grounds.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The cranes' beauty and spectacular mating dances have made them highly symbolic birds in many cultures with records dating back to ancient times. Crane mythology can be found in cultures around the world, from India to the Aegean, South Arabia, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and North America.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The Sanskrit epic poet Valmiki was inspired to write the first "śloka" couplet by the pathos of seeing a male sarus crane shot while dancing with its mate.


title: Crane (bird)

text: In Mecca, in pre-Islamic South Arabia, Allāt, Uzza, and Manāt were believed to be the three chief goddesses of Mecca, they were called the "three exalted cranes" ("gharaniq", an obscure word on which 'crane' is the usual gloss). See "The Satanic Verses" for the best-known story regarding these three goddesses.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The Greek for crane is Γερανος ("geranos"), which gives us the cranesbill, or hardy geranium. The crane was a bird of omen. In the tale of Ibycus and the cranes, a thief attacked Ibycus (a poet of the sixth century BCE) and left him for dead. Ibycus called to a flock of passing cranes, which followed the attacker to a theater and hovered over him until, stricken with guilt, he confessed to the crime.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Pliny the Elder wrote that cranes would appoint one of their number to stand guard while they slept. The sentry would hold a stone in its claw, so that if it fell asleep, it would drop the stone and waken. A crane holding a stone in its claw is a well-known symbol in heraldry, and is known as a crane in its vigilance. Notably, however, the crest of Clan Cranstoun depicts a sleeping crane still in vigilance and holding the rock in its raised claw.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Aristotle describes the migration of cranes in the "History of Animals", adding an account of their fights with Pygmies as they wintered near the source of the Nile. He describes as untruthful an account that the crane carries a touchstone inside it that can be used to test for gold when vomited up. (This second story is not altogether implausible, as cranes might ingest appropriate gizzard stones in one locality and regurgitate them in a region where such stone is otherwise scarce.)


title: Crane (bird)

text: Greek and Roman myths often portrayed the dance of cranes as a love of joy and a celebration of life, and the crane was often associated with both Apollo and Hephaestus.


title: Crane (bird)

text: In pre-modern Ottoman Empire, sultans would sometimes present a piece of crane feather [Turkish: "turna teli"] to soldiers of any group in the army (janissaries, sipahis etc.) who performed heroically during a battle. Soldiers would attach this feather to their caps or headgears which would give them some sort of a rank among their peers.


title: Crane (bird)

text: Throughout Asia, the crane is a symbol of happiness and eternal youth. In China, several styles of kung fu take inspiration from the movements of cranes in the wild, the most famous of these styles being Wing Chun, Hung Gar (tiger crane), and the Shaolin Five Animals style of fighting. Crane movements are well known for their fluidity and grace.


title: Crane (bird)

text: In Japan, the crane is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise) and symbolizes good fortune and longevity because of its fabled life span of a thousand years. The crane is one of the subjects in the tradition of "origami", or paper folding. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. In northern Hokkaidō, the women of the Ainu people performed a crane dance that was captured in 1908 in a photograph by Arnold Genthe. After World War II, the crane came to symbolize peace and the innocent victims of war through the story of schoolgirl Sadako Sasaki and her thousand origami cranes. Suffering from leukemia as a result of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and knowing she was dying, she undertook to make a thousand origami cranes before her death at the age of 12. After her death, she became internationally recognised as a symbol of the innocent victims of war and remains a heroine to many Japanese girls.


title: Crane (bird)

text: The Native Americans of North America also revere the crane. While it was a traditional food source for some tribes, it is considered a sacred bird. As with eagle feathers, crane feathers are used in special ceremonies and are protected by federal law. Native American tribes also used crane bones to make traditional tools, such as awls for leather work. Archaeologists discovered crane bones that had been polished and used by the Anasazi of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, which were over 1,000 years old. The Crow and Cheyenne tribes traditionally used crane bones to make whistles that were used in battle. And the Navajo use the skulls and beaks of sandhill cranes to make medicine spoons.


title: Shellac

text: Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph and 78 rpm gramophone records were made of it until they were replaced by vinyl long-playing records from 1948 onwards.


title: Shellac

text: From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was largely replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.


title: Shellac

text: "Shellac" comes from "shell" and "lac", a calque of French , 'lac in thin pieces', later , 'gum lac'. Most European languages (except Romance ones and Greek) have borrowed the word for the substance from English or from the German equivalent .


title: Shellac

text: Shellac is scraped from the bark of the trees where the female lac bug, "Kerria lacca" (order Hemiptera, family Kerriidae, also known as "Laccifer lacca"), secretes it to form a tunnel-like tube as it traverses the branches of the tree. Though these tunnels are sometimes referred to as "cocoons", they are not cocoons in the entomological sense. This insect is in the same superfamily as the insect from which cochineal is obtained. The insects suck the sap of the tree and excrete "sticklac" almost constantly. The least-coloured shellac is produced when the insects feed on the kusum tree ("Schleichera").


title: Shellac

text: The number of lac bugs required to produce of shellac has variously been estimated between and . The root word lakh is a unit in Indian numbering system for and presumably refers to the huge numbers of insects that swarm on host trees, up to .